Another day, another dollar... pound... whatever

I must be a moron. I must have some kind of brain damage, should have gone to special school or something...
I can't understand why everything is so fucking difficult to me (you see? I can't understand anything... 'sucker' lollypop instead of my head)

A job that basically ANYONE with half-brain cell can do is my new nightmare. People who don't speak a funcking word in English manage to make a living waiting tables and I can't.
I don't understant the drinks, I don't understand how the cash register works, I don't understand what costumers are saying, I don't understand what the staff is saying... I should be part of a medical research! IT'S UNBELIVEABLE!

I'm not even saying what went on this afternoon because it's embarrissing. I think Steven really feels sorry for me and I feel like killing myself. I mean, it's not rocket science but in the planet that live it must be!
It took me two hours to get home because I wanted to save like 4 pounds not having bought the tube pass. I got totally pissed and am still in a horrible mood. All I wanted to do after work was to have a few pints in a pub, not drinking beer at home; but the thing is that I'm skint and wouldn't have any money until Wednesday, which is the day that I (hopefully!) get paid.
When my shift ended and I went to the bathroom to change, I saw three messages on my mobile. The first from my cousin Patricia inviting me to go to Camden Town with a friend of hers to have a few pints. The second message was from Ricardo, inviting me to go to Candem Town to have a few pints along with his sister. Man, apparently all roads lead to Candem Town! The third message was Paula telling me to buy some milk at Sansbury's (because Tesco doesn't have the brand they drink). Back to real life! Milk at Sansbury's it is! I missed the bus 74 from Gloucester Rd to Baker Street, where I would take nbr 2 to come home. I waited for about 10 minutes and the bus was full of people. The driver didn't even stop at the next bus stop, which really made two guys feel like beating the bastard up. Everybody got off at Harrods, of course, and I went to the upper deck. I was listening to Erlon Chaves but he didn't seem to help at all... Changed buses and was on my way to Brixton. The Daylight Saving finished on Saturday and at 4:30pm it was already night, so wierd.

I went to the market but at 5pm there's nothing on the shelves. I hadn't had luch and bought a sandwich, I've been having a lot of sandwiches lately. I went to the Milk & Juice shelf and, of course, the milk I was supposed to buy had been gone. I bought some other organic brand which 'helps the cows from Africa'.
Don't feel like talking to anyone.

I'm going to continue handing CVs and filling application forms. Got rejected from Waterstone's, many stores have finished with the Christmas selections.
Another day, another pound... another little pound...

"Another Day, Another Dollar" - Alison Krauss

Another day, another dollar
That's what I'm working for today
Another day, another dollar
Sure can't buy my blues away

I'm just trying to make a living
Working jobs that I enjoy
But it ain't easy finding something
For this lonesome-hearted boy

Another day, another dollar
That's what I'm working for today
Another day, another dollar
Sure can't buy my blues away

You know my life is like a highway
Just too many roads to take
You know I'll try to take the right one
Just gets harder every day

Another day, another dollar
That's what I'm working for today
Another day, another dollar
Sure can't buy my blues away

Another day, another dollar
That's what I'm working for today, hey
Another day, another dollar
Sure can't buy my blues away

Another day, another dollar
Sure can't buy my blues away

Who the hell is Gary Numan???

I don't see how I'm going to be done telling about Paris, I quit. When I have the visual resources I might finish my story.

Anyway, on Thursday 27th, two days ago, it was Simon LeBon's birthday. For those who have no idea who this guy is, he is Duran Duran's lead singer. A zillion years ago, when I used to listen to band all the time, he was my favourite! There's always gotta be a favourite one, right??? The thing is, there was going to be a party at this pub called Nambucca, betweel Holloway Rd and Archway stations, really, really far away from Brixton. We were all excited about the party because they were going to play songs from the 80s and plenty of Duran Duran.
I went to meet Paula in The City and got to know where she works. Lots of men in suits! I had also seen Tower Bridge for the first time! I never go to that side of London so it was nice that look on my face just like when I saw Big Ben for the first time...



We took the bus 153 at Liverpool Street stn and went to Holloway Rd. We weren't sure where it was and Paula asked a girl sitting next to us where Holloway was. She said it would be 10 more minutes and the station would be on our right-hand side. A few minutes after that, she and her two other friends got off the bus. I think it took us almost 30 minutes to get to the fucking station, and it was on the left-hand side!!! Totally Bitchish!
It turned out that the pub was a little further and we decided to get another bus. For our surprise Patricia was on the very same bus and we all got to the place together.

At the beginning it was kinda empty - we arrived at 7pm - and they were showing 'Arena' video. I seemed it would be a hell of a night!
But things didn't really go how we expected. There were a few strange characters, for sure, but the music was so lame... There were two guys there wearing 'Gary Neuman' shirts. 'Who the hell is Gary Neuman?', we thought.
The first guy was wearing a super-tight pair of jeans with belt and the Gary Numan shirt tucked in! All combined with a terrific pair of cowboy-like boots. Actually, I think witch-like boots is more appropriate.
The second guy... well, the second guy was just a Gary Numan's fan.
GN number one danced the same way the whole time, he only varied the speed - sometimes the song was fast, sometimes slower. At a certain point they came to our table and invited us to go to a 80's party where they would be the DJs, and they were totally hitting on us! I just told Patricia 'I thought they were gay!', and she said, 'No, they're desperatly trying to get laid!' And they certainly were, because they were trying to dance with all women in the pub!!!
The aftermath: they didn't score, the DJ was the worst ever (played only four Duran Duran's songs in 4 hours) and we had to walk fast fast and for a while to Archway Stn to go home.

------------------------

Click on the link to see who Gary Numan is. To my surprise, he wrote 'Down in the Park', the first Foo Fighters' song I ever listened to. Small world, hu?

Bad things come in threes

New job.
Every single thing in life has an upside and a downside.
The upside: I don't have to work at Hobgoblin anymore...
The downside: not knowing anything, again.

The thing is, Caio (the guy that arranged for me to start working there) told me that the hotel (caled Bailey's, it's part of Millenium or something like that) needed a waitress to work at the bar. I told him I had pub experience WORKING IN THE KITCHEN and waitressing. But he understood that I had something to do with the pub and that I had bar experience like preparing drinks.

I knew I was going to work at the bar but I thought I was gonna be trained! The managers were under the impression that I HAD some bar experience and they got shocked when I told them I couldn't prepare a bloody mary.
At first, Steven and Dada (the managers, he's from some African country and she's from Bosnia) were really nice to me, we talked a lot and the atmosphere was pretty good. After I told them I'd never worked at a bar they completely changed their attitude towards me. And, of course, I felt like shit.
Dada said - in her terribly pronounced English - that if I didn't learn everything fast there was no way I could keep working there. What a fucking bitch! My first day at that fucking hotel and they start throwing bombs at me. They put me in a situation that made me actually say, 'I'm sorry, I don't know what to say' as if it was my fault! No doubt that they were misinformed. Caio told them that I had pub experience, period. They were pissed and I stood there looking like a moron.
During the 6-hour-shift, only one couple went to the bar. ONE COUPLE! But they obviously arrived when neither Steven nor Dada were there and they were nowhere to be found... Anyway, the couple ordered white wine and shanty. 'What the hell is shanty?', I thought. It wasn't in the menu. I freaked.
I must say that I should've asked the costumer what it was, but at the time I got nervous and didn't know what to do.
Shanty is a pint (or half-pint) of half lemonade, half lagger beer. That's it.

It was after this incident that they started to be not so friendly. But I made it till the end of the shift and went home. So frustated, you know?

This was Saturday. I would have to work Sunday as well. From 9am to 3pm.

It was Dada's day off. It would be just Steven and I. I got there and sorted almost everything out for the opening. I only missed a couple of things but, hey, it was my SECOND day. The problem is, every single thing that I forgot he looked at me like 'you can't do anything...' Come on! Even if I knew how to make a thousand drinks I would have still forgotten how to go through that labyrinth to get to the drinks room downstairs. Needless to say that I wanted to punch him in the chin big time!!!
Sunday had 100% more action than Saturday. TWO TABLES the whole shift!!! And those fuckers are giving me a hard time about not knowing the drinks???? Gimme a fucking break, will ya?????

I made in both days the amazing amount of 5.25 pounds of tips... Well, better than the Hobgoblin: 2 pounds in two months!!!

I hope next weekend it's better. It's wierd having to wake up early everyday. My worst nightmare (well, one of the hundreds...).

Bad news about the school: my teacher Matt is moving to France (Paris) to teach business English and live with his girlfriend (who's French and lives there). I wonder who's sustituting for him and I feel sorry for the person, because Matt is awesome!
Paris...
I still remeber:
The Hotel de Ville



Paris seen from the Eiffel Tower



And Jim... always!!!

"Sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down, SIT DOWN!!!!!.... YOU'RE ROCKIN' THE BOAT!"

I just came from GUYS AND DOLLS the musical!

I SAW EWAN MCGREGOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We couldn't get tickets for the first floor, you know, the one that you can see them at your level, but we stayed on the 2nd floor and we had binoculars so it was great!
I'd had two buckets of coffee before meeting Paula and we had a pint before going to the theatre, so you can imagine where I had to go in the first 30 minutes of the play.... but the space between the rows for you to pass is non-existent, so of course I stepped on everybody's feet. Soooo embarrassing.... But you know what? Fuck it! I saw Ewan McGregor!!!!

I managed to take two pictures at the end, I should have taken DURING the play, but you know me, everything has to be by the book, so... And another problem is that the camera is not well adjusted (not for pictures far away, only close pics) so you can't really tell who's who... but Ewan is the 3rd guy from left.





Anyway, it was amazing! My first musical!!! I wish I could see it again. And again. And take better pics this time!!!

SIT DOWN, BITCH, YOU'RE BLOCKING MY VIEW!!!!

Whatever happened to Jordi-bebe-cara de bunda???

Back to Paris!

Well, we made it through the immigration, but we still had to get to the hotel. We knew that we had somehow to get the train B to Gare Du Nord station, change trains and get the E to St-Lazare station and from there get the tube #3 towards Pont de Levallois-Becon, our station was Louise Michel.
The train station was in another place, so we would have to get a bus there. All too much complicated and not even a single sign in English. Packed as sardines on the bus, we arrived at the train station and bought a 5-day travel card - even though we were staying for 4 days - for €46.
Everything settled, we got on the train and headed for Paris. It was raining and I only thought about the weather: what if it rains the whole trip?
Ro and I were kind of in shock, our first French experience! During the journey, don't ask me why we started talking about this, Ronaldo brought up the film 'Whatever happened to Baby Jane?', with Betty Davis and that she's awful and stuff. Being in Paris and hearing the word 'baby' made me think about Jordi, the annoying kid who sang 'Alison....' and my mom used to call him Jordi-bebe-cara de bunda. So, I thought 'whatever happened to Jordi-bebe-cara de bunda?' Completely dumb but it kinda became one of the Paris-jargons, or in-jokes, if you like.
It took us a while but we arrived at Louise Michel. We had a map and were dying to see the hotel. The thing is: I had forgotten to bring the address. I knew the name of the street, which was a start, but couldn't possibly remember the number. We were tired and both got stressed out. We found the street (Jean Jarres) and started to look for a hotel. We asked a few people and they pointed towards the right place. No big deal.

We went to our room, changed clothes and thought, 'where should we go now?' We had no idea of anything, so we got the map and decided to go to the Eiffel Tower. We should get the metro and get off at either Champ de Mars or Invalides station. We chose the latter.
The metro in Paris is very simple. If you know how to find your way in London tube - and, let's face it, ANYONE with a basic level of English can understand it - you won't have any problems in Paris. SORTIE, btw, means 'exit'.
We weren't sure where we were so we started walking around. Withing seconds I spotted the Eiffel Tower! My first vision! Sooo amazing!!!! We took pics of everything (of course, Ronaldo has them so I owe you guys the images).
We walked through Alexandre III bridge and noticed that there were a bunch of people walking towards a palace and entering a line. What was that? We didn't know but we entered the line anyway. The thing is, they were doing some construction work inside the Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais and it was the last weeked opened for the public. It was interesting, they had built up this whole atmosphere with music and light, it was cool but nothing further.

We wanted the see the Tower - and we COULD see it - but didn't know how to get there. It took us a long time and a lot of walking but we finally arrived at the bottom. It was breathtaking!



The best thing to do when you go to Paris is to take the metro and get off at Trocadero. Either at night or during the day you'll have the most spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower. I personally think it's best to see it at night first and then see it in the daylight.

Just like London, the metro in Paris closes at 12h30am, which I think is bullshit. We went to hotel to get some sleep because the next day would be a killer: Pere Lachaise!!!

Back to reality - "loster" than ever

I know, I should write about the rest of the trip to Paris... and I will, promisse you. But I have to write about the current events otherwise I'll forget all about it and I'll end up not writing in my blog at all!!!

Anyway, expect the Paris news. Now, back to London.

Since I came back from France everything's been a little strange. I haven's come back to work. In fact, I quit. I love quiting jobs... It makes me feel so free and releived... and poor as well! The thing is, I talked to Caio, who is a friend of Paula's from Porto Alegre, and he got me this job as a waitress in a hotel bar across from Glocester Road station. It's a hotel area and pretty ok. I went to the hotel this afternoon to meet the supervisors and stuff and I was supposed to start working next weekend (I'll work weekends AGAIN, from 9am to 3pm, and I'll basically serve people and prepare drinks. Yes! I'll prepare drinks, can you imagine that? All sorts of drinks like gin tonica, caipirinha and everything that's available in the bar. But it's a morning shift, so people usually don't drink alcohol; it will be basically coffee and soft drinks) but the guy had already sorted out the shifts so I'll start the weekend after next. Well, it's got a good side and a bad one. Good because I'll get to have a lie-in for one more weekend, but it's bad because I won't earn anything. And I owe and have to buy my travel card for next week so it'll definitely be difficult for me to go through next week. But I'll make it, on a tight budget, of course.
Ronaldo left to Los Angeles last Friday. He could have stayed more, but I think he needs his shitfs there so I didn't push it so much. On Saturday Paula, Ethan and I went to Greenwich to see the market. It was fun, though we didn't do much during the day. Paula had invited some friends over so they had to prepare everything to teh occasion, so we hung out in Greenwigh for a while, had some coffee and a pint at this nice pub and headed home. Paula and I went straight to Tesco to buy the things for the dinner party and it was chaos! Supermarket full of people isn't enjoyable anywhere in the world!

At about 8pm Michael and Amber arrived, so did my cousin Patricia and her friend Fernanda. The girls only stayed for like half hour because they had other plans so it was only the five of us. I call Tiago but he didn't show up.
The thing is, the TV was on when everybody arrived and they wanted to see 'The X Factor', which is kind of an British American Idol, and I was ok with that. I mean, let them see their programme! I don't mind at all! But when it finished, they starting zapping through the music channels (and there were a lot of CDs next to DVD player to be, you know, PLAYED, and they (actually Michael) kept putting on these dance music channels... what a nightmare! And they would speak about... I don't know, whatever, and it was so boring... My John Smith's didn't work this time, that's for sure... Ethan crashed on the sofa and I was like 'kill me, kill me now' and Paula was talking to them so passionately that at 1am I just grabed my beer and left to my room, didn't say good-bye to anyone.
I thought Sunday would be a lost day. We whatched 'Team America: World Police' - same guys from South Park, really funny!!! - and Paula and Ethan just felt like chilling... and I had no money, no prospects... until I got the call.
Tiago called for us to do something. He invited to go to a bar near his house and also to watch Brazilian playing Bolivia. So cool! My first Brazilian match outside Brazil! He paid for the beers and that was really kind of him... one friend help the other! That's been happening to me for a while...
There were a lot of Brazilians... they're everywhere. Every-fucking-where!
It's a cool bar, not a pub kinda place, they serve John Smith's (which is very important!) and it was fun.

For the rest of the week I basically went to school and looked for work in the High Street shops. Mailed some resumes and nw I'm waiting for the call, at least for Christmas time they've gotta hire me!!!

And tonight was pub night. I'm really short of money but I rekoned, 'well, I should socialize a little, try to get to know the other students better and stuff', but it was sooooo depressing... The thing is, most students at the pub were from Swiss-german and the other students (from Germany, France, Japan) left really early and I saw myself at the pub surrounded by swiss-german speakers who didn't make a single effort tho try to speak to me. I talked for a while with one of the guys, but than the others would ask him something and, there you go! Back to swiss-german! I felt totally a Lost in Translation kind thing, you know? Yes, I tried to socialize. Yes, I tried to make up some conversation. Yes, I tried to get to know them, but they didn't let me in, you know?
So who's not doing their part here?
I miss Paris...

Catching up - Having a London time

What I really don't like about writing in my blog after a long time without doing it is the fact that I forget almost everything... And the details are very important for me... But I'll try anyway.

When did it start? Oh, ok.
September 28, Wednesday - Ronaldo's arrival

Ronaldo and Paula arrived in the morning and he took a ride home with her. I was looking forward to seeing him so I left school and rushed home. When I got there they had just arrived from the airport. I had made the huge mistake of telling Grant that I was avilable on Wednesday night to work. I didn't want to go! Ro and I spent some time together, walked around the neighbourhood and had some coffee at the Ethiopian place around the corner. And talked and talked...
I went to Hobgoblin and Ronaldo bought a tube day travel card to go to Oxford St.
Man, I hate that pub... I hate that people, I hate serving them. A football match was to be shown on TV and the place got crowded. The weather was cold and rainy. Ro went to pick me up at 10pm, I bought a few beers and we stayed in the kitchen talking.

September 29, Thursday - London sightseeing

We woke up early and I was supposed to go to class, but decided to skip it and we walked around downtown. We went to Soho, but in the morning everything is still closed (those shops there usually open at 11am) so it wasn't so much of a fun time. We started taking pics (the best ones are in Ro's camera, of course) and had the first of a million sandwiches that we would have throughout the next 4 days.

Anyway, we knew that we wouldn't have so much time to spend in London because of our upcoming trip to Paris, so we wanted to do some sightseeing. I hadn't done or seen almost anything before Ronaldo got here so it would be just as news to me as it was to him. Where should we get started?
We took the bus 159 - the classic route - and got off at the London Eye and Parliament Houses and Big Ben. Pics all around... We went towards the Saatchi Gallery, where a Salvador Dali's exposition was taking place. It's right beside the London Eye. On a whim, we entered the queue to buy the tickets for the Eye! I have an Oyster card (which is the one you have to use in the public transportation, either tube or bus or both, and now there's a campaing to encourage people and tourists to use the buses and tube without any fear after the July bombings) and we had 50% off, so the price was £6.25 each. Not expensive at all!
I was a bit aprehensive and so was Ronaldo. The thing is fucking huge!







The queue moved fast and in no time we were inside the wheel. The view is awesome! We saw everything and even found the Buckingham Palace, our next place to be.

I spoke to Tiago on the phone for us to meet up and we arranged to meet at Trafalgar Square at 3h30pm. We had time so we went towards Green Park to find the Palace. Everything was so fucking cool, the park was quiet and peaceful, people sitting in banches or on the grass drinking coffee, reading, talking to friends. Some people were going home and others exercising. Buckingham Palace is beautiful. We weren't able to see the "change of guards" with their traditional long black furry hats and red suits, but we took pics with a policeguy standing in the main gate. He was totally cool with that. In fact, policemen that work in the Palace are used to tourists taking their pictures, so there was no problem at all.



We met Tiago and went for a coffee. We talked for a while but Tiago had to go to work (he's working at this sushi place) so we didn't spend much time together. Ronaldo asked him a lot of questions about living in London and how much it costs... a possibility for the future?
At the end of the day we were looking miserable and starving to death. We had been thinking of having a burger the whole day and it suddenly came to me the idea of going to Bodean's! That would be cool...
We took bus 88 towards Clapham Commom and got there at about 6pm.
There's this really good-looking bartender working there so not only is the food good, but also the view!!!
We had the traditional cheeseburger with fries on the side and water... Man, the best burger in London (I'm not gonna say this was the best burger I've ever had because I'll never forget the one I had coming back from Disneyland two years ago... That was incredible!)

We were beat and still had to pack and sort everything out for the trip.
We decided not to check-in any luggage so we had to put everything in bags. It was heavy but totally managable.

September 30, Friday - Off to Paris!

I went to class in the morning along with the luggage and Ronaldo got to see the neighbourhood. We went to the supermarket and bought some stuff for the trip (sandwiches...). We went all the way to Bond Street station carrying that heavy load and got the tube to Heathrow. We had to make a connection at Green Park station to get the Piccadilly line.
It's about an hour journey from downtown to the airport and the single ride costs £3.80 - not too bad. We did the self-check-in and went to find the boarding gate.
We flew BMI (kind of a British "Gol") and the flight was full, but enjoyable.
It's less than an hour flight from London to Paris and we arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport at 6pm. I was afraid of the immigration but nothing happened whatsoever. The immigration official (it was a woman) said two sentences:
- Bon soir
(looked at my passport, stamped it)
- Aurvoir
Indetermined time to stay there... can you believe it?
We made it!
Now the problem was to get out of the airport and get to the hotel...

It will be updated in no time!

Yeah guys, I haven't had time to update the blog. I know you want to know what went on in Paris and everything but I simply haven't had a moment to get my shit together!
So, if you could just wait a little longer, you'll be soon reading all the news from the trip.
I'm at the school now waiting for Ronaldo who is 45 minutes late...