Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

My head is officially ready to explode. Whereas a month ago, I made about three decisions during the course of the day (where to surf, where to eat, and where to go out), I'm now making about 200 per day. The decisions are all across the board also: what kind of fabric do you want to use on the sofas, what kind of soap do you want to use in the bathroom, how many shelves do you want in the kitchen. It is literally unbelievable the amount of things that you have to consider in this business. I now have a great deal more respect for people who run successful restaurants, bars, clubs, etc. because I can see how much work it involves. I have a consultant who is with me literally all day long, and I thank the Lord each day that she is alive. Without her, I would be screwed. I'm laying the groundwork to hire her permanently, but it isn't going to be easy. As I've always said, everything is for sale. It just depends on the price, and this would unquestionably be the best money I've ever spent. To make things more complicated, I have four friends coming into town this weekend to visit me. I'm very interested to see how I will be able to coordinate the beach, the surfing, the parties while all the meanwhile continuing on with this monster project. If I think that I am not sleeping enough now, then next week should be quite an adventure....

The good news is that I'm still having a ton of fun. I'm creating my own little baby (hopefully this is just the beginning!), and I'm doing it in one of the most fun places in the world. We officially shut down on Friday and will be cranking away for six solid weeks to get ready for a December 18th opening. The trick is trying to coordinate the 100 different people involved in the reformation to make sure that they all do their part in time. If one goes astray, then the whole thing falls apart. Of course, the fact that I'm dealing with Brazilians is making it more complicated, but I have faith and right now that faith is holding me together.

With this new endeavor, one of the most important things to do is to be out there marketing. Luckily for me, this is what I love to do. Everyone here knows my plans, but I still take every opportunity to talk about it as I can. The most hilarious part of this was the opening of Pacha (one of the most famous clubs in the world) in Floripa this past Thursday where I was asked to give an interview to a famous journalist. Imagine trying to give an interview in the middle of a packed club with a bright shining light on your face while the music is blaring and their people all around. Oh yeah, and it's in Portuguese. I tried to warn them that I wasn't fluent in Portuguese but they assured me that it would be fine. Well, it went ok at best. I will spare you the details but I will say that it was very, very funny. I would be deathly afraid to see a recording. Undoubtedly it was a good experience and at the very least, hopefully I gave the reporter a good laugh.....

I also had my first house party of the summer. I had been wanting to throw a party at my house for some time and I finally had a reason....actually, I didn't have a reason but that's beside the point. It was an incredible party. The lights in all of Praia Mole went out for at least an hour around 3AM (we joked that the neighbors were trying to stop the party) but nobody left. The party started again and everyone had an absolute plast. Summer Party #2 at Praia Mole will be next Tuesday with the whole gang in town. If the house gets burned to the ground, I would not be even remotely surprised....

Getting Loose

Well, it's official. After eight months of surfing, beaches, and parties, I am returning to the working class. The only difference is that I am still going to be very much focused on surfing, beaches, and parties (otherwise, what am I doing here?). I spent the first eight months of my time really trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I was all over the map during my research with ideas ranging from importing sandals to the U.S. to starting a Brazilian real estate fund. What I settled on was buying a Japanese restaurant.

Let me start by saying that Floripa is an interesting place. The people here (and this might relate to all of Brazil but that's tough for me to say) are very particular about what they want and how they want it. In my opinion, it's a mentality that I would say isn't exactly so open to new ideas. Entrepreneurialism isn't embraced like it is in the U.S. (unfortunately, this is one of the reasons why I think Brazil struggles so much to advance as a country). For instance, you can't just come down here, open a business, and expect it to work. You have to have patience, make sure you meet the right people, and do the right things. For anyone trying to do something in Brazil, I would strongly urge patience to get a feel for a community. The best business decision I have made since moving here has been to do nothing. It has allowed me to really understand Floripa, meet some great people, and really get a feel for what people here like.

Anywyay, how did buying a Japanese restaurant come about? I have asked myself that question many times. While buying a restaurant was never one of my intentions, sometimes life just works in strange ways.I met a really nice girl when I first moved here (strictly friends!). We stayed in touch and hung out every now and then. After not seeing her for a few months, I ran into her at a party. She told me that she was selling her restaurant. I had never been there so didn't know much about it. To make a long story short, she had lent money to a friend of a friend to start the restaurant. After building the restaurant, the guy basically walked away. Therefore, with no experience whatsoever, she was stuck with a restaurant. It hasn't been a fun experience for her as she has spent the last two months cleaning up this guy's mess and, therefore, she decided to sell it. I was a little curious so I went there with a friend to have dinner. We both really liked the place a lot (the food is very good and the location is killer). A few days later I told her that I ate at the restaurant, and she asked me if we went upstairs. I didn't even know there was an upstairs so obviously I didn't see it. I went back to check it out and immediately realized the potential of the place. While I never wanted to own a restaurant, I have always been interested in owning a nightlife spot. I knew that with a little work this could be a fantastic place. One thing led to another and I started getting serious about buying the place. She had started to tell people that she was selling the restaurant, and all of her friends told her she was crazy. They said that she was sitting on an unbelievable spot and she had done so much work that she would be crazy to sell now. Her biggest problem is that she never marketed the restaurant at all so it's been a struggle for her. Also, she has never wanted to be the "face" of the restaurant, and it's very important in Floripa for the customers to know the owner. This where I came in. Again, to make a long story short, we decided to move forward as 50/50 partners. I couldn't be more excited. I now have a great project to work on, and I look forward to it each day. I tell people that the restaurant is like a great canvas painting only the artist never put it in a frame and hung it on the wall. My goal is to create a very fun, Japanese restaurant with an amazing lounge. The Japanese restaurants in Floripa are very, very boring and nothing at all like the Japanese restaurants we are used to in the U.S. The sushi is also very basic in these restaurants so I'm going to fly down a friend of mine who is an unbelievable sushi chef to create a killer menu. As I said, you don't want to totally change the concept and scare everyone off, but I am confident that a place like I imagine could be very successful. Every day I am meeting with architects, interior designers, and everyone else under the sun. For better and for worse, I'm busy again but I'm also working on something that I am passionate about. My friends have told me a hundred times over the past few months that I would be crazy not to do something involved in the nightlife because I love being out, meeting new people, and just having a great time. So, here we are. The name of the restaurant is Hikari, which means "Loose" in Japanese (for those of you who know me well, was this not fate?), so the next time you are in Floripa make sure to stop by!

As I said, I love meeting new people. It's one of the great things I am looking forward to in my new business. The best part is that Floripa is a special place, and I have had the opportunity to meet some very amazing people. Last week, I had dinner with a few friends to talk a little business and a little pleasure. Of course, one of the guys is married to a super model (Fernanda Motta) and she joined us for dinner. Never in a million years do I imagine this happening in the U.S., however, it seems like this stuff happens here all the time. It was a very, very enjoyable night. They even put our picture in the newspaper. What can I say? Does it getter better than life in Floripa????

Summer is Coming!!!!

Well, it's finally happening. Summer is almost here. I keep saying that everyone is wiping off the dust, washing the windows, and getting ready for the circus. So far, the weather is not cooperating (we've had rain, rain, and more rain) but there is definitely a buzz starting to circulate regardless. You can literally see in everyone's eyes. The parties, which usually start on Thursday have pushed it up a day and are now starting on Wednesday. I joked with one of my friends that it doesn't give me nearly enough time to rest up from the weekend (trust me, I know that "resting up from the weekend" sounds strange but such is my life - I'm on a sleeping schedule that would shock Keith Richards). Anyway, the population more than doubles here in Floripa in the summer. Honestly, I can't imagine what that will be like. Everything is already so crazy as it is so I can't possibly fathom what it will be like when the circus does indeed start. And I couldn't imagine being any busier. I have a lot of things cooking, which has been incredibly fun (there are legitimate reasons for my lack of posts so please be patient with me). All I know is that I've done everything humanly possible to get ready. The wheels have been greased and I'm ready for the best summer ever. Bring it on....

Words of wisdom - when four ridiculously hot blonde girls (see picture) tell you to leave your car at the party to drive with them to another party, always so yes no matter how far away that current party's house is from your house. These are just simple rules of life. Oh, and don't call shotgun. It's MUCH better in the backseat. Trust me. The loud music, the singing, and the pounding on the roof were eerily remiscent of the days of Cabo that I had missed so much, and I can assure you that it didn't make the safety of the drive any better. However, if I would have died during that ride, there would have been an enormous smile on my dead corpse....

On a "back to reality note," I am happy to report that the banks have reopened. However, they are still finding ways to screw me. I finally received the call from my lawyer yesterday while he was at the bank trying to receive my money. I could tell right where the conversation was going. Everything was sounding great, and I was only waiting for the "BUT' and boy did it come. Apparently, the bank wanted a projection of my annual revenues (how do you project something that doesn't exist?) with a document signed by my accountant and lawyer. As I like to say now, this sh*t no longer shocks me, but this was indeed a wild one. Therefore, my money is still in cyber wire transfer land, wherever the hell that may be. HOWEVER, the real salt in the wound came this morning. I wanted to get the signed document to my lawyer first thing this morning in an effort to hopefully get my money today. I got home around 5AM last night and couldn't sleep a wink so I went to his office at 8:30AM. Errand done, right? Not so fast. As I was driving down the main highway stretch, I stopped at the light as it was turning red. The guy behind me apparently didn't get the memo about stopping when the person in front of you stops. He crashed into my car at about 40 mph and sent my car about 15 feet ahead. I really couldn't believe it. He got out of the car crying like a girl because he probably just lost his job (he was a taxi). Needless to say, I didn't feel sorry for him. I'm happy to report that I wasn't injured (my little Ford Fiesta was apparently built by the same guys who built Sherman tanks), but I am going to be sore as hell tomorrow and I have my fingers crossed that nothing long term will come of it. I had a witness, got all the documents signed by the cops, learned some interesting new Portuguese, and finally headed home a few hours later. I'm sure I'll be without a car for at least a week while it gets fixed so I'm really looking forward to that. Therefore, I'd like to personally thank all of the banks for your tremendous help and service along the way. You've been a real pleasure to work with. I hope you enjoyed your vacation while the strike was on because it's over now. I'll be at the beach all summer while you are working so kiss my *ss! ;)

Another Reason Why Brazil Can Be One Funny Country

Since most of you have followed my stories since I arrived here, you by now understand that things work a little bit different down here (that may be the world's greatest understatement). I am currently in the middle of another one of my epic little "experiences." BTW, for those of you Brazilians who read this, again, I'm not complaining. I love Brazil, the people, the culture, everything. It's just that us Americans get a kick out of these stories, and I wouldn't be doing anybody any favors if I didn't mention these little stories. With that out of the way, as I mentioned in my last entry, the exchange rate has moved considerably in favor of the dollar over the past two months. For us gringos, this is a great relief on our lifestyle expenses down here. In an effort to lock in the favorable exchange rate (I think we'll see a bit of a pullback soon), I decided to wire some money down here. Of course, that's not as easy as it sounds. The banks still do not allow me to open a personal account even though I live here, I have a Brazilian social security number, etc., etc. What blows my mind about that is the pure lack of business sense that it makes. If you can give me one good reason why a bank wouldn't want a new customer who can clearly prove that they are in good standing, I'm all ears. Since I don't have a personal account, I have to wire the money into my business account. This requires filing several documents as well as waiting three days for the documents to process before my lawyer can enter the bank to receive the funds (sounds fun right?). When my lawyer told me all of this, I just accepted it for what it is. I've been here long enough for this stuff not to shock me any more. Anyway, to make a long story short, I wired the money late last week when the exchange rate was at 2.31 (it's currently 2.15) and after the three day waiting period. The kicker was that I received an email on Friday saying that the bank is on strike and no one is allowed to do ANYTHING. This was last Friday. Today my money is still sitting only God knows where and I can't lock into any rate until everyone decides to go back to work. When that happens, I'll be a happy man. Every day the currencies are moving 5-10% in either direction, and I'm pretty tired of staring at it. I just pray that when the dedicated employees of Banco do Brasil make their way back to work that the exchange rate ends up landing on Park Place instead of Baltic Avenue....

Vai Figuerense, Vai!

I was sitting in my living room the other day with a friend. He got off the phone and said his buddies were going to a soccer game. The #1 team in Serie A (Palmeiras) was in town playing Figuerense (Florianopolis' local Serie A team and by default, my team). I said, "Why the hell don't we go?" I had wanted to go to a game since I arrived here and couldn't think of a reason not to go. Therefore, we grabbed a couple other friends and hit the road (the stadium is about 45 minutes away). We arrived to pure mayhem. People were partying in the street everywhere you looked. The game started at 10PM so it's safe to say that these people had been drinking for awhile. It was exactly what you would imagine a Brazilian soccer game to look like. We had a beer or two, hung with the crowd for a bit, and then headed inside to our seats (after a lengthy body search!). In an effort to stop the madness, they no longer serve beer or alcohol inside the stadium. Once I got inside, I realized exactly why. I couldn't possibly fathom what these fans would do if they were able to drink all night. They were going nuts the whole time. There was, however, one very favorite part of the night for me. There was one section going crazy and I wanted to sit by them. After being there for a bit, it finally dawned on me that these fans weren't cheering for either team. There were cheering for Gremio, an entirely other team from Rio Grande do Sol!!!! I was flabbergasted. These were true fans. There must have been at least 1,000 of them. I asked my Brazilian friend what the hell was going on. She said that Gremio is in 2nd place and, therefore, these fans were there to cheer for Palmeiras to lose. I couldn't believe it. I was trying to imagine a bunch of Bronco fans going to a Raiders game to cheer on the Chargers. I'm not quite sure what the reception would be like, but I know it wouldn't be good. The other hysterical part was listening to the songs about the referees. The most popular one had to do with the sexual preference of the referees. The fans were loving that one, and I thought it was pretty damn funny too (it's safe to say that these soccer games are not a great place to take the kids - it wasn't exactly Disneyland). To make a long story short, we cheered all night and had an absolute blast. Unfortunately, the game ended 0-0, but I learned some great new songs, had a few laughs, and can't wait to go again....

Lastly, I went to the best party of my life on Friday night. I'm trying to find the words to describe it all but don't quite know how to put it into context yet. More to follow soon....

You Can Run But You Can't Hide

When I was making my decision to move to Brazil, one of the things that I looked forward to most was just taking some time off from following the markets. I had spent so much time over the past eight years in finance that I was intrigued by the idea of having a break from it all. I would say that in the first few months here I enjoyed that luxury. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case as the destruction that is occurring in the U.S. has finally made its way south. The Bovespa (Brazilian stock market) is down 20% in just October alone and off around 35% in the past 30 days as investors are starting to worry that the developing countries are going to slip into a recession. Commodities, which are Brazil's bread and butter, are getting hammered left and right. However, the most relevant data to us foreigners is that the Brazilian Real (Brazil's currency) is off 60% against the dollar since the low, which was reached only in August. It's been incredible to watch and none of us can believe it, and this very rapid and wild swing in the exchange rate has forced all of us gringos to address the issue head-on. It can be looked on in both good and bad light. Certainly going forward, a better exchange rate like we have now is great for any future dollars that are exchanged into reais. However, if you had exchanged some money into reais in the past, you might be feeling some serious pain right now. For instance, I had to wire a big chunk of change back in August (very near a six year low) to apply for my visa and although I keep telling myself that there isn't a whole lot I could have done about it, it's enormously painful. At this point, I have two choices. I could say WTF and keep trying to tell myself that it will all work out in the end, or I could slip back into the old mode, start tracking the markets, and figure out a way to take advantage of the current environment. For better and for worse, I have chosen the latter. You can run but you definitely can't hide so why the hell not?

The interesting thing about all of this is that it seems that it's all anyone can talk about. You can't escape it. Most of my conversations now start with a quote from today's exchange rate. "Hey Chris. Just checked - 2.45. How are you man?" This has greatly confused my quest to find something to do on the business side. As of a month ago, it was a great idea to be making reais with the thought of there being an eventual return to the U.S. to spend those reais. Now, it makes much more sense to be making dollars and spending them here. Of course, with how quickly this has changed in one direction, it certainly has the potention to reverse itself again. But if I knew the answer to how that would work out, I wouldn't have to be searching for a business in the first place. ;) BTW, the great news is that for those of you coming down to visit, you just got 60% richer!

As I mentioned above, the Brazilian economy is finally starting to feel the effects of the global slowdown. The correlation certainly makes sense. Although many people thought Brazil was immune to this (including the current president who cracks me up with his arrogance), this was inevitable. The emerging market countries like Brazil, India, and China really so heavily on the big economic powers that when those countries are hurting that pain will most certainly trickle down in a big way. I have a friend who is a stock broker here, and he invited me to his office last week. It's a really interesting setup. There is one big office for the brokers and an outside room with computers and TV's where clients came come during the day to monitor the markets and trade stocks. The only thing that separates them is a big piece of glass, but most of the brokers are out there mingling with the clients anyway talking about trades, etc. I really couldn't imagine having clients in the office but we're in Brazil so I just went with out. The kicker was that there were people literally crying....literally. That's how much money is being lost. Many people rode the wave up and had a hell of a time, now it's time to take a seat and face the music. Let's just hope that a return to "normalcy" happens sooner rather than later.

BTW, I heard a great quote from the Senate committee hearing on Lehman Brothers. The quote was, "We can't keep privatizing gains and socializing losses." Talk about summarizing everything in a nutshell.

Ok, sorry for the drag blog post. I'll get back to writing about surfing, nightlife, and Brazilian chicks ASAP!!!!

I Don't Think the Heavy Stuff is Going to Come Down for Quite Awhile

This last week was great as always. Tuesday I woke up to an early call from my local surfer friends. Apparently, the waves were going off and it was time to get up. I had only been in the water once since I took out my stitches so I was psyched. After a cup of coffee and the short few minute drive to Joaquina (one of the best surf spots in all of Brazil if not all of Latin America), I arrived at the beach to pure delight. I only surf Joaquina every so often because it has a pretty heavy local vibe (this is a direct correlation to how good it is - the locals cherish the spot and surely want to keep it to themselves). I really couldn't believe my eyes. It was nothing but barrels and barrels. I had never seen it like that, and it was then that I first realized why everyone raves about the break. We had an incredible session for almost three hours until the south wind came to blow it out. The highlight of the session was a local guy who was born with one leg significantly shorter than the other. As far as I could tell, it doesn't seem to phase him. He was a little outside (local knowledge never hurts!), caught a great wave, and got barrelled all the way down the line as the whole lineup looked on and cheered like crazy. Everyone was so pumped up, and he was smiling like a little kid when the ride ended. I love seeing stuff like that, and I felt privileged to be a witness to it. It was a day that I won't soon forget....

As for the rest of the week, it was fairly normal....well, sort of. Friday we had heard that there was a big party going on at El Divino Club, which is huge club at near Jurerê Internacional that only has a party every few months or so (although that will change because Pacha just bought the property and is coming to Floripa!). I had only been there once and the party was inside. When we arrived, this particular party was outside. They have sort of concert type property located adjacent to the indoor club. This would have been all and good, but it was raining....a lot. We arrived around midnight and it was pretty empty. I wasn't sure if it was because of the rain or just because of the party (I hadn't heard a lot of talk about the party so I was skeptical whether or not it was going to be good). Lucky for us, we had VIP tickets and that whole area was covered. My friend (who just arrived here from Texas two weeks ago) asked me if I thought the party was going to get better. I told him that Brazilians always tend to make it a good party one way or another. Slowly but surely, people starting showing up and things really got cranking. By 3AM, the place was going nuts. I didn't really have any idea why everyone was going crazy until my friend filled me in. Armin Van Buuren was playing onstage, and he is considered one of the top DJ's in whole world (if not THE top DJ). I don't really follow any of that stuff closely, but it didn't take an expert to see what was happening. Watching thousands of people dancing to techno in the rain with all the crazy lights was definitely a spectacle. For this type of music, it was like watching the Rolling Stones live at their peak. It was seriously incredible. We finally made it home around 7AM. Once again, we considered going straight out for a surf. Lucky, cooler heads prevailed and we decided to get some sleep. One of my friends always says that something always crazy happens in Floripa and once again, he was right....

As always, here are some pics from the week.