Oi!
So I´m writing this email from my hotel in Rio de Janeiro. I´m here for a week of Portuguese immersion classes. Yes.. it´s intense.. just like camping (I just had to say my favorite joke to someone... or everyone in this case :)) My first day of class was today. I started with breakfast in the morning with a teacher at 8am. From then on, I had 2 hour classes with a different teacher everytime, all day, until 5pm. It´s all one-on-one instruction, and after lunch I get to go on a field trip in downtown Rio. Pretty nice. Needless to say, my head is spinning with languages. (Funny how you always say that which is needless to say... food for thought). I would say that knowing Spanish is more of an advantage than a disadvantage, but I try to use Spanish words that aren´t the same in Portuguese and get reprimanded frequently. :) I´m pleased with my progress, and my teachers are excited at how fast I´m learning.. hopefully they´re sincere.
This past weekend was pretty fun. I´ve noticed that Brazilians are very nice and that they looooove to party. This was my weekend: work on Friday until 8ish.. then got a ride home with a coworker, took a shower (never enjoyed those as much as I do working in the workshop in coveralls in the tropical summer), ate dinner, went to the bar to drink beer and cachaza, went to the dance party on the beach until 5am, came home and went to bed and then woke up at 11am to go to a churrasco with friends.
First of all.. I really don´t know where anyone from Schlumberger´s work and social lives split. They are one and the same. I work with people all day, then spend the evenings with them too. Everyone knows everyone´s business... it´s a curious situation. But anyway.. I was on my way to describe the churrasco. It´s a wonderful thing :) It´s grilling.. Brazilian style, and it´s an all day event. Lunch and dinner are mixed into one long afternoon of snacking on delicious morsels of beef cooked on a grill that looks like a little fireplace with a chimney. Oh my gosh is the food delicious! I don´t know how it is so much better than anything in the US, but it sure is. Okay.. and these people drink more beer than a frat house on a friday night! Okay.. maybe not that much, but it was impressive how many coolers of Skol (Brazilian cerveja) we went through.
When folks get intoxicated, they speak more English.. good for me! We walked the 2 blocks from my friends´ house to the beach, watched the guys go swimming, ran away from them when they came out, and got caught and drenched with sea water anyway. :) Some things are the same in every country.. huh? One highlight of the day was my ride on my coworker´s motorbike. It´s like a giant tricycle-motorcycle, but it was as long as a car. I have a couple pictures that I will put up when I get back to Macaé next weekend. It was frickin sweet! Raulmar took me down to the beach and all around town (he´s married and old enough to be my uncle.. don´t get any ideas). The wind was blowing in my face and the beautiful countryside of mountains and beaches was just perfect! Sometimes I have to pinch myself... not really- that would hurt. :)
Well.. I think that email is long enough for today. I have to pay for internet at this hotel.. lame!! I love hearing back from you. Keep it up! I will try to respond to individual emails soon. I have homework to do tonight :-/
Até logo (until later),
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