Oh Canada!

Today, July 1st is Canada Day. In fact, its the 143rd anniversary of Canada's enactment of our constitution. We generally refer to today as Canada's birthday and celebrate by drinking beer at outdoor parties while wearing red.

I believe that we can make the world just a little bit nicer if everyone acted Canadian, just for the day. (Note: Yes, I know I am not one that generally embraces 'nice' each and every day, but on Canada Day, I fully support it.).

Here are some Canuck-like ideas for you to try out today:

1) Use the characteristic 'EH?' at the end of all sentences implying group consensus (group hugging is an excellent addition, but entirely optional. Especially in New York where this might lead to arrest).

2) Apologize to people that bump into you, especially if its their fault. (This will also keep you quite busy in NYC).

3) Start a rousing game of Canadian Celebrities. You can test this: All Canadians know each and every famous person that is Canadian or otherwise has had any tenuous attachment to Canada. This is sometimes played as the ever-entertaining Dead celebrity quiz game "Are they dead, Or just Canadian?". Bonus round if the answer is "Both".

4) Remind anyone who asks, what it truly means to be Canadian! For the uninitiated, this usually involves a lot of comparisons of what we are NOT, particularly as it applies to Americans. This also invariably leads to a discussion as to why Canadian flags are always required on our backpacks and luggage while traveling abroad. This is another subject we never, ever tire of discussing and defending (and accusing Americans of 'borrowing' our flag for their packs when traveling in Europe).

5) Drink a canadian brew with other friendly Canucks (and friends, we're a very welcoming bunch), preferably while wearing a maple leaf tattoo. Once appropriately happy, off key singing of O Canada is of course welcome (but not before, Canadians are much too apologetically embarrassed for any kind of sober singing).

Happy Birthday Canada!
 
 

Fanfare

For those that didn't see this on facebook, check out this video I took after Brasil won the match on Sunday 3-1 against the Cote d'Ivoire. It was quite the scene in Vila Madelena in Sao Paulo after the match. And, this is just the pre-rounds. I can't imagine what it will be like around here if Brasil makes it to the finals (one can only hope I get to experience this! Another reason to cheer for Brasil. Obrigada).

And, yet another office closure pending this coming Friday morning for the game against Portugal at 11am local time. Again... Vamos Brasil!!

Also, here are some Brasil travel photos (not to mention me sporting Brasil gear), for you anti-FB types.

Roadtrip to Maresias

Thanks I'm sure to global warming, two days before winter begins here in Brasil (and following those days of cold weather that I wrote about last week), today was a perfect, cloudless 27C (80F). Seeing the amazing forecast for the weekend, we ditched all prior plans, piled in the car to hit the road for the beaches. We had just enought time for a day trip to Maresias, a few hours drive from the city, before Trevor was homeward bound for Canada. So Trev got to sneak in a last beach day and I even came home with a sunburn. I'll take it.

The 1st Month Syndrome

Let me begin by first stating that this post has been informed directly from events I have witnessed and from stories I have heard first-hand from friends who have experienced them. As in, I just report the news, I don’t make this stuff up! Okay, let’s continue.

Today’s post is about the 1st Month Syndrome.

What is this, you ask? The first month syndrome particularly applies to my foreign (non Brasilian) guy friends who arrive in Brasil ready to find their own Gisele Bunchen (or in some of my visiting guests case of the opposite persuasion, their own Jesus Luz). Knowing the beautiful women (or men) that Brasil has to offer, they are like kids in the candy store, ready to sample the many specimens that now present themselves to them. In this excited haste, they tend to become focused more on the quantity and accessibility, and not quality, of the company they pursue (or more accurately, allow to pursue them). The result: some quite comical examples of men being taken advantage of by those opportunistic (or often, just plain questionable) types that are seeking access to money (or perceived money) in addition to companionship.

This results in all sorts of interesting scenarios, including:

-Women attempting to have their personal groceries paid for by surreptitiously adding them to the grocery basket on a shopping trip (yes, this really happened and the items in question were cleaning supplies and new bed sheets. No lie!).
-Insistent requests to have her rent paid, her business idea backed (details of this business idea were quite shakey and upon questioning claimed that she only needed 350 Braizilian Reais to get her business going. Um, I call foul), or her wardrobe furnished.
-Not to mentioned being wined and dined and taken to exclusive parties. And not just for the woman in question. Of course her friends must join for these expensive dinners. On one occasion one such woman texted all her friends join for such a dinner (mid-meal of course, one would not want to miss such a good opportunitiy). These ladies proceeded to eat with the healthy appetites of true brasilieras and racked up a 800 reais dinner bill, for which none of the female guests did even the cursury polite-but-insincere grab when the waiter brought it to the table.
-And my favorite, since its just so basic, her cab fare paid. (Really, cab fare? For these opportunistic types, they could aim higher than groceries and cab fare).

Luckily, this is generally a phase that burns bright and dies quickly, following some tough lessons learned over the course of the first few weeks. Lessons in the vein of a very quick shortage of cash from all the flattering and persuasive requests, or worse yet a missing expensive item that perhaps was left unattended. Chalking up to experience, some of these men are at least smarter in retrospect and pay it forward by warning the next set of new arrivals. But with each new arrival, without fail, comes more hilarious stories for us to observe and enjoy.

So please gentlemen, when you arrive in Brasil, if you must throw caution to the wind, at least learn to hide your valuables.

World Cup Craziness

Today is Brazil's first game in the World Cup. The game starts in the afternoon around 3pm, so HR sent out an email last week informing staff that everyone should work through until the early afternoon, around 2pm, at which time the office will be 'closed' to allow everyone to go off and enjoy the game. "Após este horário, todos estarão liberados pelo resto do dia e poderão acompanhar o jogo da maneira que preferirem." We are released (liberated!) to do with the rest of the day and to see the game "in the manner in which we prefer." This sounds a lot like a nice way to say, we know you are going drinking, so please don't come back to the office yelling obnoxiously after imbibing copiously during the game.  Gotta love it.

I'm sure there will be a great deal more to report as the World Cup continues. Since I very regrettably missed the Olympics in Vancouver, this will have to be my big fanfare sporting event experience for the year. I'm already surrounded by flags and other green and yellow decorations and streamers everywhere. So, seeing no other reasonable option, I went out and purchased my first Brasil t-shirt to wear during the festivities. So starting today, I will join in on the insanity and enjoy.

Vamos BRASIL!!

Beach bound to Ceará

Ceará is a state in the northeast part of Brazil, a 3 hour direct flight north from Sao Paulo, best known for its amazing sandy coastline stretching 573 kilometers (356 miles). The temperatures have shifted in Sao Paulo to chilly (for Brazil) late fall temperatures of about 10C (~50 F), and while this does not sound cold, I have to report that it’s much colder than it sounds. Most buildings generally are not well insulated and nor do they usually have heat. So while the temperatures don’t sound overly cold, the layers of clothing I am already wearing on cooler days and the shivering at all times in my apartment, indicate otherwise. So as you can imagine, I have been looking forward to some sunny skies and warm temperatures for a weekend of R&R at the beach. Given the famed endless stretches of beach and year round warm temperatures, I was headed to Fortaleza, the capital and biggest city in Ceará, to meet Trevor to do a whole lot of nothing for a couple days.

True to promise, I got just that. A perfect weekend away. No traffic to the airport thanks to the timing of my departure (it seems I’m learning to schedule my flights to avoid muito transito now), no delays and a quick arrival into Fortaleza on Friday night. Trevor and I proceeded to spend the entire weekend at the beach. I vowed not to leave my beach chair and other than sleeping and eating, I did just that. And just what the doctored ordered for my ongoing recovery. We spent one day at Beira Mar, the main beach adjacent to hotels and lined with beach barracas (beach hut bars), packed with people glued to the World Cup matches running all day long on make-shift TV set ups. And, we then spent the following day at a less trafficked beach, 30 kms west of Fortaleza called Cumbuco. This beach was practically deserted once you walked a few minutes past the main beach bar catering to tourists like us. A kite surfer’s paradise (I was thinking of you, Mark!), it has a long stretch of windy beach and boast a few kite surfing haunts in town. At one point I counted over 20 kites going strong along the beach. Now that I’ve had a chance to visit the Northeast, I’m already planning my next weekend away for when winter fully hits in Sao Paulo and I’m jonesing for some sunshine again.

Camarão

I like to give back to the community. This is a public service announcement about important slang for referring to a women’s looks. Clearly this is very important information for us all to have. Given the results of my research, I've decided to begin using these excellent terms when rating men's looks as well.

For those that are not familiar, in North America, many use the term Butter Face to describe a woman that may have some attractive qualities (ie a great body), except does not have an attractive face to match (or is just plain ugly/feia). As in, everything is hot, “but her face”, commonly employed as 'butter face'. Usage: “She’s got a great rack, too bad she’s a real butter face.” For more entertaining reading on this term and others, please refer to one of my favourite sites, urbandictionary.com.

Interestingly, there is a synonym for this in most all Latin American cultures. I learned the Brazilian version immediately and then proceeded to research this for other countries. Here is the resulting list:

Brazil: Camarão. Camarão is a shrimp, if you think of a shrimp that may by served with the head still attached, you can extrapolate the meaning...the body is good but the head needs to be removed. Or, a similar term is Raimunda: Feia de cara, e bonita de bunda… Ugly in the face, nice/ pretty in the butt (bunda). Urbandictionary is also all over this one. And no surprise, we all know what body part is important in Brazil. In fact, a Brazilian guy told me recently: "Brazilian men like their women leaving." As in, so they can view them from behind.

In Spanish speaking countries, the term that surfaced the most as a synonym to Butter face is Bagre (Argentina, Chile). This is a fish with horrible head. Or, also bacalao (Spanish) / Bacalhau (Portuguese), which is cod. Since since both of these can also be served whole, it implies the same concept where the head should be removed.

There's undoubtably more where these came from... I'd love to learn any other new terms so send them my way.

I hope you all enjoyed today's educational PSA. My good deed is done for the day.