Seeing the benefits

As I said before I have found it more difficult than I thought it would be settling in here. My lifestyle in Brazil was some kind of dream and I definitely had to come down to earth with a bump. 

However little by little I am seeing more and more positives to living here in Madrid. These are just a few of them...

1. Transport. Public transport that actually works. I have quite a long commute to work each morning. In Brazil this would have been exceedingly unpleasant, the buses were useless and the metro was often so packed that you had to elbow people to get off. The buses here are on time, never full and even have wifi. I can read my book or check the news quite happily with a coffee in hand and before I know it I have arrived at work. 

2. The food. Supermarket food especially is so much cheaper than it was in SP and generally much better quality. I am enjoying being adventurous with my cooking again, something I definitely missed in Brazil. 

3. The shopping. One thing I missed a lot in Brazil was high street shopping. Mainly due to security, shopping takes place within the confines of the shopping centre. I am not a fan of shopping centres, they rarely have any personality and always have the same shops. I love visiting the small shops in my neighbourhood in Madrid and then stopping for a coffee before strolling back home.

4. Visitors. Lastly and most importantly, people can come and visit me!! In Brazil people obviously couldn't just come for a weekend. Here in Madrid I have already had visitors, including my sister last weekend. Door to door from her house at Bristol Uni it was just 5 hours. It really is so nice to be able to show people my life here. In just over 2 weeks, my mum and youngest sister are coming too, It's fun being able to plan where we're going to eat and what I am going to show them...

Olivia arrives in Madrid!!

After dinner fro-yo followed by a walk in the park, not the best idea on my part, I didn't realise it shut at 10pm and we got locked in with a few other dog walkers and had to be rescued!

One of the best things about being here is that my two best friends from school and uni are here too!!!

Olivia and Rozzy; brunch time at the amazing Carmencita's

Obviously I am still missing Brazil tonnes and that's going to take a long time to fade, but I can't complain, life really is pretty good here!

Mercado Municipal, Rua 25 de Março and Luiza's Birthday Party

After a late night on Friday we arrived at the Municipal Market feeling a bit worse for wear, the smell of strong fish was certainly not welcome as we arrived!! From the most amazing variety of fruit to a huge selection of cachaçhas, the market had everything you could think of. On the top floor there were the restaurants and lanchonetes selling typical pasteis and sanduíches de mortadela. Think Borough Market in London or Mercado San Miguel in Madrid but about ten times the size!

After being handed countless samples of tropical fruit, we decided to go somewhere slightly less bustling for some lunch and a rest! 

We found a small café about 5 minutes walk from the market,it was clear it was somewhere tourists did not often frequent! We were intensely stared at for 5 minutes but once they realised we spoke Portuguese we weren't quite so interesting!

I decided I needed a serious sugar boost so ordered açaí with granola and strawberries, yum! the café owner was super friendly and let me have a go at making caldo de cana-de-açúcar (pure sugar cane drink). He gave me a glass of it to try and, as is obvious from the name, it was SO sweet, I don't understand how people can drink it on its own!

Açaí with granola and strawberries!

This...Became...

This! (Pure sugar cane)

Feeling rather smug with ourselves,(my açaí was 4 reais, around £1.20), and rejuvenated we headed for Rua 25 de Março. The street where everyone goes to find a bargain. It goes on forever, and you can literally find anything. Before I left, Luiza had oddly asked me to buy stick on moustaches, I thought they would be hard to find, but there were hundreds of fancy dress shops and I found them in the first one. There was also a part of the street dedicated to fakes, so if anyone wants a Louis Vuitton bag or a Prada purse or anything else let me know!!

It went on like this for hours!

 After what felt like half an hour I realised it was already 5 o'clock and rushed home as I had promised Luiza I would help prepare for her party. 

Beijinhos (little kisses!), a party food favourite!

I had a great time. Brigadeiros, coxinhas, good company and lots of caipirinhas, the ingredients for a perfect Brazilian party! Before I knew it it was 3 in the morning, 4 hours before I had to be up to leave for Itu. More to come about my day in Itu soon...

My first work trip!

I had a relatively quiet weekend and finally managed to catch up on a lot of lost sleep.

On Saturday after a bit of shopping at the new JK Iguatemi Mall we headed to a bar in Vila Madalena called Pé de Manga. It was a cool place with lots of tables positioned around a man-made river and despite it being a bit chilly, it had great atmosphere.

Pé de manga (not my photo)

Also not my photo

Pé de manga drink

The menu was rock star themed! I chose a Ringo Starr which was basically a glorified steak sandwich and to drink had the house Pé de Manga; frozen mango with vodka. It is somewhere I will be definitely going back to, especially as it's at the end of my road! 

On Sunday, after the best night sleep I'd had for a while I headed to the gym. It's a bit of a trek from home but I decided to join as it's the one everyone at work uses so normally we all go together during the week. However on the way I managed to stumble across the Vila Madalena street fair and never made it! It was basically a huge street market with hundreds of stalls selling handmade stuff and food! Kind of annoyed I only brought my credit card as there were so many things I wanted to try!

The kind of thing you bump into on the way to the gym in Vila Madalena! Gente estranha!

In the afternoon I went to Steph's house (my sister's friend from uni)where we ate feijoada, it was seriously yummy and was so nice of her inviting me especially as it was her mum's birthday party! I headed home stuffed and allowed myself to watch a romcom in English, by Sunday evening my brain is always exhausted from speaking Portuguese!

Today I had my first work trip with a client. When I heard it was to the international airport I wasn't too fussed but it was actually pretty awesome. We got to go in the control tower which was an amazing experience and met some super important people, oh and we got to travel in the diplomatic range rover! It was a pretty fun day, I'm looking forward to the next one!

Tonight my flatmate Luiza arrived back from visiting her family in Rio. She must like me! I came back to a new mattress, curtains, lamp and beside table. Opening the boxes felt like Christmas! My feet no longer go over the end of the mattress! Life is good...

Até!!

Arriving in São Paulo...

Arriving in São Paulo...

From this...

To this...not bad for 5 months!!

British themed gifts bought in Heathrow!

Car to the airport: 1hr 30.

Wait in Heathrow: 2hrs.

Flight London-Washington: 8hrs30.

Stop-over in Washington: 3hrs.

Flight Washington-São Paulo: 10 hrs.

Bus São Paulo International airport-São Paulo Domestic Airport: 1hr.

Taxi São Paulo Domestic airport-Maria Eugenia's house: 1hr.

Total travel time: 27hrs

Almost there...

Arriving in a cold and wet São Paulo!

Tonight I am staying at Maria Eugenia's house. She is doing a work placement with a guy who is the best friend of my friend at uni's parents! A slightly tenuous link I think you'll agree!! Brazilians must be among the most hospitable in the world...She has welcomed me into her family home and is helping me find somewhere to live (I have my first house viewing tomorrow!). I am waiting to meet her when she gets back from work in a few hours, although I have already had lunch with her brother and grandma! Oh and it's her birthday party tonight which I will be going to!

The journey started rather stressfully by being aggressively told by united staff at check in that I hadn't bought my "ESTA US visa waver" and that if I didn't buy it soon I would not be able to travel! Thank goodness for my mum's iPhone! After a bit of a stressful start I felt more relaxed after some window shopping in Heathrow duty free.

Wishful thinking!

On my first flight I was seated in between two very large American guys and on the second seemed to be in the middle of a Brazilian tour group dressed in luminous yellow that had been visiting Disney World! Let's just say my intention of getting some sleep didn't really go to plan.

I took a coach from the international to the domestic airport and watched the Brazilian equivalent of "This Morning" in which the presenters were exhaustively discussing the name of William and Kate's baby! I then took a cab to Maria Eugenia's house, a journey which should have taken 5 minutes but took almost an hour, that's rush hour in São Paulo for you!

Anyway I am just very relieved that I am here! I am going to take a well-deserved nap now until Maria Eugenia gets back from work but will write another post soon about the impending house hunt!