BWC2014 - 31st May (Day 17 - 4th Working Day)

I was early today and had time to try out the bus to the stadium.  The Google map actually showed some of the possible buses.  I didn’t understand why I could get lost on Thursday!  Finally, I made it to the stadium by bus!

 This weekend was the training days for the rest of the volunteers in Brasilia.  When I arrived, there were already many volunteers queuing to get in.  Bid had already came.  Before lunch, we began the day by packing up those food bags nicely into boxes and cleaned up the area filled with plastics and paper bags.

Full house at the dining area!

Unlike previous quiet days, lunch time task was so different today!  When the crowd started to rush in like the flood water, we hardly could handle the flow even with three of us at the drink station.  Mainly, because we needed to stamp on their drink cards, and most of them were only struggling to take them out at the drink counter.  Later, the queue was controlled, where the people wouldn’t come in all at a time and saved us from muddling anymore.

Eder, one of the catering
helper, and me!

I met Didi and Aldo again who were also attending the training.  When the lunch hour finally ended around 2:30pm, Bid told us that we were free for the day!  Marcus, my fellow Catering co-workers, who stayed near Vicente Pires offered to drive me home!  I couldn’t refuse at all and quickly got my bag from the cloakroom and bid goodbye to the rest.

Marcus was a flight attendant but now an Anotomy lecturer!  I found out from him that the newly bicycle available around the city was actually only R$10 for a year!  More importantly, the first hour was free!!  Just like those in Kaohsiung when I was in Taiwan last year.  I was so excited because I could finally say goodbye to 30min walk to and fro between the bus terminal and the stadium!   

Marcus and I left the stadium at 3pm and half an hour later, I reached home!  Today, there was a birthday party for the mother of a good friend of Fernanda, Lhorena, held at her house!  Last Saturday, when I met Fernanda’s friends at home, Lhorena invited me too!  I thought I was going to miss it but work surprisingly ended early and coincidently, I got a quick ride back home as well!

Lhorena’s house was not too far away.  We reached there around 6pm and the compound was full with cars.  After getting a slot to park, we saw Lhorena and her boyfriend Felipe immediately.  Felipe introduced his parents to me.  I smiled and lost for words.  Those Portuguese phrases that I tried to memorized before the party, just went missing in my mind.  We walked in and saw Andre, who were already there with his girlfriend.  Fernanda brought me to meet the birthday girl and later Lhorena’s father.  They were very welcoming and hospitable!!  Her father also introduced his friends to me!  They were really patience trying to teach me some Portuguese! 

At the kitchen, I met Lhorena’s grandma who has a very harmonious and amicable look!  She patted my head and stroked my hair just like my grandmother.  Tonight’s meal was all her effort!  Lhorena introduced me to mandioca, which is some kind of root that grow mostly by the Indian and tasted like potatos!  As always, the beef was wonderful!!  Lhorena also has two younger brothers, Mattheu, who is a very good friend of Andre, and the youngest, Gabriel. 

Performers hired for Lhorena's
mother birthday party!

We all started off with beer, and then basically everything else goes after that.  It was also my first time having whiskey with coconut drink!  This formation is very common in Brazil!  It actually taste pretty good because the coconut drink wasn’t too sweet.  Of course there was also the famous national hard liquor, cachaça, which we had in shot and ended with some fresh lime.  Even the wine that I brought, which was meant to be the birthday present, was all in our stomach!

The birthday girl showing her talent!

There was also a performer hired, singing with his guitar, creating the atmosphere to it’s climax!  The birthday girl and many guests, including Fernanda, were singing and dancing together as well.  She also like to sing a lot and sometimes go to karaoke here with her friends, where there were mainly Brazilian songs with little English songs.  However, they said Japanese songs were surprisingly a lot too! 

We drank, chit-chat, drank more, chit-chat again, and drank even more.  Before we leave, we had some more food for supper.  The party actually started at noon and when we left around 11pm, it was never near the end yet!  Brazilian really knows how to party!  Few days later, Bid even told me that his parents held his one-year old birthday party for 3 days!!

Backed home and a little tipsy, I quickly took my shower and knocked down immediately.  I knew I would surely have a tough job tomorrow morning to wake up at 6:30am for work!