Abby, Zoë and Enzo

Today for lunch daddy prepared a tomato sauce with eggplant, onion and garlic to be served over grilled polenta (prepared), that Nonno Ernie bought for us during his visit, and mozzarella.  The girls enjoyed lunch and went right down for nap so they would be ready for their afternoon movie with friends.  While they were sleeping, Daddy did the dishes, swept and dusted the apartment, and cleaned the table to make our apartment presentable.  We don't have many guests, so we want to make sure it is somewhat tidy and clean.

Our guests arrived just before 3 PM and brought us some soda.  This is a special treat for the girls, as they don't usually drink it.  Chris started the show, and then he and Richard went up to the roof to look around and take photos.  The girls all enjoyed the Strawberry Shortcake movie/episode and then played a few games of word bingo while waiting for Daddy to return from the roof.  Our guests had some errands to run before dinner and left us shortly before 5 PM.

Later we got a message from Raissa that she could be over around 6 PM.  We held the girls off from eating so we could go to Açai again for dinner.  We tried a few items we hadn't before, like Pastels.  One with chicken and cheese and the other with ground beef.  The chicken and cheese was much better.  The pastels are a type of deep fried shell, almost like an egg-roll dough, around some filling.  They are rectangle about 4 inches by 8 inches and maybe up to a half inch thick in the middle.  Here is what we ordered and the prices (total R$16.40 = US$9.11):
1 Coxão de Frango (Large Chicken Bomb) R$3 = US$1.67
1 Coxinha de Frango (Regular size Chicken Bomb) R$1.70 = US$0.95
1 Pastel de Carne (Beef Pastel) R$2.20 = US$1.22
2 Pastel de Frango com Queijo (Chicken and Cheese Pastel) @ R$2.20 = US$1.22
1 Tigela de Açai Pequena (Small bowl of Açai) R$3.50 = US$1.94
1 Suco de Laranja (Glass of Orange Juice) R$1.60 = US$0.89

This is the third time in Brazil that the total price was below what we expected and in our favor.  Chris made sure they adjusted the total price in their favor to the correct amount before paying.  The time before this, the taxi gave us more in change than we paid him for the fare, and Chris told him, too much, too much, until he rechecked and gave the correct change.  I think this behavior has caught the merchants off gaurd with Chris's honesty and integrity.  Raissa commented that most would have just paid the bill as it was and left, with the mistake in their favor.  This was very inexpensive karma for Chris. (R$4.40 = US$2.46)

We didn't stay out long.  We didn't wait for a table this time and the food arrived quicker than last time.  We only sat for about 50 minutes and then made our way back to the apartment.  We arrived close to 8 PM and I started to get the girls ready for bed, teeth brushed, faces washed, etc...  They were in bed but not sleeping before 8:10.  Raissa, Chris and I payed a couple card games before she had to return home.  Her ride was unavailable to pick her up, and she thought the bus might not be safe enough, so we called our regular taxi guy.  Chris walked Raissa downstairs to the cab, said hello to Zé Carlos and he said, wait, I bought a present for you.  He got out of his taxi, went to the trunk, and got out an alphabet booklet, and a notebook.  He wants to schedule some time to exchange language lessons.  He is interested in learning English and will help us and the girl learn some Portuguese.  Raissa called when she got home, and told us that she helped Zé Carlos the whole trip home, and that she would also be interested in getting together for this lesson as well.  Maybe he will want to trade a ride to Recife for lessons?

There was a party scheduled from 8 AM until 8 PM on the roof, so our plans to take the girls for a morning swim at the pool was in vain.  The girls were disappointed.  Usually Laura does not go up to the roof during those party times, but I checked it out around 4 PM.  The party was just a bunch of kids getting together to hang out and drink and listen to some loud music.  The music was being played so loud on such a horrible device that the sound was distorted and almost unrecognizable.  The place was a mess, as happens here in Brazil.  Cups and trash on the floor, olive pits spit wherever, beer cans in the pool as I am sure food and other stuff in there as well.  Nobody picks up after themselves, not at parties, not at restaurants, not at the beach, not in parks or public places, no where.  I get strange looks from customers and employees when I wipe the table, or throw our trash out after the meal, just doing common courtesy things, like being considerate to others.  Just last night, I watched a larger muscle bound guy keep leaning back in his chair at dinner, until he heard it crack.  Everyone at his table looked, he readjusted himself, and kept leaning back.  No consideration that he just broke this plastic chair that someone else has to use.  Sure at home this would be a minimal item, but here these cheap chairs cost more than US$10.  There isn't that level of courtesy or consideration here that we are accustomed to, that you are sharing this public space with someone else, as you have in other countries or parts of the world.  I guess here, they are providing jobs for others.  They must surely employ someone to do this clean up, but unfortunately it is too little too late, until cleaned up, it is litter, and very messy and pervasive.  There is a strong wind here, and the litter does not stay contained, so one party's litter, is a job for this condo cleaning crew, the street cleaning crew (monthly), and probably the cleaning crew of the neighboring condos that get debre rained down upon them, if they clean it up at all.  This is why there is trash in the streets, in the parks and at the beaches.

We ended up being in the kitchen for most of the day today.  Before lunch time I got in the kitchen and pulled all the meat from the whole chicken we bought at Hiper the night before and then began boiling the bones and making a stock.  As that was going on I cubed up some potatoes I'd boiled and heated them with some chicken for lunch.  We also had the prepared chickpea salad with some salad dressing to flavor it.

Later on Chris came into the kitchen to strain and pick the carcass completely, adding the bits of chicken to the broth.  We sauteéd some garlic and onion and then the rice.  Once that had cooked some, we added back the chicken stock, some cumin, oregano and a chicken bullion cube.  We make about 3 uncooked cups of rice at a time, this will only last 2 to 3 meals at the most.  Chris doesn't like eating left over rice or pasta much, so we make sure it goes quickly.  Making the rice like this, produces an almost risotto like rice, almost creamy and most certainly delicious.

I keep asking Laura to try a few items in the prepared cases at the stores.  First was at Pão de Azucar, where we left without any prepared foods, they were expensive there, and today was at Hiper Bom Preço.  I made sure we got that whole chicken, it was on sale 10% off regular price for R$8.88 = US$4.85, plus a few other prepared items, like chickpea salad (Salada Grão de Bico) and a sauteed chicken soup type of thing (Galinha Guizada).  I know Laura is not against prepared food, just against having to order it up.

We have eaten at Mangai (see menu here) twice.  Which is essentially a huge room of prepared local foods, way more selection than at Hiper Bom Preço or Pão de Azucar combined, but essentially the same exact thing.  Some local person is cooking a huge portion of a local dish.  So why not try some of these dishes at a discount price, more than 2 times, almost 3 times cheaper than at Mangai.  The Hiper Bom Preço sauteed chicken over rice was the best price per quantity and quality we have experienced so far.  The chicken was super soft and juicy, the spices perfect, even the boiled potato bits in there were super savory.  They dish out the chicken and then weight and price it, then add the juices and sauce.  All told, we bought about 1 kg of prepared food, as we got 0.44 kg of prepared white rice for R$2.49 = US$1.36 (almost as cheap as buying it and cooking it ourselves) and 0.45 kg of the chicken (Galinha Guizada) for R$7.64 = US$4.17.  Almost 1 kg for R$10.13 = US$5.54 versus Mangai's 1 kg price of R$27.90 = US$15.25, you could get almost 3x the food for less, and it tasted better.  There wasn't one complaint about the food, the girls ate seconds and even tried the chickpea salad.  Feeding 4 people for less than US$6.00 for dinner is a huge advantage.  If we had to cook the chicken and rice at home in our small kitchen, it would have easily taken 2 hours to prepare this meal.  This meal was the deal of a lifetime which we look to repeat during our next trip to Hiper or Pão.

Taxi cost R$8 = US$4.37 each way.  We have been keeping track of expenses and costs to determine or justify having to purchase a car when and where we decide to relocate.  Ideally we want to live without a car, the maintenance, the insurance and the consumables, but it comes at a cost of convenience and freedom.  We are feeling that here.  We would have easily driven to pick up Raissa, or to the store or mall, or to the beach without hesitation, just like do at home had a car been available for us here.  Hopefully it will be far cheaper taking taxis and buses than the car purchase alternative.  Maybe in a more accessible and public transportation city, it will be easier to let the car go than for us here.  There is also the question about personal security which a car provides, which public transportation here does not provide. 

For the past 2 weeks, the dollar to real exchange rate has been improving, making all of our purchases cheaper.  We have been following it daily to figure out a strategy on when to buy and what to buy.  The rate peaked yesterday above R$1.9 = US$1 which is it's 12 month high.  We noticed this morning the trend reversing sharply, so we wanted to lock in some future expenses at this more favorable rate.  We first went to Banco do Brasil and waited in a line just after noon.  We got our turn, and they spent 10 minutes locating the only person there who spoke English to help us with our cash advance.  He was able to tell me that they can't do that at this branch, but to try the bank next door, they might have the equipment to do it or try the larger branch in the next neighborhood over, 2 or so miles down the beach.  So we packed up and went next door.  Our taxi was waiting for us, so I told him to drive Laura and the girls the block, and meet me in the bank.  I flagged down the first person in a suit I could and tried to explain myself.  I first asked if he spoke English.  No.  I then asked if anyone here spoke English.  No.  Then I asked which line should I wait in to cash advance with my visa card.  He explained something about "machines" and "atm" and pointed to the bank of ATMs.  I said, "no machine", "cash advance credit visa".  He then asked how much, and I told him.  He then called over another person, a female teller who spoke a few words in English.  By this time, Laura was approaching with the girls.  He told me that there is a limit on how much I could take out in 1 day with my Visa card, that this limit is international.  I tried to explain that it was not the case for my card, but just agreed with him about only getting a portion of what I wanted.  He said, then Monday I can get more.  But Monday's rate won't be as good as today's rate, it dropped almost 4.5% today already.  Luckily this guy in a suit whom I first tracked down was the bank manager, or so it seemed he controlled the other tellers and the pit.  He took my passport and my card and told us to sit and wait.  Once a "Certified Profession" was available, we moved over to this slightly more private than public queue.  The guy started to fill out papers in triplicate and make a phone call for the authorization, then he whispered to me, how much?  I said my numbers and he repeated them to make sure it was correct.  I told him the full amount, despite being told that I could only take a portion of that by the other man.  Why not try for all that I wanted right, I could not bare to do this operation again.  He seemed shocked that I wanted that much, and filled out the papers, made the authorization, photocopied my passport and card, and had me sign the forms in triplicate, none of which were for me.  I did not get a receipt.  But one of the papers I signed showed the US$ amount, which was over my limit, and I pointed it out to him, and he said, no problem, it was authorized.  I knew before arriving how much reais I could withdrawal at the current rate to be under my limit, so they must have computed the US dollar amount based on a different rate.  I would have to double check the transaction online as soon as we returned.  I had asked multiple times if there was a bank fee, or commission for a cash advance, they kept on saying no.  So I was wondering if they passed that along on the transaction cost side of things.  It turned out that the US $ amount he showed me was not the correct amount.  The amount I expected was what was debited from my account, we got the good rate, without any fees, which is cheaper than using the ATMs.  He counted out the money, handed back the passport and card, and then I had them process the payment for the camera I purchased online.  We were out of the bank in only 1.5 hours.  Not too bad for a simple transaction.  The bank manager had a worker bring us all water and candies while we waited.  The taxi guy waited for us, and the total cost for the trip to and from the apartment and the wait time was only R$15 = US$8.21.  When we walked into our apartment, I noticed that the Visa Fraud department had left a message which I promptly returned and verified the correct US $ amount.  It all worked out, even though I had doubts due to the obviously complex nature of this transaction.  In hindsight, I would have liked to get a receipt for my records.  With this transaction at R$1.91 = US$1.00, it averages our cash spending at the rate of R$1.72 = US$1.00.  So as you can imagine, the rate was much lower when we paid our security deposit and two month's rent.

Though Abby and Zoë do have a good memory, I'm actually talking about mine.  Now, I will admit that normally I am the type of person who needs to write things down quickly to remember them, but the day the girls were born is a day I remember well.  What with Enzo's delivery day just around the corner, not to mention my sister just giving birth, I've been thinking about the events of the girls' birthday and can remember the day vividly.  I also realized that I never really gave an account of it.  It began quite early in the morning as I'd been questioning if I was having contractions and at around 4:00 a.m. I finally mentioned it to a nurse.  She brought in the stuff to set me up on a monitor, and with all the hub bub my mom, who was staying with me, woke up to see what was going on.  It was a Sunday and Chris had just gone up to Portsmouth the day before, I also remember that I always got weepy when he'd go home even though he was never gone more than two days.  At about 5:00 a.m. they made the decision to take me down to labor and delivery and since I'd been told by my weekday staff of doctors that they wouldn't stop my labor anymore, (after twice having been on magnesium drip previously) we went ahead and called Chris to let him know what was going on.

When I got down to a room on the labor and delivery floor, the nurses did indeed hook me up to a magnesium drip.  The weekend staff and the weekday staff apparently weren't on the same page.  I remember really feeling pulled in two directions.  There had been so many times of 'you're going to have these babies - oh, no you're not" of going back and forth with the fight to keep the girls in being done to it lasting for who knew how much longer.  That day I had thought that my fight was over, that they'd be coming out, only to be told that it was on again.  I also remember feeling like a horrible person for the feelings I was having because I knew all too well that every week, even every day they could stay in was important.  Chris arrived to the room and was also surprised to see me on magnesium.  I remember that my contractions continued all day through the medications, though not exruciating, they were enough to be progressing things slowly.  Come night time the contractions really began to pick up, despite the magnesium, and I had my mom get Chris, who had gone up to my room to get some sleep just a little while before this.  The contractions started to get pretty painful, and they did a scan and saw that Zoë was breach, but when they had checked me Abby was already on her way down so they handed Chris some scrubs and rushed me in for a c-section.  I remember being really nervous to go into the operating room, especially since Chris couldn't come in yet, and to curl up for the spinal while I was having a particularly painful contraction.  There was one nurse who stood right by my side and had her hand on me the whole time the doctor (and who I think what a student) were putting in the numbing medication, twice, and then the spinal.  I also remember the relief that came when my contraction just dissolved.  Chris came in and sat by me and took photos and asked questions, once asking what something was that was resting on my body and getting the response that they were my ovaries.  I remember when I started shaking from the medications and Chris was concerned, but the nurse assured him it was all normal. 

And then out came the girls, Abby then Zoë.  I remember waiting for their cries, hearing their apgars, which were great, and asking if it was okay to give Abby a kiss when they brought her over for me to see before taking her to the NICU.  I remember the man who cleaned me up and told me, as I'm lying completely nude and unable to feel anything below my chest, that he was going to roll me into his arms and not to fear that I'd fall on the floor.  I also remember telling my mom, who got to go up to the NICU with Chris after he had gone up and come back down, not to hold the babies before I got to.  I remember the first time they handed me these little packages, while I was still lying in my hospital bed, and being amazed that they had just been inside me (and wondering where exactly they had fit in there).  Their little faces were so red, but with them lying close together on my chest I could hear them making little cooing sounds back and forth.  I also remember it being really hard to be up on the postpartum hearing all the babies in the other rooms.  The hardest part was the day I was discharged, I was waiting down front in my wheel chair for Chris to get the car.  There were two other women waiting similarly and talking to each other about where they were putting their babies car seats to take them home.  I felt so out of the loop and so empty, and was sad and quiet on the ride out of Boston.  I remember too how it felt driving the hour home over the frost heaved road having just had a c-section.  And now... they're almost five.  Could someone tell me how that happened so fast?

Brazil doesn't make it easy to spend money.  I have been trying to buy a camera to replace our stolen camera for weeks now.  It is amazing how much price variation exists inside Brazil, from state to state, even from store to store.  You really need to do your research here to find a good deal, or just not be ripped off.  I have also been looking online.  I signed up for their version of ebay, called Mercado Livre.  Despite my lack of Portuguese knowledge, the site is a poor substitute.  After finding a couple of junky and cheap cameras I tried to complete a purchase, but the red tape was too great, and the conditions were outrageous.  They wanted to add 10% tax for the state it was going to be shipped to, plus Mercado Livre wanted to add another 4% since I would be paying with a credit card, then the shipping costs, it didn't make sense, so I didn't complete an order.  I also found Toda Oferta, which is their equivalent of eBay, and signed up.  They partner with PagSeguro which is their version of PayPal.  I found another junky camera, which with the shipping is between R$100 - R$200 cheaper than anything here locally, before calculating the cost of the added accessories (2 GB SD Card + 4 AA batteries plus charger).  With shipping and those accessories, the US$100 camera + $20 accessories + $24 shipping costs R$326.08=US$175, so it is almost comparable, although Amazon would have shipped it for free.  So I decided to purchase it on the 17th.  I complete the purchase and I am passed to PagSeguro only to find out, that any credit card transaction requires a CPF.  I guess I didn't know that you need to provide the equivalent of your social security number in order to pay with a credit card online.  I don't have a CPF, and will not be getting one any time soon.  I immediately sent an email to PagSeguro, no response yet, 2 days later.  I keep checking the message online, and create new messages.  It seems everyone is asleep there, no responses.  It is a shame that there are so many restrictions in order to spend money here.  I can understand it is a security measure, but this one prevents anyone foreigner or tourist, most likely with more discretionary money to spend on outrageously overpriced goods than a local, from spending money online in Brazil.  I guess that makes good business sense to someone somewhere.

Here's what we've done for the week:

Monday: We talked about graphs and did a bar graph, graphing the clothes the girls have here.  I set the graph up with the numbers on the side and the articles of clothing along the bottom, the girls and I went and recorded the amounts from their drawer