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10/19/03: Settling, unsettling

My last apartment in Chicago was off of Augusta Street. My first apartment in S?o Paulo is off of Rua Augusta. Go figure that coincidence. If I had any belief in signs I?d be happy, but right now I'm also sort of squatting here so I'm more likely to be crossing my fingers. The lady that owns the building lives in another city a few hours away. The friend who left me the place has to go back to the US in a few weeks. He figures that once the dona da casa sees that rent money is still making it into her bank account, she'll put up with not knowing the tenants rather than come all the way back to S?o Paulo to fix it up, put out an ad, then wait a rent-free month for new tenants. And I figure I?ll trust Brazilian informality and risk of getting thrown out on short notice. The neighborhood is interesting and the place is substantial, cheap, well-furnished, well-equipped, and, well, it's damn hard for tourist visa expatriates to get their own lease anyway. In fact, if the appliances and plumbing weren't so strange to me (just what is a hose running from the wall between a toilet and sink used for?), I'd say it's probably the most comfortable place I've had.

And the neighborhood - called Jardins which kind of runs down the hill on the southwest side of Avenida Paulista - would remind me much of Lincoln Park if I had to describe it in Chicago terms. Lots of little boutiques; signs for Chanel, Armani, Diesel; ample restaurants and cafes and Interent places; a cheap vegetarian rod?zio; lots of interesting little high end bookstores, including one that carries an enviable selection of English language magazines (so I can still keep up with Frieze and Art Forum, however highly priced they get here). In Centro, where I was the past two weeks, the only offerings were Bingo and opportunities to catch gonorrhea.

I enjoy pretending to live here. There's a fresh produce and meat market where I?ll pick up two unfamiliar fruits and I'll play as if I'm comparing them even though I?ve never seen such things in my life. There's a huge park where acutely extroverted old women will chat with me with no regard to my atrocious level of Portuguese. There's lots of those impossibly beautiful professionals who wear dark sunglasses and walk little dogs and me walking by, homeless, placeless, and completely mute to whether I'm dumb or funny or interesting or whatever my story is but, keeping quiet, I?ll blend in okay.

Among the many miscellaneous objects I've inherited in my new apartment is a Brazilian desk calendar that includes every little professional recognition holiday that apparently exists here. Today is both Registrar's Day and International Air Traffic Controller's Day, while tomorrow I'll be celebrating... hmm... Publicist's Day as well as Public Expediter's Day (that's the best English title I can make up for Despachante P?blico), followed by Aviator's Day on Wednesday. After that, Saturday is all at once Cobbler's Day, Dentist's Day, and Orthodontist's Day. So many parties to go to, I'm sure to be passed out in the gutter by Public Functionary Day next Monday.

I've some posts up on the fotolog. There?s more coming. Do have a look.

posted by jeremy @ 3:33 PM