Thursday, August 27, 2009

Estadio do Morumbi - Soccer Stadium Morumbi

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

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

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 -

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

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Formatura Panamericana - My mom's graduation from Art School

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