I am drawing a blank on a subject for the post today since it's been a whirlwind of a week down here. I haven't posted in a few weeks as I flew home on a Monday, left Tuesday at 4:30 am for Philadelphia, proceeded to get stranded in Philly for two extra days, and then finally home on a Friday afternoon. The following week were International meetings with all of the Managing Directors for their respective countries so that was a long couple of days learning about different business, the struggles facing each company not only externally but internally as well, crime, corruption, and the demands on each location. It's humorous to me because economics in college was a class that I didn't particularly enjoy and now I feel that I am in the throws of economics and see the daily effects of currency exchange rates, impacts of the government and not only what it means for the people, but also the company for importing and exporting goods. I digress......
I arrived back in Brazil on Monday for a 5 week stint before I head back to Chicago for probably 3 weeks or so in mid April. Monday's are always long days because its 12-13+ hours of travel between being at the airport for the flight, flight, layover, and another flight. I didn't sleep too well on the plane, but I had a nap in the taxi on the way to the hotel. Tuesday we left after work to drive to Cruzeiro (300 km) for the operations review and meetings on Wednesday and then back to Campinas on Wednesday night. I got my car on Tuesday morning and it's been an interesting experience learning how to drive on my own in a foreign country. "Rules of the Road" the book that we used in IL when we were 15 learning to drive would be used to start a fire out here because the rules of the road here are don't hit a pedestrian, and don't hit anyone on a motorcycle. Other than that anything is game....driving on the shoulder, middle of the lane, stop signs are optional at night along with traffic lights as long as it's late. I did get a GPS when I was at home and it's been a lifesaver. It doesn't take me on the correct route to work so I am still learning the quickest route because some of the roads are not on the GPS and they are not paved. Today was probably the most that I have freaked out since I have been here. I missed my exit to get to work and the GPS re-routed me through the slums of Hortolandia and I was supposed to be on that road for 4km so I immediately turned around, and it re-routed me again through a small slum or neighborhood where I was definitely the focus of attention. The car they gave me (Ford Fogus (focus)) is about R$ 50,000 ($30,000 US) compared to under $20k back home, so it's a very nice car and a new one as well. That combined with the fact that I have GPS mounted in the car makes me an easy target so I am constantly aware of what's going on, hence why I got off the dirt road and re-routed myself to a safer location. I did make it into the office finally (a little late) but better late and safe then not making it in at all.
I start my tutoring lessons tonight at a school that specializes in teaching Portuguese to ex-pats, students, diplomats, etc so I am pretty excited and a little nervous as well. I can get by with what I know but it's not more than a few phrases so it will be great to learn more and be able to converse with people better than I do now. I go for 2 hours tonight from 6-8 pm and then another 2 hours tomorrow from 10-12. I think Monday will be another 2 hours after work and then I am going to Cruzeiro for the remainder of the week to work with the Finance team on some issues and learn more about the business. They have a few people that speak english but most people speak Portuguese so I signed myself up for the intense classes for Portuguese. I think this first month will be around 40 hours if not more.
My apartment lease was signed and the check delivered to the agency yesterday so I should be moving from the hotel to my apartment tomorrow morning. I will send pictures of the city, some friends, and my apartment when I can. I don't have a camera but I am going to purchase one when I am back home. In the meantime I will take some with my phone and post them on FB or my blog.
Tchau
Adão
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