Sunday, April 22, 2007

Run, Don't Walk.

I didn't take any pictures at the Ipanema Brazilian Grill.

I will next time. It will be soon.

There are some restaurants I like, some that I love, and then some restaurants that I CHERISH. The Ipanema Brazilian Grill makes me want to be a better man.

All-you-can-eat rodizio lunch with mesa de frios is under $15.

The mesa de frios is the like a salad bar, except brazilian and faboulous. The steam trays held two kinds of rice, some magic mashed potatoes, some thick black beans. The buffet tables had dressed tomato slices, some caprese, roast vegetables, salami and cheese, some cold mussels in their shells, fruit, and salad, among other things. There was a brazilian tuna salad, too, that was rockin'. Ok, so vegetarians, you're eating well.

The rodizio is a movable bbq buffet. Today there was tri-tip, top sirloin, filet wrapped in bacon, some kind of chicken, a garlic steak, a pepper steak, linguica sausages.... All cooked on swords by your passador. When your passador likes the way the meat looks, he comes to your table with a knife and either slices off a piece or forks off a chunk for you. Before the slice comes all the way off the sword, you grab it with your tongs; he finishes slicing, and you put it on your plate. Then he goes back to the fire to turn the meat over the spit again.

I think dinner costs $10 more. The drinks are supposed to be good too, but we didn't have any.

******

I went with H, and told her about my plan to go teach in China in the fall of 2008. My friend says he gets paid more, but spends less than $300 a month. The school pays for housing. I'll save a lot of money, be able to afford a comfortable life, take fabulous vacations, and keep socking away money for my retirement. And every day, I'll be able to work on my Mandarin.

Why stay in Seattle? My life is comfortable, and I adore Seattle; it will always be my home. But I feel like I'm living paycheck to paycheck, and my life is getting too stagnant. You know what I hate about being a high school teacher? The students grow up, graduate, and move on, but me? I'll be back next year, teaching the same Spanish grammar to another set of faces.

I've had plenty of get-out-of-Dodge schemes in the last few years; maybe this one will end up like the rest. But this time, it's different. This is the first plan that doesn't involve an inital step of graduate school poverty/overwork.

I'll totally be able to afford to come back to the Seattle and/or Las Vegas a few times a year, or fly my family out to China, or meet them in some place like Hawaii or Mexico. My sister is grown up now, she doesn't need me looking after her anymore. She got a little teary as we walked out of the restauant and up the street in the bright sunshine toward the bus stop.

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