Brazil World Cup 2014 - Day 5

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Was tired of having to go out for breakfast every morning, so decided to go to the grocery store to get stuff for myself and Bryant. There was one very close to our apartments called "Big Box". Got bread, jam, nutella, cereal and milk. I was initially unable to find the milk and was very proud of myself when i was able to ask the store clerk in Portuguese and understand his reply to find it. Luis mentioned that for Brazilians in school it is mandatory to learn both Spanish and English also, but from my experience so far very few people have spoken English. Maybe we've only been interacting with shopkeepers and clerks type people who may not be as educated; whereas both our hosts and their friends spoke English. But definitely not possible to get by in this country without knowing Portuguese.

After breakfast we headed out to see a few of the sights in Brasilia. A tall TV tower which had an observation deck from which we could view the entire city. Then a cathedral with interesting architecture. And then the National Museum which was fairly small; they supposedly have rotating exhibits and today was mostly modern art and paintings. I personally prefer classical art to modern art: I just don't 'get' modern art and appreciate what looks like completely meaningless shapes and forms. There was one interesting piece i loved though: a photo of what seemed like an outline of a girl. But on closer inspection it was completely made of toys (lego, hot wheels, GI JOE etc) arranged to look like a girl looking sad. You'll see what i mean when i post the photo on Facebook but it was pretty amazing.

Then we drove out to a restaurant to watch the first game of the afternoon at 1pm between Argentina and Switzerland. Once again it was pay-by-weight buffet and once again i was far too tempted by everything on offer and ate way too much on a heavy plate. The dessert was absolutely delicious. I don't know if the chocolate here in Brazil is better/stronger but it was amazing. One of the chocolate dessert i had is called Brigadeiro; it was suggested by Luis's friend last night when i was asking him about traditional Brazilian foods. It sort of has a texture somewhere between pudding and cheesecake but it's made of chocolate. Anyway, i ate so much lunch that i skipped dinner tonight. The game itself was eventually won right at the end of extra time as Messi laid it on to Di Maria to apply the finishing touch. Was a relief for me because i wanted Argentina to qualify so i can see Messi live in our quarterfinal match at the stadium on Saturday.

We then drove back (we were doing all this with the rental car) and then walked over to a bar/restaurant just opposite our apartments right on time for kick off of the USA vs Belgium game. There were about 50 people in there watching on the various TV screens and big screens and a significant portion of them were Americans who had also made the trip here. Of course if USA won we would be seeing them as well on Saturday against Argentina, but alas they lost out to Belgium 2-1 after extra time. Was mostly a good match to watch though, and it was especially fun when the US made it 2-1 and were threatening a dramatic comeback: most of the people in the bar were pumped up and chanting "USA! USA! USA!".

No football for the next two days so we'll have to figure out more sightseeing to do. More tomorrow.

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