Pack, Just curious.

[HappyIdiot]

Hey Pack,

I'm curious what came of the idea of you going to Brazil?  Did you get any good correspondences going?

Take care.

[pack]

... in response to Pack,  Just curious., posted by HappyIdiot on Nov 24, 2001

sorry i didnt completely answer your post. yes i did get some responses from my corrosponding with brazil ladies, i recieved about 12 letters and have narrowed it down to 4 that i am in regularly corrosponding with. all seem to be nice ladies.

[HappyIdiot]

... in response to Re: Pack,  Just curious., posted by pack on Nov 25, 2001

I hope they are nice, and nice to you.

Are you writing in English or Portuguese?  I'm very fortunate in that Janne is fluent in English.

So you might be going to Rio or Sao Paulo?  Sounds like fun.

I know from writing then meeting someone, I was lucky.  I didn't really feel like the person changed from the person I was writing.  I just got to know them better.  All the little things that spending time with someone will reveal about their character.

Take care man, a lot of ladies are going to be crying when you get caught.  =)

[pack]

... in response to Re: Re: Pack,  Just curious., posted by HappyIdiot on Nov 25, 2001

hey Happyguy, im writting in english as i do not know one word of portuguese, amazingly i have found several ladies in brazil that speak and write english, the others all have a friend or relative that can translate for them . on my end i have a good friend lives just 6 miles from me that is brazillian and does the translating for me. most of the ladies email a couple of them send snailmail. one girl lives in the northeast part of brazil but the others live in and around sau paulo or in the Rio area. a couple of them want to come up here and visit, all the others have requested i come there to see them.

are you seeing just one special lady in brazil or are you in touch with several of them? when is your next trip to brazil?

i plan on getting caught...i tried to get caught in cali but as you know all i got was stuck in the ahhhhh lower back!

[HappyIdiot]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Pack,  Just curious., posted by pack on Nov 25, 2001

My friend Janne and I are pretty serious, so I'm not corresponding with anyone else.  If she doesn't get here for the holidays, I'll be going down there again then.  It's been a strain on both of us, waiting.

For your friend in northeast Brazil, Janne is in Belem (has a ` over the second e but I forget how to make it)  is that where your friend is?

Also, for the women that send snail mail, it seemed to me that the malls might have a place where they can rent time to email.  If that's something they would be interested in.  They should be able to set up an account with zipmail.com.br   When I was there, I checked my email at the mall, and I think it was R$2 for a half an hour, so I think that comes out to 50 or 75 cents US.

Just my 2 cents on women coming up here.  I think it is a big plus if they already have a passport and visa, but you might still want to go down there first just to understand the country and their family and environment a little better.  After you have met, and if you are both serious, then I could see inviting them up here.

Yeah, I know you've been planning to get caught.  You've been doing a lot to make your own "luck".  I'll be happy to hear about it as things progress.

[pack]

... in response to My pen!, posted by HappyIdiot on Nov 25, 2001

yes ...thats it Belem! she lives in a small town just east of Belem. talk about a small world. whats it like there? i know the town she lives in is very small but isnt Belem a fairly good size city?

thanks for the ideas, i'll try it.

[HappyIdiot]

... in response to Re: My pen!, posted by pack on Nov 25, 2001

You will like it.  If you have time to go over the holidays, and I end up going, maybe we can overlap some.  I should know in the next few weeks, and I'll keep you posted.

Belem is pretty good sized.  I'm west coast, but it seemed bigger than Portland, OR, but smaller than or maybe comparable to Seattle, WA.   I never did look up the actual numbers, but I found it a very comfortable city.  It's about 4 hours by bus to the Atlantic ocean too.  It has a very interesting (to me) history, since it was one of the places where there were colonial battles (between France and Portugal) for the struggle to control the Amazon basin and also it was the region where rubber came from prior to rubber trees being smuggled out and grown on plantations in Malaysia by Henry Ford. So there are a lot of architectural features from the rubber boom which I enjoyed.  If you are type A, you will definately need to downshift when you get there, but I found it comparable to my trips to Mexico.

Ask the girl if she eats farinha with everything.  (I think I spelled it right)  It's a regional food that looks kind of like a neon yellow shake and bake to me.  It's not too bad, but just one of the many interesting things about the area.  Janne's uncle runs a specialty store for it, so let me know if I can hook you up!  =)

I'm gonna ask Hoda if he can forward my email address to you, I don't really want to post it, because of all the hating that's been going on.  I'm thinking he has your address, but not sure.  That way if there's things you want to discuss in a non public forum we can.

[pack]

... in response to It's nice there., posted by HappyIdiot on Nov 25, 2001

no hoda doesnt have my email address. i dont think i can get down there that soon ,im thinking feb. or mar. . man it sounds like a great place to visit. my brazil friend really puts down the northeast area of brazil. i found out later from reading some info on brazil that different areas of brazil are very competitive and tend to put the other areas down. i know the brazillianas in the south Rio , sau paulo ,etc put down the northeast .

the girl im in contact with in the northeast is the one i like best, really cute and sweet,her father owns a business and she works there.

if the city is about the size of seattle then thats a good size city, seattle is what about 2+ million right?

[HappyIdiot]

... in response to Re: It's nice there., posted by pack on Nov 25, 2001

The city size seemed closer to that than Portland to me, but just like here, I have a hard time guessing with the suburbs and all.  I'm not sure the size of Seattle, because I think they've built up around it with suburbs for quite a radius.

February you won't get any extra points for Valentine's day, its celebrated in June I think.

I think there are regions that are considered very poor farther south along the coast in one of the neighboring states.  I can't remember the city name.

The flip side of that is that you might find the expectations realistic and the happiness from having a good, normal life higher there.

I don't know, but I'd consider it just about as much as you would consider people saying things about Texas or California or living in the South/North/East/West here.  It's good that they are proud of their own region.  I guess I mainly mentioned history and city size, because it is not all jungle there or recently settled.

[NW Jim]

... in response to City size, posted by HappyIdiot on Nov 25, 2001

According to a web site, population of Belem, Brazil is around 1.4 million people.

[pack]

... in response to Re: City size..., posted by NW Jim on Nov 25, 2001

thanks NWJim, big city but smaller than i thought. now is that just the city of Belem ? that doesnt count the subs and surrounding area right?

[pack]

... in response to Pack,  Just curious., posted by HappyIdiot on Nov 24, 2001

hi Happy, i have always been interested in seeing brazil and have always heard that the brazillian women are beautiful but never got around to going there i always ended up in cali .

recently i met a guy from brazil who lives here now he bought a Mail Box Etc franchise, well anyway he has been telling me alot about brazil and the women and he's got me very excited about going there, other than that i know very little about brazil.

[TexasRob]

... in response to Pack,  Just curious., posted by HappyIdiot on Nov 24, 2001

Pack,
If you decide on Rio let me know.  I have a very good friend there.  She is an attorny, lived there all her life, and would help you gather any info you might want.  

[pack]

... in response to Re: Pack - Brazil, posted by TexasRob on Nov 24, 2001

hey thanks TexasRob i am concidering visiting two cities Sau Paulo and Rio , yes i will contact you when the time comes , thanks again!