Our flight to São Paulo went by fast and was uneventful. It was a nine hour flight, but without kids and flying overnight, it was a breeze. We watched some crappy Nicholas Sparks movie (I can't remember the name but the romance of the movie was the wife having an affair with her high school love that she reconnected with after 20 years) and ate dinner (I ordered the chicken and rice and honey got the vegetable lasagna and somehow they both tasted the same like green Chili's and black beans) and went to sleep (I woke up every hour or so but kept going back to sleep until 7am or so (Friday morning) when they turned on the lights and served breakfast) and it was great.
I was so exhausted when we got in but honey said we could manage without a nap and I didn't want to hold him back from making the most of our time. So we made plans for no nap. We caught a cab from the airport to our hotel. Taxis are so expensive. It was close to 150 real. Whenever we go out of the country, that first cab ride is always hard for me to swallow. Traffic was horrible and it probably took us an hour to get to our hotel. We stayed at the melia jardim hotel and it was delightful. That's where everyone for the wedding stayed so it was nice to be close by with everyone. Our room wasn't ready yet so we ditched our bags and walked towards the art museum and headed along the street that is known for its shopping. It was only a two mile walk, but I guess being pregnant has aged me because I was almost dying by the end of our walk but wouldn't let honey get us a ride. ; ) We wandered the shopping areas and then found a cool park with two lakes and a big fountain and hung out there for a bit drinking the peach juice honey insisted on getting for me at a gas station we passed. It was very refreshing and I felt way better so when the time came, we walked back to our hotel just fine.
I looked like a hot mess, but I was still exhausted (I seriously was expecting the sleepy to fade away) so I plopped down on the bed and napped for an hour and a half. Honey woke me up at three so I could shower and get ready and at 4:30, we headed out to catch and uber to the restaurant for the rehearsal dinner. I can't remember the name of it right now but it was really cool. It's apparently a really well known restaurant in the city and the atmosphere was awesome. It was built around a 100+ year old tree and the walls and ceilings were glass and it felt like we were in a green house. They even had most occasionally shooting out of the ceiling like above the veggies at the grocery store. All of the food was wonderful. I especially loved the little bread roll puff things. The texture was perfect. The appetizers were great, especially the caprese and the salmon. The salad wasn't my favorite but I ate all of the figs and cheese from it. ; ) There were several entree options but I'm pretty sure everyone (except for the occasional vegetarian) ordered the steak. It came with some basically puffed potato chips that tasted like lays but I think I only had one because I just wanted that steak! My drink of choice for the night was guarana and I had a couple. It's some soda that's a mix of fruit and has natural energy boosters from the acai and other fruits in it. It was so helpful that we sat next to Igor and his boyfriend who are both currently living in Brazil and they helped me figure out what drink I should get and then kept ordering it for me every time I ran out. We sat across from a couple I'd never met before and they actually are living in Atlanta in Virginia highlands. They have two girls (my favorite was when they said "oh, no, we're done having kids. We actually only planned to have one child but our second pregnancy was our first unplanned pregnancy... so now we have two) who are 18 months and 3.5 years. The husband mentioned that he comes to Denver about six times a year for work and we found out that he actually knows our current bishop through that ("yeah, I know Tim... He's got what? Like thirty kids?") so that was a fun connection. Dessert was a buffet table full of a million and one delicious options and I think I tried most of them. My favorite was a yogurt cream something or other and the cheesecakes. The speeches were great, the company was great, and the food was great. It was a really fun night and while we were there, we got tons of great ideas from Igor of what to do and see in the city. We all headed to the sky bar after dinner, but there was a wait to get in and I wasn't feeling that patient so we got an uber (along with our Mormon friend, Chris) and headed back to the hotel to call it a night. Before we headed to our rooms though, the three of us went up to the roof of the hotel that has the pool and hot tub and checked out the night views of São Paulo. I can't even wrap my head around how enormous this city is.
Saturday, my honey set his alarm and woke me up around 9. We got ready and headed downstairs to meet Chris for breakfast. We chatted with Kevin (the groom) while we were getting our food and I thought it was cool to hear what was going through his mind the morning of his wedding day (mostly stressing about the Portuguese pronunciation of some words included in his vows) and seeing how happy and excited he was. He's such a bubbly and genuinely nice person. We finished talking to Kevin and sat down for breakfast with Chris. I really didn't know him at all at Stanford (he was single then) but at breakfast instantly felt like we'd been friends because he's Mormon and there's that instant connection.
We walked around a few blocks to help Chris find some notecards for Kevin for his vows and then took an uber into the part of town with some great outdoor markets and busy shopping streets. We all had fun laughing at some of the stuff they were selling on the streets (like portable sub things, tons of selfie sticks, and even that one guy that randomly walked up to Chris and tried to sell him an iPhone 5s and power cord even though Chris kept telling him he already had an iPhone and the guy kept trying to explain to him that he could make phone calls if he bought that phone) and the crazy crowds and the shops (costume shop with insertable belly and butt pads and wigs and weird costumes) and the guys that kept yelling "agua!agua!agua!" three times fast. It kept showering on and off but wasn't bad. We tried to go in a church but it closed at noon and didn't open again til four so we only saw it from the outside. Chris stopped in a chocolate shop to get chocolates for his wife and we wandered a bit more before getting smoothies from McDonald's and calling another uber. Thank goodness we had Chris with us because my honey was having uber difficulties and got an email saying his account was disabled. And his phone battery was at 5%. And we had no local cash. But Chris called us a car and off to the temple we went!
It started raining a decent amount as soon as we got in the car and continued until we got to the temple. We walked all around the gates before we found a way in and actually got to walk through the church building that shared the grounds. It was cool because I always love seeing the different church buildings where we travel but also because they had a pretty awesome kitchen! If only all church kitchens could be so fortunate! There were a bunch of people inside in various parts of the building and we decided it looked like they were practicing for a road show or something. We walked in the rain around the temple and it was really pretty and totally worth getting wet for. We saw a family come out that was greeted by a large group and figured maybe they'd just gotten sealed. It was great. We headed across the street to what we thought was a large grocery store but what ended up being a pet smart type of store. It was seriously impressive though and the most legit looking store I saw my whole time in São Paulo. Honey called visa and fixed the issue with his card (they disabled it after a few purchases in Brazil so then uber couldn't get paid and that's why they locked honey out of his account) and we looked around and then Chris called another uber for us back to the hotel. We hung out for a bit and then I fixed my hair and makeup and got dressed for the wedding and headed down to the lobby at five to meet everyone to get on the wedding shuttle to the church.
The wedding was really nice. The church was decorated beautifully with tons of huge bouquets of white roses. The whole ceremony was very catholic and entirely in Portuguese except for that Kevin said his vows in both languages and occasionally in English they would tell us when we should sit down. The photographers were out of control and I counted at least ten people on the photography team, some members with holsters that held multiple cameras. Also, there was a very lively band there and the song that played as they shared their kiss and made their exit was the Beatles' all you need is love. They also played a few other radio top 40 kind of songs. It lasted about an hour and then we all shuttled it to the reception venue.
This place was gorgeous inside and out. It was surrounded by lush, tropical plants and throughout the parking lot which was beautifully cobble stone designed pathways surrounding a beautifully lit fountain. Inside was impressive from the furniture to the chandeliers to the architecture to the food and decorations. Even the bar set up was pretty with all of the bowls of lemon and lime wedges and everything. Tons of servers were constantly circling the main room with trays of appetizers. Crackers with salmon, ceviche, pumpkin soup, little crab cakes, some cheesy chicken puff ball (apparently it's a major crowd pleaser in Brazil for everyone no matter how rich or poor and Igor and his boyfriend were telling us that a middle class reception would probably be embarrassed to serve it because it can have a reputation for being a poor person food but that this reception was so fancy it was making a statement by serving it. Igor and Gabriel both agreed it was an interesting move to add it to the menu), a chicken roll up thing with bbq sauce, a yogurt cream sort of shot glass thing, and of course a bunch of other things I can't remember. Igor also went to the bar and ordered myself and Christopher some virgin drinks with mashed up fruit. Honey had strawberry and kiwi and I had grape and pineapple. Both were wonderful! I would have loved a few more but the bar was always so busy and it was loud and I don't know Portuguese so I was a little nervous thinking of tackling that on my own but wasn't going to inconvenience Igor anymore. Even though I felt like he was always ordering me drinks. My favorite move of the night was that when the bride and groom made their entrance, they bee-lined it to the cake and went ahead and cut it and then we heard the speeches from the best man and maid of honor. The best man nailed it with his. It was complimentary of the bride, playfully making fun of the groom, had some entertaining stories and a few great jokes... Like about how the bride was really marrying down so we all know she's really just in it for the green card. He did English first and then someone else read it in Portuguese. Let me tell you, they didn't laugh as loud at that one as the English speakers. Ha.
After that, we sat at a table with Igor and Gabriel and filled our plates with the delicious dinner options. My favorite was the filet mignon and the roasted vegetables, but everything else that I tried was also really good. The tiny potatoes were really hitting the spot though. I was so stuffed when dessert came out but tried everything except the whisky something or other and they were all super great. I didn't like the actual hard meringue part of that dessert but the cream and fruit part of it was delightful. By this time it was at least 11 and the music and dancing were in full swing. The music was great and the lights were coordinated to every song so that was fun. We didn't dance because my feet were killing me after so much time in two days of standing and walking in three inch heels. Our friend Chris kept giving me crap about not dancing and gave me even more crap after he found out they were handing out flip flops at the bar for women who didn't want to dance in heels. I declined. Although they were really cute gold and white striped sandals and I kind of wanted them just because. Honey and I headed out around midnight even though they had more rounds of food coming. Apparently these Brazilian wedding receptions last til six and seven in the morning. So crazy. But by midnight, most people were just dancing and drinking and I was ready for bed. While we were waiting for our uber (have I mentioned how atrocious the traffic is in São Paulo at alllll hours of the day?!), Igor and Gabriel came out and said their taxi was on the way. They'd ordered a taxi through this no drinking and driving app that comps the price and makes it practically free. I thought that was a cool concept. Our uber wasn't getting any closer (you can see it on the app screen) so Igor called him to see what was up and confirmed he was stuck in traffic. Meanwhile, their taxi arrived and since our uber was still a while away, they offered to just drop us off at our hotel on their way home so Igor called our uber again to confirm the cancel and make sure he got the memo that we found another ride. Igor sure took care of us this weekend. He and Gabriel are both so sweet and I'm so glad we could spend so much time together. They're going to birdco (Stanford reunion) in New York in June so honey will see them there (as long as our baby doesn't come late... I was initially planning on going until I found out it was happening less than two weeks after my due date) and that'll be fun for them all. We headed to our room and passed out. And of course I had weird dreams. Because I'm pregnant.
Sunday morning we slept in and had a leisurely breakfast. After we packed our bags, we checked out of the hotel and got an uber to the part of town that had some outdoor markets (under the building suspended by the red pillars) and street art and it was a lot of fun. We stopped on the way to actually get some cash in local currency and I promptly bought a turquoise necklace for 10 real which is only like $4 or something. I love markets like that and this was a really cool one. I loved all of the China plates and cups and saucers. It made me want a whole hutch full because it was all so gorgeous and unique. I imagine that China is kind of a pain in the butt to collect though and that made me more content to just take pictures and move on. I also loved the glass bowls that looked like chihuly and I always love looking at jewelry. Honey hooked my bag to his and pulled them both so I was free to look and take pictures. He's so sweet. Once we were done there, we waved down a taxi (the nearest uber was 15 mins away and we were short on time... And they were having a surge rate so I think a taxi was cheaper in this case anyway) and were on our way to the airport. We figured out what line to get in (it was loooong) and then the man directing the line told us to go to a different line and made the hand motions of a big belly. Ha. So we got to the special assistance line and waited there instead. As the days go by, I'm realizing how seriously Brazilians take pregnancy. This also happened to us when we landed in the country and Chris was walking in front of me down the line we were supposed to be in and a man pulled me aside and told me to get in a non existent line that was next to a "crew members only" sign. So my confused honey came back and we got in that line. It wasn't until several minutes later that we saw a family behind us and noticed the elderly lady in front of us. Special assistance for all of us I guess. But that was after just a few minutes of being in Brazil. After being here several days, I'm very familiar with this special treatment and it's kind of fun sometimes, especially because it always surprises me. Anyways, our plane ride was quick and uneventful. The plane had a lot of empty seats (one on our row) so honey sat in the aisle and I in the window and it was nice and spacious. It was only two hours until we arrived in foz do iguaçu.
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