ANDRE X SALLY: WHAT A COUPLE! [que casal!]

                                                                    CHAPTER 1 :

It never gets you anywhere. 

                [Isto não vai ti levar a lugar algum]

Andre Souza is a natural worrier [naturalmente encucado].

It is something he has inherited from [herdou do seu pai]his father.

But then there are those who are never happy unless they have a problem to solve [nunca fica feliz até ter o problema resolvido].

Andre worried about the weather [clima], the state of the Real, Dollar or Euros and stocks, his health, the cost of living[custo de vida] and once he even worried because he thought he wasn't worrying enough. 

But that was in the past [mas isto é passado].

Things have changed because something happened to him exactly two years ago[exatos 2 anos atrás].
It was in the spring[ foi na primavera] when leaves appear on trees and nature prepares herself for renewal [preparando para se renovar].

Other things happen too — people often fall in love [pessoas sí apaixonam].

Now Andre doesn't have a romantic disposition.

 He never looks up at the leaves starting to grow [não olhava para folhas crescendo],     sighs and says: "Ah here comes the spring!" He simply thinks to himself:

"I live in a small village by a little stream[cidadezinha com seu riozinho] and around this time of year lots of creatures start to wake up and make a lot of noise.

"In Porto Alegre, where stands on the River Guaiba people make a lot of noise all the time! [pessoas fazem muito barulho]".

I apologize for the simplicity of these statements [perdoe-me a forma simples] but I want to illustrate the unimaginative nature which Andre possesses.

Towards the end of this story I give examples[até o final da história darei exemplos de] to show the extent of the change that he passed on.
The other character in this anecdote [outra personagem da estória] is a young woman called Sally Bastos.

She too lives in same small town village as André.

Now Sally is an entirely different kettle of fish [totalmente diferente e não está nem aí para as coisas complicadas].

Her philosophy runs as follows: "Worrying never gets you anywhere and life is too short to waste time imagining the worst [preocupação não leva a nada; e a vida é breve para si preocupar e ficar pensando no pior]."

In a word she is the complete opposite in temperament of Andre.

Here comes another cliché: Opposites attract. But you must remember that two years ago the two main characters hadn't met [até há 2 anos o casal nunca havia se visto antes], which was surprising when you consider the proximity of Andre's house and Sally's flat.

If you take the first left after the post office [posto do correios], you come to Sally's place and if you take the second turning to the right after that you come to the house [chega até a casa] where Andre lives.

The next participant in this village drama is the weather [é o clima], which plays a very significant part in Gauchos life [a vida do gaucho].

It was late September and the sun had disappeared behind dark heavy rain clouds but Andre had already set off for the local pub [entrar no boteco local].

Naturally he had his umbrella with him and a heavy coat following that aphorism his mother always used [o ditado que sempre tua mãe dizia]: 

                          "Never cast a cloud before august is out."

                                                  (to be continued...)
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