Fly me to the moon or not

So I've just got back from my round the world honeymoon, which why I've been absent from blogging for a while.

We chose to have a really small wedding and spend on our honeymoon, which I have to say I feel was a very wise option.

By the time I arrived in Maringa, I had taken 17 separate flights, visited innumerable cities in 5 countries spanning 3 continents. Enough bragging...

During this considerable time in the sky I experienced some of the terrible and wonderful ways in which airlines operate. In honour of this I would like to nominate some of those airlines for my special awards, The Mimis.

First nomination is for outstanding service, beautiful cabin crew and the coveted best uniform:
And the winner is...
Singapore Airlines
I can't applaud this airline more for understanding what it means to be part of the service industry. I was so well looked after on all 4 flights that I felt like I had my own personal cabin attendant. Not to mention that the cabin crew are all immaculately presented even after a 12 hour flight and their uniforms are so chic that they could launch their own collection. No surprises that is it regarded as one of the world's best airlines. Three cheers for SA!

Second nomination is for the most over-hyped airline
And the winner is...
Virgin Atlantic
Well let's just say that I don't fly with them that often and now I know why. We had to pay £50 each to sit in the emergency exit row. Fair enough as you get more leg room, the only problem is that if there is a problem they will be relying on you to help. So effectively you are paying them to work for them. Richie B sort it out love!


Third and most talked about award is for most ridiculous rule made by an airline:
And the winner is...
TAM
I have been a fan of TAM since discovering them only last year on my first flight to Brazil. They seem to have a fresh, modern approach to air travel. The planes look shiny and new and the food is delicious, no really. So it was to my horror that I discovered this airline was guilty of something akin to racism or selective exclusion, if you like. While checking in, my husband asked if we could sit in the emergency exit row, his seat of choice as he is over 6foot tall. "No", replied the stroppy check-in woman. "Only people whose first language is portuguese can sit in this aisle." CAN YOU IMAGINE?? Just a word of warning if you ever plan to marry a Brazilian and travel on TAM, you won't be able to sit together in the Emergency Exit! I am still awaiting clarification as to why this rule exists. Should I be calling race relations?

As an update I also wanted to post this link from a great article I found online today: http://guides.travel.msn.com/Guides/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1088188&icid=msn1088188?GT1=41000

Anyone for Tennis?

This week is my annual foray into the world of professional tennis.

Once a year for the past eight I have worked at the Stella Artois Championships. However this year there is a new sponsor, AEGON - an insurance company.

I have to say that my first impressions are that the tournament has lost a lot of its character and of course heritage, which in a way can't be helped. You simply can't replace a 29 year partnership overnight.

I know some of you reading this will think 'wow, that sounds like a glamorous job', but in fact it's far from it. The whole team here work incredibly long hours to make sure that the tournament runs as smoothly as possible and all of us are dedicated to our jobs. It's a great feeling to be part of such a fantastic team and to be able to come back year after year and see the same faces once again, ready to put their hearts and souls into the event.

A few people in particular make it a great week:

Fraser Russell, who runs http://www.headconcierge.com/; he takes care of all the players' needs and is definitely the person anyone would need if they ever got stuck on a desert island. When he is not busy taking care of all the guys he finds time to make me laugh which always puts me in a better mood.

My good friend Charlotte who deals with a whole variety of stuff and is the ultimate professional and of course Chris Kermode, the tournament director, who has been a family friend for many years. I love popping into the office at the end of the day for some funny stories and anecdotes.

I have never been far from tennis as my Dad has been a fan for much of his life. My introduction to the sport came one year at Wimbledon when I was a teenager. A good friend of his was a pro so we got to spend the whole day there feeling very special wandering round all the VIP areas. I have to admit that I loved seeing all the top names like Sampras and Rafter, relaxing in the Player Lounge reading a newspaper or chatting with friends.

Now, as I look towards a decade of working behind the scenes, I have to say that not knowing how the magic trick is performed is definitely better.

As a final thought though, I will say that I have had some really great times here and I will always try to come back and work here; if only for the great sense of team spirit that this place seems to give me every year.

PS - Andy Roddick to win!

In memory of Flight 447

When I started thinking about my next post, I imagined it would be based on all my thoughts and feelings about coming home to London for a visit after spending five months in Brazil. But I knew as soon as we called home once we had landed, and heard my mother-in-law's tears that somehow those things weren't important.

We took off from Sao Paulo 45 minutes after the Air France flight, which means that we were flying through the same area only 1hour and 45 minutes later.

Despite having a wonderful time and enjoying being back in my hometown and seeing all my friends, the passengers on that flight who lost their lives are never far from my mind.

I cannot imagine how tangibly painful it must be to have had a relative on that flight but I do hope that the French nuclear submarines that are being despatched recover some clue as to how and why the flight went down.

In remerberance of flight 447 and all who perished aboard, I have selected a poem by an anonymous author.

Poem of Life

Life is but a stopping place,
A pause in what's to be,
A resting place along the road,
to sweet eternity.
We all have different journeys,
Different paths along the way,
We all were meant to learn some things,
but never meant to stay...
Our destination is a place,
Far greater than we know.
For some the journey's quicker,
For some the journey's slow.
And when the journey finally ends,
We'll claim a great reward,
And find an everlasting peace,
Together with the lord


RIP FLIGHT 447

Why oh why Paraguay?

I have been wanting to go to Paraguay for some time now. It's where many Brazilians go to buy their electronics, alcohol and cosmetics and to me it's a chance to explore a bit more of this fascinating continent. Unlike Brazil, Paraguay has no import tax so things are much cheaper.

Yesterday was the day I crossed over...

We started out before dawn and a few hours later we crossed the Parana river, something so vast that a poor little English girl could hardly grasp.

(This pic only shows about half as my camera couldn't take it all in).

The border seemed pretty standard apart from the huge pile of rocks in the middle of the road which ripped a hole in one of our tyres! Luckily replacing a tyre is half the price of doing it in Brazil and there were even armed guards there to help persuade us to pay the bill.

New tyre in tow we headed straight to Queen Anne shopping centre to start gathering the supplies on our extensive list.

The city of Guaira is rather strange and desolate place. It consists of one main street, which is filled with shops selling mostly blankets and socks. Children follow you down the road trying to sell you fake branded sports socks for $2 US. Around this street are smaller streets sporadically filled with small houses and intertwined with the malls.

We spend the next five hours hunting down a watch with large numbers for my mother-in-law, a usb hub and mic for my father-in-law, a backpack laptop carrier for my brother-in-law and various fishing items for my husband. This is all very boring and basic stuff I hear you all saying.

The problem is that in Brazil things are subject to a 60% import tax and what with the average monthly salary being $500RS (about £155 or $246US) and over 65% of the country's population earning this wage it's a bit tough to buy things. A trip to Paraguay is like a trip to a shopper's paradise. Border checks are not that thorough but the guards look for people with number plates from Sao Paulo who will buy much more than the $300US allowance per person and sell it on the famous rua vinte e cinco de marco (a kind of down market Oxford St where you can buy clothes and jewellery at discounted prices). We don't get stopped as we go through and drive off into the sunset nearly crashing into a stupid mule who is standing in the middle of the highway at night (he obviously forgot his high vis vest!).

We arrive safe and sound at home and I realise how lucky I am that I have the freedom to go home to London and buy pretty much anything I need.

So that's why they go to Paraguay.

Straight Gait

There is one thing in particular that Brazil's women, or at least the women in Maringa are obsessed with...and that's their hair...and I mean OBSESSED!


Every shelf of every hairdresser, pharmacy and beauty store is filled to the brim with the latest lock lotions. Even the local supermarket, seen below, has both sides of a whole aisle devoted to masks, shampoos, leave-ins and serums - there are so many that I feel like I've been named and shamed and everyone knows I have been neglecting my hair all these years.

As I walk down the street I have to remind myself that these women aren't growing their hair to sustain Jordan's hair extension addiction or Cher's wig collection - long hair in Brazil is of course a sign of beauty and femininity and hardly ever do you see a girl with a funky crop strut down the street.


I find myself filled with hair envy for these girls with their long, lustrous, poker straight locks tumbling down practically to their ankles! Not surprisingly over the past few weeks I have been thinking that my own barnet just isn't up to par. So, after consulting various Brazilian Oracles I decided it was time to take action against this unidentified mass of mess sitting on top of my head.



I went to right the wrong that nature and genetics had dealt me yesterday, by spending six hours in the salon, yes that's right six hours! There were times when I wondered if I would ever see daylight again...


I booked in with Rodi at Stilo (one of Maringa's top hair salons) for my 'escovar japonesa' or japanese-style permanent straightening. The procedure is basically an application of a chemical hair relaxer and then various applications of masks, proteins and keratin. Also involved are various trips to and from the basin, gossiping sessions with the hairdresser and a short break for lunch. Phew!



After those long and torturous hours were over and I was released back ino the wild, I felt so chuffed when my husband came to pick me up and said that I looked 10 years younger. I wondered what Myleene would have to say about that...



Everyone has been admiring my 'cabelo liso', here is my self-portrait so you can see the end result, and on Saturday I am going back for my post-wash treatment, where they will wash my hair and put on a nourishing mask so that it stays forever straight and shiny, well almost.

When it comes to hair in Brazil, national pride is at stake and now at last I feel I can walk tall with the rest of the hair harem.

Walk like a Brazilian...

In search of Gisele...

Last year when I told all my friends I was moving to Brazil, they all thought I was crazy. I think they thought I would be dancing around doing the samba, wearing Havianas, exposing my bum in a revealing bikini!

The fact is that most of us think that that is what Brazil is like.

Not that it has 10 of the world's best companies or that it's the world's third largest emerging economy or that there are more natural resources here that humans need to survive than in any other country on the planet and most of those haven't even been tapped yet. http://www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/10705/

I love spending time with my friends here having a Churrasco (Brazilian bbq, see pic) at the weekends but no matter what we talk about, if there is a new guest, the inevitable question comes up. 'What did you think Brazil was like before you got here?'

I have to admit that I was one of those people. I mean of course I have read The Alchemist and I've got Bebel Gilberto's album, except she's not famous in Brazil - you'd be better off swatting up on Marisa Monte or Jotta Quest if you are trying to impress a Brazilian.

The fact is that when I arrived in Brazil, and got to the small town of Maringa, Parana, (pop. 331, 412) I half expected to see Gisele, Adriana and Alessandra there to greet me. I was of course quite relieved to see that Brazil is full of ordinary looking women as well as very beautiful ones.

My Brazil has been a breath of fresh air. It's been about funny stories of me confusing Portuguese words, it's been about learning a new culture, and about getting to know my new family.

Brazilians have, in my opinion, an unrivaled sense of hospitality. They are incredibly warm and inviting and have the purest of party spirits. The whole way of life here is about food and family and family and food. Hardly a day goes by that I don't get invited to some one's house to just hang out and have some delicious food and talk about anything you want.

After four months here, I am starting to find out that we still have a lot to learn about Brazil.