My phone got wet from the ridiculous rainfall in São Paulo. It still works but the screen is a dimmer than usual and I definitely see where the water marks are. So I've powered it off and put it in a sealed bag of rice.... Fingers crossed.
This was my first week in my new apartment. I got lost a few times and got stuck in the rain but all in all, I think I've adjusted pretty well to my new surroundings. I know how to navigate the metro to get from my apartment to my practicum site. It takes roughly the same amount of time when I drove from Pearland to the park-and-ride and hopped on the MetroRail to get into the Medical Center in Houston. Not bad.
Apparently Brazil is becoming super expensive now... more expensive than comparable European cities! I can totally see that in how much I pay for groceries. I'm actually really annoyed; yes that dollar still goes pretty far but it's all relative isn't it? This will definitely change how I budget here.
This week, in addition to going into my practicum, I went to the livraria (bookstore), church, the supermarket, the equivalent of a farmer's market, and I did laundry! Not bad... settling in finally. The supermarket (Carrefour) is about a 10 minute walk from my apartment which isn't bad at all but... it sucks ass when you're buying in bulk. I had to haul so many groceries down the street, praying that the plastic bag wouldn't rip.
I think if I could sum up Brazil in one word, it would be inefficient. The bureaucracy is insane and so are the lines. There are lines everywhere you go. As my Peruvian roommate (who is super sweet!) said, "Brazilians love their lines." Every single line at Carrefour is full, even the ones that are supposed to be the speedy ones for people with fewer than 20 items. BULLSHIT. The entire system is absolutely absurd.
The workers take forever scanning the items, the customer spends forever opening up the plastic bags to bag their own items, when there's another worker nearby who's just kind of... there. WHY?! I don't understand. UGHHH.
Well, here's to Week #3....
I won't have too many pictures posted since my phone is currently out of commission. Boo.
I'm planning on doing some cultural things with my roommate. We're supposed to go see some exhibits at the MASP museum (São Paulo Museum of Art).
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