Oh! I keep forgetting to look at the toilet and which way the water swirls down here in the southern hemisphere. I promise that I'll report back. I had to check in North America cuz I never paid attention the last 43 years of my life. North America : counter clockwise.
The flight was fine, no delays, no major hangups. We had alot of toddlers on the overnight flight from Washington Dulles to Sao Paulo and they fussed alot of the night. I got a little sleep and spoke a bit to my seatmate from Brazil - Ricardo. But by far the best part is that I've lost some weight and sitting in an airplane seat in Economy is WONDERFUL!! No more gooshing against your neighbor, I even have space to wiggle around. That doesn't count for legroom though. Ugghhhh! I hate it when the person in front of me reclines! Then I'm stuck spraddle legged with one leg down the center and one over against the window - it's really hard on my knees.
Sorry, just spewing. So it's winter in Brazil. The people on my team from temperate climates are thinking that it's freezing, but 50` fahrenheit is no big deal. I brought lots of layers and scarves, so it's kinda nice. When the sun is out during the day it gets up to 70s and 80s. Evenings are a little chilly, we went up to this fabulous rooftop bar that looks out over the city last night. It was fantastic, very, very cosmopolitan! It's on the 9th floor and inside there's a pool of about 2 feet of water that it glassed in so that you can look down through it into the lobby 9 stories down. And there's a heated pool out on the patio that steams invitingly. I'm not sure that anyone swims in it? Maybe during the day? Or maybe it's just for effect at the cool bar? It made me feel hip, hard to do.
OH! I have an amazing hotel room, actually it's an apartment. It has 2 bedrooms! One has 2- twin beds and I found it first and thought, "well, I'd hoped for a bigger bed, but this is fine". Then I found the other bedroom with a double and couldn't believe that I have 2 bedrooms. I have a kitchen with most appliances and a living room and big balcony. It's pretty luxurious. I'm sitting at the breakfast bar typing while my maid is cleaning up. I feel guilty cuz I've only been here less than a day and she's cleaning EVERYTHING! It's really not necessary. I asked her, her name and she is Juanjita. She's trying to talk to me and I'm clueless - I wished that I had spent time with a tutor.
Well, it's Sunday and we have a walking tour in a bit, then a workshop with one of the gentlemen from one of our non-profits. He's going to run us through some decision making ideas so that we can deliver something to our client that is beneficial to both us and them.
AND tomorrow is our first day working. We all go to IBM- Sao Paulo, the Tutoia office. We meet with all of the IBM hierarchy, we need to be dressed up for photos and then we meet our clients for the first time. Because my client, Rodrigo Mendes is in a wheelchair, I asked how I should greet him since I cannot offer my hand to shake. I guess that I have a choice to lean in and do the Brazilian single cheek kiss, or I can just stand there and greet him with no touch. I'm not sure which will come more naturally. Then we drive to his Instituto and begin officially.
Pray for me, I'm worried that without money for software and gadgets, that Santhosh and I won't be able to offer much of value.
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