Day 20 - shopping in Sao Jose dos Campos; a/c unit saga part A

I'm in need of a portable a/c unit and an armchair, so Jackie and her hubby came up to go shopping with me. The a/c unit I need because it's getting above 90 here already (remember, it's winter), and the chair I need because the couch hurts my butt... sleeper sofas just aren't good to sit on... somebody better come visit me and make this thing worthwhile!!

We went downtown, which I had only driven through before. It was really fun - lots of people, lots of shops, lots of food. We went in several furniture stores, both new and used, where I discovered the chair that I thought would be so easy to find, not so much. You know how when you're shopping for living room furniture at home they'll have a matching sofa, loveseat, and armchair? Here, no armchairs, just the sofa and loveseat. Is that not weird? So the options I really saw were recliners, which isn't ideal. We're going to look at some other places next Saturday - if I still can't find anything, I'll have to settle for the recliner.

The a/c unit has already been a saga since before I even got here, but finally found one that would work at Sam's Club (yes, my membership works here!). More on installation of said unit below. I was all excited looking around Sam's Club because it felt a lot like the one at home. We only got the a/c unit there but I went back shopping on Sunday to look around more... see Day 21 :)

So, Rafael brought the a/c unit upstairs for me and I was left to the installation. I had in my head, never having had a portable a/c unit before, that I would just be able to plug it in and move it around where ever I wanted. Not so much - has to be vented to the outside. It came with these three plastic thingies that fill up the open portion of the window with a hole for the hose to go through. I was holding them up to the window, trying to figure out how the heck I was going to do this, when I dropped one of them. Out the window. It was one of those "did that really just happen?" moments. So, I climbed on an ottoman so I could see out the window, and it's on one of the party decks by the pool below. Ok, so I can just go get it. 

I ride down the elevator in my "I heart NY" jammies, try to go out to the deck, and it's locked. Of course it's locked!! I go down to the front desk, and started explaining to the lady working (too bad it wasn't "J," right?) what happened. Please keep in mind she speaks no English. I don't even know how I did it, but she understood me and took me up to get my piece of plastic. 

This time, I CLOSED the shade on the window so the stupid panel couldn't fall out, marked where I needed to screw the pieces together, and went to work. Do I have a screwdriver? Absolutely not. So, I used a knife. It was sharper than your average butter knife, turns out, so I sliced my fingers a couple of times (left hand, who cares). But, I got the screws in far enough to hold the stupid thing together. I put it in the window, run the hose through it, attach the other end of the hose to the a/c unit, and I'm ready to go! Except the plug doesn't fit in the outlet. *sigh*

I guess even though all the plugs in my apartment are 220V, they're not standard Brazilian outlets for whatever reason, so a 3-prong Brazilian appliance won't plug in. To be continued on day 21...

Here's the shopping lunch at a pay-by-kilo place. These are very popular here. It basically a buffet that you weigh your plate at the end and pay based on the weight, kind of like they have at Whole Foods. 

Those little red things are peppers, and I LOVE them - they're just a little spicy and so tasty! Note the mini-pastel at the bottom... 

Jackie and hubby Rafael at lunch

Look, Jen, scrapbooking crap in Brazil!

Making do...