Hello again from S-to-da-Pizzle, and hope all well in foggy England.
Time marches on, to quote Metallica - no advance on my residency papers, or indeed the apartment (the landlord has asked to see Gaby's entire documented history, one component of which has been crucially held up by a Worker's Union strike or something...), but we've made some headway into furnishing it anyway, and bought my first car, which should be cool once it actually arrives and I learn how to drive it.
Meanwhile I've caved and bought several tiny boxes of Earl Grey teabags (the largest denomination they have at the supermarket - will have to stuff my suitcases with the stuff in London), and made the first of many Fred-Pizzas to restore some semblance of normality. Also had a wander round the neighbourhood on Friday and stopped off at a local chocolaterie for caipirinha truffles, which I could totally get used to.
The cat is settling in, eating incessantly and now has a scratching post and vial of catnip to go with her bit of string and moth-eaten fake mouse. I've made some headway on my list of potential names for Cat #2 - see attached (quite in-jokey, I'm afraid; your additions and suggestions are welcome though!).
On Sunday Nivea decided to stage a huge free concert at the airfield down the road from the flat, so we wandered along to see two apparently well-known pop minstrels and their crack backing band pay tribute to the music of Tim Maia, famous dead Brazilian funk/soul impresario extraordinaire. It was pretty great - they played the only two songs I knew first and went on for another two hours, but there was a lot of good stuff to go around, plus balloons, fireworks and free hats. And thanks to the wonders of technology the whole thing is online here: https://www.youtube.com/
I also learnt a new proverb, which I suppose could double as Fred's Portuguese Phrase of the Week: "Pau que nasce torta nunca se endereita". It's the equivalent to "A leopard can't change its spots", only a lot more grim and fatalistic, translating as "A tree born crooked will never straighten". First encountered in this compellingly terrible song from the '90s, which seems to be less about social immobility and more about hanging on to your "Tchan": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVN-q9Wj638
Speaking of which, I have hand-crafted another compilation for your listening pleasure (https://play.spotify.com/user/freddypowys/playlist/3N5vqHFSJUuVTpo3LmFQzl) and am working on a separate, all-Brazilian one for next week. No news on my mooted return to London, or indeed any news from work at all for some time, but will let you know of any developments. Speak soon!
Ciao for now,
Frodders
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