Baby, it's cold outside

Things have been real chill as of late.

Not just as in I-haven't-done-anything-worth-mentioning chill, but also as in it's-starting-to-cool-down-around-here chill. That's right folks, the Earth's axis is tilting to my dissastisfaction. The sweatshirt has joined the umbrella on the list of Things I should take with me when leaving the house but don't.

With the weather going to crap here and things warming up back home, I've been going through a bit of a Hooser-nostalgia phase. The "moonlight on the Wabash" and all that junk. Then I realize I've never even seen the Wabash at night. I've got two more months to rock out in Brazil.

Today, I had my first in-class test of the semester at PUC. It was also the first test in my 16-year history of test-taking where I felt the urge to leave a disclaimer note at the bottom:

Dear Professor,

Excuse my poor grammar and rudimentary analysis. I have yet to understand a single joke that you've told this semester.

Sincerely,

Your beloved class gringo

It went something like that.

I actually felt pretty proud of myself after handing the test in. English is a walk in the park compared to this Portuguese thing.

To break up the monotony of "fall" in São Paulo, Sampa will be hosting Pope Benedict XVI next week. That's right, that means the US President and the Pope will have visited São Paulo within two months of each other. It's just the city to visit these days.

What happens when the leader of the Catholic church comes to visit the most Catholic nation in the world? In the words of Terrence Man, "People will come, Ray. People will most definitely come."

In the millions. Once again, I will be on the outside looking in.