Monday 19 November 2012

SP Night Market - Third Edition

The Third Edition of SP Night Market will be this Sunday 25th November, hosted by Plug N Work. It will start at 1pm and there are going to be some of my favourite vendors and foodie people from Sao Paulo there - including Deepali, the indian food lady and Colombian empanadas, two of my favourites!! Check out the event, and other vendors here

https://www.facebook.com/events/249038478555895/
http://www.spnightmarket.com

** UPDATE: SP Night Market has just confirmed a Malaysian Food vendor! Whooppee!! 


Wednesday 7 November 2012

To com muita raiva!

I've had two really classy moments this month where I have been so close to having a freak out or breakdown, or both.. I can be a pretty angry person in English but this anger was compounded by the fact that I don't have any angry words to use in Portuguese. I know that people say that the first words you usually learn in a language are "hello", "thank you" and all the naughty words but I've been sheltered by the fact I'm surrounded by children most of the day.

The first episode was when we landed in Guarulhos, after 28 hours of travelling from New York (delayed, redirected to Miami, delayed boarding, delayed on tarmac) and American Airlines had lost our luggage as well! We were not the only ones but you as you can imagine we were pretty tired, pissed off and surrounded by crying, tired, hungry children. One Brazilian father had a complete wobbly, shouting at the staff and I thought, I need to learn some of those words! To be honest though, I think shouting here only encourages people to work s.l.o.w.e.r but it does feel good to shout. 

The second time was when I ordered new grass for our garden, and when they delivered it we only got half. When I called the guy I bought it from, he told me I needed to speak to the person who supplies the grass rather than him (the man I bought it from)! It's one thing trying to communicate without words when you need something - food, water, directions - but how do you communicate anger, over the phone? So I told him "Vou chamar a policia!", I laughed the moment it came out of my mouth - it was the most threatening thing I could say in Portuguese. The rest of the grass is yet to be delivered...

So I asked for it to be the focus of my portuguese lesson this week and here is a summary of some expressions you need to know:

Teve uma tempestade: Had a storm (of anger!)
Eu fiquei muito brava, ficar brava: I was very angry, gets angry
Eu to com muita raiva: I was with lots of rage
É muita sacanagem: This is a dirty trick, use it when someone does something mean
Vocês estão brincando, né?: Are you playing me?
Se vira!: Turn yourself around, i.e. go and sort it out!
Não quero saber!: I don't want to know
muito folgadas: very, very lazy person. I can be "folgada on a Sunday morning", for example. Reminds me of our plumber who would arrive at work at 10am, work for 1 hour, go for 2 hour lunch, have a 2 hour nap, work 1 more hour and then go home! He was "muito folgada" all week long. 

I have to plug our dirty.JAM. Brazilian Portuguese - all the dirty words and phrases they didn't teach you in class. I need to learn it myself!






Tuesday 6 November 2012

Extending tourist visa in Sao Paulo

My friend needed to extend her visa as her 2 months (on her Venezuelan passport) is about to expire this weekend. A tourist can extend their visa once for the same period they got when they entered. She prepared all her documents (see list below) and went this afternoon, and it took her 2 hours, including travel time, seriously!

There is no need to set an appointment, just turn up. Make sure you have all documents prepared below.

Required documents:
Passport, copy of front page plus relevant pages (i.e. your first Brazil entry visa)
Copy of Entry form that you fill in when you land in Brazil (disembarkation form)
Copy of credit card, front (she also took a recent statement to show that she has the finances to stay but they only needed the copy of the credit card)
Fill in payment form here, and pay for it at any bank R67. There is also a payment counter at Federal Police Lapa (Rua Hugo D'Antola, 95)
Flight out of Brazil on the date that you expect to be leaving with your new visa (very very important!)

Process
Check in at building reception and tell them that you are there to extend your tourist visa
They will direct you to another counter downstairs specifically for estrangeiros, and they give you an application form to fill out
Then they will send you upstairs to pay for your application (using the payment form that you filled online and printed out)
Then you go up to the 4th floor to submit all your documents and then wait until they call your name, where they return your passport with the new stamp in it!

I would take all originals plus extra copies, better to be safe than sorry! None of these need to be translated or cartorised.

Good luck!

Monday 5 November 2012

For the fish lover in you

I have found a peixeiria in the Mercado de Pinheiros that delivers fresh fish! I usually only buy fresh fish if I am hear Mercado Municipal or at the Vila Madalena feira and therefore don't get to eat it often, unless it's sushi. I hate buying the frozen fish here and the fish at the supermarkets look so sad!

Anyhow, I have used this place half a dozen times already and think it's fantstic quality. Last Thursday I ordered

1 kg of salmon, skinned and filleted (4 pieces)
1 kg of badejo already cut in chunks
2 tuna steaks which he individually packaged and are sitting in my freezer
8 large pink prawns (or shrimps, depending on where you're from) that had been shelled

Total was R180 including delivery

Enjoy!!

forgot to add the link: http://www.nsrfatima.com.br/