The weekend that was rained out... and yet not?!

As many of you may or may not be aware I had plans of going to Rio de Janeiro this weekend with Sonia who had been visiting me this past week. We canceled our trip to Rio mainly because of the weather has been so terrible in Rio (although they haven't had the mudslides that our state has). Anywho, I managed to salvage the weekend by taking advantage of some work related extra curricular activities. I have lots to write about so I will start with Firday night then write the rest as I have time.

Friday:

Replicating an ancient tradition at Stela, we have re-started playing Football on Fridays. Although their version of Football has none of the same rules that we are used to. It resembles something closer to a combination of soccer, theater and pretending to be an airplane.

12 or 13 of us participated and it was a lot of fun. We all met directly after work at the gas station where it is customary for football teams to drink their warm up round of beer before heading to the inside turf field (Similar to hockey "cerveja leagues" in Canada). We divided up some teams and proceeded to the kickoff. They are really terrible at this part and I think that I can really help them on strategy here. Anyway like I said, they pretty much play only with their feet, which is primarily why I draw the comparison to soccer.



I got the ball within about 2 minutes into the game. I ran for about 10 metres and proceeded to fall for no apparent reason. I explained to them that in Canada, when you play with a new group it is proper etiquette to fall flat on your face, (preferably scraping your knee) when first touching the ball. This, I explained is a sign of respect to the other players and their ancestors. I'm pretty sure that they appreciated my gesture and we continued to play but this time with a deeper understanding of our cultural differences.

We played for about an hour after which I was dead. I need to play some hockey to get my "wind" back. This is a good way to do it. Anyway that accounts for my Friday night. I went home and straight to be cause Saturday was a big day and only a lead up for Sunday (lots of video and pictures and celebrities).

Stay tuned!