2014 World Cup - Day 8 - Blumenau

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My first day in Blumenau, my hometown, was great.

I got up and renewed my Brazilian ID. It was slightly outdated as the old one had a picture of a 14-year-old version of me. I think I’ve change a little bit in 24 years. Haha

Since renewing the ID went well and quick, I stopped by my friend Ruy’s shirt factory. Ruy and I were neighbours growing up, played tennis together, rode bikes, etc... so it was nice to see him. He has an event organized for tomorrow with recent NBA Champion Thiago Splitter, who plays for the San Antonio Spurs. Thiago is from here and went to the same school we did growing up.

My friend Jean then picked me up to go for lunch with a bunch of my school friends. They have lunch together once a month to catch up, and lucky for me, this month’s lunch is today. Lunch started at noon, people starting arriving shortly after, we had some beers, took some photos, I showed them the album Janel put together of the Olinger Family, etc... Everyone is so happy, they just joke around, one bugging the other, just like every single time I come here. This is one of the biggest differences between Canada and Brazil, and I notice it every single time. And they always treat me as if I never left, it’s amazing, as if I’m one of them. Lunch went a little longer than expected, more drinks were ordered, we had some shots, guys started cancelling their afternoons, etc... I had agreed to meet my grandmother at 3pm so my friend Joao gave me a ride to her apartment. I was told later that the guys continued drinking until 5pm, so good thing I left. Haha

My visit with my grandmother Gloria was great, we talked for about 2.5 hours. I hadn’t seen her in 8 years and we seldom talk. Janel prepared, for my grandmothers, a photobook with photos of all 5 Canadian great-grandchildren, so we went through the book right away. She absolutely loved it. I could see how much she was enjoying looking at these photos. A big thanks to Janel for putting this album together. My grandmother recently fell and broke her arm in 2 places, but she is recovering nicely and is in good spirits. There's never a dull moment when I visit her, but I did notice she appears much older than last time. She is now 87 years-old, so I enjoyed my time with her.

After my visit, I walked downtown and met up with my other grandmother, Ulla. She grabbed her usual taxi and swung by to take me to my uncle's house. I gave her the same photobook Janel made, and I first, she just marvelled at the cover. I then realized she didn't know it was an album. I told her to open the book as there were a lot more pictures inside. Haha She also loved the book and now can show all her friends. This grandmother actually has a Facebook account and sees pictures, videos, comments on things, writes us messages, etc..all the time. She says she often stays up until 2am on Facebook. Facebook has given her a new boost in life we think, as she is in much better spirits.

After my visit, my friend Jean picked me up again and we went out with his wife to a small pub downtown. There, a few others I had seen at lunch joined us. This pub was really nice, wasn’t super crowded, wasn't too hot nor too cold, and had a live band playing. I was quite impressed with the band. They played a lot of old popular Brazilian songs, songs from when we lived here, in addition to Beatles, The Doors, Bob Marley, etc... We stayed until 2 or so and then went to a burger joint for some food. I was in bed by 3:30 feeling pretty good, meaning not feeling sick or anything. I didn't have much to drink because I can't afford to suffer the next day like I used to do here on previous trips. There was a time I was throwing up all over the place down here, I think my grandmother thought I had a drinking problem. Haha



Tomorrow is a big day for us Brazilians as Brazil plays Chile in the first game of the Round of 16. Winner advances, loser goes home. It's going to be a tough game as Chile is a very dangerous team. We were hoping to avoid Chile because they are never afraid to play us. A lot of my friends think it's going to be the same old thing (3-1, 4-1 fro Brazil), but I think Brazil is going to suffer. I hope not, but that's what I think.

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