My Forgotten Castle in Lego Land

June 15, 2013

Today we met our host families! Our day started off by sleeping in at the hostel  followed by slowly waking up and getting our things together. Angelika and I enjoyed another lovely outdoor breakfast of fruit, toast, cheese and coffee on the patio before checking out of the hotel (the amazing staff helped us carry our bags down to the lobby)!. We decided to hang out in the hostel lounge rooms since we did not have much time before we were expected by our host families. We were able to share a cab since my house was on the way to Angelika’s. It was only about a 15 min taxi to my new neighborhood. The area is gorgeous! As expected with a mega city everything in the vicinity is apartment towers or large office buildings, but surprisingly the area actually has a lot of trees and there are two forested parks nearby. My building is in a classic, some-what Italian, style from the 1950s (complete with bomb shelter!). At the gate I mentioned my host mom’s name and was buzzed in and shown up to the eighth floor. My host mom Alessandra opened the door and welcomed me into her home. The building is full of very nice classical apartments and it really reminds me of the older style European apartments in the layout and attention to detail.

Our set up is a bit non-traditional in that the apartment in very large but with only a few actual, separated rooms. You come in through the kitchen, which has the old maids quarters off to the right along with the laundry. To the left is the informal dining room with a mini-kitchen for our use, then you come into the formal dining room and the large living room (all with beautiful old mosaic tiles or parquet hardwood floors. The ceilings are high with a detailed crown molding and chandeliers. Off of the living room is a sizable terrace which overlooks the main tree lined street. The whole apartment has the atmosphere of an abandoned castle from a fairytale, wide open bright spaces with classical features but absolutely no clutter, and in the formal dining room there is an overly large classic table and a huge indoor vine that is climbing up the wall. The back side of the informal dining room is another terrace which connects to Alessandra’s family quarters (for her and her children when they visit). Alessandra is divorced and her teenage son and daughter stay with her every other week.

For dinner the four of us staying at Alessandra’s house decided to go find somewhere to eat on Avenida Paulista. All of the bars were packed with Brazilians watching the Japan-Brazil cup game so we walked for a while before we found the one bar that lacked large tvs and we were able to get a table. Laughably it was called the Puppy Bar, but sadly there were not puppies… we ordered Brazilian beer and sat on the patio facing Avenida Paulista people watching and enjoying the sunset. After the game ended and the crowded thinned out, we walked back to the cool looking bars/restaurants to get some dinner. We ended back up at the apartment early since we were tired from traveling/moving. Tomorrow we are going to try and meet up with more people from the program and get cell phones!

The apartment is large and in a great location; near shops restaurants bars and cultural sites, it only has two downsides, that it is a 45 min commute from the university and that it lacks true bedrooms, so we have each claimed a corner of one of the large rooms. Miguel is in the informal dining room, Justin is in the formal dining room, Allison is in the office (off of the living room) and I’m in the living room next to the terrace. So far Alessandra seems to be very nice and hospitable and she is really encouraging our Portuguese development but I am a bit worried that since the English speakers outnumber the Portuguese ones we will laps in to English frequently. 

This is the view from the terrace by my bed

This is the really cool indoor vine that is in the formal dining room

This is the terrace right next to where I sleep