It's a kind of madness

This week has been one of changes... again. Some I can mention, others not. One of those changes was set in motion by Jaime (yep, girl... you're to blame for this one). Jaime blogged about NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. I'd seen it a few years in a row, but never even briefly considered it. What made me look at it this year?

Some time back, I started writing a book. I think three people know about it, aside from Jurgis and Tat. I never spoke about it. It's too fragile, prone to injury due to the shards of broken ego and numerous other dangers 'out there'. Along came NaNoWriMo. I grabbed at it gingerly, hoping it would push me into finishing the book. I need to finish the book, for me. It's just something I want to do... eventually, not because it's a book, but because I want the story told.

Do I have time to write 50 000 words this month? Not really. The plan is to use my bus time and times I wait for my students to put as much writing in as possible. Will I do it? Who knows. The only way I'll find out is if I try, right?

I did something very unusual when I joined NaNoWriMo, though. I connected with Brazilians who are writing too. I don't go out looking for social events with the locals. I'm afraid my Portuguese will fail me and my person-to-person social skills aren't what they used to be after all this time. Not only did I connect with them, but I agreed to go to a meeting with them and I was even prepared to go alone! That was a big step for me. Luckily Tat came with. I'm glad she did. She lights up any occasion : )     

I needn't have worried. We started out at a book store (ooooooh so many books!!). I was browsing, trying to look inconspicuous, when a girl came up to me and mumbled something about NaNo and writing. Tat joined us and we started looking for the rest of the 'gang'. I said the most sensible thing to do was to write out a sign and hold it up the way they do at airports. This bookstore was crowded!!  I scrawled a sort-of sign on my notebook and Tat walked around holding it up. I think the other two girls were cringing! It was so funny! We couldn't take a photo, as they're extremely picky about photos in shops here. Tat had them announce that the NaNoWriMo group was waiting at the pocket book section and slowly the others joined. We ended up with 7 people in our group.

From the book store, we headed out to what turned out to be an extremely noisy bakery/cafeteria. I heard about 10% of the conversation around me, but it was still enjoyable. We laughed a lot. I didn't have my camera on me (next time I'll make a point of taking it), but Aline, the girl who organised the gathering had hers. I'm grateful. They were all lovely people. I'm glad I met them. I think we have new friends. In their favour, they managed to listen to my ramblings without laughing at my Portuguese. Oh the notepad Tat is holding? That is what had NaNoWriMo scrawled on it. It was small here in the restaurant, but it might as well have been a billboard in the much quieter book store!

All in all, it was a good day. I'm glad I went. Time will tell if anything will come of this. If I succeed, I succeed. If not... I'm not going to cry over it : )

 

del.icio.us Tags: brasil,-book,nanowrimo,friends,sao paulo,writing

Capy-what?

You may have heard of it as a capibara, capybara, capyvara... or you may well never have heard of it at all. The capyvara, as we know it, is the largest known rodent, if I'm not much mistaken and it comes from Brazil. I've been told they can be found scurrying around alongside our riverside highways. Apparently plentiful in the cane fields of Brazil, I've heard they almost a staple diet for the cane cutters. For that matter, I believe they are food for the poor around the highways too.

 

Photo credit goes to Zooborns or the Buffalo Zoo

One of my regular pick-me-up sites I visit is Zooborns. The photos and antics of baby wild animals almost always puts a smile on my face. Today, I checked into Zooborns, only to find the capyvara. Yes, Zooborns spells it capybara. It's etymology is somewhat confusing. I think it is only here that we call it a capyvara. My Oxford dictionary sheds a little light on that:

capybara
n    noun (plural same or capybaras) a large South American rodent resembling a long-legged guinea pig. [Hydrochaerus hydrochaeris.]
ORIGIN
    C17: from Spanish capibara or Portuguese capivara, from Tupi capiuára, from capi 'grass' + uára 'eater'.

Tupi is a local tribe of South American Indians. Many of our local names come from Tupi. Our last street address, both the street and neighbourhood were Tupi names. I love the way they roll off the tongue : )

Here is what Zooborns have to say about these giant rat-things:

"The Buffalo Zoo welcomed three baby capybaras on September 10th. The zoo tells us that the three babies were running around and even swimming the day they were born. The proud capybara parents have had three previous litters for a total of 20 offspring! Capybaras are the world's largest rodent with the largest recorded size at 232 lbs (105 kg)!"

My first encounter with the capyvara was back in 1988. We were visiting the Johannesburg Zoo with Hamish. Ceinwen was bored by most of the animals, but when she spotted the capyvara, she lit up. She absolutely loved those ugly animals. Yep... 'ugly' was my first thought when I saw them. They have these long very yellow, very ugly incisors. Think giant yellow rat teeth. This lot hadn't seen a toothbrush in a while, let me tell ya.


Sadly, I have no photos of Ceinwen with the capyvaras, so a photo of Ceinwen and Hamish will have to do.

Later, we returned to the Johannesburg Zoo with Tatiana. I figured, as I'd learnt my lesson with Ceinwen, having taken far too few photos, we'd take many photos with Tat. I was particularly determined to get a photo of her reaction to the capyvara. She was, for her part, particularly unimpressed with them, so no photos were taken. She did, however, enthuse over the ponies, so I got this really odd photo. I doubt she'll be impressed with me posting this photo, but... I claim the Mom's Amendment ; )

del.icio.us Tags: capybara,capibara,ceinwen,tatiana,zoo,hamish,capyvara

Proteas

The photo doesn't do it justice. The painting desperately needs framing (we left its frame in SA) and I wish I knew how to clean it properly. After almost  half a decade in the house of a smoker, it isn't looking its best. That's the yellowy-grey you see at the top and bottom.

For those who are unfamiliar with the subject of the painting, it's South Africa's national flower, the King Protea. My gran owned a florist shop, Heather the Florist, on Rink Street in Port Elizabeth. Apparently Stewart Titcombe (1898-1965) was visiting South Africa and painting scenes of Port Elizabeth, a town he grew to love. On finding the florist shop, he asked if he could paint the proteas, then gave the completed painting to my gran.

We just got back from the shopping centre... with the new modem. I really didn't want to get one, but having online students tomorrow, I had no choice. I need a reliable connection to be able to teach. The modem isn't a total waste, as we can use it anywhere in the world, so that is a plus.

And so starts another week. I need to just mark the remaining test papers of those who passed creatively.... but pass they do. Keeping my fingers crossed for a calmer week though.

 

del.icio.us Tags: art,stewart titcombe,proteas

The little blog that tried

The good news is that I might get quite a few Kippy votes in today. We're on a dynamic IP address. Uh... this brings me to the bad news... while I was out teaching this morning, our modem was struck by lightning. I wonder if it was all the cursing I did at scammers and ISP's this week. What do you think? Anyhow, we have an old back-up modem on hand, but it is very dicey (reason it was replaced to start off with), as we're more offline than online with it. It took me a good while to load this compose page. I have no idea when or how I'm going to get this blog to post, so it may end up being a long blog. Good thing you all have nothing else to do other than read my waffling, right?

This week has been downright gruesome. Remember I posted about our ISP changing and how odd it was that they were going offline for 6 months? We got the call for that from our internet Carrier late on the Friday afternoon (well timed) before a long weekend. Monday was a public holiday. They pushed us to register with the new ISP within 24 hours or we'd lose out.  Now, anytime we have internet issues, it is well nigh impossible to get through to the ISP... even on a good day. Everything was very official with this whole setup. Who're we to argue? When you encounter regular oddities, you get to a point where little surprises you. This changover to the new ISP happened literally a day before the bill was due for the old ISP. On Tuesday, I got a nasty call from the old ISP. Why haven't we paid? Uh.... well... I have no intention of paying for a service I'm not using. "But you're signed up with us." No, we're not. Yes, you are. I told them about the call from Telefonica telling us that we were to change to UOL because Terra would be going down. The caller claimed to know nothing about that. The conversation went downhill from there. Jurgis was out at a client and I was home getting my knickers in a knot. They don't give you much leeway here before cutting your internet. When Jurgis did finally get to speak to them, we were in for a surprise (that's putting it nicely). It turned out that we'd been scammed into changing... by who, we don't know. When your Carrier phones you, you can hardly ask them to show ID. We had confirmation calls and emails from the new ISP, UOL. The 3 'players' in this little game are all massive companies. We are now registered with two ISP's. It's a mess. Procon, the consumer rights organisation says we can only take action once we have proof that we're actually paying both. In the meantime, we should just choose one to cancel with *muttering under my breath*

Thing is, we need to move. We've been needing to move for a while now, but we're taking advantage of Brazil's never-never attitude to procrastinate. We've been wanting to change to cable (we're currently on adsl through our telephone company). To install cable in this house before we move is not practical, as we'd be faced with two lots of installation fees... one here and one once we move. Now we have the bust modem... the pressure is on.

Aside from our internet woes, I have been headachy, generally feeling unhealthy and grouchy *snap... snarl* Our electricity bill arrived. The price of electricity has gone up... way up. The tax alone is R$50 (around US$30), 50% of the actual bill, plus an extra fee for street lighting. The electricity tax is threefold... a municipal, state and federal tax. Eish! If we got great service and had excellent facilities, I wouldn't mind, but we don't.  I was shuffling students again this week, as one of my Skype students had a power outage during our class this week and it wasn't even raining very hard at the time.

Jurgis just surprised me with a bit of information. I have been looking online for work by the artist, Stewart Titcombe, for years with little joy. It seems his paintings are now only being sold, usually by auction. When I have a respectable connection,  I'll post the photo of the painting I have. Stewart Titcombe was visiting my home town of Port Elizabeth some time before I was born. He went into my gran's florist shop and fell in love with some proteas he saw there and asked her if he could paint them. This painting is of the PE harbour. I found it on an auctioneer's site. Something that took me by surprise here too is that the ship is named Vergelegen, which was the name of the one farm my gran had. She spoke of it often.

Ah the joys... shall I try to post this blog? Guess saving it all first would be a good idea...

 

del.icio.us Tags: internet,modem,stewart titcombe

Bag lady

Some days I feel like one, lugging the world around with me. I never 'grew out of' the baby bag era of carrying everything, including the kitchen sink with me. I've been getting better at not carrying too much, but, as you can see, I'm still something of a hopeless case. My excuse is that I was a Girl Guide and my motto is "Be prepared".

Apologies for the colour in these photos. My video card driver was updated yesterday and now Photoshop screams at me when I try to work on a photo. It shows all white as yellow and does some other strange colourific effects.



My bag is what some here call a postman bag. Tat got us each one for teaching. I prefer the idea of a messenger bag. It's strong, sadly not waterproof, and versatile. Attached to the bag is a little pair of clogs Jurgis brought back from Amsterdam. I felt the bag needed brightening up.


Now for the innards...
1. Teaching book and folder with lesson plans. I had a different one in, but swapped it out for this photo, as the other one had the school's name on it.
2. My bright little notebook for random notes and blog-thoughts while out.
3. Headache stuff (Dorflex) and a mini-nailcare thing... just a nail file and orange sticks (I had good intentions).
4. Chase the Wind by EV Thompson. My current, rather tatty read.
5. My pencil case... with whiteboard markers, pencils, pens (all working), paperclips, etc etc.
6. Tissues (handy stuff that...)
7. A note pad that I scribble random notes to random strangers on : )
8. Psychedelic post-it pad for leaving little notes in random strange places : ) I have a ready note on there. Just needs to be stuck up when the urge hits.
9. Sunglasses case, complete with sunglasses.
10. Pen and pencil set sent to me by Tat's friend for Christmas last year. Hair pin sticking out underneath that my hair is currently too short to hold.
11. A diary that I bought in a moment of urgency when I saw my schedule take on a life of its own. I just knew I was going to mess up if I didn't have it all with me.
12. Small comb, hair-tying-up-thingie, Vitamin C sweets, Tic-tacs (sweets in question are old. I keep forgetting they're there).
13. Keys... with Swiss army knife. That knife is ancient.... I think from '96 or around then.
14. Soap I bought on the way home. I love spicy, fruity soaps and find them hard to get. This one is lemon scented.
15. My makeup... 1 cover stick and 1 lipstick... the most I ever wear.
16. A packet of Trident sugar-free gum, spearmint flavour, an old Trident wrapper, a copy of my ID card, and under that, barely visible, my business card holder.
17. Mp3 player, and just above it, the most awful lip balm I have ever used. Can't get decent stuff here. Blegh. I now use petroleum jelly with mint oil stirred into it. Works well.
18. 2 plastic bags... just in case. I have had to virtually swim home with my bag before. That is to protect the more valuable non-waterproof items. Pen - a more handy one kept in an outside pocket. The most used one too. Uh... and paperclip.
19. Little fold-up umbrella.
20. A wallet Jurgis bought in Lithuania. It's embossed with a scene in Vilnius. I commandeered it when my wallet wore out.
21. Bus recharge card and phone card. I always carry a spare phone card. Never know when you'll need it.
22. Um... a plant. Hen and chickens, to be precise. I filched a plastic water cup to keep it 'safe' in my bag. Oh.... I filched the plant slips too. I don't often have plants in my bag.
23. Bank slips, cash slips and random coins.

There you have it. Oh wait... my cell phone isn't on that pile. It goes with me too. Ooooh... I almost forgot. I have a wooden thingamebob that Jurgis made that makes carrying grocery bags home a cinch. It lives in my bag too. It wasn't in the photo because I had taken it to the kitchen with the groceries. He should really market those things. It's brilliant!  Picture this sort of thing made from a lightweight, dark wood (much more elegantly). I'll photograph it sometime.

 

del.icio.us Tags: bag,work

Monster activities

I had a nightmare last night about flesh eating monsters. In fairness, an 'offshoot' of those monsters was the wood element monsters who were happy to just observe the strange looking humans. Yes, we were science fictionishly strange looking.

I think my nightmare might have had something to do with the fact that I needed to mark test papers today. I'm not even going to elaborate on that subject *sigh*

Our internet has been down for most of the day. I mean dead... totally. Our internet is another long story, as unbelievable as most such stories are from this end of the world. We get internet via our carrier, Telefonica, and through our ISP, Terra. On Friday afternoon, we got a call from Telefonica saying that our ISP, Terra, was to be down for maintenance for 6 months!! What the heck? Six (6) months?? Who goes down for maintenance for 6 months?? They are changing us over to another ISP, UOL for those 6 months and for a time, we will pay the same as we were paying with Terra, but after that, the cost will go up by no less than 200%. I foresee an unholy mess.

Today is Hamish's birthday. I wish I could call him. I hope he is having a wonderful day. I wish I could celebrate it with him.

We had another storm here today. The wind was crazy!

Seems it's sardine run time in South Africa again. Do have a look at this link and be sure to click on the slide show. Amazing! The locals line up on the beaches in hoards to get their share of sardines too. On the east coast, the annual sardine run is a major event.

Hm... supper is smelling cooked and my stomach is grumbling. Hope you all have a great evening. I'm off work today (if you can count marking depressing tests as being 'off work'), as it's Children's day here.

 

del.icio.us Tags: internet,dream,tests,nightmare,hamish

I dream of stairs

In this past year, I have dreamt of stairs quite often, going both up and down the stairs. The stairs never seem to have a negative connotation for me. That, in itself, is saying something, as, for most of my adult life, I have had a virtually paralysing fear of heights and particularly stairs. I would actually visualise falling down the stairs every time, no matter how small the flight of stairs was, and 'feel' the pain of the fall very realistically. I have overcome that fear in the last year or so, thank goodness.


Photo is taken from a blog on interior decor relating to stairs.
This particular one is a scan, I believe, from the magazine, Vanity Fair.

Last night's dream was of concrete stairs leading to a beach. The stairs went down between houses, but were quite wide and sunny. I was with an older woman. I am not sure who she was anymore, but I know she was someone relatively close to me. She went on ahead as we went down. As we got closer to the sea, I saw that there were houses that were flooded out, looking much like the more recent flood scenes from São Paulo. I looked down at them and said, no, that I'd be going back up. I turned and went back up. The flight of stairs was long, but sunny and not tiring at all. I danced and skipped up the stairs. I felt light. The scenes around the stairs were greener... not all houses.

When I arrived at the top, under the shade of a tree, I found George Irvine, another 'ghost' from my past. Not a ghost really. He's alive and well, albeit pretty old now. Back when I was a child, my gran had me deeply involved in many church denominations. When my grandfather died, Rev. Irvine, our Methodist minister, sat on my gran's bed and comforted me. I had asked something about heaven and whether or not I'd go there. I was one very unhappy little girl, already pining for my grandfather. He responded in his delightful Irish brogue that of course I'd get into heaven. Sure and wouldn't St Peter welcome me? After all, I'd been baptised, christened, dedicated, and blessed in just about every denomination! If there is one person back home who knows my family story well, it is him. He saw us through many of life's dramas, including, much later, the funeral of my first child. I looked him up not too long ago when I was looking for my brother. I knew that if anyone could find him, George Irvine could, but I was afraid he wouldn't remember me or my family. He's become something of a religious 'great' in Port Elizabeth, my home town.

Back to the dream. I went up to him under the tree and asked if he could remember me. He looked a little blank, so I related the story of how he comforted me when Jim died... and how he was there again when Ceinwen died. I woke up then... still not knowing if he remembered me. In the waking world, I pretty much know he wouldn't remember me and it doesn't bother me at all, but somehow, it bothered me in my dream.

I'm noting this dream because I haven't been recalling my dreams lately, something which upset me, as I really like recalling them and sitting thinking them through. Besides, they're often more fun than the movies. I've always been a very vivid dreamer.... even when awake : )

 

del.icio.us Tags: floods,dreams,beach,dreaming,george irvine,dream,stairs,spirituality

Beautiful people

"The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen." Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

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São Paulo style 'snow'

Actually, it feels like we're in a giant popcorn maker with white balls bouncing off everywhere...


This photo was taken in our carport. The hail you see is what came from our gutter.

At about 3pm, the heavens closed over and huge splats of rain came down. A few minutes later, we heard the distinctive clackety-clack of hail falling. Being insatiably curious, we headed to the doorways to see the hail. I got smacked on the head by a few large stones.


I was kneeling on our quirky 'headboard' to get this photo of our 'snow'.

The dogs were terrified, poor things. The plants got totally shredded. The little cordelyn looks like a giant rat has been gnawing at it and Jurgis' Lady of the Night is shredded.


At our front door.
We were expecting some fairly dramatic weather, as the South of Brazil has been getting tornadoes with wind speeds of around 82km/hour (50 miles/hour). I know that isn't a lot when compared to our Northern friends, but for Brazil, it's dramatic.

It's a time of changes out our way. Most of you have seen Tat's new 'do' and, naturally, my profile photo. One of my newer students owns a hairdresser. She's the sweetest Japanese girl. I made an appointment and she worked magic. She put gallons of goop in my hair too and used a straightening iron (what?! on me??). I never, ever use products in my hair and don't even blow dry, never mind use curling or straightening irons. Freaky!! I loved the hairdresser though. They had those magical reclining chairs at the washbasins, so you get to lie down while having your hair washed. Bliss! I'd go there just for that. The sweetie gave me the whole anti-frizz treatment free. Methinks she knows who'll be marking her tests ; ) Nah.... she's just a honey. If ever any of you are down my way, I highly recommend her!


Thanks, Tat, for playing photographer again : )
And speaking of tests... we're in full test mode here with the totally out-of-this-world weird marking system. 'P' stands for 'poor' in the reports. We have been notified that putting the 'P' in the marking system is just a formality and we are not  to use it for any of the students. The lowest we're allowed to mark them is 'R' for 'regular' *sigh* They pass, whether they study or not. Makes me wonder why we bother marking the papers. The one class gets their tests to take home and do there. More on the subject of tests... at the end of the last semester, we were rushed and pressured into getting the results in way before school ended for the term. During the holidays, one of Tat's students asked her where his report was. "Don't you have it?" No, he didn't. We asked the co-coordinator. "Oh, the students only get their reports if they come back to the school and ask for it."  Huh? Have you ever heard of anything like that? No reports get mailed out. The students had been back at the school for the next semester and were only given the previous semester's reports a good month into the new semester. Weird. I honestly don't know how they function.

Ok, I'm off to a student now, assuming she is having class, as she often cancels when there's rain. Rain + São Paulo traffic creates merry havoc.

 

del.icio.us Tags: rain,hail,storm,tests,school,work,hair

I play with snowballs

A snowflake is a very fragile thing, by itself.... but just look what happens when they stick together!

Some time ago, a dear friend posted a blog to which I commented that small things add up to a big difference. She added, "Keep the luck rolling!" I later threw in a "Sending smiles your way. Keep the luck rolling! Hey... think if you roll the luck that end and I roll it this end, the luck will meet in the middle and create one big luck-ball". Can you see where this is headed? From that, she started a movement... the snowball movement! "I like that image, I want a good luck snowball effect! You know, it rolls down the hill getting bigger and BIGGER..."

You've heard of the 'butterfly effect'. Well, we have a 'snowball effect'. Our snowball effect has since evolved. It's no longer restricted to luck, but to happiness and all things good.

"Snowballs" has become a catch-phrase for us. Whenever we want to send loads of the good stuff, we just send snowballs.

Naturally, as the most snow I have ever played with is a thin layer on the side of the road in the Drakensberg mountains, the photo above isn't taken by me.

Throwing snowballs your way! I feel cooler already : )

 

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Real life surreality

sur·re·al (sà r"ÆÃl, -r"lÆ), adj.
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.

 

del.icio.us Tags: rg,bureaucracy,scuba diving,meadow,tatiana,id

3-in-1

I haven't been in blog world properly in ages. I popped on briefly yesterday to reply to a pm... and flipped through posts in my mailbox. It was one of those days, made more... uh... interesting by a power failure for a couple of hours. Naturally, those couple of hours would have been during the few hours I was home. I had to cut my one Skype class short. While I was merrily teaching (do I 'merrily' teach anyway?), we had a flash storm of the 'branches flying around' variety. I heard a loud bang in the street and power went out. Luckily my student is understanding. The wind was blowing so hard, I struggled to open the door. The dogs were crying, poor things.

Yesterday was a good day though. It started out a little rough around the edges. I was in a mood and a half. It wasn't pretty. Tatiana had gone into town to get her glasses. Now there's a story! Jurgis has been doing translation for a guy who's in the middle of taking over a glasses manufacturer. A while back, I posted about synchronicity. This was it... or at least part of it. Tat has been needing glasses for a while now, but we were holding off until we could either find a reasonably priced pair or afford a better pair. They're expensive here. Her lenses are around $60 each and they're very simple lenses! Frames are in the region of $90 for the less expensive ones. Then this client comes along and needs translation. Because he is setting up, he doesn't have a good cash flow going yet, so Jurgis has done a fair amount of work for him on a 'never mind the bill for now' basis. With the last job, he mentioned Tat's need of glasses and wondered if the client could organise a discount. Yes, he could and would Tat come in to choose a pair. Well, there were two pairs Tat liked and we left his offices last Friday with an ambiguous, joking, "I'll throw the second pair in." At the time, he was cracking actual jokes about crazy discounts, so we didn't know what to expect. Wednesday, we were told the glasses were ready and could we pick them up.... and.... would we please give him our bank account, so that he can deposit the cash needed for the lenses, which would come to $20 for both pairs of glasses! We declined and said, no... we'd pay the lenses at least. Tat has basically gotten her two pairs of glasses for free! And she looks lovely in them, don't you think?


Later in the day, I got a message back from someone I contacted via FB. Yes, it was the person I was thinking of, someone I had been wanting to find for years now. You know... when you have a memory that is like a ray of sunshine on a wintery day... the kind of memory that makes you smile just recalling it? The memories I have of the times spent with this friend are like that. They were happy times. The best part was that he and his wife both remember me even better than I remember them. Somehow that made it even more special. Even if the friendship isn't resumed, it was enough just feeling that happiness over again while rediscovering good memories.

I wrote a little blog into my notebook while I was out teaching on Tuesday:

 
Photo is not mine, but from another blog on the internet. Photographer: Antonio Lopes
Today I am seriously wishing that I had a small pocket camera again, especially for the video.

We're having a week of non-stop rain. While waiting for my student, I decided to go outside under the overhang of the office block, usually smoker's domain, especially in this kind of weather. The air is lovely and fresh, the rain light. I was drawn by chirping birds. At least 3 varieties of birds were hopping, fluttering, flapping, swooping, and chirping around a pair of small trees. The bem-te-vi had cornered the one puddle for himself. They were having a pool party! Or would that be a shower party? Whichever... it was patently clear that they were thoroughly enjoying themselves in the rain. I wanted to join them, but as I've mentioned before, sogginess isn't recommended when teaching, especially in corporate offices that have a strict dress code ; )

I like... Ok, I love... (a post inspired and suggested by Tatiana ages ago and reminded about by Cherie yesterday)

fluffed up down pillows - the smell of freshly mown lawn - the sound of 'naturally' flowing water - bubbling brooks - waterfalls - forests - the earthy smell of rain - storms - crashing waves - little waves - playing in the sand with my toes - herby/fruity/spicy soaps - bright colours - warm smiles - chubby little cheeks - unexpected kindness - wrinkles - people-watching - tickling giggles - secret guilty pleasures shared with a good friend - laughing at silly things - inside jokes when I'm on the inside - friends reaching out over thousands of miles - technology - family - roughing it - planning - scheming - dreaming - sunlight filtering through leaves - the marvels of the human body and how it all works together - when my wardrobe for the day and the weather, for once, works in harmony - raindrops in puddles - letters in the mailbox - a good book - a couch at the window in warm winter sun - candlelight - .... and so much more....

 

del.icio.us Tags: friends,rain,little things,glasses,bem-te-vi,like,storm,tatiana,memories

Someone slipped some stupid into the water

It's been a day and a half and it hasn't ended yet. My day started with our the shower popping... not just the shower, but according to Jurgis, the whole wiring system to the trip switch. That will need to be replaced soon. Luckily, we have two showers, so it isn't extremely urgent. On my way to work, I encountered a dead rat. Not a word of a lie, the thing was the size of my foot without its tail! Thoughts of poison, disease, rabies, etc fly through my mind as I rush off to the bus.

The bus ride into town was great, as was the metro ride that followed. I played my 'Feel good' playlist and people seemed 'smiley' : ) When I was done with the first lot, I met Tat and went off to the recording studio with her. We had a stint in there as an Aussie mom and daughter. I guess ours were the weirdest accents they could find to match ; ) They had no clue what an Australian accent sounds like, so we were 'it'. Tat did fabulously. She got some Aussie on Youtube last night and fitted in rather well. I think this was an adult book... we both tried a piece where we were married and having a... uh... 'fun' weekend with hubby on a houseboat in the middle of nowhere. She has the best voice and accent for it, while I had the more mature sound, so they wanted us both to do it, so the publishers would have a choice.

We rushed off to the bus. Tat had to go all the way home, get books, then go all the way back in to the same area (an hour's bus ride in clear traffic) to teach. I had to get home to a student and here's where the kicker is...

I had a class at home, via Skype, from 5:30-6:30pm. The next class was from 7-8pm at the school, three blocks from my home. At 8-9pm, I have another class, at home, via Skype. There would be a fair amount of rushing between the classes. I was late for the first one, as we finished recording too late and were caught in peak hour traffic. I called that student and scheduled her for another day, though she was willing to start later, but I couldn't because of the 7pm student. I got to the school just before 7pm, only to be told that the next student would be half an hour late, as she was stuck in traffic (yes, in São Paulo, it is the most used and most acceptable reason for lateness). I responded that I can't extend her class, as I have another one. I know my student well. I know she won't come in for just half an hour. I said that this is why I prefer the student to call me directly, as I could have told her there was no chance of extending the class. "Oh?" says the receptionist. The owner (the director's brother and the money behind the school) went off about how we can't have that because.... regulation... yada yada bla bla... same old same old. I just rolled my eyes and told the receptionist to please call the student and see if she'd be willing to come in for just half an hour. The expected answer was given. "No, let's reschedule." Gah! If she had called me in the first place, I could have had the first class, as that student was willing to move later. So now, I sit here blogging. Not that I don't want to blog, but it's downtime that shouldn't have happened. If they had just called me to inform me or if the student had called me. Stooopid!

Then, on my way to the school, in the dark, at peak hour, there's a young mother and her three toddlers trying to cross the road. There is only a stop street a block away. I felt sorry for her, except that she had taken the same dose of stupid. She was pushing the special triplets pram (baby carriage), but had the three tots linked to each other in a tail behind her. I'm sorry, but common sense says that at night, when crossing a high traffic road at no designated crossing, you put your three gorgeous tots into the pram. She managed to stop traffic. Yep... she crossed. Cars stopped for her (they were cute, after all). Did she thank them? Nope. I said to her as she arrived on the other side, "Don't you thank them?" "Who?" she said. "The cars, who didn't have to stop for you and your string of kids!" Ugh... bad manners get me fairly riled. Can you tell?

Ah... and the rat? It's still there, though the street cleaners have been past, except now it's missing a head =/

Oh and the photo? Just something I found highly amusing in a shop window here. Tat and I are always on the lookout for little English gems like these. So... need a milk? ; )

 

del.icio.us Tags: traffic,disorganisation,rat,sao paulo,work,manners

The 6am bus

A grey dawn breaks over the dirty city. The night's litter flecking the paving,
fluttering in a chill morning breeze.

Sleepy eyes fixed ahead. A passing burglar alarm slaps the passengers
into an uncomfortable wakefulness.
They shift in their seats.

The only cheerful thing to be seen
is the little dog out on his morning walk.

Graffiti accompanies the bus on its morning route.

With a resigned sigh another passenger gets up and fights the crowd to the exit,
loathe to leave the comfort his seat.


It's a new day. A beautiful day, in a grim city'esque sort of way.

 

del.icio.us Tags: são-paulo,bus,work

Ants are not very bright....

... but then, neither are people.

I have  rather daft habit, especially when showering. It's ‘summer’ and the ants are back in full swing. Working up a lather, I watch their epic journey along the tile grouting, heading from some place near the door into the shower fitting. I trace a soapy hand across their path - purely in the name of science and research, naturally.

You see, the ants don't like soap. I don't know if it's the smell or what. The marching infantry comes to a grinding halt ending in clustered, milling confusion while they contemplate (do ants contemplate?) the high wall of 'mountainous' sudsy perfume blocking their path. After a few moments, a few brave souls break away from the bewildered masses to find their way around. I find myself silently rooting for them, "Come on! You can do it!" Sadly, so many turn back just as they're about to reach the end of their soap line. Others reach the end, but veer off in the wrong direction. Finally, I spot the neighbourhood 'out of the box' thinker, the oddball who went in the opposite direction to the masses rounding my soapy obstacle down below. He stops for a moment. "Come on. Come one," I whisper. He turns and makes his way up, eventually meeting up with his comrades on the other side of the line.

Do you see yourself here? I do. So many times I've gone as far as I thought I could, then figured there was no end in sight and turned back or given up. And you know how many times I've milled around at the soap waiting for some kind soul to come along and wash it away... or show me the way? Yep... such is life.

Can you tell I get way too much time to think on buses (or showers)? Today, we were officially on our third day of spring. It was 33°C!! (92°F) Blegh... way too hot. I found myself wishing it would rain. Uh... wishes come true. It bucketed. São Paulo is once again flooded. Tat's students for tonight cancelled first. They couldn't get to class. My student cancelled later. She was stuck in traffic that wasn't moving at all. The usual photos of floating cars are out. Hm... some pretty night scenes of São Paulo here. I have come to the conclusion that São Paulo looks better in the dark. It will give you a good idea of the traffic too.

 

del.icio.us Tags: rain,ants,thoughts,sao paulo,life

Swing high, swing low

One of my fondest childhood memories is going to St George's Park near my home and swinging. Swings are amazing. I think they give you a sense of freedom, an exhilaration seldom experienced elsewhere. For the inexperienced, they can be frustrating. You sit... wanting to swing high, but needing that push. Then you learn to swing your own legs to get the motion going. Sometimes someone comes along and gives you a push, sending you to new heights. Ever get brat kids (or an exasperated parent) that come along and yank your chain, bringing you to a grinding halt? Then there are the days when all you want to do is sit and gently rock back and forth, watching the world move around you. That is often when you end up swinging so high and out of control, you are terrified you'll fly off and end up among the rest of the space litter orbiting the earth.

Lately, my life has been a bit like an afternoon at the park... particularly the swing set. For so long, I sat in the swing, not moving and very frustrated. I'd get the occasional push, but had no idea how to keep the momentum up. Later, I learnt the fine art of getting my swing going and keeping it going... at least, as much as I could, occasionally being yanked to a halt. More recently, added to my own momentum, I've been getting random pushes from various directions. This past couple of weeks has been one of those times. My swing is about to head me off into orbit.

Tat and I have been busy. We are at the stage where we can't take on new students, especially those who insist on having lessons in the popular time zones. One couple wanted us to teach at 10pm on a Friday. Don't they know Friday nights are sacred?! Ok, the reason we're turning them down is that it wouldn't be safe for a woman alone to be heading out there and back so late at night. Our only free day is currently Sunday. The couple wants Saturday afternoons too. The hard part has been for Tat, as she is better with the more basic students and most of our applicants have been basic. My time is taken up with preparing everyone's lessons when I'm not actually teaching. One of our students has asked permission to have the lessons bound. I'm duly flattered. Most weekdays, we head out before breakfast and finish up after 10pm. This morning, I was up at 4:30am to teach a before-work student. For some reason, Electropaulo (our Electricity supply company) decided to work on the post right outside our bedroom window for half the night. I feel like a zombie! But, all in all, the busy-ness is good. I feel productive and a steady(ish) income is flowing. Students vary from kids through to teens, through to a journalist preparing for a summit in Australia, to a girl going to work in England for a year, to bankers and more... nothing like bit of variety. I got feedback from a student that I had for about a month some time ago. He has been shipped off to England. Apparently my accent prepared him for the weirdness of other English accents. Glad I could prove useful ; )

Ah! Someone yanked the swing's chain. Most of you know that Tat had plans to visit her godmother in the UK and have been asking for progress reports. All three of us applied for new passports at the same time. Jurgis and I got ours back ages ago. Tat's was missing. Apparently (gospel according to the consulate), they changed the standard for the photos around the same time that we applied. Jurgis and I slipped in under the radar, it seems. Tat must have been the last to be processed and hers got caught. We've waited all this time only to be told that we have to resubmit her application. Frustrating!

Our summer started a tad early. We've had temps in the mid 20's for a while now. By Thursday, we'll be up to 32°C (90°F). The city where one of the cousins live was up to 39°C (102°F) recently. I wonder what summer will be like... definitely not a walk (or swing) in the park.

On the subject of swings, take a look at this I found when I was on a hunt for a swing photo. Could you imagine having a house like this. Well, more a room really, but still. 

Oh and this is just great! With taking public transport as much as I do, I could have so much fun out there! Click here.

 

del.icio.us Tags: swing,work,passport,life

Su Gimtadieniu, Jurgis!

Yes, I know I have used this photo before, but it is one of my all time favourites. One day I'll still have this printed large and mounted on my wall. It is, to me, so symbolic of the spirit of the man (and girl... but the man is the one I want to talk about today).

Strong enough to move mountains (almost literally), but gentle enough to make his 'chick' (Heidi, the irascible cockatiel) feel comfortable. Passionate about history... passionate about his roots... passionate about Lithuania. He dreams of dining on a huge tankard of beer with pork knuckle and sauerkraut. And dreams... he has many... to work his own land, to walk the land of his forefathers again, to build his home, to own and ride a shire. Jurgis is big! Ok, he's built fairly large, being tall and broad shouldered, but he is also big in other ways... a big heart - generous to a fault, a big personality - you know he is there, big hands - let me tell you, they're useful, big dreams, big plans, and big on fun! He's skilled in so many things and what he hasn't already mastered, he'll tackle with gusto, except writing, which you may have noticed by his empty blog.

Jurgis, life would be incredibly dull without you around. I'm so glad you were born. Thank you for all you are and for all you do. You're a very precious part of our lives.

Happy Birthday!

I know you don't want any fanfare, but there you have it... you know I'm not much good at the whole obedience thing ; )

 

del.icio.us Tags: jurgis,jorge,birthday

It’s a kind of magic… or witchcraft

*looks back on blogs* Seems I've been fairly scarce. We've been busy over this end. I know it's no excuse, but there really hasn't been much time.

Over the past couple of days, I have been on a voyage of discovery of, for me, new music talent. One of the artists I found was Zolani Mahola of Freshlyground. Zolani has the most engaging smile. The music is enchanting. This song is one of my favourites, though you should really do yourself a favour and listen to Pot Belly!

They have some beautiful music which stirred something deep within me... a language I haven't heard for many years... the language of home.

Between Freshlyground, Lira's "Feel Good", Noa's "Beautiful that way", and and a few others, I finished up smiling. I created a new playlist on my mp3 player to listen to on my way to work. It was so worth it!

My day started with an odd phone call.
"Hello, is that the home of Tatiana who was part of the dance group?"
"Well, yes, but she's not in. Can I take a message?"
"Are you her mother?"
"Uh.... yes?" *getting a little worried*
Turns out, he wanted to hire me to photograph an event that was to take place tonight. Unfortunately, I have (or should I say 'had) a student tonight, so I declined. The student cancelled later, but I wasn't to know. After all this time of waiting for photographic assignments to come in, I get this now. Ah well.

I left to teach, listening to my very upbeat Feel Good playlist. By the third song, I was grinning at everyone. One older lady got onto the bus and smiled back at me. She had a little round face that crinkled up in well-used laughter lines. I took out my bright little notepad with it's sunny flowers and wrote: "O seu sorriso é lindo!" ~"Your smile is beautiful!" When I saw she was going to get off, I tapped her on the shoulder and handed her the note. She looked suspicious, but took it. She read the note as she was about to get off, then turned to me with surprised wonder and an even more beautiful smile. To me, the happiness of the world was wrapped in that moment. I got off too (it turned out to be my stop). She kept turning around to look at me, then looking back at the note. Although we both went into the metro, I made a point of going a different path, as I didn't want to unnerve her. It made my day though. I posted another note on the mirror of the public bathrooms at the company where I teach... and left a note tucked into the handle of a lady's bag. This was fun! : )

I was chatting to my student. He asked if I had any trouble getting in, as there was a bomb scare on Paulista Avenue and the metro had been shut down. I discovered this evening what that was all about.... Magic!

It turned out to be macumba, a witchcraft ceremony of African origins, brought over by the original slaves. A bottle of red wine commonly gets left on street corners or other strategic places, depending on your wish, along with black or red candles and often a dead chicken (in Brazil's heat, you can imagine the smell after a few hours). The photo above is an old one I took near the crematorium and is a spot, I think, often used for macumba, though the wine has been consumed. Thankfully, there are no chickens. Those can get nasty. I know I have other macumba photos floating around. I just can't find them now, aside from which, I never have the camera handy when I come across a full macumba scene with it's wine, candles and chicken on all for corners of an intersection. Back at our old home, we saw it often, as we lived on the corner. The intersection was a popular place for macumba offerings.

Back to the bomb scare. The cops were called in for a suspicious bottle with red fluid. The metro line was disabled and the area evacuated. Um... yes... Brazilian efficiency. You can read the article here (and practice your Portuguese). It does show a photo of them 'disabling' the wine ; )

 

del.icio.us Tags: notes,music,sao paulo,bomb,smiles,macumba,brazil

A picture of a Sunday

Brazil is essentially a sun-worshipping nation. Today is our first sunny day in a long time. Inhabitants crawled, stretching, from their suburban caves, desperate to shake off the enforced hibernation of non-stop rain.



Neighbours nod over high back yard walls, as mothers rush out to dry laundry before tomorrow's promise of yet more rain. I joined the laundry parade. Standing between banners of flapping towels, I watch an azure blue kite dance in the hazy sky. Notes from someone's violin concerto drift past my ears, while the thump, thump someone else's rhythms mark the time.



On the corner, boys are mulling over the their kites. The kites were probably caught on the overhead wires or are lying broken on someone's rooftop.




The dogs lay motionless in a warmth-induced stupor.




Wait... not entirely. Dingo would get up every ten seconds to see if there was a lickable hand or foot within reach... or a passing dust mote. Who knows what gets her attention.




Aah... bliss!


 


Our outside workbench is sprouting again. The type of mushroom is different this year.... a frilly, spiky sort. I got a little carried away with the camera...







The clouds have already pulled over again, ready for the next lot of rain. A new week is starting.

On a side note... *click here for the article* blue mice may be an answer to spinal injuries (I won't let my mind go into what may have caused the spinal injuries in the mice) and you will soon be able to order diamonds made from Michael Jackson's hair. Methinks the world has gone crazy. Don't scientists have enough to do rather than making diamonds from MJ's hair?!

del.icio.us Tags: mushrooms,sun,winter,sao paulo,dogs,brazil,life

Silly things

we laugh over silly things
until the tears roll
we cry over silly things
the tears through the smiles
we argue over silly things
tears washing over heartbreak

tears and silly things
go together
laughter comes so easily
tears too
declaring our passions
arm in arm

we have mused for hours
over the big things
no subject left untouched
but it's the silly things
that fill the gilded pages
of our memories

I never knew it was possible
to feel so deeply
about silly things

© Tint~

del.icio.us Tags: laughter,me,fun,tat