Good-Bye Brazil.....

Well, today is our last day in Brazil. We have arranged for a late check out and then our driver will take us to the Sao Paulo airport. We have had a great time and will miss the country and it's people.

The last two days here have been fairly uneventful. David followed up on some items with the company. We did manage to squeeze in a visit to the Jundiai Museum of History and Culture. I researched it and thought, according to Google Maps, that it was within walking distance of our hotel. David, ever the cautious one, thought it best if we hired a taxi. Once again he was right. The museum was EAST of our hotel, not west as Google said and we would have to walk through the same park we had encountered our first Saturday here. Our taxi driver spoke a little English and got us within two blocks of the museum. This is as far as she could go as some of the streets in the Centro district are closed to cars. She was concerned about leaving us and us having to walk but we assured her we would be okay. The museum was interesting. We were able to read a lot of the signage on the displays. We think the museum was a probably a house prior to becoming a museum. We were amazed at the height of the rooms. To help with the heat, the ceilings were at least 14 feet if not 16 feet high. Then in the bedroom areas, there was a "chimney" shaft upwards to draw air up and out of the house. Very ingenious. Besides historical displays of the Jundiai area, the museum also has displays of art work. The most beautiful part of the museum is the court yard garden or jardim. It was completely walled in with stone paver paths and lots of shade and flowers. There were also benches for resting and enjoying the peacefulness. Speaking of peace, there was a peace monument presented to the city from President Franklin Roosevelt and the citizens of the United States in 1935.

That is about all until the next time we visit Brazil.

The Food!

I could make this an extremely short post by just saying it is unbelievable - but, I am going to try to describe just how wonderful all of our dining has been.

Each morning the hotel has a breakfast buffet. My two favorite features are the fresh fruit and the Brazilian coffee. I don't know if I will be able to drink American coffee after having café. It is extremely strong and a little bitter but I have developed a taste for it. And each morning, I start the day off with fresh pineapple, bananas, and once papaya (only once as it is not my favorite). There is also a wide selection of other fruits, cereals, breads, and pastries along with eggs and bacon and fresh juices.

After this huge breakfast, David would go to the plant for his seminar where a buffet table was set up for the group. The "snacks" consisted of mounds of fruit, candy, nuts, cookies, etc. And then after all of that, the group would go out for lunch. There was so much food that David started bringing some fruit and other goodies back to the hotel for me. It would be enough for my lunch the next day.

Last Friday the seminar group celebrated the end of the course by going out to eat at O Espetão Grill. This translates to The Spit - like a skewer, not the other spit. David was so taken with this place that he arranged for a taxi to take the two of us there on Sunday. It is a huge buffet but with some interesting twists. Each table has a card on a wheel. One side says "Sim Por Favor" (yes please) and the other side says "Não Obrigado" (no thanks). As long as your card says yes, they will keep bringing you meat and potatoes. Even if your card says no, they will still stop and ask. If you hesitate even for a bit, you will have another chunk of meat on your plate. There is also a salad bar complete with all the usual greens plus quail eggs, hearts of palm, green beans, and many other salad type dishes. A pasta bar is also available although I didn't see many people taking advantage of that. In addition, a chef will prepare an omelet if you wish. The waiters that come to the table carry skewers (the "spits") of every meat imaginable. We had lamb, several different cuts of beef, along with pork and fish. Check out the pictures. I did manage to get a glimpse of the dessert cart as we were being seated so I paced myself in order to get dessert. I even talked David into a dessert but he couldn't finish his - I had to help. :)

At each place we ate here in Brazil, the staff was always concerned about how we liked the food and if we had enough. It is apparent they take great pride in their foods. Hospitality is also important and we were treated like royality everywhere.

The Magic of the Harley T-Shirt

David and I wore our Lincoln Trail Chapter HOG t-shirts to Campinas on Saturday. We had planned on changing out of them after the visit to the Harley store but didn't have a chance. With João as our guide and with us constantly, we didn't feel like we had to disguise the fact we were tourists. During our visit to Dom Pedro Mall and while eating in the food court, a man and his son came up to us and asked if we were HOG members. Of course we were but the t-shirt was the ice breaker he needed to approach us. He was also a HOG member and so we talked bikes for a bit. He had an Ultra and a Road King.

On Sunday morning at the hotel breakfast, we noticed several couples with Harley-Davidson t-shirts on and all were from H-D dealerships in the Florida. We didn't want to interrupt their breakfast but when we saw a few of them later in the lobby, we asked. They were Brazilian riders who had traveled together as a group to Florida and were planning a trip to Milwaukee for the 105th and then were motorcycling on to Las Vegas. My wish for them is that people in the United States treat all of them as well as we have been treated here in Brazil.

Later that morning from our balcony, we heard them leave the hotel parking garage. We spotted a Soft Tail Heritage, a Road King, an Ultra, and a Sportster.

By the way, everyone is so surprised when I tell them I have my own bike. Some young women ride the small metric bikes but I have yet to meet anyone female who rides her own Harley.

There are metric bikes all over but Harleys are rare. We are used to hearing the whine of the metric in traffic but when we hear the occasional deep throaty VROOOOM of a Harley, we always try to look.

A Day in Campinas

Not much happened on Friday - David left early per usual. This was Rena's last day here so I went to lobby to wish her a safe trip home. I went out for a walk to "scout" out a different restaurant for us and found the Italian place we had heard about. When David got back, he was hot and tired from a long day of touring the forge shop and machine shop so after a swim, we just ordered room service.

On Saturday, João from Campinas arrived at our hotel at 8:00 to take us to Campinas and show us his town. Campinas is about 30 or 40 miles from Jundiaí and João, who spoke English very well, was a great tour guide, furnishing us with information about the area, the towns we passed, and in general, answering our many questions. Our main purpose for going to Campinas was to visit the Harley-Davidson dealership and to buy t-shirts. João showed us some of downtown Campinas as we waited for the Harley store to open. We were glad the clerk at the Harley store, André, spoke English and have promised to email the pictures we took at the dealership.

Campinas is home to about 1.4 million people and is just what you would expect from a large city - lots of traffic and hard to find parking spaces. João knows many people in Campinas and knows how to get around - he even talked to a hotel where he does business (as an executive taxi driver) about letting us park as we walked around downtown. We also used the hotel bathrooms (see note below about the bathrooms at the park). And, João was able to get me selos so now I can mail those postcards.

We saw many parts of Campinas - the military post and Taque Lagoa (lake) which was pretty and used as a recreation area for people walking and jogging but if you go - don't use the bathrooms - no paper in stalls or for drying hands and no soap. We also saw many schools, universities, shops, and then the famous Dom Pedro Mall. The mall is the place people talk about when they talk of shopping in Campinas. It has over 700 stores and with many of them the trendy boutique types and several jewelry stores. I really didn't see any bargains and again saw the signs with either the 10x or 20x plus the price. There was a science/history/arts fair on one of the concourses and we walked through looking at the student displays. It was much like the student Science Fairs we would see in the States. We ate at the food court but did not go to either the McDonalds or Burger King (they are everywhere). We ate at a self-serve, one-price place - fill your plate for R$10.

Our final stop in Campinas was back downtown at the vendor fair. This was the place for bargains as the vendors will negotiate. We picked up a few things but I was disappointed when I went back to a booth from an earlier pass around the fair and found it closed. Most all the vendors were either packing it up or and already closed by 2:00 p.m. (14:00 as I try to get used to). I didn't know why other than either tradition or it really starts to get unbearably hot and humid in the afternoon. On our ride back to Jundiaí, I told David he had to keep his car window up so we could get the full effect of the air conditioning.

Saturday night, David and I walked to that Italian restaurant about 8 blocks from the hotel. We got there about 6:10 only to to find out they don't open for evening meal until 7:00. So we waited as there are not a lot of choices for restaurants within walking distance of our hotel. At about 6:45, the staff let us in. And when we asked our waiter if he spoke English, he said no but brought us an English menu. Towards the end of our meal, another waiter came by our table and practiced his English with us. We have found that if someone here speaks some English, they are eager to practice.

I Look Brazilian??

Today started out like yesterday; rainy. I finally got a break around 11 and was ready to venture out to buy stamps (selos). I knew there would be a language barrier so I was trying to do some research online on how much it would cost mail a postcard to the United States. After about an hour and no clear answer, I decided to wing it and hope I could make myself understood. Just as I was gathering up my stuff, it started to rain again. So I had another couple of hours waiting for it to stop raining.

I had tried to buy stamps on my journey out on Monday but couldn't find the post office. The bellhop (who spoke some English) told me to go to the Banco do Brasil. The website for the Agência de Corrêio (Post Office) didn't have any prices for the stamps but it too said I could buy stamps (selos) at the Banco do Brasil. When the rain stopped I went to the bank and stood in line. I had no idea what the sign said for the line I was in and I don't really like thumbing through my phrase book when I am in a crowd as I am sure this draws attention to myself as a foreigner. So when I finally get to the window I tell the man, "não falo Portuguese" he says just as clear as can be "how about English?" Whew! I told him I needed stamps - selos. He was confused because he didn't know they sold stamps. He said he had only been at that branch a short time and would check. Bottom line, the bank does not sell stamps. Next bottom line, I am tired of trying to buy stamps. No one is getting a postcard mailed from Brazil.

I did manage to do a little shopping for errands; more razors for David and more water for our mini refrigerator. I had no problems with these two transactions. The man at the drug store said "cinco" clear enough for me to give him R$5 and the women at the convenient store know me well enough to hold up the correct number of fingers.

Since it was raining last night, David and I went for a pizza that is right next door to the hotel. If you are thinking, pizza - boring, you are wrong. This is not the same pizza as United States pizza. First I think they will put anything and everything on the pizza. I took a menu with me and have yet to translate everything listed but just some of the things are eggs, peas, green beans, corn, hearts of palm, veal, catsup, mustard, potatoes, etc. This pizza place named their specialty pizzas after people: Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Chaplin, All Pacino (their spelling), Bardot, Al Capone (Al spelled right here), or Spilberg. I can't figure out what each pizza has in common with the namesake. Instead of one pizza divided between us, we each had a pizza and David's was half and half. Not exactly what we thought we were ordering but at least we ate.

Today when I left the hotel for my errands, I accidentally got off the elevator at the convention floor instead of the lobby. The woman there said something to me and I did my usual "não falo Portuguese" and she gave me a strange look and said "não Portuguese?" I repeated. She then told me I looked Brazilian, whatever that means. That could also be the reason I don't have too much trouble going a few blocks down the street for errands.

Should Have Gone Out Yesterday

It started raining before we got up this morning and has been raining since. I can't even walk to the corner convenient store without getting wet so I am stuck here in the hotel today. Should have gone out yesterday.......

When David got back last night, we walked over to that same little restaurant we went to on Saturday (Sábado) where the waiter/owner spoke no English at all. When we stepped in the door, he said " have chicken feeesh". He had practiced and was waiting for us to come back. Made me glad we did. For our meal last night we ordered chicken Parmesan meal for two (refeição por dois). He shook his head and said "por um" (for one). We didn't understand. Did that mean he only had one meal? No, por dois too much. He brought us a meal for one and we couldn't finish it! Besides the very large chicken breast, the meal came with two kinds of potatoes, rice, beans, and a salad. Our waiter brought us the potatoes served as an appetizer (diced with cheese and french fries). He then served us the salad, left the salad bowl on the table in case we wanted more. He then came back with the rest of the meal and insisted on cutting the chicken into manageable portions, served the beans (navy type beans in a soupy mixture but he scooped out only the beans) and the rice (arrôs). We once again did the "American" thing and left him a tip. Still doesn't seem right not to reward such wonderful service. And the price tag for that meal we couldn't finish? R$26.40 or about US$14.70.

I am going to be extremely lazy today. I did wash some things again today but with the rain, I don't think they will dry well. I have the door open to my balcony and am watching it rain. I step out every so often to see if the cars are using their wipers; they are. So I will just play on the computer and research some more. By the way, I keep the door to balcony open most of the time when it isn't too hot and just listen to the sounds of the city. For some reason, there are no bugs.

David is trying to arrange an outing for us this weekend. He had the secretary/administrative executive/travel arranger at the parent company call me today to ask what we would be interested in seeing. I told her we were open to suggestions. She is going to try to find us something to do. I do know there is a museum within walking distance of our hotel and if nothing else, we can go there. She did tell me she had heard that I walk by myself while David and Rena are at the seminar. She asked if that were true and I said yes. Apparently visitors don't do that much. I have had no problems, though. The people here are extremely friendly and eager to help.

Speaking of no problems, I forgot to mention how customs went. As I said before, we had no problems. It wasn't until later when I got to thinking about it, we weren't finger printed. I know that it has been the policy of the Brazilian government to finger print all U.S. citizens upon entry into Brazil. This is a retaliatory action because the United States finger prints Brazilians. When I mentioned to Fernando on Sunday that we weren't finger printed, he was surprised. Maybe the tensions between Brazil and the United States are finally starting to lessen.

The Home Body

Today is one of those days I just didn't feel very adventurous and I also didn't feel a lot like constantly saying "não falo Portuguese" so I mostly just stayed in the room. I decided, though, not to wait on the maid and left soon after David and went to the pool on the roof with some reading so the maid would clean the room early. While up there, a young college man came in and started a conversation and I had the use that magic phrase. As with most people here, he immediately assumed Espanha. I said não, English. He started to say he speaks a little English but after about two words said, "não falo English." I had my duo language dictionary and we managed to find out that he lives in São Paulo and I live in Kentucky. He asked if I visited São Paulo and I said we drove through on the way to the beach (praia) which I pronounced wrong and he corrected me but I still can't get the pronounciation right. He asked if we had beaches in Kentucky. I said just rivers (rios) and lakes (lagos). He immediately assumed Great Lakes but I said não, only five great lakes but many states have many many lagos. He wished me a good time in Brazil and I said "obrigada" and then I told him I could do "obrigada" "por favor" "onde" (where) and "quanto é" (how much). That brought a laugh and that is universal.

Back in the room, the maid had finished but was still on the floor. I had left a bag of laundry and wanted to be sure she understood. I would have been better off assuming she understood. She brought me another laundry bag. And then called her supervisor to bring me another bag. And then I get a call from the laundry room from someone who only spoke Portuguese. Still not sure about the status of my (actually David's) clothes, I went to the lobby and luckily got THE person who speaks some English. Apparently we are okay. We will see tomorrow if David gets his clothes back. For me, I just rinsed my stuff in the sink. I refuse to pay someone R$4 to wash one pair of my panties.

A Day at the Beach

The weather could not have been better for our excursion to the beach. Fernando, who works for the parent company and will soon relocate to Louisville, volunteered to be our guide for the day. His wife, Anna who is 8 months pregnant, also came along. Fernando and Anna picked the three of us up at the hotel just after 8:00 a.m. for the two hour ride to the beach.

Just after we drove past São Paulo, we stopped at a rest stop similar to those we have in the States on toll roads. It had a gas station and a restaurant, and most importantly, a restroom (remember, Anna is 8 months pregnant). This restaurant was a Frango Assada (roasted chicken) and they are all over. The one unusual aspect of each of these rest stops is that as you go in the entrance door, someone hands you a bar coded card. You can visit the restaurant or shop or use the bathroom. No money is collected until you exit and then the cashier will take your bar coded card and if you ate at the restaurant, for example, that charge would be on the card. You then pay. Only the cashier at the exit (saída) door takes money. That certainly sounds a lot more sanitary than someone cooking or serving also handling currency.

São Paulo and points inland are actually in the mountains and the mountains go right down to the seashore. As we drove out of São Paulo, we descended rapidly. The highway Fernando chose was not the fastest but one with great views. It was also the highway the trucks are to use so we saw the runaway truck lanes (caminhões área de escape) and many switchbacks.

Fernando drove us to his parent's condo, right on the beach at Guarujá with spectacular views of the ocean, islands, cargo ships, and of course the beach. We relaxed for a while, enjoying the view and occasionally David, Rena & Fernando talking some "shop talk" and then we went to the beach.

None of us put on a swim suit although I did put on my swim suit tank. Fernando had already arranged for beach chairs to be waiting for us so we kicked off our shoes at the chairs and walked in the surf. The water was very warm on our feet. We walked the entire length of the beach with Fernando and Anna always giving us a little info here and there. As we started our walk back, Fernando stopped at a vendor selling coconut water and ordered each of us a coconut opened (with a machete) and with straws. I'm sure we won't forget that drink. Later when we got back to our chairs, Fernando sent for milho (corn) and we ate corn on the cob, served in the shucks, as we watched a few people play a game of keep the ball in the air (best as I can describe). No one actually wins as both or all three or all four players just hit the ball back in forth with a paddle. Ferndando says the ball is like a racket ball so there is a real incentive not to get hit by the ball.

One thing we did notice about the beach is there are all kinds, shapes, and ages of people and mostly none of them are self-conscious of showing their bodies. David was starting to feel sorry those for those poor girls that couldn't afford an entire bathing suit. We saw some extremely good looking people also in the skimpy suits and if I can I will try to "PhotoShop" my head onto one of those bodies when we get home.

After our time at the beach and a little more rest at the condo, Fernando drove us to a restaurant. We let Fernando know what we liked and we all agreed on shrimp so he ordered a Hungarian shrimp dish and a garlic shrimp dish. This was all served family style. The three dishes of shrimp was almost too much for the five of us to eat. The garlic shrimp were gigantic; maybe as much as six inches long. And the Hungarian shrimp was simply delicious. We all agreed it was probably the best shrimp we had ever eaten.

Next we drove around the town of Guarujá. Fernando took us up a mountain road with views of the city and the ocean. He also drove us through a gated community. He had to stop at the guard station to identify himself via a driver's license. This place was unbelievable. These are the types of houses you would see in "Architecture Digest." The houses are huge with lots of glass but not a one of them had a view. Go figure. Also, the sign just before the guard station let everyone know that the administrators were "always in defense of well being and of our paradise."

Next it was a stop at the public beach for shopping and something Anna had been looking forward to all day - Acaí (ah-sah-EE). There is no direct English translation because it is an Amazonian fruit. It is served as a pulp and has the texture of yogurt and with sliced bananas and granola. It is extremely rich and filling. I did notice on the granola that the package contained 14% of the daily fiber requirements and since it is made entirely from fruit, we convinced ourselves it was healthy. :)

About the shopping - - I had assumed from what I had read earlier that clothing and shoes would be cheap in Brazil. That is far from the case. As we were strolling through the mini-Mall by the public beach, I noticed a pair of Adias for about R$39.90. I said "that's not bad" but Anna pointed to the sign and showed me that above the $R39.90 was a 10x so the shoes were about R$390.00 or roughly US$200.00 and the 10x means the store will finance the purchase for you. Rena had been shopping on Saturday with friends and noticed small appliances like microwaves that we can get in the U.S. for about $70.00 would cost a Brazilian about what those above mentioned Adias cost. To top all of that, wages are extremely meager here. About the only staple that is cheap is food.

Soon we went back to the condo, gathered up our belongings and took a last few pictures of the beach. It took us two hours to get to the beach but as we started to leave, it started to rain. Fernando got on the faster of the two highways. This one, instead of switchbacks, has tunnels. Fernando couldn't remember but he thought there were twelve in all. As it got later, traffic got heavier. We started to see several accidents, mostly the small motorcycles we had seen weaving in and out and between lanes of traffic. Then the over head signage (like a TriMark sign) said an accident on the other highway had it closed completely so all traffic was diverted to our highway. Bottom line, it took us four and a half hours to get back to Jundiaí, compared to the two hours to get from Jundiaí to the beach and that was taking the "slower" scenic highway.

Well, today David and Rena are off to their seminar and I am here at the hotel. I am about to venture out for a bite as it is past noon and I haven't seen the maid. I think she must be reluctant to come into the room with me here even though I left the tag on the door for the room to be made-up.

We Explore the Streets near our Hotel

David and I set out soon after breakfast for a couple of errands and to get a feel for the area we were in. I had done a "google map" for several square blocks but since we don't have a printer, I drew the map. Our first stop was at a "farmacia" since David forgot razors and he didn't want to spend the entire time here shaving with Lady Bics. We were assured that most people we would be dealing with would speak English but we are finding that far from accurate. Hardly anyone aside from those David & Rena's company and the front desk people at the hotel speak much English and most people speak no English. We get by with the guide book of phrases and hand gestures. For instance for the razors, David pantomimed shaving and we get "ah, barba." When it is time to pay, most vendors have a small calculator and just type in the amount and we pay it.

Our next errand was to find a bank to get Reais. American dollars are not readily accepted and there is always a foreign transaction fee for using bank cards. However, we found out you get an excellent exchange rate using the ATM machine and no exchange fees. The problem was trying to find a bank that first took our Plus network card and second finding a bank where we could read the ATM machines, i.e., English (gestures wouldn't work). Just a few blocks from our hotel is just such a bank. Once we put the card in, we were asked what language.

It is hot and humid in Jundiai today. After just about an hour and a half of walking, we were sweaty. So it was back to our hotel. We have a rooftop pool in an atrium so we went for a dip. The water was wonderful. There were no towels but the young lady already there, when we asked her in our broken Portuguese and small words in English, understood we wanted towels. She arranged for housekeeping to bring us two towels to the pool.

After the swim and cool down, we went out again for lunch and exploring in a different direction. We found a street vendor selling hot dogs. Four hot dogs and two diet cokes cost us R$7 which is about US$3.80. We then walked to the overpass of Avenida Jundiai where it crosses Avenida 9th de Julho. Most pictures you see posted on the Internet that feature Jundiai will show this intersection. A park is just on the other side of this intersection. We soon discovered we had passed our area of comfort when we entered the park. We were immediately approached by a panhandler. There was even evidence of people living in the park (bed rolls among the bushes and flowers). We took a couple of pictures and were approached by yet another panhandler as we left the park. With both panhandlers we just keep repeating "nao nao" and keep walking away. We won't be going back to the park.

For our evening meal, we went to a very small restaurant we had passed on our morning walk. No one at the restaurant spoke any English and the menu did not have English "sub-titles" we have seen at other places. Some how the waiter understood us and we ordered "chicken with salad" which turned out quite well. I would describe what we had as most like a salad with grilled chicken ("frango").

One thing that is hard for us to get used to is not tipping. We have been told many times that tipping is not expected or necessary. In fact, most meals at restaurants already have a 10% "tip" already added to the bill. Some how that doesn't seem quite enough and we find ourselves, out of habit I'm sure, leaving something on the table, and especially for this waiter who did not understand most of what we were asking but managed to bring something just right.

Our First Day in the Southern Hemisphere

The flights were sooooooo long. I never imagined it would take 2 1/2 hours to fly to Houston from Louisville but when you are in a SMALL plane, it does. We were crammed in like sardines and with not a seat to spare. When we landed in Houston, we had just an hour between flights. To top that, we landed at terminal B and were leaving from terminal E. Thank goodness for the shuttle train. After that we found yet another long walk to our gate. The three of us, David, me, and his boss Rena were moving along at a pretty fast clip when one of those big airport golf carts came along and took us to our gate. We had just enough time to each go to the restroom before they started loading the plane.

Then came the extremely long flight of 10 hours from Houston to Sao Paulo. Even though we didn't leave Houston until nearly 10:00 p.m., we were still served dinner; lasagna for the three of us. After that, the lights were lowered and most of the plane tried to sleep as best we could. Not long after the lights were dimmed than David decided he couldn't sleep in the aisle seat because every time someone walked down the aisle, they bumped him. So we traded seats; no small feat in a plane. About an hour before we landed in Sao Paulo, we were served breakfast.

One really neat thing about our flight was the overhead monitors would constantly update our position, air speed, outside temperature, altitude, and estimated time of arrival. During breaks in sleep, it was fun to watch.

Customs in Sao Paulo went well. None of us had any problems and we were sent on our way, but only after spending well over an hour in line. We retrieved our bags from the carousel and met our driver Marcos.

Marcos was very helpful including insisting on pushing my baggage cart out to the front of the terminal; David and Rena had to push their own carts. David I could understand but as far as making Rena push her cart, I'm thinking that after that airplane ride, I was really showing my age and Marcos was just helping out the "poor old woman."

Marcos crammed our suitcases into his smallish Chevrolet and we headed to Jundiai. Marcos didn't speak much English and Rena was having trouble getting her cell phone to work. Marcos couldn't help so he called someone he knew who could and handed his cell phone to Rena. Rena was able to touch base with her family back in Kentucky.

Marcos drove us to our hotel in Jundiai where we checked in and rested a bit. My idea of rest was to make David lay down while I unpacked and put everything away. One of David and Rena's coworkers here in Jundiai met us later in the lobby and took us to lunch. It was a buffet so we got to experience a lot of different kinds of Brazilian food. David has discovered egg plant! He had two different dishes made with egg plant and enjoyed them both. Those of you who know David know that he would never order egg plant on purpose in the States.

Our hotel is nice. It is different that what we are used to. For one thing, it took us just a little while to realize we had to activate our room lights by putting our door card in a slot by the door. We were still unpacking our carry-ons, though, when the lights went out. About that time, the bellhop brought up the rest of our bags. I asked him, about the lights going out but he didn't speak hardly any English so through some pantomime and a few words of Portuguese, I finally conveyed the problem by telling him the lights went black. The light bulb came on both literally and figuratively. He said "card" and I handed him mine and then he made me understand that the card had to stay in the slot for the lights to stay on. I then asked how the air conditioning worked by telling him I wanted it cold since I know "frio". He was able to show me how to work the remote controlled thermostat. He also figured out I wanted to be able to open the door to the balcony. When I tell you he doesn't speak much English, for most of you that would be saying you don't speak much Portuguese. Finally, when we couldn't get hooked up the Internet, I carried my laptop down to the lobby and asked if they knew if I was doing anything wrong. The front desk crew, who speak pretty good English, couldn't help me and said they would send someone up. Guess who - our very friendly and helpful bellhop. Unfortunately, this was too much of a communications gap. David evidently figured it out and we are now in touch with the world.

David has called it a night. It is just 8:30 at home but 10:30 here. I guess his body clock has made the switch and I should also. More later.