WHAPPP!!! The feeling of cloth smacking against my face confused me at first. "WHAPPP" Again!!! I struggled to get my eyes open. When I adjusted to the light in the room I saw William sitting on his bed holding his blanket, which was quite obviously the cloth object that had been used to awaken me. I glared at him from my mattress and then glanced at my watch. It was only 6:00. I feebly attempted for about 10 or 15 minutes to return to sleep, but gave up and went into the living room. There was evidence strewn about that William had been up for quite a bit. The packaging from the previously unopened Boggle box littered the tile floor, while several used plastic cups were distributed throughout the dining room and the kitchen. I later learned that he had attempted to awaken Caroline as well, but she had sent him packing, and unfortunately for me it was not to Guam.
My day had begun way too early. I spent much of the morning picking up Williams mess and unpacking the remainder of my things. We ate breakfast, which in Brazil consists of ham or turkey and cheese sandwiches and fresh fruit. The fruit was great, very very fresh and very very clean. The pineapple had to be the best I had ever eaten. Aunt Lori worked on a list of what she needed and soon thereafter Salomão arrived. While everyone else prepared to leave, William and I, who were already ready to go, sat with Salomão for a lesson in Portuguese. I decided it would be better for me to just go to his house so I could catch up on some blogging work while the other five piled into a car to hit Hypermart, the Brazilian version of Walmart or Target.
I spent the day writing blogs, E-mailing and talking with Salomão’s daughter Julia who spoke English quite fluently. She started the conversation by telling me some good restaurants and places to visit and we just started talking about the difference in cultures. She had lived in Connecticut for a year as an au pair nanny an exchange program, which is how she gained her knowledge of the American culture and the English language. Several hours had gone by since I had been dropped off and with each passing moment I grew even more and more thankful I had made the decision to not go shopping. There is nothing I hate more than waiting around in a store while a woman does the majority of the shopping.
Finally I was brought home and we got ready for dinner. We met Luis and Lillia at a Brazilian BBQ and began eating. A meal that typically costs $30-$40 back at home was ours for less than $10. Meat after meat was brought to us on giant skewers and we chose what we wanted or didn't want on our plate. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy the meal as much as I should have because of the rather large canker sores that had invaded my mouth like the Germans invaded Poland in WWII. Many of the meats were very salty, so I merely tasted them and then moved on to the next sampling. I was especially a fan of the Queijo Cualio (literally just cheese grilled) and the grilled pineapple with cinnamon. After our meal we stopped by the mall, but a power failure limited our visit to about 5 minutes. The wait to exit the parking garage exceeded an hour, so we were trapped behind a slew of other cars with no radio.
We arrived back home and went to bed almost immediately. I informed William that if he ever wanted to live to see another 6:00 in the morning again, he would not wake me up unless it was a life and death circumstance. I think he had gotten the message...
My day had begun way too early. I spent much of the morning picking up Williams mess and unpacking the remainder of my things. We ate breakfast, which in Brazil consists of ham or turkey and cheese sandwiches and fresh fruit. The fruit was great, very very fresh and very very clean. The pineapple had to be the best I had ever eaten. Aunt Lori worked on a list of what she needed and soon thereafter Salomão arrived. While everyone else prepared to leave, William and I, who were already ready to go, sat with Salomão for a lesson in Portuguese. I decided it would be better for me to just go to his house so I could catch up on some blogging work while the other five piled into a car to hit Hypermart, the Brazilian version of Walmart or Target.
I spent the day writing blogs, E-mailing and talking with Salomão’s daughter Julia who spoke English quite fluently. She started the conversation by telling me some good restaurants and places to visit and we just started talking about the difference in cultures. She had lived in Connecticut for a year as an au pair nanny an exchange program, which is how she gained her knowledge of the American culture and the English language. Several hours had gone by since I had been dropped off and with each passing moment I grew even more and more thankful I had made the decision to not go shopping. There is nothing I hate more than waiting around in a store while a woman does the majority of the shopping.
Finally I was brought home and we got ready for dinner. We met Luis and Lillia at a Brazilian BBQ and began eating. A meal that typically costs $30-$40 back at home was ours for less than $10. Meat after meat was brought to us on giant skewers and we chose what we wanted or didn't want on our plate. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy the meal as much as I should have because of the rather large canker sores that had invaded my mouth like the Germans invaded Poland in WWII. Many of the meats were very salty, so I merely tasted them and then moved on to the next sampling. I was especially a fan of the Queijo Cualio (literally just cheese grilled) and the grilled pineapple with cinnamon. After our meal we stopped by the mall, but a power failure limited our visit to about 5 minutes. The wait to exit the parking garage exceeded an hour, so we were trapped behind a slew of other cars with no radio.
We arrived back home and went to bed almost immediately. I informed William that if he ever wanted to live to see another 6:00 in the morning again, he would not wake me up unless it was a life and death circumstance. I think he had gotten the message...
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Uncle Mark, Aunt Lori and I Discuss the Events of the Day
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Salomão Gives our Portuguese Two Thumbs Up
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Aunt Lori, Caroline and William Surrounded by Recently Purchased Items
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Salomão Securing the New Mattress on the Roof of His Car
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