Home Sweet Home

Today is the day! We leave for Atlanta tonight!  I don't even care how long the flight is, we are all just so anxious to be home for the holidays!  We are going to try to get our tree up in time and Liam still needs to visit Santa!  We have a lot we are trying to squeeze in before the big day!

Atlanta

Feliz Natal!

I was honored to be invited to participate in the Sao Paulo office Amigo Secreto gift exchange.  Though the gift exchange was done entirely in Portuguese and I didn't really get any of the jokes that everyone thought was hilarious, I could tell everyone was having a great time and it was fun to watch at least.  It's similar to how it works back home but the fun twist here is you describe the person you bought for and everyone has to guess who it is.  Let me emphasize here... this is a fun office!   Coincidentally my secret amigo turned out to be Paulo!  He bought me a wonderful book about Brazil (in both English and Portuguese) that is encouraging David and I to want to take some weekend side trips out of the city!

 
Most importantly, this office knows how to EAT for a holiday!  Lunch at Fogo de Chao??....sim por favor!!  The guys from the Rio office also flew in to join us.  Honestly, it all felt more like a family get-together than an office holiday party!  Everyone here is so kind and fun! Makes for a great party!

Everyone was also nice enough to let me participate in the christmas raffle for prizes and guess what....I actually WON something!!!  A weekend trip to the mountains - Campos do Jordao!! So now we have to explore outside the city!  Can't wait!!

Rain, rain, go away....

This was the theme song for the weekend, it rained for 3 days straight.... I'm noticing a trend on my weather center app...the forecast is almost always the same.....80% chance of rain

Team Meeting, Brazilian style

Yay! I found a substitute for our team meeting treats!  I'm not gonna lie, I still miss the Chick-fil-A brownie sundae, but this will at least help hold me over!  ....and it's probably healthier too!  (FYI the pronounciation is Ah-Sigh-EE)

acai com morango

Work Update

A few things about working in the DL Sao Paulo Office:
The office is on Avenida Paulista, the main busines street so there are tons of restaurants within a few minutes walk. We are on the 15th floor with a great view.  I had to learn how to say 15 in portuguese because here you can't push your own button on the elevator, you have to tell the elevator operator what floor you want her to push (and by "operator" I mean she sits on a stool in the elevator and pushes the buttons).  Instead of the Kcup machine we have in the atlanta breakroom they have the Nespresso machine which is awesome!! and has made me a daily coffee drinker again. Seriously, I am buying one for christmas for our house :)  Everyone in the office has been really helpful with my attempting to speak Portuguese.  They correct my pronunciation and help with translating words.  This once led to a 20 minute lesson on helping me say the "ao" sound (one of the toughest for non-native speakers to learn).  I also had my first visit with Gol this past week, I met with the flight profitability team and we discussed how our systems are different.  Pretty fascinating discussion!  I will be visiting with them once a week to talk more in-depth.  So that's some of the highlights!



view from the office



Portuguese homework from one of the girls in the office :)



Tastes of Brazil

Alternate post title - "why Kelly is gaining weight".  In case you don't remember, I'm the one who typically eats a SmartOne at my desk for lunch, so given that the pictures below are of my recent lunches you can understand why I might be putting on a few!  Lunch is the main meal of the day here - people eat big lunches.  I just need to stop eating the big dinner too!


Chicken with catupiry (this cheese is amazing!)



Best chocolate of Brazil

Filet with farofa



Japanese




Por Kilo - as random a meal as you want to make it



Photos!...I know, finally!

Mercado Municipal de São Paulo



Proof I can do laundry without a dryer (though thankfully one is coming this week!)



View from bridge in Parque Ibirapuera

Let the fun begin!

Now that the whole family is here and we've worked through the initial shock, mostly from the flight and getting Liam on a new schedule, we were able to get out and have some fun!  We spent an afternoon at Ibirapuera Park (yes we were the only ones throwing a baseball around) and enjoyed a family dinner together at one of my favorite Brazilian things so far - a Por Kilo restaurant.  These are AWESOME!  It's similar to a buffet style where you see the food and pick out what you want for your plate but you only pay for the food by its weight.  The variety of food available varies by restaurant but I have not been disappointed yet!  It makes meals really affordable while still eating great food.  Seriously I wish this was common at home.

My favorite food so far is a pastel.  Brazilians know how to do fried food and as a Southerner I can truly appreciate that.   I'm really enjoying the food more than I thought I would and there are still a lot of things left to try!

I still can't believe how expensive everything is here.  I have already started a list of things I want to bring back next time.  Simple things, like ziplock bags and goldfish.  Oh, and I finally met someone in my building who speaks English!  I'm pretty sure I scared him with my overreaction to meeting him but he was nice enough to play it cool.

Oh and in case any of you were wondering, yes we were able to watch the SEC championship game, but man I could have gone without seeing that one.  What a heart breaker.....