March 13, 2013
Feliz Aniversario Max!
The two little recent
huggable and kissable men in my life woke up as I did and stormed down the
stairs to say goodbye. I was afraid I wouldn’t have the chance to give them my
fond farewells since they were overtired and went to bed kicking and screaming
last night. But there they were, smiling and loveable bright and early to tell
me to come back soon.
Carpooled in with
Katia and, per her usual schedule, had shockingly high octane coffee in a
thimble and a cheese roll bigger than my head for breakfast at the little café ‘round
the corner from her office. We struggled with my over-packed luggage to the
taxi stand and eventually a guy showed up in a marked cab to bring me to my
destination that, from my trusty ipod, looked “just around the bend.” As we
drove around and around several blocks, making turns this way and that as the
meter ticked-on I got angry, muttering about the R$17 missed turn so he
admitted it was his fault and he charged me a flat rate. I was squirming in the
back, controlling my upset in my per-usual angst in a cab with the meter
running and running…don’t know how the big city people cope!
Hitched a ride into
downtown with my friend, Guilerme on his way into town (he decided to take a
cab today for some odd reason so I got to practice my taxi calming skills once
again) and they dropped me off at the Metro Station (Se.) I am forever asking a
million people which way to the this, that, or the other and I get a different
response every time. Brasilians, like most people, like to be helpful and blurt
out seemingly exact directions whether they know or not. It is a great game of
who looks like they REALLY know as they are pointing, gesturing and nodding in
earnest.
Toodled around the
main drag, side streets, back alleys while out on a search-and-rescue for a
real leather (not those synthetics made in CHINA) purse for my favorite daughter.
I never did find the color nor shape she was requesting so I bought a few other
things just to make the trip worth my while, sat and nibbled more cheese rolls
(this time they were the size of a nickel in diameter and were 7 for R$1)
slurping a singeing hot coffee and watching the shoppers go by. There were a
lot of sets of police officers in and around the area, dressed in tight grey
uniforms with black shiny boots and official badges on their arms.
Careening around the
Metro maze and hopping on several lines before submerging into the heat of the
day and wide open streets of bustling Sao
Paulo. People sleeping off to the side with bare feet
the size of bear claws and tattered clothing, face turned towards the crowd in
a trusting snore. One woman wore a tattered flattened box over the top as a
filmy blanket. She looked relatively peaceful in her impoverished state.
I am caring for the
wee ones tonight while one parent is off to a party and the other has class in
town. Already shared my plethora of photos on the ipod for the now four year
old (his birthday was Sunday before last) and I got the lowdown on his party,
presents and was able to sample the left over brigadeiros. They are yummy rolls
made of chocolate, coconut, and something-or-other rolled in sprinkles or bald!
The adults swarm the tables and have their elbows sharpened when the brigaderos
arrive so you have to be quick!
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