29.12.21 - Jacaré que vacila vira bolsa de madame

Halloooo,

Hope all well witchu. In the amorphous post-Christmas haze I seem to have forgotten what day it is, hence the lateness of this week's email. 

The festive period was fine, in that we had the in-laws and all the grandparents over for more than 24 hours and no one fell out with each other. We were then swallowed by a tropical storm while driving Zila back to São Paulo, and our brakes began to give out on the way back, prompting an emergency stop at the local garage. 

The best bit of the holidays so far has been the last two days of absolute inertia, where the most taxing item on my agenda has been retro-fitting Gaby's old iPhone for myself.  May it last until we have to go back to work on Monday...

No compilation to speak of this week, other than this out-of-date Christmas one, but I do have a rather cool new phrase which translates as "a hesitating alligator becomes a lady's purse" - basically, "you snooze, you lose".

Speak soon!

Once in Royal David's City, stood a lowly cattle Fred

21.12.21 - Pimenta nos olhos dos outros é refresco

Hallooooo,

Greetings from Indaiatuba, where we're clinging on for dear life until the Xmas hols (Gaby's start today, mine tomorrow!). 

No sooner had Gaby and I recovered from a nasty dose of the flu, I was stricken with a mystery fever during an overnight trip to São Paulo and had to rough it out in a series of cafés until we could head home to rest up. Meanwhile our garden continues to be overrun by feral children and termites, Berry seems hell-bent on escape and even Valente briefly turned into a merciless apex predator on Sunday, catching, crushing and eating a bird whole as we ineffectually tried to stop him. Long story short, we could really do with a few days off!

In other news I've made a new mixtape, and my phrase of the day ("pepper in the eyes of another is refreshing") has something to do with downplaying other people's problems, or ignoring them altogether ("we always find the strength to bear the misfortunes of others", and all that). Oh and I finally finished the new Beatles documentary, which I can thoroughly recommend if you've got a spare 8 hours and a Disney+ subscription.

Speak soon!

Fred List for International Travel

14.12.21 - Cantou vitória antes da hora

Halloooo,

Hope all well and you had a whizzy jolly pre-Christmas time in England! Very much enjoyed the photos, and will happily contribute to a Powys Christmas single if that's still in the works. 

Over here we've been holding it together as the Xmas break looms ever closer, and first myself then Gaby succumbed to a pretty nasty cold. At the weekend we went to Aldeia da Serra for Bruna's parents annual pre-Xmas barbeque (my first in years, because of Covid and ill-fated European business trips), which was the usual maelstrom of food, drink and weird animatronic Christmas decorations, marred by one of the +1's misreading the room and getting extremely drunk and disorderly overnight.

Since then we've been entertaining the neighbourhood stray kids as they're on holiday, and preparing for a trip to São Paulo next weekend; I've made a new compilation; and my phrase of the day ("singing 'victory' ahead of time") is a cautionary tale for anyone counting their chickens before they hatch, as far as I can tell.

Speak soon!

Fred Guardian

07.12.21 - Quem converte não se diverte

Halloooo,

Lovely to see you all and hope all well in that there UK. 

I'm back in Brazil after a harrowing 32-hour trip, and back to writing these, having taken a week off on the basis that I was actually in the country, so you all knew what I was up to without my having to write it down. The same applies to this week's entry, but for the sake of my inner completist, let's recap:

I set off to London to catch up on my fish and chips and drizzle, before heading to Ely to see Tom & Grace, then on to Bergh Apton in the freezing rain to see Grandpa, Brenna, Callum and the wee bairns, put on an impromptu puppet show and head back to Stansted, on to Nice and then Antibes, only to be whisked across the border the next day to hang out with Juliet et al in Erli for a few days, which was rather lovely. Then back to Antibes for acapella singing, Scrabble and fish curry.

The trip back went about as well as it could have gone and was still utterly unbearable, with a ten-hour stopover in plugless Portuguese purgatory, a mad dash to get a last-minute lateral flow test in a shady parking lot, and a brutal two-hour slog through Brazilian immigration. I'm still getting over it to be honest, but it's good to be back.

I have a new compilation but Spotify is having one of its tantrums and isn't letting me upload it, so it'll have to wait. And my phrase of the day ("if you convert, you don't have fun") is often ruefully muttered by Brazilians before heading on holiday to countries with much stronger currencies than theirs.

Speak soon!

Fred Lightly

23.11.21 - Mais falso que nota de 3 reais

Halloooo,

Hope all well. This week we've been extensively celebrating Gaby turning 32, including a trip to São Paulo over the weekend, for multiple nights out with friends. I ate my own body weight in pizza and we brought Zila back to stand in for me on washing-up duties while I'm travelling.

On that note, I've been busy researching the finer points of Covid testing and will set off on an epic journey to London tomorrow, starting with 4 hours of buses just to get to the airport - wish me luck, and see you soon!

Oh, and here's another compilation, and a phrase of the week ("mais falsa que uma nota de 3 reais", or "faker than a 3 real note"), which is fairly self-explanatory. 

Ciao for now,

Fred Notice

16.11.21 - Quem com ferro fere, com ferro será ferido

Hallooooooo,

Hope this missive finds you all well - I've been recovering from a cold picked up on the way back from Bahia and preparing my trip to Europe next week, so not much to report here. We've just another bank holiday and long weekend, but since an invite to the Brazilian Grand Prix was not forthcoming we mostly stayed in, except for a rather extravagant barbeque at Claudio's on Saturday.

So I will leave you for now with another compilation, and a bit of tongue-twister of a saying of the week, "quem com ferro fere, com ferro será ferido" - "he who with iron injures, with iron shall be injured", a twist on "live by the sword, die by the sword".

Speak soon!

Fred (Taylor's Version)

09.11.21 - Água salgada, alma lavada

Halloooo,

Hope all well 'n such. 

We're back at home a little worse for the wear after an epic journey home from Barra Grande, a remote outcrop of the Bahia coastline only accessible via chartered boat, after a four-hour bus trip from Salvador - it was lovely and the sunsets and rock pools were amazing and I had an incredible caipirinha in a hollowed-out cocoa plant but on the other hand it rained pretty much constantly, the dirt roads turned to mush and we were left at the mercy of some particularly rapacious local bars.

Then the trip back on Saturday involved 12 hours of non-stop traveling across 8 different modes of transport, with so little turnaround between legs that I only had time to have a wee before boarding the plane because of our heroic and frankly reckless taxi-driver, who whisked us off the dock and across town in record time. Apart from that it was very relaxing and I have brought souvenirs for everyone.

Elsewhere I've made another compilation, and my phrase of the day ("água salgada, alma lavada", or "salt water, washed soul") is a more poetic way of saying "life's a beach".

Speak soon!

Shrimp Fred Rice