SINGING WITH THE INSANE
Ok, she's not crazy, but sometimes she does some crazy things. Thursday in Portuguese class, we're humming along, going over the present imperfect conjugations, and then my professor gets this idea that listening to a song would be fun. Hey, it sounds like something I'd do if I were teaching--you know, break it up a bit--so after she recited the lyrics to me, and I had to write them down (testing my ability to write well), we moved into her elder daughter's bedroom (who still lives at home with her--very COMMON in Brasil. She also rents out two other bedrooms to people--gotta make a living I guess), because the stereo system was there. She put in a CD, handed me the lyrics sheet and we listened. It's actually a very beautiful duet by a man and woman. Half way through, she started to sing along. Sweet, right? And then she got this hair-brained idea that it would be better if we both sang along. LOL
So the next time through, she and I were sitting together, reading from the same lyrics sheet, trying to sound relatively harmonious, while I tried to form the right sounds of each word and she tried to hit the right key. I had a reminiscent moment of when Grandma Stevens and I would sit beside each other on Christmas Eve singing carols.
It was fun. She makes me laugh at times. I've decided I like her a lot.
THINGS I'LL MISS ABOUT BRASIL
1. Nature all around. Where else can you be in the middle of a Portuguese class, look out the window and see a family of six small monkeys climbing through the trees. Or walking down a hallway, and there on a windowsill is a beautiful butterfly with a 6 inch wing span. Just sunning himself.
2. Meals by the Kilos. You aren't so hungry, you don't pay so much. You're famished, you pay a lot. You only want meats and a taste of salad..it's yours. It takes the buffet concept to another level.
3. FAST buses. Buses always pretend like they are in a race to get somewhere. And generally with no thought to anyone on the bus. You get on a bus and you have to go through a turnstill and pay a fare. But once you step on the bus, the race resumes. Off it jerks to a start and you have to hold on for dear life. Not that hard for an able bodied young man or woman, but it's the same if you're an 80 year old woman on crutches--or a foreigner holding his stuffed portuguese book fumbling for cash and coins. Hold on or fall down. That's the policy. THE GOOD THING IS they do move quickly through the city. The same distance driven, if comparing a NYC bus versus a Rio bus, the times would be: NYC: 30 minutes, Rio: 10. I'll take the 10 minute ride any day of the week. And relatively cheap too. NYC: $2.25, Rio: $1.50
SUE ME AND I'LL SUE YOU
I may have to go to NYC to prepare some stuff on the lawsuit--search for files, etc. If so, that might happen quickly.
And speaking of the lawsuit, nothing ever goes as planned. Timing, costs, etc. We are working towards finalizing damages and preparing documents. We had to switch representation, because of the costs of our original attorneys. Things look promising, based on some other things that have happened in other states/suits, but you never know. You never know..and I can't plan my life around it.
If we do win the suit, and are compensated for damages, that will go a long way towards me meeting some financial goals that were taken away when DHL left the US. If not, I'll have to figure out something else...at 50...it's not something I had planned on doing.
FUNNY CULTURE THINGS
Every culture has their funny things, but I experienced some Brasilian customs recently you might find interesting:
1. An over turned sandal (shoe) is an indication that someone will die close to you. Don't leave shoes overturned.
2. When leaving someone's house, it's not appropriate to reach for the doorknob. By doing so, it means you will never return to the house.
3. If you leave someone without the double kiss, cheek-to-cheek, goodbye, it means you didn't like the visit and may never see them again.
4. The OK sign we American's give all the time with our hand, is a MOST offensive sign...worse even than the middle finger left upturned.
OK, outta here.
I too like your teacher. I find it admirable that you have chosen to better your language skills. Love you!
ReplyDelete