Oh Beautiful Simple People.

11.25.2010

Oh Beautiful Simple People.

Did you know that like 85% of the women do not wear make-up?  No wonder why Rodrigo likes me. 

Oh Zhill?,What to do, Oh shit Moist Heat! & I have to explore a lot of my initial thoughts.

11.24.2010

Oh Zhill?   

Pretty sure I was laughed at for trying to put my 2 year old to bed at 8:30.  Gabi wont sleep anymore as we have people coming at 8 these days.  Here it is 11:30 and the Gabi is wide awake.  You know moms always know best even if it isn’t your kid and old saying from America.   Last night I had to finally go to the bathroom and just when I thought everyone was asleep, Rodrigo’s mom was knocking at the bathroom door... Oh Zhill?   asking me to leave the lights on in Portuguese.  It is hard enough to understand the language barrier and then the barrier of the bathroom door.  

Rodrigo’s mom knows everything about everyone.   She already knows as much as you could know about me if you were washing & folding my clothes, cleaning and straightening up my stuff.   Which makes me a little nervous.  :)  I take off our dirty clothes and put them in the corner of the room and before 7 they are gone.    I cant really complain though as I am glad that I don’t have to do it for a while.

Oh by the way, I am PMSing.

What to do.

I have an apt. with a Teacher tomorrow to learn Portugese.  2 classes a week for 100 Real.  Then for exchange they asked me if I would like to teach English to kids.   Hmm.  Like $20-$30 reis a hour.  This is a significant salary by the way.  10 days in and 2 job offers.  Liking it.    I will take it of course if all goes well tomorrow.  The opportunities are really endless here for English speakers especially if you lived in America.  People are very curious about America and like to listen to our conversatios and try to make out what we are saying.  Rodrigo likes to say embarrassing stuff out loud for a kick, I still think there must be something who knows what we are saying. 

Spent 3 hours in the bank today.  You walk in and take a number to see the teller and there are two guys only behind the desk to help you with accounts.  We went inside took a number waited 45 minutes to set up an account, then waited 45 more minutes with a new number to make a deposit.  The best part about it was that the air conditioner actually worked really well.  From now on when I am hot, I am going to withdraw money from the teller and sit and wait. 

Oh shit Moist Heat!

I am sweaty and my skin is not really happy with the fact that I never really ever dry off. 

I am really having a good time here, strange to think that I am living here now.  Crazy really.  I still feel really close to my family despite that our computer doesn’t work yet and phone calls are expensive.  I think I could get used to it, just 10 days.  A guy at that  bank asked if I liked it here and I said Yes so far then he said that there are a lot of problems and I said there are a lot of problems in America too.  Then a lady heard us speaking English and said that she wanted to move to America and I remembered all of the space and lack of bars on the houses and windows and I thought…. That would be nice. 

I have to explore a lot of my initial thoughts.

Like Brazil for instance.  I don’t think you could find someone over 30 who hasn’t had a tramatic experience here with bad people.  However there are millions everywhere.  So of course there are gates and bars and ….. I think I may have heard gunshots hopefully firecrackers.  Though were I go I do feel safe.  The busses are fine and the malls are immaculate.  It really feels like a small town.  Rodrigo live here 12 years ago and runs into an old friend daily.  It is really hard to believe but it is happening.  People are really nice too.  However, I am cautious.  I really do need more time here but how long.  I think I will know soon enough.  Right now I don’t want to leave any time soon.  It feels like a time warp.

Today…. A busy day.,Soapbox & A couple of more things.

11.23.2010

Today…. A busy day.

We are still processing documents for my visa and for Rodrigo’s SS# and such.  Today we went to the Federal Police, then the town close by where Rodrigo grew up, then the town where Rodrigo’s battalion was where he served, then to the IRS.  A wild goose chase indeed.  Most places took at least 1 hour and not much got accomplished.  However this really is like anywhere.    The weather is very moist and the temp is in the low 80’s high 70’s and this is nothing.  I take like 3 showers a day cuz I get really sweaty and hot.  We all do, it is a breath of fresh air every time.  I already have a tendency to get a bit greasy in dry climate, so this really is not a perfect fit for me.  However I think all of the people who know me best would be very surprised how I have adapted. 

Then we went to the mall and bought a queen sized bed, and drank beer and ate the most wonderful little apps.  It was meat very tender salted and dried in the sun with the most wonderful root in the world Yucca.  It is like a potato with the texture of a sweet potato but more firm.  It is like rice here a staple.  Most of the time is boiled and served however I have found it amazing fried like big French fries.  I love love love them.  When Rodrigo and I tried out the food business, I now know the direction that he was heading with the pastels.   The place where we had the beer and food tonight was one.  They put anything and everything in them. 

Last night we had tuna and ham pizza, and cheese pizza with guava paste on it.  They like cheese and sweets here.  Oh I am experiencing so much in a day. 

I Did take public transportation for the first time today as well.  Very simple and nice.

Soapbox

Ok, I know we all have different beliefs but I am going to get on a short soap box.

Monsanto

Ever heard about it?  It is an American company that you guessed it decided to produce seeds in Brazil to save in cost.  It is a genetically modified seed that is resistant to pesticides (round up) and to bugs.  I just want you to know that Brazillians make it but they do not buy it.  They do not use these seeds because they do not know what the reprocussions of eating these seeds will be.  I am not an expert however if you see Food, Inc.  you will get a better idea how the Govement forces the farmers to use these seeds.  I met an old highschool friend of Rodriogs who said he knows that it is wrong and he works there.  Please consider buying local and organic just for this reason.  I will let you know however that brazil is green year round and there is so much grass that that cows are grass fed only and it is a huge country so I can understand the demand and climate may be different but feeding using the American people as guinea pigs for profit is something to look at.

By the way. ..  In any case if we stop demanding shit we could make changes.

In Brazil they also use cane sugar in the soda and in everything not High fructose corn syrup.  The government of Brazil will not allow it to be sold to the people either.   Why in America?

Couple of more things.

I was talking with the only English speaking Brazilian I have met so far.  We are talking 4 days of silence for me.  It’s Definitely hard.  It dawned on me that it is possible that we may elect our first Reality TV Star for the President.  Think about this people.  This is crazy.  They (those who bought our goverment) make the people TV Stars and tried to pass them off as candidates. 

Stop the consuming; I know I am a consumptionist.  I know it.  I see it in my thoughts here every day. 

It feels like time stands still here in Brazil.

11.22.2010

It feels like time stands still here in Brazil.  

Days are long and quiet.  Even if you get a lot done, there is time for more stuff.  Now I understand why Rodrigo used to come home for an hour lunch and it looked like it was going to take all day.  I on the other hand ate standing up in the kitchen and it felt like 20 minutes. 

Today Rodrigo is getting his license.  It is taking him a long time.  It’s like going on rides at Disney World.  I can remember standing in lines for an hour to get on a 5 minute ride, so it is like that but the atmosphere is much more boring.  I had Rodrigo’s dad take me to the house as it was quite boring and he was going to move his car anyway.    

You just cant catch a buzz in Brasil....or can you?

11.21.2010

You just cant catch a buzz in Brasil....or can you?

Today is Sunday.  The party started yesterday around 6.  Rodriog’s sisters arrived and we met Tia Reneta for the first time with her boyfriend john.  We drank wine till about 10 when the others arrived at 10.  The thing about Brail is that food is very important but when we eat is not.  We held off dinner until everyone arrived and then we sat at the table and ate at 11:30pm.  After eating you loose your buzz and then you are so stuffed it is impossible to start over.  People drink all day however.  Maybe the country was built around this.  In the morning we had our coffee an bread then around 1pm we started the grill.