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Well its happened again folks. My jeans no longer fit. Oops. To be fair I am innocent. What would you do living in a city of endless gastronomic experiences? It is overwhelming actually because there are not enough meals in a life time to enjoy all the possibilities here. So what is the solution? Eat six meals a day. Duh. Oh, and stop at every corner bakery that you see.

So you want updates? How about a list of all the things that complete my days.

1. Waking up every morning and eating a delicious papaya for breakfast. (obviously the first one is related to food)
2. The sign in the restaurant below my apartment that says "We do not see serve beer before 10am".
3. The early morning sun hitting my face as I step out of my apartment to go to work. Even in a concrete jungle where mother nature lacks, you still get the warmth of the sun.
3. The beagle-wiener-dog mix I see  on my walk to the bus stop for work. She always has her pink coat on so she stays warm. I think her and my dog Dwight would be a really cute couple. Yes this is what I think about.
4. The smell of Coxinhas being made in the bakery for the day's customers. Watch the pronunciation people: Cosheenyas is how the word sounds. Dad, again, I can only imagine your butchering of this word. This delicacy is a fried doughy ball filled with garlic, chicken or meat, and spices. More on this in  a bit.
5. The sleepy twin boys that snuggle up to their mom as they wait for the school bus. One is always being held while the other latches on to his moms legs. Do they switch off every day who gets to be carried?
6. The fresh juice smoothie I get every morning at the juice stand next to the bus stop. There is a counter filled with sliced maracujá, mango, goiaba, star fruit, watermelon, pineapple and I just point to all the different slivers I want thrown into the blender. It it a coincidence that the stand is called Suco Princesinha (Little Princess Juices)? Pretty sure it is just meant to be.
7. The chipper money collector on the bus who always makes my morning start on a good note.
                "Bom dia, mosa tudo bem?"
                "Tudo e você?"
                 "Tudo. Bom trabalho, Linda". It is that simple
8. My morning cup of tea with milk and honey that I sip while reading up on the day's news and enjoying the peace and quiet in the office before the market opens.
9. Getting the daily delivery menus sent to my work email with lunch options for the day. I like to copy and paste the descriptions into google images so I know exactly what I am ordering.
11. Speaking three different languages everyday at work. Sometimes all at once. Talk about a brain twister! There are some points when it is only after the conversation has ended that I register what language it was in.
12. Having the delivery man tell me my lunch has arrived.
13. My Internship. Here I am, two and a half months in at Deutsche Bank and I can surely say that it has been one of the most frustrating, rewarding, challenging and intense experiences of my life. Everyday at work I have this image in my head of me dribbling down the field with the soccer ball. I am running, running, my arms pumping but I have no idea where I am going. I am running so fast that I barely have control of the ball but somehow it still stays at my feet. Sometimes I lose the ball and run into a wall. Then I get it back and just keep running, faster and faster. Occasionally I score a goal. But no one cheers because there is no time to cheer. Have to get back on defense now. And then I get the ball back and I think okay I got it this time, I am going to score again. I start running and running so fast. Speedy quick. But my legs move faster then my brain, I lose composure and then bam, I have lost the ball. Got to get it back.
14. The view of São Paulo from our fourteenth floor gigantic glass windows. It really is a sight. Concrete for miles.
15. My walk from the bus stop to university after work. After sitting down all day walking is the best feeling.
16. My trainer Fabio at the gym. He knows how much I love the bakery next door. So needless to say there is no slacking aloud.
17. Going to the bakery next to my university before class. I have becomes friends with the two ladies behind the counter. So much so that they make sure to have fresh shrimp Coxinhas ready for me at 8:30pm when I tend to make my daily visits. I am about half way through trying one of everything in the display cases. Every day they recommend a new sweet. My favorite so far: Maracujá Mouse. I think it is adorable how my two bakery lady friends smirk as they hand my treat everyday. Its as if they know I am going to blow up like a balloon but are totally fine with it. It's Fabio against the Bakery Gals. I am just caught in the middle. Well actually my middle is caught in the middle.
18. My International Finance professor. He is the most adorable older man in the world and not to mention brilliant. I learn the most from him and he really makes a point to include me in the class. It was also fun when we talked about the Bretton Woods Conference because I got to be like thats home!! He was very excited.
19. The taxi drivers I meet every night who bring me home from school. It is always exciting to see where the conversation is going to go. Food, politics, fashion, night life, economics, my love life, caipirinhas, Brazilian tongue twisters, their families, my safety. These 15 minute chats three nights a week are some of the most insightful conversations I have had while living here in São Paulo.
20. Watching the Brazilian Soap Opera Salve Jeorge with my roommate Domi every night after we get home from work. This telenovela really puts Grey's Anatomy and Gossip Girl to shame.
21. Spending Saturday's feasting with friends. Normally it can take up to two hours to get your table since the whole city decides to go out to eat for lunch on Saturdays. Is this a problem? No! Why? Because you just order round after round of caipirinhas to drink on the street while you wait! What does this mean? Well by the time 5:00 rolls around and you are getting seated for lunch you are a long ways away from sobriety and very close to ordering one of everything on the menu!
22. Spending Sunday's walking to the different parks and museums here in São Paulo with friends.
23. Exploring the different outdoor markets/food fairs every weekend. Every Sunday there is an incredible outdoor market with fruits, vegetables  meat, spices. A lot like the one I wrote about before but much bigger. I like to go for a run on the bridge above it and then stop at the market to do my week's grocery shopping on the way home. THEN, there is a another food market in the plaza a block from my house with all sorts of delicacies from around the whole country and the world. I normally go here for breakfast on Saturday and Sunday's and buy shrimp tempura, bacalao fritters oh and coconut cake. Yes, this is my version of a farmers breakfast.
24. Going out every Friday and Saturday night. Yes, I am completely sleep deprived but I cannot give up my two nights at the baladas dancing funky just go catch up on some sleep eye.
25. Crawling into bed at night after the whirlwind of events that make up every day here and being so excited to wake up the next morning for more endless adventure.

It is winding down here folks. Can you believe I only have a month a half left? I am determined to keep you up to date on my last excursions here. We started this experience together and we will end it the same way. I miss you all very much and think about you constantly. Thanks for reading!

Beijosssss

Casual Saturdays

"We met on the first day of Carnival. I didn't speak a word of English and well, Leo knew no Portuguese. But the language barrier was not a problem since after all Carnival is really less talk more .... " She starts to laugh as she takes my right hand. 

"We spent the whole next two days together and then on the second night Leo wanted to bring me back to his hotel. But the hotel rules wouldn't let non guests stay the night. My hotel had the same rule, but we were desperate to find a place where we could continue Carnival's festivities!" Ze continues, laughing more now.  

"So what did you do?" I ask, my curiosity growing at the developing story. Ze motions for my left hand. 

"Well, Leo said that he had some big duffle bags that we could use to sleep on so he ran up to his room to get them. After walking and walking, we came up to the Pilar Cathedral, famous for its gold alter, and decided to lay down the duffle bags on the steps going up the church." She is smirking now.

"We got all situated and then, well, continued Carnival in the duffle bag there on the Cathedral steps." 

"Did anyone see you?" I asked, my eyes widening. 

"Oh just wait," she responds, setting down my hands in her lap as she searches for the nail file. After searching for a few seconds in her messy drawer she finds it and takes my right hand again. 

"So there we were...you know, and all the sudden I see a camera flash out of the corner of my eye. And I am like what is that? I look over and there are three news reporters from Brazil's number one news channel, Globo, taking photos and filming Leo and I in the duffle bag!" At this point Ze has forgotten about my hands as the story escalates. "I sit up pulling my shirt down, god my hair was a mess! You know how it gets? People were gathering around the scene and soon enough EVERYONE know what had been going on. Leo got very mad at this invasion of privacy, but what did he expect there we were on the Church steps in a duffle bag!" Ze is laughing so hard now and I start to laugh too. 

"So what happened next?" I ask, sitting on the edge of my seat. Ze picks up my right hand again and starts to file down my nails. 

"Well, after the situation settled down, we gathered the duffle bags and each went back to our hotels."

"And that was it?" I say, beginning to feel paniked about the situation. 

"Calma," she says, clearly enjoying the suspense. "We both went back to our hotels planning to meet up the next day. " Ze stops as if that was the end of the story. 

"Anddddd??"

"Well by the third day I was getting sick of just kissing. I mean up until that point we would just kiss and kiss because there was nothing else to do, we had no way to communicate. Sometimes we would stop and look at each other and then what? So the next day I took Leo to the book store and we each bought an English-Portuguese dictionary. This helped a lot because we both were able to form broken sentences in each other languages and get to know each other better. Kissing is fun, we both know that, but two days of just kissing! I was going crazy!" 

A funny image forms in my head of Leo and Ze standing amongst the Carnival madness looking up words between pecks. 

"So what happened that night?" I ask curious to see if the couple would make their second appearance on national television. 

 "Well, luckily Leo had made friends with the security guard of his hotel and paid him off to let me come back with him that night."

Phew, I thought, the duffle bag scene would really get old two nights in a row. Ze starts clipping my cuticles. 

"And so we went back and spent the night together and it was really nice. But by the next day I was really sick of the language barrier. I didn't like not being able to fully communicate you know? So I decided that morning I didn't want to see Leo anymore. I gathered my things and went back to my hotel to meet up with friends. I had barely seen them since I had spent every minute with Leo." 

"What? No!" I protest. Ze looks up briefly before returning to my cuticles. 

"So after breakfast my friends and I went to our favorite bar to begin the fourth day of Carnival. And of course who is there? Leo. 'Coraçao de pedra!' he yells as me 'coraçao de pedra!' Apparently that was one of the only Portuguese expressions he knew!" Ze explains. She shakes the light pink bottle of nail polish and motions for me to lay my hand flat on her knee. 

"So what happened?" I ask as Ze starts the first coat. 

"Nothing. My friends and I left and I didn't see him the rest of the day." 

"So that was it?" 

"No. Wait", she replies beginning on my second hand. 

"The next day I woke up and could not believe what I had done. How did I not realize? I was completely in love with Leo! How could I have told him I didn't want to see him anymore? I wanted to marry him! But we were leaving! I had to go home! But I had to see him one more time. I had to tell him! But, you know, there were no cell phones or Facebook this was 1991!" At this point Ze has completely forgotten about my last pinky finger she still has to paint. 

"So I quickly got dressed and sprinted to the Leo's hotel. I went to talk to the front desk but they wouldn't let me go up to his room. So I went outside and started throwing rocks at his window". 

"LEOOO," I yelled. "LEEEOOO, WAKE UP!! I love you! Please I am so sorry! Please wake up if you hear me! LEOOO. But he didn't come to the window. I dont know if he just didn't hear me or was so heart broken that he did not want to see me anymore. God I was a mess, sobbing like a baby! Do you want the same color on your toes?" 

"Yes please." 

"So, you know, I got home later that day and went to work the next morning and what was on the front page of the paper? A picture of Leo and I on the church steps in the duffle bag with my shirt half way up and my hair a complete wreck! My boss set the paper down in front of me without saying a word. But I didn't care. Seeing the picture made me miss Leo even more. I was heart broken. What was I going to do? I didn't have any money! I had just spent it all on Carnival. How was I going to go back to Ouro Preto and find him? I asked everyone I knew to lend me money for the bus ticket and after a week I had gathered enough to go back in search for Leo. I knew he wasn't going to be there but I had to go. I first went to the hotel where he stayed and begged them to give me his information. Anything even his last name or some address he had. I knew nothing about him. But they wouldn't. I even offered to bribe them but they wouldn't say a word. I then went to all the different places we had been together thinking maybe he would be there: the church steps, the park, the bar where we met. But nothing. He was gone." 

"So you never saw him again?" 

"No."

"But why didn't you go back to the hotel to ask again!? You could of gotten the information out of them if you tried harder!! You really had no way of finding him?!" I was becoming very emotional. I would not accept the end of Ze and Leo's affair. 

"All I knew was that he was a taxi cab driver from New York, whose name was Leo." I look at her without saying anything as she finishes clipping my right big toe. 

 

"So anyways," Ze continues, "I went home, broke up with my boyfriend [casual side note], and tried to move on. I was such a mess. Then I got married a few years later but I divorced the guy. To this day I have never met someone that makes me feel the way Leo did. I am still in love with him, you know? I kept the newspaper with our picture because it is the only physical memory I have. Twenty years later and its still in he drawer of my bed side table." Ze laughs again, but she looks sad. 

"I want to write the story on Google to see if he sees it. Will you help me write it in English to post on Google? They say that is the easiest way to find people." 

"Of course! We can write it together. You two have to see each other again! We have to find Leo!" And before she responds, a high pitched squealing voice comes running over. 

"Zzzeeeeeee, honeeyyy oh how I've missssed you!! I'm so sssorry I haven't been in in so long! I have just been so bussssyyy." I look up and there is a 6 foot 2 transvestite with the biggest fake boobs I have ever seen. 

"Paula! Where have you been? Here I am always calling you to go out and you never call me back! We have to go out and find some sexy men!!" Ze replies. 

"I know honey, tomorrow! Listen. To. This. We are going to a party at Vila Country where all there is are big hunky hotties! You're coming!" She squeals.

"Oh sweetie that sounds so fun!! I just have to make sure my daughter isn't going to the same party because I hate it when she sees me making out with everyone!!" The two start laughing. I am well, speechless. And before I know it in walks two more transvestites. 

"Paula!! Oh my got what are you doing here??? You look amazingg!!! Have you been doing yoga???" 

"I mean if that is what you want to call it!!" Paula replies to her friend as they all crack up. I am beginning to catch on

"Ze, do you please have time to do my nails before I start my shift tonight? Look at them they are a disaster!!"

"Of course sweetie. Let me just finish painting this precious little Gringa's toes and then ill do you yours!!" 

The three ladies sit down on the couch next to us. 

"So then, there I was, in the hotel room and he is refusing to pay me. And I am like hello???" 

"What do you mean refusing to pay you? Like does he know how it works?" Ze replies. 

"Right? So you know what I did?" 

"What?" they all say together. 

"I took the two fancy bottles of champagne he ordered up to the room and threw them at the wall! That really got the message across!" 

Okay am I really witnessing what I think I am witnessing right now?

"Well good for you, Paula! You show him whose boss! I hate it when they think they can just walk all over you. Its like um, no! This is my job!" 

"And what about you Esmerelda? How is business?" asks Ze. 

"Business is good. I have been going to the nicer clubs and stuff so I can pick up the millionaires. You just cant beat what they pay!"

"Good! So you are making good money then?" Ze confirms. 

"Yes. We are in high season!" The all laugh and squeal. 

With that I begin to take a better look around to see what kind of salon I had actually walked into that Saturday afternoon after my casual walk through the neighborhood. And what do you know? It just so happens to be the exact gathering place for all the prostitutes I see every night on the street corners around my apartment. And Ze, my new friend, Leo's long lost lover, was there go to gal for all last minute preparations/alterations before the night's rendezvous commence. 

"All done fofinha!" Ze states as she finishes off the last coat. "Paula help her put her flip flops on so she doesn't mess up her toes!" Paula helps me slip into my havaianas and gives me a kiss on the cheek. 

"So nice to meet you sweetie!!" 

"You too!" I say my voice cracking. Why am I so nervous? 

"Fofinha do you want to book another appointment for next weekend?"

"No thats okay I think Ill just call later this week." Will I? 

I give Ze a kiss on the cheek and head out the door where I am greeted by that humid Paulistan air with honking horns and the smell of burnt rubber.  Did that really all just happen? Did I just make friends with prostitues? Better yet did some middle aged lady just confess her romantic love affair to me? Just another day in the life, I guess. Walking up the street, my freshly painted toes sparkling in the late afternoon sun. Well, whats next?