Farm Living Is The Life For Me - Brasil

Santo Antonio do Amparo

Minas Gerais

Brasil

July 5, 2006

Ah, farm living is the life for me….

From past experience we have learned that farm life can be great, as long as you have a project. So this year our project was to fix up our farm “casinha” (little house). We went to town: cleaning, filling in holes, sanding, painting, organizing, putting up pictures and making it cozy. The project took most of our time there and when finished was well worth it… just adorable in a two-bedroom farm “casinha” kind of way!

While we were working, the kids were exploring! Koa enjoyed carrying a bucket of fat tadpoles around (and picking them up out of the water to show us …yuck). Nai`a named her new puppy after her friend Larissa (which I believe is a complement in two year old land). They set up their own playhouse and made mud cakes. They collected quail eggs every day, rode their pony Kona and took long walks with their vovo Cyda around the coffee fields. Convincing them to venture into the city was almost impossible. Probably did not help that the two times they went in were to go to the dentist and watch Brasil lose the World Cup disgracefully to France. (What?!?) But our week on the farm passed quickly and then we were off to the US of A to celebrate the Fourth of July.

Ok, next time you are bored, try this:

Take a two year old and a four year old.

Add eight 32-kilo (70 lbs) suitcases.

Travel for 30 hours straight.

Carry $18 thousand dollars in cash in your underwear (Ryder could NEVER be a drug dealer).

Include two accidents (Koa) and two major melt-downs (Nai`a).

Don’t forget to:

- have two of the 70 lbs bags fall over on your kids

- get on a four hour flight where all four of you have separate seating (Relber, I love you, but what was that about?)

- forget that they no longer serve any food on domestic US flights and see two children fight to the death over the single chocolate muffin you were “allowed” to buy on board for $3.

- And last, but not least, have the airline lose one of your bags.

See how that works out for you, it’s fun, really!

On the bright side, if we are ever poor and destitute, we could join the circus and Ryder can be one of those guys who guesses people’s weight. He was able to (without the benefit of a scale!) to get all eight pieces of luggage at exactly 32 Kilos. Even the check in lady was impressed. Oh, and let us all bow down and thank the toy Gods (and Steigan) for the stash of “Polly” dolls that kept us all sane during those 30 very long hours. We made it to Portland, OR just in time for the Fourth of July.

You know there are a few things that make you feel rich. Like having an address that only has two numbers, 32 Dolphin Lane. Or taking a shower at the health club and putting on all clean clothes. Or having one of those fridges that has the water and ice dispenser on the door. Well, yesterday we had one of those moments. We watched the 4^th of July fireworks over the Willamette River while we dinned on shrimp cocktail at a river side restaurant. They even brought the kids an etch-a-sketch and a fluffy blanket when they got cold. Nai’a loved the fireworks, especially after we established that no, they would not follows us and burn down our house. Koa, being the party animal that he is, slept through the whole thing. It was one of those wonderful American moments that lingers in your memory treasure chest. (Thanks Judy and Gma!)

In closing, here are a few of our observations about the US:

Going grocery shopping can be an orgasmic experience with its overwhelming variety.

There are a TON of things to do with the kids, from children’s theater workshops to library story time to a water slide at the local community center.

There are soooooooo many white people here!

One small bag of groceries cost $50 (wow!) but gas is still $1 cheaper than in Brasil.

Everyone follows the rules, especially when waiting in line for the bathroom (I had a lady yell at me because I took an about-to-pee-in-her-pants Nai’a to the front of the line!)

Being surrounded by English has done wonders for Nai’a. She is a little language sponge.

People on the street don’t make eye contact as much as we are used to in Brasil.

You do feel safer here, on a daily basic level (probably because of all the excessive rule following).

Even though having a dishwasher, a clothes washer and dryer and a bathtub can be a lot of fun, nothing beats a maid!

Tomorrow we are off to Hawaii… the land of aloha!

Beijos

c