Things you don't learn by just going a week on holidays

Did you know that on bars and restaurants the typical four seasoning recipients contain: oil, vinegar, salt ... and toothpicks!?!? No pepper at all.

Another day, another little step forward

I finally have a bank account! :-) After two weeks of arriving and it was extremely quick because I had an awful lot of help with all the paperwork.

So now I can access my money again ... oh no, wait a second: the card is going to take more than two weeks to arrive because there is a bank strike going on.
Oh, well, I can always go to the counter to withdraw fund ... if I manage to find a branch not affected by the strike that is ... mmmmmm ...

I need a beer! >:-(

Things you don't learn by just going a week on holidays

Here you can see a typical pack of feijões you can find here in Porto Alegre. Feijões are the tasty beans Brazilians use absolutely everywhere when cooking.

On its right it says "Indústria Brasileira" so: made in Brazil itself, somewhere in the same state of Rio Grande do Sul.

And they are proud of them as on the left they have this nice heart with the colours of the flag of the state with the emblem "Marca da nossa gente": the brand of our people.

Then, in the middle, you can see this two typical smiley Brazilian people with their two typical traditional dresses and their two typical ancient Brazilian names ...

Bureaucracy

Sorry but I was wrong in the previous post: the medical exam was not to rent a flat ... I think ... Well, actually I am not entirely sure what that was for :-)
Anyway, just a quick picture of some of the paperwork I have managed to do up to now ... and there is quite a lot more still to do ...

Things you don't learn by just going a week on holidays

Did you know that in order to rent a flat I am going to have to get a medical exam?!?!?

Just some pictures taken on a Sunday

 
 
 
 
 

Things you don't learn by just going a week on holidays

Did you know that in Brazil the house numbers are not consecutive but depend on the distance in meters from the door of the house to the beginning of the street?

Did you know that it is quite common to charge the meals depending on the weight of your serving?

Did you know that most of the plumbing will get clogged with the toilet paper and you have to dispose it by "other means"?!?

The hotel in Porto Alegre

The first month I am going to be in a hotel close to the lake Guaiba, pretty much in the centre of the city.
As you can see there is a nice view of the sunset over the lake, one of the things Porto Alegre is known for.







But there is also some dodgy wiring on the electric the shower ... from a nanny state health and safety point of view, that is! :-D









And the decoration and gadgets are a bit on the 70s side ...
 

Bye bye England

After eight years in England the time has come for me to leave Southampton. Even though it was known and I had been preparing for a while, in the end everything went a lot faster than expected and I didn't have time to say bye properly to everyone: sorry! :-(

But well, as I couldn't say bye, you have the perfect excuse to come to Porto Alegre to say hi! :-) ... as soon as I find a place to stay ...

Thanks all for a wonderful time in the UK! And thanks specially to Nuria & David and Daisy for sorting out all the pending bits I couldn't finish on time! :-) Leaving England and moving that far away was not an easy decision to take ... I better don't mention the tears at the airport ...