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Published: February 8th 2007
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Patio Lounge
I love this camera. Ahh, getting up at 7 in the morning. It's been such a long time since I've had to to that. Natasha and I met Felipe at the Barra Funda bus station at 8:00 to make our hour and a half bus ride to Sorocaba. Quaint in comparison to Sao Paulo, Sorocaba proved a quieter Brasilian experience. We settled in at Marcela's (a longtime friend of Natasha's) and soon hit the pool. I jumped at the opportunity to test drive my new near-speedo "sunga", as they call it. I'll let you use your imagination for that one; none of the pictures survived (unfortunately). After drying off we had lunch and I met Marcela's family. At this point I'm still dreading the introductions to any family, fearing scrutiny for my barely passable Portuguese. Otto and his wife, Marcela's parents, turned out to be welcoming and glad to have an American staying in their home. We relaxed on the shaded patio and talked while I studied out of my language book and Felipe studied his English. Granted I am young, I have never seen anyone put away as much cerveja as Otto did that day. The man knew how to pace himself, and was
Diligent Study
Like it's difficult in a place like this. entirely unaffected. Recently retired, it was evident he had plenty of time to perfect his craft.
That night we went out to the Tribeca Lounge (?) and I had plenty of excuse not to speak because of the pounding electronica. I still haven't heard as much Samba as I expected. It turns out they like Christina, Fergy and 50 Cent even more than we do. I even heard a remixed Phantom Planet track. The night ended in us being entirely too loud and Otto politely inviting us inside. The next morning wasn't quite as cool. The moral of this evening? If anyone ever suggests something called "Amarula", they are not your friend. Politely excuse yourself and find new people to talk to. After taking popping a handful of painkillers and sleeping a bit more, I woke up to some of Marcela's family over for the day. I walked outside to laughter and jokes at my expense, but soon felt comfortable with the crowd.
The remainder of the day was the most worthwhile portion of my trip to date. These four, Marcela's parents and her aunt and uncle, were incredibly patient with me as I tried to answer their
Sao Paulo Afternoon
The view from Felipe's bedroom. questions and describe where I came from and what I was doing in Brasil. It was all laughs for a few hours and when the two eventually left, I remained seated with Otto, continuing to talk. Among the more interesting topics were the differences and similarities concerning education and politics between our countries. Brasil is a very different place. On top of that, I couldn't believe the fluency with which I was rattling by the end of the day. I have no idea what Otto did for a career, but if he wasn't a teacher, he should have been. I acquired more vocabulary and colloquial understanding this day than in the previous week. The three of us returned to Sao Paulo that night, me feeling much more confident than I had before we had left for the weekend.
The following day I took my first outing on my own, eventually stumbling upon a gym or "academia". That night I took my first Jiu-Jitsu class. How can I describe it? Well, there's really nothing quite like taking a beating from a twelve year old. Well ok, not a beating, but the kid knew what he was doing. All of these
Refreshing
That's Marcela in the sunglasses and Otto in the center. guys knew what they were doing, or so it seemed from my novice perspective. The warm up consisted of hoisting your partner up on your shoulders and circling the mat, running as fast as you can. Pretty ridiculous, but exactly what I've been looking for. Getting thrown around each night is so much fun, and I am (very) slowly beginning to understand leverage, body position, the error of tilting and so forth. The guys are all willing to help me out too, and as expected, I was "Gringo" by the end of the week. It was good to get back into an exercise program this week and begin the study of this martial art. The only avoidable error I made was drinking excessive amounts of Acai before my first class. It's a thick almost (but not quite) grape/bubble gum flavored juice from a fruit I can't even imagine the looks of. A solid week.
Oh yeah, and I finished Dune. Rad. Just freaking rad.
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Natasha
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Huahuahuahua ; )
huahuaha that weekend was awesome! hehehe I'm glad that you had fun and enjoyed Marcela's family... You're sleeping, and I should get some sleep...so I won't be long this time =p See you soon "fofo" ps: where's the portuguese word of the day?? O_O