Arriving in Pelotas

As promised, I'm writing a blog to keep my friends, family, and former co-workers, who are interested in my time in Brazil, in the loop.  I plan on writing informally and of random happenings and events rather than with a purpose or with a specific goal in mind. I hope everyone enjoys my ramblings!

What a week this has been!  Driving to the airport on Tuesday morning, it had not sunk in that I was moving to Brazil even though I've known for weeks that I was coming here.  One four hour drive from Corpus Christi, Texas to Houston, an hour flight to Dallas, a ten hour flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil, an hour and a half flight to Porto Alegre, and a 3 hour drive to Pelotas later, I arrived on Wednesday afternoon.  Very tired I met my supervisor, Pedrinho, and his family who were kind enough to pick me up in Porto Alegre to save me from trying to figure out how to catch a bus to Pelotas.  Upon arrival in Pelotas, I was dropped off at the apartment I will share with a roommate, Andreia, who is a PhD student at the research center.  The rest of the afternoon and evening was uneventful with the exception of when I tried to plug in my hair dryer to blow up the air mattress and popped the circuit breakers and killed the electricity in half of the apartment! A few phone calls later, we figured out how to flip the circuit breakers and return the power.  Whew!

The next morning Andreia and I walked to the research center which is no more than a couple of blocks from the apartment, very easy and close.  I met with Pedro to work out logistics and discuss which projects I should start on.  Thursday ended up being a very long day as I worked until close to 5pm and went directly to the downtown area to purchase a bed, dresser, SIM card for cell phone, and groceries.  Thank goodness my roommate went with me, otherwise I would have been completely lost as I speak un poco un POCO de Portuguese.  I'm hoping this improves while I'm here.  For dinner, we went to a restaurant where I ordered a sandwich that was very good and a negrinho (unsure of the spelling).  It means "little black" in Portuguese and is a common dessert for this area.  Its chocolate, which of course I love, and very rich. 

Unexpected: one of the largest supermarkets in Pelotas is called BIG.  Literally.  Apparently, Wal-Mart owns these and much of the food sold in the store is imported.  It was kind of nice to see familiar products mixed in with things I had no idea what they were. 

Yesterday, I spent most of the day working from the apartment to wait for the movers to deliver my newly purchased furniture.  It was a good opportunity to relax. 

Today, I slept in and then went downtown to buy a blanket and pillows for my bed.  We also had lunch at a buffet.  Friends and family who know me well, know I do NOT like buffets.  They freak me out with all of the people touching everything and more than likely not washing their hands.  However, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.  Here buffets are common lunch spots so if I am to eat, I must overcome this fear and dislike for them :)

Now you all are up to date!  I'll write more soon, maybe sporadically and definitely of random things that I remember to share.