I thought for awhile that I might read a book a day during my three months in Brazil… I’ve done it before with academic books, no less, while getting ready for my Comprehensive exams in my PhD. But it’s actually not *fun*, it’s work. And if I did it with fun books now, I wouldn’t have time for the gym (hopefully starting next week!) or learning Portuguese.
Still, I’m reading. I’ve been exploring new blogs, which has been REALLY fun, I <3 my Kindle, which has let me read two Jane Austens (Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility—will have read all Jane Austen by the end of my trip), and I’ve been reading historical fiction. So far, Alan Furst’s Dark Voyage: A Novel (so-so… disappointing after all I’d heard about Furst, really), and I’ve started Dorothy Dunnett’s King Hereafter. I’ll let you know…
(source)
I actually entered into a bet / dare last summer with an old friend to see who would write a work of historical fiction and get it published first… and then he went and got engaged. And I got 3 months off—seriously: I’m SO gonna win this! My mission right now is to read the good, the bad, and the ugly of historical fiction as research. More precisely, I’ll be writing creative non-fiction, since I’m going to write a creative story about an actual era based on good research, but I plan to make it fun so that more than 4 people read it. 
So I’m reading a lot. I’m also sleeping whenever the need arises… which means I stay up late (and have thus learned that the Brazilian noise laws prohibit having, say, a DJ into the middle of the night, but if your neighbours want to have a VERY LOUD CONVERSATION OR FIGHT WITH HIS/HER LOVER, THAT’S A-OK. LOUD AS YOU LIKE, LATE AS YOU LIKE.), get up around 10am, and nap. Which feels A-MA-ZING. I’m usually too much of a stressy kid to nap, and now that I can… it’s like candy!
AND: I’m happy to report on my achievements: I accomplished goals 1 and 3 yesterday—showered (with no ill effects, other than WTF is *this* all about?!?
Behold: the shower head:
(are those *electrical* cords sticking out the top?!?!?)
And then there’s this:
And… that’s the shower.
So something is clearly missing, eh? Like a means for changing the *temperature* of the water? There just isn’t one.
True story.
As a result, this puppy was NUCLEAR, and I’m a girl who likes a hot shower! No permanent damage was done, nevertheless…) 
I also cracked my Portuguese book…
… only to discover this:
Do you see it? the puckering? The discolouration? Freaking water damage on my book. 
That actually makes me want to use it less, for no good reason at all.
I’m still in Chapter 1, and I’ve learned to beware false cognates, but thanks to the fact that I’ve learned a language or two in my time, I’m already aware of the danger… it’s time to be all Nike about it, and then I’ll be fine. Watching TV and just listening to people talk… I’m gettin’ my groove on.
(source) Amen, brotha.
I’ve eaten out every day so far because Marcella doesn’t *cook*. Well, *I* do, and once we get a few more kitchen implements (and groceries), I’m in like Flynn. A lack of a baking sheet means the cookies haven’t happened yet, either… just give it time.
What’s Brazilian food like? It’s distinct. And I’ve not been brave enough to photograph my food in the restos yet, but I’m working on it. I’ll bore you senseless with food talk later.
For now, I’m excited that today I *finally* got money out of a bank machine (took 4 freaking tries to find a bank supporting Cirrus), I had a mini-workout at home with bands and the stairs, and… TOMORROW IS A HOLIDAY! That means, I’ll be able to go outside in daylight, and Marcella and Renato are going to take me on a walking tour of all the places to go.
SP isn’t exactly scenic, but I’ll bring back pics, nonetheless.
It’s starting to sink in… I’m in *Brazil*. Wow.
June 22nd, 2011 at 21:37
It sounds like you are having a blast in Brazil! You are missed very much back home.
The only Portuguese word that I (choose to) remember from our linguistic car rides – “Faca”!!!!
June 22nd, 2011 at 21:39
@ GREEEEEEEEEEK! I miss you guys, too! So far, so good… but I wish we had learned more than just “fork”. Like how to say, “excuse me, Mr Policeman, my friend was JUST HERE and now she’s gone. Did you see where her silver Peugeot went? Because if not, I’m literally screwed because I have no cash, I’ll be killed in a taxi, and I don’t actually have her street address.”
How’s FSJ? Say hi to your mom & grandma for me!!
June 22nd, 2011 at 22:13
hey Brazil Nut!
so your outing tomorrow or soon includes procuring not only a nut butter but also a cookie sheet!
that shower looks crazy?
June 23rd, 2011 at 03:37
We do indeed have some similarities (thanks for your recent comments on my blog)
I love your reading approach – being able to read at leisure in Brazil sounds pretty perfect. I’m impressed with your language learning efforts and shower mastering skills too!
June 23rd, 2011 at 08:54
@ Kristina, aka “Wing Nut”: there’s no nut butter here, I’ve just found out. Unless I buy an American import, and I’m anti-Jiff.
Will keep you posted on the cookies—signed, Brazil Nut
@ Kari: apparently, my fear of water is hilarious to my friend, as is the fact that it originated from the doctor at the travel clinic.
June 23rd, 2011 at 10:00
did you know I lived in Sao Paulo (acutally Campinas) for summer? I was so young but I really enjosyed it. Its winter there now, no?
And i kinda like water marked pages, is that weird?
June 23rd, 2011 at 13:24
OMG THE CORDS AT THE SHOWER HEAD!!!
Oh yeah, I love cultural relativism! 
It looks like your wake-and-sleep rhythm is pretty much like mine by now – hello night owl! *wave* – I can’t help, but on my own, I’m back to my “late” schedule within 24 hours …
I’ve read all Jane Austen novels in German, but I’d love to read them in English as well. I also want to read Elizabeth Gaskell in English, that’s another one of my favorite literature ladies. I just need a little more time.
Can’t wait to read more! This is a new Stephanie! (And still the old one, but more Zen.)
June 23rd, 2011 at 17:34
@ Lindsay: you DID? Cool! I never went anywhere besides Canada, New England and Florida (like all Quebeckers!) until I was 19… to imagine experiencing this as a kid is amazing! How awesome of your parents!
It *is* winter here, and I have to admit that flying through Houston was my first time in Texas… but it seems to me that TX and SP are about equidistant from the equator. So it’s pretty balmy for winter!
It’s not *weird* that you like it—it’s the quirks that make people interesting—I just wish I were you because the texture of formerly wet pages freaks me out a bit.
@ Kath: I KNOW!!! And good for you on Jane Austen—I haven’t read Northanger Abbey or Persuasion yet, but I will! I just love the happy endings… and yes: a new me that’s still me but SO NOT ME… I’m so much nicer when I’m sleeping and not a fire-breathing stress-monkey!
June 24th, 2011 at 09:55
I love reading for pleasure now because during college I never did that.
I love that you’re reading Jane Austen. Even though I’ve seen the movies, I’ve never read the books. That is horrible.
Why are the showers always so strange!?! In Italy, I had a sit down shower with a pull out head. It was the weirdest thing.
June 24th, 2011 at 18:18
Dying at the one knob in the shower, omg!!!! So for real, I know exactly what you mean about not wanting to use your book when it’s wrinkled from water. It’s just so… damaged. Book should be perfectly crisp, or perfectly worn, but not wrinkled ever.
June 25th, 2011 at 15:31
I love your plans – I think you will have the most amazing time! I love Pride and Prejudice, but I find it almost hard to read because every time I read it, the next thing I read feels like a major letdown. Glad you are having fun and I am looking forward to the food talk!
June 25th, 2011 at 16:00
@ Kristen: The books are better—except that it works well to have *seen* the movies first so when you read, say, P&P, you envisage Colin Firth whenever Mr Darcy is in the scene…
@ Christine: Oh, it’s not the only one. Marcella said, when I asked what I was supposed to do about no tap for hot water in the kitchen, “well, we don’t need it.”
?!?
And re: the books not perfect, I’m choked. Same thing happened (in the same phantom spill) to my Lonely Planet. Booooo!
June 25th, 2011 at 16:01
@ Alina: there are a LOT of Classics out there—P&P is great fun, but my absolute fave is actually Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. There’s *always* something better (One Hundred Years of Solitude is also pretty exceptional), you just have to search it out.
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