October 11th 2008
Enzo's Rockets
Enzo has what we like to refer to as a butt rocket. Yes, this journal entry is going to be about poo, so consider yourself forewarned. Enzo is a little poop machine, just like Abby and Zoë were as babies. They get it from Chris. Abby and Zoë had to have lots of baths and have special diaper cream ordered for them while in the NICU, and we had to make a special 'butt paste' on a couple of occasions at home because of how often they pooped and it seems that Enzo is going along the same road. The rash on his poor bottom is really bad, just in a small area, despite being changed and lathered with cream all the time. It seems like if he's not actually pooping, then he's having toots. He's one noisy little man... Papa Norm would be proud. :)
Now we get to the rocket part. This morning I experienced the rocket full force, it was quite astonishing. I had just finished wiping him up from one poopy diaper and had a fresh one underneath him. I had applied cream to one side of his bum and was getting ready to do the other side when I noticed he was having gas and wondered if he was going to poop again. I was just about to put the cream on, hence the diaper was down and offering no protection, and off shot his rocket. It was like when you see water shooting out of a firefighter's hose. It shot straight out with such force that it landed three feet away. If my leg hadn't been in the path of some of it, it would have hit the wall I'm sure. Even though I quickly put the diaper up to block, I was still a mess as was the floor, though my hand and arm got the worst of it. Chris came over to hold Enzo's feet up out of the mess so that I could go wash off super quickly, then I came to get Enzo cleaned up and Chris wiped up the floor, thank goodness for tile. This made the handful of times he's gotten me with his super soaker seem like nothing.
He must just be getting me back for when he nurses. Enzo has a habit during nursing, especially on the right side, of pulling off right when my milk has let down. My milk flow is a bit much for him at this point, especially when it is letting down and really coming out quickly, so he pulls off and there is this one stream of breast milk that shoots out in a steady flow and usually sprays him in the face before I can get my breast over the little cup I keep nearby to catch this excess. After the fast flow is done, he latches back on continues eating and I wipe his face up and all is well again. So many wonderful bodily functions to deal with when you have a newborn.
Now we get to the rocket part. This morning I experienced the rocket full force, it was quite astonishing. I had just finished wiping him up from one poopy diaper and had a fresh one underneath him. I had applied cream to one side of his bum and was getting ready to do the other side when I noticed he was having gas and wondered if he was going to poop again. I was just about to put the cream on, hence the diaper was down and offering no protection, and off shot his rocket. It was like when you see water shooting out of a firefighter's hose. It shot straight out with such force that it landed three feet away. If my leg hadn't been in the path of some of it, it would have hit the wall I'm sure. Even though I quickly put the diaper up to block, I was still a mess as was the floor, though my hand and arm got the worst of it. Chris came over to hold Enzo's feet up out of the mess so that I could go wash off super quickly, then I came to get Enzo cleaned up and Chris wiped up the floor, thank goodness for tile. This made the handful of times he's gotten me with his super soaker seem like nothing.
He must just be getting me back for when he nurses. Enzo has a habit during nursing, especially on the right side, of pulling off right when my milk has let down. My milk flow is a bit much for him at this point, especially when it is letting down and really coming out quickly, so he pulls off and there is this one stream of breast milk that shoots out in a steady flow and usually sprays him in the face before I can get my breast over the little cup I keep nearby to catch this excess. After the fast flow is done, he latches back on continues eating and I wipe his face up and all is well again. So many wonderful bodily functions to deal with when you have a newborn.
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 27 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 27 days
Enzo @ 17 days
News posted by Laura at 9:56 AM | 
Comments ( 1 )
Comments:
What a delightful, entertaining journal.
When Papa Norm comes to visit, he said he will enjoy having contests with him.
October 10th 2008
Dinner with Raissa and Renata
We walked along the beach this evening with Raissa and her sister Renata looking for a place for dinner. They had come over to visit with us, and we were all hungry. We made our way North along the beach almost to MAG shopping mall. We stopped at a local restaurant called Picuí Praia that serves regional cuisine. After looking over the menu, we decided to sit and eat, as it was already getting late for the girls. It was already 7 PM when we placed our order. They had whole meals you could order, so we tried the mixed meat meal, MISTÃO COM PICANHA (picanha (steak), frango (chicken), lingüiça (sausage)) for four people, with 8 sides: feijão (beans), arroz (rice), macaxeira cozida (cooked root), pirão de queijo (melted cheese), batata frita (french fries), farofa e vinagrete (salsa). We also ordered one jar of graviola juice, and one of mangaba, which we hadn't tried before, one fried cheese appetizer. The portions were very large, and we had to take the left overs home, despite filling 4 adults and 2 children. Abby and Zoë did a great job eating, clearing their plates, that they earned some mouse (pudding parfait) for dessert. Mommy tried the German chocolate layered cake. The total bill with service incuded was R$91.85 = US$40.11. The good news was that we walked there and back to work off some of this meat and didn't have the added expense.
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 26 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 26 days
Enzo @ 16 days News posted by christopher at 6:38 PM | Comments ( 1 )
Comments:
All this food, as tasty as it was, came with no vegetables. The eight side dishes were standard for any of the meals you could choose from, vegetables just weren't a choice. For us, it has actually been harder to eat heathly here than at home, which has really been a shock for us. We really thought that our diet would be full of fruits, vegetables, and greens being here. While we have had some good fruits, vegetables and greens have been scarce. Meat, starches, and yes some beans, are what make up the common regional diet. I haven't even seen a leafy green besides regular lettuce. Don't get me wrong, the meal was tasty and there was more than enough there, it just would have been nice to have some veggies.
October 9th 2008
Grocery Shopping on a strong dollar
The dollar has been gaining on the Brazilian Real since we arrived. Today was the highest we have yet to see US$1 = R$2.38, so what do you do on a strong dollar? Shop! We took a taxi to Hiper around 3:30 PM for R$8.70 = US$3.76. The taxi home was more as we had to make a stop at another store and the taxi waited while I shopped, that was R$13 = US$5.62.
We got stocked up on some items, and bought some TANG for the trip home. We found 6 new flavors (Acerola, Cashew Fruit, Mango, Pineapple, Guava, and Orange), making a total of 12 flavors available in Brazil. We bought some prepared foods for dinner, a whole cooked chicken, and some daily necessities, like toilet paper. We spent less than R$8 = US$3.46 for 500 grams of cooked rice and 500 grams of this delicious roast meat dish. It was enough food to feed us 4, cooked and prepared, for less than US$0.87 per person. We were surprised again at how good the grocery store prepared foods are, but I guess it makes sense, if it doesn't taste good and like others would prepare it, it wouldn't sell, and they would stop offering them. While we were in line to check out, the store experienced a power outage. Luckily the cash registers were the only things not affected, so we were able to check out in the dark and catch a taxi home. The girls thought it was a special event.
On the way home, we stopped at another super market called Pão de Açucar. They have more prepared foods, where we bought some fish, some beef stroganoff (Brazilian interpretation there of) and a bulk prepared soup that I saw people lined up to get. They give you this huge container of soup, plus a fresh roll for R$3.45 = US$1.50. The soup was delicious and large, and easily enough for us 4. What a bargain at less than US$0.38 per person. It would be a considerably good deal if we lived within walking distance to Pão de Açucar, not only would we have local food prepared and cooked, it would be very inexpensive, almost like having our own chef.
We got stocked up on some items, and bought some TANG for the trip home. We found 6 new flavors (Acerola, Cashew Fruit, Mango, Pineapple, Guava, and Orange), making a total of 12 flavors available in Brazil. We bought some prepared foods for dinner, a whole cooked chicken, and some daily necessities, like toilet paper. We spent less than R$8 = US$3.46 for 500 grams of cooked rice and 500 grams of this delicious roast meat dish. It was enough food to feed us 4, cooked and prepared, for less than US$0.87 per person. We were surprised again at how good the grocery store prepared foods are, but I guess it makes sense, if it doesn't taste good and like others would prepare it, it wouldn't sell, and they would stop offering them. While we were in line to check out, the store experienced a power outage. Luckily the cash registers were the only things not affected, so we were able to check out in the dark and catch a taxi home. The girls thought it was a special event.
On the way home, we stopped at another super market called Pão de Açucar. They have more prepared foods, where we bought some fish, some beef stroganoff (Brazilian interpretation there of) and a bulk prepared soup that I saw people lined up to get. They give you this huge container of soup, plus a fresh roll for R$3.45 = US$1.50. The soup was delicious and large, and easily enough for us 4. What a bargain at less than US$0.38 per person. It would be a considerably good deal if we lived within walking distance to Pão de Açucar, not only would we have local food prepared and cooked, it would be very inexpensive, almost like having our own chef.
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 25 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 25 days
Enzo @ 15 days News posted by christopher at 4:21 PM | Comment
October 8th 2008
Zoë's upset tummy
Zoë woke me up a couple of times during the night, she wasn't feeling well. When she called for me at 2 AM I thought we were going to have problems. She told me she wanted covered up. I pulled the sheet over her legs and body and then went back to bed. When Laura woke and asked what she wanted, I said she was cold. The we heard a cough from her room, and I snapped to, recognizing the sound as throw up. I quickly stripped down the bed, and rinsed her and the sheets off in the shower while Laura reset the bed with new sheets. We took it very slow the whole day so that she could recover. She carried this bucket around all day, saying how it was necessary in case she got sick again.
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 24 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 24 days
Enzo @ 14 days News posted by christopher at 2:16 AM | Comments ( 1 )
Comments:
Poor Zoe, no fun being sick!!
October 6th 2008
US Consulate Recife Visit
Today we have an appointment at 1 PM at the US consulate in Recife. Recife is about 120 km (about 75 miles) from João Pessoa. The current taxi rate is R$130 to Recife, and apparently R$130 to return. We had asked many taxi people about the cost to take a trip to Recife and return, but more than likely they didn't not understand the request fully. Had we known the complete cost R$260 = US$136, we would have rented a car and made other arrangements, it is not as if the taxi driver knew where he needed to go anyhow, having studied the map before hand, I had more practical knowledge about the direction and orientation than he did. We are always surprised here, taken off guard, even with doing tons of research, there is always the element of surprise, nothing is as it appears or seems. Which is a huge disappointment to say the least.
The road to Recife is long, hard and dangerous, especially in the rain. The road condition is very poor, with holes, patches, uneven road surfaces, no shoulders which makes it very dangerous. When you add taxi drivers and slow trucks, even more dangerous. They have speed bumps in certain places that are meant to be driven over at a very slow speed, as they are huge bumps. The driving theme here is speed and brake heavy, repeatedly. Laura was sitting in back holding Enzo, and was very concerned about our traveling safety, while counting down the kilometers and minutes until we arrived, both going and returning home. It is truly an experience not for the faint of heart, probably the most dangerous things we have done in all of Brazil, probability wise for sure.
We were traveling through lunch time, and we asked to stop at a self service Marmitas place. It was an all you can eat type of place, and the total for 4 adults and two kids was R$30, and it included two containers of juice, and the meats. It was fairly decent, regional food. We tried most of the items. The meat was very tough and thoroughly cooked, so much so that it was very difficult to cut, let alone chew. The chicken was slightly better.
We arrived at the consulate shortly after our 1 PM appointment time. The consulate wasn't as we expected. It seems the security is hired out, privately, and not done by US personnel or military. I don't even think they spoke much English, as their commands and instructions were in Portuguese. They wrote down our passport numbers, and let us into the security screening room after waiting on the street at the gate for about 5 minutes. The security screeners checked our stuff via x-ray and sent us through the metal detectors. Once inside, at the next station, we surrendered our cell phones and cameras for a claim ticket. Once inside, we made our way to the American Services room. We were the first there, as American Services start at 1 PM until 3:30. The consulate was full of other foreigners in line for various things, like visas and such. I handed over the forms we had completed, our passports, the medical records, the marriage certificate, the original Brazilian birth certificate for Enzo, along with some photos. We then spoke to another official who had a few questions, had us sign the forms, and said it would take between 2 to 3 weeks to process them. We were then directed to the cashier to pay US$150, and fill out a SEDEX delivery envelope for delivery of our passport, it will take 5 days. I asked for quicker delivery, and they said it was not possible. The delivery cost R$13.60 = US$6.50, which is slightly cheaper than another taxi ride to Recife. We hope the passport and birth record are processed quickly and returned to us without delay, as we require them to return home with Enzo. Everyone keeps on telling us not to worry, there is enough time, but we don't have a single day to spare. About the price for these services, the website notes a few options to pay, in US cash or in local currency, or with an international credit card. What they neglect to mention is that the price varies for each form of payment. They apparently set the conversion rate to whatever they want, which turned out to be R$1.85 = US$1, which cost us an extra R$30 = US$15 to use the credit card instead of local currency. Had this fact been made known before hand, I would have brought enough local currency to pay for the services and benefit the US$15. When you can't beat them, join them is the theme here. The whole process went very quickly, less than 45 minutes all told. Our taxi guy asked directions a handful more times, drove us by the beach, bought the girls a coconut to enjoy, and we started the process back home.
We arrived close to dinner time, relaxed for a few minutes and walked to Manu's Açai for a quick dinner of Açai, Fruit Salad, 2 Coxihnas and 1 chicken and cheese pastel, R$16.10 = US$8.47. We have yet to find that one culinary delight that will pull our heartstrings back to Brazil,or that we will particularly miss when we return. Maybe the churros, but we can get those at home too...
The road to Recife is long, hard and dangerous, especially in the rain. The road condition is very poor, with holes, patches, uneven road surfaces, no shoulders which makes it very dangerous. When you add taxi drivers and slow trucks, even more dangerous. They have speed bumps in certain places that are meant to be driven over at a very slow speed, as they are huge bumps. The driving theme here is speed and brake heavy, repeatedly. Laura was sitting in back holding Enzo, and was very concerned about our traveling safety, while counting down the kilometers and minutes until we arrived, both going and returning home. It is truly an experience not for the faint of heart, probably the most dangerous things we have done in all of Brazil, probability wise for sure.
We were traveling through lunch time, and we asked to stop at a self service Marmitas place. It was an all you can eat type of place, and the total for 4 adults and two kids was R$30, and it included two containers of juice, and the meats. It was fairly decent, regional food. We tried most of the items. The meat was very tough and thoroughly cooked, so much so that it was very difficult to cut, let alone chew. The chicken was slightly better.
We arrived at the consulate shortly after our 1 PM appointment time. The consulate wasn't as we expected. It seems the security is hired out, privately, and not done by US personnel or military. I don't even think they spoke much English, as their commands and instructions were in Portuguese. They wrote down our passport numbers, and let us into the security screening room after waiting on the street at the gate for about 5 minutes. The security screeners checked our stuff via x-ray and sent us through the metal detectors. Once inside, at the next station, we surrendered our cell phones and cameras for a claim ticket. Once inside, we made our way to the American Services room. We were the first there, as American Services start at 1 PM until 3:30. The consulate was full of other foreigners in line for various things, like visas and such. I handed over the forms we had completed, our passports, the medical records, the marriage certificate, the original Brazilian birth certificate for Enzo, along with some photos. We then spoke to another official who had a few questions, had us sign the forms, and said it would take between 2 to 3 weeks to process them. We were then directed to the cashier to pay US$150, and fill out a SEDEX delivery envelope for delivery of our passport, it will take 5 days. I asked for quicker delivery, and they said it was not possible. The delivery cost R$13.60 = US$6.50, which is slightly cheaper than another taxi ride to Recife. We hope the passport and birth record are processed quickly and returned to us without delay, as we require them to return home with Enzo. Everyone keeps on telling us not to worry, there is enough time, but we don't have a single day to spare. About the price for these services, the website notes a few options to pay, in US cash or in local currency, or with an international credit card. What they neglect to mention is that the price varies for each form of payment. They apparently set the conversion rate to whatever they want, which turned out to be R$1.85 = US$1, which cost us an extra R$30 = US$15 to use the credit card instead of local currency. Had this fact been made known before hand, I would have brought enough local currency to pay for the services and benefit the US$15. When you can't beat them, join them is the theme here. The whole process went very quickly, less than 45 minutes all told. Our taxi guy asked directions a handful more times, drove us by the beach, bought the girls a coconut to enjoy, and we started the process back home.
We arrived close to dinner time, relaxed for a few minutes and walked to Manu's Açai for a quick dinner of Açai, Fruit Salad, 2 Coxihnas and 1 chicken and cheese pastel, R$16.10 = US$8.47. We have yet to find that one culinary delight that will pull our heartstrings back to Brazil,or that we will particularly miss when we return. Maybe the churros, but we can get those at home too...
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 22 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 22 days
Enzo @ 12 days News posted by christopher at 7:32 PM | Comments ( 2 )
Comments:
What a long trip but an experience nonetheless. Bet you would of liked to have had Enzo's car seat with you!! Picture of the girls sooo cute.
i can't believe we're talking about the same woman who didn't turn her daughters car seats forward facing until they were 3!! you must have been inwardly panicking about that cab ride!
October 5th 2008
Relocation Questions and Answers with Abby and Zoë
Q: Do you like the snow?
Z: Yes. Sledding and having hot chocolate after you come in from playing.
A: Yes, I like to go sledding and make snow angels.
Q: Do you want to live where it snows sometimes? Every year?
A: Yes, Yes.
Z: Yes, Yes.
(Despite our displeasure and inconveniences with the snow, it seems the girls look forward to hot coco, sledding and the snow.)
Q: Where should we move to?
Z: I think we should move to Germany, because I would like to have an oven and make cookies sometimes. I want to see how it looks like, and see the (princess) castles there.
A: France. Because I just want to live there and learn some French.
(We are not sure where these answers have come from, we haven't talked about France much before, but have mentioned that the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany is where the inspiration for the Cinderella Castle originated.)
Q: Is it important to live near a library?
A: Yes. Because I want to go to story time and pick out my own books.
Z: No. (but later changed her mind after hearing Abby's response)
Q: What is important to have nearby where you live?
Z: A library (despite the initial reaction above), playgrounds, swimming, parks, church. I would like to live on a boat. I would make friends at gymnastics.
A: I would like to have stores, supermarkets, walking places, church, school, to look at some castles, parks, where there are fireworks, and we can buy some glow sticks, somewhere where it snows.
Q: What would you rather have near by, a pool or a beach?
Z: Beach. (Although she doesn't like going into the water much, she enjoys the sand, digging and finding shells)
A: Pool. Because you get to swim more than we do at the beach. And we can easily go home afterwards. Because I would like to live in a building that has an elevator.
Q: What language do you want to speak?
Z: I want to speak 5 languages. English, Brazil, French, China, Japanese. When I am a mom I will speak 5 languages.
A: French and English, and I want to take trips to the United States. I am going to speak 5 languages too. French (pronounced Fran - ch) , Brazil, America, Germany, red dot and white flag one (Japanese)
Q: Why do you want to learn different languages?
Z: Because I want to talk to Brazilian people, chinese people. God lives in a castle far away.
A: Because it is nice to learn some different languages, so you can speak to other people and probably go there and take some trips there. And I want to see what it looks like there, and see if they have any castles and I want to be on a plane ride. I want to find some animals and horses, and take some pony rides.
Q: Do you want to live in an apartment or a house?
A: In a house. Because there are ovens in a house. Because I like ovens and I like to bake. And if company comes over, I will bake some cakes, and I can make cakes for anyone's birthday. (When I asked if the apartment had an oven, where then) Still the house, because it has a tub, and the apartment doesn't. When I mentioned that we could have tub here in the apartment, she still said the house, because she doesn't want to live somewhere so small. I want a hammock and stores to walk to close by and a pool on an island.
Z: A house like Nonno Ernie's with a bathtub with jets in it. I want to live with Nonno Ernie, with ovens.
They started to get silly towards the end, so we had to wrap it up. But I think we can determine some things they are interested in.
Larger living accommodations. (This apartment is 750 square feet, about half the size of our home). They didn't mention wanting a yard to play in, but rather a park near by, and a playground.
Living near the beach isn't such a large factor for them as we had thought.
They would like to have some conveniences, like an oven and a tub. They enjoy cooking and baking.
They would like to have snow occasionally and enjoy winter, despite being cold. They also like the seasonal changes.
They enjoy travelling and speaking different languages. (I am not sure if they are just mirroring my own likes or being sincere)
Our next place will need to meet some of these requirements, like having an oven and a tub. :)
Z: Yes. Sledding and having hot chocolate after you come in from playing.
A: Yes, I like to go sledding and make snow angels.
Q: Do you want to live where it snows sometimes? Every year?
A: Yes, Yes.
Z: Yes, Yes.
(Despite our displeasure and inconveniences with the snow, it seems the girls look forward to hot coco, sledding and the snow.)
Q: Where should we move to?
Z: I think we should move to Germany, because I would like to have an oven and make cookies sometimes. I want to see how it looks like, and see the (princess) castles there.
A: France. Because I just want to live there and learn some French.
(We are not sure where these answers have come from, we haven't talked about France much before, but have mentioned that the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany is where the inspiration for the Cinderella Castle originated.)
Q: Is it important to live near a library?
A: Yes. Because I want to go to story time and pick out my own books.
Z: No. (but later changed her mind after hearing Abby's response)
Q: What is important to have nearby where you live?
Z: A library (despite the initial reaction above), playgrounds, swimming, parks, church. I would like to live on a boat. I would make friends at gymnastics.
A: I would like to have stores, supermarkets, walking places, church, school, to look at some castles, parks, where there are fireworks, and we can buy some glow sticks, somewhere where it snows.
Q: What would you rather have near by, a pool or a beach?
Z: Beach. (Although she doesn't like going into the water much, she enjoys the sand, digging and finding shells)
A: Pool. Because you get to swim more than we do at the beach. And we can easily go home afterwards. Because I would like to live in a building that has an elevator.
Q: What language do you want to speak?
Z: I want to speak 5 languages. English, Brazil, French, China, Japanese. When I am a mom I will speak 5 languages.
A: French and English, and I want to take trips to the United States. I am going to speak 5 languages too. French (pronounced Fran - ch) , Brazil, America, Germany, red dot and white flag one (Japanese)
Q: Why do you want to learn different languages?
Z: Because I want to talk to Brazilian people, chinese people. God lives in a castle far away.
A: Because it is nice to learn some different languages, so you can speak to other people and probably go there and take some trips there. And I want to see what it looks like there, and see if they have any castles and I want to be on a plane ride. I want to find some animals and horses, and take some pony rides.
Q: Do you want to live in an apartment or a house?
A: In a house. Because there are ovens in a house. Because I like ovens and I like to bake. And if company comes over, I will bake some cakes, and I can make cakes for anyone's birthday. (When I asked if the apartment had an oven, where then) Still the house, because it has a tub, and the apartment doesn't. When I mentioned that we could have tub here in the apartment, she still said the house, because she doesn't want to live somewhere so small. I want a hammock and stores to walk to close by and a pool on an island.
Z: A house like Nonno Ernie's with a bathtub with jets in it. I want to live with Nonno Ernie, with ovens.
They started to get silly towards the end, so we had to wrap it up. But I think we can determine some things they are interested in.
Larger living accommodations. (This apartment is 750 square feet, about half the size of our home). They didn't mention wanting a yard to play in, but rather a park near by, and a playground.
Living near the beach isn't such a large factor for them as we had thought.
They would like to have some conveniences, like an oven and a tub. They enjoy cooking and baking.
They would like to have snow occasionally and enjoy winter, despite being cold. They also like the seasonal changes.
They enjoy travelling and speaking different languages. (I am not sure if they are just mirroring my own likes or being sincere)
Our next place will need to meet some of these requirements, like having an oven and a tub. :)
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 21 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 21 days
Enzo @ 11 days News posted by christopher at 11:11 AM | Comments ( 1 )
Comments:
Here is another question.
Would you like to live near your family?
How about live in Portsmouth and visit all of those other places?
Maybe you should try Oregon :0)
Beach Living
Are we beach people? That was a main question we were looking to answer on this experimental living trip to Brazil. Do we need to live near the beach, or will having access to a pool for swimming be enough for us? Will we take advantage of having the beach at our doorstep, or will we become like the locals, complacent and only occasionally visit this incredible resource? While we have visited the beach many times and on many occasions, I think the answer is that we do not require the beach to be so near. Special occasional trips to the beach might be more memorable for now. It is not as important of a relocation factor as we first thought; to be located near the beach. We love the coastline and having access to fresh seafood, but do we need to live on or near the beach? We are nearing the conclusion of our experiment and will be able to interpret our data and findings, but preliminarily, it appears that we would be equally happy without the beach. We are all in agreement about being in a more consistent climate, without so much variation. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to try a few other destinations out and see which criteria for relocation works best for us before we make a move. Maybe we can try the lake region of Italy or Italy's southern coast, with hills and mountains near the sea. If that doesn't work out, we can try something more inland and forested. I am not sure we want to be located in a small town in Sicily, but maybe we will try that as well before ruling it out.
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 21 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 21 days
Enzo @ 11 days News posted by christopher at 10:12 AM | Comment
October 4th 2008
Friends Visit Enzo
Enzo received some visitors today. Richard and his two daughters came over for a visit. Anabelle and Talita wanted to see the baby, and play with Abby and Zoë some. They colored, played cards and watched a short Strawberry Shortcake episode. They have so much fun making friends and getting together to play. They are very social young people. Enzo was not being so social, he slept through most of the visit in his drawer.
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 20 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 20 days
Enzo @ 10 days News posted by Laura at 4:07 PM | Comment
October 3rd 2008
Pay the weight versus flat rate for all you can eat
When we first heard that you only pay for the food you plate up at self serve restaurants, we initially liked the idea and thought we would be able to save money. However the cost is not as economical as it is in the US. Laura can't wait to go to the Chinese buffet when we return. Where you can pick and choose whatever you want for the same price. We thought that since we have tiny bellies and small appetites, we would benefit, but this hasn't been the case here. Having a flat price per kilogram doesn't make much sense, as the price per portion of meat, fish or shrimp shouldn't be computed at the same price for cooked rice. Not all foods cost the same, or are equally expensive. That is why we like the prepared foods at the grocery store, here too it is pay by weight, but the rice costs very little when compared to the prices of the meat and other dishes, especially a good deal when not grouped together in a self service restaurant. Maybe change is only good when it is for the better?
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 19 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 19 days
Enzo @ 9 days News posted by christopher at 12:06 PM | Comment
Feels like the 50's, the 1950's
Brazil is full of contradictions. The Northeast of Brazil even more so, as we are told. The northeast is very poor, and not as developed or advanced as other parts of Brazil, so we are not sure if this time warp can be felt all over Brazil, or if it is just localized to where we are now. Here are a few examples.
They have very modern looking buildings and architecture, but for example, the sink fixtures are very primitive, with only a simple turn dial for on and off, and no hot water at the sink. The only place you get hot water, is from the electricity heated shower, which is also extremely dangerous.
They have building standards, but they are not enforced or followed. Their idea of a handicap enabled entrance is to put a ramp in a location that is inaccessible by a wheel care.
While many places have plasma or lcd big screen tvs, the doctors' office has a scale that could have been used to weigh Jesus, and a fetal monitor / doppler that was the size of a small car (over exaggeration, but you get the idea), and was probably first used by the navy as a sonar device to locate mines.
They are trying very hard bring the country up to first world standards, like with new laws for drunk driving (dry law - zero tolerance), as well as car seats for kids (they are so over priced, that many people can't afford this safety for their children). It is actually funny to watch the commercials on TV now that are meant to educate people about being considerate. They show a women who instead of walking by a piece of trash, picks it up and disposes of it, another person walking their bike across the street instead of riding it, and so forth. There are about 4 or 5 other acts of courtesy or consideration for others that they are trying to get across to the populace. It is interesting to see this initiative under way and I hope it helps mature this destination. I have not seen so much litter anywhere in the world before, and it would improve the image of Brazil considerably if people just properly disposed of their trash. I think with this new consideration awareness and access to information, this destination can really establish itself in the 21st century, or at least catch up to the rest of the 20th.
They have very modern looking buildings and architecture, but for example, the sink fixtures are very primitive, with only a simple turn dial for on and off, and no hot water at the sink. The only place you get hot water, is from the electricity heated shower, which is also extremely dangerous.
They have building standards, but they are not enforced or followed. Their idea of a handicap enabled entrance is to put a ramp in a location that is inaccessible by a wheel care.
While many places have plasma or lcd big screen tvs, the doctors' office has a scale that could have been used to weigh Jesus, and a fetal monitor / doppler that was the size of a small car (over exaggeration, but you get the idea), and was probably first used by the navy as a sonar device to locate mines.
They are trying very hard bring the country up to first world standards, like with new laws for drunk driving (dry law - zero tolerance), as well as car seats for kids (they are so over priced, that many people can't afford this safety for their children). It is actually funny to watch the commercials on TV now that are meant to educate people about being considerate. They show a women who instead of walking by a piece of trash, picks it up and disposes of it, another person walking their bike across the street instead of riding it, and so forth. There are about 4 or 5 other acts of courtesy or consideration for others that they are trying to get across to the populace. It is interesting to see this initiative under way and I hope it helps mature this destination. I have not seen so much litter anywhere in the world before, and it would improve the image of Brazil considerably if people just properly disposed of their trash. I think with this new consideration awareness and access to information, this destination can really establish itself in the 21st century, or at least catch up to the rest of the 20th.
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 19 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 19 days
Enzo @ 9 days News posted by christopher at 10:42 AM | Comment
October 2nd 2008
Enzo Must Know Something - What's in a Name?
Enzo must know that there was once someone else special to Christopher with this name. He must have been listening in on our conversations about this name while he was in utero. Yes, Christopher once had a beautiful doberman whom he named Enzo. Let me say now that our baby boy is not named after the dog, we've simply re-used a name we both liked an agreed upon. If anything, he is named after his great, great, great grandfather in Sicily, Vincenzo. That being said, Enzo makes these noises that sound just like a little high pitched yip, like he's barking. It is so funny to hear him making the same noises puppy Enzo used to make. He makes other noises in his sleep that sound like dreaming dog noises too. I just hope he doesn't learn to growl. Yesterday Enzo was making one such noise and Christopher called to me saying "Enzo is barking", I told him that he'd better not start saying things like that or else people will draw wrong conclusions. Also, everyone asks if Enzo is short for something, like Lorenzo or Vincenzo, it is, but just not in this case. We wanted to stick with a short first name for all of our children and a longer middle name.
Here is the information for the names we chose:
Enzo
Meaning: Its source is ent, an Ancient Germanic name meaning "Giant."
Popularity: The name Enzo ranked 890th in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of 2000-2003 Social Security Administration statistics.
Narrative: The name could have originated as a short form of Lorenzo or Vicenzo, or as an Italianized form of the German name Heinz.
Giovanni
Meaning: Its source is Yochanan, a Hebrew name meaning "God's grace."
Nicknames: Gianni, Nino, Nanni, Gio, Vanni, Giannino and Giova
Source Forms: Yochanan
Popularity: The name Giovanni ranked 197th in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of 2000-2003 Social Security Administration statistics and 794th in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of the 1990 US Census.
Yochanan was rendered in Greek as Ioannes, which in turn was translated into Latin as Iohannes. From one or both of these intermediaries come the many modern forms of this name, including John (English), Johannes (German), Juan (Spanish),Eoin (Gaelic), and Jean (French).
Here is the information for the names we chose:
Enzo
Meaning: Its source is ent, an Ancient Germanic name meaning "Giant."
Popularity: The name Enzo ranked 890th in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of 2000-2003 Social Security Administration statistics.
Narrative: The name could have originated as a short form of Lorenzo or Vicenzo, or as an Italianized form of the German name Heinz.
Giovanni
Meaning: Its source is Yochanan, a Hebrew name meaning "God's grace."
Nicknames: Gianni, Nino, Nanni, Gio, Vanni, Giannino and Giova
Source Forms: Yochanan
Popularity: The name Giovanni ranked 197th in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of 2000-2003 Social Security Administration statistics and 794th in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of the 1990 US Census.
Yochanan was rendered in Greek as Ioannes, which in turn was translated into Latin as Iohannes. From one or both of these intermediaries come the many modern forms of this name, including John (English), Johannes (German), Juan (Spanish),Eoin (Gaelic), and Jean (French).
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 18 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 18 days
Enzo @ 8 days News posted by Laura at 5:35 PM | Comments ( 1 )
Comments:
I love the name Giovanni.....Nino.....Gio xxoo
Enzo's Brazilian Passport
Today Michael took us to the Casa da Cidadania "House of Citizenship" at Tambia Shopping Mall. This is a government office at the mall, not much different than the DMVs at some of our malls. When you walk in, you show your protocol, this is the number that printed out with your online appointment/application. They give you a number. When your number is called, you go to the hall/booth that is ready to serve your number. We showed up right before our scheduled appointment and were shown right in. We filled out the remainder of the paper work, and then signed a travel authorization consent for both parents. Since Enzo is under 3 years old, they were not able to digitally take the photo there, and sent us to a kiosk at the mall for a passport photo. They charged R$10 = US$5.20 for 1 5x7, which they cut out the 4 photos. The office needs only one, as they scan and digitize the whole application and support documentation. It is very similar to my filing system, just slightly less advanced and secure. We will use the extra passport photos for the US passport application process next week. Enzo didn't have to give his fingerprints as he was so young. They have the new and modern system that requires no ink, it just scans the impressions, very high tech like the state police use in New Hampshire. The whole process will be complete and ready to pick up the passport by the 10th of October, which is super quick by passport standards, and takes about 3 times less time than the US passport process. Everyone at the office had to look at my US passport as it was the first new style US passport they had ever seen. They commented about the security RFID chip as well as how each page was very pretty and colorful. People were coming out of the woodwork to see this passport, as the Brazilian passport was recently updated, just this year, to resemble the complexity and security of our old style passports.
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 18 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 18 days
Enzo @ 8 days News posted by Laura at 5:13 PM | Comment
Mommy at the Pool
I went up to the pool with the girls for the first time in a while. Chris wasn't able to go up, so I told them I'd take them, but reminded them that they'd only be able to go in the small pool and that they'd have to do some calmer swim practice than they've been doing. Enzo was just waking up when we were getting ready to go up and he was ready to eat when we got up there - this is his first trip to the roof. It was pretty windy, as well as overcast, but the girls' towels came in handy to protect Enzo. Once Enzo was all done eating and the girls were shivering, I figured we'd been up there long enough. We went into the game room area so that I could change Enzo's diaper, Abby was very nice to lend me her towel to lie him down on, and then we went back down to get the girls a warm shower.
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 18 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 18 days
Enzo @ 8 days News posted by Laura at 4:50 PM | Comment
October 1st 2008
Bad days to bank
I walked to the bank today to pay for Enzo's Brazilian passport, for the application I submitted online and the bill printed out. It was R$156.07 = US$81.26 at the current exchange rate. The line was very long and slow moving. I counted the seconds for 5 or so teller transactions. On average it took more than 4 minutes per person to be processed and the next person attended to, which I can't understand because my simple payment took less than a minute. Maybe they are paying more than one bill at a time, as I saw many people with stacks of bills and wads of cash. There are also many people watching and observing who has money, who is making payments and such, there is little to no privacy. Apparently everyone does all of their banking and bill paying on the last 2 days of the month until the first 2 days of the month. They close the bank at 4 PM in order to finish the line before 5 PM. I waited in line for more than 1 hour, from 3:20 until 4:36 which was stamped on my receipt. There were only 38 people in front of me, thus my average of 4 minutes per person (there were 2 tellers). I am not sure why this process exists as such. If Brazilians do this once a month for a whole year, they waste 12+ hours a year standing in line to pay bills at the bank. Oi! Doesn't sound like an efficient use of time, or at least my time.
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 17 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 17 days
Enzo @ 7 days News posted by christopher at 4:32 PM | Comments ( 1 )
Comments:
You are a spoiled American!!
First Week
Enzo is a week old now and things are already becomming more normal. There are still some kinks with the whole sleeping and eating times, but he really does pretty well. If I don't nap during the afternoon when Enzo is, then I find myself quite tired as well as having a short fuse with the girls, but as long as I make myself take at least 20 minutes, that helps a lot. I'm trying to work towards a point where I can get more done in the breaks of feeding, and I'm sure as Enzo gets to a point where he's more content during his awake time this will be able to happen.
As far as sleeping goes, most of the time Enzo actually does really well. He does a couple of big naps during the day, and we try to get to have him have a couple of 'up times' of maybe an hour after these. During the night he usually has a late night feeding and then sleeps for a couple of hours, then a middle of the night feeding and sleeps for a couple more hours and then an early morning feeding. Most of the time his actual sleep time is around two hours, but sometimes it stretches to even three hours. Usually after the early morning feeding, around 5:00 or 6:00, I am up for good since the girls wake up towards the end of these and so I just stay up to get them a little something to eat and begin the day.
Nursing is going well, with the typical ups and downs. The latching didn't start so great, and I'm still feeling the pain from that, but the past couple of days we've been getting a better handle on that part of it. Many times he nurses for 10 minutes on each side, sometimes he'll go around 20 minutes each, and then there are times when he goes for a normal amount of time and then wants to eat all over again soon after. This happens after he's had an awake time, even though it's only been maybe and hour since he finished eating, he'll want to nurse and go to sleep. I'm thankful that I'm not having any issues that would make me have to pump at this point.
As far as sleeping goes, most of the time Enzo actually does really well. He does a couple of big naps during the day, and we try to get to have him have a couple of 'up times' of maybe an hour after these. During the night he usually has a late night feeding and then sleeps for a couple of hours, then a middle of the night feeding and sleeps for a couple more hours and then an early morning feeding. Most of the time his actual sleep time is around two hours, but sometimes it stretches to even three hours. Usually after the early morning feeding, around 5:00 or 6:00, I am up for good since the girls wake up towards the end of these and so I just stay up to get them a little something to eat and begin the day.
Nursing is going well, with the typical ups and downs. The latching didn't start so great, and I'm still feeling the pain from that, but the past couple of days we've been getting a better handle on that part of it. Many times he nurses for 10 minutes on each side, sometimes he'll go around 20 minutes each, and then there are times when he goes for a normal amount of time and then wants to eat all over again soon after. This happens after he's had an awake time, even though it's only been maybe and hour since he finished eating, he'll want to nurse and go to sleep. I'm thankful that I'm not having any issues that would make me have to pump at this point.
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 17 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 17 days
Enzo @ 7 days News posted by Laura at 8:45 AM | Comments ( 1 )
Comments:
Congratulations guys! I cannot beleive Enzo is already a WEEK old!
It must be hard doing it all without family near, but looks like you have some great friends!
September 30th 2008
Brazil's Population Increases by One
Enzo is officially a Brazilian. I was able to finish his registration today and obtain his official Brazilian birth certificate. Certified copies cost R$24 = US$12.52 each. I bought 2 extra copies to keep at home, just in case. It will cost much more to get a copy sent from here should we need it, so we are stocking up now. Does the population in America increase as well when he is registered at the consulate?
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 15 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 15 days
Enzo @ 6 days News posted by christopher at 5:12 PM | Comment
September 29th 2008
Late Night Hiper Bom Preço Shopping Trip
We were watching the US Dollar exchange rate, and wanted to pick up some items at the store at this great rate. The dollar closed at R$1.96 = US$1, and we know that stuff purchased with credit today, will be submitted to Visa tomorrow at that rate. So even though it was after 6:30 PM, we headed to Hiper for a "quick shop". Well, our shopping trips are anything but quick. The taxi there was great, it was only R$8 = US$4.09, and coming home was only R$9.40 = US$4.80. We spent more than 2 hours in this store. We couldn't find a baby seat cart, so Laura carried Enzo this whole time. While waiting for the taxi Enzo got slightly antsy, and Laura nursed him for the short ride to the store. He quickly calmed down and was perfect for the duration of the shop. Laura woke him when we got home to change his diaper. He fed and has been content since. Abby and Zoë did a great job staying up past their bed time, by almost 2 hours. They were well enough behaved to both pick out a small bag of chips R$0.98 = US$0.50 and a candy. We really stocked up, even though Laura was just at Hiper on Friday. Here are some of our observations and highlights (see photos).
Who knew TANG came is so many flavors, Graviola, Cajá, Morango (Strawberry), Tangerina, Limão (Lime/Lemon), and Maracujá (Passion Fruit). Each R$0.53 = US$0.27 packet makes 1 liter of TANG. I had to purchase all the flavors just to try them. In the US, it is hard to find any flavor other than the standard Orange. I looked on Wikipedia for the flavors of TANG, and there are 38 flavors of tang. Some of the most interesting combination in China, fruit tea, and milk mixer. I would love to try the mango, peach, pineapple, orange-pineapple, apple, grape, pear, blackberry, horchata, jamaica. I could not find a full flavors list anywhere. I might have to bring a suitcase full of these 6 flavors back to the US. At only US$0.25 per liter, it is a very inexpensive drink, with more vitamins than Soda, so why not give it a try. We bought 4 very small single serving size bags of Cheetos type of chips, each for R$0.98 = US$0.50. We were surprised to see Peter Pan peanut butter on the shelf. A small container which would cost under US$3 = R$6 was selling for R$18 = US$9 (three times the price at current exchange rates, was almost 4 times as expensive than in the US upon first arrival in Brazil). Next to it was imported Nutella from Italy, for R$5.84 = US$2.98. We bought a 2 liter container of ice-cream for R$12 = US$6.13. We bought a small 150ml container of Molho Ingles (English Sauce - Worcester Sauce) for R$1.97 = US$1. Crystallized Banana cubes for R$1.13 = US$0.58. We also bought some of that prepared chicken, plus a whole chicken, some fried fish, some ground beef, and some small steaks. Trying to get simple to prepare items for this coming week as we settle back into a routine. We found a golden pineapple for R$2.48 = US$1.26, which we hope will rival the ones we get at home for US$2.50 on sale. We bought tons of other items, and I have their circular if anyone is interested. We spent a total of R$231.79 = US$118.41. We got back around 9:17. I unpacked and got the girls a snack before bed. They went right out, absolutely exhausted.
Who knew TANG came is so many flavors, Graviola, Cajá, Morango (Strawberry), Tangerina, Limão (Lime/Lemon), and Maracujá (Passion Fruit). Each R$0.53 = US$0.27 packet makes 1 liter of TANG. I had to purchase all the flavors just to try them. In the US, it is hard to find any flavor other than the standard Orange. I looked on Wikipedia for the flavors of TANG, and there are 38 flavors of tang. Some of the most interesting combination in China, fruit tea, and milk mixer. I would love to try the mango, peach, pineapple, orange-pineapple, apple, grape, pear, blackberry, horchata, jamaica. I could not find a full flavors list anywhere. I might have to bring a suitcase full of these 6 flavors back to the US. At only US$0.25 per liter, it is a very inexpensive drink, with more vitamins than Soda, so why not give it a try. We bought 4 very small single serving size bags of Cheetos type of chips, each for R$0.98 = US$0.50. We were surprised to see Peter Pan peanut butter on the shelf. A small container which would cost under US$3 = R$6 was selling for R$18 = US$9 (three times the price at current exchange rates, was almost 4 times as expensive than in the US upon first arrival in Brazil). Next to it was imported Nutella from Italy, for R$5.84 = US$2.98. We bought a 2 liter container of ice-cream for R$12 = US$6.13. We bought a small 150ml container of Molho Ingles (English Sauce - Worcester Sauce) for R$1.97 = US$1. Crystallized Banana cubes for R$1.13 = US$0.58. We also bought some of that prepared chicken, plus a whole chicken, some fried fish, some ground beef, and some small steaks. Trying to get simple to prepare items for this coming week as we settle back into a routine. We found a golden pineapple for R$2.48 = US$1.26, which we hope will rival the ones we get at home for US$2.50 on sale. We bought tons of other items, and I have their circular if anyone is interested. We spent a total of R$231.79 = US$118.41. We got back around 9:17. I unpacked and got the girls a snack before bed. They went right out, absolutely exhausted.
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 15 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 15 days
Enzo @ 6 days News posted by christopher at 9:22 PM | Comments ( 2 )
Comments:
I love all the packaging of food items that you have posted. They all have pictures of what is in the bag or box! No question about what you're about to eat. I also think the script or font they use makes the words look exciting and delicious even if you don't know what the words mean.
We have already consumed the Passion Fruit (Maracujá) flavored TANG. It was incredibly good tasting, way better than the Ades soy juice drinks and more than 10 times cheaper. Laura picked the next flavor to try, Morango (Strawberry). It is also super. Soda here costs anywhere from R$1.48 = US$0.77 for the cheapest no name 2 liters to around R$3.50 = US$1.82. We bought a 3 liter of Coke on sale/promotion for R$3.50 = US$1.82. Factoring we pay R$3.50 = US$1.82 for 20 liters of water or R$0.175 = US$0.09 per liter, TANG is very inexpensive to drink. The total cost of a two liter worth of TANG would be about US$0.18 in water, and about US$0.50 for the TANG, totalling US$0.68, which is more than half the cost of the cheapest soda. We can't wait to try the rest of the flavors.
Another Pool Practice Morning
We had another good night and early morning behaviour from the girls. Daddy took them up to the pool for more swimming practice as a reward. Today at least the sun was out and brighter so the girls could enjoy 30 minutes of swimming before getting too cold. They returned and went directly to the showers to warm up.
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 14 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 14 days
Enzo @ 5 days News posted by Laura at 9:28 AM | Comments ( 1 )
Comments:
It was wonderful to see some pictures and even better to be able to watch the video.
What great swimmers you are
September 27th 2008
Laundry Frustrations
We have a washing machine in the apartment. They installed it new prior to our arrival. It seems like a fairly average model, and we could just be using it incorrectly. Yeah, I know, how on earth is THAT possible, but I at least give it the benefit of the doubt, but this thing makes our clothes dirtier not cleaner. We have to basically hand wash the items before placing them into the washer. The whole operation, on full mode takes forever, 3 cycles. They have two other settings, quicker mode, 2 cycles, and economic mode, 1 cycle. Then the rinse and spin. It is amazing how this unit functions. It does almost zero agitation. Combined with the hard water, the soap doesn't really do much of anything. The best is the lint and particle collector, hardly worth mentioning. You can tell that not a single German was involved with the design and operation of this machine. Sand, forget about it. If you put anything in there with sand, it will be all over all of your clothes. We shake everything out before hand, but the small amount of super fine sand is so light and almost floats, so it is left all over all the clothes and doesn't rinse down the drain. The drain, yeah, also a problem at each sink. The drain pipe is so tiny, that no large amount of water can drain quickly and efficiently, so after you pull your sandy clothes out of the washer, there is sand all over the inside of the washer. I usually dump water in there for hours on end to get the rest of the sand out for the second washing of the same clothes. Best is that the third time is a charm, well not really, but we usually figure that it is as clean as it will get. Things like towels or sheets are so heavy in the unit, that they come out just as you put them in. Not agitated, not turned, not moved, just wet, and usually dirtier than when they entered. I think we will investigate sending the laundry out, at least for the towels and sheets. We will have to figure out the costs and how that process works though. Our clothes washer seems to handle small items well, like girls shirts, shorts and underwear. Larger items like my shorts, underwear and t-shirts, it is hit or miss if they are clean afterward, but they will no doubt be covered in lint. Which you would normally not notice if you had a clothes dryer that would collect all that link, but here, we can only line/rack dry. Aren't there any Germans in Brazil? I know there must be. Aren't German engineered products sold here? I am sure they are, I see VW cars all over the place, and nice ones too. Be on the look out for my post about there must not be Italians in Brazil, despite Brazil having the second largest Italian population out of Italy.
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 12 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 12 days
Enzo @ 3 days News posted by christopher at 5:00 PM | Comments ( 2 )
Comments:
You are too funny, I am sorry for all the headaches lately! Soon enough you'll be able to clean at home and dry downtown again! Im sure that will be a pleasure. Can't wait for the new Post rant! DO ITALIANS REALLY EXSIST IN BRAZIL.... ?? Stay tuned! Love you!
Chris, Laura and Girls - Congratulations!!! Enzo is georgous. Can't wait to meet him. Love You All
September 26th 2008
Enzo not yet Registered
Raissa stopped by this morning, and we tried again to register Enzo at another cartório. This is the registrar where the translation lady told us to go, but was closed yesterday when we arrived. The translation lady, who is also an attorney, told us that they should not need this translated, and we should be all set. When we arrived and waited our turn, there were many questions and calls to others on how this could happen, and what we would need to do. They are still telling me that we need to get our marriage certificate translated and legalized in Brazil before we can register the birth. We have a number of someone else to call, but they aren't immediately available. Next week we can speak to someone else who might also have a different answer, but I am not sure I want to wait a week for this process. The translation and legalization of the marriage certificate will cost R$150 = US$81.57. It is absolute crazy, as we already have Enzo, and he is outside the system. In the US, you can't take your baby home from the hospital before this process is submitted. I guess the baby could have been home born, and kept out of the system, but I am not sure of the benefits in doing so. Here in Brazil, it is also the law, you are obligated to register your baby. They just aren't making it easy for me to do so. We need to get these birth certificates, and the Brazilian passport, and also start the process of getting the birth registered with the US consulate in Recife, which takes 3 plus weeks.
Abby @ 4 years, 9 months, 11 days
Zoë @ 4 years, 9 months, 11 days
Enzo @ 2 days News posted by christopher at 10:50 AM | Comment
