Back from Rio...

I made it back home in one piece after a great trip to Brazil, and had an awesome time despite the fact that it was for business. Still found plenty of time to have fun with some of the co-workers in the Rio de Janeiro office. I'm still pretty tired from the trip (12+ hours on the plane along with travel time to and from the airports... not cool) but here are a few highlights:

- Watching the Brazil/Australia World Cup match last Sunday may have been one of the most ridiculous scenes I've ever witnessed. The streets cleared out; there was no traffic. Every person parked themselves in front of a TV for 2 hours to watch the game. Think Super Bowl, except everyone in the country is rooting for 1 team, and then multiply that by about 100. Absurd.

- Yes, when you flush the toilet, the water does flow the opposite way. I kid you not.

- Everyone takes their good 'ole sweet time doing things. Kind of like Europe. They have 2 hour lunches, no one moves too fast in restaurants. Rather fascinating. Maybe America ought to slow down a bit.

- When ordering food from a menu written completely in a language you don't know, find something simple (like chicken) and go with that. Otherwise, it could be bad news.

- Service staff in Brazil is smart... they build the gratuity into all bills, so when you pay, you don't realize you are giving them an automatic tip until afterwards.

- There is some word in Portuguese that sounds a lot like "Ross" and every time someone said that word, I kept turning around. I still don't know exactly what the word is or what it means, but I was confused.

- Copacabana Beach is unbelievable.

- Be careful of the caipirinhas - it's a drink that'll knock you on your ass. Go with Chopp de Brahma instead (local beer that happens to be very good)

- I knew what it was like to give the immigrant smile. People talking to me in Portuguese didn't realize I don't know the language, so I just smiled and nodded.

- If you ever go to Rio, you must go to Porcao, one of the finest Brazilian steakhouses around. All you can eat for about R$50 (approx. $25 US) and the meat is absolutely superb. If you've ever been to a Brazilian steakhouse, you know that they'll give you a card with green on one side and red on the other. As long as the card has green facing up, they'll keep bringing the meat to you. Once you flip it over to red, they'll stop... but after a few minutes, will come back to offer you more. Fantastic food.

- The coffee is strong -- really strong. We're talking 'hair on your chest/I feel like I'm drinking potting soil' strong. And then the espresso is another story altogether.

- The views in Rio are gorgeous, the people are very friendly, and the weather (it was the beginning of Winter this week) was still fantastic. Oddly enough, while the northeast US had temperatures into the 90's in the past few days, Rio was experiencing temperatures in the mid-70's with minimal humidity, which was quite pleasant.

I have some pictures that are on the way, so stay tuned once I get ahold of them. At which point, I will gladly share them on the RPR. I'm heading back home to Philadelphia this weekend for Dad's birthday, so I'll be back next week with the regularly scheduled blogging.

A noite boa e tem um fim de semana agradável (In Portuguese, that means "Good night and have a pleasant weekend)