Birds, freedom, secrets

I've well and truly been absent, haven't I? Thing is, a lot has been happening on this end, but nothing I could really blog about. I haven't been busy enough with work, yet I've been very busy. I'm trying to get a few things in order geared at some long-term plans we've had. Unfortunately, most of it I'm not in a position to talk about... yet :) Top secret! Shhh!! Trust me, when all is finalised, I'll be yelling from the rooftops.

Aside from that, I've been feeling fairly isolated, which is entirely my own fault. The only place I communicate in any way with a friend or friends is here, in blogosphere - and a little in Facebook. I haven't been a good friend. I haven't been commenting on blogs or posting any of my own. Heck, I haven't even been reading really... mostly just glancing through. My mail comes in and I flip through the emails, dealing with work emails and pretty much deleting the rest. I have no idea why I've been that way and I'm worried that it's becoming habitual. It's as though the world has been tipped on its side. Things look odd if you look at them tilted.

And no, I'm not miserable, far from it. Ok, I am miserable that I haven't spoken to my friends, but yeah... aside from that.

Why are there still those dumb video spam virus messages coming through? Eejits.

Ok, ok... I'll give you a clue... the secret involves a little patch of green far, far away from here... very far.

Tat is flying to Lithuania tonight to meet the fandamily. I hope she likes it there. She has a week to see all and do all and meet all. Should be fun. If she forgets her camera again, I will personally commit harikari on her. I missed seeing poppy day in London because her camera wasn't attached to her arm where it belonged.

Oh and that mournful chap up top? The video below reminded me of him. I even wrote a poem about him at the time. I'll be darned if I can find it. The video is stunning though. My birdie friends will like it. The lady is South African... for those curious about our accents. I don't sound like that though =Þ Or do I?

...
Do visit the YouTube page for more links related to the video.

Plots and plans

Photo taken by Jurgis in Vilnius
Our 'temporary' stay in Brazil (it was meant to be a maximum of 2 years) is nearly at its end. We have, in our 11 years here followed a few different 'dreams'. I believe everything happens for a reason. I believe there is a path I must follow and it isn't always the path I choose, though that doesn't necessarily make it a bad path.

Jurgis' documents went to the translator yesterday. Not as easy as it sounds, as there are virtually no translators from Portuguese to Lithuanian. She promised speedy work, very unwillingly - it's extended family... say no more. This weekend, we spent hours scouring the internet for rentals in Lithuania. Last night, Tat, bless her, sent me a site where I could exchange English for Lithuanian lessons.

Roughly summed up, Jurgis is applying for his Lithuanian citizenship and through that, his EU passport. We're working on getting my application done with his. I mean, our 24 years of marriage has to count for something, right? Anyway, we've decided to go ahead and move to Lithuania. To get to Lithuania, I need to go via the UK anyway to get a visa and a visit to Tat is in order, naturally. Our goal is still to live in an English speaking country, the UK in this case, but for the interim, Lithuania is pretty, green and clean. I will carry on teaching and Jurgis will hopefully keep his current translation clients and agents. If not, we'll make a plan. We've uprooted with nothing before and heck, if we could make it in Brazil, we can make it anywhere. Shhh... no one is to mention the glaring fact that, in Brazil, at least one of us spoke the language ; ) 

Yes, we've plotted and schemed before and no, it didn't always go our way. I know those detours and roadblocks like the back of my hand by now. This time, things seem to be falling into place. We're making more progress now than ever before.

And yes, I'm playing the lottery this week =Þ

Random thoughts

You are being watched...

Intently...

Only by some...

The cats truly believe they have dinner rights here.

The dogs believe they have sleep rights. Actually, they can't be blamed. It's too hot to do anything else, unless you're a stray cat believing you should be fed... Now.

I want that "You can't scare me. I'm an ESL teacher" mug.

There's a Metro Santana bus going from Zelina. Figured Tat would want to know ; )

Papers finally going off to be licked and stamped. That's the first step.

Found an agency for ESL teachers in Edinburgh. Now that's Kewl!

Jurgis could earn $300 - $700 per DAY as a body guard. He just needs to get into shape. On the other hand, I have his body guard services for free. Can't complain.

My student cancelled again! I spent 1h30 on the bus. She cancelled less than half an hour before her class AFTER I called to confirm her class this morning when she said, "Com certeza!" (Of course we'll have class!) Argh!

I got a McD's promotion in my mailbox for a grape smoothie. "Just print and take it to your nearest McD's Cafe." No problem. I took it in. "This promotion is no longer valid." Uh, yes it is. I pointed to the date for April. "Yes, but it is no longer valid for this branch." Huh?

Small... medium... large. Pequeno... medio.... grande. Lost in translation... or something. When we arrived here, I was confused because coffee came in two sizes, small and large (a 'large' being a whopping 150ml). I'd ask for a 'grande' (large), but was told they don't have large, only 'medio' (medium). Hm. So I got into the habit of ordering a 'café medio'. Today, I ordered a 'café medio' and she brings me a 'pequeno' (small). I questioned it and she says, "We don't have 'medio', only 'grande'" What the heck? Out of TWO sizes, she couldn't figure out that 'medio' is bigger than minuscule, which is what the 'pequeno' realistically translates to.

The table tops at Shopping Iguatemi are actually large floor tiles. Ingenious!

I got to speak to Debbie. We haven't spoken since I was pregnant with Tatiana. There was a lot to catch up with, but the conversation was remarkably 'same' as though time hadn't passed. We laughed really hard at some of the memories, like the time she opened the door to the new prospective buyers for their house and I went bouncing down their wooden steps on my butt, knocking the pot plants at the base flying. I'm known for making an entrance.

My friend, Alan, from way back when posted on his Facebook: "Every single one of you are on my friends list as a result of a conscious decision. I am not only glad to count you as friends but also as family!" 'Tis true, you know... each friend is consciously chosen and all good : )

It's hot. Yep... again and yes, I know I've said it before.

 

del.icio.us Tags: friend,immigration,thoughts,friends,work,students,brazil

Third time lucky

This is the third time tonight I'm trying to get to post. Our ISP is playing mind games again. Most pages aren't loading. Shh... don't tell it I'm in!

A couple of weeks ago, I put an ad into our neighbourhood newspaper. I got one call from that ad, only to find later that the ad had no subject, just content and the content was misleading. There was a subject to my e-mail in which I gave the text for the ad. I wasn't terribly surprised, as the person I was communicating with got their banking details radically wrong and had typos all the way through her e-mail response. With trepidation, in case of further errors, I decided to take a full month's worth of ads in the same paper, starting this past weekend. The paper gets delivered to each household in the neighbourhood over the Friday/Saturday period. We saw no paper on either day. Yesterday, I asked around. Apparently no one received their paper. Let's just say I was a little agitated when I arrived home and asked Jorge to call their offices.

They confirmed that the newspaper was out with my ad in it. Apparently, because of last Thursday's public holiday, none of their delivery guys came to work over the weekend, so no one got the newspaper, but the paper was placed in stacks in strategic places. I don't know what their idea of strategic is, because I didn't see a single paper in the village. The big shot (don't know if he's the owner or manager) was very apologetic though and has given me an extra week's worth of advertising. That was nice of him, but he didn't stop there. He drove around to our place personally to give us a copy of the paper. Now that was really nice : )

My student today was talking about immigration. He said he thought he'd apply for the Diversity visa (Green card lottery). I said, "Why not?" and told him it is fairly easy to apply online. I explained the process as I've found it to be the last few years. He got happy and said he'd apply as soon as possible. A little further into the discussion, I mentioned the time period you have in which to immigrate. "What? I have to go to the US??" Uh.... well, isn't that what it is about? Apparently, he just wanted to apply for a Green card, so that he didn't have to apply for tourist visas and could just come and go as he pleased *sigh* He changed his mind when he heard he'd actually have to live there. That makes me wonder now how many other people apply with the same motive.

He then went on to tell me about a friend he has who went to the US illegally. Apparently, his whole family was over there and sent money to him to get in via the 'coyotes'. Coyotes? These are people who take the illegals across the border. He told the story of how his friend was on the boat crossing the river when one of his fellow passengers got sick. He tried to help the guy and the 'coyote' got mad at him. Eventually, the sick man either fell overboard or was tossed, so the rest of them could go on. This story made me sad. The people pay a fortune to get help getting into the country, only to be thrown aside if things get rough. Dispensable. I understand that a sick person would slow them all down, but it doesn't make it any better. Then there's all those who try so very hard to get in legally and get stonewalled at every turn. Did you know that 80% of Brazilians in the US are there illegally?

On computer news... we got my C drive working, but I'm making sure I'm well backed up just in case. We had to format twice, as the first reinstall went badly. Everything is running smoothly now.

I had a lot more to blog about, but you know how it goes... when a blog takes too long to get 'out there', you kinda lose that 'oomph'. I'm off to bully Tat into working out now. G'night all!

Technorati Tags: internet,immigration,work,advertising

Calling Major Tom

So we got a message today. Jorge's brother, Henrique, is finally off to Australia... the start of a new life. We just got, "Cheers mate! We're on our way!" They leave South Africa on the 14th. They're currently living with Marlise's family and have already sold all they need to sell. I think we'll have no contact with them until they land in Australia. We then have to wait to hear from them.

I'm thrilled for them. I wish them every happiness and smooth sailing on this new journey. I can't help being a just a little envious though. Ah well... our turn will come : ) Funny, I was busy working on my new Multiply theme when I got the message. Somehow fits.

Before our phone line went down, we had had incredibly dry weather. That ended a couple of days before we got telecoms back. We have since had nightly storms and pretty much constant drizzle. Apparently a record amount of rain for August? Don't know where they get that from. Yes, it has been raining and we've gone from constant bone dry to constant damp, but still...

My sewing machine has finally gone in for repair/maintenance. This machine was given to me by Jorge when Tatiana was just a couple of months old. It has worked very hard. It has taken me through soft furnishings in 10 houses, much of our clothes these past 18 years, self-employment doing soft furnishings for others, and so much more. If they had told me it was past repair, I wouldn't have been surprised. They had never seen this model of machine. It is old, for one, and secondly, was bought in SA, where machines are very different to here. Repair quote, a very surprising R$50 (US$31). Nice! I have a pile of fabric and a major deficit in pants. I need to get sewing. Shopping for clothes in this land of midgets is... well... challenging ; ) On the other hand... sewing time means time away from the pc. Oh dear... *sigh* I can't win haha!

Technorati Tags: henrique,immigration,australia

Ten thought Tuesday

1. I need to write
2. One thing at a time
3. I need to vacuum sooo badly
4. I need to make a call
5. Why is procrastination so easy?
6. Coming up with 10 remotely coherent thoughts is so much harder than it sounds
7. I wish people wouldn't mumble!!
8. Why can't life be simple?
9. It's a beautiful day outside
10. Telephones are not evil. Telephones are not evil. Telephones are not evil. Telephones are not evil. (Just trying to convince myself)

I made a long-procrastinated call to US Immigration (in the USA). I was terrified. I was also very impressed with the service. I went through the options to get to the right department and was immediately spoken to!! I wasn't put on hold for 2 hours... how refreshing! He was so helpful too and willing to take as many questions as I had. I hadn't expected that, so went prepared with too few questions. I will certainly call again when I need to.

Technorati Tags: thoughts,immigration