X-Tudo

Hope everything is well out in non-Norahland! Things are going well here. I'm now getting over the little cold I acquired earlier this week. Otherwise it has been a fun week of work, parties and (of course) food. Laila brought some salami from her town- Dumont, and we had a little afternoon picnic at work- complete with Guarana soda, it was such a treat!

Every day, Marcela and I go to lunch, and I get to ask her questions about all the food and try to expand my portuguese vocabulary... which mostly consists of food words. Yesterday I also went to a defense party and drank a good amount of Skol beer. Then Vanessa and I went home to get some dinner, and I finally get to the title of today's blog: X-Tudo!

Down the street from our casa is a little truck... akin to Louie's or Hot truck for you Ithacans... and they have these sandwiches... the ones we got were, of course, called X-Tudo. This sandwich had the following inside its roll: hamburger, ham, cheese, sausage, egg, bacon, tomato and lettuce. All in one sandwich... Tudo means everything... so it certainly is an apt description! Now for a picture of this masterpiece:

It was really tasty- you should give it a try sometime!

A few pictures...

Just a quick message... I thought I'd make up for lost time and post a few pictures.

1) Here is Ribeirão Preto, on my walk home from lab...

2) My temporary kitchen... and yes it is about 6 times the size of my kitchen in Ithaca...

3)The weather really is beautiful here....

And how are all of you?

Food!

I'm pretty sure I'm obsessed with food (but most of you already knew that).

And the food here, it is good... when I come back to the states I'm going to be the size of a house. A few nights ago we went to a little bar and had espetinho, which are skewers of meats or cheeses or pão de alho (garlic bread), barbequed- YUM! There also seemed to be an endless stream of beer.

This weekend I went to a Pizza Rodízio- a restaurant like the Brazilian barbeque places in the US, but this one doesn't serve meat, but pizza. So they bring around all sorts of pizza and you can eat as much as you want- you can eat until you die, they say. I had no idea pizza was so popular in Brazil- but it is very good and comes in every imaginable combination- even sweet pizza with ice cream on top!

I also had pão de queijo (cheese bread) which is amazingly good. I also went to a barbeque where I had my very first brazilian caipirinha (amazing!- I'm going to learn how to make them) and some more grilled meats.

I went to one more place this weekend, and surprise, I ate some more. I went to Curupira, a park in Ribeirão that has great views of the city, and where I also had a dish of frozen açai pulp with fruit (see the picture above). Yup, going to be the size of a house!

Just so you don't think I only eat, I also tagged along on my roommate Vanessa's photography class to an old train station in a small town near here. It was really pretty there... below is just one of the many, many pictures I took, but it will give you a bit of an idea of what the landscape around here is like.

Você fala português?

Hey everyone!

Who knew communication could be so exhausting? Things are great here in Ribeirão Preto, but my Portuguese is still extremely shaky- I have picked up some words, but sentences are still beyond me. My lab mates are great! They are always helping me and mostly speak to me in English when they can, which I know makes more work for them, so I really appreciate it. Hopefully by the end of this trip it will be easier for all of us. But right now, I'm sleeping really well at night!

The food here is great! Lunch is generally the biggest meal of the day, and the Cantina near the Pharmacy lab (where I work) is a good place to eat. Today I had a tasty salad, eggplant, fried fish, some gound meat and potatoes, fresh cheese (that was just for you Megan), rice and beans. I'm eating very well, but my roommates worry that I am not eating enough- so they are trying to fatten me up :)

I'm attempting to do cyclic voltammetry- which I know next nothing about, so its been interesting to say the least (thank you, Laila for all your help). Soon I will start work on some other experiments. But who really wants to hear about work...

In other news I've been absolutely horrible about taking pictures- I hope to fix that situation very soon! Once I do, I'll try to post a few.

Tchau

Made it!

Well I made it. Yay me! So here is what I've done since I last posted:

Friday: My first day in Brazil... um, I mean Washington DC.

I knew the chances of my 4 connecting flights going smoothly were quite small, and I was right. Due to weather/mechanical problems my flight out of NYC was cancelled and all the other flights delayed. As a result, I got to DC 5 minutes after my connection to São Paulo left. The only flight of the day. So…. I got to spend 24 hrs in DC.

United was nice enough to put me up in the Landsdowne Resort; pretty posh place! I got to know a great lady from Denver who stuck in DC too (thanks for the company Jennifer!). And my cousin picked me up at noon and we spend a great afternoon at the zoo and had a couple beers (thanks Brian!). It was a fun little vacation! Caught my connection to Brazil Friday night, and lucky me, due to some problem with my initial seat assignment I got bumped to business class. It made the flight so much more comfortable, I’m going to miss that on the way home.

Saturday: Really my first day in Brazil.

I arrived early in São Paulo, but unfortunately my checked bag didn’t. It decided to take a later flight from Washington, but I should be getting it today. Then after a few more delays I caught my flight to Ribeirão Preto. My new roommates Vanessa and Juliana, and my new lab-mate Marcela all came to the airport to pick me up. They are all very nice and are very patient with my non-existent Portuguese, but I am trying to force myself to try to speak a little. They all speak English very well, so it is easy to slip into the habit of just speaking English.

Sunday: Seeing important things around Ribeirão

A fun day filled with at walk around the University of São Paulo (USP), a concert and a Chopp (draft beer) at a famous bar here in Ribeirão called Penguim. Chopp is very good; it is very light and very cold, as well as very tasty and refreshing!

Today: My First day at USP

I was a little nervous about my first day, but everyone is being so nice, so I have relaxed quite a bit. I try to ask how to say things in Portuguese whenever I can and am attempting to write things down so I can practice at home. Rose and Zeki, my hosts, welcomed me and have been showing me around. I'm planning on starting experiments very soon. I guess that is all for now. It feels like I've done a lot in just a few days, but I'm looking forward to all that is yet to come.

I'd love to hear from any of you either here or via email!

Tchau! (good bye)

Waiting....

Well I did it. I left my apartment, and it is actually mostly clean. Amazing. For the most part, I feel fairly calm. Also amazing. I felt the weirdest about dropping off my car at Sarah's this morning (thanks again for the garage!). Somehow, that more than anything, cemented in my mind the reality of this trip.

Now I'm just waiting in the tiny Ithaca airport for the first connection on my marathon flight ( I have 4 flights...), and it is already a little delayed. I did make several interesting discoveries:

1) South American travel doesn't count for free checked baggage- US air now has $15 of my money.

2) I have so many connections they had to hand issue my baggage claim ticket ( the computer couldn't handle it)

3) I love having free internet in the airport.

T minus 41 hrs

Right... so today I realized that two days really is a rather short period of time to do all the things I should do before I head south. Wish I would have figured that out a bit earlier, but I guess instead I am just embracing my procrastination genes. However I have managed to do a couple of things:

1. got my suitcase out of hiding

2. made it look like someone ransacked my bedroom

3. went to the library to get language CDs in a futile attempt to learn (more) Portuguese

I for see a long night in my future, but hey, in under two days I'll be in Brazil... so worth it.

In the beginning...

Welcome to my adventures!

I leave for Brazil in less than 4 days... yes less than 4 days! It seems totally unreal to me, but apparently whether I manage to pack up the necessary items (sunscreen, check) or learn more than rudimentary Portuguese (Eu queria uma cerveja, check), off I go to Ribeirão Preto. I am amazingly excited about this trip... but right now I'm also going a little crazy at the thought of being gone for 6 weeks. I know the time will fly when I'm there and I'll wish like crazy to slow it down, but right now my bigger concern is getting everything taken care of here before I jet. Wish me luck!