Ah, I missed my flight!
Guess I'll just have to stay :)

Kidding, of course, but not about the staying part. It's way official now: we're here until December. There are still a couple of major kinks to work out, but all in all I think we've got an opportunity that should not be wasted. It will never be easier, socially, professionally, and even financially (hey, did I save my money all those years for nothing?) than it is now. I really want to get the hang of Portuguese, or at least, get better. And the work itself will be a valuable experience. One of the directors at the school I will be teaching at is really inspiring. He has a master's in ESL and loves to throw the textbook aside and be creative with lesson plans. 4-7 year olds, here I come. Daniel has at least 15 hours a week guaranteed at one of the franchise schools, Wizard. We still need a few more hours to have a comfortable budget, but we've picked up enough to pay the rent and live on rice and beans :)

Things have been happening kind of fast in the past couple of weeks, and I'm sorry I haven't updated more. Basically we've alternated between doing resume rounds & document hunting and enjoying a few last days of vacation. The rain was a constant plague last week, but this week has been the most gorgeous weather we've had yet. People here are saying the rainy season is beginning to transition into the windy season, which leads into the really freaking hot season. I'm really grooving on the windy weather, as it's always nice to have a cool breeze when the temperature is above 90. We've had some really lovely cool nights lately, though. I think once it might even have gotten below 70! One of things that is is still hard to imagine about staying is that it will be hot on my birthday. This will be a lifetime first.

We've also just completed our second round of apartment hunting, quite sucessfully if I do say so myself. After trudging through a depressing assortment of mildewed, trash filled apartments with ten locks on the door, we happened upon an clean, affordable one room apartment in a nice building in Sergio's part of town. It has tall windows and-here's the best part- a ninth floor view to see out of them! I am so pumped. We probably won't be able to afford much stuff to put in it, but the place is really nice.

We moved out of our beachside digs and are hanging with Sergio again while we work out the details of the new apartment and look for basic furnishings. Work starts on August 2nd. It looks like there will be an epic document hunt in the near future to get together all the stuff it will take to get me legal. So lots of excitment still to go... I thought I was going to freak out when it got to be time for the plane we were supposed to be on to leave, but I was absorbed in an English lesson and didn't even notice until much after its departure time, when we were riding the bus and chatting with a Canadian who just happened to be studying beginner's Portuguese in the seat in front of us. Which reminds me, Canadians are much cooler than Americans. He's a med student, but he still knows who Alice Munro is.

I'm mostly excited, a little nervous, and totally satisfied with the decision we've made about the next five months or so. Lately, I've been catching myself actually feeling comfortable here, like it's a place where a real life of my very own might take place. I guess signing an apartment lease will do that to you, eh? I know the process of cultural adjustment has its ups and downs, and there are still going to be mornings in which I wake up and wonder what I'm doing here, but for now I'm just going to love it.

Oh, I finally learned another Portuguese word. Here it goes:

office boy, pronounced ofissee boi- means office boy

Ex. Joao is starting out an as an office boy and soon hopes to move up to motorcycle delivery boy, weaving fearlessly in and out of the Natal traffic.


At this rate of language acquisition, I will clearly need to stay in Brazil for the next ten years at least :)


Liz ;)