Penny for my Thoughts?

So yesterday was just one of those days. I woke up, and it was my “last day” in Joburg. Not literally, but it was the last day I would be able to do things, since Mon-Fri I’m at the office from 8-5 and I’m leaving to the OpiKoppi music festival after work on Friday, then straight from there to Cape Town on Saturday, then back on Thursday and I leave on Friday (the 13th… tan tan tan taaaan).

Phew.

Anyways, I woke up in a weird mood, and started trying to figure out what to do on my last day. I looked at some museums, but half were closed on Sunday, as was the tour of the South African Brewery. So I did what I always do when I’m in this mood – drove outside Joburg to the Hartbeespoort Dam to chill by myself and check out the view.

Well, I ended up not really finding the dam, but I found this awesome park where I spent the afternoon & watched the sunset (I know, romantic thing to do by yourself, but it was gorgeous anyways).

It got me thinking though. Not that I haven’t already been thinking about this since my parents moved to Brazil, but I started REALLY thinking. I have 9 months to decide where I’m going to live after I graduate. Actually, in 9 months I would ideally already know where I’m moving to, since I’m graduating in May.

The obvious choice is Brazil. It’s where I’m from; it’s where my family is, and where my best friend is. I’ve always dreamed of finally finishing school and settling down in Brazil. There are amazing advertising agencies there, and even if I don’t live in Rio I would only be a “ponte aerea” away. [By the way, a Ponte Aerea is what they call the flight from Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro, because it’s so close it’s like a bridge in the sky- and it’s really cheap too] After all, I had already decided I was going to live in Brazil before my parents carried me off to Miami.

But they carried me off. And things changed. The US holds amazing opportunities- the biggest advertising accounts, the most innovation in the industry, and a great currency. And of course, I have amazing friends there as well, who I miss like hell by the way. I’ve spoken English my whole life, it would be weird to start advertising in Portuguese all of the sudden. And where would I watch college football and NBA? Will I ever be able to take my blonde kids (it will happen) to FSU games if I don’t live in the states? Will I miss out on all the Heat games with the dream team?

And now here comes South Africa to make my decision even harder. A place that started off as a crazy plan for a fun summer abroad to watch the World Cup has now won me over. TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris isn’t only the number 1 creative agency in the world right now, but they’ve also become my home away from home. From people making mean jokes about how Brazil choked during the WC, to people wearing Brazil jerseys, to meetings with clients and brainstorming sessions, to the open bar every Friday at 4, to lots of coffee and research… you get the point, I could go on forever. And South Africa isn’t only TBWA: it’s the friends I’ve made, all the “jawls” [slang for parties]and crazy nights, the road trip to Durban, and everything Cape Town will be next week. And it isn’t even only South Africa: Victoria Falls was amazing; and it’s only one of the places I wanted to go to. I still want to go to Mozambique, and Madagascar, and everywhere else around here. If I don’t move here, when will I be able to come back? I don’t even want to leave in the first place.


So I thought, and thought and thought while watching that amazing sunset. Who knows where I’m going. All I know is moving looks like it’s going to be a lot harder now that I have to decide for myself instead of just moving with my parents.


On a lighter note, I updated my Howzit?! Post to include some new slangs I’ve picked up. Enjoy!

So This is Africa...

Last weekend was unreal. I mean, I already knew it was going to be sick, but I didn’t know HOW sick. Walking with 13 month old lions, riding elephants, seeing the widest waterfall in the world up close and from a helicopter, and of course- bungee jumping.

To be honest, like most people in the world, this is what came to mind when I thought of Africa. Obviously I knew that South Africa is completely different from the rest of Africa, but you can never get those images from movies out of head completely. Zambia is Africa: and it’s fascinating. The wildlife everywhere: we had to stop our jeep at one point because there were elephants crossing the road at night! When I first got to my hotel I saw this monkey just chilling and I took pictures and got really excited until I realized that monkeys and baboons are eeeeverywhere. Literally. When I went bungee jumping there were tons of then under the bridge with these teeny tiny baby baboons hanging onto their bellies.

Speaking of bungee jumping – it was amazing! I’ve been skydiving before (and will again in a couple of days- I’m so psyched!!), but bungee jumping is waaaay scarier. You’re actually close enough to the ground (or water in my case) that you could easily die. When you’re skydiving you’re way too far away to even get close to a real threat. But the swing is even scarier! Not if you’re mentally prepared of course, but I was prepared for the bungee- I knew I’d be diving head first into the gorge. But the swing I just imagined myself swinging under the bridge. But you fall before you swing. And it’s scary AS HELL.

I met this great group of Irish people on the elephant ride, and went to a BBQ at their lodge at night. We ended up all chilling and then going out to a local bar- it was hilarious! Most of the music was local music, and everyone was jammin'. Of course they played Waving Flag at one point and everyone went all out! I just can't get sick of that song... And they have this local beer here called Mosi that's really good!

Anyways, one and a half days is way too short of a time to spend at Vic Falls... but I guess it's good cuz it gives me a reason to come back!

Ugh I don't even want to think about coming back... I really, really, really love it here. The people here are so amazingly nice and fun and awesome! I can't even believe in about 2 weeks I'm leaving =/. And this only makes my whole deciding-where-to-go-after-graduation job even harder. It's going to be rough going back to reality. Meanwhile, this is the first weekend I'm spending in Joburg in a while, and it's my friend from here's bday, so it should be awesome!

My New Favorite City: Durban

I really hope Brasil can step it up from this World Cup. The stadiums here are just AMAZING! I thought Soccer City was the coolest stadium I had ever seen until I saw the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. I can’t even imagine being here for a game, the stadium is SO sick! And you can take a cable car up to the top of the arc and you get to see the whole city, from the ocean to the mountains.
I took the liberty to draw myself on top of the arc so you guys can see where we were.

I basically fell in love with Durban this weekend. I went with 3 friends: 2 friends from here and a girl that was couch-surfing at one of the guy’s houses from Ukraine/Russia/France. So much fun! We started off by road tripping Friday after work, and played tons of car games. We were all pretty tired by the time we got to our hotel around 11:30 PM, but we decided to go out. We chilled at the hotel for a while, then bounced around different clubs in the city, until we found one we really liked. “What a vibe!!” as they say here.

We ended our night/morning watching the sunrise from the beach in front of our hotel in Umhlanga, which is on the North Coast of Durban. It was pretty cold still, but the sunrise was gorgeous. And the hotel that seemed like no big deal was surreal when we woke up in the morning to the ocean breeze and the amazing view.

By the way, Umhlanga is the hardest word ever to say. Apparently it’s a Zulu word, but it’s really hard to make the right sound. My friends from here only speak English and Afrikaans, and they pronounce it Umshlanga, but a lady from Durban taught me how to say it right, but I can’t even sound it out in writing because it’s like no sound in English.

Durban was really chill; we all just hung out, did some tourism around the local markets and historic centre, and saw some monuments. The city is fascinating, and the weather helps, especially after being in Joburg for a month. Before we left we stopped by the Indian District and saw the biggest mosque in the Southern Hemisphere. We also ate Bunny Chow, which is a South African/Indian dish that is pretty much a curry (you pick what kind) inside a loaf of bread, and you eat it with your hands. Sooo good!

The weather was amazing, and I got to swim in the Indian Ocean, which was cool! Saturday it was pretty warm, but we went swimming at 9 AM before checking out on Sunday and it was pretty freakin cold.

Now it’s back to work, and 8 degrees (Celcius)... at least until Friday, when I get to go to Victoria Falls!

This is How Dreams Come True

As most of you already know, since I was born I have moved to different countries every 3 years of my life. As much as I look back now and think everything has been amazing, moving is kind of hard. Really hard actually. And it only gets harder as you get older. That’s why when people ask me if I’m going to follow my mother’s huge footsteps and become a Diplomat, I’ve always said NO WAY, without even thinking twice.

Well. I take it back. And this is why:

I came to South Africa not only for the amazing internship opportunity, but also to get a glimpse of the World Cup. After my first game, I was in awe – one of the best experiences EVER. Then I got to go to another game, and we won both these games! So then I started thinking how in the hell I was going to get $1,500 to go to the World Cup Final. I debated about it, thought of everything, but decided I needed to go.

Until Brasil lost.

There was no way I was paying that much money to see 2 other teams from the nosebleeds. I was already so privileged; I mean how many people dream of watching a World Cup game live??? And I did it when I was 20!

So I watched the semifinals at the Melrose Arch Fan Park, which was hectic and packed and loads of fun, and decided that for the final I was going to do something chill with my cousin, maybe a bar. At 2:00 PM on Sunday my cousin gets a call asking him if he had tickets to watch the game, he said no, and his friend offered him a free ticket. So I took him to his friend’s hotel, felt happy for him, and went home to cook and make plans to watch the game with some friends from here.

4:30 PM I’m still lazy at home, relaxing and I get a call from my cousin. They had another ticket, someone didn’t know up. It was mine if I could make it to the stadium on time. Did I want it?

WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! I’ve never gotten dressed and left the house so quickly. I knew there was going to be crazy traffic, but who cares- I drove all the way to the end of the world to make it to Soccer City on time.

After some traffic, I met up with my cousin outside the stadium around 6:00 PM. We grabbed our beers and watched the most amazing closing ceremony! It was surreal. And then we started to go down the stairs to our seats – we were Category 1, the first section. I looked at my ticket and stopped at JJ, thinking this was too good to be true! The seats were so close! Until my cousin said “Maria, you’re in J, not JJ.” EVEN CLOSER! I was right behind the goal, about 5 rows up.
Honestly, I don’t care that the game was shit. I could care less. It was the most amazing experience EVER.

So what does this have to do with me reconsidering my career choice?!

Well originally Lula (Brasilian President) was going to the game, since the next World Cup is in Brasil. But since Brasil wasn’t in the finals, he left South Africa early to go home. Therefore, all the Ministers and government people took his VIP tickets. And since my cousin is a diplomat and works for Lula, he knew all the people who were there, and ended up with the 2 extra tickets.

Therefore, being a diplomat = 2 5th Row tickets for the World Cup Final.

This weekend, on to the next one: I’m road-tripping to Durban tomorrow for the annual Sardine Run + Cage Diving + Beaching. The weather in Joburg this weekend is going to be in the negatives, while Durban is 28! (Celcius of course)

Peaaaaaace Out!

Howzit?!

So everyone's aware of my love of accents; I think it might be related to my frustration at losing my original British accent.


The South African accent is AMAZING! But more than that, I love the expressions. These are my favorite:

New Expressions:

Such is life: Oh well

Get involved: go for it

Jawl/Jorl: Party, good time "I'm going to a jawl, I'm gonna have a jawl"

Bru/Brew: Bro

You must know/ Oakes must know: they just use this a lot and I think it's funny- self explanatory though

Robot: TRAFFIC LIGHT! This guy gave me directions and he goes "Turn at the second robot..." wtf?! I love it... And the road has paint on it that says "Robot Ahead" Hahaha I'll take a picture at some point.

Howzit: Hi + How are you= an everyday greeting, like hey

Oakes: Dudes. My thought process is that it's derived from blokes?! Maybe, maybe not?!


Tune me/him/her: call me/tell me. "I'll tune him and see what's up"


Shame: People say this ALL the time, instead of awww. "Did you watch the Ghana game? Shame."


Braai: BBQ


Till: Cashier


Lekker: Nice, cool, sweet. Used more for food, but I was informed that it can be used for attractive people as well.


Biltong: not really a slang, but it's a kind of dry meat, and it's reaaaally good.



I'll keep updating the list as I pick up more words!

Catching Up!

Since I've gotten here, this is the first time I wish I was back in the US. 4th of July! I guess it makes sense for me not to celebrate this country's independence since it doesn't want me in it. Anyways I hope everyone enjoys this holiday!!

As for the Brasil game, I don't want to talk about it. At least I'm saving $1500.

I've been slacking on the blog, but with good reason! Increase in social life + Busy at work - Good Internet + Not wanting to do anything/talk to anyone after the Brasil game= Less blogging. But I promise to try harder!

The internship has been amazing! Every day I meet new people, and they're all amazing! I've decided South Africans are really high up on my list of favorite people. They're so nice and funny and friendly, all of them! I've been doing a lot of legit work, and they've been giving me a lot of responsibility. I researched and put together a competitor review and presented to client, participated in meetings, brainstormed, rushed documents for client approval at late hours in another city (Pretoria). It's such a great atmosphere, I really love it here!

As for driving, everyone would be impressed! No accidents, and only turned once into a wrong way street, but there were no other cars around so we're all good!

I've met up with some old friends from Brasil and actually gone out, and then met people from here and went out more! It's so funny because all the nice places here are American influenced: the club we went to was called Manhattan, and we watched the game in this huge Plaza outside a mall called Melrose Arch.

After this weekend I'm going to start all my tourism, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do first, probably Victoria Falls because I'm dying to go! I've decided I might spend a weekend in Durban as well... We'll see what I have time for!

I started my online Oceanography class: probably the most pointless thing I've ever had to do. Oh the things I do to stay in the country... If anyone is ever bored and wants to do my homework for me, please let me know!

Anyways, I miss everyone a lot and I'll see you in 5 weeks!!

Great Success!!

No worries everybody, I can drive on the other side of the road!! Probably better than I drive regularly, actually. The biggest issue is when I'm turning on my turn signal: I always turn my wipers on!

So I woke up even earlier than usual today, just in case I had any issues with driving. I had to be at a meeting with one of our clients at 9 AM. No biggie. Except I got lost. I magically somehow managed to find my way and get there at 8:55 (I left at 8 AM and mapquest says it's only 11 min away). It's so crazy though, even though I admit I have a horrible sense of direction, this city doesn't help!! There are barely any street signs and when there are you only see them after you pass them!

Everything turned out ok though, I got to the meeting and everyone was chill. The meeting was awesome, it was a communication strategy/competitor analysis/positioning & differentiation meeting. I was amazed at how different the market and trends are here compared to abroad. I know it's expected, but for example: "Green" is insignificant here. Nobody cares about products/brands that are environmentally conscious, and no one is willing to pay more for one that is. It's kind of beginning to become something, but as our Strat person put it "We have so many bigger issues to take care of in this country that the environment is not the priority". I was a little surprised considering all of the natural wonders they have here...

Anyways, both the client and my supervisor were really impressed by my input and thanked me for my insights, and assigned me to a major part of our campaign!!

Agency life has been amazing, I only have one issue with it: there's a meeting scheduled tomorrow during the Brasil v. Portugal game. Since we're already qualified, I guess I'll survive, but... oh well everyone has to make sacrifices right?!

Besides that: I found a Brasil vuvuzela!! FINALLY! So now I guess I HAVE to go to the next round games, hahaha. I decided to save all my money and try to get more money to do these things (not necessarily in this order)

- World Cup Final Match

- Kruger Park Safari to see the Big 5 (5 most dangerous animals to hunt)

- Victoria Falls

- Cape Town: Cage diving with great white sharks & possibly Skydiving

I know, I know. Not really realistic. But hey, after making it here, I am a firm believer of the "it could happen" mentality.

Check off the Bucket List

Yup. I did it. I can tell my kids I went to a World Cup game. AMAZING! Brazil 3 v. Ivory Coast 1. I can't even begin to explain how surreal it was. We had sick seats (well we didn't really have them, we kind of just stole them lol, but they were sick regardless), and the stadium was sold out. By we I mean me and a group of 8 other Brazilians that I met while waiting for the bus to go to the stadium downtown. Supposedly the bus was supposed to get there at 4:00 PM, and by 4:30 a couple of jam-packed busses had passed by. Even though the game was only at 8:30, we got kind of worried about traffic and whatever, especially since this bus was going to take us to another bus, yada yada yada. So we decided to take a van, but as we were walking to the van a taxi stopped and negotiated a really good price to take us straight to the stadium. Can you take 9? He said yes, so we squeezed in! PRICELESS! Probably one of the funniest half hours of my life! Then we got to the stadium which is gorgeous, especially on the inside! There were Brasil fans from everywhere around the world - the seats we were taking initially belonged to a group of people from Yemen, who loved Kaka apparently (Check them out below- the picture sucks but you get it). Anyways, after pre-gaming a little, the game started. And the rest is history!

I'm going to try to go to the next round game at Ellis Park. Cross your fingers!!

Speaking of games, apparently one of the AEs (Caro, just because you asked: Account Executive) found out that I live in the US today, called american football a pansy sport, and is going to take me to watch the Springboks! He knows someone that does their marketing so he can get free tickets! I'm so psyched!

The agency is amazing, the Client Services Director decided not to assign me to a specific account since everything is so hectic with the World Cup, so I'm going to be working on all accounts! I went to a commercial shoot yesterday, which was really cool! And the commercial is going to be mostly animated so it was funny watching the actors against a blue screen and trying to imagine the finished product. I'm getting briefed tomorrow on a new pitch we're going to work on as well: very exciting!

Tomorrow I get my rental car... pray for me!

Excitement > Jet-Lagged-ness

Finally my first day at TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris, aka Hunts! It's official, I got my own @tbwa.co.za email and everything! Although I'm still extremely jet-lagged and hadn't slept at all the night before, it was amazing! I filled out all the paperwork & got the full blown tour of the entire agency (which is Huuuuuge! There's 9 other group companies, including TEQUILA\, integer, and Room 13). I learned more about the agency's history and philosophy, which is "Life's too short to be mediocre". Hell yeah!

By the way, I haven't mentioned that I've never felt more at home at an agency. They were completely decorated with flags, soccer balls and vuvuzelas hanging from the ceiling, world cup paintings on the way, besides all the TVs showing the games all over the place. It was love at first sight!

I also got to sit into a pre-prod meeting with the agency and then with the client, and Monday I get to go to the shoot! Sweet! I'll only know who I'm assigned to tomorrow though, at the Client Services meeting. Get exciiiited!

I still haven't told you guys about the atmosphere though. Some of you may have seen/heard of the Zimbabwean Trillion Dollar Campaign. If not, just click on the thumbnail above. Anyways, they are officially the most awarded campaign of the year, bringing 63 awards and counting. And I was there - I saw them: Black Pencil, Black Cube, Yellow Pencils, Lions, Clios... right in front of me. And all of it for this one campaign. Everyone is ecstatic all around, it's an awesome vibe!

So yeah, all in all, besides being exhausted, work was a great success. I'm going to try to work on my accent so I don't stand out so much. Now GO LAKERS and then maybe an hour of sleep before my second day at work!!

Ayoba yo!

I'm sitting in bed at my apartment, and yet somehow it has yet to hit me that I'm in South Africa for 2 months. Everyone here is extremely friendly and always smiling, and there are vuvuzelas EVERYWHERE! I still haven't bought mine but don't worry, before Sunday's game I'll be better equipped!

As for the game, a win is a win. I'll take it. Maicon's goal was siiick though.

This picture is actually my first picture in South Africa - don't worry I'll have maaaany many more, my internet is just slow here so it's kind of a hassle to upload pictures, but they'll be on Facebook. The sunrise was gorgeous! As for the rest of the trip... well here goes: I started at the Orlando International Airport around 3 PM on Sunday. I waited in line for about 2 hours, got yelled at by a crazy Argentinian lady who then started talking about me in Spanish thinking that I wouldn't understand... Needless to say I was pretty stressed by the time I finally checked in. Dallas was chill, and I got to London at 12:45 PM English time. I was exhausted, so I went to go look for a hotel at the airport.

I get to this cafe place and ask the dude "Do you know where the Yotel is?" He started laughing... "Yotel?" "Yup." "Do you mean hotel?" and he starts laughing, probably at me, my accent, and what I was saying. "No, it's a hotel called Yotel. Do you know where it is?" At this point he was dying of laughter and just directed me to the information desk. It exists I promise!! And it's really funky: check out the room I stayed at, it was like a space ship! It was really comfy though, and then I went to a pub to watch Italy v. Paraguay and have some brewskis, and met some cool people.

The flight to Jo'burg was really chill, because there was a TV in front of each seat and you could pick what movies to watch and they had all the new releases! Then once I got here I figured everything out: groceries, phone, internet, etc. Now I'm officially pooped out and extremely jet lagged, I need sleep!

I start working on Thursday, because tomorrow is a holiday here: Youth Day, where a bunch of people protested against the poor Bantu Education system and the segregation in schools.

Anyways, see ya later!

Home is...

I had been telling friends and family that I would start a blog to keep everyone updated with my summer adventures, and here it is. Hours before I get back to the US after spending two weeks in Brazil, and a week before I arrive in Johannesburg to start my summer internship.

This is going to be the summer of a lifetime! I spent a week in Brasilia with my family, who I hadn't seen in about 6 months, a week in Rio de Janeiro, and now I'm headed off to Orlando to compete in the NSAC Nationals with the rest of the Arrowhead Team, aka Team Bad-ass. Anyone who knows me, or is in one of Barry Solomon's Principles of Advertising classes also knows that after that I'm going to spend 2 months in South Africa interning at TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris... and maybe watching a little bit of THE WORLD CUP!!!

All this traveling has got me thinking: where the heck am I going to go after I graduate? Is home where my parents are? where I was born? wherever I get the best job opportunity? When I was in Rio everyone kept asking me if I was going to come "home" after graduation, and I have no clue what to tell them. Either way, I miss my friends and family here, but when I'm here I miss everyone in the States. I'll keep you posted on what I decide, but I still have some time. May 2011 to be precise!

Anyways - peace out Brazil! See you for Christmas!!