Generic

The word generic has a totally different connotation in Brazil. It is the more acceptable terminology for a pirated/ripped off product. Sao Paulo even has a couple of malls dedicated to such products right in the middle of Downtown. Here you can find anything w.r.t software, music, movies, technology and such.

They had Spiderman 3 a month before it was out on the theaters. If you want the windows OS, all you have to name is the version. Most shops have catalog books that gone on for couple of hundred pages. The best part is : they give you three months money back guarantee for their their products (take that Microsoft!). The cost: 5 dollars if it is a CD and 7.5$ if it is on a DVD. And when you want to Music, you don't just get an album but the artists who discography!

I did take advantage of this offer!

Smoking in Brazil

Though there are countless smokers in Brazil. These warnings do help in keeping new converts down! For a culture that is very accommodative of smokers, these are truly strong!

Sign of Growing old - Panting

I spent the last weekend on a island playing football on the beach and swimming in the calm backwaters, when reality hit hard and fast; I am getting old, I can't run like I used to neither can I play football for hours on end like I used to! No its panting like a dog after just 10 minutes.

Of the six guys who went on the trip, 4 were in the 18-20 range and they easily showed how much of a difference 6 years makes not only on the running but also on the stomach. Inspite of my minds hard effort to get my stomach under control, my stomach - atleast for now - seems bent on growing out of my body!

Other than my lack of stamina the trip was a wonderful welcome break from the monotonous workaholic routine. Even got to stay at this amzing house that an old man had built from scratch with his own hands over the past 32 years. More on that tomorrow ... work calls. For now enjoy the new pictures from Bras(z)il!

The first Goal

I finally scored my first goooooaaaaallllllllllllllllllllllllll in Brazil. Better late than never I guess, specially with the added weight around my belly. I keep telling myself that I need to accept it as a fact of life and not try to fight it by going on a diet. The stomach is indeed more stronger than the mind ;)

Who knows maybe I'll be a decent football player yet.

And tomorrow I get to play football on an island wohoo!

Hunger the great uniter

One of the toughest things about the traveling job is eating alone. You can endure the hours in the hotel via working ... working but when you have to eat your dinner and you don't have a another person to go out with it s**** big time! A couple of days is fine but doing it day in an day out sucks your energy. Some days I just prefer to skip dinner - My mother would say that is a good idea seeing that I don't seem to lack in the mass department! Which made me glad when I had a couple of dinner buddies the other days. They were off the street and maybe needed a shower and a pair of new cloths. Other than that they were in a similar situation as me ... they had company but no money, I had money but no company and voilà it was a perfect fit. It was heavenly to see the smile on our three satisfied faces. The best part : I don't speak Portuguese and they had no idea what English was, though we all wore clothing with holes (I having paid for it as fashion, while they wearing it out of necessity) . But we understood food very well. Some people may say that love is the only thing that does not need a language. I beg to differ, I think food has no language too!

That being said I would have preferred the world to have been a little more kinder to them. With epidemic drug and gang related violence in Brazil, the best solution is to get these young kids off the streets and in a more productive environment. This shouldn't be just the prerogative of the government or the well heeled but also us common flock who can afford more than two square meals a day.

Mother's Day with a twist

So whats the most commercialized day in Brazil ? No not Christmas ... and they haven't there are no turkeys running around ... apparently the Brazilians think more of their mother than anybody or anything else. The most astounding part is that certain prisoners are let out of the jail for a day to go see their mothers. And the craziest part is that 98% return to their cells!

This is one part that I really don't understand about the Brazilians right next to their two hour lunches!

The way to travel

I finally got to travel by Business class last weekend, thanks to my wonderful colleague Nicolus Castro. Even though the client wouldn't pay for Business, he upgraded me on his personal points; what a way to travel. If anybody says that there is no social divide in the world needs only to hop into a long distance flight and it would hit him like a ice storm on a hot day. To start it off you get better silverware than the commoners (Coach/economy), you get three times as much leg room and to top it all off the American carriers finally treat you like Human Beings (Common in Asian airlines).

But the food still sucks on the US carriers ... they need to get some training on such things from Singapore airlines. If you all ever do get to travel business you should try it on Singapore Airlines. Even if I have only traveled coach on it, I could see how the upper classes get treated.