No Time for Boredom

For all of you worried that the trailing spouse is going to be bored or not have enough to do, well, it looks like I will have my plate plenty full now! I taught my first English class yesterday and met with the American School here in town.

I am not scheduled to start teaching classes until next week. (And I use the term "schedule" most loosely here, since no one has actually worked up a "schedule" for me...but next week is still 4 days away and I know better than to expect advanced planning around here.) But, Monday afternoon I got a phone call from the language school asking if I could possibly fill in for a teacher Tuesday morning at 7:30. Of course, I still hadn't been given the books I requested so I could get familiar with all the material, but I ran up to the school Monday afternoon and managed to get my hands on the book this particular class was using. I got my lesson plan ready to go, and bright and early yesterday morning I taught my first class. It went quite smoothly, and I am looking forward to getting to do that a little more come next week!

I had a 9:00 appointment at the American school, so I had to hurry after the English class to get over there on time. I met the school's director and then the marketing manager spent the morning showing me around the gorgeous 10 acre campus and introducing me to a lot of the faculty and staff. They are really excited to have a volunteer at the school, and everyone has all sorts of project ideas for me. It sounds like I will be doing a little bit of everything: reading to the pre-K class, creating a "college corner" in the library with resources for high school students researching colleges, helping with some administrative tasks for some upcoming accreditation reviews, and even doing some guest lecturing for the 12th grade environmental science class. Once I figure out what my English teaching schedule will be, I am going to get a regular schedule set up for my volunteer hours at the American school.

Several of the teachers and some of the parents from the American school have a book club that meets once a month. They were actually meeting last night and invited me to attend if I was interested. College sort of killed my desire to read, but I've been wanting to start reading more. This is going to be a great way to get me back into my books! I went last night (the school director's wife actually started the club and it meets at their apartment) and had a great time! There were 10 of us all together mostly consisting of expats from the US, Australia, Canada, Germany, etc. We sipped on wine, ate some awesome food, chit chatted about books, and laughed a lot! It was a slightly different fomat than most book clubs. Instead of everyone reading the same book, you just read whatever you want and then talk a little about it. Usually, someone else in the group had also read the book and gave their thoughts about it as well. Everyone loans their books to the book club "library" and each month you are able to check out more books that you are interested in reading. English books aren't always readily available here, so instead of trying to get 10 copies of the same book, this review/recommendation approach works really great and gives you access to lots of different books each month. I grabbed Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight which one member said was the best book she's ever read. (It's a memoir of an UK-born girl who grew up in what is now Zimbabwe, Africa which was a very dangerous and unstable place in the 1970's.)

Eric got away on his business trip last night, despite not knowing yesterday morning if he was leaving or not. The guy he needed to meet with today didn't get back to him to confirm their meeting until yesterday morning (soooo frustrating) and then Eric had to run around trying to get reservations made for flights/hotels. He got into São Paulo last night around 11:00 and had meetings there today. This afternoon he flies to Curitiba for more meetings and then returns home tomorrow night. While I miss having him here, I am really enjoying having custody of the car for a few days! Having wheels opens up all sorts of new shopping locations and social possibilities for me!!! (A note to my far away husband: don't worry, Dear, I'll take real good care of the car...and the credit card.)

Quick Trip to Praia Grande, São Paulo

Friday night at 8:15, we were on a bus leaving Belo Horizonte. Saturday at 7:00 am, we arrived in Praia Grande, São Paulo. By 9:00, we were on the beach with our friends, Marco and Regina. The weekend ranged from mostly cloudy to mostly sunny, and then it rained as we were leaving Sunday. We got back home at 5:30 this morning and immediately crawled into bed. Poor Eric was up at 6:45 to go to work. I managed to drag my behind out of bed around 10:00 so I could get a shower and be dressed before my Portuguese tutor arrived at 11:00. All in all, another great weekend, but sometime around 1:00 am on the bus, I suggested to Eric that we just go ahead and plan on staying home this coming weekend...he readily agreed we were due for weekend without travel!

Praia Grande in the state of São Paulo (pictures taken during one of the cloudier moments)

Irrefutable evidence that Spider Man has left the world of crime fighting and life saving to wear Haviana flip flops and sell cotton candy on the beach in Brasil. Notice the fanny pack too (apparently, super hero outfits don't have pockets.)

Marco and Regina rented a 2 bedroom/2 bath apartment just 3 blocks off the beach for the week. Regina is an awesome cook and made some wonderful meals for us this weekend!

Praia Grande has an area called A Praça da Paz (The Square of Peace) that has 7 giant busts of people the sculptor, Gilmar Pinna, felt defended peace (Jesus Christ, pictured above, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, etc.) The sculptures were amazingly detailed. They were made from welded together pieces of steel and iron, were each ~30 feet tall, and weighed as much as 30 tons apiece. They were positioned all in a circle in a big decorative pond with fountains and a sidewalk connecting all of them. It was really gorgeous at night all lit up!

Praia Grande was a really safe town and had a nice beach. Prices in the city seemed to be a good bit lower than in Belo Horizonte or Rio de Janeiro. The water was clean and warm, and the beach wasn't overly crowded. It probably won't make it on our list of all time favorite beaches (the sand was very hard packed and there was a bit too much litter on the beach) but if you lived in or near São Paulo it would make a nice weekend beach getaway location!

Burnin' Up the Highways

I am packing a suitcase again. I feel like all I do is pack, unpack and do laundry. But I am not really complaining. We are off to explore another beach this weekend. Friends of ours from Belo Horizonte are currently on vacation. They are down in Praia Grande in the state of São Paulo, and they invited us down for the weekend. We're way too polite to decline an invitation (or maybe it's just that we like the beach too much, but whatever), so we board a bus at 8:15 tonight and head South. We should be on the beach by 9:00 tomorrow morning.

Next week should be a busy one. I am being put on intensive class observation duty (attending classes everyday, because the following week they want me to start teaching.) I go visit the American School on Tuesday to meet with the director and some of the staff about volunteer opportunities. And Eric will be traveling for part of the week. I'll probably be able to squeeze in a post or two about our weekend and everything else though. ;)

The Boring Part of Our Life

Since I've been bombarding you with pictures and stories from the part of our life that is just one big vacation, I thought I'd bring everyone back down a bit and update you on the not-so-glamorous things that we've been doing. Especially since there is a possibility we may end up at the beach again this weekend...I just don't want you thinking all we do is play!

Eric is still working long days. He has several projects going on and is just staying super busy. I've learned not to expect him home before 8:00, although occasionally he's here by 7:30. (And we get real excited about being able to finish eating supper before 9:00 on those days.) He was originally planning to be out of town this week, but that trip got pushed off until maybe next week. We've managed to go seven and a half months of marriage without spending a night apart, but it looks like that will be ending soon. (I'll try not to pout too much.) He is blowing everyone away with his Portuguese, and he even gave a big presentation this week completely in the native language (with the exception of a couple technical terms relating to parts on a rear axle that I can't even remember in English right now.) He is enjoying his work and the people he works with, so he doesn't seem to mind the long hours too much. (Despite wishing he was home more with his wonderful wife, of course! I sure do enjoy getting to be the one writing these reports. hehe)

I spend my time thinking up witty little posts about our days to try to entertain my readers. And when I'm not doing that, I am cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry. And when I'm not doing that, I'm over at the club. Three times a week, I have Portuguese lessons. And when I'm not doing that, I have been sitting in on English classes trying to glean some great knowledge on how to be an effective teacher. And other times, I have been pondering on what I could do worthwhile with my extra time down here.

I am attending a school-wide teachers' meeting tomorrow at which the language school's coordinator and owner will be present. My hope is that they ask if I'm ready to start teaching, and I'll say yes, and then I'll pick up a few classes of my own. The local neighborhood coordinator, who has been in charge of my training, keeps telling me how bad they need more teachers, so hopefully something will come to fruition tomorrow morning.

In other fun-ness, I just found out about an American school (PreK-12) that is here in Belo Horizonte. I contacted them this week to see if they could use a volunteer in any capacity. I received a warm email from the school's director, and he was going to get back with me in a couple days to set up a time to meet and discuss opportunities at the school. They have students from 15 different countries including a lot of Brasilians. They use an American curriculum, teach all classes in English, and are even SACS accredited. I've really been wanting to get out and volunteer my time somewhere, but, until my Portuguese is a little more advanced, I am still intimidated by the process of finding somewhere to help out. This seems like a more manageable starting place for me right now.

So, I guess it all boils down to Eric is doing great with his career and all, and I am trying to figure out what I am going to do here to become a better, more rounded person with skills other than posting pictures and stories on a website. I recently found out about a website, called Expat Women, that has some really great articles for someone in my position. I also found out I have a name: the trailing spouse. (Feel free to start referring to me as such. Dear Trailing Spouse, Oh how I love reading all about your exciting life ... Yeah, you get the idea.) Luckily, I guess, if nothing else, I could always see if Gisele needs a stand-in double or something (I'll just have to grow 4 inches, lose 20 pounds, get a better tan, get a professional to work on my hair and makeup...and speak Portuguese a whole lot better.)

If I Had a Dollar for Everytime THAT Happens!

Don't you just hate it when people can't quit staring at you because of your remarkable resemblance to famous Brasilian supermodels?

Why, just this last weekend I had this problem. While Eric and I were at the pousada up in Três Marias, there were two waitresses working the poolside area and also in the restaurant during meals. On Sunday as we were eating lunch, one of the waitresses asked us if we knew Gisele Bündchen. At first, we weren't sure who she was talking about (the Portuguese pronunciation of her name is a little different.) And then she repeated the name and said, "you know, the famous model." Oooooohhhh, Gisele...yes, I am familiar with her and the "Angel" status she held with Victoria's Secret. Blonde hair, tall, tan, thin, legs up to her neck, yes, I know her. "I think you look a lot like her," the overly kind waitress said to me.

Well, now, I suppose I understand how someone could get the two of us confused. I mean, she had seen me out by the pool earlier in my very Brasilian bikini after all. I wasn't hanging out in stiletto heels, but I suppose it was easy enough to imagine. Anyway, being the modest girl that I am and all, I thanked the sweet waitress and cast a hey-knock-it-off glance over to my husband who I think must have been choking on something.

Just as I was feeling extra not fluffy and thinking that yeah, limiting my ice cream consumption to no more than once per day is really paying off for me, the waitress added, "especially in the face."

Eric proceeded to laugh out loud at this point (dislodging whatever he was choking on, I presume.) Hmmm, alright, I guess I'll take what I can get.

Meanwhile, I don't feel quite as worried about the nice lady's vision anymore.

Driving on BR-040

To get to our destination last weekend, we had to travel on BR-040. This is a major highway, and the only one connecting Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, and Brasilia (the nation's capital). These three cities are among Brasil's largest.

Some parts of BR-040 are beautiful. It is smooth 4-6 lane divided highway, and we were able to cruise along at a lovely 130 kph ( 80 mph).

But anything lovely disappeared quickly after we were a little over an hour North of BH. The next thing we knew, we were driving on the shoulder (which luckily was nice and wide) because the actual road was covered in pot holes!

Which was okay. Occasionally, we'd have to swerve back onto the road to miss a pot hole on the shoulder, but we were managing. Then we found ourselves in the left lane because both the right lane and shoulder were pretty crummy. And then, before we knew it, we were driving on the left shoulder! (Nope, we didn't take a trip to Europe this weekend.)

And then a truck came around the curve, also trying to use the left shoulder.

But later, we returned to our happy place...the left shoulder.

And then, just for kicks, we tried driving right down the center line. Thank goodness we were in a narrow car!

Sometimes, we just weren't sure where the government of Brasil intended for us to drive.

And sometimes, like when a pot hole is as wide as the entire right lane, it is very obvious you are supposed to travel on the shoulder.

But then occasionally, a pot hole covers part of the right lane and shoulder, but we aren't able to get over to the left lane.

So then we just all drive half on the shoulder, half in the weeds.

It took some fancy zigzagging around pot holes from time to time to get over into that left shoulder!

And sometimes the guy driving a really big truck in the opposite direction thought our shoulder looked nicer (the grass is always greener on the other side!) At that moment, we were unsure if we should hold our current right shoulder position or move over into the left shoulder. It all worked out though.

The scary part was when the shoulders ended for a bridge, and then we had to drive in our lane...and that just felt so unnatural!

Towards the end of the 60 km stretch of road that I have just presented to you, the government was nice enough to post a warning sign. (This is much cheaper than fixing the road...although maybe somewhere in the beginning of the pot holes would have been more helpful.) It basically reads Slow, Road With Defects. Reeeaaaaally? We hadn't noticed.

The government is doing a great job of growing the local economy though. Do you have any idea how many tire shops we saw along this stretch of road? (I really like how there is a blown out tire on the ground next to this one's sign!)

But, for the life of me, I can't figure out what may be causing the roads to get this way! I mean, this truck (despite a nasty lean to the right that I couldn't quite capture in a photo) was able to maintain a speed of 15 kph (9.3 mph) on this slight uphill climb. He couldn't possibly be overloaded or anything.

Special props to my Hunny for some sweet driver skills and fancy moves on that road. We managed to only hit 1 pot hole and came away with all 4 tires (and undercarriage) still intact. Which is more than I can say for the 11 or so cars (driven by natives, no doubt!) we saw pulled off the road!

A Weekend at the Lake

If all goes as planned, we will be receiving our car this week from the factory. And if that is the case, we just spent our last weekend with the rental car. We figured there was no better time than this weekend to go put some miles on a car that wasn't ours, so we made the 4 hour journey North from Belo Horizonte to Três Marias on Saturday morning. There is a big reservoir in our state, Minas Gerais, created by the Três Marias dam on the São Francisco River.

The lake itself is enormous! It covers 1,040 km² (256,989 acres). In comparison, for the Georgia folks at least, Lake Lanier covers 154 km² (38,000 acres). (These numbers are from Wikipedia.) The water was the clearest, cleanest freshwater we've ever seen! There are no large cities anywhere around the lake nor upstream on the river. (If you have Google Earth, fly to Três Marias, MG, Brasil and see how bright blue the lake is. It's amazing.) The entire weekend, I think we saw 4 boats in the water. It was the quietest, most peaceful place we've been in Brasil! We had gorgeous weather on Saturday and Sunday. And we saw more stars Saturday night than either of us can ever recall seeing. It was a quiet, clear, dark, and beautiful night!

The pousada we stayed in was excellent as well. The daily rate included breakfast, lunch, and supper, since it was way off the beaten path and there was nothing else around. It was right on the lake, and we had a 20 minute drive down a dirt road to get to it. We were in the middle of nowhere - and there was no place in Brasil we'd rather have been this weekend! The service was top notch too! We were waited on hand and foot the entire time we were there.

They had the option of staying in "apartments" a little further up the hill, or in "chales" right on the water. Or this time of year, um, IN the water. We chose the apartment.

We asked if the lake was just really high this year, but the owner told us, "Oh no, the chales flood every year." Hmmm, I think I would be inclined to raise them a little higher.

This next picture was from a series of pictures Eric took after discovering the "burst mode" on the camera. If anyone is interested in a flip book of the Brasilian flag waving in the wind, let me know... it does a real nice job of showing off the bright blue skies we had this weekend though.

An added recreation bonus at the pousada was this climbing wall. And I also get to present to you, for the very first time on the internet, my husband in his sunga. :)

We watched a beautiful sunset from the dock on Saturday night and I got a little picture happy. I'll just post a few of the 20+ that I took.

One of the things we were most excited about was getting to see the dam. For a little background information, from Wikipedia again:

The lake of Tres Marias began with the damming of the São Francisco River, formed by the construction of one of the largest earth dams in the world. The objectives were to control the flow of water of the river in the periodical floods and improve navegability; the use of hydroelectric power and the development of industry and irrigation. Begun in 1957, this great project was finished in January 1961, almost a world record in this type of construction.

The dam is 2,700 meters long with a base of 600 and a height of 75 meters. Its plant produces 396,000 KW of power. The lake, known as the "Sweet Sea of Minas", has 21 billion square meters of water, a surface area of 1,040 square kilometers (8.7 times greater than Guanabara Bay), and provides water to 8 municipalities.

The speed of construction was due to the commitment of President Juscelino Kibitschek, who also completed the bridge over the São Francisco river, the BR 040 highway, and the new federal capital. The construction of the dam was carried out in two shifts, using approximately 10,000 workers.

One of the world's largest earthen dams? Awesome! We were both looking forward to it. We went to go see it Sunday morning, but we were met by this:

Eric was certain we could drive in, (there were, after all, no signs saying entrance was prohibited) but that we would just need to stop and check in first. Turns out they don't allow visitors. But who would have thought that with the barrels, gates, tire-puncturing strips, and armed security guard? Oh how I do love my hubby's optimism! So we never actually got a good look at the dam. But we had one heck of a time relaxing around the pool and down at the dock at our pousada.

The only real eventful part of the trip was the drive, and that's coming up tomorrow! (Hint: have you ever seen pot holes the size of a small car?)