Doce vida Californiana

poland

2011-12-14T09:52:00.001-08:00

brazil

2011-12-14T09:51:00.001-08:00

2011-10-29T10:29:00.001-07:00

Sent from my iPhone.

2010-02-11T14:27:00.000-08:00

Sao Paulo

2010-02-11T13:13:00.000-08:00

Ibirapuera park

Hotel Unique

Avenida Paulista - Paulista Avenue

MASP

Centro de Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo Old downtown

Escola de Samba - Samba School

2010-02-11T12:42:00.000-08:00

O Pank, o motorista da empresa, tambem trabalha numa escola de samba na epoca do carnaval e esse ano ele nos levou la de surpresa. Muito legal!!

Pank, the company's driver also works at a Samba school during the carnaval season. So.. he took us there by surprise. So much fun!!

Amazon video - Short Version

2009-09-11T20:13:00.001-07:00

Alagoas

2009-09-09T08:47:00.000-07:00

Viagem pro estado de Alagoas
Trip to Alagoas state in Brazil

A) Sao Paulo..... B) Maceio, the capital city of Alagoas. Alagoas is the second smallest Brazilian state
Piscina Natural de Maragogi. Pena que quando estavamos la a mare estava alta demais e o IBAMA nao autoriza o passeio de barco pra Maragogi. Entao... essa foto nao e minha.. hahah
Natural pools of Maragogi. When I was there, the tide was too high and the Brazilian government does not authorize boat trips to this place for conservation reasons (I don't know..). Anyway.. I did not take this picture...

Dunas de Marape

Iguana

O rio desaguando no mar
The river flowing into the ocean

A minha cara de brava por causa da chuva... Poxa vida, to de ferias!!
That's my face.. mad because of the rain.. Come on!! I am on vacation!!

Mico - Sagui - eles faziam um barulho muito agudo e alto.
Monkey.. but those ones were kind of scary. They made such a loud, high pitch noise

hmmmm Agua de coco!!
coconut water!!!

Rio e oceano

River and the ocean

Mangue

Flood plains

E la vem a chuva
Rain keeps coming..

Fazendo teste pro SOS Malibu! hahahah Pena que eu tenho que fazer mais umas 50 cirurgias plasticas pra participar do programa.
Baywatch, here I come! Except that I still have to have at least 50 plastic surgeries to fit the profile of the show.

Macaquinho
Monkey

Praia de Pajucara
Pajucara beach in Maceio

Plantacao de Cana de acucar. Nao importa aonde esta indo, no estado de Alagoas so se ve cana por todo lugar. O Alagoas tem a maior plantacao de cana do Brasil
Sugar cane plantation. Everywhere you go in the state of Alagoas, this is all you see (and coconut trees). Alagoas has the biggest sugar cane plantation in Brazil

Delta do Rio Sao Francisco na cidade de Piacabucu (unica palavra em Portugues com dois c-cedilhas) - O verdadeiro rio Brasileiro
Delta of Sao Francisco River in the town of Piacabucu (pronounced: Pee-Ah-Sah-boo-s00) - the "true Brazilian river" - unlike the Amazon river, that starts in Peru, the Sao Francisco river starts in Brazil and flows into the Atlantic ocean in Alagoas.

Nessa parte do rio Sao Francisco a agua ja e meio salgada
At this point in the river, the water is already a little salty

O que tem de errado nessa foto? Se voce reparar bem, tem um farol no meio do mar. Antigamente, esse farol ficava em terra firme (e essa terra firme na foto ja e o estado de Sergipe), mas como fizeram uma barragem no Rio Sao Francisco, o volume de agua que desagua no mar diminuiu e o mar avancou sobre a terra, alagando uma aldeiazinha onde o farol ficava. Conclusao: NAO se meta com a natureza!
What is wrong with this picture? If you look closely, you can see a lighthouse in the middle of the water. This lighthouse used to be in land (By the way, the land you see is already the state of Sergipe in Brazil). Since they made a dam on the river, the volume of water flowing into the ocean lessened and the ocean waters actually started coming more towards the land and flooded a small village where the lighthouse was. Lesson of the day: DON'T mess with mother nature!

Nosso barquinho
Our boat

A agua e tao quentinhaaa
The water is sooo warm!!!

Tomando cachaca caseira... muuuuuuuito forte!! Pensei que ia me matar
Drinking home-made Cachaca (Brazilian version of vodka made with sugar cane) - so strong I though it was going to kill me
Meu pai dancando forro com a guia
My dad dancing "Forro" music with the tour guide

mais chuva...
more rain

Plantacao de cana -tao verdinha
Green sugar cane hills

Praia de Pajucara - beach

"Hoje a festa e na floresta..." - "In the jungle.. the wild jungle..."

2009-09-01T09:12:00.000-07:00

O Sistema de mapas do Google diz que se eu quisesse ir de (A) Sao Paulo ate (B) Manaus andando, eu demoraria 34 dias e 6 horas (ou 34 dias e 13 horas se eu fosse por um outro caminho). Sao 4100km de distancia (a pe por esse caminho ai embaixo = 120km por dia? Claro que da.. ainda mais tendo que atravessar uns rios e floresta virgem no caminho). Quem sabe um dia eu ainda nao faco esse trajeto? Chegar la de aviao e quase facil demais.

Google Maps states that if I were to walk from (A) Sao Paulo-where my parents live - to (B) Manaus (in the Amazon), it would take me 34 days and 6 hours (or 34 days and 13 hours if I chose to take a boat along the way. Although that means I would have to walk about 70 miles per day! Totally reasonable considering I would have to cross rivers and untouched jungle! This route is 2547 miles long. Maybe someday I will take on a challenge like this. It just seems too easy to get there by plane.

Era assim que eu viajava de barco
That's the way I travelled by boatChegando a Manaus!! Eu estava animadissima!
Arriving in Manaus. I was sooo excited!!

Rio Amazonas. Geralmente quando sobrevoo a Amazonia ou esta de noite ou entao esta nublado. Nunca da pra ver nada.
First look at the Amazon River. Usually when I come to Brazil I fly over the Amazon at night. Or, when it is during the day it is always cloudy

lindo... kilometros e mais km e agua e floresta.
Just beautiful. Miles and miles of river and water.

Manaus - Teatro Amazonas - o predio mais famoso de Manaus.
Opera house. The most famous building in the city

Citytour com o papai
City tour with my dad

Manaus nao e uma cidade muito bonita. E uma cidade bem industrial e no centro e uma bagunca infernal. Muuuita gente, comercio popular, barraquinha de tudo quanto e coisa, gente vendendo peixe no meio da rua.. ja imaginou?
Manaus is not a very pretty city. It is very industrial with many multinational companies over there. Downtown Manaus is a true chaos! Lots of people, flea markets, people selling fish in the middle of the street! Can you believe it?

Muitos barcos em Manaus
Lots of boats in Manaus

Vista da "praia" de Ponta Negra com o hotel onde ficamos - quando o rio esta baixo, tem uma praia bonita, com areia e tudo mais. Mas como esse ano eles tiveram a maior cheia dos ultimos anos, nao tinha "praia"
View of Ponta Negra beach and the hotel where we stayed at - usually when the river is not so high, you have a nice beach with fine white sand and everything... but since this year the river reached the highest level in many years, you could not see the "beach" at all.

O Cache - a minha bolinha verde - e um abacaxi pequenininho! Tao fofo!!!
Geo-Cache-size pineapple! Sooo cute!!

Tropical Manaus Hotel

Alongamento com a mamae
Stretching with my mom's help

hmmmmm agua de coco!!

Hmmm Coconut water - one of my favorite things in Brazil

Folclore do Amazonas - mini apresentacao sobre o Boi-Bumba
Amazonian traditional dances - a small sample of the big festival "Boi-Bumba" - this festival is to the Amazon the same as Carnaval is to Rio.

Cafe da manha dos campeoes! Mamao e abacaxi!!!
Breakfast of champions - pineapple and papaya! BRAZILIAN PAPAYA - did you notice that it is a lot smaller than the US version? A lot sweeter too... soooooo good!

O hotel flutuante da Amazonia - AMAZON JUNGLE PALACE - quando fomos la eles tinham acabado de abrir. Como e um hotel flutuante, tecnicamente ele pode ir pra um outro lugar, certo?
The hotel Amazon Jungle Palace is a floating hotel in the Amazon. When I was there, they had just opened for business. Since it is a floating hotel, it can technically move from place to place.

As pessoas que trabalham no hotel moram "embaixo" do hotel. Achei estranho ver o ar condicionado tao perto da agua, mas como e um hotel flutuante, ele nunca fica molhado! heheh
The people that work at the hotel "live" underneath the hotel. I thought it was a little weird to see the AC units so close to the water, however, since it is a floating hotel, they never get wet.

My parents

Um hotel 5 estrelas no meio da selva - 1 hora de barco de Manaus - mas eu nao queria ficar nele nao. Imagina ficar ilhado por dias? A diaria e bem carinha, mas se pensar que voce esta no meio do nada e eles te dao tudo: de comida a passeios.. Nao ta taaaao caro assim.
5 start hotel in the middle of the jungle - 1 hour from Manaus by boat - except that... if you had to stay there the whole time... It is actually quite expensive but considering that you are seriously in the middle of nowhere and they feed you and take you for boat rides, it is not thaaat bad.

O barco que a gente usou pra ir pra aldeia dos indios
The boat we took to the native indian reservation

Andando no meio da selva pra chegar na reserva indigena
Walking through the jungle to get to the indian reservation

Queria lembrar o que estava escrito nessa plaquinha na Reserva do Tupe!! Algume me ajuda...
I wish I could remember what this sign said. This is written in a native "Brazilian" dialect. If you know, please send me an email.

A Oca! Contruida de bambu, folha de coqueiro e madeia
The tipi - constructed from bamboo, wood and coconut tree leaves

Artesanato indigena
Indian "native" arts and crafts

Cordoes e pulseiras feitas de semente de acai
Bracelets and necklace made from Acai seeds

O calor na selva e insuportavel. 35C nem e tao calor assim, mas quando se esta a 90% de humidade, a coisa fica dificil. Voce fica molhada de suor mesmo sem fazer esforco nenhum.
The heat in the jungle is nearly unbearable. It is 90F.. which is not thaaat hot actually (compared to Sacramento in the summer), however, at 90% humidity, it is a whole different story. You are soaked in sweat the entire time, even with minimal effort.

Os indios.. Queria tanto ter tirado uma foto com o Paje!! Mas fiquei com vergonha de pedir.. hahah
The native "Brazilian" indians. I really wanted to take a picture with the chief of the tribe but I was shy and did not want to ask. Next time..

O Posto no meio do rio - em Manaus voce nao vai a lugar algum de carro. Todo mundo tem um barco, tudo se faz de barco. Naturalmente, tem posto de gasolina no meio do rio Negro. Com loja de conveniencia e tudo mais! E nao e um so nao.. tem varios postos, um do lado do outro, competindo pela clientela. Achei isso muito interessante.
A gas station in the middle of the river - In Manaus you can't go anywhere unless you have a boat. Everyone has a boat, everyone takes boats. Naturally, there is a gas station in the middle of the river. With a convenience store and everything! And it is not just one.. there are several gas stations, one next to the other, competing for clients. I thought that was very interesting.

A casa do Ze - o encantador de Boto.
"Ze's house" - Ze is the pink-dolphin expert in the area.

O Ze - encantador do boto-cor-de-Rosa mesmo!!! O cara chama o boto com um assovio e o boto bem. O boto fica solto no rio, mas quando o Ze chama, ele vem. Alias, a familia toda. Sao 4 botos.
This is Ze - he calls the fresh water Pink dolphins with a whistle and they come. They are just randomly swimming in the wild but they always come to him. Actually the entire family comes. There are 4 dolphins.

Esperando o boto..
Waiting for the dolphin to show up

Eles vieram.. mas foi muito dificil tirar uma foto boa!
They came, but it was hard to take a good picture.
A ponte ligando 2 cidades - normalmente so com a balsa
A bridge connecting two cities normally only accessible by ferry boat

A floresta alagada - igapos e igarapes
The flooded forest

Bebe Jacare - eles colocaram um elastico na boca dele pra eu poder segura-lo. Ja segurou um jacare? heheh Muito estranho. O pe/pata deles e estranha. Parece que nao tem osso e parece que e feito de gelatina. A textura de uma agua-viva. E a pele.. nossa... muito rigida. Da pra entender porque eles os usam pra fazer bolsas e sapatos :(

Baby alligator - they tied his mouth so that I could hold it. Have you ever held an alligator before? hehe Their feet are weird! It's like there are no bones! The texture of a jellyfish. And the skin is very very tough, no wonder they kill them to make shoes and belts :(

O olho e lindo!
I love the eyes!!

Bicho preguica!!!! Alias, 2!
The Sloth! Actually 2!

Segurando o bicho-preguica. Ou "a" bicha-preguica e o seu bebe. Tava dando um abraco no filhote tao apertado
Holding a sloth and its baby - in Portuguese sloths are called "lazy animals" because they don't really move or do much. However, that thing was holding its baby sooo tight!!

Mais selva - more jungle

Casas flutuantes - a maioria das casas construidas as margens do rio flutuam. Sao construidam sobre uma madeira bem forte. Quando o rio tem cheia, a casa "sobe".. hehe
Most of the houses constructed along the river are "floating houses". They are constructed on top of this very strong wood and basically they rise as the river rises. Very interesting..

O encontro das aguas do rio Negro com o rio Amazonas. Coisa que a gente aprende na escola e so ve em livro. Achei demais ir ao encontro das aguas. As aguas do rio Negro e do rio Amazonas viajam mais de 6km sem se misturarem. A agua do rio negro e bem quentinha e do rio amazonas e mais fria. O barqueiro ia de um lado pro outro pra sentirmos a temperatura da agua quando atravessavamos os dois rios. ANIMAL!!
The "meeting of the waters" as we call in Portuguese. Something I studied in primary school and always saw in books! Water from the Negro River (dark water) and Amazon (brown) meet and travel for more than 4 miles without getting mixed. The water temperature is different from river to river - the Negro river has luke warm water while the Amazon is a bit colder. The boat guide went from side to side to that we could touch the water and feel the difference in temperature. SO COOL!

hahaha todo mundo empolgadissimo!!
Everyone is excited!

A agua dos rios nao se mistura na hora que se encontram porque a densidade, temperatura, corrente e a composicao da agua e bem diferente entre os dois rios. A agua do rio negro e bem mais acida e mais quente do que a do Amazonas. A velocidade do Rio Negro e mais ou menos 4km/hr e ele so tem uns 10% de todas as especies de peixe da amazonia. A agua do rio Amazonas tem mais nutrientes e oxigenio e e pronta pra beber. A Agua do rio Negro e muito acida. Mas nao sei se essas informacoes estao corretas pois o guia me disse isso e eu nao tive tempo de pesquisar pra ver se e verdade mesmo.
The river waters don't mix so readily because the density, current, temperature and water composition is very different. The Negro river is warmer and much more acidic than the Amazon. It travels at about 2.5 miles per hour,and it has only 10% of the Amazon fish species. The Amazon water is drinkable and it has more oxygen and nutrients than the Negro river. Although.. don't quote me on that. A native/tourist guide told me all this info and I haven't had the time to actually check it.

Palafitas
Amazon style "slums".. I guess.. maybe not slums but very poor and basic housing

Adorei os igapos e igarapes
I loved the flooded forest

Reparem no nivel do rio uns dias antes
Take a look at the river level a couple days before

Chegando no hotel Ariau - a maior cheia de todos os tempos - metade do hotel foi destruido e esta sendo restaurado agora. Tinha uma passarela ai.. ehehe
Arriving at Ariau hotel - the biggest flood of all times destroyed part of the hotel, which is being restored now. There used to be a walkway

At this hotel they recorded the Survivor Amazon

Filhote de piranha - ao contrario do que todo mundo pensa, as piranhas so atacam uma pessoa se essa pessoa estiver ferida.
Baby Piranha fish - unlike popular belief, Piranha fish only attack people when they enter the water already bleeding.Meu melhor amigo na Amazonia - Sr. Macaco de cheiro
My best friend in the Amazon - Mr. Squirrel Monkey

O Hotel Ariau tem varias torres - cada uma com um tema diferente

Ariau hotel has several "theme" towers like this one

Suando.. o tempo todo!!

Sweating bullets!! The entire time pretty much

Sr. Dudu - o papagaio do bar

Mr. Dudu (a nickname for Edward) - the bar parrot

Casa do Tarzan - Isso sim e casa na arvore! 7 ANDARES de casa na arvore! Com piscina e tudo
Tarzan's house - That's what I am talking about when I say tree house. 7-STORY tree house. It has a swimming pool and everything

A passarela em volta do hotel. A floresta e totalmente inundada

Walkway through the hotel - the jungle is totally flooded

Biologa nerd - trepadeira dando um "abracinho" mortal na arvore. Ela abraca a arvore e a estrangula, roubando todos os seus nutrientes. Eu gotei da foto - me lembra a coroa de espinhos de Jesus. ahahh

Nerd biologist - this plant is "hugging" this tree - except that it is a "death hug" because it will squeeze this tree so hard, kill it ans steal its nutrients. I just like the picture - it reminds me a little of Jesus' crown of thorns

Falando de espinhos - essa arvore e o ASSACUZEIRO ou ASSACU! Com um nome assim da ate pra imaginar o que acontece quando voce encosta o que nao deve nessa arvore.
Speaking of thorns - this is the ASSACU tree - it sounds extremely funny in Portuguese as it means "Rashy-ass" tree.. hahah With a name like this, you can only imagine what it does to you if you touch it in inappropriate places.

Fonte da Juventude

The Youth fountain

Macaquinho!!!
Monkey!!!

Eles sao muito rapidos
They are very quick

Esse ai pulou no meu pai. Foi muito engracado. Meu pai estava com um pedacinho de pao na mao quando esse macaco surgiu do nada e pulou nele pra tentar roubar o pao. A foto saiu tremida, mas achei a cara do macaco demais como quem quis: "Ih.. sujou!"
This monkey totally jumped on my dad. It was hillarious!! My dad was carrying a small piece of bread on his hand and this monkey jumped on him, out of nowhere, to take the bread. The picture is out of focus but I just love this monkey's face: "Oopsie...."

Essas araras ficavam voando pra la e pra ca. Sao enormes.. da ate medo.
Macaws flying around... they are so big, it is kind of scary!

A praia mais quentinha. Tao bom..
The beach with the warmest water. So nice..

Agua com cor de guarana
Tea colored water

Hotel Tropical Manaus

Urucum - plant used by the natives to dye their faces for war/dance

The seeds have a very strong red pigment

Ponte - fazia parte do bosque do hotel
This bridge was part of the trail around the hotel

No hotel que ficamos tinha um zoologico com animais resgatados de familias que tentaram domesticalos e animais doados pelo IBAMA. Uns animais estavam doentes e eles ficam no zoologico sendo tratados ate ficarem bem. Fiquei com muita pena dessa onca-pintada. Tanta vida la fora e ela presa nessa jaula.
The hotel I stayed at had a zoo. The zoo is made from animals who were rescued from people's houses - people who thought they could take care of the animais and ended up realizing that it is not easy having a jaguar-like animal at home. Some of the animals are sick, some were donated from other people. I was sad looking at this jaguar. So much life outside its cage and the little thing had to stay there. Doesn't he look sad?

Hotel - a piscina mais legal.. a agua da piscina parecia que caia dentro do Rio.
The swimming pool water seemed to be connected to the river water

Ponta Negra

Vista do aviao - o encontro das aguas
Airplane view of the "meeting of the waters"

Por-do-sol na Amazonia
Sunset in the Amazon

Bom... 110 fotos depois.. ate que eu nao coloquei tantas assim. Voltei da Amazonia com 7 GB de fotos e videos!! Aguardem o videozinho
And so.. 110 pictures later... I did not even upload that many. I took about 7GB of pictures and videos at the Amazon Basin. Video will be uploaded soon.

Terraco Italia - Restaurant

2009-09-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

Fotos tiradas do Edificio Italia no centro de Sao Paulo.
Pictures taken from "Italia" building in downtown Sao Paulo

A montanha laaaa atras e o Pico do Jaragua (veja fotos abaixo)
The mountain in the background is where Jaragua peak is located (see pictures below)

A catedral da Se

The "Se" cathedral

Edificio Copan - Copan building

Avenida Paulista e o MASP - Paulista Avenue and the Museum of Art MASP

Paulista Avenue

Pico do Jaragua - Jaragua Peak

2009-08-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

Nataly conversa com amigos num bar as 5 da manha:

Nataly: "Vamos no Pico do Jaragua amanha?"

Amigos: "Pico do Jaragua? Fazer o que no Pico do Jaragua? Ta louca"

Amigo 2: "Vamos.. o se vamos..."

No dia seguinte ninguem queria ir ("Ah fiquei esperando voce me ligar poxa") mas meu pai me levou la. Sempre quis ir no Pico! Nao sei bem porque, as pessoas que moram em Sao Paulo nao se interessam muito em ir ao Pico. Tudo bem que fica longe de tudo e que nao e tao facil assim de chegar la. Provavelmente nem 10% das pessoas que moram em SP ja foram ate la.

Nataly and friends are still sitting at a bar at 5 am.

Nataly: "We should go to Jaragua peak tomorrow"
Friends: "Jaragua Peak? What are you going to do at Jaragua Peak? Are you Crazy?"
Friend 2 with a sarcastic voice: "Of Course we are going to go to Jaragua peak"...

On the next day no one wanted to go. "We waited for you to call us".. well my dad took me there after some convincing. I always wanted to go to Jaragua peak, the highest place in the city of Sao Paulo. For some reason the residents of Sao Paulo are not too excited about going there and I guarantee that if you asked around, not even 10% of the residents have been there. Okay, it is a little far from everything and it is not that easy to get there but the view is pretty cool.

The sign says: Jaragua State Park - the highest place in Sao Paulo. Average temp: 68ºF. Average altitude: 2952 feet (900 m) and highest point 3723 feet (1135 m). Average rain 60inches/year - 2 seasons: dry winter and wet summer.

Vista do meu predio em Sao Paulo - from my building

2009-08-28T13:58:00.000-07:00

Para copiar uma foto que a minha amiga Regia tirou...

A "copy" of the picture my friend Regia took of Rio

A Melancia - Hotel Unique - Watermellon
Vista do Parque do Ibirapuera
View of Ibirapuera park

Avenida Paulista - avenue

Factory - "Farm"

2009-08-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

Recipress Dinda Leila - fez a coleta dos ovos caipiras! Ela atormentou as galinhas viu... meu Deus!
My aunt Leila collected the eggs from the Recipress chickens. She wouldn't leave unless they gave her some eggs! hahaha

Tudo que se planta em Vassouras nasce
Everything you plant in the city of Vassouras, grows. The soil is extremely rich.

Zeus - o novo cachorrinho da familia
Zeus - the new family dog

Zeus e Gaya

Era uma vez - Once upon a time

2009-08-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

Na ultima vez que visitei a minha avo, nos olhamos umas fotos antigas. Eu escolhi umas pra colocar aqui.

Last time I visited my grandma we looked at some old school pictures.. I chose a few to put here.
Minha mae nasceu numa cidade no interior do Rio de Janeiro chamada Sardoal. Essa era a casa onde ela nasceu e morou quando pequena. Infelizmente eu nunca fui la.
My mom was born in a very small town in the country side of the Rio de Janeiro state. The city was called Sardoal. This is the house where she was born and raised. Unfortunately I have never been there.
Minha tia Vilma e minha mae com as bonequinhas
My aunt Vilma and my mom

Minha avo contou que todos os anos um cara la de Sardoal (dono do caminhao) levava umas 20 pessoas ate a cidade de Aparecida para a peregrinacao de Nossa Senhora de Aparecida.
My grandma told me that every year the owner of this truck took 20 some people to the city of Aparecida (400 miles away) to celebrate the day of Our Lady of Aparecida.

Meus pais se conheceram no colegio. Essa e a foto de formatura deles do Colegial.
My parents met in junior high. This is their picture from High School graduation.

Petropolis - visiting Grandma

2009-08-28T11:39:00.000-07:00

Va pra la! Eu nao sei da onde saiu essa minha fascinacao por placas ultimamente.

Go that way - I am not sure where is my fascination with street signs coming from.
Serra do Parque Nacional do Itatiaia - a gente passa por la todas as vezes que vamos pro Rio e eu nunca tinha reparado o quao altas sao essas montanhas.
Tall mountains in Brazil - near Itatiaia National Park. We drive by everytime we go to Rio and I had never noticed how tall those mountains are.

A melhor co-pilota! - The best co-pilot

Attention: Wild Animals crossing - cute monkey!!

Petropolis Mountains

O hotel Quitandinha - hoje esse predio e um hotel/casa/teatro e centro cultural de Petropolis. Antigamente o Quitandinha era um casino. Com o nevoeiro, parece mal assombrado.
Hotel Quintandinha - This building is now a hotel/housing/theater in Petropolis where my grandma lives. It used to be a casino back in the days.. The fog makes it look spooky!
Essa e a casa de Santos Dumont - pai da aviacao. Reparem nos degraus da casa dele. O cara era muito superticioso. Tao superticioso que ele deu um jeito de fazer com que as pessoas so entrassem na casa dele com o pe direito - so dava pra subir a escada desse jeito!
This is the house of Santos Dumont - the first man to fly a true airplane (That's right Americans.. it was not the Wright Brothers as you might think! Read about Santos Dumont here). Take a look at his staircase. He had lots of superstitions and he designed his staircase in a way that one could only enter his house with the right foot.
Family at my Grandma's - Juliana (cousin), Grandma, my dad, my mom, aunt Vilma with the dog, aunt Dilma and Leila in black, Grandma Maria, my uncle and me.

Com quem eu pareco mais? Mae ou Pai?
Who do I resemble? Mom or Dad?

Juliana and I

A gente sempre toma um lanchinho na casa da vovo. Nao importa a hora do dia.
We always have coffee and bread at my grandma's regardless of what time of the day that is.

A xicara da heranca - Minha avo tem um conjuntinho de xicaras da idade da pedra. Porem, essas xicaras tem a borda bem fininha, tao fina quanto a casca de um ovo. Minha mae e o meu tio "brigam" pra tomar cafe nessas xicaras. Eles tambem "brigam" pra ver quem vai ficar com essas xicaras quando a minha avo morrer.. hhahaha que horror.
Who's inheriting the coffee cups? - My grandma has 3 coffee cups that are very important to my uncle and to my mom. Those cups are very fragile - eggshell thin - and according to my mom, they make coffee taste even better! My mom and my uncle joke around and "fight" over the coffee cups. As they say, my grandma should write on her will who is getting the cups once she dies..

My mom, dad, uncle Deo and aunt Dilma

Grandma Maria - "Vo Maria"

Grandma Alcina - "Vo Cina"

Rio com chuva - Under the rain

2009-08-28T11:25:00.000-07:00

Piratininga sem sol...
Piratininga beach under the rain is not the same!

Pao de Acucar
Sugar Loaf Mountain

A casa esta triste sem o Scooby
The house feels sad after my dog Scooby died

Museu de Arte Contemporanea em Niteroi - Obra do Oscar Niemeyer
Art Museum

Estadio do Morumbi - Soccer Stadium Morumbi

2009-08-27T15:44:00.000-07:00

No meu primeiro fim de semana em Sao Paulo eu fui no estadio do Morumbi! Queria conhecer o novo bar que tem la dentro e ver uma partida de futebol. Quando eu cheguei no Brasil, o Sao Paulo estava quase na zona de rebaixamento! Enquanto eu estava no Brasil, o Sao Paulo nao perdeu nenhuma partida e virou segundo no campeonato!!!
O Morumbi ja teve capacidade pra 120 mil pessoas mas hoje em dia a capacidade e de apenas 80 mil. O estadio vai passar por uma reforma para sediar a Copa do Mundo de 2014.

On my first weekend in Sao Paulo, I went to Morumbi Soccer Stadium, home of my soccer team Sao Paulo "Football" Club. I wanted to check out the new bar, inside the stadium and watch a soccer match. When I got to Brazil, Sao Paulo soccer team was one of the last team in the standings (and at the end of the championship if that is still the case, the team is "demoted" to the 2nd division of the championship - not at the main league!) - however, while I was in Brazil, the soccer team did not lose a single match and we became the 2nd best team in the championship!!!
Morumbi Stadium used to hold up to 120 ,000 people and now its capacity is only 80,000 people for safety reasons. The stadium is currently being remodeled in order to meet the FIFA requirements for the Soccer World Cup in 2014.Cyro e Nataly

Estadio vazio no dia do jogo Sao Paulo vs. Santos (15 mil pagantes!) - um frio de matar, chovendo, ingresso a R$80 no setor azul (ainda bem que temos carteirinha de estudante) e o time na zona de rebaixamento!
The stadium was nearly empty on the day of the match Sao Paulo vs. Santos (only 15,000 people!) - it was very very cold, raining on and off, the team was almost last in the standings and the tickets were $40 on the blue sector (the best seats - however in Brazil if you are a student and have a college/high school ID, you only pay 50% of the price for almost all sport and cultural events. Even for Pizza!)

A torcida era pequena mas bem animada
The crowd was small... but LOUD!

Foto com os melhores jogadores do Sao Paulo
Posing with the "legends" of the Sao Paulo soccer team

O Bar "Santo Paulo Bar" dentro do estadio do Morumbi - para assistir o jogo de la: R$300 com comida a vontade.
The bar "Santo Paulo Bar" inside the soccer stadium. To watch a soccer match from the bar, it will cost you $150 dollars.. They serve good food and you can eat as much as you want.

Achei interessante o sistema do bar. Em cada mesa tem um cartao amarelo e um vermelho. O Amarelo voce levanta quando quer atencao do garcom e o vermelho pra fechar a conta. Muito boa ideia!
I thought the way the bar was set up was very cool. Every table had a yellow and a red card. If you needed attention from the waiters, you had to hold up the yellow card. If you wanted to get your bill, you had to hold the red card. Such a good idea!

Nao e a melhor foto do Cyro mas.....
Not Cyro's best picture but..

Sao Paulo - Diversas

2009-08-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

Avenida Paulista - A mais famosa avenida de Sao Paulo. Comeca no Paraiso e acaba na Consolacao.. haha
Paulista Avenue - the most famous avenue in Sao Paulo. "Paulista" actually means "a person born in Sao Paulo". There is also a joke in Portuguese because this famous avenue starts at a district called "Paradise" and it ends on a street called "Consolation"

Marginal Pinheiros - Freeway

Algumas coisas nao foram traduzidas como deveriam ter sido. Me pergunto se eles nao tinham uma pessoa pra verificar se estava correto. Essa plaquinha esta pendurada na parede do shopping center mais caro de Sao Paulo, onde nao se encontram lojas populares ou "comuns". La so tem loja da Prada, Gucci, Armani, Dolce Gabana etc.. Em Portugues escreve-se: "Permitido o acesso de animais domesticos", mas quando traduziram pro ingles, virou "Acesso so para animais domesticos"

Some things get lost in translation. Sometimes I wonder if they don't have a second person checking those things. I found this sign posted at the entrace of the most expensive mall in Sao Paulo (where the only stores you will find are Prada, Gucci, Dolce Gabana etc) - in Portuguese it says "Pets ARE allowed"... but in english, ONLY pets are allowed.
Igreja do Sao Luis - Sao Luis church

Borba-Gato escondido atras das arvores, na frente do parque Trianon

MASP - Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo - na avenida Paulista
MASP - Museum of Art of Sao Paulo - at Paulista Avenue

Transito numa rua perto da minha casa
Traffic near my house

Perdida em Sao Paulo - Google Mapa nao funciona tao bem assim em Sao Paulo. Ou entao eles mudaram o sentido de algumas ruas desde que o mapa foi publicado. Ainda bem que a minha mae guarda uma caixinha da Barbie dentro do carro dela (caixinha da Barbie porque e rosa). A caixinha tem de tudo: lanterna, ferramentas e um guia! Na foto a minha mae olhando uma rua pra mim no guia com a lanterninha - so pra nao chamar atencao e dar de perdida em Sao Paulo!

Lost in Sao Paulo - Google Maps does not work that well over there. Or maybe the city changed some streets into one-way streets since that map was published. Luckly, my mom has a "Barbie box" (Barbie because it is pink) inside her car. This box contains a few tools, flashlight and a good city map! In this picture, my mom is looking up a street for me using her flashlight.
Home sweet home

Vista da varanda
View from my balcony

Achei essa plaquinha muito fofa.. uma crianca jogando bola! hehe
I thought this sign was very Brazilian - it doesn't just mean "Children at play" - it means "Children playing soccer".. hehe

Parque do Ibirapuera - A versao Paulista do Central Parque - com a excessao de nao ser retangular e ser bem melhor que o central park.
Ibirapuera Park - Sao Paulo's version of Central Park. Except that it is not rectangular and it is much nicer than Central Park

Em Sao Paulo tem muito motoboy, todo mundo sabe disso. Mas olha so esse estacionamento de moto no aeroporto! Quantas motos tem ai? E como eles fazem pra sair do meio?
There are lots of motorcycles in Sao Paulo. We call them "Moto-boy". Motoboys are usually males (duh!) who deliver stuff around the city. Sometimes they are the pizza guys, sometimes they go to the bank to make payments for different businesses, they deliver documents, work as "moto-taxi" etc. This picture was taken at one of the motorcycle parking areas at the international airport in Sao Paulo. How many motorcycles are there? And how do they get out when they need to?

Sacramento - Sao Paulo

2009-08-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

Viagem de Sacramento a Sao Paulo. Fotos do aviao

Flight from Sacramento to Sao Paulo. Pictures from the Plane

Um tipo de plantacao muito interessante. Ja tinha visto antes, mas nunca tinha reparado que nessa parte do estado de Colorado tinham tantas. Eu acho que essa foto foi tirada perto da cidade de Mosca, no Colorado.

Very interesting farming. I am not sure what they planted. I had seen those circles before but I had never noticed how many of them there were together in this area. From Google Earth, I made an educated guess that this picture was taken while we were flying over Mosca, Colorado.

Voando sobre o estado de Arizona
Flying over Arizona

Voando sobre as montanhas Sierra Nevada na divisa da California com o estado de Nevada. Todos esses quadradinhos sao desmatamentos ou queimadas.. :(
Flying over the Sierras.. the little squares captured my attention to how much the Sierras have been burned out or cleared. Just sad...

Voando sobre o territorio Brasileiro - um rio.. possivelmente o Sao Francisco. Gostei da cor de ouro com o reflexo do sol.
Flying over Brazilian territory. A river.. possibly the San Francisco River : Liquid gold

- In Memory of LeRoy H. Pfaff -

2009-08-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

Na terca-feira, dia 7 de Julho de 2009, meu pai Americano LeRoy passou dessa pra melhor e deve estar no ceu tomando uma cervejinha e olhando pra nos. LeRoy "Dad" faleceu aos 62 anos de idade, em casa, cercado da familia e de amigos. O LeRoy marcou a vida de muitas pessoas, e eu nao poderia dizer "Obrigado" o suficiente por tudo que ele fez por mim e por todas as licoes de vida que ele me ensinou. Tenho saudades das piadas sem graca que ele contava, das nossas "brigas" por causa do volume alto da TV, das noites em que assistiamos filmes etc.. Mas o que eu vou sentir falta mesmo e da vontade dele de viver, de seu pensamento positivo e de sua vontade de ajudar aos outros. LeRoy era um amigao e vai fazer muita falta...

On Tuesday, July 7th 2009, my American father LeRoy left us for a better place, from where I am sure he is drinking some beer and looking down on us. LeRoy "Dad" died at home at the age of 62 surrounded by his family and close friends. LeRoy touched many lives and I couldn't say "Thank you" enough for all the things he has done for me and for all the life lessons he taught me. I miss his silly jokes, our "fights" over TV volume, the movies nights etc, but what I miss most is the positive attitude he had towards life and his willingness to help others. LeRoy was a great friend and he will be dearly missed...

LeRoy in 1977

A minha foto preferida - LeRoy e o filho Craig em 2002
My favorite picture - LeRoy and son Craig in 2002

Rest in Peace Dad

Formatura Panamericana - My mom's graduation from Art School

2009-06-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

Parabens pra minha mae por ter enfrentado 3 anos de Panamericana e se formar la.

Congrats to my mom for her graduation from art school

National Trail's Day - Dia Nacional da trilha

2009-06-26T14:48:00.000-07:00

Yosemite - June

2009-06-26T13:59:00.000-07:00

Santa Cruz - CA

2009-06-10T08:01:00.000-07:00

Dive Night - 3o Ano - 3rd year

2009-06-10T07:42:00.000-07:00

Picada da cobra cascavel - Rattlesnake bite

2009-06-10T06:53:00.000-07:00

Northstar at Tahoe Ski Resort

2009-06-10T06:46:00.000-07:00

Kirkwood april - last day of the season - Ultimo Dia

2009-06-10T06:26:00.000-07:00

Aniversario - My bday party

2009-03-28T19:17:00.000-07:00

Eu decidi que pra festejar o meu aniversario eu ia convidar os amigos mais proximos pra tomar cerveja e comer pizza. Pizza feita em casa! O nosso amigo Eric veio pra ajudar e acabou sendo o chef. Nos preparamos todos os ingredientes e o Eric esticou a massa e montou as pizzas. Hmmm..

To celebrate my bday I decided to invite my close friends to drink beer and eat pizza. Homemade pizza that is. Our friend Eric came here to help and he ended up becoming the chef for the night. We prepared all the ingredients and Eric stretched the dough and placed the ingredients on the pizza. Hmmm....

Elise e Sebastian

Marcin (ooops!) Regia, Yoli e eu

Regia, Yoli, Carolina and I

O meu copo de vinho "Aniversariante" com cerveja! hehe
My pimp wine cup with beer!

Lindsay, Sebastian, Nick, Eu, Yoli, Regia and Andy

Hey Sebastian is on my lap!! ;) -- O Sebastian no meu colo!!
Amanda, Nick, Sebastian, Eu, Yoli, Regia, Andy e Carolina

Seba and Lindsay

Kubus e o Bruno

O Seba eh sortudo...
Lucky Sebastian! hehe

Lucky Andy... e o Andy tambem...

Bruno, Kuba, Marcin and Mauricio - thinking hard...

O Eric e a Elise me deram "bindings" pra minha snowboard de aniversario. O Nick instalou-os pra mim no mesmo dia.
Eric and Elise gave me new bindings for my snowboard (THANKS!). Nick installed them for me on the same day.

Mt. Diablo

2009-03-28T16:35:00.000-07:00

Eu tenho que dizer que eu adoro o meu dia de folga a cada 2 semanas. Na semana do meu aniversario eu e o Nick fomos fazer trilha no Mt. Diablo (monte diablo) e depois fomos pra Sao Francisco. A gente ia fazer trilha ate o topo da montanha mas acabamos dirigindo ate la. hehe

I must say that I really enjoy having a day off every 2 weeks. On my birthday week , Nick and I went to Mt. Diablo and then to San Francisco. We were suppose to hike up to the summit but I must say his car did all the hiking. hehehe

A placa diz: Voce esta pisando no lugar mais alto do Monte Diablo. O chao foi colocado em volta do topo da montanha pra voce poder pisar no topo".. Mais ou menos isso.. heheh

O topo

Em Sao Francisco nos "almocamos" comida de acampamento. O menu: Macarrao com queijo, Lasanha vegetariana e sorvete de astronauta. O Nick tem um "Jet boiler" que eh um "fogaozinho" que ferve agua em alguns segundo. E super potente! Colocamos uns copos de agua e em minutos a agua tava fervendo. Ai voce coloca a agua quente no pacotinho de comida, espera uns 8 minutos e ja ta pronto! O sorvete nao precisa de agua.

When we got to San Francisco we had "lunch" - camping food. The Menu: Mac and Cheese, Vegetarian Lasagna and Astronaut ice cream. Nick has a Jet boiler, which as the name suggests, boils water very fast. It's awesome! After the water boils, you put a cup or so in the packet and let it sit for 8 minutes... then it's ready! The ice cream does not need water.

Sorvete de astronauta - parece que voce ta comendo giz! Tem gosto de sorvete napolitano mas eh muito estranho! Nao eh cremoso, nao eh gelado!

Astronaut ice cream - it feels like you are eating chalk! It kind of tastes like ice cream but the texture is too weird! Not creamy, not cold!

24 and counting...

2009-03-28T16:14:00.000-07:00

Obrigado a todos pelos parabens! - Mas no ano que vem, me liga!! Nada de mensagem de texto ou facebook ou orkut. Telefone ou email!! Como todos os anos, esse ano meu aniversario nao foi facil. E dificil ficar longe da familia em datas como essa. Enfim.. nao foi tao ruim assim. Nem valeu chorar por 3 dias seguidos heheh.. E gracas ao meu amigo Andy, eu ate tive um bolo de aniversario. Alias, 3! :)

I'd like to thank everyone for the birthday wishes (but next year, give me a call! No text messages, no facebook, no orkut. Just plain old telephone! or email!). This year, like pretty much every year, it was very hard for me to be away from my family on that day. But looking back on it, it was not worth crying for 3 days straight. Thanks to my coworkers and my friend Andy, I had 3 cakes for my bday :)

O Andy me chama de Manzana.. heheh

5 dias em Squaw Valley USA

2009-03-28T16:13:00.000-07:00

O tio, tia e a prima do Kuba vieram passar o Spring Break dela aqui na California esquiando...

No primeiro dia fomos pra Kirkwood Mountain Resort - encontramos nosso amigo Eric la. A neve nao tava muito fofa.
Segundo dia fomos pra Alpine Meadows - encontramos com o Sebastian e a Lindsay la. Estava nevando bastante mas como tava calor (0ºC ou mais) a neve derretia assim que caia na nossa roupa. Resultado: ficamos completamente molhados!
Terceiro dia fomos pra Squaw Valley USA onde ficamos num chaletzinho. Tava nevando e chovendo ao mesmo tempo.
No quarto dia (Squaw Valley) era pura neve! Nevando bastante e a neve tava muito fofa e muita, muita neve!
No quinto dia (Squaw) a neve estava melhor ainda. Nunca vi tanta neve "fofa"...

Kuba's uncle, aunt and cousin came to ski in California for her Spring Break vacation...

First day: Kirkwood Mountain Resort - we met our friend Eric there. The snow conditions were not the greatests, actually kind of icy. But not too bad.
Second day: Alpine Meadows - we met with Sebastian and Lindsay there. Snow conditions - WET! Snowing hard but because it was too warm, the snow melted as soon as it touched our clothes. We were soaked!!
Third day - Squaw Valley USA - WET WET WET! Snow/Rain mixture - no skiing
Forth Day - Squaw - POWDER! It snowed all night and there was soooo much powder! It was Awesome!
Fifth day - Squaw - pure POW POW. Never seen conditions like that. 2 meters of Powder!!

Esta arvore ficava na frente da nossa janela
In front of our room window

Goggle tan! - Tomamos sol com os oculos de esquiar

Para ver o resto das fotos, clique aqui

To see the rest of the pictures, click here

Assista ao video que eu fiz! Nao vale a pena explicar... eh melhor VER a neve que a gente tinha pra esquiar.

Watch the video that I made! It is not worth explaining the kind of conditions we had. It is better to see it.. sorry people had to work. It was awesome!

Just another day at Kirkwood...

2009-03-28T15:28:00.000-07:00

Eu nao posso reclamar do tempo nesse inverno Californiano. A temporada de esqui comecou devagar e quase nao tinha neve ate o natal, mas em Fevereiro e Marco nevou bastante e a neve estava absolutamente perfeita! Mais uma tempestade = eu e o Kuba esquiando. hehe

I cannot complain about the snow conditions this season. It was a slow start but by mid February there was tons of snow in the mountains. It was great. More storms = Kuba and I at the ski resort.

Neve na estrada significa...
Snow on the road means....

Acidente na estrada.. fechada por uma hora. Tem que ter muita vontade, viu?
Accidents on the road. Road closed for an hour. You have got to love it... seriously..

Olhem essas arvores!! Os galhos estavam pesados com tanta neve.
Look at those trees!!! The branches were bending over because of the weight of the snow!

e mais neve na estrada....
and more snow on the road....

Alpine Meadows with Eric and Bruno

2009-03-28T14:38:00.000-07:00

Amgen Tour of California

2009-03-28T11:03:00.000-07:00

O Lance Armstrong voltou a pedalar aqui na California, e a primeira etapa da Tour de California foi aqui em Sacramento e obviamente eu ia perder por nada! Eu e o Kuba fomos pro centro da cidade pra ver os ciclistas (e as pernas dos ciclistas hehehe)
Lance Armstrong is back to cycling! And the first part of the Tour de California was here in Sacramento. Obviously I would not miss the chance to see him, the other cyclists (and the cyclists legs!). Jake and I went to downtown to watch the race.

Para ver o resto das fotos, clique aqui

To see the rest of the pictures, please click here

Puzzle Nights

2009-03-28T10:55:00.000-07:00

Era uma vez uma festa de natal com inimigos secretos (aqui nos EUA eles chamam de Elefante Branco) e eu ganhei uma caixa com 10 quebra-cabecas usados - alias, nem sabiamos se tinhamos todas as pecas. Enfim... como eu nao sou muito de montar quebra-cabeca, eu decidi dar pros pobres. Mas antes decidimos montar alguns.. faltam uns 4 ainda...

Once upon a time in a white elephant gift exchange with friends... I acquired a box full of puzzles. 10 to be exact. At first I was thinking about giving it to charity because I am not really a puzzle fan. However, we solved a few first... By the way, I still have the box. haha

Valentine's day - Dia dos namorados (EUA)

2009-02-22T15:00:00.000-08:00

Hiking at Cronan's Ranch - Trilha

2009-02-22T14:21:00.000-08:00

O Rancho Cronan fica perto de Sacramento, na rodovia 49 entre Coloma e Pilot Hill. Esse rancho e um lugar bem legal pra fazer trilhas - 20 km de trilhas, acesso ao American River (Rio), muita gente andando a cavalo, gente de parapente. enfim... Eu nao aconselho ir la no verao pois nao tem muitas arvores e o calor eh intenso. A trilha eh bem plana..

Cronan's Ranch is located near Sacramento, on Hwy 49 between Coloma and Pilot Hill (Salmon Falls Dr) and it is a pretty cool place for a short, easy hike to the river. There is not much shade in the 12 miles of trails they have out there so I would not recommend it in the summer - unless it is early in the day or late in the afternoon. Lots of horseback riding, access to the river, close to Sacramento and mostly flat trails.

Eric e eu

Kirkwood/Sierra at Tahoe

2009-02-19T08:27:00.000-08:00

Esquiando em Kirkwood e Sierra-at-Tahoe

Jake and Eric

Nick and I

Olha essa neve.... Perfeito!
Look at this snow!! AWESOME!

Amanda

Amanda e Eric

Nick, Marcin e Kuba

Um pouco perto demais mas eu gostei dessa foto!
A little too close but it is a good picture

Eric and I

To carregando tanta coisa na minha jacketa - sanduiche, mascara pra neve, camera, agua, carteira - que eu pareco uns 20 kgs mais gorda! hahaha
I am always carrying so much stuff - sandwich, facemask, camera, water bottle, wallet - I look at least 40lbs bigger.

Strappping in

Nick, Nataly e Kuba

Kuba e Eric

O Nariz e o Eric

The Nose and Eric

Snowshoeing

2009-02-19T07:47:00.000-08:00

Em Janeiro a minha amiga Elise, o Nick e eu fomos andar na neve com o "snowshoe" - ou sapato de neve. E um "sapato" de metal especial que ajuda a pessoa a andar na neve fofa sem afundar. Se voce fosse andar na neve com o seu sapato normal, voce escorregaria e tambem afundaria a cada passo, ficando com neve ate os joelhos pelo menos. Nesse dia varios fornecedores de "snowshoe" estavam presentes pra voce poder usar os sapatos especiais. Eu adorei!!

In January my friends Elise, Nick and I went snowshoeing. A snowshoe is a metal "shoe" used to walk in the snow without sinking in the deep powder. It helps you float and it has a good grip. If you were to walk with your normal shoes in the snow, you would be knee-deep in the snow. On the day we went there were several vendors letting you try out their product. I had a really good time!

Kirkwood cross-country skiing trail

Eu tinha que testar os sapatos e comecei a subir os morrinhos..Alguns nao eram tao pequenos assim...
I had to try the snowshoes and I was climbing all kinds of little hills. Well.. some were not that little.

Nick e Elise

Nice boots!! :)

Snowshoes

A nossa caverna de neve! hahahaa
Our snow cave