There is a Possibility....

...that we may have a bank account by the time we leave!

Yesterday we left for Maceio at around 10 in the morning.  Seth and Hazel were at school and Thacianne graciously agreed to watch them when they came home from school.  She actually came home from school with them on the bus as she teaches some mornings, so that was perfect.  We brought Lyla along, and she is usually a good traveller.  We thought we'd be back mid afternoon.  It is supposed to be a two hour drive each way, and we were going to sign some papers at HSBC and then, I assumed, go out for lunch, and then return by 3 or maybe 4.

We got to the bank in good time, and were extremely happy with HSBC's helpfulness and apparent knowledge of what needed to be done.  The bank customer service rep pulled out the papers within seconds, we signed them, and they told us by today our paperwork would be in the HSBC in Salvador. That is where our lawyers "know" people and they have had no problems getting bank accounts in the past.  So excited about that potential.

We then also went shopping and then had lunch at a churrascaria, or rodizio, which is a steakhouse where waiters walk around with large skewers of meat and they slice the meat off and you grab it with some prongs you are given.  Yummy! if you're a carnivore like me :)  There's also a salad bar to help you feel healthier.

By the time we got back it was 7 at night.  We had actually a really nice little trip, and the only glitch was Lyla.  She has recently been potty-trained, however, we usually still have to take her to remind her to pee, as she does sometimes wait too long and end up having accidents.  So for the trip I put her in her diaper.  Well, would you know she refused to pee or poop in her diaper.  On the way there she screamed for ten minutes, and I mean Screamed, because she needed to go poop and pee.  We finally found a bathroom and after the bathroom break she was so angry about being forced back into her carseat she screamed for at least another 15 minutes before she calmed down enough to fall asleep.  And the exact same thing happened on the way home, except there was no bathroom and somehow I had to get this just-over-two just-potty-trained girl to understand that she could squat and pee at the side of the road.  I was actually pretty impressed that she did it.

Other than that, it was a good trip, and we are praying that this is the step we need to get things going here.

Have a great night everyone!
Brenda