Recife - Sat June 21

Up very early (5 am) again. Not sure how many days I can go on 4 hours sleep, but it hasn't been a problem so far.

A local friend went way beyond the bounds of the prideland to help me get a SIM card (that's "chippy" to you) for my phone.

Without internet, it has been tough when we leave our apartment to do basic things like find a restaurant or taxi.

Brazil is unlike the US in many ways. For one thing, taxis don't have GPS, so it is 50/50 that they won't know an address on the other side of town.

Anyway, my friend (obrigado, Raphael!) took me to a Wal-mart-y place to buy a SIM card for my ancient Droid X2. No luck getting it to work. So we took a chance and bought a SIM for my son's iPhone, which I had the 20/20 hindsight to leave at the apartment, where it would do me the least possible good.

To buy a SIM card in Brazil, you need a CPF (the equivalent of a SSN). Without it, the verification process is very long, especially due to current demand by foreigners flooding the country.

Regardless, for R$19 ($10 US), I got a SIM card that should get me sufficient data connectivity at about 50 cents per day!

I was assured that it would probably work in an iPhone.

Four short hours later, my son and I had succeeded in trimming the micro SIM to nano size.  Goooooollllll! Like most things in Brazil, I highly recommend using a template. Man, am I glad I brought my laptop and that my apartment landlord left a working HP printer! I guess there are some benefits to having to do some work while on vacation.

Newly empowered by mobile internet, we felt we had a lot more options getting around Brazil while still being able to call on friends and google for emergency assistance while mobile. Would have come in very handy last night (that's what she said).

We spent the day regrouping, catching up on logistics, and doing basic life things.

We walked to Shopping, and perused the offerings (R$200 for a Japan jersey, R$229 for Brazil, about $100).

Found the FIFA Ticketing Center, tucked away in the parking garage at Shopping) to inquire about replacing a torn ticket.

Went to the supermarket (yes, there is a supermarket in the mall). Store was packed (as we found out the next day, malls are closed on Sunday morning, so Saturday is a big shopping day). We bought about 10x what any other customer had in their cart, even though they sold only three types of cereal. Everywhere we go, guardian angels give us important guidance, such as, "they don't sell half-and-half and you won't find it in any coffee shop either." I couldn't understand anything the cashier was saying to me. Luckily my lovely wife speaks the universal language of checkout lines.

We had trouble finding the store exit (like when you walk through Macy's to exit a mall), because it had already gotten dark outside and we were looking for light.

Walked home with our groceries.


My lovely wife mastered the washing machine (luckily, she also speaks the universal language shared by those), while I got to figure out the drying rack attached to the ceiling. Think of a hybrid between a clothesline, curtain string, and trapeze. Pictures to follow, some day.

Watched some soccer on TV (Messi had a nice goal. Bosnia-Herzegovenia got robbed).

Not sure what else we did...I think we cooked some dinner at home.

I must be leaving something out so maybe someone will job my memory later.

We were still pretty wiped out from all the excitement and travel of Friday's game, so we just took it easy.

Boa tarde!