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Published: June 17th 2008
So I made it!
After 1 flight cancelation on Saturday and a rather long flying day on Sunday filled with mishaps, I finally arrived in Sao Paulo at 9:15pm on Sunday night. When i exited the customs area I was immediately greeted by Marlida, the women I will be staying with, and her three year old son Juan Pedro. During the car ride home we did our best to communicate through her broken English and my terrible Portuspanish hybrid of a language. She did much better than me.
Once home she showed me my room and around their two bedroom apartment. She had given me one bedroom and therefore all four members of her family would be sharing the other room. When I insisted that I didnt need my own bedroom she told me that the children like sleeping in their room anyway when it gets cold so it is okay for me to have my own room. This is just one small glimpse into the immense generosity of this family.
The rest of the night was spent chatting with Marlida with the help of the English to Portuguese dictionary until her husband, Neil, and her 6 year old daughter, Maria Isabelle, came home with brazilian pizza (with bananas). The first thing Neil said to me was ''my house is your house.'' The entire family is as nice as they can be and I am so thankful that I will be living with them during my stay.
Marlida had gone through the trouble to figure out the bus situation for me and was able to find a commuter bus that is basically a Greyhound type bus with full reclining seats that picks me up right in front of their apartment and drops me off an hour and a half later to my work. Although the commute is long (although this is unavoidable in Sao Paulo) and the bus is more expensive than the normal public buses, it is great to have such curb-side service. The other option would be public buses which are horribly crowded and I would have to change buses several times. This bus I will be taking even has assigned seats and the women I sit next to, although she does not speak English, she is very nice and even gave me her phone number in case I have any troubles.
As for the work I am doing, everyone at the Insituto Aldolfo Lutz that I will with are so friendly and extremely helpful. I am exicted to be working in the project they have for me.
I havent been able to take many pictures because I leave for work when it is dark and come home after dark so I hope to have some nice pictures of Sao Paulo after this weekend.
Beijos!
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Danielle
non-member comment
:o)
Viva O Portuñol!