Watch out the gringos are coming!!!!

We were at the movies last weekend and one of the pre-preview commercials had a voice singing, "the gringos are arriving, are you ready?" and we were the only ones in a crowded theater that burst out laughing for quite a while. Anyways, now I am hearing it all the time on tv and its just too funny. Cel-Lep is a language school that I actually first started taking lessons from and well I ended up with an interesting teacher that enjoyed making excuses for why she couldn't make our class at least once a week (and if she actually showed up she continually asked if I was pregnant, loved grabbing my cheeks and prayed for me to have a baby. but thats besides the point). The package was unfortunately paid in full and I am one of those people that needs to learn how to complain more when I receive bad service because instead I just felt bad for her and never said anything. Well thats over with now, but hopefully they have employed a more motivated crop of teachers for this latest influx of hopeful brazilians frantically trying to get ready for the gringo explosion!

Enjoy

Sao Paulo Fashion Week

I am still trying to meet the right person to hook me up with a way in to see something during Sao Paulo Fashion week but until that happens I rely on other's photos. "The Face Hunter," a fashion blogger and avid people watcher always goes and always has a great series to check out. Here is his visual diary of pictures from the last week, an eclectic mix of fashion and city.



heres a few favorites...

Love and Baby Bumps

This weekend I got to shoot a beautiful mommy to be. She is due at the end of February and despite the rainy weather we found a little sunshine in the praça near Parque Ibirapuera. I wanted to style a picnic with lots of pink balloons but it was too much to risk with the flash storms and saturated soil. A park bench did the trick along with a few inside pictures. My favorite is the black and white in the doorway. I love that maternity pictures are so popular these days, its fun to celebrate the transformation of the female silhouette especially in Brazil. Brazilians love their mommas-to-be and their babies, I am amazed when I see crazed drivers and manic motoboys slow down and quickly become cautious for a woman clearly pregnant. On the bus people give up their seat immediately, hold bags and all too often bump touch without invitation. But certainly better the opposite I suppose. A lot has changed, in my grandmother's era women stayed inside and hoped neighbors wouldn't notice anything, keeping very private. Two generations later and way down south here at the beach women sunbathe and swim right up to the last few months publicly and very happy. Can't wait to meet the result of this lovely family in a few months.

"E" is for "Baby Emma" 

The Hunger Games got me...

I never read the twilight series. So when a friend mentioned, "The Hunger Games," and related it to the vampire series I felt like I would never go for it. But then I did and now its all I do. Its consumed me and while they are quick yet thick reads I am not a quick reader. So for the last few weeks I've been prying myself away around 2am and instantly waking up for more. These characters have played with my dreams and visit my imagination throughout the day. I am finally starting book 3 and its one those books I am afraid to end as it will feel like a bad breakup when it's over (but then again a lot of books do that to me, I get very emotionally attached). Young adult, you bet but every once in a while its good to jump into another world and shake things up.  Its a morbid tale of love and futuristic battles, crazy government styles and strife. Suzanne Collins designs a very enthralling world that is easily addictive and identifiable.  Not to mention the first movie of the series comes out in the US in March and I just hope its around the corner for us here in Brazil. The book has been on the New York Times Best seller list for more than 60 weeks now so clearly I am not the only one swept away.

Ill be back when I finish book 3...

Hello again

Well, Happy New Year! I've been working on revising my blog layout/design these days and wanted to wait until it was done to write my first 2012 post all fresh and new but then I decided that was silly.  I don't want to wait. Too many things to talk about and somehow it is almost month two of 2012. How the heck did that happen?! 

In the midst of that 2011 finish I was back to the US hanging out with family, patting a lot of baby bumps and kissing friends and new kiddos. It was nice to be rejuvenated and back in touch with North America but towards the end of the trip I was missing Brazil. There is a lot of pressure in coming back at least for me because I found some new jobs right before I left and I was nervous after that time lapse picking back up where we left off might be tough. January IS vacation month for Brazilians, kids are out of school and beaches up and down the country's coast are packed with visitors. The city is dead (in comparison to every other month), traffic is light and catching people in business mode is tricky. But it’s nice to be home, unpack our carriage sized travel trunks and return to the good ole routine. And the beach. 

(taken in Rio)

Stay tuned for some catchup posts, like our beautiful trip to Bonito in Mato Grosso do Sul and a marathon Rio vacation over Thanksgiving. Rio just gets me every time... such a beautiful city!


beijos

Chef Vivi

Im way beyond behind on posts. I came back from a mini vacation and a lot of time with in laws to hundreds (380 to be exact yikes) of google reader posts to catch up on and that seemed more exciting than writing my own. But then I went to dinner again at our new favorite restaurant in Sao Paulo (which just so happens to be right up the street from our house, lucky us) and I thought, I must brag about this place! Its teeeny tiny so make sure you call about a reservation before coming over, but I just love it. The chef, Vivi is as wonderful as her culinary expressions. Having left Brazil more than 10 years ago, she spent time in Asia and Europe learning and cultivating her specialties. The menu changes daily according to what is available in the garden and in season and I think I fell quickly in love because it reminded me of some of our favorite spots in Chicago that were very much the same.

So heres my little postinho telling the Paulista's out there to give her a try. It is definately a bit pricey but then again I am so jaded by what a typical dinner for two costs these days with such extreme over pricing in this city that it may not shock you to pay more than 60R for a typical dish. Either way, I feel its worth the splurge every once in a while.

Chef Vivi
Rua Girassol, 833 - Vila Madalena 

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” – Mae West

Happy 1 year brazilanniversary to us (thanks Danielle for this very appropriate diction)! It feels like yesterday and then again many years ago. But when our feet hit the ground in this wonderful country 365 days ago we were running sideways, forwards and backwards all at the same time. I took up this blog as a way to remember our journey and share our many experiences with family and friends but it has also been therapy for the sometimes tough but usually beautiful moments we've had trying to get a grip on it all. I thought I grew up a lot after college but I didn't realize that was minuscule in comparison to this past year abroad. A and I are both in a place in our lives where we are trying to figure out our future professionally in the midst of new career paths and zip codes (CEP codes to be exact) and we have been tested, tried and sometimes brought to tears. But there is nothing like a journey with your partner, one year of marriage down and one common adventurous goal checked off the life list for us both.

The good news is the first year of anything is always the hardest and if you go by visual imprint only, I'd say we had it pretty good thus far. We've seen the most incredible waterfalls in Iguazu, beaches in the north, two fabulous carnivals of completely different scale in Tiradentes and Rio respectively, the incredible landscape of the Pantanal, a few trips to Buenos Aires and lots of amazing things in between. We've met wonderful people and made lifelong friends and that is just the beginning.

The bad news is that I miss country music and chocolate chips. But in learning to manage, I've gladly replaced both with bossa nova and every fruit you can imagine and then some you can't. It sounds healthier if you forget that I also pretended like I discovered steak and cheese bread for the first time and together they bought a not-so-luxurious duplex apartment in my stomach and butt; eviction notices ignored.

What a year, so here's a few things we've learned so far...


-the mule travel system is sacred and its important to happily inform any visitor they will probably have to dodge fed ex for a month prior to departure and carry another duffle down just for us. 


-how best to spend an entire afternoon and evening eating. just eating. and enjoying eating. and talking about eating. and thats on sunday. every sunday. 


-that the gym is not just for working out your muscles, but more importantly your vocal chords and your spandex collection. 


-that in every crowd of brazilians there is always a Bruno and a Leticia so if you can't remember anyone's name best try those first. 


-ha, you thought NY was expensive. 


-drop crotch pants are the new skinny jean, for some reason a la crotch extends down to your knees. i dont understand it. men and women both. its terrible. 


-the farmers markets here rule. 90 cents for 20 bananas? ill take it. it makes all the other expensive things feel better. well not really i lied about that last statement but i like farmers markets. 


-novelas are awesome and thats a fact. 


-i get to kiss (on the cheek) a lot of people and i like it.


-nothing like a coffee after breakfast, lunch and dinner. and you get a cookie too. bonus!


-my butt's gotten bigger but my bikini bottom's gotten smaller? fact of life. (As Carmen Miranda said, "Look at me and tell me if I don't have Brazil in every curve of my body")


-get over yourself and show more skin. americans are way to demure.


-louis vuitton is apparently the stamp of approval you've made it. brazilians are obsessed with this brand more than any other. 


-nothing is ever on time. you are never late. there is always traffic to blame and generally people are very forgiving. its both a blessing and a curse.


-cab drivers are your friends. they don't believe in a plexiglass separator it would be insulting. when i use the same one over and over we kiss and hug like long lost pals. 

-Brazil is beautiful and I can´t wait to spend more years here!

Ahh the stage is set and the adventure continues.

beijos