Ge and Rafa (work buds) helped me do some lunchtime shopping in Aruja - Rafa noticed this delightful China import. I bought it, it was so funny to me. Please note Minnie's eyes... it's horrible. Word on the street is that stuff from Paraguay is even worse in quality than China... I haven't witnessed this first hand but I'm on the lookout.
I don't know what these little guys are called but I like them. You can't see it here but they have one feather that is like a little ponytail on the back of their heads.
I got a visitor all the way from SC! I was so excited when my Julia's Flat Stanley arrived. We've had a good time!
This is the joint a few blocks from my apartment where I get agua de coco...
This weekend I decided to try some caldo de cana - this is juice they get from putting sugar cane through a press. I'm not really a fan... it had kind of a hint of corn flavor to me. I'm going to stick with my coconut water. Here's what it looked like.
Versus the coconut water... which looks like hazy water.
You may have noticed I got my hair cut! I asked Simone, who owns the nail salon I go to, for a recommendation, so she made an appointment for me on Feb 8. The salon is in the Center Vale mall, and it looks pretty typical. Next time I go (I already have another appointment) I'll take some pics. The lady who cut my hair, Fenty, is from Indonesia but has lived in Brazil 16 years. She speaks really good English. I love the cut and she was delightful!
Last Saturday 2/14 (it's not Valentine's Day here) I drove to Mogi and met the people I'm training at the plant, Gerceline and Rafael, along with Ge's cousin and Rafa's wife, for dinner. It was an adorable little tiny Mexican restaurant... but y'all, Mexican food around here is not what you want. The quesadilla was good once I stopped thinking of it as a quesadilla (too many expectations), but the "sour cream" and "guacamole" were just terrible. And the chips were like little rocks. Oh well... we had a really fun night anyway!!
We went to one of these "Mexican" ice cream places that are very trendy here (we all agree that no such places exist in Mexico)... all they sell is the popsicles, which I thought was lame until I tried the popsicle. Oh my lawd it was good. The one I got was passion fruit & condensed milk... which turned out to mean passion fruit on the outside with condensed milk filling. Good lawd it was tasty.
Have I mentioned I've been getting my nails done every Saturday? In USD, with current exchange rate, a mani/pedi is about $18.75. Including tip (they don't really tip here, but I can't help it), $26. Not too shabby...
Along with the nails in this pic is some acai... it's soooo good.
Another indulgence... Lindsay Todd recommended a massage therapist to me that I had an appointment with yesterday (and will have another one for the remaining Saturdays that I'm here). She brings the table to your house, and a package of 10 massages cost R$400... which at the exchange rate I got the cash I used out at, is $15 for an hour massage. That you don't have to leave home for. And she's really good. What??? I gave an extra R$100 because I feel like I'm taking advantage of her!!! Including that, it's just over $18 per session.
Ok, but here's the thing - so obviously people here get paid a lot less for the same job as they do in the US. And yes, food is a little less expensive here. But... "stuff" costs way more. Like a car here costs 2-3 times as much compared to the same car in the US. Even if it's made here. So how to people even manage?? I've asked that question to a few Brazilians and their answer is... "exactly." There are tons of people walking down the highway, crossing the highway, every morning and night for work. Something is wrong with this picture.
And along those same lines (sorry if you already saw this on facebook), I made a comment at work last week about not being excited about driving from work in the rain, and this guy I work with said that he loves driving in the rain. Of course I couldn't imagine why and said so. He said it made him think about all the years he had to walk in it. And that, my friends, is perspective.
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