waxing = hell

Today I went to the salon to get waxed. I thought since I was in Brazil, I should go ahead and get a Brazilian wax (and both legs while I'm at it).

What the hell was I thinking.

The lady asked me if I was my first time...looked at me shocked...and then reassured that this would be the most painful and that I probably shouldn't do the....whole thing....if I wasn't used to it. She started going and I thought that this was the worst pain ever. If you have ever seen "40 year old Virgin" that was basically my reaction as well. Poor Gustavo had to be in the room with me because he had to tell me what she was saying. He was laughing so hard that he was crying. It was pretty funny...yeah...The only reason I was laughing was so I wouldn't cry!!!

Speaking of poor Gustavo. He has been SUCH a great guy. He had to go to the nail salon with me when I got my nails done. (speaking of nails, I broke one of them when I was gripping on to the bed for dear life when I was getting waxed) He went to the gym with me when I was getting my intial weights and measurements done. I have been attached to his hip! It's different for me to be with someone like that, but amazingly, it hasn't bothered me at all.


Lastly, I would just like to thank my parents for my middle name: Dolores. When I was younger, I didn't really care for the name because kids would make fun of me. However, everything happens for a reason! Being named Courtney in Latin America is rough. They hear the name, laugh, and usually pronounce it Corny. I gladly tell them they can call me Dolores. Its a good icebreaker and both parties are a little releived.

I am addicted to Brasilian coffee, a dedication to all things yummy

I am addicted to Brasilian coffee. Maria (Gus's mom) makes it aout 3x a day. Brasilians normally drink about an espresso sized portion of Joe, but not me. I'm sucking down around 2 "American" sized cups about 3x a day. I just can't get enough. They grind the beans super fine (like powdered sugar) which makes it really strong. It is just so damn good.

There are pastry/bakery's EVERYWHERE!!! Okay, everyone knows that I am obsessed with this (it's my job for goodness sakes). So naturally, I want to try everything. Most of the things for sale are savory (a growing trend in the States). There is one in particular, pastel do frango (chicken empanada), that will be the death of me. Everytime I eat one, they taste better and better. I have been indulging at any chance I get until I get a gym membership again.

Gus brought me to a favorite restaurant of his. It is a smorgousboard of miniture foods. Little empanadas, pão de queijo (cheese bread that is to die for but hurts my little lactose intolerant belly), cakes, cookies....this list goes on and on. It was the perfect place for me really. You chose what you want, weigh your food (a custom I think the US should adopt) and pay for what you eat in weight. That place could be really dangerous for me. I think I'm going to avoid it for awhile.

Maria also likes to make cakes. What???!! I love cakes!!! She made a carrot cake the other day. I thought of the traditional creamcheese frosting variation from home, but hers was very different. She blended the carrots and sugar until it made a juice and that was how the cake was flavored. Very interesting and very good. Gus said that she usually puts chocolate frosting on top. I couldn't imagine that, but everything else has been awesome so far. Tonight she is making Brasilian coconut cake. I attempted this in the States and failed miserably. I can't wait until it is cool enough to cut into.

Did I mention I will be obese in 1 year when I return?

Mr. and Mrs. Gus Gus

Two nights ago I met Gus's parents and sister. They are so cute and nice. Gustavo looks just like his dad. I think that his mom has special powers because she read my mind (since I can't speak portuguese). She whipped out old fotos of lil'Gus! Most of the pictures were when he was young. He was blond and had a sassy face in almost all the pics. But, there were some more recent ones as well. SWEET REVENGE! (side note, Hunter, my nephew, had shown Gus pictures of me when I was....not so attractive. I.E. 15, braces, zits and tomboy) I also got to see pictures like this. Gustavo, 6 feet tall, SKINNY SKINNY and braces. It was AWESOME! I laughed so hard I thought I was going to cry.

Today we went all over his city. It looks a lot different than I had thought. Almost everyone lives in apartments. So, downtown in kind of crowded feeling. He lives in the mountains so there are hills everywhere. Also, all of the streets are cobblestone. Pretty neat. I thought it looked like a mix of Europe and latin america. If you could picture that.

Something weird that I noticed about his city: there are more 60's VW bugs here than I have collectively seen in my lifetime....

His mom told me (via my interpreter) that a manicure and a pedicure together cost about 7$. I will be getting one of those. Also, a wax for both legs is 4$. I will also be doing that. Speaking of waxes....I am in Brazil....

soccer, the beach and a band...oh my!

We slept the whole day after the party. We got home at about 6 am and were snoring til 3 in the afternoon! Then, Felipe, Gus, Guillerme (another friend) went to a soccer game. Outside the stadium was complete mayhem. There were sooo many people! Everyone was young, beautiful and...drunk. I didn't think so many beautiful people existed. The stadium fits about 100,000 people and it was just about full. The fans were nuts. They were singing and burning stuff the whole game. It was FABULOUS! American sports suck.
Something weird I learned today: there is a TV channel completely dedicated to selling cattle....like CVS for farmers. (what the hell?)


The next day we went to Ipanema beach. (you know like the song. I thought that I could never see so many beautiful people in one spot again, but I did. And they were even more beautiful. The "ugly" ones could model for Victoria Secret!

Felipe told me that at 3:30 all the young people come and the older ones leave and then everyone smokes pot until sundown at 6. And then they cheer. I thought that was cool. We went home, took a nap and prepared ourselves for another party. This time Pagode. This time I was stoked. This is my favorite kind of Brazilian music. We went to the concert, drank some beer on the street ( $2.5 for 2 40 oz. bottles!!!! hot damn) and danced our asses off. There were so many people. A really famous old lady sang with the band there. She walked right by me... it would be cool if I knew her name.

Brazil - 1 pt. for awesome sports
- 1 pt. for pagode
- 3 pts. for cheap beer and drinking in the streets

My first night in Brazil

Last night, well this morning, we arrived in Brazil at 4:15am. I was so tired when Gus's friend, Felipe, picked us up, I could barely talk. We had been awake and traveling for over 24 hrs. by the time we finally got to his house. While I passed out in my breakfast, Gus kept talking for awhile. That day we went to a restaurant. It is buffet style, but beautiful. All the food is in these little rustic pots and there is a guy who works the barbecue. There were about 10 different kinds of meat that smelled so good! Gus and his friend took something that looked wierd. I asked what it was.....they told me... "corações do frango". What???? CHICKEN HEARTS. Ok, no thanks, I'll pass on that. Leaving the restaurant, I tried the coffee. Whoops, shouldn't have done that. I could stick that stuff right to my veins. It is so strong and delicious....
Later we went to the supermarket. I was in heaven. The fruits and vegetables there were huge! The peppers were the size of small babies....seriously. I wanted to eat everything in site.
(this day is kind of long)
At night we went to a funk party. I was nervous at first because they told me it was going to be just like the party in "City of God" the movie (someone gets shot there). But, they were just kidding. The music is like dancehall. They had some famous guy up there with two girls. The girls had the biggest asses I have ever seen in my entire life. They were wearing micromini skirts with thongs on and they looked like horses! However, unlike huge American asses, there was absolutely NO fat! zero. I couldn't believe it. Not even a dimple people.
Those Brazilians sure like to party. We were there until 430 in the morning. I might have fallen asleep in the club...whoops.