Birthday Party

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So it was Petrusco’s 3rd birthday on Monday so a family from the church wanted to take everyone out on Sunday to celebrate. We all went to the Brazilian equivalent of Chuckie Cheese except instead of Chuckie Cheese it was called Habib’s, instead of cheese pizza there was falafel and humus and instead of a mouse, there was a genie with a mustache. The best part was that the menu did not only consist of Mediterranean-ish fast food, but of course there were also the staple hamburgers and french fries. It was interesting.

One a side note about Habib’s, last night Neil was talking to me and he said that he and Marlida had wanted to have Petrusco’s birthday part at Habib’s but were not able to because they didn’t have the money. Instead, then just planned on having some family over on Tuesday for dinner and cake. On Saturday afternoon the family from church called and told Marlida and Neil that they would like to treat the whole family to a night out at Habib’s to celebrate Petrusco’s birthday. Neil and Marlida were so happy because it was an answer to their prayers that Petrusco could have the birthday they had hoped he would have.

Last night they had the extended family over to the house to celebrate his birthday and open presents. Neil’s mother, Neil’s sister and her husband and Neil’s sister in law all came over to celebrate. None of the other family members speak English so it was interesting trying my hand and speaking very poor Portuguese. It was a fun evening and I have posted some pictures of the festivities.

In other news….
I got out on my first Brazilian date yesterday! Although, does it still count if he was drunk and trying to sell me an opened box of chiclets?

I was thinking of ending each entry with a something new that I have learned about Sao Paulo. Today’s “What I have learned about Sao Paulo” Factoid is that for the people of Sao Paulo, stopping at red lights is not required, it is just merely a suggestion. I had to learn rather quickly that when crossing the street, I do not step out on the street just because I have the pedestrian walk symbol. Rather, I have to wait until ALL cars in ALL lanes have come to a complete stop. In addition to the cars and buses to be worried about, Sao Paulo has about a billion fearless teen aged delivery boys on motorcycles. These kids create their own lanes and make weaving in and out of buses part of the job description. They pay no attention to whether a light is red or not, so even when all the lanes have stopped, you have to just hope and pray that no motorcycle is whipping between cars. Oh, I kid you not, on Friday evening traffic was very bad when I was walking to my bus stop and some of these motorcycles had decided to drive on the sidewalk to avoid the congestion. Such craziness.

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Photos

Birthday at Habib's
Petrusco blowing out his birthday cake at his party at Habib's

Comments

[char]

did you get any chiclets at least?

[The Mom]

Love it
Ange, I'm loving this blog! Makes me feel a part of your experience. This family is amazing. love you

[B.Kahuna]

Ween, you look great! I am so happy you're staying with a nice family. Interesting that Char piucked up on that boyfriend comment so quickly... So how much were the chiclets? B.Kahuna

[Jill]

Ange: I'm so proud of you having this 'international experience'. Don't get hit by those crazy bicyclists. Love you, and am praying for you.