A Terra de Marlboro

Had my first class today. A lawyer named Marcus. He doesn't like the beach and is one day gonna travel Route 66 on a motorcycle.

I forgot how much I loved "teaching". (Quotation marks? Yes, quotation marks) It's not really teaching. It's more like spending a few minutes on a curriculum that somebody spent a lot of time making, and 45 minutes of chatting. Oh, don't look at me like I'm lazy. I asked the guy what he wants to focus on and he said conversation. Is it a crime to pick the topics based on what I'm interested in? Well, if it is then I've got a lawyer now who can defend me in two languages. So there.

My classes are one-on-one. They're all scheduled around the working hours of the students, so it's rare that I have even two consecutive classes. Today's was at 8:30, before work. I met at his office downtown. A really nice, modern building with the most glorious AC ever. We sat in a conference room. The company's maid brought us coffee and water. It was the first coffee I've had since I got here--which explains the headaches. I'm trying to quit anyway. I was becoming a Caffiend. (Damn, someone already beat me to it)

We talked about Wikileaks for a while and I asked him about Brazilian law. His exact words: "Brasil é a terra de Marlboro." Translation: Brazil is the land of Marlboro. What the hell does that mean? He asked if I remembered the old Marlboro cigarette commercials, the ones with the cowboys in the desert. I soon realized that the Brazilian equivolent for the Wild West is Marlboro Land.

A Terra de Marlboro

I personally love this phrase. First of all, because it shows how much Rio is influenced by American television. Second, because it's true. Brazil is the Land of Marlboro. It's a modern day Wild West over here. Sure Rio and São Paulo have established themselves as successful metropolises (metropoli?), but nothing here surprises me anymore. "In Brasil, you see thing that you never believe before," Marcus tells me. We need to work on his verb conjugations.

We have our next class tomorrow and then another on Thursday. I think that will be our schedule: Tuesday through Thursday. I'll have more students as things start to settle down after Carnaval. Until then, I'm gonna take advantage of the 100 degree beach days.

Oh yea, and one of the best strikers in the history of soccer retired yesterday: Ronaldo

Obrigado, Fenômeno