Why I need to come back to Brazil.

First off I came to Brazil to work and, as it turns out, that's what I've done. I've been in Sao Paulo for 5 months. I've never left the city. People speak of the beauty of Brazilian beaches, amazon, etc. As far as I'm concerned these places don't exist. The fact that I don't have a car, and no friends that like to do what I do, doesn't help matters. 

In the spare time I have on Saturdays I teach English and on Sundays I go to church. Because of this I can't leave. I need to come back and see what Brazil is really about, not just work. I've heard there are amazing things to see, but since I work all week and I've committed my weekends to certain causes, I can't really leave. I think, if I came back for a month or two I'd have a whole different view of Brazil.

Maybe next summer, except I plan to take a GMAT prep course, I'll see the "real" Brazil. I enjoy Sao Paulo, but it's just like any big city. It does rain a lot here which I really enjoy.

Politics

I kind of wish the United States had a better mix of political parties. I don't consider myself a Republican or a Democrat. I think both sides have positives and negatives. 

I like the Democrat approach to overall social issues and I prefer the stance the Republicans have regarding personal choices. I'm with the Democrats on most of their macro goals; be it international relations, health care, etc. I side with the Republicans on drugs, defense, and religion.

My ideal party doesn't exist. I don't agree with the Republicans all the way and the same goes for the Democrats. I guess I'd be the typical swing voter.

Whatever happens in this election, a change does need to happen, and sorry folks, Obama isn't going to be able to solve them all. Each American needs to do their part. As a whole we need to get ourselves out of debt, build better relations with other countries, figure out the solution to the energy crisis, learn to fight the battles that are necessary, strengthen families, and bring back America's can do spirit.

Getting out of debt is possible, it will just take sometime and self control. 

Building better international relations is possible on a personal level. When we take vacations, leave the US, and everyone should at least try to pick up another language. 

Our energy crisis will be solved not by our government handing us the answer, but by us solving the problem. If each house in the US was solar powered how much better off would we be? 

The wars and conflicts the US ends up being involved in probably aren't going to stop anytime soon. As Americans we need to figure out what's worth it. Also, one thing that bugs me are Republicans that say "I believe in defense, so I'm voting Republican." if you believe in defense go join the Army. 

We need remember that we're only going to be as strong as the foundation we're built on. Each individual is a product of their family. If you don't start there, you'll just be playing catch up when trying to fix problems.

The American spirit of creativity and can-do-it-tivness, in my opinion, isn't dead, but merely sedated. We watch too much TV and entertain our selves with meaningless things. I've heard it said the Religion was once considered the opiate of the masses. I think in our day it's entertainment. Great ideas and innovations don't come from sitting around watching celebrities talk about themselves. People need to start innovating and creating for themselves again.

Happy Halloween!

I figured I'd get in one last post for October. Lately at work, I've been helping in the interview process. Itau will have new gringos come January. It's been a lot of fun. The planning and making sure everything works out with the interview schedule has been fun. I think I get my scheduling abilities from my mom. She can schedule like nobodies business.

Also at lunch today I had a Halloween moment. I wanted to run away because I was scared of some of the self-realization that was going on and the giant spot-light that was focused on me. The conversation was centered around my criteria for women. This conversation was with my main boss,  my direct supervisor, and the other intern.

It turns out I might have a little too specific of standards. Basically, I've got it structured into 3 main categories: religiousness, personality and looks. If that was all there was too it I'd be set. However, I've thought about each of those sub-groups for quite sometime, I pretty much have it down to a science. In these sub-groups there are sub-groups. My thought process is a little bit like some of the operational flows I see at work. I know what I'm looking at, but if I gave the flow to anyone else, they'd be clueless.

It's also a moving and switching rating system. I willing to give up somethings if other things are there. For instance, if the personality is really awesome, I'm willing to not care about looks as much. It's a little bit of a Laffer-curve. I'll give up one thing in exchange for another, to a certain limit. I'll admit, it's kind of confusing.

Now it's time to get back to lunch. At lunch I went over what my main looks components were. I'd never really done it before, and it really makes you feel kind of shallow. However, it did clarify somethings. I'm not going to repeat much of what was directly said, because it was weird when I said it at lunch, and I don't think it'll be any better to post it. I might later. Once I have time to make a proper flow diagram. You know properly map it out. Nothing like concrete, visually appealing, presentation material when you're making your point.

Will it Hold

I remember growing up a doctor once called me scrawny. This adjectives still applies to myself. I'm pretty sure it's a mix of the words skinny and brawny. I kind of like to think of myself in this way.

However, this isn't about me. During lunch today I was wondering what it would be like to worry about breaking a chair because you sat on it. Do really overweight individuals think about this often? I don't know. It seems to me like that would be a primary concern for me. The constant apprehension of wondering, "Will it hold?" I couldn't take it.

I might even want to see some sort of measurement on the chairs I sat on, just so I could have the confidence to know it should hold. Yep, those are pretty much the kind of deep thoughts that fill my head. Will it hold?, How much Diet Coke could I drink?, etc.

I think I for my next post I'll explain corporate cafeteria behavior, as I see it.

Economics in Real Life

What happens when Economics touches our daily lives? It's usually going to be something good or bad. Unfortunately, we can't pick the outcomes. We have to take the good with the bad. In my case I've seen some of this first hand. Especially with today's exchange rate.

There are a couple things that will happen when an exchange rate changes rapidly, like what has happened recently. Primarily, the exporters of Brazil will be happy in the long term, if the rate holds. You'd also expect that more tourist from other countries with higher valued currencies will be visiting Brazil, eventually. However, in my case, it isn't great news. I get paid in Reals. This means, I'm not going to come home with much money. I'm not complaining, because the non-monetary value of this internship has been amazing. I would like to note, however, that I've never really seen anything like this happen before, and it's kind of interesting.

The Man with the Stick.

Like every Sunday I have church at 9:30 a.m. Usually, I end up taking a taxi. However, I decided I'd try to get there by bus. I knew the name of the bus and where to wait for it, but I never saw the bus. At this point it was about 9:40 so I decided I'd have to take a taxi.

This meant I'd have to go to an ATM and grab some cash. I went to a grocery store really close to where I live, but their ATM machine didn't seem to want to work. "Okay," I thought, "I know where some other ATM machines are located. I know they work." 

Much like the zebra that stays too long at the watering hole, I had a surprise in store for me. Half way to the ATM some guy, Mr. Crazy we'll call him, asked me for some money. "Unfortunately", I told him "I don't have any." Next thing I know Mr. Crazy starts following me. Weird. The chase was on.

Now he demanded that I take him to an ATM machine. My wheels started to turn faster. He told me he wanted R$ 200. This, I thought was a rather steep demand. It was at this point that I started thinking what I was going to do. I'll be honest, I really wanted to deck the guy. However; it was Sunday, he had a pretty large pointed stick, and he wouldn't take one of his hands out of his pocket. I decided against attacking him.

As Mr. Crazy escorted me to the closest ATM I thought about running, but decided if I ran he'd always be looking for me, and since I live close to that location I probably shouldn't bolt. Mr. Crazy told me about how much his life had sucked and the reasons he needed R$ 200. Some of his reasons were pretty compelling. However, I wasn't exactly in agreement with his manner of achieving his goal.

Once at the ATM we entered into negotiations again. I used my best negotiation skills and little bit of anger and told him he was only getting R$ 20. He shuffled around a little bit and fiddled with  his poking stick. After I gave Mr. Crazy the R$ 20 I parted ways with Mr. Crazy to let him try to get the other R$ 180 from someone else. While I walked away the hilarity and awkwardness of the situation dawned on me. 

Like most things in life you get to laugh and learn from your experiences. I'm just glad Mr. Crazy didn't try to use his stick on me, or whatever else he had in his pocket. Next time I think I just might start running. 

Greve!

It finally happened, the bankers went on strike. There had been talk for quite some time that it would happen, and it finally did. Basically, because I'm an intern, I won't go into work until the strike is over. That means I get a half day off work, at least, not bad.

The fact that I'm going home in about 2 months is also starting to hit me. I have so much I need to do. I need to register for classes, find a place to live, and find a job. I return from Brazil on the 20th, so I won't be able to do a whole lot when I get home. I guess I'll really start thinking about it when November comes around.

Nothing else is new. Yesterday, I discussed with Bia about how I think that something can be 100% true. The best example I could come up with was a color and that she was a woman and I was a man. It was pretty funny. She usually wins, or at least she thinks she's won. It reminds me of some of the discussions I have had with my sisters on certain subjects, I never really win, but I enjoy the moments.