Tchau.. for now

Well, got most of my bags packed and called up Fabrício, my wonderful cabbie who helped me pick out a mattress when I could hardly say the word those 4 months ago. I'm now in São Paulo for a conference until Friday, when I will (all things flight-related good) have one last night in my dear Vitória. I haven't done much in SAMPA so far.. went "shopping" for some stockings for the conference and have been sitting in the hotel room taking care of business and trying not to be depressed about my immediate future (because, let's face it- my past has been pretty stellar and my long-term future isn't that bad either.)

The flight was almost full, but I snuck into the window seat behind me and didn't have to move when one last guy got on the plane. So I was able to take a picture of UFES (Federal University of Espirito Santo) from above.

Speaking of lucky, Gabriel asked me to list all the things I ever got for free because I'm a woman/blonde (I think he's jealous.. or maybe he's just trying to cheer me up). Let's see if I can recount the joys:
* lunch card (even though I should've had some other ID, but my accent was "cute"
* poster printing (that's right- the poster I printed for this conference was "gratis" because I'm a foreigner??)
* drinks - I seem to remember a snowmobiler in Houghton buying me a soco and coke. I danced with him because I love dancing. There have probably been other drinks... I seem to remember a pitcher of long island from the DT... maybe two pitchers. ahhh.. Houghton. There was also Greece- one can get a lot of free ouzo just for being a woman, I'm fairly certain.
* rides (in cars or on bikes of people I *mostly* knew)
* discounts on things one might buy (clothing? gifts?)
* snacks! and other food (there were a few dinner dates for sure, but I've also had plenty of very nice people share snacks and such with me)
* tea and snacks - literally JUST NOW, room service knocked on my door with a tray of goodies and offered me tea. (that's probably NOT because I'm a girl/blonde, but it still feels lucky)

Some of this was definitely the woman/blonde thing, but I maintain that a lot of it was because I met some very nice people and was nice back to them. You certainly can't EXPECT certain treatment one way or the other just because you're different.