Shopping Trip

Hi there. A week or two ago I took pictures and video of my walk to the supermarket, a trip I make once or twice a week. I figured it would be cool for you to see what the streets, signs, and stores look like in Brazil.

Leaving the homestead.



All's quiet on Rua Engenheiro Humberto Soares Camargo.

Here's a video of me on my way (I almost get hit by a car):

The main drag.



Like I said in an earlier post, no sidewalks.



Brazilian road and buildings. A multi-lane road separated by a strip of land is pretty common in Brazil.



At the crossroads. Notice the length of the road names (short by Brazilian standards). Everybody and their brother has a road dedicated to them in Brazil.

I'm there! More video goodness:

Now on my way back...

The yellow buildings are called "kitnets." They're like studio apartments for people overly concerned with security -- they've got walls, gates, electric fencing, and bars on the windows. People who live here are probably not much fun to drink with.



This is the same wall from the above picture. The graffiti says, "Walls talk too."



This is a nice little bar/cafe that I pass on the way. There are usually people chilling in that patio area.



Brazilian pharmacy. You can get prescription drugs here without a prescription!



These are public telefones called "orelhões" ("big ears"). Very charming and distinctive. Cellphones are slowly rendering these obselete in Brazil as they mostly already have in the U.S.



Sign for Chinese and Japense restaurants (Japense food is particularly popular in Brazil). Fun fact #1: the largest Japanese immigrant population is in Brazil. Fun fact #2: You know how "Chinese" is sometimes used as a catch-all for anyone from East Asia regardless of country of origin in the U.S.? It's just like that in Brazil, except with Japanese people.



The home stretch.

Well, that's it. I hope you enjoyed it. See you soon.

Walk to the Lake

This was a 3 day weekend thanks to some guy named Tiradentes. I was sick (I have bronchitis but I'm getting over it) so I spent my time studying Portuguese, taking antibiotics, and walking around the area. On Monday I walked to a nearby lake and took pictures. Here they are.

Road next to the lake. Whoo!



The lake.



The path around the lake.



Stretching/warmup area for runners and power walkers.



Brazilians take recycling more seriously than we do.



Ducklings in the lake.



Some bird I don't know. Maybe... heron? Perhaps an astute reader can tell me.




View across the lake.



Curve in the path.



Pretty flowering tree.



Weird tree shaped like an old Coke bottle.



Trees over the path.



Tree with orange flowers.



Walking back on the other side.



Brazilian couple finishing the loop around the lake. I should sell this picture to Hallmark.

So, that's the lake. Very pretty spot, I'll probably go back some time. Good day.

Lay of the Land - Part I, Barão Geraldo

I went on a walk around my neighborhood today to get a feel for the lay of the land. I live in a neighborhood called Barão Geraldo. It's almost exclusively student housing, but strangely the houses are really nice.

My house from the outside. I live with 6 other people, and as you can see lots of them have cars. This is great because they're always offering to drive me places.

This is Guilerme in the living room playing video games as he often does.

Street view of Barão Geraldo, my neighborhood.


A typical, nice house in Barão Geraldo


House number and mailbox on the side of a house in Barão Geraldo.


Note the well manicured shrubbery in front of a random house.


Nice street to live on, eh?


Shit loves to grow in Brazil.

In part II, I'll post pictures of UNICAMP, the biggest university in Brazil which is located in Campinas.

Boa noite