Gringolândia is Ready to Open... We just need STUDENTS
Tuesday, 28. August 2007, 12:01:53
Blog for the week ending August 27, 2007
TUESDAY, August 21, 2007
Heidi and Eliana helped me with Gringolândia business today. Heidi and I had lunch downstairs from Gringolândia.
I got a haircut just down the street from Gringolândia.
I worked on handing out flyers in the neighborhood and at Carrefour.
In the evening I picked up the Gringolândia banner and took it back to the school, where Célio will hang it up.
I got home by 7:00, and worked on the blog.
Mom called.
WEDNESDAY, August 22, 2007
Célio put up the Gringolândia banner this morning.
I went to Gringolândia just before noon, and had lunch at the restaurant downstairs. I missed Heidi, since she had to go to the bank. Eliana came by in the afternoon, and I spent the afternoon working on advertising, organizing teaching materials, and getting ready to process students when they show up. A university student who wants to teach English came by, and can’t wait to sign up for teacher training class. The yellow pages guy came by and asked if I wanted to advertise in the Lista Telefónica. I talked to Rodrigo about getting a big huge sign out front on the sidewalk.
A potential student came by and can’t wait to sign up for classes. He’s an advanced English student studying linguistics at the university, and he wants to be an English teacher.
On my walk home this evening I dropped off more flyers wherever rich people hang out.
This evening Guilherme and Glória came by and picked me up so we could go to Gato Escaldado, The Scalded Cat, where I had orange juice. From there we went to an ice cream place... and the pharmacy, where they had Kevin cologne displayed next to Wood cologne. I’ll return with my camera.
THURSDAY, August 23, 2007
This morning I watered all the plants in Bob’s garden. I think I’ve only killed one since he left!
I met Heidi and watched her eat her lunch at Subway before she had to go home. Then I had a lunch of rice and beans at the nearby pool hall.
I stopped by Farmácia JK to take photos of their cologne display. They had KEVIN cologne placed right next to WOOD cologne.
The staff helped me with my photography endeavor.
I spent the whole afternoon at Gringolândia. Eliana helped with passing out flyers, and we both answered the phone and talked to people who came in asking about English classes.
Mônica's daughter, Laila, passed out 120 flyers at the condo where they live, so I treated them to ice cream at Fulô do Cerrado.
Red GLOB grapes are on sale this week... for about a dollar a pound.
I got home around 6:30, and about an hour later Guilherme came by and installed Skype on our home computer, so now I can call the US for about two cents a minute... or for free, if the other party has Skype installed, too.
Today I missed my Dad’s burial and memorial service in Oregon.
FRIDAY, August 24, 2007
I worked at home in the morning, and met Heidi for lunch at Chão Cerrado. She went back to the tattoo studio, and I walked on to Gringolândia. People called and stopped by to get info about the classes, and I took care of other business. I’ve been working on curriculum, just in case paying students sign up.
I got home around 6:00, and shortly after that Ricardo picked me up for the one-year anniversary of the program he and Eliana have been working with at their church...
The Program for the Eradication of Child Labor.
There were about 350 people at the evening event.
There was chocolate cake.
And chicken-corn soup.
I took about 275 photos.
...Including this one of Sônia and me.
I didn't take this photo.
or this one of me with the pastor...
Ricardo took this photo...
and this one, in which trick photography makes it look like I'm working...
When I got home I called Brian on Skype.
SATURDAY, August 25, 2007
This morning Ricardo, Eliana, and Vitória came by and picked me up to take me to Gringolândia, where they had arranged to have a sergeant from the officer’s housing come by to talk to us. We thought he was coming at 9:00, but he came after 11:00. No problem. Ary was very impressed with Gringolândia, and he’ll make sure that each one of the 500 families in the housing complex will get a copy of our flyer with his endorsement on it.
He’ll be even more excited if and when Brian offers technical English classes there.
I have a few airplane books in my library.
Last night or this morning my new bookshelf was delivered...
identical to the other one we had.
Ricardo, Eliana, Vitória and I went out for lunch at Chão Cerrado,
and then they took me back to Gringolândia. Someone came by with a bid for a Gringolândia sign, but it was more money than I was expecting, so maybe we’ll just stick to cheap word-of-mouth to advertise our business.
I walked home, but I was out of watermelon, so I went to Tend Tudo. I talked to Brian on Skype. If you want to talk to us free, our Skype name is kevinbob7.
Edilson came over for a visit in the evening. We ate fruit salad and broa, but did I take any pictures?
SUNDAY, August 26, 2007
This morning I watered the plants. I only killed one of the plants so far.
The other ones that look dead kinda looked dead before Bob left.
Glória and Guilherme thought it was time for me to get out of town.
So, they invited me to to to Pirenópolis today for lunch.
Pirenópolis is a wonderful historical city, filled with churches,
hippies,
and tourists.
We went to my favorite restaurant.
It’s not so much for the food that I go there,
as it is for the view from the men’s room.
You get a great view of the courtyard.
We walked all around town, taking pictures, mostly.
I liked the place with the rainbow doors and windows.
We saw a photo exhibit in the old jail,
and I wanted to take pictures of the pictures, but I knew that would be cheating, so I took pictures of Guilherme behind bars instead.
We heard wild parrots all over the place, but this is the only one that stayed still long enough for a photo.
I tried out the new camera that I got when I was in the US.
On the way out of town I stopped and got some dried/candied cajú fruit, and some sesame biscuits.
This camera takes good night photos. From our house we have a great view of McDonald’s and the mall.
MONDAY, August 27, 2007
I met Heidi at CCAA this morning, and walked with her downtown, where we had lunch at Chão Cerrado. After lunch we ran some errands, and stopped by the tattoo studio, where I took photos of Lexy and Heidi.
Heidi walked Lexy to Dona Sirlene’s, and met me at Gringolândia later. The main event at Gringolândia was that I was interviewed by a writer for the Universitário newspaper. They’re doing an article... but... it’s really a well-disguised advertisement. For R$230, about 115 dollars, they’ll write a news article to your specifications. Needless to say, it will be a glowing article about Gringolândia. I kept thinking about the “PAID ADVERTISEMENT” disclaimer that the Seattle Times always used when they published fake news stories.
Later in the afternoon, Eliana and I walked to the sergeants’ housing in Anápolis City, to drop off about 600 flyers that will be distributed with the endorsement of one of the sergeants there. Oh, yeah. They'll all get a 30% discount. That should help.
I watched “The Eight-O’Clock Soap Opera”, which comes on at 9:05. Why do I bother, when my own life would make a much better soap opera. My life is full of surprises... such as... How did a rabid pacifist like me end up in league with sergeants from the Brazilian Air Force?
Bob calls every night. He's enjoying his final days in Ohio. Ricardo, Eliana and I will go to Brasília this Friday to pick him up at the airport.
TUESDAY, August 21, 2007
Heidi and Eliana helped me with Gringolândia business today. Heidi and I had lunch downstairs from Gringolândia.
I got a haircut just down the street from Gringolândia.
I worked on handing out flyers in the neighborhood and at Carrefour.
In the evening I picked up the Gringolândia banner and took it back to the school, where Célio will hang it up.
I got home by 7:00, and worked on the blog.
Mom called.
WEDNESDAY, August 22, 2007
Célio put up the Gringolândia banner this morning.
I went to Gringolândia just before noon, and had lunch at the restaurant downstairs. I missed Heidi, since she had to go to the bank. Eliana came by in the afternoon, and I spent the afternoon working on advertising, organizing teaching materials, and getting ready to process students when they show up. A university student who wants to teach English came by, and can’t wait to sign up for teacher training class. The yellow pages guy came by and asked if I wanted to advertise in the Lista Telefónica. I talked to Rodrigo about getting a big huge sign out front on the sidewalk.
A potential student came by and can’t wait to sign up for classes. He’s an advanced English student studying linguistics at the university, and he wants to be an English teacher.
On my walk home this evening I dropped off more flyers wherever rich people hang out.
This evening Guilherme and Glória came by and picked me up so we could go to Gato Escaldado, The Scalded Cat, where I had orange juice. From there we went to an ice cream place... and the pharmacy, where they had Kevin cologne displayed next to Wood cologne. I’ll return with my camera.
THURSDAY, August 23, 2007
This morning I watered all the plants in Bob’s garden. I think I’ve only killed one since he left!
I met Heidi and watched her eat her lunch at Subway before she had to go home. Then I had a lunch of rice and beans at the nearby pool hall.
I stopped by Farmácia JK to take photos of their cologne display. They had KEVIN cologne placed right next to WOOD cologne.
The staff helped me with my photography endeavor.
I spent the whole afternoon at Gringolândia. Eliana helped with passing out flyers, and we both answered the phone and talked to people who came in asking about English classes.
Mônica's daughter, Laila, passed out 120 flyers at the condo where they live, so I treated them to ice cream at Fulô do Cerrado.
Red GLOB grapes are on sale this week... for about a dollar a pound.
I got home around 6:30, and about an hour later Guilherme came by and installed Skype on our home computer, so now I can call the US for about two cents a minute... or for free, if the other party has Skype installed, too.
Today I missed my Dad’s burial and memorial service in Oregon.
FRIDAY, August 24, 2007
I worked at home in the morning, and met Heidi for lunch at Chão Cerrado. She went back to the tattoo studio, and I walked on to Gringolândia. People called and stopped by to get info about the classes, and I took care of other business. I’ve been working on curriculum, just in case paying students sign up.
I got home around 6:00, and shortly after that Ricardo picked me up for the one-year anniversary of the program he and Eliana have been working with at their church...
The Program for the Eradication of Child Labor.
There were about 350 people at the evening event.
There was chocolate cake.
And chicken-corn soup.
I took about 275 photos.
...Including this one of Sônia and me.
I didn't take this photo.
or this one of me with the pastor...
Ricardo took this photo...
and this one, in which trick photography makes it look like I'm working...
When I got home I called Brian on Skype.
SATURDAY, August 25, 2007
This morning Ricardo, Eliana, and Vitória came by and picked me up to take me to Gringolândia, where they had arranged to have a sergeant from the officer’s housing come by to talk to us. We thought he was coming at 9:00, but he came after 11:00. No problem. Ary was very impressed with Gringolândia, and he’ll make sure that each one of the 500 families in the housing complex will get a copy of our flyer with his endorsement on it.
He’ll be even more excited if and when Brian offers technical English classes there.
I have a few airplane books in my library.
Last night or this morning my new bookshelf was delivered...
identical to the other one we had.
Ricardo, Eliana, Vitória and I went out for lunch at Chão Cerrado,
and then they took me back to Gringolândia. Someone came by with a bid for a Gringolândia sign, but it was more money than I was expecting, so maybe we’ll just stick to cheap word-of-mouth to advertise our business.
I walked home, but I was out of watermelon, so I went to Tend Tudo. I talked to Brian on Skype. If you want to talk to us free, our Skype name is kevinbob7.
Edilson came over for a visit in the evening. We ate fruit salad and broa, but did I take any pictures?
SUNDAY, August 26, 2007
This morning I watered the plants. I only killed one of the plants so far.
The other ones that look dead kinda looked dead before Bob left.
Glória and Guilherme thought it was time for me to get out of town.
So, they invited me to to to Pirenópolis today for lunch.
Pirenópolis is a wonderful historical city, filled with churches,
hippies,
and tourists.
We went to my favorite restaurant.
It’s not so much for the food that I go there,
as it is for the view from the men’s room.
You get a great view of the courtyard.
We walked all around town, taking pictures, mostly.
I liked the place with the rainbow doors and windows.
We saw a photo exhibit in the old jail,
and I wanted to take pictures of the pictures, but I knew that would be cheating, so I took pictures of Guilherme behind bars instead.
We heard wild parrots all over the place, but this is the only one that stayed still long enough for a photo.
I tried out the new camera that I got when I was in the US.
On the way out of town I stopped and got some dried/candied cajú fruit, and some sesame biscuits.
This camera takes good night photos. From our house we have a great view of McDonald’s and the mall.
MONDAY, August 27, 2007
I met Heidi at CCAA this morning, and walked with her downtown, where we had lunch at Chão Cerrado. After lunch we ran some errands, and stopped by the tattoo studio, where I took photos of Lexy and Heidi.
Heidi walked Lexy to Dona Sirlene’s, and met me at Gringolândia later. The main event at Gringolândia was that I was interviewed by a writer for the Universitário newspaper. They’re doing an article... but... it’s really a well-disguised advertisement. For R$230, about 115 dollars, they’ll write a news article to your specifications. Needless to say, it will be a glowing article about Gringolândia. I kept thinking about the “PAID ADVERTISEMENT” disclaimer that the Seattle Times always used when they published fake news stories.
Later in the afternoon, Eliana and I walked to the sergeants’ housing in Anápolis City, to drop off about 600 flyers that will be distributed with the endorsement of one of the sergeants there. Oh, yeah. They'll all get a 30% discount. That should help.
I watched “The Eight-O’Clock Soap Opera”, which comes on at 9:05. Why do I bother, when my own life would make a much better soap opera. My life is full of surprises... such as... How did a rabid pacifist like me end up in league with sergeants from the Brazilian Air Force?
Bob calls every night. He's enjoying his final days in Ohio. Ricardo, Eliana and I will go to Brasília this Friday to pick him up at the airport.
WIDGETIZE
Virginia # 15. September 2007, 00:51
My name's Virginia and I was at Gringolândia's opening tonight. Everything was so nice and neat and the food, oh Lord, so good...too bad I'm on a diet now...
I had the chance of reading your flyers on Gringolandia's philosophy and I think that maybe, and at last, I have an English course that's just cut out for me. The idea of having small classes and individual attention is great! I have a graduate degree in English Translation but I feel I'm not as fluent in spoken English as I'd like to be. So, please, let me know when you have all your courses signed up or booked. I think I could be a potential student in one of your courses and also an English teacher in the near future, maybe. I filled out the application forms you handed in when I first visited Gringolândia and I am waiting for your call. Thank you once again for your attention.