At the 2019 Festival of Nations

Last Sunday morning (25 August), I braved the rain to drive to Tower Grove Park (https://www.towergrovepark.org/) in south St. Louis. I attended the Festival of Nations (http://festivalofnationsstl.org/), an annual multicultural festival presented by the International Institute of St. Louis (https://www.iistl.org/).

After parking I walked to the festival site. Despite the rain, there was a good crowd there. After browsing among the food booths, I ordered lunch from a Brazilian booth operated by Brasilia Bar & Restaurant (https://www.brasiliastl.com/). I had vatapa, a chicken dish, and drank Guarana Antarctica soda (https://www.guaranaantarctica.com/en). I browsed among the food and gift booths, representing various cultures of the world. There were also information booths from various organizations that catered to immigrants new to the St. Louis area and internationally-minded citizens. Musicians and dancers also performed.

While walking among the vendors, I bought a strawberry drink from a Filipino food booth, and sesame sweet balls from a Vietnamese food booth.

Late that afternoon, I reported to the volunteer booth and worked a shift as a Festival Ambassador. I helped staff an information booth, answering questions from visitors wondering where the various food and gift booths were located and how long this event was happening. We had a few visitors in that last shift of the festival, and it was a good thing to help the festival and its cause of welcoming immigrants to this area.

Later.

Witnessing Soccer in St. Louis and Russia

A week ago yesterday (9 June), I went to Althoff Catholic High School (http://www.althoffcatholic.org/) to watch Fire and Ice SC (http://www.fireandicesc.com/) play its home opener against Des Moines Menace. Fire and Ice--the defending Women's Premier Soccer League (https://www.wpslsoccer.com/)--ran out 3-0 winners. It was my first time at Althoff for anything, but I was able to find the place easily.

Four nights later, I was back at Althoff to see Fire and Ice play crosstown rivals St. Louis Lions Women's Team (http://www.stllionswpsl.com/). This match ended in a scoreless draw. I and several others from the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) were on hand to show support for these two local teams.

Last Thursday (14 June) marked the start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia (https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/). I am able to follow the matches on Fox television (https://www.fox.com/) and on the FIFA app.

Yesterday afternooon, I went to a housewarming party in Wentzville, at the new home of two friends from work, Alex Breuer and Tessie Wietbrock. It was a very nice time there, seeing the house and chatting with Alex, Tessie, and other friends of theirs--including a few Enterprise (https://www.enterprise.com/en/home.html) colleagues.

I could not stay at this party much, as I had to head to World Wide Technology Soccer Park (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/SOCCERPARK) for the United Soccer League (https://www.uslsoccer.com/) match between Saint Louis FC (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/) and Real Monarchs SLC. After enjoying dinner at the St. Louligans tailgate, I marched with other St. Louligans into Toyota Stadium for the match. Despite a strong effort by the home side, Real Monarchs--the USL Western Conference leaders--ran out 1-0 winners. This match was played with the heat index just above 100 degrees F (38 degrees C). Fortunately, I kept myself well hydrated that day.

Today, I went to Brasilia Restaurant (https://www.brasiliastl.com/) in south St. Louis for lunch and a watch party for Brazil's World Cup match against Switzerland. Quite a few others were there with me as we saw the match on TV. Over feijoada, I saw Brazil take an early lead, only to give up a goal early in the second half and settle for a 1-1 draw. Not the result Brazil and its supporters wanted.

Later

Enjoying Churrasco and Working Hard

The end of last week at work was busy, but good. I spent much of that weekend resting up at home. It was mostly to catch up on some needed rest. I did get my hair cut Sunday morning (25 September) at Great Clips (http://www.greatclips.com/) in Mehlville. The stylist did the usual good job cutting six weeks' worth of hair.

Sunday night, I joined with others from the Ethnic Restaurant Fans Meetup group (https://www.meetup.com/Ethnic-Restaurant-Fans) for dinner at Brasilia Bar & Restaurant (http://www.brasiliastl.com/) in south St. Louis. About 16 of us took in a delicious churrasco dinner buffet. Servers brought to our table skewers of various meats, which we could take a slice for one's plate. It was my first time trying churrasco, and I don't think it would be my last. A good time was had by our group.

Back to work on Monday morning, and plenty of work for sure. Things have been going well at our branch, I am happy to say. It did get crowded on our lot at times, with a lot of vehicles and little space to park them. We did our best, though, and kept our customers happy.

Tuesday night (27 September), I was at Bill Wagner's house in Oakville for the IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) business meeting. We discussed club business and planned our October general and business meetings.

I was back at Portuguese class after work Wednesday night at St. Louis Community College at Meramec (http://www.stlcc.edu/MC/). Priscila, our instructor from Viva Brasil Association of St. Louis (http://www.e.vivabrasilstl.org/home), guided us through a review of possessive pronouns, more verbs, and future tense. This was week six,with two more to go in this course.

I took it easy on my off day Thursday (29 September), mostly resting at home and dying my hair. Good thing: Friday was a busy one at work.

At home today. Enjoying the weekend.

Later.