We made it safely all the way to Lar on Saturday! It's really a miracle that we can get here so "easily" considering the thousands of miles we traveled. Airplanes, cars, and busses.
We left Thursday evening and had a pretty good flight. My normal routine is to take 2 tylenol PM as soon as I sit down and buckle my seat belt, pop in some earplugs, put on a mask to cover my eyes, and I wake up for breakfast. That was slightly interrupted by a very small child this time, and now to fight swelling in my feet and legs I had to get up once an hour and walk around. It is just marvelous to pull yourself out of a seat at 3:45am after having barely slept and go for a stroll. About 5 or 6 hours into the 10 1/2 hour flight I knelt down to grab my shoes from under my seat and noticed that my legs were definitely swollen, so that encouraged me to keep walking. We had a few moments of turbulence that always freak me out, so I was glad to have a hand to hold and just tried to stay calm. If I'm freaking out, the baby freaks out too! It was in one of those moments that Joaquim felt his first kick from our little one, who was definitely putting on some acrobatics, maybe because of my sudden onset of hypertension, whoops.
When we got to São Paulo, Isaac picked us up and the airport and we left to spend 3 hours in the car. I'm not sure how far Tio Silvio's house is from the airport in miles, but it definitely is NOT supposed to take 3 hours. We were parked on the highway for a good bit, and watched the gas gauge start flashing, knowing an exit and a gas station were a loooong way away. We made it to fill up the car and our stomachs and then headed back out into the parking lot. Isaac picked us up at 10, and after eating and sitting, we were at his parents house by about 2:30. Yikes. We took a shower, took a nap, had some quick coffee, and were off again to the bus station. It took us 2 hours to get there. Then we had a 12 hour bus ride, and I slept for almost the whole thing. Not terribly well, but I was out.
So after lots of driving and sitting and watching the incredible growth of my ogre/hobbit feet, we finally made it to Assis Chateaubriand at 8am on Saturday morning. Phew.
Since then, we have done LOTS of sitting in nice comfy lawn chairs in the new "área" at Pai and Mãe's house. They recently did some rearranging and knocked out a few walls of the entryway of their house, leaving a nice covered area that goes straight through to the back laundry room. They have a nice big wooden table there and some chairs to relax, and the wind goes right through. It is just delicious! We have sat there talking with Pai and Mãe, have had breakfast, lunch, coffee, and dinner there most days, and it is just marvelous.
Saturday and Sunday involved lots of this sitting and talking, and eating homemade bread. I have eaten more bread during this pregnancy than ever before I think! And Mãe, knowing I'd been craving her bread for months, very graciously made 16 loaves immediately upon our arrival. I probably ate a whole loaf by myself when all was said and done. Whoops.
Monday morning we spent the whole morning at the City Hall. Joaquim wanted to see everyone in his department, but seeing as he knows EVERYONE there, we would take about two steps and then have to stop and say hi to someone. Two more steps and there's someone else. And you see how it goes. After lunch, we went to get our Brazilian marriage certificate here, which was a bit of a process, dropped random kids off at random schools in the afternoon, got some ice cream (duh...) and in the evening went to Tia Ivanese's house for some pizza and Guaraná. (Man, I am struggling with caffeine! I have about 1 cup of coffee a day (or two half-cups since it is usually served twice) and then it is sooooo difficult to refuse Guaraná. But I'm doing my best!) We were at Tia Ivanese's house until midnight, chatting the night away, and then slept until 11 the next morning. Ohhhh vacation. :)
Yesterday was a calmer day, with a short morning and lots more relaxing in the afternoon. We ran some more errands and when we were in town we stopped by a few people's houses. All of them had little babies! Joaquim wanted to see a friend of his who had come to our party here in June and that was the last time he saw her. So we drove past her work, went in, and she was nowhere to be found. He asked one of the other guys there if she was around and he said she was on leave. Joaquim asked, "well...is she ok??" because that sounded a bit serious. The guy responded "yea, yea, you know, just maternity leave." Joaquim said "WHAT??" Turns out, she had a baby the day before we left to come here. So we were one of little Fernanda's first visitors. It was funny to see how life will be like with a liiiiiittle newborn baby. Lots of sleeping and feeding of course. She half-heartedly invited us to have dinner there someday, but I have a feeling that would be a bit much...
Oh, there was more ice cream involved in our life yesterday afternoon.
For the whole evening, we just talked and talked and talked, staying up again until about 12:30am talking with Mãe after everyone had gone to bed.
It has been pretty hot here, and Joaquim keeps saying that it's so loud. I guess he's sort of gotten used to the quietness of suburban neighborhoods. For the first few days I think he was in shock as he got back into a "routine" here, but it has been so nice to be here. We are trying to refresh and recharge ourselves, as well as be a listening ear and a support where we can.
You can pray for both of us are we're fighting pseudo-colds. It could just be our bodies adjusting to the HEAT, but we've got scratchy throats that I hope turn into nothing else. I'm glad to have my super powered prenatal vitamin and lots of oranges at my disposal.
Our little guy is doing well - I feel him moving around every day! Joaquim preached at church on Sunday night and he did two somersaults as soon as he heard his voice on the microphone! We just read that he can now taste whatever I eat, and it seems he's a fan of melon. Yum. :)
That's all for now! We're off to run more errands!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Brazil Bound
I guess it's time to gear up for our trip to Brazil! 2 weeks from today, on the 25th, we will be boarding a plane to São Paulo and will visit our family in Brazil for a wonderful 2 weeks.
I am so looking forward to a break in routine and some time with long missed family members. But it still seems like this trip isn't real! Maybe because my passport is still floating around at the consulate waiting for a visa. Oh well, it should get back in my hands soon. We will soon be packing bags and I will be trying to figure out how to survive a 10 our flight as a pregnant woman. That will be new! No tylenol pm for me, and lots of snacks in my purse. I wish they served passion fruit juice on the airplane because that would help knock me out!
As always, the 2 weeks will go by so quickly but I am looking forward to being together at Lar, where we first met 4 years ago this month, as a married couple! And man am I looking forward to some of Mãe's homemade bread with butter. I have been thinking about it since I got pregnant...it's probably my strongest and least satisfied craving yet!
We are giddy about the promise of a GREAT trip and...I guess we'd better get packing because the clock is ticking!
I am so looking forward to a break in routine and some time with long missed family members. But it still seems like this trip isn't real! Maybe because my passport is still floating around at the consulate waiting for a visa. Oh well, it should get back in my hands soon. We will soon be packing bags and I will be trying to figure out how to survive a 10 our flight as a pregnant woman. That will be new! No tylenol pm for me, and lots of snacks in my purse. I wish they served passion fruit juice on the airplane because that would help knock me out!
As always, the 2 weeks will go by so quickly but I am looking forward to being together at Lar, where we first met 4 years ago this month, as a married couple! And man am I looking forward to some of Mãe's homemade bread with butter. I have been thinking about it since I got pregnant...it's probably my strongest and least satisfied craving yet!
We are giddy about the promise of a GREAT trip and...I guess we'd better get packing because the clock is ticking!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
His Eye is on the Sparrow
I just love this song. For weeks it has been stuck in my head, and my first choice for singing in the shower, the car, while cooking, whatever. It's a beautiful melody and I like to pretend I could duet with Lauryn Hill (further proof that sometimes I'm delusional...) Here are the lyrics:
Why should I feel discouraged,
Why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely
And long for Heav'n and home,
When Jesus is my portion?
My constant Friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
Refrain:
I sing because I'm happy,
I sing because I'm free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
Mostly, I just like to sing that song. It's beautiful, it's expressive and passionate, and I sound pretty good in the shower. But I was nearly knocked over by a "moment" a couple weeks ago during our gospel choir concert. A soloist started off with the first verse and no one knew this song was even on the list. As I stood on the top riser behind her, I was surprised that a song that has been so special to me in the past few months, though I didn't know why, was now being sung right in front of me.
It was then that I remembered a nearly 20 year old "nickname" of mine. When I was in early elementary school, my dad and I joined Indian Princesses. It's a father-daughter group through the YMCA that meets weekly and offers some weekly togetherness time, doing crafts, playing games, and, if I remember correctly, taking a yearly weekend retreat. Your group is a "tribe" and you and your dad choose an "indian name" to be known by when everyone gets together. I remember that some of the girls in our "tribe" had names like "purple moon" or "pink star" and I was always slightly jealous of their girly, galactic names. Why would I be jealous? Well, mine was plain and small. My dad was called "big owl", which seemed pretty fitting to me, but I was just "little sparrow".
Little did I know that this meaningless nickname that never stuck and that I had never called to mind once in the last however many years would nearly knock me off my riser on February 26th, 2010. As I listened to a beautiful song, I felt the Lord remind me of this name, and it was as if He was saying, "This is for you. I see you and I am taking care of you." Just as my dad was "big owl" and was tall and wise, my Heavenly Father is HUGE and POWERFUL and ALL KNOWING. And to Him, I am still just a little sparrow, and it is He who provides for me.
Why should I feel discouraged,
Why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely
And long for Heav'n and home,
When Jesus is my portion?
My constant Friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
Refrain:
I sing because I'm happy,
I sing because I'm free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
Mostly, I just like to sing that song. It's beautiful, it's expressive and passionate, and I sound pretty good in the shower. But I was nearly knocked over by a "moment" a couple weeks ago during our gospel choir concert. A soloist started off with the first verse and no one knew this song was even on the list. As I stood on the top riser behind her, I was surprised that a song that has been so special to me in the past few months, though I didn't know why, was now being sung right in front of me.
It was then that I remembered a nearly 20 year old "nickname" of mine. When I was in early elementary school, my dad and I joined Indian Princesses. It's a father-daughter group through the YMCA that meets weekly and offers some weekly togetherness time, doing crafts, playing games, and, if I remember correctly, taking a yearly weekend retreat. Your group is a "tribe" and you and your dad choose an "indian name" to be known by when everyone gets together. I remember that some of the girls in our "tribe" had names like "purple moon" or "pink star" and I was always slightly jealous of their girly, galactic names. Why would I be jealous? Well, mine was plain and small. My dad was called "big owl", which seemed pretty fitting to me, but I was just "little sparrow".
Little did I know that this meaningless nickname that never stuck and that I had never called to mind once in the last however many years would nearly knock me off my riser on February 26th, 2010. As I listened to a beautiful song, I felt the Lord remind me of this name, and it was as if He was saying, "This is for you. I see you and I am taking care of you." Just as my dad was "big owl" and was tall and wise, my Heavenly Father is HUGE and POWERFUL and ALL KNOWING. And to Him, I am still just a little sparrow, and it is He who provides for me.
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