So apparently it's been almost 2 months since my last post and a ton has gone on since then so hence the title of random long posting about what's been happening.
During the last stint in Brazil (5-6 weeks) on my new visa I needed to register with the Federal Police in Campinas where I live in order to get an alien resident card, alien resident number etc. Well I paid all the fees, had all the paperwork, photos etc and I went to register, only to have my application rejected once I arrived at the station. Needless to say I was not thrilled and when I questioned as to why it was rejected the woman told me that I needed the original application for my visa from the consulate in Chicago. Keep in mind that I already had the visa in my passport, so I am not equating this to bringing your resume to work everyday after you've gotten the job. The application is the means and the visa is the end, so why do you need both? It's like how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop? The world will never know, so another question asked another non-answer from the Brazilian government.
The woman at the police station did tell me that on my way out of the country I needed to pay a fine otherwise I could have issues entering country when I returned. So I get to the airport 11 hours before my flight only to find out that that I cannot pay the fine because it's triggered when you return to the country yet the 15 calls we made to the police and to the airport that day all told me to pay the fine when I leave. Needless to say it was not the best start to a Holiday vacation and return trip home.
I arrived back in the cold snowy Chicago to my mom and Big Rick wearing reindeer headgear in the car to pick me up and that really helped start to get me in the Holiday spirit because something about sweating, not wearing a shirt, and wearing shorts and flip flops more than half the time doesn't put me in the Christmas mood. After the picked me up we headed to my apartment in Chicago to unpack and repack and pick up packages, mail, etc that had been waiting for me and then finally got back on the road and headed to Sullivans for a late lunch, and man was it good!
I spent the next week or so in the burbs with my family having Christmas, spending lots of time with my sister and my niece, taking her to McDonalds, playing on the floor, going to Meijer to let her look at the fish, etc. Basically anything to keep a 2 year old entertained which involved lots of playing with babies. I headed back downtown on Monday or Tuesday after Christmas to host a party for the Iowa v Missouri game with some college friends and their wives, gfs, etc. Not too much of the game was watched but it turned out well because Iowa won in the 4th quarter and it was great to see all of my friends since I didn't get to see too many of them while I was at home due to the Holiday's families, travel, etc.
After Christmas I decided to meet one of my friends from Brazil (he is from AZ) in Las Vegas for New Years eve and so I booked a couple of free tickets that I had on SW and American Airlines and headed out to Vegas on New Years eve for a couple of days. Got there in the afternoon in Vegas and met a few people on the plane that offered to give me a ride to my hotel so I didn't have to wait in line for a cab at the airport. All in all it was a great weekend, spent a lot of time watching the football games at the MGM sportsbook, got to see my first UFC fight in Vegas and the tickets were given to us by a guy that played Santa Claus for Dana White (President of the UFC) so we were in the 11th row with $400 tickets that cost us $75. I felt a little bad for the guy that sold us the tickets bc he was supposed to go with his son but he couldn't make it and he admitted that he was an addict for video poker and had recently gotten a royal flush on a machine and won about $3,000. Granted he probably has spent 10x that in his life gambling but who knows. He seemed like a really good person, just felt bad that he was alone during the holiday's. So after the fight my buddy and I got some food and then started to do a little gambling at the roulette wheel at Tropicana. It wasn't too busy so it was a good time there and I managed to dig out of my hole and was only down about $200 at that point. I decided to head to a poker room at the MGM with my buddy and after a couple of drinks, what I thought had flopped 8, 9, J (I am holding a 10 & Q thinking I flopped the straight) i started to increase my bets only to have the dealer tell me what I thought was a 9 was a 6. I pretty much decided that was it for my night told everyone Happy 2011 and started to leave. Well on my way out I have to pass the roulette wheel and as any of my friends will tell you that have been in Vegas with me, it's a point of weakness. So I head over to a table ($25 min) and started to bet $100 per spin on colors letting it ride for the first 4 spins. So after about 10 min (if that) I am up $800 as I am betting so much on each spin. I started to go nuts, cashed in to $500 chips and kept playing until what I thought was about 4:30 or 5 am. I look down at my watch and see that it is 8:30 in the morning and my flight is in just over 2 hours. I head to the cashier, book it back to the hotel, sleep for an hour, get up, pack, and get to the airport. When I arrive at the airport I desperately need food and the only thing I see (sorry Dad) is Burger King. At this point I reach into my wallet and am looking at this wad of bills wondering if I did a drug deal in the middle of the night because when I am done counting I have 19 $100 bills in my wallet and no receipt for an ATM. As the memory comes back and lack of sleep wears off, I realize that I won big, FINALLY, at the roulette wheel and made some decent money this time in Vegas, so I treated myself to some Chinese for dinner and a taxi ride home instead of taking the el.
I spent a week in the Chicago office working there, and then one last weekend in the burbs with my family where we all went out for dinner and then spent another night with Madeline and my family out in the burbs. I got to see my old volleyball coach and friend and her kids which are now approaching teenage age (she had her first when I was in high school) so immediately felt very old.
Heading back to Brazil was very nerve racking for me and again I appreciate all of the prayers and thoughts as I was traveling back here and wondering if I would get in or be sent packing to catch another flight back to the states. I was advised by the attorneys to enter into Rio because they can be somewhat more lax on letting you back and in as I stood in line I was extremely nervous and when I got to the counter the girl told me I needed to talk to the Federal Police so I was placed into a small room with them where I had to answer questions as to why I had not registered etc, and they finally decided to have me pay a fine and I was on my way. All of my bags made it through fine as well (also nervous about that due to how much I was bringing in). After that I met the driver that was taking my bags for me to Campinas (the baggage limits are really high in Brazil and I had to catch another flight to Campinas from Rio so my bags were driven there and met me there at night). All said and done it was 25 hours to get back which normally takes half that.
That's about it for now, the next post will be updates for the past few weeks in Brazil and the adventure of finally registering with the Federal police.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Not related to Brazil...but Iowa
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.
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.
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
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Customary lounge/going home/done checking email post
So back in the lounge at SP, just finished the last of my emails for the day and have about 2 hours before I board to head back home. Mom and Madeline are picking me up at the airport tomorrow and then a quick stop in the city to pick up 2 months worth of mail, check on the place, and drop off a suitcase.
All in all a pretty good and uneventful week. Typical work, workout, class, work.....well do it all over again. Was a long busy day today and haven't even had time to think about coming home but I am starting to get excited now.
Pray for safe travels, no delays with the flights, and that everything goes smoothly with my visa (one reason I am heading home this month).
Cheers
Adam
All in all a pretty good and uneventful week. Typical work, workout, class, work.....well do it all over again. Was a long busy day today and haven't even had time to think about coming home but I am starting to get excited now.
Pray for safe travels, no delays with the flights, and that everything goes smoothly with my visa (one reason I am heading home this month).
Cheers
Adam
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
No Jesus part II yet
iPhone got released in Brazil and before people think about complaining about costs etc in the US about, well anything, the same phone that sells for $300 in the states is US$ 1,500 in Brazil.
Also to give you another comparison a Honda Civic goes for US$35k-$40k, gas is 2x-3x more per gallon than the US and all electronics are at least 3x more expensive than the states. Just a little food for thought.
Also to give you another comparison a Honda Civic goes for US$35k-$40k, gas is 2x-3x more per gallon than the US and all electronics are at least 3x more expensive than the states. Just a little food for thought.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Sao Luis - You need the Jesus (Part I)
So this past weekend was Brazilian Independence day and as in the states it consisted of a long weekend starting on Friday after work until Tuesday (Independence day). Some friends and I decided to book a trip to the Northeast of Brazil and go to Sao Luis, Lencois Maranhenses, and the Preguicas River for 3 days. You might be curious as to the title of this blog entry, but I will get to that shortly.
The trip started at 4 am on Saturday with a not so nice alarm wake-up signifying the beginning of what would be a long but amazing weekend. We had to drive to the Sao Paulo airport for our 7:20 am flight for which we arrive at about 6:30 am. Myself and a friend (Ergys) were able to get checked in via the kiosks while Dan and Claudia had to fight their way through the line. Ergys and I went for breakfast and of course as soon as we are about to order there are 3 couples in front of us that decided to order 1 of everything on the menu which proceeded to of course tick me right off. We then had to get out of line and go to our gate because they were on the final boarding call for our flight and this is not a flight you want to miss because there are no direct flights. As we get on the plane I see Dan sitting in the exit row and think, man he is lucky because I'd love and exit row for this 4+ hour flight. I asked Dan how he got it and he explained his travel philosophy to me. He sits where he wants until someone kicks him out of the seat then he moves to another seat until he gets kicked out. So I decided to try this out and wouldn't you know it, it worked! Exit row for both flights to Sao Luis, I am now not so ticked that I didn't get breakfast.
We land in Sao Luis around 12:30 pm, get a taxi and he takes us to our hotel. We arrive at the hotel a bit before check-in but they are able to accommodate us at the pool to have a couple of beers before we get into our rooms. Since Sao Luis is near the equator the temperature is a steady 30-35 degrees year round and a UV index of 10+ so I spent the first 10 min at the pool slathering myself in SPF 60 so I don't ruin my weekend on the first day by getting too much sun.
After the pool we headed to a recommended restaurant that has comida regional or local food to the region for lunch. Their specialty is fish, shrimp, and annoying locals. We sit down to order some drinks and some food and about 5 min after we sit down, Marcos is strolling over to our table and starts asking if we are all Americans. Now I should have mentioned this before but we are a melting pot of tourists. I of course am the lone American, Dan is Irish (whiter than me), Claudia is Mexican (Dan's girlfriend), and Ergys is Albanian. So you can say that we are a pretty diverse group but we all live together in the United Nations building (our apartment building's given name) and a couple of us share the same Portuguese professor. I digress.....Marcos proceeds to spend the entire lunch with us drinking, telling stories, how many countries he's visited and worked in all while giving me about 20-30 punches in the arm. Ergys has a great picture that I'll post later where I am about 20 min into the meal and already annoyed with this guy. He is of course still a typical guy where he would forget all of the guys' names but remembered Claudia's name (shocking) and called Ergys, Elvis. That was pretty funny.
After lunch we headed to the beach to walk around since we'd been sitting for almost 8 or 9 hours already and it was only about 4 pm in the afternoon. We walked around until we found an outdoor restaurant and headed to the beach for some coco water, swimming, and to watch the sunset. It was pretty cool to be in the ocean so far north and you could see all of the freightliners and cargo ships heading south toward Brazil carrying goods. Interesting to me because the company I work for down here imports lots of goods from the US and it was neat to see them all heading into port in the northern part of the country.
After the sunset and some more pictures, we headed to the Centro Historico (Historical City Center) to walk around and take some more pictures. This was really neat and it had a lot of tourist shops, restaurants, live music etc. Not really a whole lot to do and it didn't seem as if a lot of people lived in this area as it was pretty run down and some places looked abandoned. We found a big outdoor restaurant and decided to get some juice and listen to some music before heading back to the hotel for some rest before dinner. This is where I had my first Jesus.....I had been hearing about this drink (Guarana Jesus) as Guarana is a very popular soda in Brazil, it is supposed to have natural energy and taste like cherries. I love it and once I heard about the Jesus I had to try one. This Jesus drink is only available in this northern state where Sao Luis and Lencois is located so I had to try it and lemme tell you it tastes EXACTLY like liquiod bubbel gum and it's pink. You know when we were kids and you put 25 cents in and got a giant gumball? Yep exactly like that except you drink it. Anyway, the running joke for the weekend became 'You need Jesus' followed by handing someone the Jesus drink, and I decided that whenever I bought a Jesus I had to take a picture of it wherever we were or myself drinking it. We have Jesus in Sao Luis, Jesus on a boat, Jesus on the dunes, Jesus in a bottle, Jesus in the airport etc. It was pretty entertaining.
We headed back to the hotel about 8:30 to get a nap in before dinner. When I woke up for dinner, got a shower and when I was brushing my teeth decided to check out the night view from the balcony. When I stepped outside there was a big crowd of people standing around, one guy sitting, and a car with it's front bumper off. As some people came and went I saw the chalk outline of a motorcycle and a body sitting next to the chalk outline. There was also a chalk outline around the body and realized the guy sitting on the ground was straddling the dead persons body, and this was no joke directly in front of our balcony looking at the street. It was pretty nerve racking to say the least and besides seeing a covered dead body on the way to the airport one day, this was my only other time. We couldn't figure out why they wouldn't cover the body or move it out of the way and this went on for a good 30-40 min.
After we were dressed and ready for dinner we got some recommendations from the front desk, hopped in a cab and we were off. The restaurant had live music, good food, and it was on a lake so it was like everything else, all open air and outside. After dinner we wandered around a little bit and wound up at a couple of more bars with live music, danced and finally called it a night around 4 am.
Lencois Maranhenses - You need Jesus (Part II) to come later this weekend
The trip started at 4 am on Saturday with a not so nice alarm wake-up signifying the beginning of what would be a long but amazing weekend. We had to drive to the Sao Paulo airport for our 7:20 am flight for which we arrive at about 6:30 am. Myself and a friend (Ergys) were able to get checked in via the kiosks while Dan and Claudia had to fight their way through the line. Ergys and I went for breakfast and of course as soon as we are about to order there are 3 couples in front of us that decided to order 1 of everything on the menu which proceeded to of course tick me right off. We then had to get out of line and go to our gate because they were on the final boarding call for our flight and this is not a flight you want to miss because there are no direct flights. As we get on the plane I see Dan sitting in the exit row and think, man he is lucky because I'd love and exit row for this 4+ hour flight. I asked Dan how he got it and he explained his travel philosophy to me. He sits where he wants until someone kicks him out of the seat then he moves to another seat until he gets kicked out. So I decided to try this out and wouldn't you know it, it worked! Exit row for both flights to Sao Luis, I am now not so ticked that I didn't get breakfast.
We land in Sao Luis around 12:30 pm, get a taxi and he takes us to our hotel. We arrive at the hotel a bit before check-in but they are able to accommodate us at the pool to have a couple of beers before we get into our rooms. Since Sao Luis is near the equator the temperature is a steady 30-35 degrees year round and a UV index of 10+ so I spent the first 10 min at the pool slathering myself in SPF 60 so I don't ruin my weekend on the first day by getting too much sun.
After the pool we headed to a recommended restaurant that has comida regional or local food to the region for lunch. Their specialty is fish, shrimp, and annoying locals. We sit down to order some drinks and some food and about 5 min after we sit down, Marcos is strolling over to our table and starts asking if we are all Americans. Now I should have mentioned this before but we are a melting pot of tourists. I of course am the lone American, Dan is Irish (whiter than me), Claudia is Mexican (Dan's girlfriend), and Ergys is Albanian. So you can say that we are a pretty diverse group but we all live together in the United Nations building (our apartment building's given name) and a couple of us share the same Portuguese professor. I digress.....Marcos proceeds to spend the entire lunch with us drinking, telling stories, how many countries he's visited and worked in all while giving me about 20-30 punches in the arm. Ergys has a great picture that I'll post later where I am about 20 min into the meal and already annoyed with this guy. He is of course still a typical guy where he would forget all of the guys' names but remembered Claudia's name (shocking) and called Ergys, Elvis. That was pretty funny.
After lunch we headed to the beach to walk around since we'd been sitting for almost 8 or 9 hours already and it was only about 4 pm in the afternoon. We walked around until we found an outdoor restaurant and headed to the beach for some coco water, swimming, and to watch the sunset. It was pretty cool to be in the ocean so far north and you could see all of the freightliners and cargo ships heading south toward Brazil carrying goods. Interesting to me because the company I work for down here imports lots of goods from the US and it was neat to see them all heading into port in the northern part of the country.
After the sunset and some more pictures, we headed to the Centro Historico (Historical City Center) to walk around and take some more pictures. This was really neat and it had a lot of tourist shops, restaurants, live music etc. Not really a whole lot to do and it didn't seem as if a lot of people lived in this area as it was pretty run down and some places looked abandoned. We found a big outdoor restaurant and decided to get some juice and listen to some music before heading back to the hotel for some rest before dinner. This is where I had my first Jesus.....I had been hearing about this drink (Guarana Jesus) as Guarana is a very popular soda in Brazil, it is supposed to have natural energy and taste like cherries. I love it and once I heard about the Jesus I had to try one. This Jesus drink is only available in this northern state where Sao Luis and Lencois is located so I had to try it and lemme tell you it tastes EXACTLY like liquiod bubbel gum and it's pink. You know when we were kids and you put 25 cents in and got a giant gumball? Yep exactly like that except you drink it. Anyway, the running joke for the weekend became 'You need Jesus' followed by handing someone the Jesus drink, and I decided that whenever I bought a Jesus I had to take a picture of it wherever we were or myself drinking it. We have Jesus in Sao Luis, Jesus on a boat, Jesus on the dunes, Jesus in a bottle, Jesus in the airport etc. It was pretty entertaining.
We headed back to the hotel about 8:30 to get a nap in before dinner. When I woke up for dinner, got a shower and when I was brushing my teeth decided to check out the night view from the balcony. When I stepped outside there was a big crowd of people standing around, one guy sitting, and a car with it's front bumper off. As some people came and went I saw the chalk outline of a motorcycle and a body sitting next to the chalk outline. There was also a chalk outline around the body and realized the guy sitting on the ground was straddling the dead persons body, and this was no joke directly in front of our balcony looking at the street. It was pretty nerve racking to say the least and besides seeing a covered dead body on the way to the airport one day, this was my only other time. We couldn't figure out why they wouldn't cover the body or move it out of the way and this went on for a good 30-40 min.
After we were dressed and ready for dinner we got some recommendations from the front desk, hopped in a cab and we were off. The restaurant had live music, good food, and it was on a lake so it was like everything else, all open air and outside. After dinner we wandered around a little bit and wound up at a couple of more bars with live music, danced and finally called it a night around 4 am.
Lencois Maranhenses - You need Jesus (Part II) to come later this weekend
Friday, September 3, 2010
What is up with the Bears.....
I kind of figured it was coming but I am still disappointed over the lack of excitement for the kickoff of the NFL season next weekend. Being surrounded by avid soccer fans I was trying to prepare myself but I am saddened by my lack of excitement for college and NFL. The Hawkeyes play EIU this weekend which hopefully will not be a repeat of last years near upset by UNI where Iowa had to block two field goals to hold on for the win. Since I am heading out of town this weekend I will not be able to watch the game but am hoping that they will be able to pull out the W without my support from 5,000+ miles south.
My first fantasy football draft has been concluded and next week will be spent doing some additional reasearch to see which guys are injured, starting, sitting, and can be claimed off waivers since I haven't looked at my roster since draft night. I've been very disappointed in this supposed 'high power' offense that the Bears have tried to install by bringing on Mike Martz and you'd think with 3 (2 ex and 1 current) head coaches they would be able to get their act together and win AT LEAST one preseason football game, but going 0-4 does not instill a lot of confidence in me that they will be able to be contenders in the NFC North. We've got an aging defense where this could very well be Urlacher's last year and some needed replacements will need to be made on that side of the ball. The Bears hired Mike Tice to coach the offensive line and I know that sometimes when I've had a few beers I think I can do anything (hit .208 what Milton Bradley was hitting for the Cubs last year or catch a football given that I'm 6'4" tall) but this guy was hired to give Jay Culter 3 seconds to get rid of the football. I am so far not as disappointed in the offense as I am with the offensive line of the Bears. You hire a new guy to come in and coach maybe 10 guys to give your 'QB of the Future' 3 seconds to throw the ball and it's no wonder that you are no longer a head coach somewhere.
Anyway, I am in no way an ESPN analyst but it seems that this is all I have been reading about that and how many players the Cubs are calling up because they've given up on this season (I hope Lou's mom is doing well though).
So this post, not too much to do about Brazil. I was at the foundry a couple of days this week working on a project that I am wrapping up today (hopefully) and then went to Sao Paulo for dinner. Somehow my GPS got me lost and I wound up in a bus station parking lot. I really loathe driving in Sao Paulo and it's not the city to get lost in that's for sure. I made it to my destination safely and had a nice dinner at a new restaurant for me. This weekend we have a 4 day weekend since it's Brazil's independence day on Tuesday so the office is closed on Monday as well. Some friends and I are heading to Lencois Maranhenses this weekend so if you don't know where or what Lencois is you MUST google it. The pictures look like nothing I've ever seen and can't wait to head up to the Northeast of Brazil this weekend.
I hope everyone has a great Labor Day, enjoys the last of the summer weather, BBQs, golf, or whatever your plans entail. Also, for those of you still following this blog and that have any interest, I am returning to the states on October 1 for a few weeks to get my new visa and one of my good friends is getting married.
Tchau
Adam
My first fantasy football draft has been concluded and next week will be spent doing some additional reasearch to see which guys are injured, starting, sitting, and can be claimed off waivers since I haven't looked at my roster since draft night. I've been very disappointed in this supposed 'high power' offense that the Bears have tried to install by bringing on Mike Martz and you'd think with 3 (2 ex and 1 current) head coaches they would be able to get their act together and win AT LEAST one preseason football game, but going 0-4 does not instill a lot of confidence in me that they will be able to be contenders in the NFC North. We've got an aging defense where this could very well be Urlacher's last year and some needed replacements will need to be made on that side of the ball. The Bears hired Mike Tice to coach the offensive line and I know that sometimes when I've had a few beers I think I can do anything (hit .208 what Milton Bradley was hitting for the Cubs last year or catch a football given that I'm 6'4" tall) but this guy was hired to give Jay Culter 3 seconds to get rid of the football. I am so far not as disappointed in the offense as I am with the offensive line of the Bears. You hire a new guy to come in and coach maybe 10 guys to give your 'QB of the Future' 3 seconds to throw the ball and it's no wonder that you are no longer a head coach somewhere.
Anyway, I am in no way an ESPN analyst but it seems that this is all I have been reading about that and how many players the Cubs are calling up because they've given up on this season (I hope Lou's mom is doing well though).
So this post, not too much to do about Brazil. I was at the foundry a couple of days this week working on a project that I am wrapping up today (hopefully) and then went to Sao Paulo for dinner. Somehow my GPS got me lost and I wound up in a bus station parking lot. I really loathe driving in Sao Paulo and it's not the city to get lost in that's for sure. I made it to my destination safely and had a nice dinner at a new restaurant for me. This weekend we have a 4 day weekend since it's Brazil's independence day on Tuesday so the office is closed on Monday as well. Some friends and I are heading to Lencois Maranhenses this weekend so if you don't know where or what Lencois is you MUST google it. The pictures look like nothing I've ever seen and can't wait to head up to the Northeast of Brazil this weekend.
I hope everyone has a great Labor Day, enjoys the last of the summer weather, BBQs, golf, or whatever your plans entail. Also, for those of you still following this blog and that have any interest, I am returning to the states on October 1 for a few weeks to get my new visa and one of my good friends is getting married.
Tchau
Adam
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