Survivor: Brazil

I survived. That's all I can really say. My first summer in Floripa (2009) was merely a warm-up. This one was more like hell week of Navy Seals training where at the end you're just happy to be alive and have all limbs intact. Summer in Floripa really has it all: beaches, surfing, parties, sun, yachts, more parties, girls, churasscos (the Brazilian version of barbeques only taken much more seriously), sports, more girls, more parties and on and on and on. The hard part is through all of this somehow you need to find time to get your work done and stay somewhat productive. Since we opened Cactus in December and were running a strategy based more on trial and error than on experience (probably not what they teach in restaurant management), this summer was all the more intense. Between working at two restaurants, including many 12 hour days at Cactus, constantly moving back and forth between my house and apartment, and trying not to let the summer pass without enjoying it at least a little bit, it really is a miracle to be alive. All things considered, I shouldn't be surprised at how fast it flew by. Three months felt more like a week.....but what a hell of a week it was!!!

One of the highlights this summer was again Carnival. Last year I spent Carnival up north in Salvador so this was my first Carnival in Floripa. There is an incredible amount of energy in the Brazilian culture and during Carnival that energy skyrockets, which really you have to see to believe. It's parties 24 hours a day: day party, night party, after party, after-after party (this was a new concept to me but I loved it nonetheless). Honestly, it's mindblowing. In those four days alone I saw Sharam, Kaskade, Steve Angello, and Erick Morillo play in some of the best, energy-filled clubs in the world. It was really spectacular. Sharam played at Warung, my favorite club in the world, for 9 1/2 hours. I arrived at 3am and left at noon and he still wasn't done. For music lovers, it was one of those rare "I can't believe I just saw that" moments. These are the things you only see at Carnival in Brazil. Luckily, I made lots of videos and took lots of pictures because one day I'm going to need help remembering all of this so thank God for my Canon.....

The good news about living in Floripa is that the sun sticks around for a few months after summer is over. With the sun out and the madness gone for the most part, those of us who live here can enjoy some more peaceful time on the beach in our "recovery mode" (sort of like Betty Ford on the beach). We like to call it "locals' summer." I've said it here before and I'll say it again, March and April are absolutely wonderful months to be in Floripa. Things at Cactus have calmed down quite a bit so I'm enjoying it even more, and I must say it's nice to get back to a normal schedule. The only downside is that as the summer slips away and fall takes over, that means winter is just around the corner. Winter in Floripa is hard. It's cold and, quite frankly, there isn't much to do. The joke in Floripa is that guys ditch their girlfriends right before summer and go on a mad girlfriend search right before winter because that's about the only thing that's going to keep you busy in winter. I still haven't perfected this strategy and as time ticks down I might need a buzzer beater, but in Floripa a buzzer beater is a wife in the US..... ;)

My two year anniversary in Floripa passed in early March and like summer, it's amazing to think how quickly the time has passed. I'd like to think I have accomplished a few things in this period, but really it's just been more of a learning process for something bigger (I hope!). I've definitely made some mistakes along the way, but the learning curve in a country like Brazil is demanding to say the least (I think you need a master's at Harvard just to understand the tax code alone). The key, as we all know, is to learn from these mistakes, and I like to think that I wouldn't be in the position that I'm in now if I haven't learned from those mistakes and moved forward. Now it's time to take advantage and see what the next thing Brazil has in store for me....fingers crossed for a prosperous 2010!!!!!

South of the Border

It seems like I now start out every post now with an apology regarding the length between posts so I'll say it again. I apologize for being absent for so long! At least this time I have a legitimate excuse. It turns out that I remember how to work hard, and I have been doing exactly that. As a mentioned awhile back, I was about to embark on a new business down here (one that I wasn't ready to announce yet). Well, after six months of hard work, that business is finally up and running. The business is a gourmet fast food (Mexican) store in a shopping mall (Iguatemi). How the hell did I get into this you ask? Great question. On my first trip to Floripa back in 2007, our group kept craving Mexican food. As someone who has spent the last twenty something years between California and Arizona, it's safe to say that burritos, tacos, enchiladas, and fajitas are my version of the four food groups. Amazingly, we were unable to find any Mexican food here. As a matter of fact, most of the Brazilians we were with had no idea what a burrito even was. That thought literally blew me away and actually still does (we get customers all the time who ask what a burrito is). Anyway, to make a long story short (or at least I'll try to keep it short), I started discussing this idea with my good friend and business partner at Tatsuya earlier last year. The idea really started to get momentum and then one day I thought the following. Somebody is going to do this here and we're going to look back and say, "well, that was our idea but we just didn't make it happen." Seriously, in life how many times have you thought that about something? I think I've heard that about a million times and I didn't want this to be one of those things, especially considering that we had the time to do it and we were really looking for a new idea. We basically found an architect and one thing just lead to another. Six months later Dave, my partner, was in the kitchen flipping tortillas and I was washing dishes in a sink without a disposal and we looked at each other and said, "who's God damn idea was this anyway?"

On the bright side, things are going really well. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, and I would say that overall we are very happy. The downside is that we are practically living there. This is about as hands on of a business as you can get and, unfortunately in this country more than most, you really have to keep a close eye on your employees. I've heard so many crazy stories about employees here (not to mention what happened at Tatsuya with our waiters) that I pretty much would believe anything these days. Also, since we are in the summer season here in Floripa, it's nearly impossible to find employees. When we started we would schedule something like 15 interviews and literally two people would show up. And now it's shocking to see the corollary between it being sunny out and employees deciding not to show up that day. Quite frankly, it's mind blowing. However, this is the life we chose and now we must deal with it. Therefore, for anyone tired of the sh*tty job market in the US, we are hiring. The pay is terrible but you get free burritos and, really, how can you argue with free burritos?

My favorite story so far was during one of our first days of being open I was running around the store doing everything possible to help: doing dishes, making burritos, you name it. And let's just say that there might have been some sweat involved. Anyway, up to the counter comes a girl I used to date and she looks as me like I'm a cow with three heads and says, "Chris, you work HERE?" I think she was questioning how she could have dated a fast food attendant (hey, we have feelings too!). I kind of just laughed it off and explained it to her and the color returned to her face. Dave said I should have told her that things just went really bad after we broke up and I ended up having to take this job, but I didn't have that much foresight at the time. I would have loved to see the look on her face with that one. It would have been priceless....

The good news is that sometimes with this job there are perks that you would never imagine. One day I was sitting in front of the store on my computer and guess who walks by but Alessandra Ambrosio (for those that don't know who she is google her and clear your schedule for the next 8 hours or so). Her husband ends up eating at our place (by the way, the name is Cactus Mexican Food). He asks the attendant who the owner is and ends up talking to Dave. He later comes over to my table and we end up chatting for 45 minutes. He introduces me to Alessandra, which as you can imagine, was right up there with birth, my first car, graduating college, etc. Then he asks me for my number because he said he doesn't have a lot of dudes to hang out with in Floripa (hanging with super models must be such a tough life). I then ask him for his and he says to me, "I don't have a local number here so just take my girl's number." It's not exactly how I pictured it in my dreams but let's just say that I'm not losing that number. In Floripa, I always say that "surreal is my new reality" and this was just more proof of the truth to that statement....

During the craziness of trying to open Cactus, my Mom came out to visit me for the first time. It was difficult trying to balance everything while trying to show her around Floripa, but we got it done. It was really great having her down her so she could finally see what pulled me away so far from everyone. Her comment was that she couldn't believe I had the balls to move to somewhere like this because she saw how difficult life can be at times here, and I must say I had to agree with her. During this process, I really experienced how much bureacracy exists here and how difficult it is to do something as simple as getting internet installed at the store (I couldn't even begin to explain this experience). Anyway, we had a wonderful time and it was very hard to see her go, but now I think she will be much comfortable returning. I just hope that before her next visit she finally understands that "gracias" is Spanish and Brazilians speak Portuguese. Baby steps....

Everything else here is going great. New Year's passed without and serious problems and I guess that's all you can really ask for. From December 26th to about a few days ago, the whole world arrived in Floripa just like every year, and it was as crazy as you can imagine. I was trying to find that balance of working at two restaurants, seeing friends, being the local nightlife guide, trying to enjoy my life a little, and sleeping whenever possible. The traffics was, as usual during that time of year, horrific. However, I ended up renting an apartment in the Centro for six months and was able to avoid it most of the time. But for that week I continue to think that Floripa must be one of the craziest spots in the world. It's just party after party after party with as many beautiful people as you could imagine. But for us people who live here I must say that I'm happy it's over. It's nice to have our little Floripa back, and now this island serves Mexican food!!!!