25.05.21 - Quem é ele na fila do pão?

Halloooo,

Hope all well in Erli and beyond. Over here we're slowly but surely gearing up to jumping ship and skipping town in early June, with all the attendant bureaucracy and life admin that entails (vaccinating panicking cats against the outside world, for one), while work continues at a steady clip. I can't wait personally, if only to escape the constant drilling going on in the collapsing gym next door.

Not much else going on apart from that, but I have made another compilation, and my phrase of the day is the local equivalent of "who is [x] when they're at home?", except here it's "who is [x] when they're in the queue for bread?" I quite like the imagery, very Eastern Bloc.

Anyway, let's catch up soon!

Below the Fredline

18.05.21 - Quem não arrisca não petisca

Halloooo,

Hope all well and there is light at the end of the lockdown tunnel, etc. Over here we've just signed the contract for our new three-bedroom bastard house in the country and are making plans to move at the end of the month, which is rather exciting. 

A bit daunting too, given the distances and expenses involved, but as they say here, "quem não arrisca não petisca", i.e. "nothing ventured nothing gained", or to translate literally: "he who doesn't take a risk doesn't snack" (it's one of those sayings which probably only caught on because it rhymes).

Elsewhere I have made another mixtape, and am greatly enjoying my birthday present, "The [Prince & the Pauper & the] Porpoise". We had both sets of grandparents round on Sunday for a slap-up meal, and are otherwise engaged in the minutiae of moving house which should keep us busy for a while yet.

Speak soon!

Back to Fredlam

11.05.21 - Indaiatuba

Halloooo,

Hope all well. We may have finally bloody cracked the case of the missing house, following a trip to Indaiatuba - fun to visit, and to say, as it turns out - to see a few neighbourhoods, check out the centre of town and have a nice lunch, before heading to Itatiba to see another possibility. 

We saw two houses that we really liked, which are both a little outside our budget but would be much better than living in another São Paulo shoebox, and we're in the process of sealing the deal, so fingers crossed!

In other news we assembled the grandparents on Sunday for Brazilian Mother's Day, which was rather lovely and involved lots of food; I made another mixtape; and my word of the day is, well, "Indaiatuba", which I have just learnt is old Tupi-Guarani for "an abundance of palm trees" ("Ubatuba" is "an abundance of canoes", and Itatiba is "a lot of rocks", FYI)

Watch this space! Speak soon,

Fred

04.05.21 - Lagarta-de-fogo

Halloooo,

Hope all good witchu! As you know I turned 34 on Thursday in fairly understated fashion, with a full day's work followed by wine, cake and esfihas (not in that order), and also got not one but three separate gifts from work, including iFood vouchers and a fancy pillow, which is laying it on a bit thick if you ask me.

We've been turning up the heat on the old house-hunting lark, and saw a few stopgap options which were actually not terrible last week and yesterday afternoon, which gives me hope. We're also toying with moving out of town for the space, and to save money, so will probably go and visit places like Indaiatuba and Atibaia at the weekend.

Elsewhere I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day goes out to all the hairy caterpillars we saw on our long-delayed return to the Horto Florestal on Sunday (the last time we went was with you!). Their gimmick is to fall out of trees and burn you with their acid-tipped hair, hence the nickname "lagarta-de-fogo" or "fire caterpillar" - one of many fun names for them, apparently. The ones we saw looked peaceful enough though, getting ready to turn into moths, etc.

That's all for now, speak soon!

May the Fredth be With You