Are We Going Back?

Shaun thinks one of the only reasons we wouldn't go back is if the company that has expressed immense interest in the product backs out. This business is based in Holland, so he is hoping to visit there in September, also to meet with our potential business partner and another potential distributor. I am debating whether to go with him...he is hoping to go for a week. He's worried that I would be in the way (not his words), but I said that I didn't need him :)  Besides I would take Lyla and could keep my own schedule.  Then  I would have to change my blogspot name to something totally lame like Brenda the Globetrotter, from the equally lame Brenda in Brazil.

The other thing we were thinking about is waiting to return to Brazil until March, as January and February are their summer holidays and Carnival is at the beginning of March next year, which means we probably wouldn't get a whole lot of business done until then anyways and rent is also extremely pricey at that time of year.  Shaun may have to return before them to figure out paperwork stuff and whatnot.  We did however have friends offer their home to us in January and February, as they will be out of town, so we are considering earlier.

So there is a short update on where we are and what we are thinking in regards to the business. We really enjoyed life there and truly the only thing that really bothers me is not having my mom and a few of my English speaking friends, particularly when there is stuff going on you really want to talk to someone about. 

The other thing we have to discuss is how long....but we don't have anything set in stone and I think we both have an idea of less than 5 years (Shaun has even said less than two but I have a hard time believing that).

And of course, as always, we know that our plans may not be the Lord's plans, and unless "He decides to bless, the workers toil in vain." So we place all our plans before our Heavenly Father, as we do not know what will happen in the coming year, and we pray that He gives us wisdom in all the decisions that we make.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig or Observations Upon Returning Home

So we changed our flight out of Miami from 6:30 in the morning to 3:15 in the afternoon on August 12.  The kids had gone to bed late and we wouldn't have been able to have breakfast before our flight.  This was a necessity as we were taking two "shorter" flights and we knew we would not get food from the airline, plus our stopover was short so we wouldn't have even been able to buy food in the airport.  So in the morning we ate as much as possible of the continental breakfast, as well as an extra apple and some fruit loops for the ride, then we walked to the nearest "grocery store," a gas station convenient store, which is where we stocked up on snacks and baby wipes.  It was hotter in Miami than in Brazil and we were sweating during our walk, especially since we had left our stroller behind in Maragogi and had to carry Lyla.  Then we went back to the hotel and had a relaxing swim in the pool.  Made it to the airport just in time as our shuttle took forever, but we made it to the plane on time.  Hazel and Lyla were asleep before we even took off.  That flight and the next went well, but as we were descending into Seattle, Seth freaked out in his sleep for around 25 minutes.  We could not wake him up and when we landed we had trouble getting off the plane, seeing as he usually walks and even helps with his own carry-ons.  However, that was the only glitch in the day, really, so we were happy.  Mom and Dad Grim came to pick us up and it was so great to see their smiling faces.  Then off we drove home, arriving at around midnight (which was 4 in the morning Brazil time).  The kids slept the whole night and woke up at quarter to seven, and last night the same thing, so it seems they have already adjusted to the time zone!

Things that we noticed from the time we reached Miami:
- From the sky, Miami is organized and neat, with proper streets, blocks, houses all nice and straight....what a contrast to the streets that go every which way and the houses that seem to be placed on top of each other of Brazil.
- The amount of swearing people do in North America.  We had honestly not heard one swear word (at least that we understood) in Brazil, except when watching English movies.  What is interesting is that when watching English movies when there was swearing the subtitle always said the word "Droga" which literally means Drug.  No one seemed to know why that was the "swear word" of Brazil.
- I keep looking for a garbage can to throw my toilet paper in :)
- It is wonderful to have warm showers with pressure!

There's been more, I know, but I really don't remember them all without writing it down immediately!

So it's great to be home, after the 4 days of traveling (or lack therof) and we even made it home for my brother Bryan's 33 and 1/3 birthday shaker!  We got to meet our new little neice/cousin Emily, and today for Seth's birthday Shaun and Bryan are taking Seth, Adam and Dylan to the airshow.  So it's a fabulous weekend to end the torturous lengthy trip and now all I have to do is.....UNPACK!

Stay tuned for more world traveling coming up in September!

The Long Trip Home (and we're only Halfway!)

Hello,

I do have a few things to update about our last week in Brazil but thought I'd do a little entry about our trip, for those wondering where we are.

Yesterday we headed to the Recife airport at 8 and our flight was delayed due to technical difficulties, so we waited....and waited....and waited....until around 12 or 1 when they announced our flight was cancelled.  So we had to collect all our baggage and go wait in line to be re-routed.  We finally got out of the airport at 5ish and spent the night in a hotel in Recife, getting up this morning to try again, on the same flight.  This time there were no problems, and we arrived safely in Miami at 6 Miami time.  We were supposed to leave at 6:30 tomorrow morning, meaning we'd have to get up at 4.  Seeing as we finally got to our hotel and bathed and changed, etc, and the kids were in bed at almost 10, we phoned American Airlines and rebooked our tickets to leave at 3 in the afternoon.  That way we hope to "sleep in" and make it to the free breakfast which we wouldn't have made it to with our early tickets.  We are Dutch, after all...

So if everything goes as planned we will reach Seattle at 8:15 after flying through Dallas.  I am excited to "relax" a little in the morning.  The kids have been doing quite well on the plane, especially considering this will be our third day of "travelling," but by the end of the day everyone is a little bit grumpy.

Well off to bed...my eyes are shutting on me.
See you all soon!
Brenda

Seth Turns Five!

On Tuesday, August 3rd, we left the house we called home for the last 2 months.  It was an important day for another reason though....Seth had his fifth birthday!  The night before, Grandma and Grandpa had given him some special books for his birthday.  Fortunately I had a few toys I had brought from BC, thinking I could give them to him on the plane, that I wrapped for his birthday.  Toys here are exceptionally expensive and very junky, and if you want to buy anything remotely good quality it is even more expensive.  After the short but sweet present opening, we finished our packing.  Moises was to pick us up at 10, we thought, yet he showed up at 9! Well that helped get us motivated.  Pastor Pedro and his wife Alida also needed a ride, as well as Shaun's parents.  We quickly ran out of room in the two cars and had to leave five suitcases and our stroller behind.  Shaun's parents and the pastor and his wife were leaving on the Wednesday, so they obviously needed to bring up all of their luggage.  So we made the trek to Aldeia/Recife, and what did we find: A BIRTHDAY PARTY!  Karen had baked a cake, all the kids had made cards/little gifts, Hannah even donating a book from her own library, and Tamara even had items for goody bags.  Talk about a stress free birthday party for Seth's mom!  And so special for Seth.  The icing on the cake (so to speak) was a actual live living turtle (who will be fostered out during our time in Canada) and a wind up flashlight that charges itself, has an alarm and a campus, AND even charges cell phones (somewhat lost on Seth).  

So thank you to Karen and Tamara and all the kids who made Seth's birthday extra special so far from home.  He (and we!) appreciate it immensely.  

Opening the big bag of presents from Grandma and Grandpa Raap.  He took out one book and forgot to check out the rest.

"There's more?!"

Who could forget about Hazel?  She got spoiled too!

And we couldn't miss Lyla if we tried :) Such a happy girl.

I'm FIVE today!

Bears swimming at the Beach!!

Blowing out the Candles

His new flashlight....we are using it a lot already!

His New Friend!  Too bad we can't take it back to Canada

BBQ at Sandro's Veranda - Saturday, July 31st

We thought we would throw one last barbecue before we left, mostly to say goodbye but also a little thing for Seth's birthday.  It was a wonderful, relaxing Saturday, and we insisted that Bel and her kids come, too.  She was nice enough to insist on coming over on Saturday morning to help me cook, despite my insistence that I COULD do it.  To be honest, to make the amount of food we made would have proably taken me all day without her.  There were a few more people there like Thaciane and Hermes with their two children, a sister of Moises with her husband, and a number of Sandro's cousins.  Definitely a nice way to end our time here, with all our favourite Brazilians.

Bel and I

Dejane, Mom Raap, Bel and I

Sandro and Dejane gave the kids all outfits for gifts, including this adorable dress. 

A birthday present from Moises to Seth...an Escola Biblica backpack!

Bel and her children, Wedja, Edjackson and Elizabete

  

Barulho (also known as Noise)

As of Tuesday morning we are out of the house we had rented for June and July.  We are up in Aldeia on the Aldeia Training Centre, where the Wieskes are living.  I'll write more about that later, as I first have many other things to catch up with on this blog.  Today is a rainy, windy day, so we are hanging out inside and I'm hoping to write, write, write.  First I had planned to do an entry about the wonderful, noisy culture of living in small-town Brazil.  I meant to take pictures of many more things we daily heard at "our" house, but hopefully the pictures I do have will give you a bit of an idea.

In the background of the picture above you see a semi truck.  This is a truck advertising for the election coming up in November.  If you remember from a few pics back the parade that went by the church that one Sunday, this vehicle led the way, blasting music with people all on top with loudspeakers.  There is also a smaller truck behind the semi truck that occasionally drives around town playing music for the same guy.

So if the semi truck is for the big events like parades, this smaller van drives around town all day.  And I mean literally all day.  It blasts a song made specifically for the man running for deputy governor of Alagoas, which we have memorized, out of the speakers at the top.  And this van is not the only one doing this, there are ones with way bigger speakers as well.  One night at around ten we also had one go by our house playing "the song" and followed by a trail of cars all honking loudly.

This man also walks around town all day playing music.  I thought people requested specific songs from him but Shaun thought he walked around advertising, so I'm not quite sure what he does exactly.  There is also another much larger cart that another guy pushes around with hundreds of cds for sale....also playing music all day.

This is just an example of the many vehicles that roar past our house.  We also are right next to the main highway, so the sound of vehicles is constant. 

Another thing that we heard daily was a gentleman walking around shouting "Macacheira!" selling cassava to the neighbourhood.  Macacheira is a long tuber that you can boil like potatoes, make into a oatmeal or some stuff to sprinkle on ALL your food, make fries from, etc.  Brazilians love it.  Bel boiled it once for us and it is very fibrous and kind of thick and pasty with not much flavour (my opinion of course).  And lastly, the noise we heard from 6 in the morning to 10 at night...music from the gym attached to our house, or the gym instuctor counting out numbers during a class.

All this does not even begin to emphasize the noise from special occasions.  And Brazil has a lot of holidays which encourage the use of fireworks day and night!  This has definitely slowed down compared to the first few weeks we were here...or maybe we have become used to it.  Oh and I forgot about the animals at night...roosters crowing and dogs barking all night long.

Needless to say, there is rarely a quiet moment in Maragogi, and I think we've become quite accustomed to it, and in some ways enjoy it.  I will always remember Hazel running out on our deck everytime she heard the political songs and dancing away...  I wonder if the quiet in Canada will seem abnormal when we return!