The day has come!

...Deep breath....
I'm meeting Al's mom today. It's his birthday on Tuesday, so we're all going today to his sister's today and he's gonna cook for everyone, as he usually do on his birthdays. Que meeeeeeedo!!
Wish me good luck! :s
(man, and I still don't know what I'm giving him...it's hard!!!)

One month!

Today I complete my first month in the us!! (it feels like years tho...). Well, I'm really busy now so i can't write much else but I didn't want to "passar em branco" (lit: "let it go in white"...blah you americans don't have an expression for that so you learn the portuguese one because it's cool!)

Good news

Long time no post! sorry...but it was for a good reason! I finally finished one of the assignments for the newspaper, and on the meantime I had also been sending resumes to the stuff I really wanted to do. Turns out I got it! The first interview was last Friday, and I already started doing things as an administrative intern for an up and coming dance company.no, it doesn't even pay the bills, but I'm really excited! I still have another interview tomorrow for another place, let's see how it goes...(maybe I can even do both together).

Today was a looong day! I spent the morning in a much nicer side of Brooklyn, near Smith Street (lots of restaurants and boutiques), where the dance company's office is. Then I met Al at Columbus Circle (pic, from inside the mall) and we had lunch at Whole Foods, the trendiest New Yorkers' market hehehehe. It's really cool, it's an improved Pao de Acucar, where you can shop for products and also eat in a self-service setting. They had japanese, morrocan, indian, salads, some very good stuff. The eating area sits 1156 people and has a very modern design, with color-changing walls and all. Then we spent some time at the the Time Warner building mall, where I bought Thomas Pynchon's V., an author I discovered through Tonya's blog, and also hang out at the impressive Samsung store, where every product is simply for sampling, they don't sell anything (some are not even released in the US market). You can try everything from phones to laptops to huge plasma TVs sitting in comfortable couches, without being bothered with the pressure to buy anything. Gets you thinking how much money do they have so they can put up something like that.
From there to higlight of the day: ice skating in Central Park! We had soooo much fun! I was really scared to get in that rink, since it was my first time ever, but everything went fine and I only fell once! hahaha we got there when it was still daylight and only left after it was dark (photos on Flickr). It's expensive (12 for each adult, plus 5 for the skate rental and 3.75 for locker rental), but it's really worthy it! (pic: kids sliding on ice behind sax player @ Central Park). It was hard at first, but slowly I was able to slide by myself, and it feels so good. With the music on the background, feels like you're in a movie. In the end my body couldn't go anymore but I just kept going for "one last lap" (my ankle was destroyed but it's ok hehehe)
It was Sunday night, but we could still do some more window shopping at the city that never sleeps, so we headed to the famous 5th Ave. and the drool-worthy Mac Store, and some other fancy stores around. To wrap up the day, US' probably best hamburgers, Jersey City's Fatburger (nothing to do with your usual McDonalds, uh-uh), and that was it!

PS: People always tell you how nice it is to see snow for the first time but they fail to tell you how disgusting is to have to navigate trhough that dirty mess for several days after the actual storm. Ew! Ok, I've had my share of that, can we please go back to clean and walkable streets?

Snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You never forget your first snow storm. YAY! :D

Something funny happened today, I was on the phone with a girl trying to get information on where I could exchange my travelers checks, and you know when you are spelling a name and you say a word very recognizable so she can understand what is it, like in Brazil we say "p" de "pato", "n" de "navio" and so on, so I was spelling my name to her and she was trying to confirm...is it "f" for "father"? Me: no, "s", as in...(30 seconds trying to figure out a simple word begining with s)..."sing?" She: what? hahahaha It got me so confused that I even said my name wrong to her (the situation lasted for some good 5 minutes)! hahaha

I had never thought about it but she wanted to confirm every letter using this system, and I really didn't have the slightest idea of which words they use for what!

So, just in case you ever find yourself in that situation, here's a quick dictionnary (at least those were the ones she used: F - father, A-apple, P-Peter, C-Charles, S-sugar

what I -and most people- use in portuguese for those is: F-faca(knife), A-amor(love), P-pato(duck), C-casa(house), S-sapo(frog)

Pause

What better way to forget about your problems than shopping? (or window shopping at least). This weekend we went to those places that come to mind when you think of New York, or at least that came to my mind. Village, West Village, Soho, Little Italy, East Village. We walked so much! And as you pass the streets you recognize all their names, you don't even know why but you do (Bleecker st., Houston, etc etc). It was all so great.

First we saw a performance by Amas, a musical theatre organization that Al sits in the board of. Then we strolled from the cute little Village shops (pic) to the high-end Soho fashion stores. (pic, Prada store - where you were not allowed to take pics - exactly as seen on Sex and the City! hehehe
And restaurants and more restaurants. Then we headed to the Lower East side to see Borat (unbelivable! It's not so much that it's funny, as I was expecting, but that you just can't believe the guts he had to do all he did. Very worthy watching.) To wrap up the day, we went to John's Pizzeria (In Times Square, nothing to do with were we were, but I said I was in the mood for some good pizza). According to Al, they're one of the last places that make brick-oven pizzas here (as it should be). Though good, they owe absolutely nothing to any Sao Paulo take out/"delivery". Sigh. I was exhausted by the end of the day but it was great!

Oh we also finally got some dishes, so we can get rid of the disposable ones (ok Tati? - oh, by the way, I saw a girl on the subway that looked so much like you! I'm gonna put the pic up on flickr! hehehe)

More NYC Trivia:
- on the subway, you can exit at the same turnstiles that people get in
- they don't have 3-phase street lights, so when you're at a corner and the light is green to pedestrians it's also green to cars that are turning, it's horrible! You really have to watch out.
- I saw my first rat in the subway (on the tracks). EEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWW. (Like Erica said, I could lick Sao Paulo's subway's floor after seeing these ones here).

On Wednesday it's Valentines Day here! (I have no idea if I'm doing anything special or even if I'm buying anything for Al - specially cause his birthday is in a few days too - but I thought it was worthy the mention...)

Where's the manual for adulthood?

I have to admit that this freelance for this newspaper totally depressed me. It's so NOT what I want to do it hurts. I accepted to do it cause I was really worried about not having a source of income, but I realized I'm just wasting my time. The time I had planned to work on it I started sending resumes to the things I'm really interested at (but are harder to get...you know why). I've decided to do just one of the things she briefed me and then talk to her about this situation.
And here's the thing. I have no idea how to manage my thoughts, and my time in consequence. I never worked as freelance, so I kindda only had to think about my job when it was time to work, and the rest of the day I could think about the other stuff, which wasn't that much anyway apart from my own personal interests. Now it's like, I have to think about the work (I don't have a fixed schedule, of course), about the things I have to do at home, about the things I have to do with Al, and about the other things that are of my own personal interest. And I start thinking about all of it at the same time, so I start doing things at the same time and don't complete any as I wanted, or I just waste my time thinking and don't do anything at all! I'm not even sure if I could explain that well, cause it's really confusing even to me. Arrrrghhhhhhhhhh
On another note, I met Alta (Al's sister) in person for the first time! She came to visit us. She's really great! :D And also we've been having a lot of fun with that couple I think I've mentioned before, Judy and Chris. I'm getting to know Jersey City better and I really like it, it's small and pretty (there must be some not-so-pretty neighbourhoods, but of course I don't need to go there! hehehe)

Random stuff

- As the days progress, things become better and better when it comes to the fine tuning between me and Al. It helps a lot that the apartment is finally free of unnecessary clutter and everything we got is on its place, tho it's still a work in progress. hehehe As you know what to expect (and what not to) from each other, the day-to-day life gets easier, and (much) nicer.

- Just to make you girls jealous, Al cooks divinely, and he's cooking dinner and doing the dishes every night! (not to mention the desserts he makes, like this heavenly nutty brownie from yesterday!) hey, pick your jaws off the floor, it's cold! (In exchange, I make the bed everyday and get to clean the bathroom - but he cleans the bathtub. That is, after I "hint" about it for several days in a row) .

- they're changing the name of my ballet class to "advanced begginer", it seems they just realized what it really is! hehehe Anyway, I went to my 2nd one today and it was awesome!
And also I'm getting to know lots of interesting people, if only for a brief moment.

- people here actually stand on the right on escalators and wait untill people get off the train to start getting in. As a heavy user of public transportation, I can only say that's a dream.

- I had an allergy all over my face that was making me look like a monster, and I was using so many new stuff that it was diffcult to figure out the cause, but I think I finally did, it was probably the make-up remover cloths....(I was used to liquid ones)

- I went to Newark today. I didn't like the city itself a bit.
But

- I finally got my nails done and also some waxing! Yay for Brazilian salons (one in every corner)! One thing, tho....while the nails and the underarm pricing can be equivalent (10 dollars each, or 8 dollars the underarm at a Boticario store) - meaning they will not always be, u can find it for waaaay more if you want - don't expect the same for your "bikini area". Cheapest I found, even on the brazilian salons, was 30 bucks!! :(

- Last and least, I got a freelance gig on a Brazilian newspaper (#1 reason I went to Newark). Unlike Al, I can't say I'm excited about it, cause I'm gonna be writing for the business desk, which is pretty close to what I did in Sao Paulo, only it's very far from what I really want to do. But it's something already... Also it's looking as a great opportunity to put Al in contact with some potential clients (which would be great!), so let's see...

My first ballet class in the US!

Only ballet could make me leave home on a 10oF (-12o C), “biting wind” weather at night. I decided to try the Alvin Ailey school, so I went to the open intermediate ballet class. I was outraged by the price of the slippers I bought on my way, at Capezio, 38 dollars for a leather split sole!! Anyway, I always was knew ballet isn’t cheap…
The class was full (specially full of very flexible and good people), it was almost 40 students, but the room was very big so everybody was accommodated well. I immediately thought that there was no way in the world the teacher could notice me in that setting, a fact that was at the same time good and bad. So I just found a place at the barre and tried to follow. The sequences were complicated but I could keep up. Everybody else seemed to have been taking the class for a long time cause they knew everything. The center began ok, with the tendus and all, but as she advanced I got somewhat lost. The big jumps part, usually the last part of a ballet class, I didn’t even try to do. So I decided to be humble and try the beginner class (which later I found out is not even that beginner, actually they have a category called absolute beginner, which is for real beginners). On my way out, I found out the same teacher, Kat Wildish, was teaching a beginner class right after the one I had, so I just stayed there for one hour and a half more, so I wouldn’t have to come back some other day to make up my mind. The class was really good, she actually gave practically the same sequences, except she took more time to explain them, which was perfect! The great thing is that in the 1st class she had already “noticed” me and nodded approvingly when I was doing a cambre and on another occasion she corrected my ribs. Then on the 2nd class she noticed I had stayed, so she approached me in the middle of the barre and asked if I had brought a bottle of water, and if not, I should drink lots, and that I could leave the class to do that. It was really nice of her, I wasn’t expecting that because of the huge number of students. I’m definitely staying for this month, I’ll try to take it 3 times a week. (the good thing is hat you pay per class, so you don’t really have a whole month or year commitment, like we do in Brazil, and I can also try different styles or even different levels at the same time)
The only downside is that today I’m really sore!! Hahahaha Two classes back to back after one month completely off, you imagine…But we dancers are masochistics so I’m digging even the soreness hehehehe :D I’m so excited!!!!!!
Actually, the real downside is that now I definitely have to find a job soon, otherwise I won’t be able to keep the fun going :(

PS: Yesterday I wrongly identified the bridge in the picture as the Brooklyn Bridge, but that’s actually the Manhattan Bridge, they’re side by side. I corrected in the post already.

Union Square + Brooklyn =

Perfect Weekend! On Saturday Al and I hang out for the whole day at Union Square. I checked out an interesting store called Urban Outfitters, then I tasted all of the samples at the Farmer's Market, where farmers sell their organic products, and we bought some very good stuff (sheep's milk cheese, yogurt, sheep's sausage, "seriously good bacon"). The setting is exactly like our feiras there, only everything is organic (and pricey!) hehehe For lunch we headed to an asian fusion restaurant called Republic (yum!) , then I got me some real winter boots at a sports store Al likes to go to, then to Barnes & Noble, a 4-story bookstore where I lost my earmuffs. After reading some books sitting on B&N floor, we caught a veeery good movie, Children of Men. It's by the same director of Y tu mama tambien, Alfonso Cuaron. It's amazing, serioulsy, you guys don't miss it when it opens in Sao Paulo. Then we went back to B&N to search for my earmuffs one more time, and they had found it, yay! To top the the perfect Saturday, we had dinner at this ridiculously good chocolate place called Max Brenner. I can't even begin to tell you how good it is...you just gotta check for yourselves. (We did all that in no more than 2 or 3 blocks! It's really great that area)
On Sunday we spent most of the day doing more home maintenance, we installed the air conditioning (not that we're gonna be needing it anytime soon, it's just that we really had to take that huge thing out of the way!). Took us a really long time to do that, it was supposed to be a 2 big men's work! I even had to climb on the filthy hundreds-year-old fire escape to help put the thing in place...:S Then I learned how to do laundry (and hung the clothes on the bathroom...oh well...what you're gonna do...) and we installed the new shelves we got for the library area (hahahah makes one think we live in a mansion doesnt it?).
On the evening, I went to Brooklyn (!) to see a dance performance Tonya invited me to (pics = Manhattan Bridge, dancers warming up). Afterwards, we met Tony, a dance technology teacher that writes on The Winger, and we hang out with him and two friends at a suprisingly nice restaurant nearby (surprisingly because thse surroundings of the theater were not that "nice" if you know what I mean....hehehe). Funny thing is that Tony had ordered a pizza and it came sliced as an appetizer...I was waiting untill someone other than him got a slice so I could get mine...And when i did, the cheese that was on my slice just wouldn't separate from the other slice cause it was melted together, and we didn't have any knife on the table...I didn't want to put my hand on the other slice to separate it (I would if I were between my friends...but not with foreign strangers...!), so i ended up eating a cheeseless slice of pizza hahahaha I had a really good time.
When we were about to leave, they even started playing Brazilian music on the background (The standard Bossa Nova, you know...). I am very suprised, everything Brazil seems to be very en vogue. I hear Brazilian music in the most different places we go, even at "Babies R Us" (before you think anything, we were just hanging out with Al's friend, who is 9 month old pregnant)
PS: I'm gonna update Flickr with more weekend pics, cause I've got tons!

The quest for a ballet school

Manhattan top to bottom. That was my whole day yesterday, in the search for a ballet school. I had reasearched 3 schools, Steps, that's uptown, the Ailey School, midtown, and Dance new Amsterdam, downtown. I was gonna begin by Alvin Ailey, and I got to their nearest station, Columbus circle, just fine. I was so proud of myself and thought that I had finally mastered the system. But then I decided to begin at the one uptown and work my way down. But I hadn't researched which train I had to take, so I took the same that I had taken to Ailey, the A, but it was an express (doesn't stop in all stations) so I ended up in the 125th!!! (Steps is between 74th and 75th). hahah Anyway, I easily found my way back, and I was really proud of myself at the end of the day cause it was the first time I did everything on my very own, I feel more confident now. (pic: Central Park West, my first stop)
The Schools
Steps

Steps is on the second floor of that 3-story building. It was packed when I got there. I was really surprised cause I was expecting something more... spacious...cause their website is really huge and they have all sorts of programs and etc. They have two big studios, one medium-size one and a small one, all connected by one hallway, and the dressing room on the end. I didn't have the best 1st impression, cause people were all spreaded in the hallway, stretching, eating, and mothers were changing their toddlers right there, it was just a mess!The dressing room was three times a mess, bags and coats everywhere and etc. Apart that, they seem to have a very good faculty, and their students seem very good too. It was funny cause there was no dress code so they had people taking class in these rags, in scarves, loose hair...hehehehe. They were having a ballet class that i couldn't figure out if it was intermediate or beginner, but the teacher only had 2 students in class and even so she seemed a little bit careless, not corecting them enough...I don't know...The rate per class is $15 and no membership is required.

Alvin Ailey
Wow. I knew the company and the school even before they moved to their new building (last year or the previous, something like that). But they are just wow. They have this whooole building custom built, state-of-the art facilites, everything is shiny and beautiful. I was only allowed to browse in the 1st floor, where there were 3 big studios. Students were neat and teachers seemed very focused and attentive. Rate is $15, no membership required and I can take the school classes (the ones offered to the graduate students, as opposed to the extension classes, open to the general public) if I have the appropriate level.

Dance New Amsterdam
I know that they're a traditional NYC dance studio that changed their name and location recently. The place looks great and organized, and they have 5 studios, some small ones and some medium-to-big. All of them have one glass wall facing the hallway, it was a great way to observe the classes. The beginner ballet class was packed, but the teacher seemed very attentive. The dressing room was spacious and neat (and it has two bars for stretching!). The rate is $18 wihtout membership, and $16 with anual membership of $30.

I got lots of flyers from each one, I still gotta do the math, and also check the schedules...they all have lots of afternoon classes, which is horrible for when I start working....
For now, I think I'm more inclined to Alvin Ailey, 1st because I always wanted to take classes there, 2nd because they're the medium combination between price and location...Steps is as cheap, but farther, and DNA is closer to where I live, but more expensive....Anyway...I gotta think about it now, and I'll let you know when I decide...I might even go in each one again to take a drop-in class and see what it feels like...

I had a really great day, cause I went walking from one place to another, so I could also do a lot of sightseeing too, and that area is really nice! (pic: The Warner Building at Columbus Circle). When I got to DNA, that's right across the City Hall, it was night already so I couldn't see much, I definetly wanna go back there in the morning cause it must be beautiful too. And to top it all, I even went to meet Al and his friend Mari at a nice allegedly Brazilian restaurant at Union Square, called the Coffe Shop (I asked the waitress and she told me that some guys involved in the foundation were Brazilian, so the menu had a "Brazilian flair (flare?)", as she put it, but the owners or anybody else there are not Brazilian). hehehehe

Adjusting

It's definitely not easy. From all the changes I'm going through now (and they're not a few), the most challenging one is certainly adjusting to living with a partner. This is a difficult thing for anyone, but I think it's worst when the parts come from different cultures. As much as you know each other, as much as you try to talk about all the possible issues, some things you'll only realize when you're actually sharing the same roof. And the cultural difference, in my case, doesn't manifest istelf on big things, but on daily life details. It takes lots of deep-breathings, lots of countings-to-ten, and lots of will, cause if you're not immensily willing to do it, you can't take it very far. But it's a great learning, it makes you grow a lot as not only you figure out how to live with someone else, but also as you figure out how your own personality and quircks work. I'm loving it. ;-)

Random stuff

- in the land of the gazillion products variety, I had quite a dismay when we were shopping for groceries the other day. Hundreds varieties of cookies, hundreds varieties of soda and even of water (!), but NO varieties of yogurt! I don't know if it's just the place we went to, which is a big one (I forgot the name), or if it's just like it is...but they don't have 1/10 of the yogurts variety we have there...sigh....

- I never thought I'd say that, but shopping for clothes in the winter is a huge pain!! Specially if, like me, you need lots of stuff. You can only take 5 or 6 items at a time to the fitting room, so you go, take your 5 layers on the top and 2 or 3 on the bottom off, them put everything back on, then come back with more, take everything off again, put everything back on...it's really tiring.
Moreover, 1) It's really hard to find things my size. Sometimes even the S is big. I see lots of things I like but I can't buy cause it doesn't fit. I was really frustrated the first day I went out, untill I found the petite department at Macy's! That was a life saver. On the other stores, I have first to see what they have in XS, and then see if I like anything. 2) their pants have a horrible fitting!! (for my body, at least). From what I've tried right now, "low waist" for them means bellybutton level, you imagine the rest... :'( I only managed to buy one pair so far, I need at least one more. Somebody please send me Colcci pants!!! ( I love their fitting).

Oh and as for the shoes, they don't even make my number (at least not at some stores like Zara. I bought gorgeous boots there, but 2 numbers bigger...hehehe at least it stays in place). But that was starting to become a problem even with Brazilian brands. sigh....

- I get electrical shocks from everything. I gave up finding it annoying and started finding it hilarious. From the comforter when I'm making the bed, from door handles, from my wool pullover, and even from a kiss I give Al. hehehehe

- my new CBN: 1010 Wins
-my new Climatempo: Accuweather

- they don't seem to have public scales like we do! At least not on pharmacies or anywhere else I've been to so far. I really wanted to keep track of my weight, cause things can get soo out of control here, specially cause I didn't get back to exercising yet. :S

- Al's metabolism and mine have been in a severe conflict. He has the weirdest eating hours. He doesn't have breakfast as soon as he gets up and he only eats when he's about to die from starvation (not to mention he pratically swallows his food and can work and eat at the same time), and he doesn't mind eating alone. I, on the other hand, usually eat every three hours more or less and can't stand having working devices on the table when I'm eating, and I really apreciate having company to chat, in other words, the meal time is "sacred" for me. How are we gonna pace ourselves, I still don't know...hehehe

Little by little

Yesterday was a full shopping day, again. We bought more things for the house and groceries, and I was so tired at the end of the day that we just got a cab to come back. We are finally getting the living room uncluttered, yay!!! We bought a nice little dining table (that can be opened to accomodate more people if we have visitors), and the nighstands finally arrived. The bad part is that everything has to be assembled, and I can't assemble furniture for the life of me, so it's left for Al to do all that! I know it's been hard for him, having to deal with my anxiety for having everything ready and having to keep up with his work...I try not to be so impatient but I know I still have a long way to go....hehehe

Decorating the house's been a (nice) struggle! We have very similar taste for broad and big things, but when it comes to details, forget about it...and it's precisely on the details that we're working on now, so, you imagine....we can spend hours discussing wether we should get a silver or a golden rod, or if we should put it horizontally or vertically, or if we should put it at all! hehehe (yesterday there was a huge on about a place to hang laundry...house-wise, the biggest challenge for me it's been having to deal with the set up of the houses here with no laundry area - in Brazil, even the smallest apts do - so, every solution for that I find really weird. I'll end up having to hang things in the bathroom, ugh!!!)

But more and more there are fewer things to work on. And it's getting really great! :D

Great Sunday =

double dating + brunch at IHOP + sunny day + Liberty State Park (pic) + finally assembling the bed frame* + Haagen Dazs ice cream for dessert. :)
Flickr really updated this time!

* there were three possible heights for the matress. He wanted it the higest possible and I wanted it the lowest (cause the matress is already high!) we settled for the medium height (in which my feet still don't touch the ground if I'm sitting on it!). The art of compromising....

Oh and it really snowed tonight!! It looked so beautiful this morning! I was moved to see our little yard covered in white! :D

The moment you've all been waiting for

I got soooooooo lost yesterday!!!!!!! oh my, it was really bad. I was going to meet Tonya in person for the first time and, of course, we set up to see a ballet performance. Well, in the morning, Al and I went to a home improvement store called Lowe's, and we got a little carried away (him more than me actually! hehehe) so I didn't have time to come back home and change, put on some make-up, nothing. That was to begin with. So I left her a message saying I was gonna be a little bit later than the 1:30 pm we had set, and went...I was supposed to get off the PATH train on 33rd st, the last stop, then get the D train then the 1 (that's how Al had told me). But I was kindda alseep in the train (that's always happening here!!) and I end up getting off two stations before, on 14th. I looked aroudn to see if I could catch the MTA (ny subway) from there, and I could...but when I got to the entrance there was no D train there...but there was the 1, so I figured it was the same that I'd have to catch later. The thing is that this NY subway is a maze, and there are a million platforms, a million lines coming in each platform, and a million different stairs that lead you to hundred different directions. So I waited for 15 mins untill the train came, only to realize I was in the wrong platform (I was trying to follow the signs but it didn't quite work!!! :S). Then I finally got to the right platform...and then comes a 3 train....and then a 2...and then a 3 again!!! I'm like "wait a minute, what's happenning here???" But I heard the voice on the speakers saying sth about "1", so I asked a guy "is this the 1?" He said "yes, it's going local". Hum...ok...what's that supposed to mean?!?!?! So the train marked 3 becomes 1 cause it's "going local"...Geez! At that point, I was so frustrated and so mad with myself cause I hate letting people waiting for me, that I just thought I should take the chance. Gladly, it did left me where I wanted...only I got there one hour later!!! and the performance began at 2! It took me some more minutes to figure out where the entrance to the theater was, then I got in and I must've looked so lost that the security people "recognized" me right away and asked if "my firend was supposed to have let something for me". Yes!!! thank goodness Tonya made the right decision and got in the performance (a little bit late tho), leaving me the ticket in the box office. I got upstairs and people were begining to get out for the intermission. I spotted her right away and I was almost crying with embarassment! I don't remember feeling that embarassed in years!!! Gladly she's very sweet and understandable, and it was great meeting her! I watched the second half of the program, then we ate at this cute french bistro nearby, Le Pain Quotidien. (in which, by the way, the tea bowl is twice as big as the soup bowl! hahaha go figure...). My huge embarrasment aside, I had a really good time, and we're definitely meeting again, right Tonya? ;-) This is a rushed pic of he beaaaaaaaautiful State Theater (cause the guy wouldn't let us take pics inside.)

Al and I were supposed to go to his friend's b-day at night, but we both were so tired that we just flicked it... :S We had been in the mall here in Jersey City to get my phone (which was serioulsy in demand!!). Turns out a guy at the T-Mobile kioske there found a way to "bypass" that 90-day rule. Yay!!! I'll email you guys my number so we can text each other. (I even got MSN on my phone!)


Yesterday we had dinner at Times Square and then we watched Babel there (higly recommended!) at AMC theater, this huge complex with 25 rooms! It had been the coldest day in two years here, and in the morning my limbs were almost falling off frozen. :S I'll update my flickr with pics of my paralized and miserable self waiting for the bus (and more!). Here are some pics of the Times Sq and the restaurant we ate.


Also the day before yesterday, I was cleaning the bathroom and there I was throwing water all over the place, when Al gets by the door and asks "what are you doing?" me: "cleaning?" he: "but you can't throw water like that, there's no drain (ralo) in there!". Wow!! how I was supposed to know, I've never seen a bathroom without a drain in my whole life!! One more lesson learned.

Exploring

The dreaded moment finally came! On Wednesday I was home by myself in the morning while Al was in a meeting. Then he came back almost before lunch time (which for me is between noon and 2 pm), and I was doing some stuff and munching some snacks. Then he asked if I wanted to have lunch instead of eating snacks and I said yes, then he replied "ok, you can make whatever you want causeI'm not hungry". Then it hit me! I had totally forgotten that if I wanted to eat, I had to make something, the food is not gonna show up in front of me like it used to (good times!). I think I hate cooking, but actually I don't know cause I never had to cook at all in 23 years of life, always had someone else to do it for me. It's a whole new mindset you have to get used to. Luckly (for me), we were gonna go out soon so I just clumsily made some cheese omelettes and we left.

Then we went to his office in Manhattan, and I went upstairs with him so I could see the view, the building is just next to the WTC site. It's quite a view! We were in the 23rd floor. The PATH train that I have to get to go from Jersey City to NY passes inside the whole, it's this tunnel on the left side of the pic.

While he was in his meeting, I hang out around that area, that's Wall Street, and I walked up to the way up to the Saten Island Ferry, but unfortunately my camera was outta batteries so I don't have pics. (this was taken with Al's, that I forgot to take when he went for his meeting).

When I was near the Bull, a symbol of the financial district, a guy (in a heavy accent) stopped me and told me "u look like my desktop". "Computer". "The color scheme". hummm....ok. Am I supposed to be happy abou it???

Then we tried to buy my cell phone at T-Mobile (to get acess at Starbucks) but they didn't let us!! Al had cancelled a line from them in less than 90 days ago, so he was considered a returning customer, so he couldn't get the discount offered for new customers. And that would double the price of the phone! (advatange said to be that we wouldn't be subject to a 2-year contract and could cancel it at anytime, but why would I wanna cancel?). We got so upset! So now we're waiting untill Feb 15, when this stupid 90 days expire.

Yesterday I went out for the 1st time on my own! I was a bit worried cause Al hadn't really explained things to me, I was just following him the whole time, but I went fine, I didn't get lost! hehehe I had bought gloves and earcovers at Century 21, a department store, but I couldn't find the scarf of the same color, so I went to Macy's to search for it. Macy's is humoungous!!! well, they're actually the biggest store in the world, it's not just advertising. I think it's at least the size of the whole Shopping Paulista. They have one whole building for men and one for women, restaurants, things for the house etc. Tourists everywhere. Lots and lots of Brazilians (specially mineiros! o mineirada!! hehehe). Unfortunately, I didn't find the scarf I wanted.

I crossed the street and went to Victoria's Secret to browse. More Brazilians, this time both shoping and posing on the walls, Giselle Bundchen and Adriana Lima. I was a bit disappointed by their selection of underwear and pjs, personally I think our stores tehre have equivalent or even nicer stuff, but their make up and cosmetics are really great! Surprinsingly, I didn't buy anything, cause I figured I still can come back whenever I want! :D

To wrap up the day, I came back home, stopped for groceries and decided to make a nice dinner. A hard task, given the fact that we still only got one pan and one pot! We took 2 hours to make the whole thing (Al arrived and made the delicious pork chops), in which I count as my first official meal ever! Here's a pic. (note the disposable untensils, dishes and cups, and brown paper as a tablecloth! hehehe we're working on the house room by room, we're just done with the bedroom, now it's the kitchen turn, definitely!).

Impressions

I know I'm in huge debt with this blog, but there's just so many things to be done that it's difficult to stop to write.
Anyway, some random impressions so far:

- Every food item here is GIGANTIC! It upsets me so much! I wanna have a little something in the middle of the afternoon...impossible. I went to Starbucks on wednesday (my first!). To begin with, the smallest coffe you can get is the tall one! (copinho americano? esquece!). Then, I wanted sth like the size of a pao de queijo or a little salgado, but all you can get is those monster sandwiches or big slices of cake and etc. The bagel, one of the most popular breads here, one quarter of it gets me full. Even industrialized stuff that are the exact brand here and in Brazil, are bigger here...a package of Doritos is bigger than the biggest ones we have there, and even the Activia yogurt cup (by Dannon) is bigger!! No wonder obesity is one of the main public health problems here.

- It seems that for every 5 stores, 1 is a Starbucks and 1 is a Duane Reade (big pharmacy chain that's like a Brazilian supermarket without the food part - but they do also have snakcs!). They're everywhere. (I gotta admit Duane Reade's been a lifesaver. Every personal stuff I needed so far I bought there)

- The language mix - the conversations you hear in the streets can be divided as following: 1/4 English, 1/4 English with heavy accent from some place else, 1/4 Spanish and 1/4 random languages from all over the world.

- Sooo many things much more sense to me now! Hand moisturizers, for example. They're not just a "frescura", your hands get really dry and rough without them. It's a new must have item in my purse. Ballet legwarmers, pockets...everyday I figure out something new. It's a whole new world revealing itself for me! hehehehe

- Men wear lip balms and they're not shy to reapply them while they're in the train or in the streets. I found that so cool! I was suprised when I saw the first but now I've seen many more doing that.

- I feel tired and sleepy the whole day, and only today I realized why! It's not jet lag, it's because it's so cold you spend more energy trying to keep your normal body temperature. Now hybernation makes more sense too! hehehe

- Walking in the streets still feels like it's a dream or an hallucination. It feels like at any moment all the scenery will come apart and I'll be back in the streets and places I know. Also when people talk to me (expect Al), I get a weird feeling that their voice doesn't really belong to their body, and that at any moment they can switch form English to Portuguese. It also looks like anyone could be Brazilian, for their appeareance. (Or should I say that Brazilians can look like they're from anywhere, maybe that's more accurate. hehehe)

- I thought I'd feel more "out of place" here but I don't. I thought I'd feel too different, too short, too dumb...but I don't at all! that's a good thing! :D

- It's already Friday but it feels like it's still Monday. Since I don't have a routine to "tell me" that my day ended, I don't feel the time passing at all.


I'll try to post more often and take more pics.

Pictures!

I uploaded more pictures at my flickr account! I made them only visible to friends, so you'll have to add me (and set up an account if you don't have one, but it's really easy and free). Check it out! ;-)

ps: I put the link to my account permanently on my sidebar

First day

It's amazing how many things can happen in such a short amount of time! I'm gonna write in items so it's easier to get an overview of how things went/have been going. Oh thanks for the welcome, Tonya! :D

THE TRIP
- the ride itself was really smooth, no delays, ok service, etc.

- the suprise: I ran into a guy from my building (!) at the departure gate, and turned out he was gonna be at the same flight. And not only that, but we found out we were sitting next to each other! It was so good to have someone I knew, and that had so many experience travelling abroad. (He was gonna make a connection in NY to Indiannapolis). It helped aleviate the anxiety a bit, but I was still nervous the whole flight, I couldn't sleep straight for more than one hour and a half.

- airplane movie: Woody Allen's Scoop (don't waste your time, really). I didn't know they played such recent movies onboard.

- immigration service: we had to wait for the long Americans line to finish untill they started to call people ar the foreigners line. Tiago, the guy I knew, told me they're usually nicer and have some booths for Americans and some for foreigners. Despite the long wait, the "interview" itself was ridiculously quick. Officer (speaking fast and inwards): "u student?" me: "no, tourist" Officer grabs the stamp and prints my passport. That was it, exactly like this.


ARRIVAL


- and off I went! Al was waiting for me with extra scarf, gloves, hat and coat. Inside the airport was warm and I couldn't wait to feel how negative temperatures (in Celsius) felt like, a first! It was -3 (28o F) when I got here. We just waited outside for the (very fancy) cab a bit, so it wasn't really a schock. But everything was great and exciting!





- the cab had this cool navigation system that showed our Ukranian driver the directions instantly. For what they said it's pretty normal here but for me it was a first too to see one of those actually "in action".



DEVELOPMENT


- I got here, ate something, then rested for the most of the day. Al had a very nice surprise to me (and this time it was really a surprise! hehe), he printed a poster size of his favorite pic of us, framed it and hanged on the bedroom wall. It's beautiful and really sweet! :D



- At night he took me to dinner at Sarabeth's, on the Upper West Side a nice and cozy restaurant that served "typical American food that's not burguer", in Al's own words, hehhee. I loved it! Next, headed for dessert at Cafe Mozart. I had a tricolate mousse cake. (three chocolates. you get the picture. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm). All very nice and romantic. At the end of the day I was exhausted already (and still feeling a little headache from the jet lag and the cold wind). At least our house is really close to the train station, so we got back fast!


- And it snowed lightly!! Wo-hooo! (I know, I know, that's so tourist-y...but I can't help it!). Al said it was a "freezing drizzle". It was so cute, the tiny snowflackes coming down. :D But I still got to see some "real" snow, that one good to build snowmen! hehehe I'll count that as a preview.


- I think Northern Hemisphere's winter is my new favorite season. Because it's soooooooo dry, my hair looks like I just flat-ironed it (chapinha)! How cool is that?



2nd DAY


-Today we spend the morning looking for nightsands, then went to Bed Bath & Beyond to get things for the house (sooo many options! you go crazy!). Next, we had lunch at a very nice cuban restauran't in downtown JC called Hard Grove Cafe, then came back home, where I finally finished unpacking. WIth all the new stuff, the apartment is getting cozier and cozier, I really love it here and I couldn't been happier!! :D When I finally settle to a routine I'll be able to tell the stories with more detail, but I guess you can tell I'm loving it! ;-)

I'm here!!

Finally this blog is actually serving its main purpose! I got here today and I got lots to tell! But it's nightime now and I'm really tired (plus the jet lag!!). So I just want to let everybody know that i got here fine, went through the immigration service unbelievably quick and everything's ok and according to the plans! I couldn't been happier!

I'll come back tomorrow for more news, for now, stay with this picture of my first US dawn, from the airplane. So unexpected and beautiful that it made me cry.