Adjusting

Hello Again.  I guess it's been a few days, I have so many things I want to post about, so hopefully I will remember.

Already I'm finding we're getting used to the animals here.  The first day, Shaun killed what we think was a baby cockroach, and that was anxiety producing.  By now, I think it's pretty normal to have at least a few bugs crawling and flying around our house.  Most of them are of the small variety.  We have a ton of these little beetles that Seth calls his "friends," and all sorts of other small bugs.  The first couple nights, if I was up in the night, I made sure I had my sandals by my bed, and a light on to make sure I wasn't going to step on anything.  Last night, I walked to the kitchen to get something for the girls to drink, grabbed a couple of cups off of our dish rack, and out from underneath ran a cockroach, and then under our counter.  Aaaaah!  I took a few smacks at it with the mini hockey stick, and it escaped me behind the stove.  I had seen it earlier in the day, flying behind our fridge, but just decided to pretend it wasn't there, seeing as I couldn't do anything about it.  In other animal related news, we have had little frogs and salamanders on our shower wall, and after the huge rainfall last week HUGE TOADS everywhere.  Which Seth insisted on chasing everywhere and caught a few of them, until we realized there's a small chance it can ooze or even rarely spray poison at you.  We were wondering why everyone was running away from him!  And just so everyone knows, on the many websites I researched, the toad poison may cause pain, and temporary blindness.  Key word: temporary.  Apparently the poisonous kind can get mixed up with a "normal" kind as well.  Still, we emphasized to Seth to keep away from them, and didn't let him try to catch the frog until we knew it was safe.  He has also been obsessed with catching the many lizards on the property, and found a crab who seems to live here!  Today we found an animal behind our couch that we had never seen before... a humongous spider!  Hopefully the picture does justice to it's size.  It was something Seth didn't want to kill, but to catch and release outside.  Shaun and my opinions won out in that department.  And despite his hatred for the mosquito bites, he feels like he should not kill God's creatures.  They are quite bad in the evening, and seem to be the only thing Seth dislikes about Brazil.  He scratches and scratches and cries and complains.  And some of them he has scratched open, so we have to make sure they don't get infected.

Speaking of infected, Lyla has been a mess this week.  Until today though, she has been pretty happy.  It started off with blisters on her feet from her crocs, as well as a bunch of mosquito bites, some of which got infected.  Then she stubbed her toe.  She had a bruise and a cut across her shin (we don't know where from).  She had 6 mosquito bites on one side of her lily-white face and reacted quite badly to them, so they were red and hard.  Then Seth was on a swing and clocked her one, so the two mosquito bites on her forehead split open, as well as a slice across her chin.  Then when she couldn't get any worse, she got diarrhea.  It's the fifth day, and her bum is raw!  She waddles like an old man, if she walks at all, and is crying in so much pain when she pees and poops.  It is so sad!  And then two days ago, she woke up with one red and swollen eye!  Good thing I brought eyedrops, apparently it's quite common in the sandy, hot climate.  It is amazing that in general she has been so incredibly happy and sweet, continuing to give us kisses, hugs, and smiles even right after we hold her down to clean her or put drops in her eyes.  So although this paragraph makes her seem like she's falling apart, the biggest concern is keeping her hydrated and the diarrhea which doesn't seem to be getting much better.  As this post has taken a few days to write, I also should add she now has a fever!  She cannot catch a break.  Although her diarrhea seems to have improved this afternoon, and she is still drinking lots (we had some multivitamin/electrolyte powder we took with us and she is drinking it really well) and having wet diapers.  Her fever is responding to tylenol so that's also a good thing.  We are praying she feels better soon.

So if you're wondering about what we've been doing... well I have to tell you right now it seems like surviving!  We're still living out of suitcases (hopefully that will be rectified next week).  We're helping our kids adjust and attempting to keep them healthy and happy.  I'm finding a lot of the same things that frustrate me at home are frustrating me here... that feeling like there's so much more to do in the day.  Currently we don't have a maid, like we did the last time we were here.  And let me tell you, there is a lot to clean in a little house!  In a sandy, tropical climate things are dirty very quickly.  In some houses (such as ours) there is no separation in the bathroom between shower and the rest of the bathroom, there is a little lip that is supposed to keep the water in the shower area.  Believe me, it doesn't work!  So with people walking in and out of the bathroom and having wet floors and dry sandy floors I am sweeping a lot.  I'm sure once I get into the routine of things it will feel a lot less overwhelming.  One other thing you may not know about Brazilian living is they have their big, hot meal at mid-day.  People always ask me why that is so I will venture my guesses here:  cooler to cook in the morning? healthier to eat a big meal when you need it?  that's when the maid is usually around? etc.  Not really sure, but I've been trying to live Brazilian.  It has been a bit strange thinking what to make for dinner when I'm done eating breakfast, but I think I'll get used to it quickly.

I do hope that my readers understand that I'm not trying to be negative.  I'm trying to give a realistic picture of what we're experiencing, and let me tell you, there's been many good things as well.  Like today, Seth caught a frog and a lizard, and thanked God in his prayer for that, as well as the time he had at the beach today with Shaun and Hazel.  Like the little playset (swings and slide) that Hermes and Thacianne have that the kids have enjoyed so much already.  The kids are also loving where we live as it is right by the ocean and has a bit of a yard to play in.  It is in a gated community and as a lot of the homes are weekend getaways or vacation rentals so the kids can bike up and down the road even.  We paid extra to get the bikes here and it has already been sooooo worth it.  Also there has already been a lot of great times with people we know from here, who we care about so much and whose company we enjoy, with good food and great conversation (at least we're having fun talking, not really sure if what we want to say is getting across!).  The church here had a retreat to get away from the busyness of Carnival, and we were able to enjoy church fellowship and Brazilian cuisine (which was a relief to me!).  One of the most exciting things to see at the retreat was all the kids including Seth in soccer, basketball, volleyball, especially since we knew he was a bit apprehensive about talking Portuguese.  It was also great that the retreat was at the school, so he got to get used to some of the kids and the school while mom and dad were still around in the background.  Hazel has had apparently no qualms about meeting, greeting, trying out Portuguese, and has been having an absolute blast here.  Lyla... well when she hasn't been feeling poorly she has had a great time chasing lizards with Seth and actually starting to speak a little bit of English!  She also has begun this week a habit (which she is disciplined for but you can't help but think she's cute but can't let her know it) of crossing her arms and frowning at us, sometimes for long periods of time while she waits for us to notice.  And like always, she thinks she is in charge of Seth and Hazel.

Carnival ended Wednesday (Feb. 22), so the last two days Shaun has had a couple meetings.  He has a number of things on his list of things to do, but can't immediately get to the working 9-5 (or probably 7-12 and 2-6), so it is a relief to have him around most of the time for now as we settle in.

Anyways, I know it's another long entry.  I noticed I started it on the 20th, so it's been a few days of ramblings.  We hope everyone is doing well and keeping safe and healthy.  We really would appreciate and ask that you keep Lyla and Seth in your prayers to regain health, and Hazel, Shaun and I to remain healthy.  Also that we find a little niche here and our transition is as smooth as can be.

Love you all, and goodnight!
Brenda

PS I will have to try do a "picture post" tomorrow, I know it will take a lot of time and it's getting later here.