That time I went to Belo Horizonte

Time really is flying by faster than I can keep up with...

So a couple of weeks ago, I traveled to Belo Horizonte to do a 3 day training for school. And I went all by myself!! Which really is huge for a couple of reasons:
1. Ipatinga is small. Belo Horizonte is HUGE (to me at least). I am foreign and still learning the language.
2. My husband is REALLY overprotective...(but if you understood how often I tend to get myself into sticky situations and or accidents, you might understand better...) in fact he suggested that I take my dear MIL...a suggestion to which I respectfully and admantly DECLINED.

Anywho, no big drama to report. Everything was pretty calm.

I arrived with no problems, got the taxi, told him where I needed to go, even got a nota fiscal (receipt) without much trouble. I got settled in the hotel, walked myself around like a little lost girl asking for directions, found my way to the Patio Savassi Mall and met Corinne! After which we drove to the original meeting location (a different mall which I couldnt seem to find my way to as it was in the opposite direction, but dont worry, she was already at Patio Savassi, so it was all good) and ate DELICIOUS pizza with good conversation. Seriously love sun dried tomatoes on pizza.

The next day I woke up early, got myself on the city bus for training. Can I just say, I though we knew how to fill a bus in Ipatinga. However, I have never seen more people able to pack on a bus than in BH (though experience, admittedly, is limited). There was not a bit of space wasted, which of course made me feel completely uncomfortable, as I was all up in like 5 different people's personal space...as they were mine.

Anyway enough of the step by step account. The training was good. I worked with a really great group and had a really great trainer. I was trained for what we call, First Wave. Where I will be teaching kids from 7-9! I'm really excited for this semester! I really think it will be a lot of fun!! Plus the kids learn the fun things, like songs, games, and vocabularly. No need to worry about grammar! And I'm sure it will make for some interesting stories along the way!

All in all, BH was nice, but I was glad to come home. It was lonely at night in the hotel all by my lonesome. I did venture out some and wander around. Found a milkshake place near by that sold a HUGE milkshake (700 ml..the biggest ive seen here in ipatinga is 400 ml...which is plenty, but i thought I'd get my American on and supersize!) and of course I got one. Lime and milk, my favorite! Anyway, I didn't venture out much at night by myself. It made me a little nervous and I have the tendency to wander (or as some of you my be more familiar with the term lost, but that just sounds so negative)...so I thought it best to stay close to home. And in my final wave of independent glory I did these things:
1. Ordered food over the phone (phone is really hard in a second language people)
2. Hailed a taxi to go home (which isn't too difficult since they make frequent runs by the hotel, but give me some credit)
3. Bought my bus ticket, went home, and got a wonderful welcome home kiss. I missed that husband of mine! And I think he was glad to get me home in one piece!

Here's hoping it opens doors to let me spread my wings a little more and come see some of my favorite blogging expats!

First things first

I have been away for a while. More on that later.

First, I wanted to touch on the flood disaster. How horrific. I have been catching up and looking online at the stories and the photos. I am just overwhelmed. Please send prayers, good thoughts, whatever it is that you do, to these people, their families, and the over 100 people that are still missing.

If you are abroad and are wondering what you can do to help, there are two places (that I am aware of) that accept donations online. The first is CARE International and the second is Red Cross International .

If you are here in Brazil please visit Rio Gringa as she has posted different ways to help as well as organizations to donate (and she is also where I got my international donate links as well).

If you have been living under a rock (as I have) you can also go to another post from Rio Gringa that shows videos of the disaster.

I count my blessings today for my safety, for living in an area that doesn't normally see disasters of this magnitude. (knocking on wood over here) My prayers go out to those who are missing, to those that are suffering, and that they may see the sun they so desperately need.

Good Middle of the Night Read

Seriously, silent laughing is SO hard. It's one in the morning and Sidnei is sleeping. But I ran across a link and it is HILARIOUS ...to me anyway. I think if you have dogs you would think so too. Check it out. I totally was laughing so hard (silently) tears were streaming down my face.

To Danielle

Dear Danielle,

Last night I found this in my room.

 

That is one big freaking moth. And he is LOUD. And my husband is scared of him. He called him a ‘Bruxa’ so maybe it’s a her? Pansy. He went on about how the powder that comes off his wings can hurt you. I don’t know if I believe that. Mainly I just don’t like mutant huge moths. And so now, Danielle, I completely understand.

He is up high. I couldn’t get him out last night, so I woke up in the middle of the night with him batting his wings really loudly, resulting in my sleeping under the covers.

I woke up, thought he was gone.

 

He’s not.

 

He’s into camoflauge.

 

Help!

**Updated

I couldn’t bring myself to kill him. He is kind of pretty when he is still. So I got a shoebox (because hello, he’s HUGE) and caught him. While screaming like a little girl, jumping around on my bed. Good times.

2011

I am seriously in denial that it is January again. How does time pass so quickly and so slowly at the same time?

So last year, I didn't set any goals. This year, I decided that I want to.

1. Come hell or high water, I'm moving into my own place.

2. Improve my Portuguese. I've been here a year and a half. I feel like I should be better. I just started taking classes last semester with one of the teachers at school. I'm going to be better about studying and reading in Portuguese. In other words, I need to stop being so lazy.

3. Healthy. I want to keep exercising. My schedule at work is going to be a lot more full this semester. I want to find time to keep going to my exercise class or get out and exercise on my own. More than that, I want to run a race.

4. Travel- there is so much I want to do and see!

5. Save Money. This of course kind of impedes on number 4 a little. But it is necessary.

6. I want to be crafty. I miss being crafty.

7. Last but certainly not least, my biggest goal of the year is happy. It is continually a work in progress for me, but I've definitely made leaps and bounds lately.

And though this isn't a resolution...
Do something different with my hair. I don't know what it is about January and my hair, but every year around this time I get the itch. After last year's fiasco I have been hesitant. Which means it has been one year since I cut my hair. So hopefully sometime soon I will go cut my hair (but just a teeny bit). And do bangs. Suggestions?

Happy New Year my friends. I hope for 2011 to bring all of us health, happiness, and peace. And if it happens to leave some wealth, that wouldn't be so bad either.

Our Christmas

So despite my scrooge-ness, on Christmas Eve I tried to muster up some holiday cheer. I put on some Christmas music and started making sugar cookies. I couldn’t quite gather up enough cheer to decorate, but that’s alright since my husband’s family prefers them plain.

That took a good portion of the afternoon. Later, I made homemade pizza for my nephew (He loves pizza and when I leave to go to work, I always tell him that I have to work to buy him pizza, if not he cries when I leave. So I figure I need to hold up my end of the deal every once in a while!) And then after that I prepared the breakfast casserole for them morning. Long story short, between cooking and cleaning I was in the kitchen ALL afternoon/night long.

Christmas Eve night was filled with fireworks from neighbors (poor Gracie) and a huge house party across the street. That went on until 5 in the morning. So about 3:30 am, I decided that Santa needed to make an appearance at our house. I got up with some Christmas spirit, got out our little tree, put a couple of doo-dads on it and put it in our room. Got the presents, put them under the tree, and when Sidnei woke up, I said, “Look, Santa came!” I was quite proud of myself.

Sidnei was a lucky one. He got clothes (that he needed badly), a fishing pole and all the gear he needs to go fishing, and a stereo for his car! (I didn’t get to spoil him for his birthday, so I wanted to do more than usual for Christmas.) My favorite part is Sidnei is just like a little kid on Christmas, He loves to get out all his toys and play with them. He has already put his fishing stuff together. Of course it’s now sitting in the corner of our room which I’m not so thrilled about. But I’m happy he likes it.

I got spoiled too! I got a beautiful ring to match the necklace I received on Valentine’s Day.

Sidnei is good, he knows what I really love. He has always picked out beautiful jewelry for me, from the moment we started dating. I have a feeling come my birthday, I’ll be getting the earrings to complete the set!

While opening presents I cooked my Mom’s breakfast casserole (which turned out great, everyone loved it!). At 6:30 am I had gotten up and put in a Christmas Lunch Turkey. I spent the rest of the morning making a simple lunch. Turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, and of course, rice and beans. It was really good, the turkey turned out perfect (I was so nervous I wouldn’t cook it right!) and everyone gave their compliments to the chef!

Needless to say, I was pretty sick of the oven when I finished. And I didn’t even do half the cooking my Mom does at the holidays.

I spent the rest of the day talking with family back home and hanging out with my husband.

Despite the homesickness, despite all my complaining, I want to end the holiday season and this year, saying how thankful I am for everything. I have a good life, I have more blessings than I deserve, and I am so grateful to be by my husband’s side. Life in Brazil is not perfect, but it is good, and I am happy.

Christmas In Ipatinga

I was totally Scrooge this year.

I’m never Scrooge. In fact, I’m the polar opposite. Generally I’m the happy elf. Of course this is a mixture of circumstances. Ones that you are already familiar with so I won’t go there. But, I just in general missed the holiday season back home altogether. I’m homesick, I miss my family and friends, I miss familiarity.

So there was no decorating, no movies. Which was probably fine for my husband’s family, whom do not celebrate Christmas (religious reasons). It’s just hard to celebrate alone. Not that I don’t have Sidnei, I do. But he’s not exactly thrilled over decorating sugar cookies or watching Elf for the millionth time. I need my sister or mom for that.

Anyway getting on with it, I did go see some of the decorations they put up in Iptainga. I really loved the nativity and christmas scenes that were made by Usiminas (the steel company here). They made everything out of steel and iron, which I think is appropriate since we are Vale do Aco (or steel valley).

Take a look for yourself: (and sorry the pictures are terrible, I cant figure out how to take good night pictures)

So at the top of the hill they had a little house with a live Santa giving out candy to kids…it was cute!

If you can’t tell, this is santa’s factory…

The nativity below…I think the baby Jesus could use a little improvement…

The sheep was my absolute favorite! Look how cute!