Signs I am turning into a crazy person - Sao Paulo

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I realize that most Brazilian women think I am a Fashion Aberration. I don't wear high heels, I wear comfortable jeans that allow me to breathe, and I rarely wear make-up. But I may have sunk to a new low today. I was at Fleury to get some lab tests done and got cute sock covers -- booties? -- when I took my shoes off. Now, nine hours after said exams a chicly dressed woman tells me that I have toilet paper in my shoes. No, I said primly, those are my sock covers. Doesn't everyone wear them in their shoes?

From October 4 through October 13, I will not have access to internet. All blog posts for these dates are “pre-recorded” and I will not be able to respond to any comments until October 14.

Acostamento - Bertioga...and everywhere in Brazil...

The guys heading down the shoulder are doing so at everyone's peril.

When we were at the São Paulo shoreline a few weeks ago, we had a terrible return to São Paulo of about 4 1/2 hours on what was normally a three-hour journey. There were just too many cars on what was a two-lane road winding through beach towns with speed bumps and the occasional rotary. As we stopped and started, we were driven to fury by the cars who traveled along the shoulder of the road passing us all on the right.
 
Traveling on the shoulder (Portuguese: acostamento) is a habit that is not only totally illegal but extremely dangerous. There just must not be enough traffic cops to police it because it would be a most excellent way to get your month-end numbers of traffic tickets. We were traveling at less than 5 mph and these folks were "whizzing" along at at least 30 mph.

A big issue with this is the fact that most beach dwellers (I mean the residents, not the visitors) travel by foot if they do not travel by chicken bus (you know the ones that are non-airconditioned and stuffed full of all manner of man and beast). They travel on the shoulder of the road because there is no such thing as a sidewalk and usually the tropical flora comes right up to the roadway. It is amazing to me that more people are not killed by illegal shoulder travelers.

If the traffic cops ever do wake up and catch you, that's a fine and five points off your license. And I'd like to give you a slap just for doing it. 

From October 4 through October 13, I will not have access to internet. All blog posts for these dates are “pre-recorded” and I will not be able to respond to any comments until October 14.

Sabores de mi Tierra - São Paulo

A wonderful Colombian restaurant we went to last week with friends, one of who is Colombian-West Virginian (true story). Fantastic arepas of all types and patacons. Friendly, casual, and inexpensive. Unusual to get a meal (with beer) for $260 reais for 6 people (about US$20 each).  Go early, because they close when they feel like it, sometime around 10:30 pm. 

You can bring home frozen arepas to make anyway you want.

More information for the Portuguese speakers here: Sabores de Mi Tierra

From October 4 through October 13, I will not have access to internet. All blog posts for these dates are “pre-recorded” and I will not be able to respond to any comments until October 14.

Radio silence...or not - São Paulo

This car in front of me (the red one) has a huge speaker mounted on top and it is playing the same recording over and over again. Loudly. I thought this was deemed illegal due to noise reduction laws here in São Paulo but this guy was not too worried. 

His message was about the current bank branch strike. "Bancarios estão em greve para tempo indeterminado. ...contra os banqueiros." Translating loosely "Bank workers are on strike for an indefinite period. [We are acting] against the bankers." I'm assuming bancarios are the ones working in the branch, and the bankers are the guys in corporate. 

I'm just happy I wasn't stuck in traffic too long.

From October 4 through October 13, I will not have access to internet. All blog posts for these dates are “pre-recorded” and I will not be able to respond to any comments until October 14.

Nicknames - São Paulo

I know I've talked about nicknames before. How Eduardo becomes "Dudu" or "Dado". How Arthur can become "Tuti". Carlos Henrique becomes "Caique" But I have to draw the line on my gardener's nickname. Would you rather be called Lindomar (Beautiful ocean) or Doca?

Please.

Green Stain - Seriously? São Paulo

Okay, so at the risk of alienating my husband, I have to bring up the Mancha Verde, or the Mancha Alviverde, depending on how you feel about the law (see below). A direct translation is the Green Stain--an indirect translation would be one of the largest fan clubs in Brazil, and the biggest of Palmeiras. It boasts somewhere around 70,000 members. I should not be joking that a fan club is called a stain because there are some of these folks who would not be so happy with me, shall we say.

The Mancha are the folks who sit across the way from us in the yellow sector in Pacaembu stadium. They are tons of fun when they are happy. They hop up and down, dance, coordinate arms to the left and arms to the right, run down, run up, spin around their shirts, bring green and white balloons and flags and huge banners. From afar, I love them. I do not wish, however, to be seated in the middle of them.

The Mancha was originally founded in 1983 from a fusion of three other smaller fan clubs: the Imperio Verde (Green Empire), the Inferno Verde (the Green Hell) and the Gremio Alviverde (no clue). The name Mancha Verde actually comes from a Disney villain, the Mancha Negra (this is the Phantom Blot according to Wikipedia, who I do not recognize but was apparently an old-time archenemy of Mickey Mouse). The Mancha Negra used to rob banks and leave victims with black blots. Not really sure why this would be your mascot (yes, Corinthians does win the fan club mascot war with  the hawks).

Anyway, the Mancha Verde is judicially dead according to the same source, because of a major fight between the Palmeiras and São Paulo fan clubs in 1995. 110 injured and 1 São Paulino dead. At that point, the Mancha Verde was converted into a Samba School (I'm not really sure how you execute this transformation--dance lessons? They really are quite limber). In 1997 a new Mancha was created with new rules, headquarters and a separate directorate so that if the fan club did something bad, the samba school would not be affected.  So the new Mancha is called the Mancha Alvi-verde (alvo=white, verde=green). Or not. I see the signs in the stadium are still Mancha Verde.

Love them or hate them, they are a huge part of the fun at live games. Unless of course you are a Gavião da Fiel (a Corinthians fan club member--a Loyal Hawk). And then, all bets are off.

Hey! I've seen you before! - São Paulo

Sidney Harris cartoon - The New Yorker magazine

Today I am having "já te vi" or "I've seen you before"  for lunch. What is that, exactly? Leftovers of course, and such a nice way to say it. 

Once I heard a comedy routine about how a food item would feel to be called a "leftover".  It made me feel very sorry for the food (sorry, I could not find a link to this). I think I'd rather have someone say "hey, I've seen you before" with a tone of voice like "yay! I am seeing you again!"  And, by the way, I do love leftovers.

Já te vi is one of my favorite Brazilian expressions but is not universally known. I learned it first from my in-laws who are from the interior of São Paulo state--maybe it's localized there. A few paulistana friends (from the city of São Paulo) have just laughed at my use of it. Something I have also seen before...people laughing at my Portuguese...