That's what she said.

I busted out a “that’s what she said” joke today and immediately thought about where I was. Do you think Brazilians understand the hilarity in a good TWSS? I saw a rerun of the office in portuguese the other night which, ironically, was just as funny as when it is in english. So if they have Michael Scott, I’m assuming they know the world of TWSS. I’m going to test it out before I leave, see if I can get a laugh out of one of them. A glimmer of hope: I’m rocking a goonies shirt today and I get an approving look from a 20-something brazilian guy (and no, I don’t think it’s just because he liked what was under the shirt). If this culture can appreciate awesome movies I hope they can appreciate awesome jokes. Translation of TWSS in Portuguese: que é o que ela disse. Commit that to memory folks.

Another thing, went to a futball game last night (that’s soccer for you gringos). We had heard rumors that they didn’t sell beer there, which made me wish I had done a little more pre-gaming. Well, I was thrilled to see that they did, in fact, have beer on the menu. One cold swig and I realized it was the most disgusting beer I had ever tasted, I’m talking worse than the malt liquor you mix with orange juice to make it tolerable. In looking at the can to make sure I hadn’t ordered horse piss by accident I saw the two most dissapointing words I have ever seen: sem alcool. That’s right, they had sold me an alcohol free beer because “people get violent when they drink.” Let me make one thing clear here: I have never in my life wanted to be more violent than the moment I realized these people were trying to keep me from getting violent by depriving me of beer. On top of that, game ended in a tie. I like American sports because we don’t accept ties. We battle to the end so we can gloat in our glory or wallow in our sorrows, that is the American way. Fabulous night, even with those two minor bumps.

Let the fun begin!

Alright, I made it to Rio. First impression of the city: it looks like a cross between Mexico and France. The architecture has splashes of European influence everywhere but the streets remind me of Mexico, and Portuguese is pretty close to Spanish so it sounds like Mexico too. Stuff I've learned so far: people don't wear nearly enough clothes around here. Seriously Grandpa, there is no need to go jogging in only a speedo. The sun sets around...well, it has been dark for an hour and it's 5:45. Not used to that when it has been staying light into the late evening in Sacramento but I suppose it is almost winter here, ha! Neat thing- they have lights at the beaches so it can stay "sunny" all night long, party time. Went to the beach this afternoon, the water was surprisingly cool. Not LA cool, I mean a sane human (like me for instance) would definitely take a dip, but it isn't Mediterranean warm. My hotel is literally across the street from the beach, and I have a view of Corcovado and the JC statue, which seems to be covered up for some reason...more on that when I figure it out.

Here I Go!

An upcoming trip to Brazil has prompted me to get this blog thing up and runningI'm going to journal my trip here, which is a consulting lab for my graduate program in public administration at USC. I'm almost done, in fact I've already graduated, and Brazil is my last project.I'm going to try and keep it up even after Brazil,mainly because we all need somewhere to document the insane stuff that happens to us in our crazy wandering minds. Stand by and get ready for some blogs that are insightful at their best and entertaining at their worst.