Hashim – The Sao Paulo ExperienceWeek Dois . . . the sick post
Sunday: Recovery Sunday
– We partied pretty hard and late the night before . . . all we could really do was recover today we mainly talked about what happened the night before
– Speaking of chilling it’s rainy and cold today the temp dropped from saturday night and Sergio has a bit more body weight on him so he’s not feeling it like I am
Monday: WTH? Who left the air on?
– I’d much rather have bad weather during the week and beautiful weather during the weekend but it’s couch, heavy blanket, chili, football, and movies cold now and I’m not feeling it . . . this IS the right Brazil right? it feels like Brazil, Indiana right now.
Tuesday: Typical
– It was Tuesday nothing really happens on Tuesday think about it when did you last have a ‘Tuesday’ story? Unless it was with someone named Tuesdae it probably didn’t happen or wasn’t that exciting.
Wednesday: Take your American to work day w/Nilson & the ick takes hold
What happens when a Brazilian who needs to polish up on his english takes an American who needs to polish up on his portuguese to work? I’m not sure I was there I know things happened but I don’t know enough to know what was really going on.
Stops with Nilson
– Glass Factory
A small factory full of large glass pieces – we enter an office with three ladies Nilson speaks to everyone and I sit I don’t say much and I’m somewhat ignored so I’m like cool. After a while he introduces me as his American teacher who doesn’t speak portuguese . . . I know enough to know he’s telling them I don’t speak portuguese. The lady who helped him offers me a Coffee I tell Nilson I don’t drink Coffee and the room falls silent . . . she offers juice, I agree, then Chi Tea which I love but when I sip the tea, it tastes like Lipton’s Citrus than Chai.
– Construction Company
Driving up I’d wish I’d brought my camera just to see the random sites while driving, and Nilson’s race car driving . . . I think it’s everyone there
Nilson’s company creates the frames for buildings (www.profersp.com.br) they’ve made the frame for this company’s site . . . we don’t talk but I know he’s been there before and he knows the site well. When we have to go through security he’s instantly frustrated. There is a gate to let you in the front parking lot and two others after that – one for employees parking lot and another to the offices/work area. The site is not that big and we are far from the city but I’m sure it’s needed.
As we meet with the ‘Money man’ I notice the cafeteria behind his office I can smell food and I notice that the guys are going in with no lunch bags or food. Free lunch at work? . . . why don’t we do this in the USA besides everyone being allergic to everything? It could be a selling point for someone somewhere.
And before we leave we are again asked if we would like a Cafe’ this time I opt for the OJ since there is no tea – the OJ here tastes different it’s not as sweet and has a different taste I think their Oranges are a quarter mango.
– Lunch Mall/shopping center
I can’t believe how many professional looking people are at the mall eating lunch there has to be an office building close. We get Chinese buffet they weigh your plate to figure out how much to charge you.
– Go home and go to sleep
Going to sleep in the middle of the day is not a good sign but I can’t do much more.
Thursday: Shim Sick
– The Ick is Officially Official whatever it is I have it bad & room dog is feeling it too
make it to the local Extra
– Oranges
– Banana’s – for the roommate I’m kinda allergic
– tea
– honey
– OJ
– Beer . . . because no matter how sick we get and complain like overgrown children . . . we are men and men drink beer #ManLaw
Friday: Ick working me like a part-time job
– Party Prep hanging with Nilson at the Extra
Did we talk about Nilson’s driving, well it’s not just Nilson it’s everyone . . . everyone is a runaway race car drive that found the escape from the go-cart course – I guess it’s because most cars are the size of a Fiat . . . wait most cars ARE Fiat’s!! ha ha ha ha … I’m not joking most cars here are very small. Speaking of rare finds it’s difficult to find cars that have no dents. I was told that 90% of the cars here are manual I was told by a local that driving automatic was difficult. You have to respect that because there are very few roads without a sizable grade.
– Hitting a local bar with Nilson after shopping
While drinking Sol we tried some bar food on a corner bar
Brazilian moonshine – unlike my previous taste this shot was much stronger. Brazilian moonshine is sweet and strong. While drinking you know it’s something strong (mainly from the smell) the taste is sweet and pleasant but like a typical moonshine one you swallow you feel just how strong what you just drank was. Not only did I feel it but when I noticed that Nilson was sipping his I knew that I was in trouble . . . I’d only had two bowls of soup and OJ as food that day.
French Fry (maybe yam) dish – I think it was a type of fried Yam cut like thick fries and served with chunks of pork that remind you of roast there was a brown sauce, it also had small red scallion bulb sized peppers, it needed salt but not much – Sergio ate his fries with ketchup, Nilson ate his with Mayo, I’m good with salt only – we discussed the president of Hunt’s Bernardo Hees who was also the president of Burger King. Nilson lets us know he’s Brazilian and that’s why you can find the brand in Brazil. We have more beer one more shot (I sipped then poured half of my shot into Sergio’s glass) . For our last dish we had the
Brazilian version of pork skins (no I’ve not learned my lesson about pork skin so yes I still eat the occasional pork skin) – I know I’ve lost many people with the mention of the first pork even more at skins. For the rest of you brave or sodium filled souls be sure to get your pulse and cholesterol checked after reading. The skins here are deep-fried with a bit of meat so that you not only get a piece of crispy skin but meat also. it’s drizzled with lime . . . this was #3 on my list there was too much lime and not enough crisp to the skin. My first bit was great, a crispy sin-filled salt crunch followed by a satisfying bite of meat. Somehow it went wrong after the crunch and bit . . . either there was too much grease or too much lime. Either way there were juices from the meat that didn’t give any real flavor. I was still sick so I can’t say if it was the food didn’t have a taste or if my mouth that wasn’t working. After talking to Sergio after he mentioned that it wasn’t right so I’m going to give it another try. That night I found myself hunting down pieces of meat with my toothpick . . . adding a drop or two of hot sauce.
Saturday: Wait whose kids are these and why are they the life of the party?
– Invited friends over for a party at the apartment it was a great time but there was a young guy there he was about 5 years old. Apparently this guy has a girlfriend who’s much taller than him (he doesn’t have a problem with it); he takes great photos (he took several during the party asking us to inspect his work); he is a super hero and or has super hero powers (several demonstrations of him powering up were given); and with his jacket over his head he’s a great ghost (until tickled). One thing I know for sure is that he knows much more portuguese than I. I’m either enrolling in kindergarten and/or starting a disciplined regimen of Brazilian kid shows.
If you could would you come down and teach english to experience a simple way of life? What would you need to know/list of needs to make a trip like this?
Seeing italics type at the end of a blog post it looks like a sales pitch to me.
** To ensure quality, this post has not been checked for grammar or spelling errors **
Comments are currently closed.