On-the-Road Tales

Marcelo, Carolina and I headed 2 hours south to Sao Paulo for a cultural day. We stopped at the park to see a photo exhibit and I was a but hesitant about lunch. We were going for Japanese and my previous 2 encounters with that food, I was not so impressed. Brasil has the largest Japanese population outside of Japan so there is a lot of restaurant competition. This place was, all you can eat for 15$ which was perfect for me since I could try different things. Turned out to be yummy, even the raw fish and the marinated gunger was amazing. I have decided that is my new favorite spice and I must learn to cook with it. We went to the stadium to watch a football game – Corinthians vs. Palmeira. a bug Sao Paulo rivalry. It is best not to get caught in the wrong section or the wrong supporters side during these games. Unfortunetly, the side we were rooting for lost badly but it was a fun spectacle nevertheless.

We rented the movie Motorcycle Diaries. I had read the book before coming but now after having been in some of the places it was great to watch. Some wonderful quotes in the movie I had forgotten about. Good inspirational travel film.

Headed to lunch and had an incredible garlic carne fillet. I made the mistake of ordering a dark (oscuro) beer to try and it was just nasty. Sweet, like pure soda syrup. Of course Dononvan and Marcelo told me after my first sip how awful they thought it was but I should have the experience myself! Thanks. Ick. I took a Skol to wash the taste away. Donovan, Cecilia and I headed to Cacapava. I went up in a glider with Donovan. Much less disconcerted than the first time I flew in one but it is still kinda crazy. The parachute is like a joke. The chances you are seriously going to be able to unwedge from the cockpit in the event of a problem, extricate yourself from the confine of the cockpit and open your chute wuth enough altitude are slim but hey – you put it on anyway. The instruments are in the front seat only so I had to shout the altitude and airspeed to donovan in the back so he knew when to pull the chord and release from the plane towing us. As the taildragger you are tied to by a rope starts accelerating in front, you get dragged along on the skids behind, bumping over grass with someone holding the wing off the ground. No wheels on this guy. Bc of the glide ratio, you start flying before the aircraft so you are kind of hovering in back waiting for him to get enough lift. As you climb you just hold your breath until you get enough altitude to recover in case his engine quits. All the indication are in meters since it is an old german beast so I was calculating in my head. We separated and soared around for a while. Really very interesting, you learn alot about flying because you have no second chances. You lose too much altitude, too far from the strip and you are landing in some field or in trees if you happen to be on approach. I would not mind taking some lessons just to be a bit more comfortable in them and a little less dependent on having the throttle for comfort in a real airplane!

There was a Barbq afterwards for a kid who had recently soloed. We chowed down on freshly cooked meat and sausages in the hangar and watched the lunar eclipse. It took several hours for the full moon to fully recover from the reddish shadow cast over it. I chatted with some boys studying to be Aero Eng and pilots who rode 1.5 hours each way on their bikes just to come fly! That is dedicated, I wished them luck getting into this crazy industry.

Donovan met me at the security post at Embraer and I got signed in. I finally got to meet some of the people in his division who I had worked with for year by email and phone. We ... [Continue reading this entry]

Last day in the big city, U headed to the Cristo Redentor statue. This is the infamous icon you see on all the advertisements of Rio. You board an old cog train and go up through a mini ... [Continue reading this entry]

Rio´s metro system is easy and efficient and it dropped me a few blocks from Copacabana. Yes, 3 days technically speaking on a beach in the span of a week? Must be a record for me, the sun-shunner. ... [Continue reading this entry]

So, I hopped on a bus and headed north to the city known for Carnival and beaches. I heard sketchy things about Rio and was on guard like Lima but I am happy to report - not even a ... [Continue reading this entry]