It's Christmas?

Christmas season has officially started... almost three weeks ago. With no Thanksgiving to get hyped about before, its understandable that the Christmas season starts early. Don't get me wrong, I like Christmas too... but its odd to be reminded of how many ridiculous American christmas songs there while abroad. Rudolf the rednose reigndeer was playing at the drugstore, followed by here comes santa claus. Also, I am pretty sure a saleswoman at a candle shop who was setting up the Christmas display was singing jingle bells. This Sunday we helped set up Jordana's Christmas tree... listening to Celine Dion Xmas songs, I've forgotten about them, but they're actually good.

My mom would be proud, I am totally taking advantage of having a pool in the backyard. I'm no Michael Phelps (thank god) but I've gotten better. Joao was telling me that last year no one went in the pool. This I find hard to believe, but sad if its true. I guess its like most luxuries, once you have them they lose their appeal. I am still in the phase where I'm loving it.

I'm starting to entertain the idea of traveling on my days off. I've been sort of a chicken, but after the internship is over, I'm most likely going to be traveling on my own, at least for a little bit. I wish it were easier to come here, Brazil is an amazing country- apart from the corrupt bureaucracy and annoying visa and taxes you "have" to pay. I have secured a place to stay in Rio over NYE... some IAESTE kids are going to be in the area as well... we have an email group and I've been talking to a few. A lot of people are in Belo Horizonte, far away from me. I like it here though- truly. My Brazilian family, as they call themselves- is great. We're always joking and having a good time; they are just fun to be around.

On the work front... I love doing details. Call me crazy, but its true. I even took a picture of a building because I detailed the kind of window it had. Yes it gets tedious, and sometimes difficult, but once you have it all drawn and put together in a set... its almost like finishing that model you started 30 hours ago with plenty of time to spare- something that never happens in architecture school. Carolina, (one of the architects) assures me that it is the same in Brazil... no sleep, faulty glue and hours of crits and reviews. It's always down to the wire. Also, a new admiration and fascination of sketchup. Some are against it, and its not the most technical of programs, but you can make a lot of cool stuff. Now in the days where the image rules, making kick ass perspectives to hook your clients is always a good thing.

I learned this weekend that cachaca, cerveja and tequila is a terrible idea together. I got a casa de cachaca shotglass as a souvenir, as well as one of the worst hangovers ever... I have to be careful with that stuff- but its a truly Brazilian thing, though I'll admit not my favorite. At least I wasn't the only one messed up, we found Bruno asleep in his car on the way back to ours... he told us the next morning he slept there until 5am, when his brother called from the bus station to come pick him up. Aiai. Loucura. My Portuguese is getting better, though I'm still sort of shy to speak it, Fabio makes fun of me for not talking more. Punk. I'm starting to forget how to say things in English, its so strange.

Barack O-Brahma

The title of this entry, I cannot claim from my own cleverness, it is rather, that of João. Instead of using actual English words, he thought it would be fun to appropriate them into known Brazilian words. Brahma is a brand of beer here. Jokes aside, everyone here loves Obama, and it was a happy victory. I was sick this past week- like antibiotic, throat-almost-closed-on-me sick- and then I was allergic to the medication. As a result the picture on my Brazilian Federal Police ID is less than flattering- my cheeks were still sort of swollen. I am great now, everything is back to normal, and I am back to being ready for anything. Waking up last Wednesday to hear Obama won- priceless.

So, the party pictures in the latest set were from a University party called a cervejada. There were tickets, and its basically a huge open-bar party on a farm. A stage with a great band, beer tents, lots of people- muvuca. Isabela's friends are really great, I haven't had a bad reaction from anyone upon finding out I am from the states, which I thought was a bit surprising. Though, I guess it just proves the point that Brazilians really are the coolest, happiest people in the world. They certainly know how to throw a party. The music was a mix of samba beats and technorock, they called it Brazilian funk- it was great to dance to and everyone knew the words to the songs, which added to the awesomeness. One dance had moves that went with it- it was hilarious to watch; a sort of combination of humping to the beat and football huddle tiptoe excercises. They were telling me about all the "sayings" about these kinds of parties- that it is common to kiss 4 guys at one of them, that it is not a place to come with your boyfriend, where pretty much anything goes, and no one is judging. How great is that? Bottomline, cervejadas are great but I think it's mostly the people that are great.

I'm starting to appreciate the attention to detail and finishes that Marlene and the firm pay attention to. The resulting product is absolutely beautiful, every project that I have visited. Concrete construction here is so nice, monolithic in a good way. Clean lines, undisguised. Bricks here are square, kind of strange but they do their job. I really like working in metrics, inches are so tedious, especially in scaling things.

Until next time- tchau

New pics

http//picasaweb.google.com/monica.musialowski/Londrina2?authkey=gVzWoemTn2I#