Disseram que voltei Brazilianizado

That means “they said I came back ‘brazilianized’”. Thanks, Carmen Miranda . My dad is back in the States and I think he has officially been “Brazilianized”. Cachaça and caipirinhas, shrimp in a pumpkin , pão de queijo, agua de côco, cake and fruit and, of course, brigadeiro (basically, chocolate frosting balls rolled in sprinkles). Not to mention his growing vocabulary of Portuguese words, which includes basic yet indispensable phrases such as:
[list] * “super legal” (very cool) * “obrigado” (thanks) * “oi” “bom dia” “boa tarde” (hi, good morning, good night) * “tudo bem” (how’s it going? And, it’s all good) * “banheiro” (bathroom) * “sanitário” (also bathroom, but in the case of the airport, also listed as “men’s restroom”) * “taxi” (the same in over 50 languages) * the numbers one through ten, and multiples thereof, up to one hundred, when we just stop counting and hand over the credit card * and the ultimate necessity: “não falo português” (I don’t speak Portuguese).

So, in Rio we did some shopping for souvenirs, got some great (I hope) presents for all y’all back home, and also stopped by a great art fair called Portas Abertas (Open Doors) in the bohemian neighborhood of Santa Teresa. That’s where we ate shrimp in a pumpkin. The neighborhood is up on the hills near the center of Rio, full of crumbly but gorgeous old homes from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. It used to be the retreat of the wealthy and now it has become the haunt of artists, the familial vestiges of old money, and brave pioneers who are staking out a claim and remodeling the old buildings. And my friends Carlos and João’s bed and breakfast company Cama e Café, which is super awesome.

Then we headed back to São Paulo, did some more shopping and headed out to the airport…where we promptly discovered that Dad’s flight was canceled, so we hopped a cab courtesy of American Airlines back to the hotel to spend another night. We got back just in time for a nightcap. Although waking up four hours after drinking your nightcap makes it more like a top-of-the-morning-to-ya, graveyard shift worker-way to start the day.

Oh, by the way, Starbucks has fully invaded São Paulo. Ok, not as much as the US, where they are so over carrying capacity that they are CLOSING STORES . However in São Paulo Starbucks gives you free wireless, pão de queijo (the only country in which Starbucks has considerably adapted its menu), smaller muffins and child-temperature hot chocolate. Oh and a “Brazilian Rainforest” blend. It is mind-boggling how the country that exports the most coffee and sugar to the world economy is IMPORTING a coffee shop! It’s not that Brazil lacks entrepreneurial spirit or great coffee shops: Suplicy Café , Santo Grão , Vanilla Caffe . I think the secret lies in the fact that the couple who brought Starbucks to Brazil is the same who brought Hard Rock Café, McDonald’s and Outback Steakhouse. Grrr….

I think that may be it…Stay tuned for the next installment of fun, which includes transportation on a bus, a car and…a boat! Again!

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