My Favorite Time of the Year

Maybe it's because I arrived here last year during March and those first months were so memorable or maybe it's something else, but all I know is that I just love this time of year in Floripa. The weather is fantastic, most of the tourists are gone (it's great while they're here but it's pretty damn hectic), the waves start picking up a bit, and the parties are still amazing and, luckily, not as frequent (it's good to take break once in awhile although I never seem to do that). During the summer time everyone around here is flying around at a 100 miles per hour and doing a million things at once that there is literally no time to relax. It's basically just party, party, party. Now is the time to relax a bit and enjoy the beauty of Floripa. There are 42 beaches in Floripa and I still have yet to see so many of them. Last weekend I went to the north of the island to a beach called Lagoinha and it was stunningly beautiful. Since I live at Praia Mole, I very rarely venture out to other beaches. It's just too easy to walk across the street. However, after being at Lagoinha, I realized that I really do need to get out and see some new beaches. The good news is that I have a few visitors coming the next few weeks (including the first visit from my Dad!) so maybe I could use it as a good excuse to get out and venture a little more. Next stops will be Lagoinha do Leste and Matadero....

On an unrelated note, I always have to laugh as I consistently run into the same situation. I can't tell you how many times this has happened. A group of American guys were here this week, and I was introduced to them on Tuesday night while they were at Tatsuya. I talked to them for awhile about Floripa and everything that goes on. They had just come from Rio where they had a great time. Anyway, they were bummed because it was so slow their first few days here. They arrived on Sunday and not much was going on the first few days. I tried to explain to them that it's typically pretty mellow here in the beginning of the week. During the summer time, there are parties every day of the week but after Carnival things go back to normal. They had commented about the NY Times article, and I think they were expecting Floripa to be just one non-stop party, which it's not for those of you who have never been here. It's difficult, however, to explain this to people who want to be out every night. My response to people like this is always the same, "Just wait and you'll see." By Thursday they were still not believers and I wasn't even remotely worried. I've seen this exact thing happen 100 times. Unfortunately, the group had two guys who were leaving on Friday before things really got started so I knew they were going to miss out (I actually tried to convince them to stay because I knew Saturday's party was going to be one you wouldn't want to miss). Well, the ending of this story is always the same. The two guys who were here said yesterday was the best party of their lives. They were completely blown away, and keep in mind that these are people who live in Los Angeles and have great lives. It's not like they are living in the woods of Michigan or anything. It's just that if I know one thing about Floripa, it's this: Floripa never, ever disappoints....

I didn't have my camera last night so I don't have any photos of that party yet but I have friends who took tons of pictures. As soon as I get the photos, I will post them. We took some classics...

Carnival in Brazil - An Experience of a Lifetime

I just spent the last week contemplating what to write about Carnival in Salvador and came upon the only logical decision. There is literally no way that I could describe it. It's just one of those things that if I tried to explain it to someone and filled them in on every last detail, it still wouldn't come close to capturing the experience. I always believed that a great writer (and I'm not saying that I'm one of those people!) could describe anything and make the reader really feel everything about the moment. However, this is just one of those things that you could only fully understand if you experienced it in person. I've never seen so much ENERGY, passion, and enjoyment of life in one place. It is literally overwhelming. Try to imagine an entire street (and I mean a looooooooong one) with the hundreds of thousands of joyous people in the world all singing and dancing to one incredible rhythm non-stop for a week straight. Add all of the lights, the production and, most importantly, the surrounding beauty and you have one unbelievable scene. I can honestly say that I got the chills several times. And to be honest, the first night I was there I really didn't like it at all. I had no idea what to do, it was really dirty, and basically I was clueless. However, by night number two I decided that I just needed to go for it (you definitely need to try hard to ignore all of the trash and the overwhelming smell of urine) and make the best of the experience, and that's exactly what I did. It helped a lot that I was with a great group of people. Everyone who gave me advice on Salvador said to just stay in the camarote (VIP area) the whole time. That would have been a huge mistake because the action is definitely down on the street. We followed the trio electricos (the huge semis where the bands play), hung out in the pipoca (which means popcorn but in this case it means the people on the sides of the street who are not in the trios), and basically got ourselves in the mix as much as possible. It was just an overall unbelievable experience, and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone with a little taste for fun.

We were fortunate to have a local, Diego, from Salvador in our crew. He was the greatest host of all time, and the coolest thing he did was take us to Liberade. Liberade was the first neighborhood in Salvador and is 100% black. He took us there to see how this little neighborhood celebrates Carnaval and, most specifically, to see the incredible drummers who cruise through. It was really, really special. There is a group of about 100 drummers just walking the neighborhood and playing incredible music. The whole place was jamming to this rhythm. We were the only white people that I saw the whole time (with the one exception of a BBC camera crew), and it was a special deal because without Diego we would have never had the idea or the balls to make this happen. Thank you bro!!!! That was insane!

After Carnaval was over and we finally got some sleep (not to mention getting back to a normal eating schedule), we headed out of town to visit some other places. The beaches in the Northeast of Brazil are beautiful. I felt like I was in Hawaii with all of the palm trees, white sand, and turquoise/warm water. We stayed overnight in Praia do Forte, which is not only incredibly gorgeous but also happens to be one of the best surf spots in Northeast Brazil. We had a long session followed by a cool dinner in a little area with tons of shops, restaurants, and bars. I wish I had more time there because it is a very beautiful place. I will definitely return there in the future. After waking up on Friday and regurgitating some of the week's tasty treats, I finally made it back to Floripa the next day. I will never forget my first Carnival in Brazil. It was one of the best times of my life, and the only thing that I can say is just trust me on this one. Go! You will not be disappointed!

Restaurant Management 101 (Brazilian Version)

They said it would happen and promised that it would happen. I didn’t believe them, or at least I didn’t want to believe them. I like to think that the human race is inherently good and that sometimes we just make mistakes. In this case, I was particularly wrong.

I received a phone call from my manager, Ana, last Friday night saying that she discovered that the employees were stealing from the restaurant (it was a great start to the weekend!). This was the phone call that I didn’t want. I was already on my way to the restaurant so I just told her to sit tight until I got there. Once I arrived, she explained to me what was happened. Our main sushi chef noticed that an order was canceled after he made it and saw it served to a table. He thought it was strange and notified the cashier. After a little prodding, the cashier told Ana that it happens a lot. After a little more prodding, the cashier said that she sees the waiters exchanging money regularly. Unfortunately, Ana had already put the order back in the system. I would have kept the order off to see how the transaction played out when closing the bill. I was curious to see how the waiters pocketed the money in the scheme. After a discussion with Ana, we decided to “interrogate” the waiter who canceled the order. Of course, he denied any wrongdoing and pled ignorance (I believed Bill Clinton and his "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" more than I believed this guy). We told him that it was very suspicious and that we would continue to look into it. Shortly after, we discovered that another waiter canceled the order (it was odd because it wasn’t her table). Only a minute after we finished talking to the first waiter, two waiters immediately came to us and said it was a mistake and the order was canceled erroneously (obviously, they didn’t realize how suspicious that was). We determined that the scheme was that the waiters told the clients about the error on the bill when it was being paid. The canceled orders were usually R$50 and below and the client would just pay that part in cash and they would pocket the money since the order wasn’t on the bill. Anyway, we decided to review the records to check on canceled orders and leave the matter unsettled until Monday.
Although we were fairly convinced what was happening, we didn’t have any real proof.

On Monday afternoon, we sat down and spoke with the cashier. She seemed to know a lot more that she was leading on and no restaurant scheme works in a restaurant without the help of the cashier. Of course, she indeed had a lot more information. She informed us that the head waiter personally asked her if she wanted in on the scheme when she was first hired (this certainly qualified as the proof we were looking for). They both used to work at another restaurant (a very popular one) where apparently stealing is rampant. She told me that she thought we were good people (that clean living is finally paying off!) and didn’t want to participate in what was going on. She then proceeded to explain her version of what was happening. What was interesting to me is that I became aware that this is just normal behavior for employees in the restaurant business in Brazil. There is always some version of a scheme. Those who want in can participate, and those who don’t want to participate have an understanding not to say anything. She was breaking the mold by telling us and I, of course, was relieved that she had done so.

What came next was the obvious firing of those who were involved. The shitty part is that employees have so many rights in Brazil that any situation involving a dispute almost always comes out in favor of the employee. The other part was that the cashier didn’t want the whole staff to know that she was the whistle blower so we had to keep that part quiet. I wanted to tell the employees who were a part of the scheme how incredibly effed up it was. I’m providing them all jobs (18 in all), I pay them fairly, I treat them very well and the payback is that they steal from me. The other screwed up part is that every order that they steal by taking off the system creates less commission for the other employees. Anyway, we had to come up with ridiculous excuses to fire them. The only solace is that they obviously knew that we knew, and that gave me some sort of satisfaction.

The good news is that we caught the problem quickly and, although we lost some money, it could have grown to be a much bigger problem. The bad news is just the disappointment that comes along with something like this. Like I said, I always want to give people the benefit of the doubt but when people steal from you, it’s hard to have this philosophy. However, it was a lesson learned, (and one that I was warned about) and it will only make us focus more on running a very tight ship. The restaurant business is hard enough as it is so we’ll chalk it up to experience and keep moving forward. I said to some friends last week that owning a restaurant is like having a girlfriend. When things are going well and you have a packed house, it couldn't be better. However, when it's quiet and there are problems, it takes a lot of work to keep things going.

On a brighter side, outside of this, things are going great with Tatsuya. People really love the place, and the compliments we get from the décor to the food to everything else are just overwhelming. I’ve even had many sophisticated travelers tell me that Tatsuya was by far their best night experience while in Floripa. While in takes time and patience to make a successful restaurant, I certainly feel like we’re on the right track. Now if I can just figure out how to do FBI background checks on employees we will be all set!

A Paradigm Shift

As always, I have to apologize for the delay in posts. It seems that the longer I live in Brazil, the more I get accustomed to a the very relaxed culture where urgency isn't exactly a top priority. Plus, it's summer time so cut me some slack! There are a few distractions to say the least. Haha. With that being said, I'm glad I am finally taking the chance to sit down to think and write a little something....

As I sit on my patio writing this, I can't help but think about how much the world is changing as a result of the global crisis. When I decided to pack up and move to Brazil, things were still relatively fine back in the US. The banks were still intact, the markets were volatile but not dire, and the housing market was still holding on. I know there were a handful of doubters who thought I must have been crazy to do what I was doing because I was leaving a great job and what you might have perceived was a good path to happiness (whatever that may have meant at the time). As it stands now, I think there has been a dramatic paradigm shift. I can't look at the status updates on my Facebook without seeing that another person was laid off. It really bums me out because I think losing your job is an incredibly unfortunate situation. From my perspective, what I have seen is that this has affected people very dramatically because suddenly people are realizing that jobs aren't guaranteed and that any day a good job can disappear. What does this mean exactly? I guess that's tough to say because it depends on the person. However, what I have seen first hand is many, many people saying, "Screw this. I don't need this and I'm going to make myself happy." I get at least 3-4 emails per week from people around the globe (usually friends of friends or someone who came across this blog) who have decided that they are going to move to a foreign country (obviously most are reaching out because they want to live in Floripa) and want some advice on how to go about it. For the first nine months I lived here, I probably received just a couple emails about this so certainly I can see how much things have changed in the past few months. I think a lot of people have realized how vulnerable their jobs and lives can really be. You can dedicate yourself to a company, work your ass off for it for years, plan your whole future based your job, and then come in one day to find out that you are expendable. It's definitely a shame because the last thing I want to see is someone's security being pulled out from under them. However, it happens and you have to find a way to deal with it, and it seems that everyone has decided that Floripa is the solution. Herein lies the dilemma.

Floripa is an incredibly beautiful and special place, and I always want to protect that. That last thing I want is for Floripa to lose its charm by being overrun for foreigners, but at the same time, it's tough to be selfish about it because I don't want to be a hypocrite since I am already a foreigner living here. The one thing I do tell people is that this place is not easy to find work. Between the language barrier, the work visa issues, and just the overall job market here, there are a lot of big obstacles. However, as with any emerging country, there is still plenty of opportunity if you are willing to be creative. Just don't expect to get off the plane and start working. If that's what you are looking for, then this is not the place. It takes time to get accustomed to the way things work and to do all of the things that you need to do before opening a business or whatever is you are looking to do. And if you need any advice, please feel free to reach out to me. I will be starting Packard Consulting Co. ASAP!

The most important things when coming to Brazil, whether it be to live here or just for a visit, is to have a very open mind, be patient, and be respectful. Anyone with this kind of attitude will enjoy Brazil (and any other foreign country for that matter) much, much more. I have had such a blast meeting all of the people that have come through, and it seems that the large majority of them have the right attitude (although unfortunately there are always exceptions to everything - the self proclaimed "Hebrew Hurricane" definitely takes the cake). The right attitude takes you far any place but even more so here because Brazilians are so open and warm that it's important to be the same way. On that note, I received a good email today regarding Brazilians. I did not write this so I can't take credit for it but I wanted to pass it on because I thought it was pretty accurate....

Brazilian Friendship and Hospitality

"Humans are in many ways the same the world over. I have lived several months to more than a year in a dozen or so countries and have visited a few dozen more. While sweeping generalizations can inaccurately portray the people of one nation, I have found that people can have “tendencies” to congregate around certain behavior and characteristic traits that change from nation to nation. These characteristics will also change within the borders of a nation from place to place."

Having appropriate qualified what I am about to say, - Brazilians tend to:

Be extremely kind and generous.
Make great friends.
Embrace and welcome foreigners into their homes and circle of friends.
Be at ease with themselves and those around them.
Seek a spiritual (not necessarily religious) community of like-minded people.
Place a higher priority on quality of life than they do on quality of work.
Place less importance on material wealth and consumption.
Seek peaceful solutions to conflict.
Be respectful of the rights and differences of others.
Exhibit patience in situations that would bring others to rage.
Be more likely to gather socially to celebrate whatever occasion they can muster up for celebration.
Celebrate sexuality and sexual expression more so than people of other nations.
Very fond and knowledgeable of music.
Love the beach and go to great lengths to spend time there.
Smile often, - they have beautiful, healthy smiles.

Tatsuya Sushi Lounge

I just wanted to throw up a few quick photos of Tatsuya. We had a photographer take some pics this week and I've received a couple of them so far and thought some of you might want to see them. I'll add the upstairs pics when I get them. Hope you like 'em!

More Thoughts of an American Living in Brazil

Is there a better feeling in the world than getting pulled over late at night at a check point and being dead sober? I don't think so. I have been pulled over twice at night time during my time in Brazil and, as luck would have it, both times I have been sober as a nun. I just ooze confidence when this happens. I start talking to the police officers like I'm Eddie Murphy or something...making jokes, laughing outrageously, etc. Really, I feel invincible during this time (although not quite as much as Charles Barkley apparently....but close).

Well, it took me 10 months but I finally learned what the word "carona" means. Carona, which is pronounced exactly like Corona (the famous Mexican beer), means "lift" or "ride" as in "can you give me a lift?" Now, to all of my Brazilian friends, I could have used a little help on this one a few months ago. People have been asking me for "caronas" for awhile now and I always thought it was strange....I was constantly thinking to myself, "Do I look like someone who drinks a lot or walks around with a few extra Coronas to spare?" It always perplexed me, and typically my answer was no. But, finally, after many months of unknowingly seeming like an asshole, I am now giving free caronas left and right so if you see a grey Ford Fiesta with a surf rack cruising on by, just throw out the thumb and I'll get you where you need to be. And if you're lucky, I might even have a beer for you!

Speaking of hitchhiking, as I've mentioned before, hitchhiking is much more commonplace here in Brazil (at least Floripa) than in the U.S. (those serial killer stories apparently never affected the people down here). In fact, I have even heard several stories of guys meeting their future girlfriends for the first time while picking them up for a ride (nothing seems to surprise me anymore). But honestly, I'm all for this and who wouldn't be? It's like speed dating but in the comfort of your own car, and you always have the option to drop them off at any destination you choose or perhaps you can keep driving if things are going well. Therefore, I would suggest you forget Match.com and yoga classes. If you're looking for a girl, I recommend that you start doing laps around the Lagoa...trust me, it beats the hell out of Facebook stalking.

People keep telling me that I should buy a scooter or motorcycle to avoid the traffic. After much deliberation, I decided that I would rather ride a tricycle on the New Jersey Turnpike than ride a motorcycle in Brazil.

It seems that all of my thoughts these days are based around driving and that's because with the traffic that I have encountered during the summer here, you are literally taking life into your own hands. The people on the side of the street selling water and beer (think about that for a second - selling beer to drivers!) must be making a killing. However, based on what I've seen, if I just set up a first aid tent down on the main road and charge to help those injured in traffic accidents, I might be able to retire in about six months.

If you own a house and end up renting the house to a few guys from New York who tell you that they met some "crazy girls from Rio" over the holidays, do you just burn the sheets or do you do the whole thing and burn the beds and start all over?

I have eaten more sushi in the past month than I have eaten in my entire life. It seems that I have convinced myself that Mercury poisoning is non-existent south of the equator. Literally, not one Brazilian (at least not one that I have met) has any idea what Mercury poisoning is. Let's just say that the government hasn't exactly done its job in getting the word out. Therefore, if I start to experience skin discoloration, swelling, or burning of the skin, don't worry. I own a sushi lounge, and this is the price I must pay.

If a Brazilian girl tells you that she doesn't like to have her picture taken, don't trust this girl because she is a liar!

It's 90 degrees every day and the water feels incredible (at least for a Californian). However, the majority of the Brazilian surfers wear wetsuits every day. For a culture that is known for its machismo, this is about as macho as me wearing a thong on the beach. Unfortunately, I witnessed a dude doing just this last week (fully shaved legs and all). The nightmares I'm having at night should come as no surprise.

In the U.S. I used to have an X5 yet here in Brazil I drive a car that requires me to turn off the air conditioning to make it up steep hills. It's funny how things change, yet I wouldn't change it in a million years.

The days keep passing and the speeding tickets keep coming. I swear to God that I basically drive like a grandmother now so I don't know what the hell is happening. If this is some kind of candid camera prank, it's not funny!

Tan lines - I swear at this point I don't know if I could live without them.

In Brazil, the most popular restaurants are buffet style (pick your food and weigh it). Seriously, how did this concept not work on the U.S.? You get to pick exactly what you want to eat and you know essentially how much you are going to pay for it. It must be the white trash stigma or maybe it's because the food in the buffets here is just so much better and healthier. However, if I ever move back to the U.S., I'm growing a mullet and rockin' the wife beater because I just can't live without the buffet!

Of the many things I am learning in the restaurant business, one of the most prevalent is how to deal with employee issues. It's funny because we used to joke about how our investment team at Merrill Lynch was just a human resources department due to the fact that we had a big team and it always seemed like we were dealing with some sort of ridiculous issue. Now, I'm facing these these issues every day, and I'm thankful to Shotty for all that I learned in this department during my years there. However, I would argue that the H.R. rules are a little different down here than at Merrill Lynch. For instance, I'm currently looking for a waitress and I'm not going to say that the interview process involves a runway buuuuuuutttt..........

It blows my mind how little what goes on in the rest of the world affects the place I live (at least on a day to day basis). I easily could go through each day and not hear a single word on what is happening across the globe, and on many days I do. Obviously, you could argue this as a good thing or a bad thing (certainly, I don't want to lose touch). However, for now while the world is in the shape that it's in, I'm going to argue that it's a good thing. Life is simple here and why not? Who wants to hear about terrorism, oil prices, investment pryamid schemes, etc., etc. I, on the other hand, am looking forward to the big decision of tomorrow: blonde or brunette for the open waitress position????

Lastly, check out these two recent articles on Floripa:
http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/travel/11party.html
http://www.jcreport.com/blog/120109/florianopolis-ibiza-south-america

Summer Insanity

After a week and a half straight of partying, I finally got some sleep last night. I woke up to some serious rain and decided that finally it was ok to sleep in. I rented out my house for the past 10 days, and I have been crashing on my friend's couch after my other apartment rental fell through. In the end though, it probably saved me money since I have basically used this place just to sleep (average bed time has been around 7AM) and shower. When people had explained to me what happens when the crowd arrives in Floripa, I was expecting a lot. However, I could never have anticipated this. There are literally people everywhere. You wouldn't even believe it. Unfortunately, with any crowd comes traffic....and I mean serious traffic. I have tried to avoid it at all costs and have been somewhat successful thus far. However, a few times I have been caught up in it and I'm having flashbacks to my days in LA on the 405 (I have, however, long forgotten road rage because at least here I can stare at chicks in bikinis while I'm stuck in traffic). I can't complain though. This has been one of the most fun weeks of my entire life. Every night is an adventure, and almost every night brings another great story. One of my favorite days of all time was this last Saturday (December 27th). My friend and I went to Cafe de la Musique (super model central), P12, Tatsuya, Pacha, and Posh all it one day. From a partying perspective, it probably doesn't get any better than this. Every place is going absolutely off, and I'm doing my best to take advantage of it because how many times in life do we get experiences like this? I've managed to meet some great people along the way from all across the world, and all anyone can say is that this is the best place in the world. I couldn't agree more, and I absolutely love it when other people agree. As for New Year's, it was, as expected, one of the best parties of my life. We went through probably 70 bottles of champagne and literally tore the roof off of the place. It was a great way to end the most exciting year of my life. After the party, I kept getting the feeling that the craziness was about to end, however, I couldn't be more wrong. It's January 3rd and the summer insanity has only just begun...

As for an update on Tatsuya, I'm happy to report that things are going great. I feel lucky to have what I call a "high class problem," which is that we are so busy that we are working very hard to keep up. People really love the concept, and I feel extremely gratified every night. As for the mayhem, the 30rd had to be the topper. One of our three sushi guys (we now have four thank God) hurt his hand and couldn't come to work. On top of that, our system went down right before we opened. We had a completely full house with people waiting outside, and we were running around like maniacs (imagine every single order being written down on a piece of paper and having to add it by hand to close out a bill). I was the barback, the dishwasher guy, and pretty much everything else. It was pure craziness and definitely a crash course in restaurant management. I felt bad for the sushi guys as only two of them were making food for about 80 people. We had a few complaints on the time it took to make the food (just being honest!) but overall it was a great night (even though I was definitely happy when the doors finally closed). There is certainly still a lot to learn, but I think all of the pieces are coming into place to make Tatsuya a long term success...

I finally get to move back into my house tonight. As happy as I am to have rented my house (thank you fellas - you absolutely rocked!), I'm really excited to get settled back in. Living out of my car and sleeping on a couch has been fun but I miss Casa 13 and Praia Mole. And hopefully now I can return all of the phone calls I missed and catch up on everyone's holiday stories. I do want to wish everyone the very best in 2009. 2008 was a very trying year all across the world but if I have learned anything, it's this: don't ever be afraid to take a chance and do something you never thought possible. You never know what might happen. A year ago yesterday I went to Merrill Lynch and told them I was walking away from a great job (and especially great colleagues!), a wonderful city, incredible friends and family and moving to Brazil. It was a chance I took and one filled with a lot of risk. However, there is no looking back now because life is just too damn short and the experiences I have had can never be replaced. Nobody knows what tomorrow may bring so you might as well live every day to the max.....and I plan on doing just that in 2009 here on the Island of Magic....