We're Moving...Again!

So, just when we have gotten to know our neighborhood we are moving to another one. On friday we will be leaving our safe little private apartment in Sao Francisco and moving to a place in Icarai, only one block from my school (UFF). However, this is not our own little apartment. We will be renting a room from a tiny little older lady who lives with her two grandsons (sixteen and seventeen years old). She seems very nice, and although this sounds scary, it will definitely force us to use our Portuguese a lot more.
We have our own bedroom with a nice big bathroom, a TV, and she has said we can hook up internet there. We will share the kitchen, and she has a washing machine we can use once a week. The new apartment building is directly across from the beach and really nice, but we are currently a little nervous about just jumping into a house with a family.


Get this: she is also a member of a country club here in Icarai and said that she can take us there sometimes. It has like three restaurants, a place for football (soccer), volleyball and tennis courts, and three pools (no golf). Ha ha. Wonder what she would think if she knew I was the "help" at a place just like this in the states?!

Para a novo brasileiros...

Translation: from the new brazilians...well maybe not quite yet.

So we're here! FINALLY! Flight was long...relatively boring. At least we had the plane w/the individual tvs in the seat in front of you, and I got to watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, so I guess not that boring.

We are all set up in our little apartment until the end of the month. It's actually bigger than I expected, so that was a plus. We are already learning so much! Yesterday we learned how to cook pizzas in the oldest, smallest gas stove that you could ever imagine...and OMG did it smell bad!

Anyway, Stefan and I are having fun, although it is scary that no one in Niteroi speaks a lick of English.
Today our friend Cristina took us to Itaipu beach, which was really neat. She drove us in her car then left us there when she had to go to work, with directions for the bus. She is forcing us to speak portuguese and actually learn how to get around instead of hiding in our apartment, which to us seems much safer.

Pros and Cons of Brazil so far:

Pros:

--We have our own apartment

--It's bigger than we expected

--We are five blocks from a gorgeous beach

--Beers are cheaper than water

--TONS of cool restaurants and bars on beachfront near our apartment

--Everyone has been so friendly

--The food is delicious

--It is different from anywhere I have ever lived

--FUN FUN FUN!!!!!

Cons:

--NO ONE speaks English

--no air conditioning in apartment

--on top of no air conditioning, fan in bedroom makes horrendous squeaking sound

--We are constantly hopelessly lost

--I have to go to school soon :(

--It is different from anywhere I have ever lived

--HOT HOT HOT!!!!!!

Anway, I'd have to say that so far the pros way outnumber the cons. Unfortunately no internet of our own until we get a permanent place in the beginning of April, so until then we can't post any pictures. :( So you'll all just have to sit there salivating in suspense until then.

Oi!

Well, after much effort we have successfully made it to Brazil. We had some initial trouble with our flight out of Atlanta but all was straightened out and we arrived on Tuesday as planned.

My first impression is simple...HOT! We ended up flying out of Chicaco/O´Hare where it was 30 degrees. We landed in Rio where it was 88! As a side note, our pilot from Sau Paulo to Rio said there was a "blizzard" in Nashville the night we left. (I am not sure how reliable the information is, but if you guys did then have fun with that! lol!)

It is so different here, yet some is the same. For example, I can get Coca-Cola and Pepsi at the grocery store, thank God! The biggest difference is that NO ONE SPEAKS ENGLISH!!! I was expecting at least broken english, but no, none.

Jess can communicate OK. I, on the other hand, can´t say a word to anyone. I think they all think I´m a mute. Which in actuality is good because they dont speak to me much.

We do not currently have internet access at our apartment so we are using a nearby cybercafe. It is cheap but I cannot do everything that I want. I cannot upload pictures or talk on skype or instant messenger. Once we get our own internet connection we will have more options.

All in all, its great down here. It´s alot like living in a movie actually. I just hope it´s not a movie with robots...I hate robots!

PS: I tried to spell check this but it almost made my computer explode. It is using a Portuguese dictionary and i don´t think I can change it to English.

To Hell and Back

Fourteen hours (EACH WAY) for some stickers and a stamp!



We are halfway home from Maimi (in Gainesville, FL) . . . WITH VISAS!!!





We fly out Monday with the same itenerary as before. The only change being that we fly out of Atlanta at 7 PM rather than in the AM.

Disaster Strikes!

We have finally received word back from the Brazilian Consulate...and its not good. Jessie received her student Visa and is all set to go. My Visa was sent back as "incomplete." The consulate decided that I meant to choose "Student Visa" and checked "Tourist Visa" by mistake. Well, I checked "Tourist Visa" because THAT'S WHAT I WANTED.

Tomorrow, after we get our passports in the mail, Jessie's complete with Visa stamp, we hit the road for Miami. No, not for spring break, but for a face to face request for a Visa. I have two options: 1) Send my Visa application via mail and wait three weeks or 2) Drive to Miami and get it Thursday.

The plan is this:

The passports should arrive by noon tomorrow (Tuesday). After they arrive we hop in the car and head for Miami.

We should arrive in Miami by 3 or 4 am. We can grab a few cups of coffee and be at the consulate by 8 am.

After we submit my application, we will spend the night in Miami and pick up the Visa on Thursday. Then we get to do yet another overnight drive. Yay!

We are planning on rescheduling our flight out to Brazil for Tuesday of next week, March 21st.

<sarcasm> Fun stuff! </sarcasm>