braziloween

Just as we were starting to make a dent in the massive amounts of stuff that were dumped on us, Halloween arrived.  I was in no position to plan out elaborated, wonderful costumes.  Come to think of it, I never do that.  I have a lot of creative energy, but for some reason it never translates into cool costumes.  So we did Halloween the old-fashioned way.  The kids found their own costumes and had a little help from me (very little) to tweak them just right.  Lucy was the only one who could have had an awesome costume, but she refused.  Of all the things I could find in the heaps of things, I came across some cute leiderhosen we got while in Germany.  She opted for her swimsuit and swim shoes instead, and I acquiesced quickly having very little energy to spare.  I'm not sure if she was a swimmer or a budget ballerina.  It didn't matter.  She had fun and got some candy.

Our neighborhood started doing a Halloween celebration years ago when one of the residents who had spent time in the states initiated it.  It's not a common thing here in Brazil, but it's getting there.  So we met with some friends and neighbors to eat what looked like mini sloppy joe's (yummy) and bright orangey red hot dogs (scary).  I still haven't been able to try a Brazilian hot dog. The color is just all wrong in my opinion.  They must have some allure though because they pretty much only sell them in packs of 1,000.

A few of the ladies from my English speaking coffee group (or in my case chocolate quente) joined us for the festivities.  The kids were chomping at the bit to get out and do some serious candy damage.  So we let them run off on their own while we stayed back and glutted ourselves on cake and brigadeiros.  

Our neighborhood is very secure and I felt comfortable letting the kids go trick-or-treating on their own.  It's the only time that's ever happened.  The little english speaking crowd consisted of a dozen kids from 5 years old to 16+.  The kids were out until close to 10pm.  Towards the end of the night houses were running out of candy and one lady gave our kids honey and jam packets, and they gladly took them.  It must just be a numbers game to them because I seriously doubt they planned to eat them.

You could say the kids "scored", but that's all relative.  There were a couple things worth eating in my opinion, but the rest I could do without.  At one point during the halloween season I had to pull a Tom Hanks from "Big" and actually wipe out my mouth with a napkin to get the terrible "chocolate" flavor out of my mouth - I promise I wasn't being dramatic.  It was awful.  Still, the kids loved it.  Like always, they did the booty count and trade afterwards.  I had to do some quality control, chucking out homemade or unwrapped candy.  Yes, some gave handfuls of unwrapped whatevers.  My american paranoia is deeply rooted.

shipment day!

I wrote this post over a month ago...but never published it.  I have this problem where I overanalyze it, read it too much, and then I get really sick of it.  So here it is.  If I'm going to be a decent blogger I'm going to have to get over this.

Sometime near the end of October...

Our shipment came...hooray!  Well, 90% of it. Moving day was such a crazy busy day.  Our rental furniture company came to get all of our spartan furniture an hour late, and our movers came an hour early (unheard of here!) so we had both companies working on top of each other for a while.  The movers were working so fast that by lunch time most of the 1 1/2 containers were unpacked.  We went out for lunch to our favorite spot right across the street (Villa D'Marco) and all Ryan could think about was what was still missing. As we drove past the open end of the moving truck we had looked inside and it didn't seem like there was much left, but we were still missing some major pieces.  Turns out his hunch was right.  Somehow in Phoenix the guy loading our shipment left out two whole crates which unfortunately held some very important items.  

Here's the laundry list of items that didn't make it: 3 sides of Lucy's crib, Lucy's headboard, the guest bed headboard, the master bed footboard, the frame of our family room sectional (we got the cushions though), the cushions for the living room couch (we got the frame though), half of the loft sectional, both living room side chairs, and a few other less important things.  

Items that did make it: a bag of In-n-Out burger trash, a sullied pair of little boy underwear that must have been shoved somewhere (I have a hunch from whom & where) and a mostly eaten, rancid bag of Nana's Tortilla Chips.  The In-n-Out trash & the Nana's chips made me a little homesick, the undies just made me a little sick.

Needless to say I was very frustrated.  Ryan got on the phone and took his power stance (When he's ready to get serious he holds the phone with his left hand and tucks his right hand into his left armpit.  Then he usually bites his pinky fingernail, but he gave up nail biting when we moved here - cold turkey.)  I've seen him take the power stance time and time again - even when we are driving.  He just gets his knee up there to help out at the steering wheel.  Anyway, that always does the trick.  So after some "negotiation" (that's a nice way of saying he ripped them a new one - so crude when I see it in type) the moving company agreed to air ship all of our lost (but now found) items.  So the good news is we can put our couches and beds together sooner than 3-4 months from now.  The bad news is it'll still be a month at least.

This is what we've been living in for 3 months:

And here's what we were living in for a week while we painstakingly put all of our things in their new places:

Somehow in the midst of all of it Lucy found a place to take her much-loved nap.

Even though we had some serious setbacks, it is so nice to have our things here.  Everyone has a mattress to sleep on and I've made a "franken-couch" out of the parts we did receive so things are comfortable. It really feels like home now and I've had a lot of fun getting the house just like I want it.  It also really helps to have Lana helping out everyday...so grateful for her.

rio...etc

Tomorrow we are getting our long-awaited sea shipment!  I am so excited.  I haven't seen my things for 4 months.  This big house is tile or wood throughout and it sounds like we are living in an enormous bathroom - the echoes are terrible.  It will be nice to have couches, rugs, and pictures to hopefully absorb some of the sound.  Not to mention I really want to sleep in my own bed with my own pillow.  I can't even imagine what that will be like.  We have been surviving in the mean time with some very spartan rental furniture.  Our bed consists of 2 twin mattresses shoved into a king size frame.  The big ridge in the middle is not very conducive to cuddling, and I'm a cuddler (until my feet come up to temperature).  The kids can't wait for their bikes, skateboard jump, trampoline, basketball hoop & tether ball pole.  Life is going to be hectic but so much fun for the next few days.

So...I have to get up to date today.  

Earlier this month we took a four day trip to Rio De Janeiro.  I was really nervous going into it because I had heard so much about the crime.  The first night I insisted that we be in our apartment before dark and I was going to send Ryan out to (get mugged) and grab dinner.  But then I acquiesced and we took baby steps to the nearest restaurant recommendation our doorman could suggest.

And actually I really liked Rio; in fact I think I could live there.  The beaches were beautiful.  We stayed in an apartment right on Ipanema beach with an amazing view.  We could people-watch from our balcony for hours, but we didn't because there was too much to see and do.  A couple QUIRKS about Rio (or they could be considered PERKS I guess if you're into that): the men wear speedos everywhere.  We would see hundreds of men a day running on the sidewalk sporting running shoes and a speedo - nothing more. 

Case in point: this dude stood in front of me for 20 minutes or more and did some extensive stretching - I mean down in the sand, legs in the air kind of stretching.  At first I thought he was retarded and I was cutting him some slack.  Then I thought he must be an exhibitionist and I was grossed out.  But then it was all cleared up when his buddy (wearing a speedo and a sweater vest) showed up for a heated game of paddle ball.  They were quite good, so I guess he's right to be taking his stretching so seriously.

And I'm not letting the women off easy, although I don't have any pictures to share.  I so wish I had my camera with me the last morning we were there.  Thomas and I took a walk to settle our stomachs after bingeing on a delicious breakfast buffet.  There was a lady in front of us (mind you we are at least a block from the beach) wearing a swimsuit coverup.  So the women all wear those tiny little g-string bikinis whether they are 100 pounds or 300 pounds, 15 years old or 60 years old.  This lady happened to be nearing her 60s and her swimsuit coverup covered just enough to make it look like she was a senile old lady walking down the street without a shred of clothing on her lower half.  All you saw was a shirt and a saggy old bum hanging out of it.  The full bum, not just a little cheek.  Thomas and I were busting up laughing.

Well, to sum things up we had a dreamy vacation.  We took the tram up to Pao de Acucar; we saw the Cristos Rendentor & we played on the beach everyday.

...8 days later...I never published this because Ryan's Rio video wouldn't upload and then our sea shipment arrived and it's been madness ever since.  So I'll try again on the video but I think it's the soundtrack...copyright issues with The Girl from Ipanema.  I bought that song while in Rio and blasted it every time we were in the car. The kids never did learn to love it like I thought they should.  Here are some pictures to hold you over.