Observations and more

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Hi, Everyone.

It´s about 11:30 at night, but I did promise some more info and since my mom thinks I´ve been kidnaped, I thought I´d better go ahead and add an entry.

I guess the place to start will be my experience with the Brazilian police. A few days ago, Lu and I were running several of her errands when we had a car accident. I think I mentioned the way people drive here. Well, another problem is that many of the stop signs are placed about 5ft from the intersection. You have to stop at the sign or you could get a ticket. (Of course, that probably was better than the accident!) Anyway, Lu stopped, it was impossible to see if the cross traffice had a stop. Turns out they didn´t. As Lu was going thru the intersection this black car seemed to come out of nowhere and hit her in the front bumper of the drivers´ side. We spun around and the backend hit a lampost. We ended up on the other side of the street. Luckily no one was hurt. The driver of the other car was out of her car in a flash and started calling people. Lu had to borrow someone´s cell phone and call her dad. When he got there, we sent him to the hotel for Tom. In the meantime, the other driver had her mom, dad, some other people and her insurance agent all at the scene of the accident...even before the police showed up. Some guy was taking pictures right after the accident. Lu said that he said he was doing that ´cause the residents and businesses were trying to get a light put in there. Apparently there have been quite a few accidents at that corner. The cop was very efficient and the way Lu and Tom talked believed Lu´s story. There was alot of loud talking and gesturing from a couple of the people with the other driver. We also had to wait for the Avis towtruck. The next day the got us another car. All very exciting! Lu had to go to the police station the next day and make out another report.

Here are some observations about Brazil: I think I´ve already mentioned the security measures residents have to take. In the malls, the security guards wear bullet proof vests and carry guns. When the Brinks-type truck stops at a business, there are 2 guards with rifles that stand outside the business. The bank we´ve used has a metal detector. (I found that out the other day when I kept setting it off as I tried to go thru the door to use the ATM. Nearly had another experience with the cops!)

The customer service in stores and restaurants is amazing! The minute you step in the door, there are people wanting to help. We should use this method in the states ´cause I think businesses would sell more. Here´s an example. When we first got here, Lu and Pat bought some shoes, but I didn´t. I said later that if we have time, I´d like to go back. A couple of days later we did go back. 3 people showed up to help us. They just kept bringing shoe after shoe after shoe. I had intended to buy maybe 2 pair. I ended up with 7! I´ve never bought that many shoes at one time before. Unfortunately, most of them are sandals, so once I´m home it´ll have to be warmer to wear them.

Dinner around here is at about 10pm. That´s my bedtime! Then after dinner, they want to serve really strong coffee. I don´t drink coffee, so I usually drink some tea. We went to a German restaurant about 7:30 one night and the restaurant had just opened. I think we were the second group of diners there. I was discussing this with one of Lu´s friends tonite. She said that´s because the Brazilians usually eat a fairly big lunch. I know we did, but I just thought it was because we were on vacation. We´ve been having breakfast at the hotel (buffet), then lunch somewhere (like a dinner type lunch), then about 5pm have a little snack which is usually something sweet, then dinner at 10pm. Whew....I can barely keep up!

The women Lu know dress very well, but not fancy. The clothes they were are very nice. Shoes are mostly flat sandals or other shoes that are flat. Not many wear high heels or if they do, it´s not for day wear. Most every woman wears either really tight jeans or spandex type pants with long shirts over. Even the women who have no business wearing this type of clothing wear it. One thing I haven´t seen here are young men with their pants hanging off their butts. Brazilian men seem to like their clothes to fit well, even jeans and shorts.

When you go to someone´s house (altho I´ve seen it in some of the stores as well), they like to pass around a communal tea mug. It´s something on the order of a beer stein, but curved in the middle. They use a green tea in it. The tea is packed into the mug and leveled off at the top. Hot water is then poured in and a strainer straw called a caya is put into the mug. The mug is then passed around. When it´s your turn, you´re supposed to drink the water thru the straw, put in more hot water and pass it to someone else. The straw has a strainer at the bottom so you don´t suck in the tea. It´s a taste that´s acquired. When you first start drinking it, it kinda tastes like grass tea might taste. Another drink that is sometimes communal is what appears to be the national alcoholic drink called caipirinha. It´s made with lime, sugar and I think some type of rum. It´s very good!

BBQ is performed not on a grill like we do, but in a stone churrasco. Wood is burned and the meat is put on large skewers and hung across the fire. No BBQ sauce is used. It gives the meat a really good flavor. Of course beef is one of the favorite things to serve for dinner. Another meat they like to cook in this manner is chicken hearts.

Sunday Sebastian was baptized. There´s another experience. I may have mentioned in an earlier posting (and if I didn´t you´re hearing it now for the first time) that most buildings do not have (or don´t use) airconditioning. That means the church wasn´t and it was really hot. They baptized about 10 babies at the mass. Near the beginning of the mass, the priest came down and (I guess) blessed each baby. Then later each baby was actually baptized. At the end of the service, the priest came down again and appeared to be blessing each baby. At one point members of the congregation could get up and congratulate the parents of the babies. During any parts of the mass that involved the babies, suddently people with cameras stood up and started taking pictures. The church must have their own guy video taping the mass ´cause this guy was everywhere! The whole process seemed kinda chaotic. The church was very beautiful. After the service we went to what Lu called a "safe" park, but was what would be considered a country club here. It wasn´t fancy and didn´t have a golf course, but it did have a pool, children´s play area, tennis courts and a restaurant.

Yesterday we drove about an hour south of Novo Hamburgo up into the mountains to a town called Gramado. It was a beautiful drive and much of it reminded me of the mountains in KY, TN or VA. Gramado is pretty much a tourist town. The main streets with the stores appear to be much like Aspen. (I´ve never been to Aspen, but the streets are similiar to what I´ve seen when I´ve seen pics of Aspen.) Lots of stuff to buy. The architecture is a mix of German and Swiss, with maybe emphasis on Swiss. We stayed at a lovely hotel called the St. Hubertis. You can take a look at it at www.sthubertis.com. (I think I have the spelling correct.) When you pull up pics of the room, the Deluxe is similiar to the room I had. There is a small lake behind the hotel and this morning went out in the swan boats onto the lake. The boats are the paddle boats. Also, had a massage there this morning.

Tomorrow I think will be spent meeting up with more of Lu´s friends (and eating). Thurs we move on to Rio. I´m not sure, but I think we´ll only be in Rio for one night, then 3 nights in Buzios which is on the beach. I´m looking forward to that. Anyway, that´s all for now! More later.

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