And so, the visit to Rio de Janeiro was over. I was very well impressed with the city. It’s been a long time since I was there and quite to my surprise I found a city a lot prettier and cleaner the Sao Paulo. The violence remains the same – or worst – but the ample streets, the beautiful girls, the beaches and the whole atmosphere were different than those of Sao Paulo.

Mila, who helped us through the entire trip driving us places and being available, took us to the airport for our departure. Then, something happened that upset me. Maybe I am over reacting or maybe I am really getting old and grumpy but in my opinion it was one of the most impolite things one could do. I had already checked in and we were waiting for the boarding time outside the gate, chatting a bit while we waited. Then, when I was in the middle of a sentence, from the speakers came an announcement of an arriving flight. Mila wanted to listen to it so what did she do? She put her hand over my mouth to shut me up and shushed me. Just like that. I was chocked. How rude can that be? I was so upset that I just couldn’t keep quiet about it; I just had to say something. And I did. In the most polite and soft way I could find, almost in a whisper, I said: please, don’t ever do this again. Some people might not mind such rudeness but I do, and I regard this just as heavily as you telling me to shut the f*%@k up. She apologized and I tried my best not to look so affected about it, so she wouldn’t feel bad.

The night before she did something similar during dinner. I was going to serve myself a bit more of something and she pushed my hand away saying if I had that extra bit I would not be able to eat the main course. Well, I don’t know about you but I like to decide things for myself. If she had asked “are you going to be able to eat the main course if you keep eating?” it would be fine but pushing my hand away?!? Hey, hello, I’m not a 5-year-old anymore!!! Humph!

Anyway, I got to Sao Paulo in the afternoon, took Fabi home, talked to a few people and got ready to meet the Genesys guys and my cousin who I hadn’t seen in 19 years. She is the sister of the cousin I mentioned I met in Rio. I almost didn’t recognize her. It’s funny how our brain works. Last time I saw her, she was cute 6 or 7-year-old and though I knew she wasn’t a kid anymore, I was very astound to find a beautiful well spoken young woman, working in a big company and owner of her life and future. She is amazing! The sweetest person ever, very humorous, loving and smart.

We met at Hooters Sao Paulo (first one in Brazil) and had a few wings and shrimp with my friends from Genesys. I was very glad to see they all got along fine. I think that, at first, since we were talking mostly about work and the Genesys market in Latin America, she was a bit bored. But soon enough she joined the chat and everything was fine. We’re going to meet again on Monday.

Rê, our former secretary in Genesys, was there too. She’s just too funny. In no time she befriended my cousin and they were scheduling club visits and stuff. After dinner, around 11pm, Rê took me to get my flight ticket to Sao Luis. The flight was originally scheduled for 6am, but was later changed to 7:30am, a change much appreciated.

I had a few hours of good sleep before hitting the road again. The flight was on time but the trip was awfully long because all the stops. Charter flights are like that. They are cheap but you cannot ask for much. It was ok, after all, I’m on vacations, I have the time.

After 8 hours (good enough to get to Europe), I arrived in Sao Luiz of Maranhão, north of Brazil, national capital of Reggae music. I came to visit my younger sister, father and relatives. This is my first time in Sao Luiz. My sister was complaining that even my mother, who lived in Japan, had already visited but I never did. So, before she deserted me I decided to come for a visit.

Sao Luis was another huge surprise for me. I wasn’t expecting such a beautiful city. Though I was a bit tired from the trip and all that happened during these past few days, my father took me for a stroll on the old city and sea side. The old part of Sao Luiz is gorgeous and romantic. It’s over 500 years old and there you can find the old constructions, still preserved and intact. Portuguese tiles, painted by hand individually, the pier where French and Portuguese used to fight to decide who would rule the new found land, streets of marble brought from Europe… Brazilian history still alive.

We visited a local museum and ended up having a quick meal in a place where they have a so called “pre-carnival”. I must confess, for the first time in my entire life, I liked it. Usually, carnival is too loud, too violent or just too explicit for me to appreciate. I hate crowds and just the idea of having hundreds of sweating people, drinking, shouting meaningless lyrics, pushing and pulling in a senseless mess… well, it disgusts me. But here, it’s different! It’s a family thing, people having fun. The way Carnival should always be. Probably, the way it was before. I will brief you about it later…