So I had to post this because it made me somewhat angry.
An article came out yesterday on ESPN that Iowa's top receiver got busted for keeping a 'drug house' on campus and was not arrested and suspended from the team before it's Bowl game on December 28. While there is absolutley no way to condone this type of behavior I am glad he received NO special treatment for being a football player, but at the same time what is wrong with kids these days. My God that statement made me feel old, but my sister and I were so privileged to have parents pay for our education I just can't imagine when 100+k 4 year education and a shot at millions in the NFL didn't become enough. I think I'll run a pot house with some cocaine and prescription drugs on the side.
I've got a couple of cousins in college right now and one of them wants to go into business and I have tried to instill in him the need for foreign languages. We'll see if he listens, and if he reads this, get your butt into a foreign language (NOT SPANISH) next semester.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Updates and I'm spoiled
So as some of you (if you're still actually reading this blog) may know I had some visa issues in Brazil and recently returned about two weeks ago to continue my job, work, and resume living down here. I didn't do any updates in the states because well I figured no one wanted to read that I rode the bus, took the el, worked, and then went home everyday. It was a nice time at home and it was great to see my family but also tough not knowing when the visa was going to be approved and my return was a big ?
For those that don't know I was issued two visas to be in Brazil and they were work visas with 180 day expiration and only a 90 day duration at one time in the country. This new visa is a Vitem V work/residence visa in Brazil and will allow me to stay in Brazil for up to 12 months without leaving (if I so choose). This new visa took 4.5 months to work it's way through the system and be approved by the ministry of labor in Brazil and then be issued by the consulate in Chicago. When I received work that the visa was approved and at the Chicago consulate I went to the consulate to pick-up my visa. Upon arrival (on a Wednesday) I brought my paperwork, photos, passport etc for the visa to be issued to me that day. The conversation went something like this:
Woman: Can I help you?
Me: Yes, I'm here to pick up my new visa for Brazil
Woman: Did you apply for your visa?
Me: Yes, it's here ready to be picked up.
Woman: Did you apply for your visa?
Me: Yes, I received word that the MOL in Brazil approved my visa and I'm here to pick it up
Woman: Yes, but did you apply for the visa here
Me: Why would I need to apply for it here when it was approved by Brazil and been applied for 4.5 months ago?
Woman: You need to come back on Friday to apply for your visa
Me: Why can't I come back tomorrow?
Woman: It's a holiday we are closed
Me: There's no holiday in Brazil tomorrow
Woman: It's veterans day
Me: That's an American holiday
Woman: Yes I know we take both holidays, Brazilian and American
Me: (sarcastic laugh) Can I have an application to work here?
Woman: Come back on Friday
So that's how my initial encounter with the consulate went. I went back on Friday and it took over 5 hours to issue the applications because I had to make 2 trips to the post office (Consulate ONLY accepts postal money orders) and I had to go back because they told me the wrong amount on the money order. I made the application with them and the girl said I can't process this because you don't have a return itinerary. (note this is now one of those times where you become so frustrated that even as a 31 year old man I wanted to either punch something very hard or cry) I said this is a work residence visa where I don't need to leave the country for 12 months if I don't want to and I can't book a flight 12 months out (also it's worth mentioning that the woman on Wednesday did NOT mention that I needed a return flight because she knew this was not a tourist visa). So luckily I had a flight for Christmas already which means I had to leave AGAIN, go to a kinkos and print and bring back my flight for Christmas.
After the application was done it was almost 11 am and you're thinking okay they are going to issue the visa and I can go, WRONG. Application hours are from 9-11 and pick-up is from 12-1. So I had to leave, take a cab to my office, and then go back at noon to pick-up the visa at the consulate.
All-in-all this was one of the worst experiences I've ever had to deal with, possibly edging out the DMV but that's because I don't have a car in the states anymore and rarely if ever have to go to the DMV.
So now I'm back and I am fully legal, minus needing to register with the federal police which I will take care of before I leave for Christmas and then I am good for another 12 months and will possibly get extended for another 6 months bringing my total stint on/off in Brazil to two years. Work has really picked up the pace down here. I am in what my bosses are calling phase 2 of this position I guess and I am starting to sit in on daily production meetings, forecast meetings, pre-operational meetings, and have been given some additional logistics responsibility for helping the company do their planning for material coming into Brazil from the US. Probably doesn't sound too exciting but it's good to have your days full and makes the days and weeks fly-by that's for sure. I am still taking Portuguese classes 2 days a week for 1.5 hours each so three hours total per week and then of course all of my meetings and things are in Portuguese so it helps with the languages barrier and things are starting to become second nature. I am still having problems with verbs (there are a TON of regular and irregular verbs) and it's tough when you compare to English because English is a much easier language to learn than Portuguese.
I am heading to a gym this weekend to sign-up for a membership, have finally picked out a car for the next year + here (I am now on car # 5 in 7 months) so things are finally starting resemble a real life where things won't be constantly changing. Our company is providing healthy living discounts and reimbursing employees $50 per month for gym memberships, unfortunatley given that everything here is 3-4x more than the states (minus services) it will still cost me $85 out of pocket each month, but it includes the club in Campinas and in Sousas (20 min away) 2 pools, 4 tennis courts, classes, gym, night club, and full service restaurant. Pretty decent deal but being here less than a year is great because you don't have to pay the R$5,000 to join up (US$3,000). If that's the case I'll just keep running and swimming at my apartment building because I am not about to spend that much money on a gym membership.
So as some of you may know I can be and have been somewhat spoiled in my life. That's not to say anything about my work ethic because I've always sought out and achieved my own jobs and success in life, all by the Grace of God, but living here I am starting to get a little worried about moving back to the states in the next year or 18 months. I have hired a maid/cook to clean my apartment and she comes every Monday and cooks, cleans, does the laundry, irons and then leaves a grocery list for the following week based on what I like to eat. She's been great and truly freed up a lot of my time out of work and school for other activities. In addition, included in my rent is a daily service to tidy up the apartment, make the bed, and empty the trash. Well I arrived home yesterday and was wondering why it only took one turn to open my apartment door, walked in an realized that the bed had not been made and the trash emptied and then remembered that it was a holiday in Campinas. I told one of my buddies about this and his response was 'you poor thing.' Ha, precious and classic and then made me realize that I needed to do a lot of thinking and praying about my selfishness and how I am beginning to take things for granted. I guess living alone for the past 3+ years is making me realize that I need to make some slight changes in my attitudes and be a more selfless person.
No serious girlfriend to speak of, I am still focusing on building my relationships with some guys here in Brazil and had a good talk with one of my good friends here the other night. He said that our relationship and with another friend of ours as well has helped him with the relationship with his wife because he never really had a balance before. It was nice to hear that and nice to meet some good friends here that are willing to hang out, talk or help you out if necessary, and he's a golfer so that will be key when I come back in January!
That's about it for now. I've got a couple of other updates that I need to post and of course some pictures, but believe me that is my goal when I am home at Christmas! I will be posting some pictures from my trip to the North East of Brazil and some from our last weekend in Campos do Jordao (mountains of Brazil).
I hope everyone is well back home, you all had a safe and Happy Thanksgiving and are gearing up for the Christmas season.
Cheers
Adam
For those that don't know I was issued two visas to be in Brazil and they were work visas with 180 day expiration and only a 90 day duration at one time in the country. This new visa is a Vitem V work/residence visa in Brazil and will allow me to stay in Brazil for up to 12 months without leaving (if I so choose). This new visa took 4.5 months to work it's way through the system and be approved by the ministry of labor in Brazil and then be issued by the consulate in Chicago. When I received work that the visa was approved and at the Chicago consulate I went to the consulate to pick-up my visa. Upon arrival (on a Wednesday) I brought my paperwork, photos, passport etc for the visa to be issued to me that day. The conversation went something like this:
Woman: Can I help you?
Me: Yes, I'm here to pick up my new visa for Brazil
Woman: Did you apply for your visa?
Me: Yes, it's here ready to be picked up.
Woman: Did you apply for your visa?
Me: Yes, I received word that the MOL in Brazil approved my visa and I'm here to pick it up
Woman: Yes, but did you apply for the visa here
Me: Why would I need to apply for it here when it was approved by Brazil and been applied for 4.5 months ago?
Woman: You need to come back on Friday to apply for your visa
Me: Why can't I come back tomorrow?
Woman: It's a holiday we are closed
Me: There's no holiday in Brazil tomorrow
Woman: It's veterans day
Me: That's an American holiday
Woman: Yes I know we take both holidays, Brazilian and American
Me: (sarcastic laugh) Can I have an application to work here?
Woman: Come back on Friday
So that's how my initial encounter with the consulate went. I went back on Friday and it took over 5 hours to issue the applications because I had to make 2 trips to the post office (Consulate ONLY accepts postal money orders) and I had to go back because they told me the wrong amount on the money order. I made the application with them and the girl said I can't process this because you don't have a return itinerary. (note this is now one of those times where you become so frustrated that even as a 31 year old man I wanted to either punch something very hard or cry) I said this is a work residence visa where I don't need to leave the country for 12 months if I don't want to and I can't book a flight 12 months out (also it's worth mentioning that the woman on Wednesday did NOT mention that I needed a return flight because she knew this was not a tourist visa). So luckily I had a flight for Christmas already which means I had to leave AGAIN, go to a kinkos and print and bring back my flight for Christmas.
After the application was done it was almost 11 am and you're thinking okay they are going to issue the visa and I can go, WRONG. Application hours are from 9-11 and pick-up is from 12-1. So I had to leave, take a cab to my office, and then go back at noon to pick-up the visa at the consulate.
All-in-all this was one of the worst experiences I've ever had to deal with, possibly edging out the DMV but that's because I don't have a car in the states anymore and rarely if ever have to go to the DMV.
So now I'm back and I am fully legal, minus needing to register with the federal police which I will take care of before I leave for Christmas and then I am good for another 12 months and will possibly get extended for another 6 months bringing my total stint on/off in Brazil to two years. Work has really picked up the pace down here. I am in what my bosses are calling phase 2 of this position I guess and I am starting to sit in on daily production meetings, forecast meetings, pre-operational meetings, and have been given some additional logistics responsibility for helping the company do their planning for material coming into Brazil from the US. Probably doesn't sound too exciting but it's good to have your days full and makes the days and weeks fly-by that's for sure. I am still taking Portuguese classes 2 days a week for 1.5 hours each so three hours total per week and then of course all of my meetings and things are in Portuguese so it helps with the languages barrier and things are starting to become second nature. I am still having problems with verbs (there are a TON of regular and irregular verbs) and it's tough when you compare to English because English is a much easier language to learn than Portuguese.
I am heading to a gym this weekend to sign-up for a membership, have finally picked out a car for the next year + here (I am now on car # 5 in 7 months) so things are finally starting resemble a real life where things won't be constantly changing. Our company is providing healthy living discounts and reimbursing employees $50 per month for gym memberships, unfortunatley given that everything here is 3-4x more than the states (minus services) it will still cost me $85 out of pocket each month, but it includes the club in Campinas and in Sousas (20 min away) 2 pools, 4 tennis courts, classes, gym, night club, and full service restaurant. Pretty decent deal but being here less than a year is great because you don't have to pay the R$5,000 to join up (US$3,000). If that's the case I'll just keep running and swimming at my apartment building because I am not about to spend that much money on a gym membership.
So as some of you may know I can be and have been somewhat spoiled in my life. That's not to say anything about my work ethic because I've always sought out and achieved my own jobs and success in life, all by the Grace of God, but living here I am starting to get a little worried about moving back to the states in the next year or 18 months. I have hired a maid/cook to clean my apartment and she comes every Monday and cooks, cleans, does the laundry, irons and then leaves a grocery list for the following week based on what I like to eat. She's been great and truly freed up a lot of my time out of work and school for other activities. In addition, included in my rent is a daily service to tidy up the apartment, make the bed, and empty the trash. Well I arrived home yesterday and was wondering why it only took one turn to open my apartment door, walked in an realized that the bed had not been made and the trash emptied and then remembered that it was a holiday in Campinas. I told one of my buddies about this and his response was 'you poor thing.' Ha, precious and classic and then made me realize that I needed to do a lot of thinking and praying about my selfishness and how I am beginning to take things for granted. I guess living alone for the past 3+ years is making me realize that I need to make some slight changes in my attitudes and be a more selfless person.
No serious girlfriend to speak of, I am still focusing on building my relationships with some guys here in Brazil and had a good talk with one of my good friends here the other night. He said that our relationship and with another friend of ours as well has helped him with the relationship with his wife because he never really had a balance before. It was nice to hear that and nice to meet some good friends here that are willing to hang out, talk or help you out if necessary, and he's a golfer so that will be key when I come back in January!
That's about it for now. I've got a couple of other updates that I need to post and of course some pictures, but believe me that is my goal when I am home at Christmas! I will be posting some pictures from my trip to the North East of Brazil and some from our last weekend in Campos do Jordao (mountains of Brazil).
I hope everyone is well back home, you all had a safe and Happy Thanksgiving and are gearing up for the Christmas season.
Cheers
Adam
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