DAY 13 - DAY 21.
Santiago (Chile) to Sao Paulo (Brazil) to Campinas (Brazil)

I few out of Santiago on Friday the 22nd of June on the 2pm flight with LAN. I flew with Ana, as she had changed her ticket so that we could fly together and make it easier for people to collect us from the airport. The flight over was a very enjoyable one and I wondered around the plane and chatted with Ana and Caroline (the girl from my Temuco flight). I think that Ana was very excited about the flight, as she had not been to Brasil for about 20 years, I was excited because I was going to Brasil for the first time and had heard so much about it. The flight over is about 4 hours long, but the most difficult section is the section crossing the Andes. It was a little bumpy.

We arrived in Sao Paulo about 30mins early and got through customs with very little fuss. However the customs officer was a little gruff. I guess that happens when there is a communication barrier. I had arranged with Alex to meet us the airport, so it was good to know that I would be alright on the other side, but thanks to Sao Paulo traffic, he was late. Karen’s parent’s house, near Campinas, is about 1.5hrs drive away, depending on traffic. Now in Sao Paulo, it can get very bad. 15 Million (Basically Australian’s population in one city) all trying to get around on the same roads can lead to a lot of traffic jams. It’s a regular occurrence. As we were flying over Sao Paulo, the city just kept going and going… we came in on sunset and it was just one huge light show… Alex and Karen were late because traffic on a Friday night is just the worst. I didn’t care, as it meant I could just relax a bit after the flight and get my first taste of Brazil. In Brazil they have what they call Bread Cheese. It’s basically bread infused with cheese and eaten heated. It’s great, but not good for people with that gluten disease (lucky I don’t have it..!!!)

The drive to Karen’s House was just amazing. Cars, Buses and trucks changing lanes everywhere and no one was fussed about it. One good thing is that truck and buses always return to the far right hand lane (they drive opposite to Oz), which I think is great and should be enforced in Australia. Alex was driving and doing the same, it felt like we were racing car drivers and racing along the freeway. I think that everyone here thinks they are Aryton Senna or Rubens Barrichello. Ohhh, they have tolls here too, with the strangest values. I always ask, “Why the 30 cents, or 90cents, why not make it a round figure?” I just get strange looks from people.

Karen’s parent’s house is beautiful. It’s in a ‘country’ estate, where the blocks are bigger than average, but your neighbours are still right next to you. It’s about the same size house as my parents place and I felt at home straight away. I have noticed that houses here have a lot of marble or tiles on the floor. There isn’t much carpet and I think that it’s because it gets real hot here in the summer. The days here are averaging 20-25 deg C. so I am loving it. I met Karen’s parents, one of her sisters, Andrea, and the old lady that lives with them, they call her Grandma, but I don’t think she is. The next day we had a bbq and most of the rest of the family came over. There were kids everywhere, then I realised the extent of the family. The parents have 5 daughters and 1 son. The 3 eldest married daughters have 8 kids between them and the son has 1. Andrea has a boyfriend and Karen has Alex. It is a big family, but I love that, as I grew up with a big family too (just not as big as theirs).

They are building a bbq house on the property and have engaged a builder, who knows his stuff, but he’s just very slow. It looks like he was half done when I arrived and he had been at it for 3 weeks. Something like that, Dad and I would have had finished in that time. However I guess it’s just they way things are done. I did scratch my head when he kept asking Manuel (Karen’s Dad) for tools. Sub-contracted workmen in Australia always have their own tools. The electrical wiring fell to Alex and I to do. Now this is something I don’t understand. They run 2 power sources here in Brasil, 220Vac and 110Vac both at 50Hz (I think). They say to get 220Vac; you just add 2 phases of 110Vac together. Now I always thought that power on different phases, where on different phases and couldn’t be added together (maybe I’m a bit rusty with my electricity knowledge). I think that they are using the wrong term in ‘phase’. I think that they are the same phase, just a different source. Maybe someone can send me an email to clarify it for me. I confess that I am a little confused about that one.

Alex and I had a list of things to build or wire to get things right for the wedding. Wire the BBQ house, wire the garden for lighting and build a decking over the swimming pool, etc. The deck was for the wedding ceremony so that Karen, Alex and the 2 Ministers (Pasters) could stand on it for the ceremony. It just seemed that nothing ever was struck off the list, as new things kept being added and focus was shifted. Focus people… Please!!! Alex and I also drove to Sao Paulo for the day to drop off an ultrasound machine for repair for the Mum (she is a Doctor) and for Alex to go for a job interview. I was the navigator with a street directory that was valid for 1995. After his Interview we had 4hrs until we needed to be at the airport to collect Paul, Danni, Natalia, Papi, and the boys from Los Angeles (the guys I met in 2000). So Alex and I put the road map book away and ‘went for a drive’. Where we were going who knows…. Turn left, now right… go straight… now right…. “Where are we?”, “who knows who cares!!!!” It was a fun 1-1.5hrs…We then thought, it’s time to go to the airport.. Where is the sun? Ok to head north, keep the sun to our left and eventually we will hit the freeway we need for the airport. Great fun… even when we got wrong directions from other drivers. I love this kind of activity.

As a group, we also went to a Churrasqueria for lunch. Now this place is a restaurant where it is all you can eat and they bring the meats to you. You only need to get the salad. Most people don’t eat the salads. Different meats form different animals, one after the other. It never ends… You basically point out the slab of cooked meat you want and they cut it right there and you just keep eating. I was getting more meat on the plate than what I was taking off. So much for the diet… What diet, you’re in South America, you don’t need to diet, you need to eat… It was a lovely meal and I think that it only cost us about $10 Australian dollars each, which included our drinks.


All said and all activities undertaken, we got the job done, with about 5 minutes to spare, just enough time to have a shower and a shave and to get dressed into my suit for the wedding. I will put more info about the wedding on my next entry.