1. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of surrealism; surrealistic.
2. having the disorienting, hallucinatory quality of a dream; unreal; fantastic: surreal complexities of the bureaucracy.
I got the link to this video in my mailbox. Surreal hardly describes it well enough. Beautiful is another word that comes to mind. Let's go scuba diving... in a meadow!
Water Level 9,40m ... from Alex.Be. on Vimeo.
You may want to go to Vimeo to view the video, as it looks way better when larger.
Surreality in real life:
See the second dictionary meaning above. Yes, I'm sure you can tell where this is going.
Friday started a little tensely. We were once again making our way to the Feds. This time, for Tat's documents. You see, because she is the daughter of a Brazilian (Jurgis will deny the latter with his dying breath), Tat has a right to a Brazilian citizenship. With this in mind, we went to Poupa Tempo some time back and were told she needs a lawyer if she wants to claim her citizenship, but, if she wanted to, she could get an RNE like mine, which is basically a permanent residency card. I suggested she opt for the RNE, as, even on a good day, most people find lawyers to be fairly expensive.
We got to the Feds.... we saw the Feds... we most certainly didn't conquer. Apparently, because she has a right to citizenship, she needs a lawyer... regardless of whether or not she wants an RNE or an RG (the local ID document). Uh... something doesn't make sense. So, as a total outsider, I can come into the country, fill out a few forms and provide a few Swiss Alps worth of paperwork and I'm in, but because she has a right to all that, she needs a lawyer???
So you can imagine the way our Friday went... downhill. Except for one thing...
On our way into the Feds, I got a call on my cell phone. "Corrianne? I'm from Mercedes-Chrysler. I have your 'carteira'." Now being a bit slow on the uptake, especially in Portuguese, I assumed she was talking about my business card and got happy. Ha! 'Carteira' is wallet. She had my wallet from when I taught there on Thursday. I must have sounded so dense. I spent a while swearing that it was impossible, that I had my wallet on me. Duh. In the end, I suggested she give the wallet to my student who could keep it until I got there. It was the least complicated solution I could come up with in Portuguese.
A part of me was ecstatic... wow... someone found my wallet and called me!! That is so very unusual. The other part of me (including the part that Jurgis kept reminding me of), was terrified. I had just drawn a pile of money because all the banks here went on strike and ATM's were closed. What if that money was gone? The money was intended to go towards the application fee we'd be facing with the Feds too.
When we'd finished at the Feds, for this run anyway, Jurgis went off to the offices that would handle the next step and Tat went with me to Mercedes, for moral support. My student gave me the wallet... intact... with every cent in place!! Yes, I plan to meet my rescuer in person and thank her. That was totally amazing! A missing wallet in this city usually only means one thing... missing... totally.
Yes... a surreal start to the weekend. As for the weekend, it has been very hot the past two days. Apparently, tomorrow will be the hottest day of this year. Yay. Then Tuesday, we go back into cold and wet. Surreal... that pretty much describes life in Brazil, I'd say.
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Tint~