Rio de Janeiro

So excited for cheesy meat

Mom is excited as well

The view of Rio from Sugar loaf 

Jesus Christ at Corcovado 

 Back in the days when I was a mere herbivore words like "steakhouse", "filet mignon", or "rare" did very little in tantalizing my taste buds. As we all know, that is not no longer the case. I eat meat -steak actually, on a regular basis. I even order it jugoso or rare. While I have become quite fond of Argentine parillas (traditional steakhouses) I was delighted to try meat served in a new way at a Brazilian steakhouse. 

    The first day in Rio I was greeted by fresh fruit juices served out of coconuts and healthy salads and sandwiches. The beaches were crowded with women sporting string bikinis and men, well, in shorts way too tiny for my liking. What I'm trying to say is that the beach was packed with beautiful fit people. However, during the night we saw a very different side of Rio, one could say a hungry side. We saw the all you can eat steakhouse side. Men whisked by your table carrying huge skewers of meat. Sometimes you would have to flag them down like hailing a cab by frantically waving a card that said "Yes, please I want more." Very rarely did I flip my card to the "No thanks" side. I mean how can anyone turn down meat covered with parmesan cheese or another favorite of mine, meat oozing with my beloved cheddar. But wait, there was still more food. The meat was just the beginning into this royal feast. At our table you only had to check a little box on a piece of paper indicating the type of sides you would like and magically yucca fries and fried plantains would appear on the table. I dug in ferociously. Nevertheless, the glutenous feast didn't end there. There was a huge buffet spread, decorated with fish, sushi and fresh salads. I ate till the point where I worried my dress would burst. And my mother, never before had I seen her so excited to eat meat nor had I seen her consume the amount she did. My little health nut mom was has been converted. Of course we had to wash down the whole meal with fresh traditional caparianhas, a drink made of cachaca (Brazilian rum), lots of and lime and sugar. 

    Besides the food and overeating, Brazil was remarkable. The city made me feel really calm but so much alive. It made me feel so many things actually, I felt like I was in a familiar place but I couldn't put my finger on what that place would be. It reminded me so much of Miami with the diverse population, industrious buildings across from a beautiful ocean. As well as the Caribbean and parts of Europe. It didn't feel the way I had imagined it to feel. Rio de Janeiro seemed so immense but yet quite manageable. I had expected more chaos, violence and fear in the air. Obviously I didn't go wandering the streets at night but I had built up such a negative idea of the city that I was shocked by the beauty, charm and warmth of the people. The disparity between rich and poor was also very striking. Big pristine buildings and hotels stood proudly across from the beach ushering tourists into the confines of the well patrolled walls while favelas were visible from every angle of the city. We went to the top of Sugar Loaf and saw the most incredible vistas of the city. Unfortunately the day we went to see Corcovado and the famous Jesus Christ statue the thick fog made visibility near impossible and we were only about to see bits of Jesus as the fog shifted. Ultimately the trip inspired me to take up learning Portuguese and go back to travel more extensively around Brazil. 

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This website shows you how to be an entrepreneur, travel the world and avoid the typical cubical life style.

So what do you do?

My two jobs with Madi

Some wonderful Clients! 

     I've been in Buenos Aires for nearly 6 months and people have recently been asking me what exactly "I do". Well, I don't have a typical 9-5 job. I am lucky enough that I get to work several jobs. My schedule is always changing, every week is different. Some days I work all of my jobs while some days I work from home. Here is a little preview of my life.  I teach English at least 6 hours a week one on one to students. I work in a clothing store at least one day a week all while working for BA Cultural Concierge and Send Love BA (more on that later) and volunteering in marketing for Teatro Ciego. I get to meet a ton of people everyday and am able to see so many sides of Buenos Aires like learning how to sell clothing in Spanish or exploring different restaurants in the name of "work research".

    I am working for an American entrepreneur named Madi Lang who has been living in Buenos Aires for nearly 3 years. BACC is her brain child, she spotted a need for a customized concierge service where attention is 100% devoted to the client and she turned this opportunity into a business. Through hard work, word of mouth marketing and terrific online reviews her business has taken off. 

    For BA Cultural Concierge I get to plan vacations and then help others live them. I have been so blessed to find a job I love in Buenos Aires. I enjoy the time I spend teaching and working in the clothing store but my most fulfilling job is working for Madi with BA Cultural Concierge and Send Love BA. I find working beside a young entrepreneur inspiring and rewarding, I get to see my efforts and energy make an impact in her company and I get to face new and exciting challenges everyday. 

    I met Madi back in November at a dinner with my friend and roommate Caroline. They had attended the same university and were in the same sorority but 3 years apart. At dinner Madi told me a brief description about what she does and projects she was working. From the get go, we hit it off and I offered, without hesitation, to be her intern and help her in anyway possible as long as I could learn from her. 

    Last month I got to plan my first itinerary for a low mobility man in his 80's and his younger son. Not only did I plan their trip but had the great luck to accompany them on nearly everything they did. We went to estancias (ranches), brunched at the Four Seasons and Alvear Hotel, saw tango shows and went on a tour of the city. Sometimes it takes seeing Buenos Aires through the eyes of a visitor to truly appreciate the spirit of this incredible city. 

    Send Love BA is Madi's newest company. It's a carepackage delivery company that delivers customized carepackages to expats and study abroad students living in Buenos Aires. The company circumvents the horrendous Argentine postal system to deliver a product that can't be sent from home but contains all the comfort foods from home. After being away from peanut butter, marshmallows, home made chocolate chip cookies for a long period of time expats tend to crave foods we often take for granted. I work at developing marketing to grow the business as well as work as a delivery girl. The best is seeing the excitement on peoples faces when I hand deliver fresh baked cookies, bagels, peanut butter and balloons, it makes all the detailed planning worthwhile. My favorite delivery was seeing a grown man overcome with joy and happiness after I delivered two jars of Skippy's peanut butter and fresh made bagels. The hardest part is self control on the way to delivery. You always hope that special person you are delivering a chocolate cake to someone that likes to share. 

Iguazu Falls

Barry patiently waiting his turn in line

Mom waiting in line to find out about our luggage 

Our view from the hotel. The sunset over the falls. 

La Garganta del diablo 

The Majestic Falls 

 I just came to the  end of a great two week vacation with my Mom and Step-dad Barry. We traveled to Carmelo, Uruguay, Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls, and Rio de Janeiro. In the duration of their two week stay everything went pretty smoothly except some unfortunate bumps in the road like $120 pesos worth of fake pesos and lost luggage. I'll start from the beginning. 

    We arrive without delay to Iguazu's tiny airport after leaving Buenos Aires behind in the rain. The three of us wait patiently for our suitcases on the slow moving carousel jam packed with people boxing out others to get their bags. Nearly twenty minutes go by and there is no sign of our bags and the carousel has come to a complete standstill. We walk over to a group of people gathered around a worried looking airline representative. He makes an announcement in Spanish, "If you don't have your bags, I am afraid they are still in Buenos Aires." Ughh. There is only one flight a day that comes to Iguazu and we were on it, apparently our bags weren't. This is the point where I check in with the parents, apologetically almost I explain how Argentina is "special" and kind of beats to it's own drum, things like this happen all the time. Barry, my step dad, starts huffing "I bet you the bag workers didn't want to load the bags because it was raining so hard. They didn't want to get wet." He had a point. It was raining, storming actually. Thunder, lightening the whole kit and kaboodle but our plane took off, I'm not so sure it have would in the States. At this point my family is spread out between three lines, uncertain which one will be first to get to the front. Eventually after 45 minutes in line and 3 people working where there is counter space for 6 we make it to the front. We ask the airline rep in Spanish, "when will our luggage arrive?" In calm, crisp English he tells us "4 AM." I look around and check my parents faces for reactions, they still look pretty collected. In Spanish I try to get more information, "4 AM? You don't have any other flights?" Again the game continues and in English replies, "the plane with your luggage is flying into Posadas a 5 hour drive from here. It will get here around 4 AM." Ok. "Do we get compensation?" He finally begins to look flustered, "100 pesos a person but you need to pick it up in Buenos Aires." Seriously??? Who are these people? Now Barry, the expert traveler and ex-actor steps up to the plate. "I have pills in my bag. Pills that if I don't take I might die, and you don't want that to happen now, do you?" He holds eye contact. A small trickle falls down the rep's forehead. "Um, no sir we don't." "No you don't want that blood of my untimely death on your hands." I give Barry a look, enough the rep looks like he might go into cardiac arrest. "So what are you going to do about it my good man?" Barry asks again. The rep pauses for a second and scribbles something on our lost luggage form "Medical Emergency" it read, "Priority" and shows it to us. "Your luggage will be the first to arrive." With that good news and the fate of our luggage out of our hands we head to the Sheraton inside the Iguazu National Park overlooking the waterfalls. We sit outside enjoy a strong cocktail and gawk at the beauty of the sunset casting it's lights on the falls. At 4:05 AM the door bell rings, it is our luggage. 100% soaked and smelling like a pack of wet dogs. 

    Despite our moldy clothes, we had a wonderful time at Iguazu falls. The falls themselves were immense and powerful. La garganta del diablo (the devil's throat), a lookout point at the top of the fall shows their strength. We even went on a jungle adventure boat that cruises right beneath the beating of the falls. I don't know what is more intense, the sound of the pounding water or the feel of it on your skin. We have had a photograph of Iguazu hanging in our living room for years so seeing it in person was magical, it gave so much more meaning to the falls that we knew existed somewhere in Argentina, it gave the picture a story and memories. 

Losing Sight

  When I first arrived in Buenos Aires I was invited to a performance called A Ciegas con Luz  at "Teatro ciego" which means "The Blind theater". It is a dinner and performance that is done in complete and total darkness. Entering the room, you follow a waiter by putting your hands on his shoulders as three people trail behind (kind of like doing the locomotive at weddings). You are seated at a table of four in a pitch black room. The waiter, who is blind, instructs you where you can find your wine glass, dessert, and dinner in front of you. Eating in the dark was a really unique experience, especially not knowing what you were eating. While eating the food our very skilled waiter served refreshments both red and white wine options. Then there was a lovely woman singer named Luz who sang songs from all over the world as a blind pianist accompanied her. At the end of the performance she lit a candle and the room was illuminated in an eerie way, the room illuminated felt very different from how I had imagined it in the darkness. 

    Last week I took my parents to Teatro Ciego, worried that they would be overwhelmed or uncomfortable in the complete darkness. But alas they surprised me and adjusted to the drastic lack of sight quite quickly. We went to the same show  A Ciegos con Luz which has been modified since the last time I was there. There were many added smells like rain, coffee, grass as well as sensations like being misted by rain water and sound affects to help imagine the performance in your mind. You had to use your imagination, but all my other senses were heightened in a way I wasn't used to and the full body experience was delightful. The menu had also recently changed, again serving finger-licking good finger foods as well as an edible bread basket. On top of everything, the manager, Martin, and his girlfriend and star of the show, Luz, couldn't be kinder people who speak very good English and are very accommodating to English tourists. I highly recommend anyone who visits Buenos Aires to take the time to visit Teatro Ciego, the only theater in the world of its kind. teatrociego.org