CAR ACCIDENT IN SAUDI ARABIA

Yesterday my friend E. had a car accident in Saudi Arabia. It is sort of scary because when something happens to a friend in Saudi, most of us can not cross the border.  

I heard about the incident and called him, to find out if there was something I could do. I live very close to the Saudi border, at least I could go and pick him up on our side, if he could make it there.

I call. He is not hurt. The car is still running and he tells me the story:

He was coming along the round about when a car decided to enter the round about. Out of the blue, this guy cuts in front of E.'s car and the cars colide.

At the police station, they tell the story, exactly as it happened and the policeman says to E.:

- It is your fault. Whoever is in the round about has to be aware of people trying to get in.

Unbelievable, but to create a scene could make things worse. E accepts it. The policeman then noticed E. did not have a copy of his annual insurance and questioned him. He seemed satisfied when E. told him, the insurance was done and the receipt was at the office. He would bring it the next day.

E. was released from the police station and was ready to travel back to Bahrain, when his Saudi friend, who had been translating the conversations whole time, noticed E. was given a fine.

E's friend could not help it. He turned around and went back to the police station:

- Why did you fine him? You are doing all of this because he is an expat.

E. was desperately trying to make his friend shut up. It is Saudi Arabia, after all.

The policeman asked for E's passport and decided to keep it there until next morning, when he would check the insurance policy.

Now E's situation was much worse. He was considered guilty, he was fined and now he could not travel back to Bahrain, because his passport was apprehended. And to top it all up, Brazil was going to play in a few hours. World Cup game. Who wants to miss it?

E run back to the office, got a copy of the insurance policy, managed to be released, watched the game at a coffee shop in Saudi and arrived home almost 2 am.

Moral of the story: In Saudi, the law is made up on the spot. And the Arabs are always right.

Leis de Transito na Arabia Saudita

Ontem meu amigo E. bateu o carro, la na Arabia Saudita. O problema e que se a coisa acontece "pra la da ponte"ninguem tem como ir la ajudar.

Quem nao tem visto ( e quem nao trabalha la nao tem), simplesmente nao entra no pais e ponto final. Entao ta la, meu amigo, do outro lado, com o carro batido. E todos nos aqui, do lado de ca, sem poder fazer nada.

Eu ligo pra saber se posso ajudar, se ha alguma coisa que a gente possa fazer, e ele me conta a historia:

Tava vindo no balao, quando um carro entra sem mais nem menos e bate no carro dele.

Quando eles vao pra delegacia, e explicam o ocorrido, o policial fala:

- A culpa e sua. Quem esta no balao tem que prestar atencao a quem esta querendo entrar! ( ??????????)

Ai olham os documentos do seguro do carro e percebem que o seguro esta vencido ( o seguro novo esta renovado, mas esta la na empresa).

Liberam o meu amigo, que esta com um, saudita (como interprete). O meu amigo esta doido pra vir pra casa, assistir ao jogo do Brasil - oitavas de final, coisa seria!

O saudita percebe que o E. tinha sido multado. Puto da vida, ele da meia volta e vai la tirar satisfacao.

- Voces culparam o inocente por que ele e expatriado. E alem de tudo lascaram uma multa no coitado?

- Me empresta o seu passaporte aqui, quero dar uma olhadinha (diz o policial)

E. entrega o passaporte e comeca a suar frio. Na Arabia as coisas sao um tanto complicadas.

O policial da uma olhada e simplesmente resolve que o E. nao vai poder voltar pra casa, por que ele (o policial) vai segurar o passaporte la, ate receber a copia do seguro novo.

Resumindo: Culpado, multado e preso na Arabia Saudita!!!

No final das conmtas o pobre acabou saindo de la ( depois de ir a empresa buscar o papel do seguro), e chegou em casa quase duas horas da manha ( parou pra ver o jogo num cafe saudita).

Pelo menos conseguiu ver a partida onde o Brasil jogou bem e mandou o Chile pra casa...

Moral da historia: se voce esta na Arabia Saudita, e ha um acidente, o Arabe sempre tem razao!

Shoppings in Bahrain - CITY CENTRE

City Center is the largest mall in Bahrain. It is only one year old. Here are some facts:

207,000m² of retail space

two luxury hotels with approximately 500 rooms

20 screen cinema

5000 space car park

City Centre e o maior shopping de Bahrain, e ele tem apenas 1 ano de vida.Alguns fatos sobre o shopping:

207.000m² de lojas

Dois hoteis de luxo, com aproximadamente 500 quartos

20 salas de cinema

5000 vagas de estacionamento

 
 
 

There are three levels of shops

Sao tres andares de lojas

The architecture and design of the mall are gorgeous. Look at the details...

A arquitetura e o design do shopping sao muito bonitos. Da so uma olhada nos detalhes...

Sao centenas de lojas, para atender a qualquer bolso e qualquer gosto

There are hundreds of shops, to cater for everyone's budget and taste

O Coffe Bean e uma das muitas opcoes de "coffee shop". Aqui voce encontra sanduiches, muffins, alem de cafes, chas e sucos.

Coffee Bean is one of the "coffee shop"options in the mall. They have a good selection of muffins, sandwiches and of course, hot and cold beverages

Ha uma area que imita um mercado arabe antigo.

There is a replica of a souk (old arab market).

Nessa parte do shopping ficam as salas de oracao (os muculmanos rezam 5 vezes por dia e a maioria dos lugares publicos tem uma area reservada para essa pratica). Sao sempre duas salas de oracao. A feminina e a masculina. Homens e mulheres nao rezam juntos, a menos que sejam da mesma familia.

 In this area you can also find the prayer rooms ( muslims pray 5 times a day, and most public places have prayer rooms) There are male and female prayer rooms because men and women do not pray together, unless they are from the same family.

At City Centre you also have department stores.

No City Centre, tambem ha varias lojas de departamentos

Os corredores sao amplos e o pe direito e muito alto, criando uma sensacao de amplidao

The corridors are very large and the ceiling very high, creating a great sense of space

As vezes ate o maior shopping da cidade fica cheio de gente

Even the largest shopping mall, sometimes gets crowded

O Carrefour e a loja ancora desse shopping

Carrefour is the anchor shop at the mall

The architects paid great attention to detail - look at these light features

Os arquitetos tomaram cuidado especial ao escolher os lustres do shopping

A last view at the shopping exterior

Uma ultima olhadinha na fachada do shopping

City Centre is the only mall in BAhrain to have it's own water park.

Wahoo is the biggest indoor water park in the Middle East and deserves a post of it's own.

O City Centre e o unico shopping de BAhrain que tem o seu proprio parque aquatico.

O Wahoo e o maior parque aquatico ïndoors"do Oriente Medio e merece o seu proprio post

Who did it?

I remember when my kids were quite small, about 9 and 10 years old. We were living in New Zealand, and they went to the local school with kids from many other nationalities. One day I went to visit them at lunch time, and I saw lots of kids running and playing outside.

They were all screaming and yelling, and one specific word caught my attention. I could not figure out exactly what it was, but the sound was familiar.

I paid a bit more attention and noticed the kids were only using this word when they were upset. How interesting, I had to find out what the word was.

When I got closer, I could understand what they were saying:

- FELADAPUTA!

Which would be something like

- SONOFABITCH in Portuguese.

My girls were the only Brazilian children at the school. I did not have to think much to find out who was teaching those kids how to swear in Portuguese, right?

FELADAPUTA

Me lembrei de um dia que fui buscar as minhas filhinhas na escola. Os anjinhos tinham 9 e 10 anos, mais ou menos. Moravamos em Palmerston North, na Nova Zelandia.

Cheguei bem na hora do intervalo,e  as criancas corriam, pulavam, brincavam. Uma cena linda!

De repente, comecei a ouvir um som relativamente conhecido. A palavra nao me era estranha, mas eu nao conseguia identificar nem a lingua, nem o significado.

As criancas, enquanto brincavam, gritavam essa palavra descoordenadamente familiar.

Prestei mais atencao e vi que o grito vinha quando alguem estava meio aborrecido - com a brincadeira, ou com um amiguinho. Agucei meus ouvidos, aquilo estava ficando interessante!

De repente me dei conta do que as criancas estavam berrando umas pras outras:

- FELADAPUTA!

Como as minhas filhas eram as unicas brasileiras da escola, me sobrava muito pouca duvida sobre quem seriam as professoras encarregadas dessa aulinha de linguas,ne?


- ANIIIITTTTTAAAAAA! LIIIIIIIAAAAAAA!!!!

Shoppings in Bahrain - Moda Mall

Today Bah asked me to get some pictures of shopping malls in Bahrain. We have so many malls here, I decided to do a little show and tell with one at the time.

Hoje a Bah me pediu pra colocar fotos dos shoppings daqui de Bahrain no blog. Como shopping e o que nao falta em Bahrain, eu vou escrever sobre um de cada vez.

This is Moda Mall. It is located at  the World Trade Centre, and it is the most exclusive mall in Bahrain.



Este e o Moda Mall. Ele fica no World Trade Centre e e o shopping mais sofisticado de Bahrain.

The building has 50 floors and is home for many banks and finance offices. Right at the ground floor, you can find Moda Mall.

Esse edificio tem 50 andares e "acomoda"varios escritorios de bancos e instituicoes financeiras de Bahrain. No terreo, voce encontra o Moda Mall.

Corridor

Corredor

Car exhibition at Moda Mall.

Exposicao de carros no Moda Mall.

Fachada de uma das lojas

One of the shops

Entrada da Villa Moda, uma das lojas exclusivas ( e caresimas) do shopping

Villa Moda's entrance hall. Gorgeous ( and very expensive) shop

Inside the Mall

Dentro do shopping

Ceiling details

Detalhes do teto

HOT! HOT! HOT!

When I say Bahrain is very hot, I am not making it up, and I am not just trying to make you feel sorry for me. Believe me. Bahrain is darn hot.

The temperatures sometimes reach 50 C, and the humidity is also very high ( I would thing it would be dry, because we are in the desert. WRRROOOOONGGGG).

Just some examples:

- If you turn the air conditioner off for 30 minutes and then try to walk on the room where you were a/c free, you will slip and probably fall on your face. No joking. The humidity will produce a coat of water on the floor, making it very slippery. Yep. I tried. It hurts.

- If you go on holidays and for some reason decide to leave the A/C off, or if it simply fails to work, you will find your stuff all moldy when you come back. Furniture, towels, linen and clothes. All gone. It happened to a couple of friends of mine.

- What about open the window to recycle the air? All you will get is this hot, humid air, so just keep the windows and doors closed. Seriously.

- Cold shower?

You must be joking. The water reservoirs are on roof tops, so the water is always very hot. There are a couple of ways around it. If you have a hot water cylinder inside the house, you can turn it off, and use the "hot water"as cold water. You can also wake up at 2 in the morning when the water is not too hot and have your shower. What do I do? I fill up the bath tub, turn on the A/C, wait for it to cool down and have baths. Every day.

- Go for walks? Run? Cycle? Forget about it. In summer you have to be indoors.

- Going shopping? park in a covered car park, so when you come back to the car you will only feel extremely hot, but you may not pass out ( park outdoors, and I bet you will pass out).

- Every time I can, I just leave the car on, with the A/C running, so when I come back, I don't feel like crying.

- Every week I give my pantry a good clean up. With the heat, lots of things spoil before they should.

- Fruit market in summer? no way. The fruits stay in this non refrigerated "garage thingy place", and when they get to your house they are already spoiled. Supermarkets keep fruits in better condition because they are refrigerated 24/7.

- You are going to the mall? Take a jumper with you. They get the A/C so cold, you may freeze in there. Same thing for movie theaters.

Come to the Middle East in summer - will you?

CALOR, CALOR, CALOR!

Quando eu digo que e muito quente aqui em Bahrain, eu nao estou nem brincando, nem exagerando.

A temperatura no verao as vezes ultrapassa os 50 graus, e apesar de estarmos no deserto, a humidade e grande, transformando a combinacao (calor + humidade) num inferno.


Por exemplo:

- se voce desligar o ar condicionado por meia hora e depois tentar andar no comodo sem ar, a chance de voce se "esborrachar"  e muito grande.A humidade se condensa e forma uma pelicula de agua no chao (que geralmente e piso frio) e o tombo e certo. SIIIM, ja tentei. E ja cai.

- Se voce sair de ferias e esquecer o ar desligado (ou ele pifar), pode esperar encontrar seus moveis mofados e suas roupas estragadas pela humidade. Ja aconteceu com algumas amigas minhas.

- Dar uma "abridinha"na janela para entrar um arzinho? Entra um bafao...e as vezes umidece tudo que esta pela frente. No verao, portas e janelas fechadissimas.

- banho frio? voce esta me zoando ne? As caixas d água sao em cima das casas, e ficam expostas ao sol o dia inteiro. Quando voce liga a agua fria, ela ja sai pelando. No verao eu so tomo banho de banheira. Encho a bichinha, ligo o ar condicionado e deixo a agua la, esfriando. Quando estiver fresquinha vou la aproveitar o "luxo". A outra opcao e levantar de madrugada e tomar banho morno. Ja me sugeriram desligar o cilindro de aquecimento, e usar a agua quente (que vai estar fria, por que esta desligada). Tentei, sabe-se la por que nao funcionou. Vai ver o bendito cilindro tambem fica la em cima da casa.

- andar, correr, bicicletar? esquece. No verao voce torra se tentar ir a algum lugar sem carro

- vai ao shopping? pare o carro num estacionamento coberto, assim quando voce voltar, voce so vai assar um pouco, mas pelo menos nao vai queimar as maos ao tocar no volante nem o bumbum quando se sentar. O bafao quente e inevitavel. Abra os vidros e receba o bafo quente de fora do carro - geralmente e melhor que o ar que esta dentro. O ar condicionado demora um pouco pra expulsar o "bafo do diabo" mas acaba conseguindo.

- quando eu vou a qualquer lugar relativamente privado (casa de amigos, estacionamentos fechados) eu deixo o carro ligado e o ar condicionado correndo. Assim quando eu volto, da pra entrar no carro sem ter vontadde de chorar.

- toda semana eu dou um "limpa"na minha dispensa. Com o calor (mesmo com ar condicionado ligado 24hs), muita coisa se estraga antes da hora. Lixo e a unica solucao.

- mercado de frutas no verao? ESQUEEECE!!! As frutas ficam nesse galpao imenso, sem refrigeracao, quando chegam a sua casa, geralmente ja fermentaram. Os supermercados mantem as frutas fresquinhas.

- shopping centres? leva um casaquinho. O povo estressa por causa do calor e tasca a temperatura la embaixo. E comum passar frio no cinema tambem.

Vem pra Bahrain, vem!

MY ENGLISH SKILLS ARE GREAT!

 I was leaving abroad for five years, during which, I worked in Australia and New Zealand - in some jobs I had to talk to hundreds of customers in a single day.

I was very confident my English was good enough. I will never be a native English speaker, I will have my Brazilian accent forever, but I am sure I can communicate.

After all this time living away from Brazil, I decided to travel with my kids to Thailand. When we got there, my 7 year old daughter says:

- Mom, you should move to Thailand.

I thought she was impressed with the smiling people she met in the country, or maybe she was just fascinated by the elephants she saw. Not wanting to disappoint her, I asked:

- Should I? And why is that, darling?

- Because they speak such poor English here, you would fit right in.

Well, kids are very honest, aren't they?

O meu ingles e OTIMO!!

Eu ja havia saido do Brasil ha mais de 5 anos. Ja tinha morado na Australia, na Nova Zelandia. Trabalhei nos dois paises, tive empregos onde eu tinha que me comunicar com centenas de pessoas todos os dias - e isso nao e figura de linguagem. Centenas de pessoas MESMO.

Depois dessa experiencia toda eu estava ultra orgulhosa da minha habilidade em falar ingles, ate que eu fui visitar a Tailandia, e levei a Anita e a Lia a tira colo. Anita tinha uns sete anos, estava super atenta, olhando tudo, ouvindo tudo!

De repente ela vira pra mim e fala:

- Mae! Voce deveria vir morar aqui na Tailandia.

Ja achei que ela tinha se apaixonado pelo sorriso amigavel do Tailandes, ou pelos elefantes que ela tanto gosta. Assim mesmo, perguntei, so por desencargo de consciencia:

- Por que filhinha?

- Por que aqui na Tailandia o ingles e tao pessimo, que ate o seu ingles ruim parece bom.

Juro que eu tentei levar isso como um elogio. E me segurei pra nao joga-la de cima do elefante...

Assasinatos em defesa da honra

Estou amando o meu novo universo "blog" ! Eu viajo por blogs do mudno inteiro, aprendendo um pouco sobre as fascinantes culturas que eu ainda nao conheco.

Atraves de relatos de outros expatriados, vejo lugares exoticos, atraves de suas lentes e suas perspectivas. Sempre imagino como sera a minha propria visao desses lugares quando eu finalmente conseguir chegar la.

Os blogs me possibilitaram expandir meu circulo de amizades, explorar outros mundos. No mesmo dia, passo pelo Japao, visito a China e ainda dou um role pela Africa.

Essa experiencia me fascina.

Tenho lido bastante sobre a India ultimamente. As vezes me pego divagando sobre as diferencas e similaridades entre as nossas culturas, me lembro de experiencias que tive com indianos morando no exterior, e hoje, muitas de suas atitudes fazem muito mais sentido. Pena que eu demorei tanto a comecar a decifrar os misterios da cultura Indiana.

Hoje eu li um post sobre os "assassinatos em defesa da honra". Ha muitos anos, quando eu era uma menininha, me lemrbo de ver na televisao, homens sendo absolvidos pelo assassinato de suas esposas adulteras. Ja naquela epoca, meue stomago embrulhava.

Como e que alguem pode se sentir no direito de tirar a vida de outra pessoa, seja la por que razao for?

Fiquei arrasada. Vou pra cama com o coracao e a alma pesados!

Honor Killing

I am loving the wonderful world of BLOG! I travel through people's experiences, I learn a lot about other expats lenses. I share their experiences, I enjoy the ride.

I have a couple of "friends in Japan", I visit African countries, I learn about life in England...and I read, read, read about all sorts of stuff.

It fascinates me.

My recent found destination is India and I am learning a lot about the country and it's views ( or the expats views on Indian's views...kkk)

But not all stories are fun and interesting. Not everything I read take me to a colorful, gorgeous scenario. Some things are ugly. Some stories are terrifying.

Today I read about Honor Killing and this definitely changed something inside me. So many stories of people (mainly women) who get killed because they are "bringing shame" to their families. My stomach turned inside out, my heart sank. I literally had tears in my eyes.

Call me naive, call me stupid, call me culturally insensitive. I do not care. I just can not accept the idea of man killing man, for whatever reason. I can not imagine a father, a mother, a close relative finding it acceptable to decide about someone's right to live.

From wikipedia:

An honor killing or honor killing[1] (also called a customary killing) is the murder of a (female) family or clan member by one or more fellow (mostly male) family members, where the murderers (and potentially the wider community) believe the victim to have brought dishonour upon the family, clan, or community. This perceived dishonor is normally the result of (a) utilizing dress codes unacceptable to the family (b) wanting out of an arranged marriage or choosing to marry by own choice, (c) engaging in certain sexual acts or (d) engaging in relations with the same sex. These killings result from the perception that defense of honor justifies killing a person whose behavior dishonors their clan or family.

In the modern age, the term was first used by the Dutch Turkey expert of the University of Leiden Ane Nauta[2] in 1978. He wanted a working pendant for the at that time well known Blood Feud, with which Honour Killings should not be confused.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that the annual worldwide total of honor-killing victims may be as high as 5,000.

My heart is bleeding, I am in such pain after reading those stories!

World Cup !!! Copa do Mundo!!!

Today I accidentally met Lia's teacher at school. She came to me and said:

- Hey! I like the note you sent about Lia's absenteeism. ( letter to the teacher)

And her husband:

- Well, no one else would be able to get away with it. Definitely not in England, but you Brazilians can...

I just laughed



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Hoje eu econtrei a professora da Lia na escola e ela veio falar comigo:

- Eu gostei da notinha que voce mandou sobre as faltas da Lia ( ver cartinha para a professora)

E o marido dela completou:

_ Isso nao ia funcionar com mais ninguem. Isso nunca ia dar certo la na Inglaterra, mas voces brasileiros podem se dar ao luxo...

eu so ri.

Summer in Bahrain

The temperatures are almost unbearable. We struggle to go out the gate without breaking a sweat, but we are privileged people and we can hide in air conditioned areas.

It breaks my heart so see the outdoor laborers, working in the heat, all day long.

Whenever I have the opportunity, I stop at a local dairy and buy coke cans and get my girls to distribute them among the workers.

I am very aware it will not solve the problem, but it makes me feel better to think I can give them a bit of refreshment in the heat of the day.

Verao em Bahrain

No verao a coisa fica preta aqui na Camelandia.

A temperatura ja esta altissima, e e quase impossivel dar dois passos ao ar livre. O negocio e viver de ar condicionado em ar condicionado...

Claro que essa nao e a realidade de todo mundo que mora no Golfo e o  triste e ver os trabalhadores da construcao civil, por exemplo, de sol a sol, na rua, dando o maior ralo. E de cortar o coracao. Sempre que posso, passo no mercadinho, pego umas latinha de coca cola e mando as meninas irem entregar para eles.

Sei que isso nao vai mudar a vida de ninguem, mas eu me sinto melhor, achando que pude aliviar pelo menos um  pouco o sofrimento dessas pessoas.

FENG SHUI

I love learning new things, so I tag along to all courses I know about. The last one I went was about Feng Shui.

Pretty interesting stuff. I was all busy learning how to manage the energy in my house, my life and my family when suddenly we touched on a subject that is tabu to me. Apparently masks are bad feng shui.

Oh, well, I have been collecting them for over a decade and they travel with me all over the world. I only take my masks and Leya's sculptures, so learning I should not have them, made me want to leave the course. I immediately disliked Feng Shui, and decided that was not for me.

When I was ready to stand up and leave, a woman started telling her story. Her husband has these two tribal masks, they are horrible and she hates them. Now that she KNOWS they are not ugly, but just wrong images ina household, she needs to find out how to get rid of them.

I put my hand up and told her i was more than happy to adopt the masks. I would hate to see them homeless. I already have over 100 masks, two more are very welcome!

I am sorry, Feng Shui, but my masks stay!

FENG SHUI

Eu adoro cursos. Aprender coisas e comigo mesmo. Quanto mais eu sei, mais eu quero saber!
Outro dia fui parar num curso de feng shui. Tudo ia muito bem, eu estava aprendendo sobre energia, sobre coisas boas e ruins na casa, sobre o balanco da energia das pessoas na casa...quando o assunto passou a ser simbolos.

E o negocio e que nao e bom ter mascaras em casa.

E ja te disse que eu FACO COLECAO DE MASCARAS? E que a minha colecao e a unica coisa, alem das esculturas da minha sogra, que viaja comigo para onde eu vou? Pois e. O assunto encrespou ali.

Ja me desinteressei pelo curso, ja desgostei do Feng Shui e ja queria ir embora dali. Mas como o negocio e memso interessante, fui ficando.

No final, uma mulher foi reclamar que o marido tem umas mascaras tribais, umas duas ou tres, e que ela as detesta. Agora, sabendo que alem de tudo, elas fazem mal para a saude energetica da casa, e que ela nao queria saber daquelas coisas feias na casa dela mesmo.

Nao tive duvidas, levantei a minha maozinha e ja fui logo avisando que eu aceitava doacoes... tenho mais de 100 mascaras na minha parede. Mais tres sao muito benvindas!!

Sinto muito feng shui, as mascaras ficam!

Where are my shoes?

Today I went to another farewell. At this time of the year, they are very common, unfortunately. School finishes now, so everyone who have kids, move to or from Bahrain in this period.

Judith is a great Kiwi lady I met when I arrived. She is always involved in all sorts of activities and she runs welcome programs for new comers, she sings, she sells carpets on behalf of her husband, she organizes parenting courses, she does all sorts of things and she raises 4 kids. I am not sure how she manages, but she is always smiling.

Every month she organizes a morning tea where people can see the carpets her hubby brings from Iran, and to make it more fun, she also invites other people and turns it into a "mini market". There are all sorts of exhibitors at her house, it is very fun!

Today was the last morning tea/tribal carpet day, so I went along and invited a couple of friends to come with me.

I saw a group of people in the carpet room and I decided to check what was happening there. Took my shoes off, so I would not step on her "product" opened my ears. Judith was explaining where the carpets come from, how they are made, who makes the, how the patterns change over time...and I was fascinated by the explanations.

We stayed around a little longer and when it was time to go home, I just could not find my shoes. At all. We looked everywhere. Judith was kind enough to lend me a pair to go home.

Honestly, this kind of thing only happens to me...

CADE O MEU SAPATO ??

Essa saga de amigos indo embora esta me deixando tensa.  Agora  e a vez da Judith pegar suas coisas e levantar acampamento. Ela esta indo de volta para a Nova Zelandia, depois de uma longa vida de expatriada. Estou feliz por ela, mas mais uma vez, triste de ter que dizer adeus!

Todos os meses ela organisa uma "feirinha" na casa dela. O marido vende tapetes tribais Iranianos, um hobbie que ele desenvolveu aqui no Oriente Medio. Hoje foi a ultima feira, a feira de despedida, e eu fui com algumas amigas.

O clima estava animado, os carpetes vendendo adoidado, por que alem deles serem lindos, ela os estava liquidando, tudo otimo.

Como eu sou intrometida memso, fui la pra sala dos carpetes, aprender um pouco sobre os ditos e poder aumentar a minha cultura inutil. Pra nao ser mal educada e pisar nos tapetes a venda, tirei meu sapatinho (Lindo. Salto preto, basico. Novo. Confortavel...) e fiquei la sassaricando. Ouvi aqui, ouvi de la, aprendi um monte de coisas interessantes.

Quando chegou a hora de ir embora, me dei conta que os meus sapatos tinham desaparecido. Procuramos, procuramos, procuramos... e nada.

Das duas uma. Ou alguem levou os bichinhos pra casa, achando que eles eram muito bonitinhos, ou a fulana estava sem oculos e achou que os sapatos eram dela!!

Voltei pra casa com um chinelo emprestado da Judith.

Depois voces me digam se nao e verdade : isso so acontece comigo!

Footbal in Brazil

I was chatting with a Brazilian friend who lives in New Zealand today:

- My wife will have to reschedulle her flights, coming back from Brazil.

- WHYYYY?

- 'cause it is on Friday. And Brazil is playing. The taxi companies alraedy told people not to rely on them because they may be late, or not come at all. World Cup, you know...

- Wow! What about family? Doesn't she have anyone to take her to the airport?

- Her brother could. But he wants to watch the game too.

I thought it was hilarious. I left Brazil too long ago, I don't remember these things.

Today we also had good news about my kids travels. They will now be able to go to Brazil. The residence is ready, the paperwork is sort of OK and the bureaucracy seems to be a bit easier. We called the family to let them know:

- Great news. The kids will be able to travel soon. All sorted over here!

Celebrations on the other side of the line!!! WOHOOO...

- And I would like the girls to get there for your birthday, Leya (mother in law)

More celebrations!!

- They can travel as early as Thursday, so they get there on Friday and are ready for Saturday, the birthday itself.

- Friday? But on Friday Brazil is playing. There is a World Cup game. It will be complicated to pick them up at the airport in Sao Paulo. Send them on Friday, they can arrive on Saturday!

I did not find it as funny as the first story. Actually I did not find it funny at all.

I called my dad

- Hey dad! Where are you watching the game on Friday?

- At home. in Campinas.

- But I called your PA and she said you would see it in the office - in Sao Paulo.

- Nah... She doesn't know anything. I will see it here. Campinas. But why are you asking?

- Because I was thinking about sending the kids

he did not let me finish. he just interrupted me:

- My grandkids? Send them whenever you want - I will pick them up. I don't even want to watch the game anymore...

Isn't he the best?? Best dad ever!!!  Love you.

SOBRE A COPA DO MUNDO

Meu amigo brasuca morando na Nova Zelandia:

- Pois eh! Minha mulher esta la no Brasil e vai ter que mudar o voo.

- Quee?

- Por que ja avisaram que nao da para depender de taxi no dia do jogo, por que pode ser que ele nao apareca.

- Mas ela nao tem ninguem da familia que possa leva-la ao aeroporto?

- Tem o irmao, mas ele quer ver o jogo tambem ne!

Dei risada! Faz muito tempo que sai do Brasil, ja nao me lembrava mais dessas coisas.

No mesmo dia, conseguimos liberar as meninas para ir ao Brasil. Aquela lenga-lenga de vistos, residencias e pepeladas em geral esta chegando ao fim. Ligamos para o Brasil para falar com os avos:

- Gente! Boas noticias. As meninas ja estao podendo viajar. So falta a gente marcar as passagens.

Todo mundo felicissimo do outro lado do telefone! YUHUPPY!

- To querendo mandar as meninas pro seu aniversario, sogrinha.

Mais alegrias e comemoracoes!!!Que coisa boa!

- Talvez elas embarquem na quinta e cheguem ai na sexta. Sabado, seu niver, estao as duas ai!

- Xiii... Sexta? Sexta tem jogo do Brasil. Fica mais dificil de ir busca-las em Sao Paulo ne. Manda no sabado...


Nao achei tao engracado quanto a historia da esposa do meu amigo. Nao achei graca nenhuma para falar a verdade.

Ligo pro meu pai:

- Pai!! Onde voce vai ver o jogo?

- Aqui em casa, em Campinas.

- Mas eu falei com a sua secretaria e ela disse que voce ia ver no escritorio, em Sao Paulo.

- Ela nao sabe nada. Vou ver em Campinas. Mas por que voce esta perguntando?

- Por que eu estava pensando em mandar as meninas

ele me interrompe antes de eu terminar a frase.

- Manda as meninas. Manda quando voce quiser que eu vou buscar as duas no aeroporto la em Sao Paulo. Nao vou nem ver o jogo!!

Esse cara e o melhor pai do mundo! Sempre foi!!!

FELIZ!!! HAPPY!!!!

Today I reached 30 flags on my flag counter.  WOHOO!!!! And almost 2000 entries, since I installed the visitor counter!!
A Huge THANK YOU to everyone who takes the time to read the stuff I post here!
:-)


Hoje eu cheguei a 30 bandeirinhas no meu contador de paises!!!!! E quase 2000 mil entradas desde que eu instalei o contador de visitantes!!
OBRIGADISSIMO a todo mundo que se da ao trabalho de ler a pataquadas que eu escrevo aqui!
:-)

The longer I live, more confused I get

I have some spare time now a days and I found out how fun it is to play online games, so I joined two facebook games : farmtown and farmville. They are both interactive, and you can play with your friends. It is an interesting concept. You have your own farm, but you can help each other,sending gifts, doing small jobs at each other farm.


The new feature on farmville is a cooperative, where you can join your friends and plant/harvest crops in a specific period of time, it is a group challenge and it is fun. I have joined many, I started others. It is always a laugh.

Last week I joined Anida's coop. Anida worked with me in New Zealand, and when she decided to move to another city, I helped find a job there. Soon after, she had a gorgeous baby girl and I sent her some gifts. We were not friends, but we had a good relationship, closer than I had with most of my team members.

I joined, the coop, the program crashed and I was unable to harvest my crops or plant anything new.

Next morning, I get a very rude message asking me why did I go to her farm if I was not even planting the same crops as her (the question was pertinent, but the tone was dreadful). When I tried to reply, I found she deleted me from her list of friends. Let me be clear here. She did not delete me from the game. She deleted me from her network on facebook.

I was disappointed and sad. Since then I lost my interest for the games. I am not prepared to deal with fanatism or obsession. It is just a game!

Cada louco com a sua mania

Eu  ando com algum tempos disponivel e comecei a me interessar pelos joguinhos do Facebook. Eu jogo dois jogos de fazendas. O farmville e o farmtown. Sao jogos interativos, onde voce manda presentes para os seus amigos, voce planta, colhe, parece ate um trabalho de verdade, e pra quem anda de papo pro ar como eu, a coisa e otima!

Tenho varios amigos que jogam, no mundo inteiro. A comunidade desses jogos anda crescendo muito, e ate engracado ver como as pessoas os levam a serio.

A novidade do farmville e que voce pode jogar com outras pessoas. Ha uma cooperativa, onde todo mundo se ajuda. As pessoas se juntam para conseguir plantar e colher um determinado produto, num certo tempo.

Eu entrei numa dessas cooperativas, para ajudar a Anida, uma menina que trabalhou comigo na Nova Zelandia (na vida real) durante um ano. Ela era parte do meu time, e quando ela resolveu se mudar, eu intercedi por ela, para que ela fosse empregada pela nossa companhia la na nova cidade. Deu tudo certinho. Ela ja foi pra la com emprego garantido, o que facilitou a mudanca.

Logo depois ela ficou gravida, eu mandei presentes para o bebe, nos continuamos a nos corresponder ate a semana passada quando eu entrei nessa bendita cooperativa do facebook e o meu programa deu pau. Eu nao consegui colher a minha safra existente, nem plantar a nova. Desencanei e fui dormir.

No dia seguinte eu recebo uma mensagem grosseira, me perguntando por que e que eu tinha ido la na fazenda dela, se eu estava com uma plantacao diferente ( nao precisava ser grossa, mas a pergunta era bem pertinente, o tom e que estava pessimo). Quando fui responder, vi que ela me APAGOU da lista de amigos dela. Nao me apagou da fazendinha nao. Ela simplesmente decidiu que ia me riscar do caderninho dela. Simples assim.

Desde entao perdi o gosto pelo meu joguinho.Nao tenho estomago pra fanatismo, pra obcessao. To fora!