Posies and ringlets

I love my job! I get to meet the most fascinating people all day every day. Yesterday, it was a little old lady with a halo of perfectly (and I mean perfectly) coiffed ringlets. She must have spent hours on her hair. Picture young Shirley Temple as an eighty-plus lady…. same hair.

Sharp as a button, she was, in her woven green coat. She looked like she had stepped straight out of a 50’s magazine. But this pint-sized dame showed me a thing or two! She’d been sewing all her life and wanted to know if she could buy the fabric instead of having the curtains made up for her. She knew what she wanted and brought samples of her sofa cover in to match the fabric.

Needless to say, she spouted feet and inches to me. My metric ‘everything-in-multiples-of-10’ brain objected in a scramble of numbers that spun dizzily. Not a problem to the genius I was talking to. She was never taught metric, but converted the measurements for me without skipping a beat! That was when she told me she’d retired 15 years ago from My Job! Yes… the very job I was doing! Back when Montgomery had concessions in the Co-op. I’d like to bet she could still do it and sweep me under the rug too. She turned down the offer to replace me, though, as she had a ‘little boy’, aged 90, back home she needed to care for.

I can only hope that I have a fraction of this lady’s spunk and wits when I’m her age. Grow old gracefully? That’s for dull folk!

Technorati Tags: people-watching,retro,work,ringlets,curtains,montgomery

It takes all kinds

Meet Maeve…

She leaned up against me today, cat style. I had to grab for support. She almost toppled me! She was being affectionate. She loves a tickle behind the ears. She knows me.

I had finished my working day and was going back to harvest a leek or two to go with dinner. Close to the pigs, one of the moms stopped to chat. I was pointing out the pigs and was about to suggest she goes around the side to see them better when I saw an odd-coloured pig. I looked more carefully. There were children in the pig pen!

I raced up the side yelling to the mom to get her kids out of the pig pen. Two moms, actually. They’d let their little ones, no older than 5, I’d say, climb over the wood and diamond-mesh fence into the pens. About a foot or so away from the fence is the electric fence - two lengths of electrified white ‘ribbon’. So, apart from the fact that the kids could have been belted by the fence, there was the pigs themselves…

Maeve is friendly, but stroppy. Sophie is more laid back, but she has her 8 piglets in there and isn’t very tolerant of strangers. One day I went into the pen dressed differently (I didn’t have work clothes on) and she charged. Luckily, she realised who it was as she came closer. We’re talking serious pig tonnage here! Ever see a bull charge? Same thing, except on a set of very short, very powerful legs. The piglets are no longer tiny. They tend to run, en masse, to see what new food is heading their way.

What on earth was going through the minds of the two moms that they’d let their little girls in polka-dot skirts and tights climb the fence into the pig pen??? The mind boggles! We’re talking here about two hefty adult pigs plus 8 hefty porkers, a vast amount of mud and an electric fence. After yelling to get the kids out, I pointed out that the fence was there for a reason… to keep pigs and kids separate!

Still… what the heck? Really? I wonder if it’s the same mentality that gets kids injured at zoos and the poor animals get blamed.

Technorati Tags: pigs,children,zoo,animals,fences

Day by day

I call this the Metro Shuffle
Sveiki! A Lithuanian greeting, which means 'Health!'

Seems I never get the chance to write here. When I log in, there are friends to catch up on  and, by the time I'm done, I've forgotten what I wanted to say. Oh heck, who am I trying to fool? Honestly? I arrive on my blog, stare at the screen, trying to convert the week into words; thus scattering what little cohesive thought I started out with.

With this in mind, I'm going to attempt this in daily (or thereabouts) nibbles.

Last week, our focus for the week was on Tat's visit with the family in Lithuania. Jurgis enjoying his time there was one thing. It had been a dream of his for most of his life. She first stayed with Dalius and Oksana. The message I got was - I'm happy. In short, they were wonderful. I'll get the details later, as her pc died on her when she arrived in Lithuania and she hasn't been able to get it fixed yet.

From there, she went to stay with Teta Irena, Vaidas, Sonata and the boys. She was online more there and having a ball. When she was due to leave, she said it felt like she was leaving home all over again. I can't begin to express my thanks to all who made her visit there such a wonderful experience!

On Monday, I had no students (cancellations - joy!). It was good though. We were able to video chat with Tat via Skype and I finally got to meet the family. They're every bit as wonderful as Jurgis and Tat said they are. I can't wait to meet them in person!

On Monday we also go word that the front house is finally getting a tenant, but only for 15 days out of every month. That should be odd to deal with. Jurgis knows him, a nice enough guy, our landlord's business partner. We'll see how that goes. It does mean that Romany is once again restricted to just our half of the property, poor thing, though we do take him on walks more often now.

Tuesday started with a cancellation as I was walking out the door. I do wish they'd cancel before get all dressed up! That left me home for a couple of hours - good time to catch up with some correspondence. I later left for my next student after calling her to confirm the class. One bus, two metros and a 10 minute walk later, I was at the entrance to their office block and my delightful ringtone went off. I love getting calls because I love the tune! Anyway, it was the secretary. She needed to cancel.Ugh! Perhaps I just dreamed the earlier confirmation call.

Wednesday, I got to chat to a long lost friend (ok, not so long or lost) *and* my little girl! That was good. A surprise email made my heart skip happily : )

Thursday ~ dreaming of green pastures and soft, rolling hills ~

I dreamt last night that I was leaving an institution, a nameless, faceless multi-storey block with small, impersonal rooms. I was sitting on the bed talking to an elderly, long-dead friend and explaining why I was giving her a scarf, as I don't wear scarves and won't be needing it.

Two men came to blows in the metro car over the last half-inch of space and had to be separated by security. One guy, the shorter one, was told to get off. I felt for him, as he wasn't the instigator, but I guess the security guy felt he would be easier to control. The guy who was trying to pull punches was huge. Either way, they were both in the wrong. If the metro is full, you wait for the next one. The trains come through with only a minute or so between them during peak hour. It's not as though they'd have to wait a long time. The photo up above is where I decided to wait for the next one, but, believe it or not, there are those who'll still try to squeeze into that.

It was a surreal kind of morning. I swiped my security card through at the bank, only to be told "User blocked" - the kind of words that generally cause heart stoppage and panic. The nice lady at security consoled me with information that I'd be getting a sparkly new card. Whew! Apparently, they'd stopped that particular type of card. I got a temporary card and made my way to the student. At the back where the coffee machines are, there was a lady moving tables  and arranging mountains of diapers... in a bank? Turns out it's someone's baby shower. I waited. I got a message from an anonymous lady to call my student. Apparently he had a) lost my number and b) overslept, so there would be no class. Great! That gave me time to organise my new security pass. It's not a pretty yellow one like the old card, but it does announce me in bold letters as a "Professor". One very badly taken photo...


More good news this evening : ) The news isn't mine to tell and we're waiting for confirmation anyway, but it's starting to look as though 2011 is shaping up to be a good year. Ahh... nice!

I'm off to bed now. I woke up this morning feeling as though I was drugged and that feeling hasn't changed much. Does it show? =Þ

Oh... before I go... a few of you are TUT enthusiasts. Have you heard Mike Dooley's latest talk? It's awesome! If you can't find the talk, let me know and I'll upload it. It is available online at a few locations, but not for download. I saved it so that I can listen on my little ipod : )

Grateful

We're in daylight savings now, so I get to see the sun rise at a stop. Usually I'm in transit. Still fairly dark when I leave home though. It was only after I saved the photo to my pc that I noticed the rainbow... faint, but it's there. I have no idea if it was really there or if it was caused somehow by my camera. I like it though.

So much to be grateful for today. Tat had a much better paper-chase experience today - more thanks go out to strangers reaching out. On that note, if you ever want to show random kindness towards a stranger, just know that it is never wasted. It can make all the difference!

My bus disappeared into the early morning semi-dark, so I settled into a stroll thinking I had at least 20 minutes to wait for the next one. Just then, the next bus came. Either the previous one was very late or this one was very early. I flagged the bus from a good distance away. The driver saw me, pulled up at the opposite corner and waited!! What and angel. And... the bus had scads of seating!

Cute... just passed a bridal dressmaking shop - a tortoiseshell and white cat is in the window watching the passing traffic.

There was a girl reading a book (translated) on the metro - Christiane F. - a book about a 14 year old girl who was caught up in a life of drugs and prostitution (true story). It came as recommended reading and viewing - there's a movie too - when I was a teen. I can't think of a more depressing book to start a day with.

The Christiane book girl has nodded off and is falling over onto the woman next to her. On the other side sits a girl trying very hard to look like she isn't crying. I hope her day gets better.

~                          ~                           ~

At the bank building, outside, there is a beautiful old tree with branches that go on forever. Under it was a group of youngsters, their backpacks up against the wall. They were having a really good time. A cloud of smoke hovered over them as they puffed away on the bong. One played guitar off to the side. A few were passing around bottles of booze. The security looked uncomfortable, but did nothing about it. My student and I discussed conspiracy theories and voting (not too much difference between the two).

Afterwards, I went to the shopping centre near my next student. It's already done up for Christmas!! And the Christmas shops are open! I wandered around there for about half an hour only to be called... my student cancelled... again. She thought changing her times back to her old times would help with cancellations. Uh huh. It helped, all right. So I mooched off home. My evening student has changed his time for Saturday morning. There go the weekends.

C'est la vie... and another week ends...

Wet world

I'm early. The world around me is wrapped in scarves and jackets, except for the guy in the denim shorts, no shirt, flip flops and a cap walking down below.

It's raining. As I'm early, I chose to stay on the undercover Metro bridge, watching the raindrops run along the concrete beam and eventually peel themselves off. The flickering fluorescent light turns the world around me into a kind of unearthly early-morning disco.

Somehow, the glistening wet of the side-walk makes the litter stand out starkly. Litter blocks the drains, so the water dams up in the road, turning the paving into a bug-sized, filthy surf.

Pigeons are amazing things. Where do they come from? One lone white pigeon bobs around, finds a soggy crumb and in a split second, twenty others arrive to help decimate the 'feast'.

My hands are cold, but then, my hands are pretty much always cold. They're saying that, a little way south of us, the sentient temperature this morning is -22ºC. I find that hard to believe. Not complaining here though. At least we're finally having a smattering of winter.

Augh. Poor guy. This old man is always there on the curb-side. His lopsided stool stands abandoned off to one side, as he hops around, trying to keep warm. He has a blue shopping trolley holding a polystyrene cooler of orange junk-juice and bottled water. I doubt he'll make too many sales today, if any. Even the coffee-and-cake guy is lacking his usual cluster of clients in the cold and rain.

Ah... time's up. I need to go down and wait for the bright yellow VW.

Maleducada

Yes, the image does say 'Maleducado' and my title has an 'a' on the end. That isn't a spelling error. This title refers to a girl on the bus (the 'a' denotes feminine).

This weekend, I read a blog where someone was describing eating habits in Brazil. One of the things she mentioned was that it's considered rude to eat on the go (they obviously didn't walk the streets of São Paulo or take public transport here). Ok, it's not often you see someone walking and eating. Kudos to them. They have some odd 'rules' for manners here, but then, they probably think the same about some of our manners. That's beside the point.

What gets me here is the use of the word 'maleducado'. It means 'badly educated'. 'Mal' is 'bad' and 'educado' is fairly obvious. Is it really just a matter of education? Really? They honestly believe it is and will argue the toss till they're blue in the face.

On the bus today, there was a girl sitting in the area on the bus reserved for the elderly, infirm, pregnant and those with children too young to stand on their own. At her feet, sitting on the corner of the footrest, looking very uncomfortable, was an elderly woman. Standing alongside was another. I looked down. The woman's feet were swollen and red. The girl sat. I tapped her on the shoulder and, giving her the benefit of the doubt, pointed at the two elderly women who had a right to a seat there. The girl heaved a huge, very visible sigh and started 'packing up'. By 'packing up', I mean she started arranging her earphones and fiddling with her iPod and shuffling her bag around on her lap. I glared at her. She sighed again. 3 Stops later, she was still 'getting her stuff together'. I had to get off. She watched me get off and settled back into her seat. I was aghast and totally disgusted. I'm sorry. That is Not a question of education. I've seen animals care more. Trouble is, I see this all the time. The kicker is that this same girl will look askance at someone who eats their pão de queijo without first wrapping it in a napkin.

Is it really lack of education (they're talking here about the 'education' into manners you get at your mother's knee) to dump huge mountains of rubble and refuse around the only three trees the neighbourhood has? Is it really lack of education to park the whole pavement full, so pedestrians have to walk in the streets? Or lying across two seats on the bus because they know that not a soul will ask them to move. People would rather stand around uncomfortably than ask to pass someone or use a seat. And what about not booking a table at the mall, which stands empty while they decide what to eat, as others are wandering around with a tray of rapidly-cooling food.

I don't think it is lack of education. Not even in the slightest. It's lack of caring or respect for our fellow beings. Sure, education can improve that, but it shouldn't be necessary and heck, so many times I see the so-called educated acting like uncultured buffoons.

It irks me no end that this word almost gives them cause to feel sympathy for the offender. You can hear it in the tone they use when excusing it. "Oh, it's not her fault. She's just not educated." Gah!

Technorati Tags: maleducado,rude,manners

A sequence of events

Photo taken by Jurgis. The butterfly landed on the soap bubbles as he was doing the dishes. He fished her out and she hung around a while. He then took photos before releasing her into the great outdoors.
I woke up completely and quickly. That, in itself, was unusual. I'm notoriously slow to surface. My first thought was... surely it's 4:30 already? I checked my cell phone, which doubles as an alarm clock - 4:37! I hadn't set the alarm! Strike one. Without an alarm, I'm usually incapable of surfacing on time.

I put the kettle on and turned on the pc. Ack! My internet wouldn't connect. An overwhelmingly sickly smell drew me to the kitchen. The gas had run out (the gas stinks just as the bin empties for some reason) - coffee would be delayed. I shook Jurgis awake. Luckily, he'd asked me to wake him early. He tackled the gas (we keep a spare bin) and internet while I got ready. With coffee and toast going down well, the morning was saved.

The first bus that came along was an inter-municipal (the elusive Santana bus, Tat! *poke*) The smiling lady sharing my stop got on, so I asked the driver if it went my way. Yep, it did. What a ride! Everyone was smiling!  I wish I could take this bus every day. It takes a grand tour of the city. The route was different and thus interesting. I wished I had a camera with me.

Because I took a bus instead of the usual metro, I ended up on the other end of Parque do Juventude, a large, concrete and wannabe-grass walking area. It has some funky buildings. I walked past the building and wadya know.... a library! An honest-to-goodness fancy-schmancy library here in São Paulo!! Sadly, it was only opening later, so I couldn't go in. Not sure when I'll get the chance to see it, as it's far from home and my hours are a little crazy.

I walked over to where my student usually meets me. I had nearly reached my spot when a scruffy man walked past. I think he was homeless, but who knows. What was special about him? The big red nose he was sporting! When he caught someone staring, he'd grin. He was  having a ball. He left many laughs and smiles in his wake.

I spent the rest of my time there being entertained by an impish (he looked like a little imp) hopelessly drunk man who was dancing and clowning around with a huge grin on his face. He was having a ball!

What was that they say about "Smile and the world smiles with you"? Today, the world seemed to be smiling. It was good : )  I felt as though a load had been taken off my shoulders.

And back to the ordinary world...

Romany was caught grinning in his sleep.


The flash woke him up. He stuck his tongue out.... kinda mid-lick, but too lazy to pull it off properly.


The sun was obviously too good and he dozed right off again.

A sequence of events

Photo taken by Jurgis. The butterfly landed on the soap bubbles as he was doing the dishes. He fished her out and she hung around a while. He then took photos before releasing her into the great outdoors.
I woke up completely and quickly. That, in itself, was unusual. I'm notoriously slow to surface. My first thought was... surely it's 4:30 already? I checked my cell phone, which doubles as an alarm clock - 4:37! I hadn't set the alarm! Strike one. Without an alarm, I'm usually incapable of surfacing on time.

I put the kettle on and turned on the pc. Ack! My internet wouldn't connect. An overwhelmingly sickly smell drew me to the kitchen. The gas had run out (the gas stinks just as the bin empties for some reason) - coffee would be delayed. I shook Jurgis awake. Luckily, he'd asked me to wake him early. He tackled the gas (we keep a spare bin) and internet while I got ready. With coffee and toast going down well, the morning was saved.

The first bus that came along was an inter-municipal (the elusive Santana bus, Tat! *poke*) The smiling lady sharing my stop got on, so I asked the driver if it went my way. Yep, it did. What a ride! Everyone was smiling!  I wish I could take this bus every day. It takes a grand tour of the city. The route was different and thus interesting. I wished I had a camera with me.

Because I took a bus instead of the usual metro, I ended up on the other end of Parque do Juventude, a large, concrete and wannabe-grass walking area. It has some funky buildings. I walked past the building and wadya know.... a library! An honest-to-goodness fancy-schmancy library here in São Paulo!! Sadly, it was only opening later, so I couldn't go in. Not sure when I'll get the chance to see it, as it's far from home and my ours are a little crazy.

I walked over to where my student usually meets me. I had nearly reached my spot when a scruffy man walked past. I think he was homeless, but who knows. What was special about him? The big red nose he was sporting! When he caught someone staring, he'd grin. He was  having a ball. He left many laughs and smiles in his wake.

I spent the rest of my time there being entertained by an impish (he looked like a little imp) hopelessly drunk man who was dancing and clowning around with a huge grin on his face. He was having a ball!

What was that they say about "Smile and the world smiles with you"? Today, the world seemed to be smiling. It was good : )  I felt as though a load had been taken off my shoulders.

And back to the ordinary world...

Romany was caught grinning in his sleep.


The flash woke him up. He stuck his tongue out.... kinda mid-lick, but too lazy to pull it off properly.


The sun was obviously too good and he dozed right off again.

Technorati Tags: people,feel-good,bus,romany,library,life

Monday Mobservations

Ok, the title sounded funky, so I'm using it : )  Only one 'mob'-servation... I live in coffee country. Major league coffee country. The 'cafezinho' here is a way of life. It goes deeper than football. Football is a religion. Coffee is as natural as breathing.

Because of the school holidays, the trip I take with my Wednesday student is cut way short. There's a fraction of the amount of traffic on the roads in the early mornings. We stopped at a coffee shop half way. He made an interesting observation. Brazilians don't meet for coffee and friendship or chat. Ever. They may meet for a quick business arrangement, but not otherwise. Friendship and casual chat is reserved for beers and pubs. Coffee is an otherwise solitary affair.


Photo taken years ago not long after we first arrived here with a dinky 1mp camera
I was reminded of this this morning when a friend said she was meeting another friend for coffee. It's one of the things I've lamented for years here, that I can't call up a friend to meet somewhere for coffee or tea. It's just not done.

I've spent the weekend working on a photo for an old client. She always has a real challenge for me, usually involving a super-tiny, badly scanned photo that needs to be printed on a billboard. Ok, not a billboard, but you get the idea. This time, she wants a friend's face put onto a model's body. Friend in question is pale... very pale (and pixelised) and the model is lovely high-resolution with a deep golden tan. The model has flyaway hair *picture fans on the set*. The client wants me to tame the flyaway model hair too. The model in question is on the beach with shrubbery behind her. Eh... yes, a challenge.

When I was leaving for my kidlet, I stood at the bus stop dancing a little on the spot. *disclaimer: This isn't dancing in the normal sense. It is very much just bouncing a little on my feet* I can't stand still at bus stops. A guy on a bicycle came past.... I think he was training for some cycling event by the way he was dressed.... and yelled, "That's right! Keep dancing!" haha! Awesome! Then a truck driver laughed and yelled something too, but he was moving faster, so I lost what he said, but his thumbs up spoke volumes. People tend to stare at me. I'm a freak here. At least I know now that it's not because of my two heads or something. 

The kidlet made yet another mask for me. Is she trying to say something? They're all heart masks, in fairness to her.

This weekend, I came down with a boil between my eyes. I was swollen and looked like I'd been given two black eyes. That was Saturday morning. By Saturday night, I was snapping at everything and everyone and really weepy. I'm prone to the dastardly things and they usually get really bad. The last one I had around my eyes ended up with me getting emergency drainage. It was not pretty. My medical status here being what it is, I figured I have to do something drastic on the weekend. I didn't have any nasturtium (a natural antibiotic) on hand, so I made do with plenty of acupressure and EFT. This morning I woke up and it was all gone... totally! Weeeeeeeeeee!! *grins* I don't know if the acupressure did it or the EFT or just sheer, "You're not going to get me this time!" attitude, but it's gone!!! Can you tell I'm happy??

It's a perfect day. The sun is shining just so, the bumble bees were all over the Ipê tree, the kids are playing and making happy playing noises instead of screaming. Life is good.

 

Technorati Tags: dancing,photo,acupressure,friends,retouch,brazil,herbs,coffee,eft

People

I spend a fair amount of time waiting for the next student in either buses, trains, metros and shopping centres. Sometimes I read. Sometimes I catch up with paperwork. Other times I prepare lessons or write. Sometimes I just sit and watch. Shopping Iguatemi is very upmarket, definitely not the kind of place ordinary mortals go shopping in. Most people having lunch here work in the nearby office blocks.

Blonde with glasses. She looks efficient. Taps her fingers on the table. Makes a call. Appearing efficient is important, even at lunch.

The nanny fidgets with the pacifier, watching the baby. She frequently glances over at the food queues. She's hoping her boss won't take long getting lunch. Or is she hoping she'll get to go home earlier tonight?

Reading quietly in the corner, her coffee at her elbow, she suddenly shifts to the edge of her seat. Propping her head up, she reads intently. She must be at an exciting part of her book.

Why do they line the eating area with mirrors? It's no fun watching yourself chew. It is helpful to adjust your clothes as you walk or self-consciously finger the necklace he gave you last night while you check that you look your best.

All business, she emphatically gestures as she makes a point. The conversation is probably a carry-over from the last meeting.

The baby is sleeping now. There are tears in nanny's eyes. What's wrong? The mother eventually comes back with her tot. Nanny is sent on one last food errand before she gets her lunch. She returns with a tray holding a tasty-looking pasta dish, which she shares with the tot. It looks good. The tot prefers nanny's food to mom's, which, I have to say, I can't blame her for. Mom's food looks strange. I'd go for the pasta dish too.

The two lovers cuddle, their food gone quite cold. I feel like an intruder into their world, even though they're sitting in a crowded eating mall.

The businessman in his pin-striped suit marches past, talking seriously into his cell phone. I think lunch, for him, is definitely eaten on the fly.

The smile of the clown

This is one clown that always smiles.

One of the quirks of São Paulo's public transport is the hawking of random cheap sweets, pens, stickers, etc. For a while, this stopped, as the law clamped down on the hawkers, but they've slowly trickled back.

The man I'm talking about isn't a hawker though. He's a clown and a happy one. I have never seen him without a smile. He was a regular on a different bus route I used to take. Tat and I spoke of him recently, wondering if he was still doing that job.

Today he got on my bus again. It was a pleasure to see his smile. He handed sweets to everyone then gave his speech. You see, he collects for a programme they have going for the children's cancer hospital. There's a group of clowns that goes around to these kids making them laugh. They're all volunteers and their only purpose is to put a smile on the faces of really sick kids. I can't begin to tell you how much I admire the work these people do.


Image and quote from Big Apple Circus' community page

“Ministering to sick children goes beyond medication and technology.  When a child begins to laugh it means he’s probably beginning to feel better.  I see the clowns as healers.” – Dr. John M. Driscoll Jr., former Chairman of the Pediatrics Department at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City

del.icio.us Tags: clown,people,hawkers,iguatemi