Reunited with the Caipirinha

One week down and I'm realising just how much I'm going to have to pack into my remaining 5 weeks!

Despite my flight being delayed for 6 hours in Madrid and only arriving at ACER at 1am, I keenly volunteered to help out at a picnic that the NGO had organised at a park in central São Paulo.
At 8am we collected the supplies from the supermarket, packed up the combi van and set off for the city centre. After setting up the picnic under a shelter in the centre of the park, we had a wander round and waited for the families to arrive. The park was situated amongst the skyscrapers in a wealthy neighbourhood, next to the city's most exclusive shopping centre JK Iguatemi. The innequality between our guests and the park's everyday visitors could not have been more stark. 

Parque do Povo

                                   

After serving the picnic to our 100 or so guests (hard work!), we spread out into the park and enjoyed the sun. It was really sweet to see children of the everyday visitors lending their bikes and toys to the children of the Familia Guardiã; for most of them it would have been their first time on a bike. It was also great to meet the families and my new colleagues in such a relaxed setting. After another round of sandwiches we took a few team photos, packed up the van and headed back to Eldorado.

On Monday it was straight to work- I´m helping to write a project proposal, using football as a tool for social change, to try and obtain funding from a new grant that is being awarded. I am still working on it now, it was a steep learning curve at first but it has been such an interesting process and it will be interesting to see how it is received. On Tuesday night after work, I managed to help out with an art class which was really good fun and it was cool to get to know some of the kids better. I haven't had a lot of spare time to be able to sit in on other classes, but there is so much going on here all the time, from African dance to Capoeira to cooking classes, the charity is doing such amazing work.

On Thursday we headed back to my old office at the British-Brazilian centre, to celebrate the Queen's birthday party with other Brits in São Paulo. Everyone always feels so much more patriotic when they are abroad, although I am sure the caipirinhas did play their part in helping us belt out the national anthem! 

Queen's Birthday Party

After another busy day of work on Friday, I quickly packed a rucksack and headed into São Paulo to meet Vanessa in my old neighbourhood of Vila Madalena, where she takes pole dancing classes!! Let's just say I doubt I will ever be giving it a go! We got back to her ap, ordered pizza and caught up on all our news. We had planned to go out but chatting and an early night seemed so much more appealing after such a busy week. 

Following a much needed lie-in while Vanessa had an Italian exam, we took the bus to Jundiaí, a city of about 300,000 an hour from São Paulo, where her parents live. We arrived to the most delicious feijoada cooked by Vanessa's mother. While the sofa did look rather appealing at this point, we got our act together and drove to the biggest outlet shopping centre in São Paulo! Brazil has got to be one of the most shopping-obsessed countries for sure. No luck for me, my big feet and height don't help!

Feijoada

                      

We then headed to a food fair that was taking place at the local football club to celebrate their anniversary. It was good fun and there was so much interesting stuff to try, even if the Beatles cover band playing was slightly dubious! 

Sunday was a much needed chilled day. After a long lie in, we went for a walk in the roasting heat. June weather in São Paulo is all over the place, cold and rainy to 30 degree heat in the space of a few hours. After another delicious lunch, we drove back to São Paulo where I said bye to Vanessa and began the long journey back to Diadema. The perfect first weekend, bring on the next one. 

              

My second week has begun just as busily as when I stopped in Friday. We are now in the final stages of the proposal writing and I even went to a concert this evening, given by a Scottish band featuring a man dressed as a rabbit, who says there's not a lot going on in Diadema! Excited to see what the rest of the week holds and then looking forward to the Virada Cultural; 24hrs of free live music in São Paulo.

Salvador: Day 2

We found supper in the cutest little restaurant called Cafélier which looked more like someone's sitting room than a restaurant. It had an impressive collection of antiques and the most beautiful views over Salvador's port. My mum tried her first caipirinha, which was a big hit, after which the real gossiping began! I realised just how much I had missed it, Skype just isn't the same. 

After supper we listened to some Samba from our hotel balcony! 

The next day at breakfast my mum read the guidebook to me while I ate! These were just some of the things on offer:

We packed a lot into our day. The São Francisco convent, the Church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim and chopp and coxinhas at Barra beach were some of the highlights. 

Convent of São Francisco

Convent of São Francisco

Church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim 

Sunday at the beach...

Home from Home - Casa Longe de Casa

I am going to write in both languages today as although I am speaking lots of Portuguese, I don't feel like I am writing enough! Sorry for the mistakes in advance!

Maybe one of the reasons why I haven't felt homesick yet is because I'm basically working in a little British bubble in São Paulo. In my building there is not only the consulate but also the British Council, the BBC and Cultura Inglesa. So much Britishness in one building!

Talvez uma das razões pelas quais não tivesse sentido saudades do Reino Unido ainda é porque estou trabalhando, basicamente, numa pequena bolha britânica em São Paulo. No meu prédio não existe apenas o consulado, mas também o British Council, a BBC e a Cultura Inglesa. Tanta britanidade num só prédio!

The new lift in the consulate reception!
O novo elevador na recepção do consulado!

And this was the red carpet that greeted us on our recent "away day"!
E este foi o tapete vermelho que nos acolheu quando a gente chegou para nosso "dia fora!" recente.

The desks are littered with British flags and random objects that people have collected like this sculpture of Winston Churchill's head that sits opposite me!

As mesas estão repletas de bandeiras britânicas e objetos aleatórios que as pessoas tenham recolhido tal como esta escultura da cabeça de Winston Churchill que se senta à minha frente!

 All the meeting rooms are named after British authors and the office is decorated with very British modern art!

Cada sala tem um nome dum autor britânico e o escritório é decorado com arte moderna britânico!

We also have an endless supply of British chocolate brought by staff returning from business trips and we make sure to have regular tea breaks!

A gente tem também, uma fonte infinita de chocolate britânico trazido pela equipe ao retornar de viagens de negócios e a gente sempre assegura de fazer uma pausa de chá regularmente.

However most importantly, we have São Paulo's only British pub, the Queen's Head!! I sampled it for the first time last week after work for a friend's leaving drinks and it definitely beat all expectations. I thought it would be a bit gimmicky but it was very tastefully done!

Contudo, a coisa mais importante é que, a gente tem o único pub britânico de São Paulo, "The Queen's Head"! Eu fui pela primeira vez na semana passada depois do trabalho, para bebidas de despedida de uma amiga, e bateu as minhas expectativas. Eu pensei que seria um pouco artificial, mas acho que foi designado com muito bom gosto!

The selection of British drinks was impressive with a huge selection of ales and whiskies. However I don't drink beer and am not about to start and wasn't feeling that nostalgic so went for the much better value 2 for 1 Caipirinha deal!! I was very surprised by how much Brazilians liked Guiness though!

A selecção de bebidas britânicas era impressionante, com uma variedade enorme de cervejas e uísques. Entretanto, não bebo cerveja e não vou começar por sentir saudades, por isso escolhei a oferta de 2 para 1 Caipirinha! Fiquei muito surpresa como o quanto os brasileiros gostaram da Guiness!

The food was yummy and made a welcome change! There was a huge choice, of course including classics like cornish pasties and mini fish and chips!

A comida era gostosa e fez uma mudança bem-vinda! Teve uma escolha ampla, é claro, incluiu clássicos como "Cornish pasties" e mini "fish and chips"!

It was such a fun evening and somewhere I will definitely enjoy going back to, especially when I am feeling saudades!

Era uma noite divertida e é sem dúvida um lugar para onde gostaria de voltar, sobre tudo quando estou sentindo saudades!