Different Country, Same Customs

Today is the equivilent of valentines day here in Brazil. That actually makes my outing to the park earlier a little easier to understand - there were couples everywhere lounging and engaging in some light lip action. Then again, that was a typical Brazilian date in the Northeast part of the state, so maybe it is like that all the time. Anyway, tonight I went out for dinner in a neighborhood known as Vila Magdalena. It is a pretty cool part of town, with a bunch of restuarants and bars all close together. Lots of people walking around, decent music playing, and of course people are looking to hook up.

I picked a restuarant that looked fairly nice, and it was awesome. I ordered a dinner that consisted of a huge pice of beef, a piece of the shoulders of the cow I think, sausage with cheese in it, and potatoes. It was a dinner meant for more than once person, and I polished off the whole thing myself. It was so big I actually took a photo, which I will place online once I return to the states.

Anyway, to set the scene, I was at a table by myself. The table to my left had three guys who were probably in their thirties who were out on the town looking to hook up. One of these guys was the designated hitter, and he would be sent out to whatever table they thought had good looking women to see if they would be receptive to meeting the others and what they were up to for the night. He always came back to his original seat, and never took any of his buddies with him. The table to my right had three ladies who were probably in their late 20's to early 30's. They were quite attractive, and one of them reminded me of a Brazilian version of Scarlett Johanson. Needless to say, the men to my left were falling over themselves trying to hook up with the ladies to my right, and with me in the middle I had a front row seat. The guys were pretty goofy, and the girls wanted nothing to do with them.

Later on, the three guys asked if they could join me so they could be closer to the ladies. I agreed, since it would be fun to see how I did with my Portuguese in a social setting like a bar, a setting I have not been in here in Brazil. I was pretty pleased. I understood almost everything, probably 95%-98% of what was going on, and from what I could tell they were able to understand everything I was saying. Anyway, at one point two of the girls took off to the bathroom and the designated hitter went over to talk to the Brazilian Scarlett. He sat there for maybe 5 minutes conversing with here, and the second her friends came back they kicked him out of his chair without even asking his name. It was hilarious.

Half an hour later or so the four of us left and the guys wanted to show my one other bar, to which I obliged. We weren't there very long when they decided to leave and I needed to get a Taxi. I went back to the restuarant I ate at to get a Taxi and I ran into two of the three girls from the table next to me. I stopped them really quick and asked them what they thought of my "friends." If I remember correctly, they said "Eles sao chatos." Which, translated loosly, means "They are morons." I laughed and we chatted for a bit. I could tell they guys were not making a great impression, yet they thought they were the bomb. The ladies ended up being pretty cool once they realized I wasn't trying to hit on them. Different language, different country, but things are still very similar.

So, when it was all said and done, it was a fun night.