27.08.24 - Picar mula

Halloooo,

Hope all well! It's been a chaotic end of winter here in São Paulo, with temperatures veering wildly between 30 and 6 degrees and back again, so we've been mainly staying in and taking care of business, although we managed to get out over the weekend and see Taynah and family on Friday, Andreia and co. for her birthday pizza buffet on Sunday, and Gaby's grandparents for afternoon tea. 

In other news, I've made a new compilation, and my phrase of the day ("to poke the mule") is a polite euphemism for "hitting the old dusty trail" and heading home. Appropriately for a week in which I guested on a podcast about how Brazilians never ask guests to leave their house if they can help it!

Speak soon,

Fred Right Hand

20.08.24 - Há males que vêm pelo bem

Hallooooo,

Hope all well. We were out and about this weekend - Gaby was invited to a lecture by a fellow psychologist at the USP, which as it turns out is a "city university" full of verdant pastures and empty campus buildings (it was Saturday, to be fair). 

So having wandered around for a bit we went on to the annual Festa da Achiropita, which was absolutely packed to the gills with people seeking out the parish's famous fogazzo (worth the hour and a half spent in a queue).  The next day we continued the Italian theme with a trip to the amusingly named Di Cunto restaurant and deli with Zila in tow, which was appropriately delicious.

In other news I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day (literally, "there are evils which arrive for good") roughly translates as "every cloud has a silver lining", or "blessing in disguise". 

And that's about it for noo - speak soon!

Shotgun Fredding

13.08.24 - Alegria compartilhada é alegria redobrada

Hallooooo,

Hope all well!

It's been unusually cold over here so we've mainly been huddled together for warmth in our draughty house, although we did brave the rain on Friday night to see Forfun, one of Gaby's favourite teenage punk-pop bands, play a huge comeback gig at the Allianz Parque, which was good clean healthy fun (although it did go on for hours, and they had a lot more reggae in their back catalogue than I anticipated). I'm taking her to see the Smashing Pumpkins in November as part of our cultural exchange...

We also went to Indaiatuba at the weekend, and on to Claudio's for a barbeque and the Olympics closing ceremony. In other news, I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the week comes from a Forfun song which itself cites a Swedish proverb (?) along the lines of "joy shared is joy doubled (and sadness shared is sadness halved)". Excuse my poor Swedish!

And that's about it - speak soon...

FredEvac

06.08.24 - Come quieto

Halloooo,

Hope all well. We've been getting back down to business after a week away, and also stricken with the flu, so not a lot to report except for a lot of Olympics-watching and flopping about!

In other news I've made a new compilation, plus two new themed mixtapes for the boys, and my phrase of the week ("eats quietly") refers to people who prefer to keep a low profile, i.e. us this past week...

And that's about it! Hopefully I'll have more for you next time I write. Speak soon!

Guided Freditation