Friday 13th (dum dum dum)

Well some annoying things happened to me today. Whilst on the train, passing the smelly pine river there was a bloke who was standing next to me in the same carriage. He was grabbing the bar above his by both hands and holding on. As the train was travelling along the track, I started to feel a slight notion of some unwanted weight on the left hand side. At first, I just cast it aside as nothing, then it started to nag at me like a pain in the ass. Then as I looked to my left this bloke was bloody swaying back and forth whilst standing up and holding onto the bar. He was pissing me off and felt that it was ok for him to nod off whilst standing up right and swaying onto me. Fucker!

Then as I was making my way to meet my students down Berríni, I was busy speed walking, manouvering in and out of people like a clever dodger with nifty feet. Like Pegasus wings on my feet, if you get the drift. Then to my aghast there was a coach pulled up outside of a hotel, situated right next to the building that I have to teach. Lined up outside the coach were these bloody hotel guests who felt that in their mind it was ok to take up ALL the space and hog the whole side of the pavement. They just plopped their suitcases and what not’s onto the pavement, blocking the way for other passersby. I said spoke aloud when I said ‘’Oh for fuck sake, you’ve got to be kidding me!’’ , then a couple of the guests looked at me in dismay and then they cleared the path, like Moses clearing a path of the Red Sea. Yeah power in my hands bitches!

Then on the journey home to the republica down Butantã. I was at the Pine metro station, on the platform waiting for the train when some guy was full out in public crying.  He was rubbing his eyes, wiping his tears from his eyes, red puffy faced etc. I thought to myself ‘what a bloody attention seeker, grow some balls and man up’. Perhaps the man wanted pity or for other passersby to feel sorry for him. Well no Siree! Not this bloody girl!

So the journey finally continues, with me walking past the bakery along the main road. As I come up to the bakery I noticed a guy who looked like he was watering the bushes with a bottle of water. But as I neared, imagine to my horror when it wasn’t water he was dousing the bushes in. Yes, he brung his own hose to give the bushes a golden shower. Have these people no shame!

3 months on

 24^th May (Thursday) 2012

Well, let’s see what’s happened so far since the last blog entry, being Leap Year.

I had managed to go walk about, being a vagabond moving from town to town. I was staying in Tucuruvi for 3 months, until due to overcrowding had to move. Then went to Santo Amaro, for three weeks, and now I’m in Artur Alvim.

Now these places couldn’t be conveniently located towards the centre; instead the first was last stop going north, the second far south-east (running a long and beyond a smelly river) and now in what they call Zona Lost. I realise why now, it feels like eternity getting here.

stadium so far

Where the new stadium is being built

Map of SP metro

During all this colossal my hair started falling out. More than the usual 100 strands that women lose on a daily basis. I started getting a bald patch, so first thought was WTF am I gonna do? To which after numerous cancelled and rescheduled appointments later, the Dermatologist diagnosed me as to having ‘alopecia areata’, which basically means balding in women.

I thought that it was a result of me colouring my hair like a bitch throughout all this time, but this was not the case. This was brought on by stress. So now I have to rest as much as possible, otherwise I’m gonna end up looking like Cousin IT from the Adams family. Crikey!

Pacaembu Timao vs Palmeiras

Ok, looking to good karma things that have happened since...

I went to see a classíco game at the Pacaembu between Corinthians and Palmeiras. What a game! Never been to a game whereas the atmosphere was like that. Stadium wasn’t even full, imagine if it was. Well that was the game whereas a Palmeiras fan died and a few were put in hospital. Kids...

My team here... Corinthiana!

I decided to look at meeting new people here in this city, and hence responded to another Brit who was looking at improving her Portuguese and making friends. After a few e-mails exchanged, it was decided that we would meet down Paulista, in front of Shopping 3. Now, this girl waited 15mins then buggered off home. When I had arrived, I thought ‘where is she?’ That’s the English for ya! You would think that for someone whose in Brazil, she would get accustomed to people being late all the time. But noooooooo, she just legged it without notifying me. I tell you, it really grinded my gears! Stupid cow.

Japanese/Korean/Chinese= Lemmings

So I decided to join the Couch surfing meet-up group. They hold them every Tuesday’s down Augusta. It’s just a social group, whereas people who are in the city just meet and converse. These are people who work, study and are travelling in the city. A good way to meet new people. So last week was the first one that I attended. I thought, what have I got to lose? So I just went there and introduced myself to people, sticking out my hand and saying ‘hi, how are you my name’s Vanessa’ and so on. Everyone thought that I was Brazilian, cos I spoke in Portuguese. And each bloody one said ‘You are Japanese, right?’ or Korean. I mean, give me a break! And I swear, anyone that says ‘you are look the same, no difference to me’ is gonna get a bitch slap. No we’re not ‘all the same’, we’re not all Lemmings.

Swiftly moving on...

Work wise; I’m still teaching friends English. Not yet started working in companies, mainly because of my hair situation. No stress for the time being. Gotta get on the road to recovering. But I tell you, not working makes me feel useless. I feel like an invalid. But maybe next month, things will start having a routine and I’ll finally be able to enjoy myself.

Waiting on my working visa for my law job, so might as well teach Business assholes English in the mean whie. Then meet new people at these meet-ups and also spend more time with the few friends I have already.  

Notice how I said ‘few’ friends, there were more but I had to narrow it down a lot due to the encounters I’d had with them.

To be continued...

Leap Year...

Well an eventful month...
I'll break it down for you:

Work- managed to get more private students. But they are in lazy-mood because of carnival, so it's been a pain in the neck to get their asses back on track.
I'd managed to get an interview with a law firm here in Brazil, as they have joined part of the big law corporation that I am already working for DLA Piper. As they have two offices, one in SP and one in RJ it's protocol that I get interviewed by both branches then decide on where to stay and negotiate T&C's over contract. But that's almost certain to happen. So until my working visa comes through next month, I'll be doing the English classes til then.

Staying- am staying with a friend in Zona norte of SP. Had to move out as where I was staying previously, the guy was being a knob. He was looney!! Wanted to double the rent on an unfurnished dept. It's a nice area, apparently I'm living nearby Kaka's church. Yeah the one that he injected shit loads of dosh into. But damn, the route to here is up a steep hill. Plus the dogs are always chatting amongst themselves. Plus there's a warden who patrols the neighbourhood at night, which is why I hear whistle blowing all the time.

Places visited: well it was carnival from Fri-Tue here in SP. I didn't do anything. Just on that weekend went to a bbq. And boy do I love Brazilian bbq's! Love the meat! yum yum. Saw on tv the carnival bloco and on the last day controversy had to happen. Some idiot jumped over the barrier, nicked the results of the floats and legged it out of there. Then carnage started, with not surprising... Timão supporters causing chaos.

Caiu, (whole street of bars/clubs)

Mogi Mirim

I went to Campinas and Mogi Mirim on a whim, as a friend had invited me there for the Friday night. So I just took the bus from Tiete and went there. I noticed a lot of universities and churassco restaurants in Campinas. I'd only spent Friday evening in Caiu, in Campinas. A street full of bars and clubs etc. Then Saturday afternoon of to Mogi Mirim to meet some friends. On the way back to SP that weekend, I went pass Play Centre. Looked kinda shoddy if you asked me. 

Lapa

Anyhow tomorrow is 29th, Leap Day. It's supposed to be a lucky day apparently. Wonder what'll happen. Also am dying to go back to Rio to see my friends there, miss them. Who knows, I might just move back to RJ, nice to be near friends who you can talk to about things, who you can rely on and trust. Plus I thought that I would never say this but... I miss Lapa. Can't wait to go back and have a weekend partying and getting down in RJ.. bloody need it!

Happy Chinese New Year! (24/01/12)

Well officially yesterday the 23rd. Gotta ring my mother to wish her 'Sun neen fai lok' or 'Gong Hei Fat Choi'. It's supposed to be a lucky year round, year of the dragon.
I missed the opportunity to go to Liberdade to watch the lion dance. I guess I wasn't really in the mood to go. I really should go out more and meet new people. That means not relying so much on particular people all the time, to give me a call when they are free.

Well to summarise, been here for almost two months now. On the job side- managed to get a few private students through friends and friends of friends. I even managed to attend my first interview here in SP after donkey years. It's gonna be the same shit, teaching business English, but according to the companie's style. (Don't know if I want to do this)

Where I am living is a good place. Very central and easy to get to via bus and the metro. It's a nightmare to drive to though. I realised last month, that I live at the end of a street famous for prostitutes. I told the porters that I'm not a prossie, cos a lot of my friends have been meeting me where I live to collect me... but I'm looking to move out as soon as. I realised that I don't need a whole apartment to myself. I spend most of my time on the netbook or watching tv, so that suits me fine... and by the way, I can't be paying R$900 every month for an unfurnished apartment.

Sites and scenes. There's nothing to look forward to in SP city. The only place I want to see is Hopi-Hari and that's near Campinas. So going there by bus from the bus station, I assume that it'll take a couple of hours or so. I am planning on going back to Rio next month, for a long weekend or so. Hit the streets of Lapa and get into the 'groove'.

Encounters in RJ

So these are the people in RJ who I felt had made an impression on me. Good or bad, they all had an impact during my stay there. As I was staying in Zona Sul, I encountered a mixture of Carioca’s, Mineiros and a few gringos. It was good to explore different parts of the city and meeting new people. So all of these people I knew originally from the Internet, Couch Surfing meet-ups, meet-up group or were friends of friends.

Thank you Rio for the experience... we’ll meet again

Mr RJ- The studious and clever clogs one. Nicest person I’ve ever met in Rio. Also the longest person I’ve known. The problem towards my stay in RJ was managing to meet-up with him. But a very cool, funny and social guy.

Mr Welder- Good friend also. As he worked on a rig, he spent most of his time off-shore. Every weekend he always went to Lapa. He’s an American wannabe...

Mr London- I met this guy when I was in London. One of the people who ‘offered’ to marry me so that I could get a marriage visa. Yeah, not on your life! Marriage is for life, not just for visa. Anyway he only wants it so that he can stay in London. (Fat chance)

Mr Tarado- The health and safety inspector. His Facebook photo is of him posing next to a lifeguard stand. He thought he was David Hasselfhoff. ALWAYS a party he’s been invited to. The life and soul of a party.

Mr Captain- The good ole ‘born again Christian’.  Everyone has a friend like this. The one spreading the Good News of the Bible. He is the one always telling me to watch my mouth and stop swearing. I need a bottle of bleach to clean my mouth apparently. (lol)

Mr Apaixando- I didn’t understand about 60% of what this guy was telling me in Portuguese. He knew English, but wouldn’t speak a bloody word of it. I found him annoying, as he kept on staring at me. I was constantly thinking to myself ‘crap!’.

Mr Nerd- always one in the group! (again). Wanted to study IT, wore the stereotypical glasses, funny hair, t-shirt, jeans and trainers. Whenever he spoke English, he would sound like a ‘posh’ English person. Didn’t know if half the time he was being genuine or just taking the piss.

Ms L’oreal- a power lady, with a powerful position at a powerful company. First couple of times I met her, would speak in Portuguese. Then when I started giving her English classes, she would then speak English. She loved gringos. Always busy because of her work and hard to get hold of, but an extremely nice person.

Ms Baiana- important lady in an important company. I met her at a meet-up called ‘Aprender Ingles, learn Portuguese’. She was always in constant contact with me and checking to make sure that that I was doing ok. Pity I met her towards the end of my time in RJ, she became one of my closest friends.

Mr Braga- a friend of Ms Baiana, from Portugal. He promised to cook Portuguese food for me next time... so I’m holding him to that promise!

Mr Mineiro- the first of his kind I encountered. A bit of a chunky monkey, but he was ok. Though I did feel he was as sly as a fox. Didn’t trust the guy.

Mr Salgado- Joelho! When I was in RJ, we would meet almost every day and catch-up on events. We both worked as English teachers and were staying in Copacabana. I think it’s cos of him that my English has become infused with American English. (EW!) Every time we met, he would eat salgados. Bad influence on anyone who is on a diet- junk food addict.

Mr Marine- I know what you’re thinking. But no, he’s not gay. Very heterosexual. Nice guy who lived ‘over the bridge’ in Sao Goncalo. His English slowly improved towards the end. I gave him 3 classes and he was progressing well.

Mr Biscoito- Communicated with him for a couple of months online before we met in person. An extremely nice guy, who didn’t speak English with a Brazilian accent. We got along well as he had visited London twice and I enjoyed our talks about football.  I felt that he understood me better and knew exactly where I was coming from, as he had visited and lived in my city. It’s been difficult trying to explain my views on certain things or my behaviour, probably down to cultural difference. But he understood and I’m grateful for this.

He’s very passionate about the game and very loyal supporter of Fluminense football club. A guy you can definitely have good conversations with and a good time. He’s not just a pretty face...

Mr Forro King- Invited me to CCC Centro Cultura Carioca something something.  Was a pretty cool night, even managed to help teach my American and Aussie friend forro. 

Second week of New Year

I had made some new year rules.. well wouldn't really count them down as resolutions. But you get the drift...

As follows:

1- Stop drinking alcohol- not for health reasons (as I am blessed with wash board stomach & excellent health) but more so because from head to toe I turn bright red when under the influence of this stuff.

2. Stop hanging around with the wrong people- it's not about the quantity, more so the quality.

3. Have more clean, honest fun. So that means, attending social gatherings and going out with good, honest, reliable people who I can trust.

4. Behave myself more. I am a person of law, I must honour and protect my reputation. (hehe) After all ... I am an angel in disguise... :)

5. Spend more time with friends and family. Back home in London and over here.

6. Maybe start becoming more stable in my personal life and 'look for a boyfriend?' (In Brazil, is that possible, plus any takers?)

And on the 28th of December children...

Ok, I'm not exactly feeling inspired or motivated to do anything productive right now. I guess, I should try to summarise what 'jolly adventures' I've been on. But I dunno... maybe I need to be slapped on the face with a fish or a pair of gloves (whack whack)

On Wednesday, went tourist sight-seeing. So that meant bringing out the big ass map and circling places that Joel and I wanted to go, Journey started at 11am, as we walked to 25 de Marco. Definitely 'chingling', dirty streets full of people selling odds and sods. Then we walked up-hill to metro station Sao Bento. Down this path were a lot of fancy dress places, so if ever there is a fancy dress party coming up, then I know where to get my costume. (But most of the merchandise looked to be safadinha) tisk tisk

'genuine Cucci bags'

Ching-Ling!

Next on the list Ibirapuera Park. Though I can not for the life of me pronounce this place, I still like it! Went to Ana Rosa metro and had one long ass journey of a walk. We managed to see a place called 'Vanessa's, (it's a depilation place) Joel insisted I take a photo in front of it. I was too worried that the owner would come out of the shop and give us a bollocking over it. Anyhow, we got to the park and took a few photos, then we went to the kid's adventure playground and like ALL big kids we couldn't resist having a go on the rides. So the see-saw, the ridiculously low swing, the Flintstones car and then the climbing frame. We were WAY too big for the apparatus there and it bloody showed! 

Us showing the kids just how we do it!

Then back up the long path of hell to go back to the metro station. Yet, somehow we ended up coming out of a different exit and hence going to a different metro station further away.

Footy museum!

Pizza Rodizio with friends

Ok now, onto one of my favourite subjects... FOOTY. Onto the football museum. Now the walk going down is not a problem, (although you do have to walk by a big cemetary) but going back up... aint no way was that gonna happen. So we hailed a cab. Museum was good and informative. The shop though, load of rip-off merchants. Then after an eventful day, it was back to the Batcave for a well earned power nap. After powernap was done, it was onto a pizza rodizio in Zona Leste. Good stuff there. Mr Salgado, Joelho kept on saying yes as the various pizza's kept on flowing. Never seen a man consume so much pizza in my life (apart from those eating contests), I was worried that he would explode and I was sat right next to him!

Then by the Grace of God, we were given a ride home. That night, I couldn't sleep. Had a nightmare of a headache and I kept on tossing and turning in my sleep. I think that I managed to say 'crap' aloud. I had some markings on elbow and hand because some days ago. I was in a rush and tried to get up from an inflatable mattress. Now, those things are bloody dangerous and should come with a warning sign! I stumbled and fell, crash, boom, bang! 

29-12-11= another fell well for Joelho

So after waking up in the middle of the night several times, I managed to take a few headache tablets. It was only after taking these that I went for a nap and felt fine afterwards. So the plan was... Masp and then museum of Portuguese language. I found the Portuguese language place more interesteing. Apparently the word 'bra' came from England... I have to research into that. (Wikipedia)

There is an urban legend that the brassiere was invented by a man named Otto Titzling ("tit sling") who lost a lawsuit with Phillip de Brassiere ("fill up the brassiere"). This originated with the 1971 book Bust-Up: The Uplifting Tale of Otto Titzling and the Development of the Bra and was propagated in a comedic song from the movie Beaches.^[17] 

Yeah waste of time, didn't help. ..

Then i was back to the apartment to pack and head out to some diner for food. Prato Feito! I've become addicted to beans and rice since arriving here. Gonna have to watch my waist line.

So from there it was straight to Rodoviaria, due to the ever changing weather I had managed to acquire a cold and therefore went into a pharmacy to try and buy a medicine for this... R$25! Might as well sweat it out over the next couple of days... so I didn't get it, went home and slept... (bastards extorting money!)

Dum dum dum.... Happy Friggin' New Year!

. Well yes, I'm still in SP. I have to be careful of what I say about Paulistas/Paulistanos as you may never know... there could one day be a mysterious knocking on my door ...

Right new years eve. I was feeling kinda bored. It's not a big thing to me, new years in the Gregorian calendar. But I figured, better to spend with friends rather than couples etc. So ended up travelling to Villa Marilena or something like that to meet a friend who would collect me and we would go to Santo Andre. We had discussed specifically before meeting, that meeting point would be at the ticket counter. So when I arrived 10mins early (being the Brit that I am)  I found that they weren't there. So I stood there waiting like a lemon. Then an hour and a half had passed and I picked up the courage to ask a stranger if I could borrow her phone to send an sms to this friend. She was kind enough to let me. Then we found out that this friend not only arrived at the metro, but rather than bother to enter the actual station, he decided to wait outside in his bloody car (cos it was raining) and then bugger off. The audacity of some people! So 2 hours later we arrived in Santo Andre. A lot of people were there, and it was ok. The usual happened, I ate some stuff and drank some beers real quickly. Then was sick and then slept through new years. WAHEY! 


Then new years day. Nothing special to be honest. Ate some sausage and meat. Drank some soda. rsrs I wasn't exactly in a hungry mode. :p So that was my new years! But the company was nice, a mixed crowd of the mature, the incredibly young folk (who ask way too many nosey questions) and the young teenagers who just smoke way too much and drink too much. I mean c'mon, they idolise Bob Marley. Like how old are they! Get with the times man! :p

had it been Skol I would've been fine...

Ok moving on, on Tuesday I went to Shopping 3 to meet someone to start giving private English classes. Now why on earth Av Paulista needs shit loads of shopping centres is beyond me. PLUS they need to fix that metro map that they have been distributing. I had to go to Consolação metro station. I changed at Paulista metro and saw an exit that said 'Rua Consolação' so I followed it all the way up the never ending escalators. Then when I got out of the exit, I thought to myself.... 'hang on, this doesn't look like Av Paulista'. They don't actually tell you that you have to turn left out of the station, then turn left again and walk down. I took the other turning and walked down the street til I noticed a highway and female instinct kicked in and said 'let's turn back'. It didn't help that I was wearing my bright green 'I Love London' t-shirt and shorts. I must have looked like a right pleb! But I arrived in the end and had the lesson. 

Live music down Av Paulista

Rules for the metro... pt1.

Saw this in Liberdade

The next day I gave another lesson but this time in front of the library. Private classes for friends, is SO much more enjoyable and fun. I think I should join the trend of getting business cards printed. But I will distribute the business cards to those ONLY interested in learning English and not tarados. I've come across too many of those lately and since this is a new year, it's time to turn over a new leaf and behave like a really GOOD GIRL... so no tarados!