Theft and Deception.

This morning, I experienced my first firsthand experience with theft in São Paulo. A lot of my friends have told me about how they've had cell phones, money, etc. stolen a number of times, and I am careful when I circulate the city to steer away as best I can from facing this sort of thing, but at the same time, I'm also mindful that it could happen to me anytime as well.

My roommate Bruno went away for the weekend and left his car with his coworker who I happen to be dating, Fabio, so that we could pick him up from the airport tonight (Sunday) and so that we would use the car to go out with my brother (since Fabio has a single cab pickup).

The idea was to drive Bruno's car back to our house last night, but since Fabio had left it in front of his building for the past two nights and nothing had happened to it and it was pouring rain last night, we ended up leaving it at Fabio's house and this morning I was going to pick it up and bring it home with me.

When I get to the car early this morning, I go to open the door and see it's already open. Inside, the car's a mess, there's a bottle of Smirnoff Ice thrown on the passenger seat, the back seat turned over, and the stereo and rest of the dashboard... gone. I look back at the door and there's a hole in the front window where someone had thrown something (probably the bottle) to break into the car.

My heart stops and I go towards Fabio who's in his car in front of Bruno's (I was going to follow him home since my confidence to drive stick shift cars is still close to zero - hence not driving it home in the rain last night, lol), and say "the door's open and the radio's gone." His usually brightly lit face goes pale and I could tell that inside he was already blaming himself for it. He was on his way to a soccer game and so we decided I would still drive the car home and we would report it all once Bruno got back. On the way home, I let the car die at practically every light because my leg was shaking over the clutch.

I got home and couldn't fall back asleep... All I could think of was how the entire weekend we keept saying we were going to put Bruno's car away so as to not leave it out on the street at night (despite both Fabio and I living in safe neighborhoods). How Fabio was blaming himself for something that we shouldn't have had to worry about in the first place. How the person who did this was probably wasted and stealing the stereo to buy drugs. How Bruno's insurance probably won't even cover the damages. How upset Bruno was going to be and why did something like this happen while he was away? Or better yet, in the first place?

Friday, my uncle's car was stolen in the middle of the day on a busy avenue near his home. My cousin found it parked at a supermarket near their house Saturday, fortunately intact. I went to tell Eugenia (my other roommate) what happened, and she told me that one of her friend's who's our neighbor, had his stereo stolen from his car while parked in his building's garage.

So at the same time I know it was stupid of Fabio and I to have left Bruno's car out on the street, especially since it wasn't ours and in our responsibility, what would have prevented something like this from happening?

Is it worthwhile to even have a decent car in São Paulo when I have to be worrying about whether or not someone is going to jack me or the car or something in it at any point during the day wherever I am?

... what happened last night into this morning was sad and unfortunate, and I know it could have happened to anyone anywhere, not just here in São Paulo, or Brazil, but the fact that it did and the fact that it happens so much here, is worth reflecting upon.

Visiting the Família!

As I mentioned in my last post, I visited my family in Minas Gerais last week and instead of only

going for a few days, I decided to take advantage I was there and use a couple more days to relax and enjoy the family... Since I took a bunch of pictures, I decided to tell you all about my trip through photos!

I got to Governador Valadares on Thursday afternoon and Thursday night we went to the city's Exposição Agropecuária which was going on that week. It's an "Expo" of cattle, etc. and there are concerts and rodeos and lots of booze - so some of my cousins and I took advantage and went!! As you can see below, I was quite the cowgirl, haha:

The first picture is of my brother, Fernando, and I (duh, as you can see he looks just like me, lol) - He is in Brazil, and this was the first time I had seen him in over a year and a half! Needless to say, the night was eventful...

Then Saturday night, I went to a bar with my cousins and some of Fernando's friends:


Monday, Fernando, myself and a BUNCH of our paternal cousins headed to our grandmother's house out in the country. We stayed until Wednesday, ate sooo much, made a huge fire in the yard, my cousin played guitar with one of the neighbors, and I slept so much I think my undereye circles disappeared :-)

Wednesday night was the final for the Libertadores Cup - The team I cheer for, Cruzeiro, was in the final, so my uncle, who's also a HUGE fan, held a cookout to watch the game at his house and we had a blast... until Cruzeiro lost :-(

Thursday night was my second to last night in GV and my cousin's birthday party was Friday, so my cousins took Fernando, Parlleny (my cousin who lives in the US and was also visiting), and I out for a "going away."

Friday night, just before getting on the bus at midnight heading back to São Paulo, we headed to my godmother and aunt's house (my mother's sister) for my cousin's birthday party. We took a great picture with my maternal grandmother and my mom's sisters to send my momma:

And also my adopted uncles, and mom's brothers-in-law:

I guess that's it!! Hope you enjoyed my story through photos :-)

Until very soon, I promise, especially since my brother's here with me in São Paulo now and I plan on doing all sorts of fun things with him!!!

beijoosss.

Relevant Links to Me Recently...

Ok, ok, so I promised I'd write and I didn't, but since I'm short on time with work (I'm going away to Minas tomorrow for a week, so hopefully I'll come back relaxed and with an open mind to write!), I've decided to share some interesting reads from the past couple of weeks.

First of all, some reader suggestions/posts:

From Eyes on Brazil, I've been meaning to comment about Adam's post, but here's a link so you can read it first: Working with (US) Brazilians: Good or Bad? In this post he talks about his experience working with Brazilians in the US and asks readers for their input - any of you ever work with Brazilians in the US and have some insight? I personally have had good and bad experiences working with and for Brazilians... more on that later, I hope!

This link was from Dani - The El Paso Miracle. I think she got my immigration views right on target because I LOVED this article. It talks about how cities in the US with high immigrant populations are usually safer! Take THAT immigrant haters.

Fun Blogs to Start Following:

Bloggings by Boz - If you're into Latin America, Foreign Policy, and being updated on the former - I HIGHLY recommend this blog.

Furdunço da Doninha - My friend Fabi has just embarked on an adventure to England from Brazil for her masters! The blog is in Portuguese, and her writing is fantastically hysterical!

Eu Dou Pra Idiotas - Also in Portuguese, and great for some laughs. Loosely translated, the blog is called, "I Sleep With Idiots." Very funny and I've been using it as a distraction from my hectic work week.

And now (drumroll please) - Written by Yours Truly!

For those who don't know I work in SEO, I am also my agency's Link Building coordinator and I just had an article published in "Propaganda & Marketing," a large marketing and advertising newspaper here in Brazil. Pretty exciting, huh? In Portuguese, and interesting if you're interested in SEO - Link Building Brasil: Como Otimizar Links.

I've also started writing for a São Paulo city guide made for onlines and mobile called "Unlike" - and it's in English! Basically, most of what you see on the site from now on is likely to be mine. I don't get paid for it, but it's nice to go places and be "the press." :-)

See? I HAVE been busy! haha

beijoosss and updates next week on my trip to visit the família in Minas!