Click Your Heels and Say . . . (Day 9 in Brasil)

We are home from Brasil -- only two days late. The delay gave us day 9 in Brasil.

Cris left early Sunday morning for church as she sings in the choir (just like last Sunday). After a quick stop at the padaria, Nancy and Mike shared a taxi with Fred, dropping him off at church (where he'll have breakfast with Cris before the second service), and then heading to the Botanical Gardens of Sao Paulo. What a beautiful place! Very, very tropical with palm trees, orchids, birds of paradise, and other wonderful plants. There are lots of photos.

The plan was that when we were done, we were supposed to say to someone, "Voce pode chamar um taxi por favor?" (Can you call me a taxi?) [To which I responded to Fred, "you're a taxi". Unfortunately, there was no taxi stand as there had been at the park, no one knew anyplace to call, and the only taxis that went by were full and going in the wrong direction. Luckily Fred had given us one of cell phones. We called and explained the problem, he called a taxi company, and, about 20 minutes later, the taxi showed up, taking us to the Chinese restaurant where everyone was waiting. (As Fred explained, this was a good Chinese restaurant, the owners were actually Chinese.) We were a little surprised to see that there were three other people besides Cris and Fred. Nancy realized the other lady looked very much like Cris and deduced it was her twin sister Priscilla (along with husband Sergio and thirteen year old son Dmitri). The food was good, we had fun, especially as everyone spoke English.

When we came out it had started raining. It was still raining when we got to the apartment. It was raining hard at the soccer/football game we turned on (Sao Paulo versus someone). In fact it was raining so hard the start of the game was delayed because everything at the field (including the lower parts of the stands) were flooded. They showed a lady being airlifted out by helicopter as she'd gone into labor. They also showed some of the roadways in Sao Paulo that were flooded, particularly the highway with the river that runs through the median, the highway that goes to the airport. Now we were worried that we might not make it to the airport.

We left the apartment a little before 6 pm. At one point the roadway did slow down and Fred took an alternate route (one that is usually fairly busy, but we think many of the cars were caught somewhere by the flooding). He was then able to cut over to the highway which wasn't flooded and was moving freely. We were at the airport in about 1/2 hour. Thanks to Mike's silver elite status, we were able to bypass the long check-in line. Finally, our luggage was checked and we had boarding passes. Mike, Cris, and Fred had Ovalmatine McFlurries (yes, they contain ovaltine). And then it was time, again, to say good-bye. We made it through security and found our gate. Nancy bought a last can of guarana and some mini cheese bread.

And  then we actually boarded the plane, which actually took off. Dinner was served, lights were turned out, and we slept. A little over an hour before we landed lights came on, breakfast was served (this time the fruit cup came from Brasil so it was honeydew melon and papaya!), and custom forms were handed out. The plane landed at Newark (Liberty) Airport and we were back in NJ at around 6:13 am. Amazingly, just about an hour later, 7:15 am, the car service was pulling up in front of our house. Mike raced inside (the driver helped get the suitcases up to the front door) and Nancy paid the driver. By 7:45 Mike was at school (it helps that we only live three blocks away).

As Dorothy said . . . "there's no place like home". (There will be one more blog, no photos, just some thoughts about being in Brasil.)

Day 9 Photos

Ground Hog Day, Brasil Style (Day 8 in Brasil)

 We are still in Brasil . . .

Friday morning we packed so that we'd be ready to head to the airport later in the day. As you know, the flight was canceled. Which meant some unpacking for Friday night. And then packing again Saturday morning (at 5:30 am) so we could leave for the airport at 6 am.

Fred dropped us off at what we thought was the right place for Continental. Of course we really needed to be at the other end of the other terminal. Eventually Fred found us and helped with some translating which basically came down to Continental hadn't communicated well with TAM so, although Continental sent us a confirmation e-mail, TAM had no record of us -- and no seats! We were sent to another line, to get on the wait-list. Fred and Nancy went in search of the Continental office. We eventually found one (down a snaking corridor) but it was closed. Someone at one of the other airline offices told Fred how to find the other office (up an escalator, behind the telephone office, down the hall). No one there either. So, it was back to Mike. After more standing in line and Fred talking with the supervisor, bottom line, no seats.

Back to the car; as we loaded our luggage in Fred's car, he said, "Welcome to Brasil." Nancy responded, "Abrigado (thank you)". Then we headed back to the apartment with a stop at an electrical supply store (Fred needed some things for the office), and then at the office. This time, however, Nancy was able to say, ahh, there's the building with the tall antenna, there's the Greek Orthodox church, there's the complex of buildings where Fred's office is. Back at the apartment building, Fred said, "Welcome to our apartment." Nancy responded, " 'brigado."

And it was time to partially unpack, again, and change out of our travel clothes (long sleeve t-shirt, smartwool socks) and into our Brasil clothes so we could go across the street to the padaria for breakfast. Of course they were very surprised to see us; Nancy told Fred to tell them the breakfast was so bad at the airport we had to come back. The dogs (Noelle and Tasha) were very glad to see us again and so was Cris (who was now awake, Saturday is her only day to sleep in, during the week school starts at 7 am).

We had a quiet morning, Fred went off for the meeting he'd postponed, Mike took a nap. Nancy and Cris visited a local shop (they call it an apothecary, it's like the Body Shop or Bath & Body Works). Nancy got passion fruit body lotion and guaranara hand cream (guaranara is a small berry used for Nancy's favorite Brasilian soda).

We went down the block for lunch at Metrolandia Lanchonete (which is pretty much what it's name suggests). As we were leaving the building, we ran into Gabby, Marcio, and his mother and they agreed to join us (we had dinner with them Thursday night). Mike and Nancy shared feijoada, a typical Brasilian dish with bits of meat stewed in beans, rice, greens, and cassava flour (farofa) (see the photos and the links for more information). Then it was back to the apartment for a quiet afternoon. Nancy took a nap, Cris worked, more episodes of Big Bang Theory were watched. A quick trip to the padaria bought the makings for a light dinner (rolls, cold cuts, cheese). This was followed by a House marathon.

And then just as Mike was about to check-in for our flight, the power went out. Luckily Cris had an iPhone, and we were able to check-in and get bulkhead seats. We went to sleep by flashlight. 

Day 8 photos

We're Flying Home When? (Day 7 in Brasil)

Apparently one should never tempt fate by saying "we're enjoying our penultimate day" -- this morning (after our usual breakfast at the padaria and lots of hearty ciao's) Mike went on-line to check tonight's flight home and found it was canceled. The next scene was Mike on the Vonage phone to Continental in the US, Fred on the landline phone to Continental Brasil (while fielding calls on his two cell phones), and Nancy on the computer. Eventually Fred got through and was told we would be put on the Sunday night flight, getting in Monday morning. When I protested, he gave me the phone and I got to explain to the nice Brasilian agent that we had work on Monday and couldn't arrive that morning. Eventually he offered a Saturday flight, leaving at 8:45 am (Brasil time), arriving at JFK (my least favorite NY airport) 4:45 pm (EST), on a plane operated by TAM (the Brasilian airline, partner with Continental). We agreed.

So, we had the whole day ahead of us. And what else is there to do but shop. Fred took us to a nearby mall. We left Mike in a nice chair with a folder of work and we strolled around the mall. Many of the stores were having big sales (mainly on clothes and shoes). Apparently Fred felt I knew what I was doing because he left me to go to a quick meeting across the street. After wandering around for a while, I found the Brazilmania store where I was able to buy a few souvenirs. I went down to show Mike my finds (leaving the bag with him).

Then I found two different homeware stores. You'll see my photos of different glass objects, fondue pots, and caipirinha kits (allows you to make a really potent Brasilian drink). There were also all the items needed for your own barbecue -- huge skewers, huge knives, etc. As with any good mall, there was a McDonalds; this one had a separate stand for the ice cream.  Lunch was at German restaurant where we all had rib eye steaks (what else would you eat in a beef country?) We went to a huge bookstore in the mall where Mike found some more DVDs of Brasilian musicians. Check out the photos of movies you know and love, but in Portuguese.

One of our other friends (Fabio) came over to join us for dinner. We met him last year when he came up to NJ with Fred. We went to a really lovely pizza restaurant where we ate outside among the trees. We had an appetizer that was a Brasilian version of eggplant rollatine. Mike's pizza had mushrooms and onions. The other pizza had cheese, egg, asparagus, and parma ham (it tasted really good). There are photos, but none of dessert -- my guava tart.

Hopefully in the morning I'll be on a plane home and the next time you hear from me is from NJ.

Day 7 photos

Bom Dia (Good Morning) from Brasil (Day 6 in Brasil)

On our penultimate day in Brasil we started, as usual, at the padaria. This morning Nancy had a multigrain roll and her orange and papays juice. (The juicer at home may have to come out of storage.) This morning Fred had errands to run so he dropped Nancy and Mike at the huge park in Sao Paulo. Mike describes it as SP's Central Park. We walked, watching people jog, run, and bike. There's exercise equipment for people to use. The refreshment carts have, in addition to Gatorade, soda, and juice, coconuts so they can serve fresh coconut milk. At the lake we saw white and black swans, geese, a crane, a cormorant, and vultures (similar to the turkey vultures back home). There was a bird that looked similar to a robin, but wasn't. After walking, we found a shady bench and Nancy finished grading her students' papers (and there's a photo to prove it!)

After Fred picked us up, we were on our way to USP, University of Sao Paulo (pronounced oohs-pee) to visit with another one of Mike's colleagues. He ran the conference that Mike attended last August (and I got to meet him last year in San Francisco at the AGU conference). We had lunch at the faculty dining room -- which is in the middle of a "jungle" (see the photos!) It was a very nice buffet and a nice visit.

Our next stop did not make Mike happy, it was at a shopping mall (those who know Mike know that he hates malls), but a very, very upscale mall. This meant it was very quiet and calm. We found a big bookstore and Mike had fun finding some DVDs of Brasilian performers he enjoys. Nancy  bought a copy of T.S. Eliot's book of cats/gatos (on which the musical Cats is based) -- the front is in Portuguese, the back in English (to try and learn some Portuguese).. We went to the upper level of the mall to take photos of the city. Then across the bridge over the river and back to the apartment. Cris came home from a long day of teaching and meetings. Around 8:30 pm we walked several blocks to a small restaurant to meet friends for dinner. Nancy tried one of the famous dishes of Brasil, baccala (salted cod). The restaurant makes it twelve different ways -- we only tried one. Mike shared a dish with Cris that is typical of northeastern Brasil and included rice, meat, and cubes of plantain.

Day 6 photos

Just Another Day in the Tropics (Day 5 in Brasil)

Breakfast at the padaria (it's called Amanda after the owner's daughter). No photos of breakfast as my camera battery was charging. First stop this morning was Fred's office where I printed out my students' homework that was due Tuesday evening (I warned them that there is Internet in Brasil!) While Fred fought with a software supplier in Russia, I started grading.

Lunch was at a Brasilian Japanese restaurant (all you can eat). It was an interesting mix of mostly real Japanese, a little Chinese, and some Brasilian (where else do you end a Japanese meal with coffee?) The fried banana sushi was a little odd, and I never did figure out the sushi roll that had hot sauce dripped on it.

We eventually located a post office as Fred had to mail a letter. Apparently a class of students was being taught how to mail a letter; each went up and bought a stamp and then mailed a letter to him/herself. And people say snailmail is dead. While Fred was in the post office, the afternoon t'storm came through -- heavy wind and rain. And then it was gone.

Next stop was a delightful surprise -- the local fire station which included a museum in the beautiful mansion once owned by a coffee plantation owner. As some of you know, our daughter Kate is a critical care paramedic. She works in management (training, etc.) for a transport ambulance company and rides rescue one day a week out of one of the Sterling, VA, firehouses. So, we were very excited to be able to take photos at the Brasilian fire station. One of the firefighters gave us a tour of some of their trucks and then showed us around the museum. He is trained as a fire fighter and medical first responder. It was very nice that he spoke English (he is planning to move to Australia in the next 12 months). There are photos, but only Kate got all of the ones we took.

Fred then took us to an upscale grocery store so we could buy some things to take home (coffee, chocolates). I took some photos but then was asked not to by one of the store managers as he was afraid we were going to steal their marketing ideas. You will see interesting baskets of citrus fruits -- although most of  them are green, some are ripe oranges and tangerines (I bought one that you will see partially peeled to prove it's orange inside). Then it was back to the apartment for a brief rest.

While Mike caught up on his Big Bang Theory dvd's, Fred and Nancy visited some neighborhood shops -- a drugstore (many familiar products but at much higher prices), a very upscale chocolate shop (Copenhagen), and the local grocery store (we are on a quest for Mike's favorite Brasilian tea, but still haven't found it). The last stop was at the newest branch of the Santander bank, just around the corner. Their grand opening celebration was in the evening. Fred did go back to do some networking. When Cris got home (she had an afterschool meeting and dinner with a friend), we all stopped by the bank and then went to the padaria to pick up things for a light dinner (Nancy had cheese bread).

Here are day 5 photos.