Twelve Month Sleepers and Other "Events"

My little man is growing...

He crawls, and sits, is pulling himself up on things (in bed he climbs halfway up the crib and can't get down!), he is grabbing everything, and growing....  I have no idea how big he is, but he entered the 12-month sleeper phase this past week.

 

Every month our little church has a communal potluck lunch at somebody's house.  Last week was our house for the first time... I counted over 30 people.  Here is Shaun opening by reading the Bible in Portuguese!  

This past week we had Labour Day on May 1st (Thursday).  To allow us to have a long weekend with the Friday off as well, there was school on the previous Saturday!  Plus, on Wednesday was "parent-teacher's"  instead of school.  We were very thankful to hear from the teachers and see on their report cards how well our children are doing.  Although some days are a struggle, most days the kids seem to enjoy their classes and telling us about their day upon arriving home.  This is definitely more than we expected!

  So last Sunday was the communal lunch, and it was very enjoyable.  That night it started to rain, and the next few nights were very rainy.  On Tuesday night we shut our doors and windows early, because there were these weird bugs flying into our house and losing their wings and crawling around.  On Wednesday morning we woke up to a veranda COVERED in these wings.  It was disgusting.  Then our power went out.  I went to the school to talk to the teachers, and by the time I got back and packed up it was 3:00.  That's right, we were going on a trip!  We went up to Aldeia on Wednesday, and there is a simple yet beautiful suite Mission Aid has that we are able to use on property that currently houses a missionary family, five seminary families, and the seminary.  This was the first time we used it.  It took us 3 1/2 hours to get there.... much much longer than usual, as Jonas decided he didn't like driving and we had pee breaks and a little snack/supper/grocery stop before we arrived.  We dumped our stuff at the suite and headed to some friends' house and had a lovely time visiting them.  Played some cards, chatted into the wee hours.  Larger winged insects were flying around us there, with the same problem of the wings falling off.  Gross.  Suddenly it was 1:30 in the morning!  We packed up our kids and headed back to the suite.  Lo and behold, the power was out there too, and the electric gate would not open!  It can be opened manually from the inside, but our contacts inside were not awake when we phoned.  We finally headed back to our friends house as we could not get in.  Well, that was a night of little sleep!  The next day we got into the property and that was Labour Day.  In some ways I'm thankful we didn't get in the night before, because the suite was FULL of these insects and their wings.... a carpet of them.  They had crawled under one of the doors.  Anyways, that was Thursday and one of the reformed churches in the area had booked the property for a family day.  There was a speech, and lunch, and in general a fun time hanging out.  The energy was off all day until 3:00!  On Friday Shaun went to the airport in the morning to exchange rental cars (yes, we are still doing that!), and the afternoon we went to our friends again for tea and supper. That evening we had a couple over for some wine at the Mission Aid suite, a Canadian married to a Brazilian.   He is the caretaker of the property there in Aldeia, and also lives on the property.  On Saturday there was speeches on the property, as the first Saturday of every month is a "Training Day."  We left from there at two in the afternoon, but not before we enjoyed lunch with everyone: white beans and bucho.  I still can't think about it without feeling a little sick in my stomach.  I started eating this delicious looking dish and thought there was chicken involved.  I tried to chew it, but ended up mostly just swallowing it, as it was really chewy and what I thought was really fatty chicken.  Turns out it was cow stomach.  I pushed the rest to the side, and had many people laughing at the shade of red my face turned.  I explained that maybe next time I was served it, I'd be able to eat another piece, and the next time another piece, and maybe after trying it a few times, I might like it.   I think I was being naive.  I don't think I could "stomach" it again  *groan*  Anyways, it was another long journey back.  At one point three of the four children were screaming at the same time.  But we made it home safely, and had a wonderful time away visiting and meeting new people. 

Sorry no pictures to go with the above story.  I brought my camera and did not take a single picture!

Here are a few pictures I took this morning though!  A sweet little tree frog :)

Have a great Sunday everyone!

A Buggy Life

Yesterday evening I walked around to the back of the house in the cool darkness.

"Shaun, can you turn on the light back here?" I call.

A moment later the dim light around our porch flickers, and I go to the washing machine to collect some clothes.  On the way there I run into this large, brown bug... yep, you got it, a cockroach.  Fortunately here they have been few and far between.

It made me think that to give you a clear understanding about how bugs invade every aspect of our life here, I'd retrace some of my steps throughout the day and get down in the dirt.

So at three this morning, I wake up to Hazel lying beside me.  Who knows why.... I apparently sleep through it, but it probably ranged from "I'm cold/hot" to "I have a sore toe" to "I had a bad dream."  I roll out of bed onto my sandals.  Yes, I keep them beside my bed.  You don't want to step on a bug in the dark.  I go to tuck Hazel back in her bed (we only have double beds here, so you can imagine having a child or two crawl in with you is not overly comfortable).  On the way back to our room, I make a pit stop at the bathroom.  I check inside the toilet and notice an ant climbing around inside.  Definitely not the first time this has happened.  Always check inside the toilets before you sit down.  I kill it before I make use of the toilet.  As I sit there I notice a number of these ants scurrying around.  These type are slightly bigger and do not walk in a line, taking stuff away to their far off anthill.  They always seem a bit aimless and I'm never sure what they are doing.  But they come out at night and I'm leaning towards the belief that they are a type of termite.

I came to that conclusion a few days back when I opened a window on our wooden front door and underneath was a pile of these type.  I noticed a couple carrying eggs.   The door is weaker in spots and I'm pretty sure they are eating away whatever wood we have in this house.

Anyways, I crawl back into bed and wake up bleary-eyed to get the kids off to school.  Flies buzz around the breakfast table.  This is Shaun's pet peeve.  Mine is the mosquitoes.  We "electrocute" with our mosquito-killing electric badminton racket around the doors, windows, and above dark shelves and bags before we get going for the day.  

The last few days we have seen "dengue" mosquitoes.  These are mosquitoes with black and white striped legs.  Dengue mosquitoes do not necessarily have dengue, but it is only this variety that can carry the disease.  The interesting thing is, these mosquitoes are ones that bite during the day.  We attribute it to the pool at the house across the street, which a family from Recife comes and uses sometimes on holidays and weekends.  It is full of dirty water.  Shaun sends Seth over the wall to pull the plug on the pool.  Hopefully that will eliminate some of the peskies.

After the kids get off to school (at a leisurely 7 a.m.), I do my at least once daily load of laundry.  The area by the washing machine outside is dark and shaded, and therefore full of mosquitoes resting by this time of day.  As I go to take down and fold the load from yesterday, I see a shadow of something between a sheet.  I bravely move the top layer aside, praying silently that it is not too disgusting of a bug.  Phewf!  Just a locust.  These are very large green "grasshoppers."

In the heat of the day (starting at around 8 in the morning and ending around.... never....) the bugs seem to rest a bit.  Except for the regular suspects: ants.  There are ants in the sugar.  How many we've accidentally eaten I can not be sure of, but they are teeny tiny ones with clear back ends.  As we walk around our beautiful veranda, there are piles of dirt every morning along the cracks in the tiles and against the house.  Our house's foundation is slowly being eaten away.  These are mostly a smaller black ant.  And they bite.  We can't rest on the steps in front of our house because there's a anthole of these type located nearby, and they bite as they explore.  It's not a matter of sitting still and they'll leave you alone.  Oh, no, they nibble on everything.  And it hurts!  We have these under our clotheslines as well, which definitely encourages quick "hanging-upping."

The next most consistent part of our day is shutting our back door around 4 p.m., which has reduced the mosquitoes entering our house in the early evening.  We get the kids off to bed, and sit at the table for as long as we can handle the mosquitoes on our hot legs.  Then a refreshing cold shower and off to bed we go, checking the kids rooms once more for mosquitoes before we head to bed.

There's a few more instances of bug sightings, however, I'd be exaggerating to say that it all happens in a day.  However, there's the large moths here and there, wee little spiders (similar to the farmhouse we lived in back in Cloverdale), small grubs and grasshoppers, little juninho beetles (similar to lady bugs), and much much more that I can't really describe.  You'll just have to come see it yourself!

Now if you think this is bad (or maybe you think this sounds like nothing) don't be alarmed.  We have become so used to the ants on the ground we hardly notice, and the mosquitoes have been controlled to the point of barely there....  And on the plus side, we don't even jump when something lands on our arm, we just calmly brush it aside.  However, if it's something flying around I can't say that I don't duck and scream just a little.

Next post:  miscellaneous reptiles, mammals, and unidentified vermin....

the S.W.A.T. team

I wonder if you can guess what I am referring to in my title.  I've had this post buzzing around in my head all week, but it took a while to come up with a really biting headline....

Yes, I think it should qualify as an Olympic sport.  Racket Bugging.  This is a super satisfying way to kill mosquitoes, it makes a loud snap and sometimes even lights them on fire.

Our sweet little Jonas is covered with mosquito netting.  However, sometimes when I am up with him in the night I inadvertently let in a mosquito.

One morning we found FIVE in there.  The next morning Lyla's face was covered in red bumps as well.  I actually thought maybe it was the start of chicken pox, as there is a family we know here who had it.  I had some pictures of it on my camera, but must have deleted them.  

We also bought a fan, specifically with the hope that we wouldn't be mosquitoes' supper during our supper time.  Fans are supposed to help a bit with keeping mosquitoes at bay.  We are finding it helping a bit.  We also were so aggressive with our first two rackets we bought that we needed to buy two more!

Maybe I had too much of what was in that cup, but this blurry picture does a half-decent job of showing you some of my favorite and necessary relaxing-in-the-evening items.  Can't sit anywhere without "the Killer!"

In all honesty though, I have to admit the mosquitoes are terrible and we are looking for ways to keep them under control.  Our technique thus far includes keeping our bedroom doors and windows closed all day (the mosquitoes are even around all day), and using the Killer in all the rooms prior to bedtime.  The "chicken pox" has definitely improved with these techniques, but we are hoping to price out some screens for the rooms so the kids can be in there during the day with the windows open.

Goodnight everyone!  Don't worry, we'll figure out the mosquito problems before you all come for a visit!

This and That

Well, I know all of you are dying for an update on Jonas, and for a multitude of pictures.  After all, he is one of the four cutest babies ever born.  At least until he gets into the awkward phase of cheeks down to his shoulders and double chins galore (I guess that would mean it isn't a double chin... but I digress).  Of course we all know babies are adorable to their parents, so please give me the luxury of believing he is the most delightful thing on the planet right now.

Our midwives came Day 1, 3, and 7 after Jonas was born.  When he was born he weighed 3690 grams.  Because as Canadians we technically use the metric system, especially as a nurse I should have an idea in my head of what that means.  However in life and practice, we speak in pounds and ounces.  It is a very strange thing.  So we "translated" it into 8.1 lbs.  I realized later this does not mean 8lbs 1 oz, but if anyone cares it actually is 8 lbs 2 oz.  So when they came back on Day 7 he weighed 3915 grams.  If I converted that correctly it means 8lbs 10oz, so an 8oz weight gain in his first week.  I was not kidding above when I said he would end up with funny looking triple chins.

We had fun putting him in a doll bed.  Does he not have the biggest "outie" in the world?

We didn't have a vehicle for 4 days this week and started running out of food, so Shaun has been trying different bread recipes.  He has been talking about it for a long time so this gave him the incentive.  The bread above is even twisted artistically.

A couple days ago we noticed Hazel had a little fringe of bangs.  You would think an 8-year-old would know better than to cut his sisters' hair.  That's right, it was Seth.  And he cut Hazel and Lyla's hair, and then they hid it behind a bookcase.  Fortunately on Lyla you can't tell and Hazel's is fairly minor.  You can see it in the picture below.

No one has gotten sick of trying to hold baby Jonas.  I will forever be hearing Lyla's voice whenever Jonas cries: "It's okay, baby, Mother's here."  Where has she ever heard us using the word mother even?  But it is super cute.

The kids have been waking up way too early, in part because the sun is rising around 5 in the morning.

Even his feet are cute!

"But I like to hold him when he's crying, Mom!"

A typical find in our house.  In other animal news, we are down from 5-10 cockroaches a day to around 1 a week.  This is exciting because at one point in my pregnancy when I was up every hour to use the bathroom I was having nightmares about cockroaches.  Now although I still have sandals beside my bed to walk to Jonas, I am fairly confident I won't step on one.  

Seth went to catch a lizard by it's tail.  Yep, it fell off in his hand.  And did you know they wiggle for a long time after they fall off?  Also, it was covered in ants eating it within a half hour and Hazel thought she had to rescue it and bring it into our house.  I explained it is an interesting thing to observe outside of the house.

So there's a few happenings in our life.

Another exciting thing is that during the trip to Maragogi the week he was born we found a place to live in!  It even has a bit of land around it, which is really exciting and we already have plans to grow everything from beans to watermelon and possibly get some chickens.  We didn't take pictures so that will have to wait for another post.

So we got the house, we got the baby, now we just need to find a vehicle.  This is a challenge because vehicles are still very expensive, particularly anything with more than 5 seats.  They haven't bought into the mini-van craze in north america, which allows you to buy very cheap mini-vans second hand if needed.  So Shaun is hoping to go out this week and find something.

Have a good week everyone! 

Three Weeks In!

Today marks three weeks that we have been here.  There is so much to tell and yet so little to tell all at the same time.  People ask how we are doing and it is so hard to explain, or even to sum up.... all the little joys and sorrows that make up each day, yet would possibly be normal in any other country of the world as well.  Being away from familiarity seems to emphasize the “little” sorrows, however, that could be a whole wackload of pregnancy hormones attacking as well!

What do our days look like?   Almost as soon as we got here I started “school” with the kids.  Although they were prepared (pre-warned), it has been an interesting adjustment.  I am focussing mostly on reading, writing, and arithmetic, at least to get the ball rolling before we have a new baby in the house.  I have one kiddo who is highly resistant somewhat reluctant to follow any of my suggestions or instructions, and believes in independent learning outside of all parental or teacher constraints, in spite of the fact that there is very little formal schoolwork (maybe at most 2 hours).  Although this has been the primary struggle with the commencement of schooling, it has also been an interesting challenge.  I have objectives in mind for what I want to teach, and will spend time in the evening looking for interesting ways to teach it, thinking of different strategies to present information, possible rewards systems, etc.  I’m enjoying the planning more than the implementation of said techniques, but I feel like as we get in more of a groove it will actually be an experience that will be enriching for both of us.  I still have initial homeschooling anxiety (how will I teach everything!), but it seems the kids will spend a lot less time in the “classroom,” and I can focus on their weaknesses and encourage their strengths.   I also am still receiving newsletters from the kids’ school, so I am loosely using that as a way to see if I am “on track.”

Other than the schooling, things have actually probably been a bit more relaxed here than in Canada.  I am “done” work, someone is coming in to clean/do laundry 2 times a week, and the house we are staying in is roomy for us with all the furniture/kitchen stuff etc., already here.  It becomes more stressful when I think about having our baby in a few weeks and then moving a few weeks after that to some undisclosed (unknown) location.

Shaun and I met with the doctor here.... he seems genuinely interested in as “natural a birth as possible.”  This is extremely important if you are aware of the percentages of c-sections here.  In private hospitals they hover around 80%, and in public hospitals around 40%.  A friend of ours who had a baby here naturally 9 years ago in the hospital said some of the nurses there had never seen a natural birth!  Reading up on the stats and on general Brazilian attitudes regarding c-sections makes me think things have not drastically changed.  They also move you to an operating room when you are ready to have the baby... just in case.  It makes it very hard to feel trusting towards a doctor.   In our broken Portuguese I think we managed to explain what we were hoping for, and he looked unconcerned.  He let us know what hospitals he likes to deliver in, and hopefully sometime next week Shaun and I will tour one so we have a better idea of what is involved from the hospital’s perspective.  I’m due in approximately 5 weeks from now, so can give a better anecdotal update of my Brazilian birthing experience then.  To be honest, I prefer to not think about it because when I do I just want to head on back up to Canada and have my baby how I’ve had all my babies, with a doctor that I know would only give a c-section (or other interventions) if it was necessary.   

In other news, we went two hours south over the past weekend, to Maragogi.  This is where we stayed when we were here last time.  We had a great time, and stayed with very hospitable friends.  It emphasized our need to get back on track with Portuguese, and kick started the immersion.  Here in Recife we speak English all day and our friends here speak English, so we definitely needed a boot in the butt.  It also was frustrating, especially for one who has so much to say.... how to get our point across!  The kids did great, and tried Portuguese here and there.  Seth and Hazel have been doing a computer program called Rosetta Stone, and I think that gave them a little more confidence to try.  Seth spent the weekend playing with his lego that we had left with these friends last year, chasing praying mantises, crabs and toads once again.  We went on a bit of a hike and there were interesting things like termite nests on trees.  He is definitely in his element chasing all things crawling, hopping, scurrying....  His new dream is to catch animals, take them to his science lab, remove all poison from their body and sell them to people....  Hazel and Lyla had a happy weekend as well, swimming, playing dollies, re-meeting their little girlfriends from last year.... being smelled and petted and adored.  We had lots of comments regarding them looking like twins.  It was a fun time full of eating food and also smiling while a lot of conversation went on around us over our head.

We also tried to find a place to rent, because we are hoping to head down there in November, when our current location will be re-inhabited by its rightful occupants.  Maragogi does not appear to have any rentals available, so we checked out a little suburb called Barra Grande, which is actually where we were staying.  There are definitely some nice places there; however most of them are only for rental in summer (December/January) and then Carnival (first week in March).  We found one promising location that would be rented out annually but it was more than we were hoping for.  It was right on the beach and had a yard as well!  We may have to look at it again as nothing else seems to be available, and as it gets closer to summer here it gets harder to rent.

The weather has been cool and rainy (think B.C.!) which is very lovely for someone who is 8 months pregnant.  I think most days it has been in the mid twenties during the day and right now (10 at night) it is 20 according to the weather network.

So other than the ant’s nest we found in a book case in our house (HUGE ants!), the crazy amount of cockroaches in this house (more than we have had in any other house) and some other odds and ends of weirdness, things have been going really well.  I feel disjointed when I think of people I want to talk to but haven’t been able to, and I have days where I think we are crazy and I can’t believe we are here again.  But if I think about each day individually, we are healthy and happy, and time flies as we all know.  We have been warmly welcomed here and we thank God for these connections.  I want to live in the “now” and be thankful and happy for the time here instead of always waiting for what is coming next.  In the end, we can spend our days waiting for better days wherever we live, when we are meant to enjoy where we are right now.

It’s nice to know my pep talk is working tonight, on myself anyways!   Have a great night everyone,

Love Brenda

On Our Way!

Our last Sunday (and last full day) here in Peroba.  Here comes the hard part, saying goodbye.  And currently we don't know when we are coming back, so that makes it harder.  Tomorrow we drive up to Recife, stay with friends there overnight, and then head to the airport Tuesday morning for the 29 hour trip home.  So excited to see BOTH our sets of parents when we get home to Canada.  Happy Mother's Day to our dear mothers!  We can't  wait to see you!

Here's a few photos of the last two weeks.  Like I mentioned, we decided to "go on holidays" as there was nothing else we could do.  So we checked out a bunch of different beaches around here, as well as the manatee reserve around an hour away.

What would holidays be without delicious watermelon!  This is at the beach in Barreiras do  Boqueirao.

This is the beach of Peroba, right where we live.

Last weekend was a full moon (the super moon you may have heard of).  This meant the tides were extra low and extra high, so we headed out to try find some cool animals.  This was the first hermit crab we found.

Shaun found a Brazilian and wanted to get a picture with the little kid.

We could walk out to the reef, but most of it was still around a foot under water, and it was actually really windy and not too sunny, so it was difficult to find sea creatures.

Suddenly we realized there were millions of hermit crabs all around.

Seth's last day of school.  He hadn't been as keen to go as the first little bit, but I would have it often in Canada as well, that I had to force him out the door and he was fine once he was there.  Notice how he's sitting in the very back of the class?  He told us a story a few weeks back how some kid was kicking him out of his seat, so I wonder if this is the fallout: he finds a seat that is far away from everyone!

Hazel in her class.  Notice she is right at the teacher's desk.  She definitely likes to play up her tears to get the teacher's attention I think!

To get to the Manatee Reserve we had to cross a river to a town called Porto do Pedras.   The Manatee Reserve is called  in Portuguese the Santuario do Peixe Boi.  Now unfortunately Shaun and I got ripped off by the guide we got a hold of, so I am going to explain how to get there yourself so you don't have to phone a guide.  You find the ferry pictured above on the south side of Japaratinga, through some suburbs of Japaratinga (Bitingui, Barreiros do Boqueirao, then Boqueirao, then Pontal).  When you get to the end you get to this ferry (called a balsa).  The ferry costs 10R each way.  You cross into Porto do Pedras, and take a left, drive through all the city, then past another little suburb, then you have to drive around 3 more km before you reach a sign on your left saying "Passeio do Peixe Boi."  You turn there and then drive and drive and drive down a sandy "road."  You will pass a sign on your right for the actual conservation project, but that is for people who work there.  You just keep driving.  Then you see a sign for the Passeios do Peixe Boi on your right, turn there and voila, a little parking lot.  For ages 6 and up it is 35R.  

This is one of the balsas. 

Porto do Pedras.

Once you go to the area where guides are, they take you on these boats in the river, where currently there are 10 manatee.  The river has a little fence towards the mouth of the river, to keep the manatee in.   My understanding is they will find injured or sick manatee, sometimes up in the Amazon or wherever, and bring them here to nurse them back to health and introduce them back into the wild.  The boats are not allowed to have motors.  Also, note that you should bring lifejackets for your young children as they do not have them.  I may be paranoid, as the river is not so deep, but the river also is murky.                                 

Lyla was not that enjoyable of a companion, particularly as she did not have a lifejacket of course. 

There was some beautiful scenery.

There is more of an enclosure where some are kept and where they are fed from.  They eat lettuce and carrots, and grow up to 500 kilos.

This is around as close as we got to seeing one :(
This one was eating, and they eat underwater.  They can stay under between 5 and 13 minutes and then only come up for a quick breath of air.

It's Breathing!

On the way back across the ferry.

We had lunch on the beach, and I think this was Seth's favorite part of the day: a million little crabs,  two starfish (he thinks), and other little animals.

I'll finish off blogging our trip once we get back to Canada and I unload the rest of my pics.  Ate Mais!  See you all Wednesday!

Love the Raaps