Over the rooftops

The ripple earthy-red of clay-tiled rooftops is a visual that will always take me back to Sao Paulo. Yes, it’s found in other cities, towns and villages of Brazil and in many other countries, but Sao Paulo was such a huge part of my personal journey, that my thoughts go there.

What you’re looking at here are two houses. The tall house on the one side and it’s neighbour, glued to its side. It’s typical of housing layouts in much of Brazil. There is no space between the houses, which are long and narrow, often a series of rooms stacked one behind the other with connecting doors. It’s rare to find a passage.

I love skies and clouds and cloudy skies. I have far too many photos scattered through my albums of clouds, but what I’ve noticed is that many of them are where I’m in a confined area gazing out. It’s a pattern that’s repeated itself over and over from childhood. I was the child who had “… would do far better if she didn’t spend her days gazing out the window” or “…daydreams too much” in almost every school report, particularly the early years. I think much of that dreamer still exists. There’s many a time I find myself gazing at the horizon, thankfully, usually not from a confined space.

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Dry

Dogs! Argh! We're into day 2 of our regional water cut. The pleasant enough,but extreeeeemly slow chap at the water department said it was due to a burst water mains and water would be restored the same day. That was yesterday.

The air is dry. There are pollution warnings out. This photo is from our local news. The airport is on a 'fly only if necessary' due to the pollution.


This photo is from a different news agency. Apparently admissions to hospital have increased by 70% today due to respiratory issues.


Our water system is here complicated. We run off a cistern on the roof. This is because of the city's frequent water cuts. A storage box of water means that, during a cut, we still have water for a while. That's all good and well, but.... unless we go outside to the yard wash tank, which is fed directly from the street, we have no idea the water has been cut or if it's been restored.

Enter dog.

The son of a second-hand sea sausage used the standing space in front of the water tank as his personal WC! Let it be known that I leave home by torch light - It was dark when I checked the status of our water supply!

Apparently, I will have plenty of luck today, especially since I couldn't wash it off.


Does this look like the face of evil terrorism??

 

Technorati Tags: pollution,romany,cistern,water

Water water everywhere...

There have been more deaths too... and now I've heard they're evacuating the zoo : ( Apparently the animals are being moved to higher ground around the zoo. The botanical gardens alongside are taking damage. The Tieté river has flooded its banks, as usual. My other student for tonight cancelled as her part of town is without electricity.

Another tree, this time about 100 meters away from the student's door, fell... well, fell is a bit of an understatement. It was ripped down. Waiting for the bus to come home took forever. When it did come, it was loaded with steaming humanity. The inside of the bus with all the windows closed was a sauna. I stood with a neighbour's umbrella dripping on my foot and on the other side, a raincoated man... it took him a good kilometre or so before he decided that removing his dripping raincoat would be a good idea. The gaúcho ('cowboy' from the south of Braz) sitting in front of me slept blissfully though, his felt hat dipped over his eyes. Stubble on his weathered cheeks and toothpick making a statement out of his mouth, he looked out of place, but comfortable.


I found this excellent sketch of a gaúcho online, but can't find the original artist (other than the signature)

Speaking of gaúchos, while I was looking for a pic, I found this: link here. Can you imagine donning a pair of goggles and visiting a place in virtual reality?

 

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Insuportável!

On my way home, on the temperature board on Anhaia Melo, it read 37ºC (98°F). Enough already! Anhaia Melo is about a mile from where we live. The sky is heavy with clouds. On the bright side, small talk is simple. Everyone is talking about the weather. Extreme heat followed by extreme rain storms, daily. Last night's storm dropped a tree in our neighbourhood. The roads were all flooded, except folk like us on the hilltop. We're on daily emergency flood alerts. In January, 69 people died because of the floods. One woman was apparently sucked into a stormwater drain. No, the drains aren't that big. The woman was likely small. São Paulo is in it's 42nd day of daily rainstorms and feeling it.

Tat, if you see this, the tree fell in the little road that goes off to the right after crossing Anhaia Melo and before the new Metro construction:

I got myself a bright, psychedelic green umbrella. My old one was rendered useless in the accompanying winds on Monday.

Speaking of storms... it's about to break and I need to leave to the next student. Yay! : ) It'll be good though. The rain breaks the heat. The humidity build-up is no fun though.

 

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Your monthly weather channel

Is anyone else freaking out over the weather? We're in our second day of flood warnings. This was our area yesterday:


Luckily we are high up and not affected unless we go into town, which is what we have to do this afternoon. I'm taking boots, umbrella and water wings... oh and a book to read in case we get stuck.

This is what Tat may be going into in a couple of weeks if the weather in the UK doesn't ease up:


(See the article in the Sun)

She's taking a chisel. She recons if she has to freeze her butt off, she may as well chip it off properly and slim down ; ) According to one report, the UK is facing it's coldest winter in the last century, right through to March. Fun! I really need to make a plan for a camera for Tat. This can't be missed!

 

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Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday....

Remember that song from the 70's?

It's been an eventful few days, appropriate to the time of the year, I suppose. It's hot. Yeah, I know I sound like a stuck record. 94°F in the shade with equivalent humidity isn't my idea of paradise. The locals take the heat in their stride though.


Sunday , we needed to head into town to collect a teeny tiny item we'd ordered.



Tat was meeting an old friend in town, so only went in with us, then went off on her own, so I dragged my body guard around with me.



We first headed out to Vila Mariana to take the positivity photo. There was a lot of traffic, except for when this girl rode up. I decided to leave her there. Aside from her, this is the scene that greets me in the half-light of my early Tuesday mornings. This is the kind of graffiti I can live with, like the one we saw on the phone booth later, "More love please" or "Mais amor por favor", as it was written in perfectly rhyming Portuguese.

I didn't get a photo of the graffiti, but later, I did get a shot of one of São Paulo's oddities. Inside every phone booth, especially downtown where there is often not a spare inch of naked phone booth left, you'll find these stickers, each with a name and number, often with a service.


It took me a while before I discovered what they were advertising. Yes, I tend to be naive.

Our next stop was Praça da Republica, my regular Christmas (and any other special occasion) shopping haunt. We found the stall belonging to the little Japanese couple (odd that they're always tiny and wrinkled). They greeted us so sweetly. Yes, the order was ready and do we like it? Of course! With our business of the day concluded, we decided to do some stall 'window shopping'.

I was looking for some cotton pants. We approached one stall and a man with fly-away white hair popped out with a surprising request. Could I please take a photo of him in exchange for a pair of pants? I cut a deal with him. I'd take a few photos. If he liked them, I'd order something (he didn't have the style I wanted in my size). While I was snapping away, Jorge did some marketing for me, telling him about my photo restoration. He wants some photos restored as well.


Not too far from his stall was the shadow puppet man. This guy is either crazy, determined, or just plain talented. He dresses from head to toe in black. He does a duet with his puppets. It's really well done. I caught his 'lady' looking at me. I think I interrupted her mourning over his death in this act. Jorge tossed some coinage into his hat and we moved on.


From Republica and it's dozy citizens....


...we made our way to Avenida Paulista to see the Christmas decorations. They weren't the best we've seen, but they were fairly good.


After browsing Livraria Cultura, a huge book store, we ambled along to Parque Trianon. It's a lovely little park where they've gone out of their way to preserve the original trees. Where they cut trees to make a path, they used the trees to make park seating. You can see an example here. The photos aren't that great. They're from when we were visiting Brazil in '96.

At the entrance to the park, a man tapped Jurgis on the shoulder and asked him for his year of birth. Jurgis obliged and was given an exciting run-down on the Chinese astrology for 2010 for those born in the Year of the Tiger. He then turned to me and asked me for my year of birth. Once I told him, he proceeded to tell me how bad the past year was for me, possibly even including the death of a family member. I thought he was telling me what next year would be like and was getting progressively more depressed. When Jurgis explained, the man went on to tell me that next year would be a total contrast for me. 2010 is apparently going to be 'my' year. Now there's good news! The man then gave us each an A4 page with tons of text... in Spanish! Apparently all these wonderful things are on that page. I'll never know.


He then sorted through some seeds he had and gave us each three seeds, carefully selecting the best ones. We're to keep one seed, throw one in a river and give the third seed to someone to plant in some place that will benefit the ecology.


We finally left Avenida Paulista to go home. We went to Liberdade where we were told that the bus would take more than an hour to arrive, so we wandered among the Sunday stalls there. We finally got the bus, only to be stuck in a traffic jam caused by an overturned truck. Footsore and very sunburnt, I was glad to get home.

Oh wait... I haven't mentioned Monday to Wednesday yet. Sunday took an entire blog!

Monday, Tat and I went in to try to see Avatar. We ended up shopping for clothes (tickets were sold out) for her trip. On the way out, we bumped into a taxi driver we hadn't seen for over 6 years. He recognised us! Our cabbie from Rio.

Tuesday, I was out teaching. My student is the owner of a company and wants her employees to take up class with me next year. If I can pull this off, it will mean the end of my creative marking for the school!

Wednesday... oh... that's today. Tat gave me a pre-Christmas gift. She booked me in to the salon for a reflexology session, a hair cut and a manicure. I now sport bright cherry-red nails. I got strange looks when I suggested that all I need now is a black forest cake to put my fingers onto.

Ah yes... the in German above? Avenida Paulista had Festive greetings in many languages all along, even Arabic.

 

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Glad it isn’t me

This is Rua Vinte e Cinco de Março (Brazilians love naming streets after dates... it's a local weirdism) downtown... everyone is out shopping for Christmas. 25th is where one can buy just about anything pirated (want that Gucci handbag or Rolex?), plus beads, some fabric and random clothing. Oh there's also the holiday-themed mega-stores.


Vinte e Cinco de Março or 25th of March, as we refer to it, is a place where, if you find the jeans you want being sold by the streetside hawkers, you try them on right there... yep... in the street. Freaky! I often get asked what a visitor to São Paulo should see. Without hesitation, I insist that they visit 25th. Naturally, you go there sans anything of any remote value. The atmosphere is to be experienced to be believed.

If you want to see more of 25th, stop by at my other blog on the subject here. You'll notice the place was markedly calmer then.

 

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A day in the life

Note: I have, only now, found time to type this in. The 'blog' was written as my day unfolded on Tuesday. I'm struggling to read it, as most was written on the bus. Some was written while waiting on 'land', so you'll see me varying from past to present.

Getting up at 4:30am isn't usually my idea of fun, but now I'm grateful. I stepped out into the half-light created by the street lamp, grateful for the balmy, but still relatively cool air on my skin. It's going to be 31°C again today with humidity still up there in the 90's.

I'm loving the bus ride through the city, catching occasional glimpses of curtains of Christmas lights. Christmas is almost here and I'm grateful for so much! Hope seems to be the theme. Close to my destination is a wide, grassy island in the road. I spotted a kitten. No, not just one, but two kittens. The kittens were well-kept and playful - and on leashes! The couple were busy packing up their 'home' for the night, making sure to clean and apply deodorant, their neatly ordered, but homeless world fitting into their two backpacks. I saw them later, walking, a kitten riding atop each backpack. The impression I got was one of  hope. I doubt they'd been sleeping on the streets for long. Their pace is slow, steady and firm as they chat among themselves. Animals aren't allowed on public transport. I wonder how far they have to go with their two kittens.

11am and I'm back on the bus. My Tuesday routine involves leaving home at 5:30am. I get into town, teach, then get the bus home again. At home, I collect materials, grab some tea and a packed lunch, then head back into town. This bus ride takes me 2 hours. I go into town, then out in the opposite direction. I know it sounds long and, when I think about it, not worth it at all (it's one of those awkward times when there is too much time between classes to stay in town, but too little to really make the trip home worth it), but that's the way this particular cookie crumbles. It does make for great nap time, zone-out-to-my-mp3-player time, study or reading time, reflexology time, writing, or just sitting people-watching.

Ah... I got sidetracked! When I arrive in town for the early teaching session, I walk a few blocks to the school. It's quiet, pleasant and it's where someone had graffitied "Positividade" across a wall. That always makes me smile. One day, when I pluck up the courage, I'll take the camera to share the scene with you.

Near the school, there are two major roads that intersect. On the one island, I saw a blonde woman sitting rubbing her ankle and looking carefully at her elbows. I've been in that situation so often. She had obviously fallen. I went over to her, somewhat puzzled that no one else was helping her. Her face had a look of bleak desperation. Here was a woman who had lost hope. The neighbourhood is not a poor one. I wondered how long she'd been out on the street. She was well dressed, not your usual homeless type. Her perfume was alcohol. What drove her to the bottle? What drove her out onto the street? What robbed her of her hope and dignity? She refused my help and hobble-ran, clutching her purpling elbow, into the residential part of the area with its tall apartment blocks. I hoped, as she disappeared, that there was someone to love her once she got home.

Home. A refuge. A shelter from the winds of life. I have so much. Hmm... the bus just went past an eating place and a delicious smell wafted in reminding me of sausage rolls. (This photo is from Ina Parman's site, where she gives a scrummy-looking recipe on how to make them) I think I'll make some soon, which brings me back to my subject. There was a time not long ago when I couldn't plan treats like that, a time when meals were stretched and stretched again. As a family, we have weathered some pretty major storms. It has had the effect of bringing us closer together, I think. We now take pleasure in the simple things in life (though a few of the more luxurious things go down just as well). We're also a lot more focused on our plans while still getting the best out of our 'here and now' or at least... we try.

I'm grateful for my work, which gives me new challenges every day. I work with some wonderful people. I love that I've had the opportunity to work with my daughter, something few mothers get to experience.

And speaking of family, I'm so, so grateful, more than words can express, for my family - Jurgis, Tat, my brothers, cousins, in-laws (yes them too *laugh*). Oh, let me not forget very dear friends who are like family to me.

See? I have much to be grateful for. We even found a turkey in the supermarket freezer! *grins*

 

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The 6am bus

A grey dawn breaks over the dirty city. The night's litter flecking the paving,
fluttering in a chill morning breeze.

Sleepy eyes fixed ahead. A passing burglar alarm slaps the passengers
into an uncomfortable wakefulness.
They shift in their seats.

The only cheerful thing to be seen
is the little dog out on his morning walk.

Graffiti accompanies the bus on its morning route.

With a resigned sigh another passenger gets up and fights the crowd to the exit,
loathe to leave the comfort his seat.


It's a new day. A beautiful day, in a grim city'esque sort of way.

 

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Ants are not very bright....

... but then, neither are people.

I have  rather daft habit, especially when showering. It's ‘summer’ and the ants are back in full swing. Working up a lather, I watch their epic journey along the tile grouting, heading from some place near the door into the shower fitting. I trace a soapy hand across their path - purely in the name of science and research, naturally.

You see, the ants don't like soap. I don't know if it's the smell or what. The marching infantry comes to a grinding halt ending in clustered, milling confusion while they contemplate (do ants contemplate?) the high wall of 'mountainous' sudsy perfume blocking their path. After a few moments, a few brave souls break away from the bewildered masses to find their way around. I find myself silently rooting for them, "Come on! You can do it!" Sadly, so many turn back just as they're about to reach the end of their soap line. Others reach the end, but veer off in the wrong direction. Finally, I spot the neighbourhood 'out of the box' thinker, the oddball who went in the opposite direction to the masses rounding my soapy obstacle down below. He stops for a moment. "Come on. Come one," I whisper. He turns and makes his way up, eventually meeting up with his comrades on the other side of the line.

Do you see yourself here? I do. So many times I've gone as far as I thought I could, then figured there was no end in sight and turned back or given up. And you know how many times I've milled around at the soap waiting for some kind soul to come along and wash it away... or show me the way? Yep... such is life.

Can you tell I get way too much time to think on buses (or showers)? Today, we were officially on our third day of spring. It was 33°C!! (92°F) Blegh... way too hot. I found myself wishing it would rain. Uh... wishes come true. It bucketed. São Paulo is once again flooded. Tat's students for tonight cancelled first. They couldn't get to class. My student cancelled later. She was stuck in traffic that wasn't moving at all. The usual photos of floating cars are out. Hm... some pretty night scenes of São Paulo here. I have come to the conclusion that São Paulo looks better in the dark. It will give you a good idea of the traffic too.

 

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It’s a kind of magic… or witchcraft

*looks back on blogs* Seems I've been fairly scarce. We've been busy over this end. I know it's no excuse, but there really hasn't been much time.

Over the past couple of days, I have been on a voyage of discovery of, for me, new music talent. One of the artists I found was Zolani Mahola of Freshlyground. Zolani has the most engaging smile. The music is enchanting. This song is one of my favourites, though you should really do yourself a favour and listen to Pot Belly!

They have some beautiful music which stirred something deep within me... a language I haven't heard for many years... the language of home.

Between Freshlyground, Lira's "Feel Good", Noa's "Beautiful that way", and and a few others, I finished up smiling. I created a new playlist on my mp3 player to listen to on my way to work. It was so worth it!

My day started with an odd phone call.
"Hello, is that the home of Tatiana who was part of the dance group?"
"Well, yes, but she's not in. Can I take a message?"
"Are you her mother?"
"Uh.... yes?" *getting a little worried*
Turns out, he wanted to hire me to photograph an event that was to take place tonight. Unfortunately, I have (or should I say 'had) a student tonight, so I declined. The student cancelled later, but I wasn't to know. After all this time of waiting for photographic assignments to come in, I get this now. Ah well.

I left to teach, listening to my very upbeat Feel Good playlist. By the third song, I was grinning at everyone. One older lady got onto the bus and smiled back at me. She had a little round face that crinkled up in well-used laughter lines. I took out my bright little notepad with it's sunny flowers and wrote: "O seu sorriso é lindo!" ~"Your smile is beautiful!" When I saw she was going to get off, I tapped her on the shoulder and handed her the note. She looked suspicious, but took it. She read the note as she was about to get off, then turned to me with surprised wonder and an even more beautiful smile. To me, the happiness of the world was wrapped in that moment. I got off too (it turned out to be my stop). She kept turning around to look at me, then looking back at the note. Although we both went into the metro, I made a point of going a different path, as I didn't want to unnerve her. It made my day though. I posted another note on the mirror of the public bathrooms at the company where I teach... and left a note tucked into the handle of a lady's bag. This was fun! : )

I was chatting to my student. He asked if I had any trouble getting in, as there was a bomb scare on Paulista Avenue and the metro had been shut down. I discovered this evening what that was all about.... Magic!

It turned out to be macumba, a witchcraft ceremony of African origins, brought over by the original slaves. A bottle of red wine commonly gets left on street corners or other strategic places, depending on your wish, along with black or red candles and often a dead chicken (in Brazil's heat, you can imagine the smell after a few hours). The photo above is an old one I took near the crematorium and is a spot, I think, often used for macumba, though the wine has been consumed. Thankfully, there are no chickens. Those can get nasty. I know I have other macumba photos floating around. I just can't find them now, aside from which, I never have the camera handy when I come across a full macumba scene with it's wine, candles and chicken on all for corners of an intersection. Back at our old home, we saw it often, as we lived on the corner. The intersection was a popular place for macumba offerings.

Back to the bomb scare. The cops were called in for a suspicious bottle with red fluid. The metro line was disabled and the area evacuated. Um... yes... Brazilian efficiency. You can read the article here (and practice your Portuguese). It does show a photo of them 'disabling' the wine ; )

 

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A picture of a Sunday

Brazil is essentially a sun-worshipping nation. Today is our first sunny day in a long time. Inhabitants crawled, stretching, from their suburban caves, desperate to shake off the enforced hibernation of non-stop rain.



Neighbours nod over high back yard walls, as mothers rush out to dry laundry before tomorrow's promise of yet more rain. I joined the laundry parade. Standing between banners of flapping towels, I watch an azure blue kite dance in the hazy sky. Notes from someone's violin concerto drift past my ears, while the thump, thump someone else's rhythms mark the time.



On the corner, boys are mulling over the their kites. The kites were probably caught on the overhead wires or are lying broken on someone's rooftop.




The dogs lay motionless in a warmth-induced stupor.




Wait... not entirely. Dingo would get up every ten seconds to see if there was a lickable hand or foot within reach... or a passing dust mote. Who knows what gets her attention.




Aah... bliss!


 


Our outside workbench is sprouting again. The type of mushroom is different this year.... a frilly, spiky sort. I got a little carried away with the camera...







The clouds have already pulled over again, ready for the next lot of rain. A new week is starting.

On a side note... *click here for the article* blue mice may be an answer to spinal injuries (I won't let my mind go into what may have caused the spinal injuries in the mice) and you will soon be able to order diamonds made from Michael Jackson's hair. Methinks the world has gone crazy. Don't scientists have enough to do rather than making diamonds from MJ's hair?!

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Test chuckles and more

A student had to write a resume. He put his date of birth as '91, which is perfectly correct, but then added (quoted verbatim):

"I teaching English a 20 year and a native in England."

I must add that this is an advanced student *sigh* The part that made me chuckle was having taught English for 20 years, but was born in '91. The things we say under test pressure... ?!

Yesterday, I had a jaw dropping moment in the supermarket. Here, I often see folk helping themselves to supermarket food, usually produce, cookies, crisps and so on. I used to feel rather indignant, but then I got used to it. When I see old folk sampling the fruits and veg, I wish I could buy a whole pack for them. Pensions are terrible here and fruit and veg is expensive. This incident took the cake though. The woman had grabbed herself a loaf of whole wheat bread, a very costly bread here, half the size and almost double the price of normal bread. She also grabbed herself some ham and cheese and had actually made herself a sandwich! She was walking along, apparently stopping to check prices and taking a bite or two every time she stopped.

It seems we have a new student, an elderly chap who called while I was out teaching yesterday. I walked in and found Jurgis talking on the phone... and talking... and talking. I teased him, as I always do, that he kept the poor guy talking for hours. Today, Tat called him back and he talked... and he talked... and he talked. Her ear was beetroot red when she hung up! He is retired and loves travelling and he likes the sound of us and wants to know if we mind that he refers us to the rest of his travel buddies. He sounds sweet. He wants to meet the entire family, but especially Jurgis. Methinks my husband has himself a student ; ) We meet him on Monday.

Today (it's after midnight here) is a Civic holiday in the state of São Paulo.... only São Paulo. I have no clue what it is for. Fun. Oh wait, I keep forgetting. Google is my friend. According to Google, it is to commemorate the Constitutionalist Revolution (Revolução Constitucionalista) of 1932, also called the Paulista War. Anything remotely related to São Paulo is 'Paulista'. Hm... I learnt something tonight.

I noticed today that the world is full of unexpected kindnesses... a post office worker who let Tat pay instead of insisting, as usual, that Jurgis goes in; a pharmacist that goes out of his way to point out that there is a generic available; a daughter who does the dishes; a husband who shared the joke when the pot bungee jumped off the counter top

 

Technorati Tags: holiday,student,teaching,shopping

Daily adventures in Lala Land

I had to go into town today to get my worker's book. While we were there, we were to pick up Tat's account cards, which she couldn't get last time, as she only had a copy of her identity and not the original. We try not to carry originals, as they're well nigh impossible to replace if stolen.

The day started out well. We were halfway down the road to the bus stop when Tat saw the bus coming and flagged him down. We were thrilled when he actually stopped. That is so rare. Aside from me grouching because there were old folk standing and teens sitting in the reserved seats, the trip in was uneventful with Tat and I discussing elder respect in various cultures.

Our first stop of the morning, just beyond the gypsies (they camp out and pounce on you on the bridge to the right in the photo), was Shopping Light, one of São Paulo's weirder shopping centers. I wanted to pay clothing accounts and Tat would collect her cards at the same time. She ended up not getting the cards today, as she didn't have her proof of address and proof of income with her. It's always a paperwork song and dance, it seems.

Shopping Light used to be the head offices of the electricity department and was called the São Paulo Light and Tramway company (or something to that effect). The structure is a square 'doughnut'. There is no courtyard or anything in the center... there is nothing, actually. On two levels, the escalators go across this 'nothing' area, which isn't even done up. It looks like the back of the building. It's odd, to say the least. We decided on our way out to smile at everyone to see what reaction we get. Thus far... odd stares ; )
 
We went on to the Dept of Labour (or whatever it is called). The glare off the sidewalks was prohibitive. We hid our smiles behind screwed-up eyes. The process of collecting the book went smoothly, in spite of the fact that the poor guy working there looked a little lost.

The sun was baking down. We were hot and sweaty and looking forward to getting into some shade. Around us, many were wearing jackets and jerseys. These Brazilians are crazy.

On our way back to the bus stop, we were again crossing the bridge where the gypsies are and I spotted a person walking ahead of us with what appeared to be a dead cat over her shoulder. I dragged Tat forward. From the front, it looked like one of those fox fur stoles... surely a dead cat... a dead ginger cat. The cat was lying like this. Yes, really. Except it was just draped over one shoulder.


Ah... Felipe sent us the photo!

It was sleeping. The woman was eager to talk to us and tell us all about her cat. We were joined by a chap called Felipe, who took a photo of the cat. He promised to send the photo on to us when he uploads it. The woman is apparently with a writer. All the poetry this guy writes is apparently inspired by this cat. He has his book online here. I won't be rushing out to buy the book, but the cat was amazing. We stood there for ages and only once did the cat lift his head to peer at us before going back to sleep. The cat had apparently been walking (it has a collar and leash), but it got cranky and started swiping at passers by, so the woman picked it up and it went to sleep. That was about the oddest thing I have seen in a long time. Odd, even for São Paulo where I firmly believe absolutely anything is possible.

Further on, we were still talking and laughing about the cat story and participating in our favourite hobby of people watching, when a small person.... I think it was a woman... started yelling at us from behind her mask. It was one of those masks that dentists wear to stop them breathing germs over you... or breathing in your germs. She admonished us to stop laughing at her. She knew we were laughing at her and we shouldn't laugh at her because we'll die too and on and on and on. My confused look didn't have much effect on her. She carried on with her yelling until we escaped into a clothing shop. I think she waited, though, because we had her yelling at us virtually all the way to our bus stop, a good 4 very long blocks away. I suspect she has AIDS, which would explain her obsession with death and the mask... anything to lessen the chance of getting a passing virus. I don't know... it's just a theory of mine.

We were finally on the bus heading home. Tat kept glaring at a guy who was playing his rather weird music out loud. There are signs on the buses prohibiting radios and such. I eventually suggested that we plug into our mp3 players, so we could try to tune him out. Tat sat folding an origami box out of a street-side flier. The guy started asking around for a pen. Next thing, I saw him folding paper and nudged Tat. Oh cute... he was doing origami too. Not long after, he tossed into her lap a paper aeroplane!! I grabbed it when I saw it had writing and packed up laughing. It read: Tom *insert telephone number* Gata. 'Gata' is what the guys call girls here... much the way English guys will refer to a 'chick'. 'Gata' is a female cat. Weirrd... and Tat was blushing and the more she blushed, the more I laughed. And no, Tat is not going to be calling him. He is not... uh... her type ; ) Strange encounters of the romantic kind? *laughing*

Oh... and Kippy... my first birthday present arrived today. I can't wait to get reading *grins*

Technorati Tags: shopping light,cat stole,sao-paulo,brazil,bureaucracy

Photo of the month

The photo that, for me, represents this month is an old one, as I've barely picked up the camera this month. How to represent this whirlwind month? In short, I've spent a lot of time on buses. This is the bus terminus closest to the recording studio.

Tuesday, Tat and I were meant to go for a test and interview at a recruitment company. Tat came down with a vicious stomach bug, so we postponed. Instead, I went with Jorge to get my worker's book, another piece of documentation I need to be employed in this country. Turns out that, because I am a foreigner, I needed to go to a different location.

Wednesday, Tat and I went into the recording studio. The publishers are pushing to get this range of material out by mid-April. Both Tat and I had recording work this time. I'm fairly pleased with the way mine went. We got home rather late.

Yesterday morning, Tat and I headed back into town to find the department that would deal with my worker's book. We weren't sure exactly where it was and discovered new parts to the inner city. I wish... I wish I could carry the camera to share the sights with you! We found the building. Luckily, we were in and out there. I was the only foreigner, so the wait was minimal. Unfortunately, because I'm a foreigner, the book isn't immediate, as it is for locals. I have to go back in to collect it when it is ready.

When we were done at the Ministerio de Trabalho, we went to Shopping Light where I reactivated an old clothing account. I love my new-found freedom of being able to quote my own financial and work details. For those new to my list, trust me, it's been a very long road of being pretty much invisible here.

We made our way back through town, stopping to open a clothing account at a different store. We made our way back via Sé to Liberdade. When heading for the bus, we heard a dog bark. That was very odd. This was city center with high rise office blocks. It turned out to be a dog belonging to a homeless man, one who pushes his cart, rickshaw style, around the city, collecting goods for recycling, selling or using.


I was looking for a pic of one of these carts and found one here, along with an article on bureaucracy-free banking in Brazil. That is something of a jaw-dropper for me. Another good example of one of São Paulo's cart guys can be found here.... a very realistic scene. Getting back to the dog. The dog was barking because a second cart guy had come too close to his owner's cart. He was free-roaming, as the dogs of the homeless usually are, but he defended his owner's cart fiercely. This dog had no 'territory'. His territory, like his owner's, was that cart. It was amazing to see. I wish I could have photographed it. Speaking of dogs, do visit this slide show. It is fabulous. Read the description on each dog : )

We got on the bus to go home and had gone but a few blocks when we got a call. Could Tat come in for a recording. We hopped off the bus, walked the few blocks back to the metro station and headed out to the studio. I got home just in time to eat and go to my evening student. Let's just say it was tiring.

This morning, after teaching the morning run, I went in with Tat to bank. I opened a second bank account, as everyone heaves and sighs when I mention the other bank (not a popular one for deposits, being a state bank). It went beautifully. I may just grow to like banks ; ) We resolved the 'misprint' on my other bank card. Turns out my name is too long for the bank card, which was why it was cut short.

When we got home, I got an e-mail from the recruitment agency that there was a school looking for teachers. I called them and it is just the school I've been aiming for! If I can get in with this school, I'll be able to teach for them anywhere in the world and they have excellent benefits. They're the best paying school in São Paulo. The test and interview was so that I could apply to teach at this school. Now it turns out that my profile fits what they're looking for and they wanted me in for testing/interviewing. All a happy more-than-coincidence. Tat has been called in too. I'm thrilled!

What a month. I was just looking back at my calendar and most events from earlier in the month feel like years ago.

Technorati Tags: buses,march madness

Wonderfullest day

My birthday started last night. While I was waiting for Tatiana to come home, I got a awesome gift from Kippy and Jeremy... an Amazon gift voucher. Thanks guys! Seriously... I was like a kid in a candy store. Talk about quandary. I have no clue what to spend it on and created a wish list especially, so that I can continue browsing later. Then Katey did a blog that had me in tears and smiles. On her blog (I hope you don't mind, Katey), she posted a poem which was beautiful, but the waterworks started when she described who we'd spend my day. The day would be spent (entirely in our very vivid imaginations), in and around Durban, the city we both hail from. This is the poem:

THE RIVER OF TIME
By Edward Morykwas
 
One drop of time turns into a river
That carries you down to the infinite sea.
And it sings as it splashes in glorious sunshine,
"Come be a sailor, a sailor with me."

From your very first step, you've heard its voice calling
Smoother than music, sweeter than rhyme.
With every new birthday, your life's great adventure
Is sailing the uncharted river of time.

So set your own course and make your own choices--
To love, to grow, to discover, to dance.
With God as your guide, show your courage and pride,
You won't ever know if you don't take a chance!

Today is a treasure not to be wasted,
Even the richest millionaire knows that it's true.
Time is a stealer but it's also a healer.
Hang onto your dreams because they'll pull you through.

Many years from now, when your traveling ends
And your hair is gradually turning to gray,
You will smile at your circle of family and friends,
Then in a soft voice, you'll hear yourself say:

        The secret of life
        Is to never quit living.
        What's around the next bend,
        No one can tell.
        When things get rough
        And you're surrounded by trouble,
        Just head for the future
        And paddle like hell...

One drop of time turns into a river
That carries you down to the infinite sea.
And it sings as it splashes in glorious sunshine,
"Come be a sailor, a sailor with me."

I woke up to my morning coffee and the smell of baking. Tatiana, who went to bed really late and totally exhausted, woke up early to make my favourite chocolate squares and write a birthday blog for me! She then gave me my birthday gift, a Kippy print! Not just any Kippy print, but the snowman!


My family knew that the snowman would be something that would make me smile every time I see it. Poor Tatiana had to conquer Mt Everest (almost) to get it. Yesterday it rained... boy, did it rain. Tat went in to do a recording session, and from there, she went to collect the print, which Jorge had ordered a few days ago.

We live on a hill. Around us is, essentially, valley then, which turns our situation into something resembling a castle with a moat... or an island (island is probably more realistic). This photo was from one of our 'moat' neighbourhoods:


This video was on our news site:



For those who can't view the video, there are photos here. That was what Tatiana had to come home in. She arrived home at about 11pm. The bus was sardine-can full, with people standing 3 deep. Ah... the lengths she went to to get my birthday gift!! And this morning, she got up before me to bake the chocolate squares too!

It has been lovely wading through all the birthday wishes. You're all soo...... *smiles* Wonderful! Thank you everyone!! I still need to get through a few. I have just spent a... uh... delightful hour or so at the bank, so I'm a little behind, but I'll get around to them all : )

 

Technorati Tags: corrianne,birthday,sao-paulo,rain,floods

A smile to my day

I'm totally bushed, but wanted to quickly share...

This morning, our CPF (tax card) run went perfectly smoothly! I now believe in miracles. We then made our way across the center of town, the same area where we were robbed that last time. We decided to cut through the underground. While down there, I stopped and asked the Metro police for the most direct route to our destination. They were wonderful, directing us very precisely, with street names. They then proceeded to give us the usual warnings about security and how to avoid the 'hot spots'. Then the one said, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but where are you from?" When we told him, he said, "Então, seja bem vindas!" or "Welcome." That was so sweet. It is very rare for us to experience that. At least, we haven't had that so far. He made us smile. That smile carried through to the rest of the day. We thanked them profusely for their kindness. There were three of them. I hope they know what a difference they made to our day today.

 

Technorati Tags: cpf,são-paulo,sê-cathedral,metro police

All wired up

Jorge and Tatiana went into the co-op this morning to sign her up there as a teacher (they got lost... again. That place is impossible). I was moseying around inside, doing some paperwork and cleaning up when I heard a truck idling outside our window. I went to look and found a whole string of trucks, not quite a convoy, but way too many for our little road. Needless to say, when I saw they were working for Electropaulo, our electricity company, I got a little nervous. I was right.

We spent the day without power... again.

I thought, at first, that they were simply here to, for once and for all, repair the street light out front, but I couldn't understand why they'd need so many trucks for that. I learned later that they were replacing the old wiring and that they are not responsible for street lights. That was another division's baby.

They started dismantling the posts... totally. Here, he is passing down a fuse.



Those fuses are big! When that blows, it really blows, I'd say. The garbage bag? That was recycling that someone put out. Thursday morning the recycling truck comes past. Needless to say, their task was made a little more challenging today.




While I was snapping away (I took loads of photos), one worker approached me and asked me what I was doing. I explained that I am a photographer and that these photos are simply because the process is interesting and not to worry, I'm not a journalist. He said, "So you're not from Electropaulo?" It turns out that they thought I was a spy for the company, as they were contract workers. I was happy to assure him that the photos were for personal use. Blogging is personal, right?



Earthing is a huge problem in this country. Nothing is earthed! Before starting work, they drove this corkscrew thing into the ground at regular intervals. It is made of brass, so acts as earthing. Fascinating. I wish I had a photo of it before they started screwing it into the ground.



On their perches all the way down the road. Our whole road was 'blocked off' and a few side streets too.



Hm... 'blocked off' wasn't quite the right term. They left room for cars... barely. This narrow road is usually a two-way street. Today, it became a one-way. Trouble is, no one knew that and there was no one to control the flow of traffic. Our normally busy traffic was now a busy traffic jam.



Huge nail clippers? I really didn't envy these guys their job. They have to wear long sleeved, heavy duty fabrics regardless of weather. Today was pretty warm and very muggy.



Those wooden cross beams were coming down, along with any old metal work.



Did I mention we had traffic problems? This road carries a lot of trucks as well as cars. It was fun to watch them nervously inching along where they'd usually roar along (speed limits here are a joke). See the side walk on the left? That is the reason I won't be taking up walking or jogging in the neighbourhood in any hurry. What you see there is pretty much what you get. That cable hanging down is hanging from the roof of the car port.



There were more spectators. This guy belongs to the pub owner. He spends his days up there. Apparently it is quite roomy. I would like to bet that he badly wanted to be downstairs where the action was.



Our dogs loved all the action. They got so much barking in!



.... and wagging of tails. Dingo (on the left) only barks at dogs... and wags her tail... hyper-speed. Romany (on the right) is laid back and quite happy to bark... until someone gets too close.

Tonight, when I was preparing to go out and teach, our usually quiet neighbours set up a caterwauling.... some sort of very loud religious... uh... experience. That was a first. I hope it was also the last. I'm all for freedom of religion, but not at the expense of my ears and sanity 0.o

 

Tomorrow, I'll be out all day. I teach the before-work run, then Tat and I are going into town to sort out her CPF, after which we'll hang around town, as she has a recording in the late afternoon. There's no point in busing home only to have to go back into town again.

Technorati Tags: electricity,vila zelina,dogs,electropaulo