Abby, Zoë and Enzo

Our taxi dropped us off right in front of the restaurant for R$9 = US$5.50.  We didn't see Raissa and her sister Renata, so we started to go inside to meet the others.  Raissa and Renata showed up immediately after we stepped inside, their cab must have behind ours.  We met many people.  The girls got lollipops from David, and enjoyed playing cards.  We ordered two 500ml bottles of water for R$2.00 = US$1.20 each, a small square piece of pizza with green olives and salami for R$6 = US$3.65, and one appetizer of sliced meat with onions and french fries R$21 = US$12.80.  Total R$31.80 = US$19.37.  The turn out was large, around 120 people attended.  I got to speak to the Minister of Tourism for the city, and mentioned the lack of bus information.  I hope he takes me up on my offer to rectify the situation.

After the meet up, we walked with Raissa and Renata to the ice cream shop.  We got four cones of one scoop for R$1.80 = US$1.10 each.  Abby got strawberry, Zoë tried the Napolitano (strawberry, vanilla, chocolate), Laura tried the chocolate, and I tried something we don't have available at home, the Maracujá (Passion Fruit).  I think mine was the best of the bunch.  We left and walked the remaining blocks back to the apartment along the beach.  It was high tide and very beautiful.  The climate and the ocean never cease to captivate and amaze us.

You may think I'm going to write about getting the girls up, the breakfast routine, the showering and dressing routine, but no... it's the sweeping routine.  Every single morning either Chris or I have to spend a while sweeping the apartment because it looks like we haven't done it since we arrived.  Don't get me wrong, I like having tile, having white tile is another story.  It's not just because it's white that we have to sweep so often, though it does make things more noticable for sure.  We are baffled as to where the amount of dust and such comes from that we sweep up every morning.  Even the two days it rained and we stayed inside, hence not tracking in any dirt or sand, there was still enough to fill up the dustpan both days.  There's only 750 square feet, but it still takes a good 45 minutes to get everything swept up... longer if someone opens the balcony doors because then everything gets blown away.

There's something we've been seeing advertised for a while now called McDia Feliz, and at first we couldn't figure out what it was all about.  We knew whatever it was, that it was a huge deal around here.  Apparently one day a year, today being the day this year, in all of the McDonald's in Brazil beginning at noon they encourage people to go in and buy a big mac (here when they say it it sounds like biggie mackey).  There was a bunch of hoopla and on the news throughout the day we saw clips of the local McDonald's with all of these tents set up and lines of people and everyone getting big macs and other things.  It's for a good cause, however.  All of the proceeds from the big mac purchases go to the children's cancer hospital.  We decided not to participate, but seemed like maybe the only ones who didn't.

Instead, the girls and I went down to the park in the afternoon, once the sun was in a good position for there to be shady areas to play in.  We were down there for a while and finally came back up to the apartment.  Once we got inside and were washing hands, I realized that we hadn't brought Zoë's bracelet back up with us.  While playing in the park it had come untied and she'd left it with me on the bench.  These are the bracelets that Nonno Ernie got for them while here and she was quite upset at the prospect of it being gone forever.  I really didn't want to go back down and look for it, but finally I gave in and went down.  Before going I explained to Zoë that with the wind and the kids playing down there, that the bracelet may not be there.  I quickly walked back to where we were and saw that it wasn't on the bench.  I looked around the bench however and did find it on the ground, much to Zoë's delight.

Besides there being different fruits all together, even the fruits that we're used to are different.  The two that seem to have to most differences that come to mind right off the bat are Bananas and Pineapples.

There are many different types of bananas, unlike in the US where we just have one type.  The bananas are smaller here.  The type we've been getting are Prata bananas, they also have an apple banana variety and some others that we haven't tried.  We have to make sure we buy them completely green because in a day, maybe two, they are all ripe.  Everything spoils so much quicker here.

Pineapples are more cone shaped, not cylindrical like we get in the US.  They are also smaller and not as sweet.  They have a paler flesh, more white than the golden yellow color.  The cost is $R1.50, which equals US$1.00

The land lady came over today shorty after lunch.  We had lunched and napped the girls early so they would be out of the way.  We waited for about an hour and then the new phone specialist showed up.  He tested the phone, tested the line, and could not find a problem.  So she called the first specialist again to check out the DSL line.  I had told her I think the DSL filter is bad, and now this specialist, who arrived at 6 PM confirmed it.  He doesn't sell or have any DSL filters, or a known good one to test against, so we don't have the phone plugged in at all, until we get a DSL filter.  Hopefully we can find a DSL filter somewhere and buy one, for which they will reimburse us for.

With the land lady here, we didn't want to prepare dinner again, so I offered to stand in the rain at the stand temporarily set up in the park for the fair for some tapiocas.  I took Abby down with me and it was only misting now, and we browsed under the tents at the DVDs, R$5 = US$3 and the gadgets/gizmos and clothes.  We ordered 4 tapiocas, two mista (ham/cheese/coconut), 1 coconut, cheese and banana, and one coconut and cheese.  The land lady wanted a banana and cheese, which I didn't see without the coconut, so I got those four, dropped Abby back off and took Zoë down.  It started to rain really hard, so I turned Zoë around, went in the hard rain myself to wait for the land lady's dinner.  I ended up getting her the coconut, cheese and banana for R$1.50 = US$1.  These tapiocas are a strange thing.  It is a gummy mixture that is cooked and folded in half like a taco, with the toppings melted inside the fold.  It is about 1/8 - 1/4 of an inch think before being folded in half.  The texture is almost like a gummy bear inside.  The outside is dry and not too sticky.  They are tasty inexpensive treats that are good in a pinch.

With the land lady's visit today, I am reminded that the rent is coming due on the first of September.  I took a cab to the ATM, and tried to do my multiple withdrawls.  The only ATM that works for me, only had R$830 available in the machine.  My rent due is R$1400.  The land lady suggested that I get as much as possible today, and then try again at a later date.  I can't believe I tapped out an ATM.  I don't use ATMs regularly so I don't know if it is a common event to clean out all the cash or not, but it was a first for me.

As not to let the R$10 = US$7 round trip cab fare go to waste, I decided to purchase a few items we were running low on.  30 medium eggs for R$10 = US$7, one loaf of french bread R$2.00 = US$1.20, 1 small round chocolate cake for Laura R$5 = US$3, and some prata bananas.

Abby and Zoë have done pretty well today behavior wise and really, really wanted tapioca's.  We saw the guy setting up earlier than normal, on our way back from the park, but I really didn't want to go.  Chris and I kept willing each other to go, but made egg sandwiches for dinner and then sat with the girls to watch a movie.  After the movie was over, Chris finally talked me in to going down.  There was only one person waiting for their tapioca when Chris checked out the balcony before I left, so he figured I'd be back before the girls were in bed. ;)  When I got down there, there was a guy who was just about to get his tapioca, a girl waiting for hers, and a car parked right there also waiting for their order.  It didn't take too long for my turn this time around though, so I asked the guy which were sweet and chose two.  I chose one with coconut and cheese, and one with goioba jelly and cheese (romeo and juliet)... always with the cheese around here.  I think I was only gone half an hour this time and everyone had done well so we all got to share some tapioca for snack.

The girls and I ventured down to the park again today, but we waited until the afternoon so that the sun wasn't so strong and there were more shady spots in the park.  This morning we had went up to the roof, not to swim but to play in their game room area just doing some hopping and general running off of energy... Abby and Zoë's, not mine - taking the elevator up ran off all the energy I have these days :) . 

We got down to the park and the girls asked me to make a hop scotch for them, so I tried in the dirt with my foot, but it wasn't coming out so well.  As we were looking for a stick, a couple of boys ran over and started jabbering to us.  One was younger, three we found out later, and the other was probably six.  I tried telling the older of the two that we didn't understand and didn't speak Portuguese, but he didn't seem to get that.  Meanwhile the younger boy was going on and on about a game he had in his hand.  I found the stick and began drawing the hop scotch, saying the numbers out in Portuguese, and then had the girls try and show the boys how the game worked.  The mother or caretaker, whomever she was, of the boys came over and sat on the bench next to me while the kids ran around drawing pictures in the dirt with sticks, and tried to spark a conversation with me.  I got a couple of the questions, but then someone else came along and she chatted with her instead, oh well.  After a while the boys began playing with the two other kids that had arrived, while Abby and Zoë wanted to play games in the grass.  Pretty soon another lady with a toddler came to the park and then another woman with a baby in a stroller. 

These women had both meandered to the edge of the (cement) futbol court, which Abby and Zoë were using for their starting off point for a race.  The woman with the baby had asked the girls their names, but they hadn't understood and took off racing. The woman then asked in English if the girls spoke Portuguese and I said they didn't.  We walked over to introduce ourselves and it turned out that the woman spoke very good English and was eager to practice... fine by me!  Her name is Simone, and her baby, Pedro Felipe, is three months old today.  She has another son, who is five and was at school.  Apparently she lived in California for a year some time ago, and had also been to New York for a visit a long time ago.  She said that if the weather was nice on Saturday she was planning to come to the park again, this time also with her other son and a ball so that he and the girls could all play together.

It's been a little while since we've had tapioca's and with the little market right down on the stree, there's also a guy doing tapioca's for R$1.00 to R$3.00 depending on what you choose.  I've been putting off having to go down and converse to order a tapioca, and also we've had some behavior and listening issues with the girls so they've been losing this treat.  Tonight I finally went ahead and went down to pick something at random and bring it back up to try.  It took forever!  Seriously I think I was gone an hour and it was literally right outside the apartment building, Chris could see me from the balcony.  There were a couple of people in front of me and they each had fairly large orders, like five plus tapioca's a piece... the guy had three little burners going.  Just before it was going to be my turn to order, a girl went around the back of the little stand and put in her order of five tapioca's.  I guess her mother, who was waiting in the car, was in a hurry.  I finally got a turn and ordered my one little tapioca. (I wasn't waiting longer for more at this point)  I had picked charque, no idea what that is but whatever it was, he was out of the filling.  I chose mista instead and headed on back up to the apartment. 

By the time I got back, the girls had done such a poor job of waiting and listening to Daddy that they'd lost their treat.  Chris and I were pleasantly surprised to find that I'd chosen one with meat, albeit one rectangle slice, but it ended up being a tasty little ham and cheese sandwhich of sorts, especially when Chris added some mustard.

Today Irene stopped by on her way to Hiper and picked us up to tag along.  We weren't in dire need of a shopping trip, but we thought we'd better take the opportunity to be able to stock up on some things without having to carry the heavy stuff back ourselves.  Also, I thought it would be a good time to look at baby stuff with Irene, since last time I looked there were things that I didn't quite understand.

Chris and I both paid attention to what Irene put in her cart and asked questions about everything, from how to prepare things, to what stuff was in the first place.  We put off buying diapers and nursing pads again, but did get wipes.  It was definitely helpful to go with Irene, and especially nice to be able to not only have a lift to and from, but a lift for the groceries as well!

Wal-mart owns Hiper Bom Preço (Hyper Good Price), but I don't think their slogans are the same.  I don't see any prices being rolled back here in Brazil.  It is actually quite the opposite.  Wal-mart isn't known for quality goods in the US, nor is it here.  The goods seem to all be sourced from the same place, mostly China.  Unfortunately here, almost every single item is more expensive than the Wal-mart in the US.  Why is this?  Doesn't Wal-mart globally have the purchasing power to effectively standardize their prices across all stores, regardless of country?  It seems that they can charge more, for the same or less quality goods here than they can in the US.  It seems contradictory, as they earn less here, are taxed 17% on purchases, and the prices are higher for the same goods.  It can't all be explained as importation and logistics of goods in shipping containers from China.  I am shocked to see that 250g of Oatmeal costs R$2.08 = US$1.27.  The name brand product in the US would cost US$0.97, a difference of US$0.30 (33% more expensive).  We spend US$2.12 for a huge container of oats, lasts at least 1 month.  You also don't save money here buy purchasing the larger amount.  The larger 500g box of oats was R$4.38.  This holds true for all other items I noticed, cookies, rice, beans, everything.  If you buy two of the smaller packages, you are saving money by consuming more packaging.  I think it is because most Brazilians can not purchase so much at once, but 250g of oatmeal only almost 4 breakfasts for the girls, and if I am having any, just barely 3 breakfasts.  Butter without salt costs R$3.53 = US$2.16, with salt costs R$2.53 = US$1.55 for 200g (0.44 pounds).  At Shaws or Walmart, we get a pound of unsalted butter for around US$2.27.  Salted butter here costs US$3.51 per pound, unsalted butter US$4.90 per pound, 54% and 115% more expensive respectively than in the US.  Surely there are cows and dairy here, and we aren't getting the most expensive product here for the comparison, but the least expensive as I am too frugal.  Cheese here, I won't even detail, even the local soft cheese are more expensive pound for pound than our cheeses, and the imported cheeses like Cheddar, Gouda, Gorgonzola, Blue, Feta, Bree, etc...  are so expensive, that it would be cheaper to eat gold shavings.  There is a benefit to these prices, we are curtailing and limiting our dairy products.  We only use a small amount of butter for our pan when cooking eggs, and the girls are only have some liquid yogurt with fruit.  I have been buying rolls, which I toast up in the pan, and then place some Guava jelly or banana jelly and fry it again until the jelly is hot and runny. It is a tasty treat, and every time I make it for the girls, I think of their great grandfather Elio, and how he enjoyed jelly bread.  Eggs here are less expensive than at home, R$7.49 = US$4.57 for 30 eggs (US$0.15 per egg US$1.83 per dozen) versus the all natural omega 3 eggs at US$2.79 per dozen (US$0.23 per egg).  Comparable eggs without the omega 3's are about 40% less expensive than in the US.  Health and beauty items, like shampoo, skin care, and sunblock are outrageously expensive.  The middle range bottles of shampoo were US$20 and up, for a medium sized bottle, smaller than the US packaging.  Where we spent US$8.18 for 473 ml (16 oz US$0.0173 / ml) of No Ad sun block SPF 60, here 120ml of the cheapest stuff SPF 30, cost R$21.40 = US$13.06 (US$0.1088 / ml).  The same size product that we bought at home would have cost us more than US$50.  We buy 5 pounds of flour at home for US$1.88, here we bought 1 kg of flour for R$2.75 = US$1.69.  It is almost twice as expensive as in the US. 

Let me know if you want me to keep my eyes open for anything specific to compare.

It's surprisingly been a little while since we've been to the beach, since it's so close and all.  This afternoon we all walked down to enjoy some low tide fun.  Zoë was a bit dissapointed, as she'd wanted to go to the pool instead.  She still has some phobia at the beach here for some reason.  When we got there Abby couldn't get herself to the water quickly enough.  Zoë was trying to talk me into just going however far she wanted to go into the water.  Zoë also kept telling us that Abby was going out too far, when she'd go out and let the waves wash up to her belly.  At first I stood in the shallow water with Zoë, but even here she was grabbing on to Chris and I.  I went up and sat by our things while Chris stayed down with the girls in the water.  Zoë kept running back to me and complaining that Daddy wasn't standing shallow enough, and once told me that she was worried.  I explained to her that she didn't need to be worried, since Daddy and I wouldn't let her do anything dangerous.  Finally she saw how much fun Abby was having and began venturing out and playing in the waves.  After a while both girls were sitting down in the shallow water and laughing away when a wave would come.  I'm glad they both ended up having a great time.  Meanwhile I enjoyed sitting in the nice sand.  I commented to Chris that the sand was just like the really nice sandbox sand that you have to pay a lot of money to get.

We've mentioned before about the poor quality of toilet paper here, and the lack of 'flushable wipes' (not that it would matter since we're not to flush anything anyway).  Chris has also mentioned his solution of just getting a quick rinse off in the shower.  However, I've noticed a few places while out and about that beside the toilet is what looks exactly like the sprayer nozzle and hose that we're used to having at the kitchen sink.  Since I'm fairly certain that we're not meant to do the dishes at the toilet, I can only conclude that this is supposed to be used for the bottom. (Although it would improve our dish washing process at the crazily set up kitchen sink dramatically if we had one of these there too)  We have what seems to be a hook up beside the toilets here in the apartment, but unfortunately no sprayer.  If only I had known, I could've brought our nice new sink sprayer from home... we would've had the fanciest butt cleaner in Brazil.

This morning I took Abby and Zoë down to the park to run off some energy.  It was maybe half an hour after breakfast, which the girls devoured.  They each had an egg sandwich, some yogurt, and half a banana as well as some juice.  When we first got down there, I played 'mother may I' with them as requested and then they just wanted to run around a bit.  After that they wanted to do some different kinds of running and races and things and to pretend that they were racing in the olympics.  They always asked which of them won the gold medal.  They ran track, hurdles, long jump, did swimming and other odd things.  Every now and then Zoë would come over to me and say she needed to take a breather, so she'd sit with me for a moment before continuing.  After maybe half an hour, maybe, Zoë plopped her head down next to me and asked me to give her some shade, as the sun had come out from a cloud and was beginning to be strong.  She was whining and said she was ready to go back to the apartment so I gave Abby one more chance to do a run and then we walked back.

At the building, Zoë was really slow to walk up the steps to the entrance and once in the hallway she said she didn't feel well.  I took a look at her and asked if she was going to be sick and she said that she was just tired so I told her we'd get her some water and she could lie down.  Once in the elevator she just leaned against me and held my hand, then proceeded to throw up.  Her face grew instantly white, including her lips, which had absolutely no color.  Chris keeps telling me, "Well that's what happens when you throw up" but this was fairly extreme and she was lethargic all of the sudden.  It really made me nervous so I scooped her up in my arms and as soon as the elevator opened I instructed Abby to get to the door for Daddy to open up.  He helped me to get Zoë in a cool shower, where she sat on the floor for a bit and I got her some water to sip.  I was trying to figure out how to call down to the front desk to tell them that my daughter had been sick in the elevator, then just went to clean it myself but someone had already wiped up the mess.  Chris got a towel for Zoë and her and I lay in the bed together.  Abby came in and asked Zoë if she'd like a foot rub or a hand rub and said that she was giving Zoë 'the treatment'.

Pretty soon Zoë perked up and slowly got some food back in her and we hydrated her and took it easy the rest of the day, much to the dismay of both girls.  They wanted to go to the pool later on, they wanted to walk to ice cream, this that and the other.  Zoë is completely back to normal now, I think she just had some heat exhaustion coupled with a full tummy.

Abby and Zoë have been asking about Mrs. Yoga every time we do yoga.  Today the girls got a big surprise preparing for yoga up on the roof of the apartment building.  We had went up and found a spot mostly in the shade and I pointed out three squares of tile for each of the girls to have as their mats.  After they got situated I went around the corner and who should come out to do yoga with them but Mrs. Yoga!  Both Zoë and Abby couldn't share quickly enough about everything they've been doing for the past couple of weeks.  Then Zoë said to Mrs. Yoga, "Your belly is getting big.  It's bigger than the last time we saw you."  :)  After yoga the girls got to go have a swim in the pool with Mommy to cool off.

We met with an expat friend and his family today.  This is the same man that came by to help Chris file the police report.  After Abby and Zoë (and Daddy) were done napping, we gave them a call and Richard came to pick us up, as he didn't want us to have to take the bus.  Their house is pretty close by, and when we got there we heard his daughters running to hide.  We told him not to worry about it, that it was the same thing our girls would have done.  His wife, Irene greeted us and then we all went to see if we could get their two girls, Anabelle, who just turned 5, and Talita, who is 7, to come out of their shell.  Abby and Zoë had no problems going in to play with all the girly toys without Talita and Anabelle and after a while all of the girls began playing together.

We had a nice time chatting with Richard and Irene while all of the girls played, and pretty soon Talita had them out in the living room to watch Barbie and the 12 dancing princesses, so our girls were quite pleased about the visit.  When it was time to go, Zoë was the first to go right up and give both girls a hug good-bye.  Abby hid her face in my pants at first, but then went and gave hugs too.  They also invited them all to come play at our apartment sometime.

Yesterday afternoon we went down to talk with one of the doormen and asked some questions about how different things work in the area.  We brought our Portuguese-English dictionary and struggled our way through trying to have a conversation with him.  One of the things we asked about was Marmitas and how it all functions.  We know that people go to different marmitas restaurants for lunch and either eat there or have it brought to them, or they take it out themselves.  For having it delivered or taking it out yourself, you have to have these containers that all stack on top of each other and latch together.  We were still confused as to the whole process, so the doorman offered to meet us today and noon and go all together to the nearby marmitas place (we have a photo of it in one of the albums)  I'd write to you the doorman's name, but it was hard enough to understand and pronounce correctly when he was telling us, and now I can't exactly remember.  He's the youngest of the doormen, 23 years old and will turn 24 next month.

So, we got to the place and our doorman friend went up and brought back three pieces of paper and each of us (adults) were to check off some choices on this list.  It appeared that you were to choose between a couple of bean choices, then between a couple of rice choices, noodle choices, vegetable choices, and meat choices. We're still not entirely sure exactly what it was we ordered, but it was all tasty.  I checked off the following from my sheet: Feijão Mulatinho, Arroz Branco, Macarrão ao molho de cenoura, salada verde, and frango.  Chris checked off : Feijão preto ao alho, rosoto a grega, macarroão na manteiga, legumes, and frango.  Abby and Zoë shared eagerly, and probably drank most of the juice that came out too.

Zoë has become fond of telling us that she can't remember certain things about home.  Such as the house itself, or her toys or bed, or other things around town.  I'm not sure where she got this from, as I know that she hasn't actually forgotten where things are or what things look like, we haven't even been gone two weeks.  Nonetheless, pretty much daily, Zoë will tell us that she can't remember one thing or another.

This morning we walked down to the bus stop for a trip to the mall.  We caught some random bus number that had Manaíra shopping on the front, knowing it would get us close, as we had already waited ten minutes, and this was the first bus we spotted.  This was a nicer bus than usual, and cost 10 centavos more than the regular bus, so R$1.80 = $1.18.  We have come to the conclusion, that if you need to take more than one bus trip per day, a car would be a more economical solution, especially for more than one ticket cost.  Gas or Ethanol is expensive here, but for short trips of less than 1 or 2 miles, you could easily purchase a liter of fuel and have some left over.  Of course the upfront cost of the car, the continued maintenance and the insurance are factors to consider, but so is the safety and freedom a car provides, coming and going where and when you like.  We had hoped to not have a need/desire for costs and complexities of a car.  While the mass transit system is large an encompassing, the regularity isn't there, although there is a published time table, no published map/route information.  Buses that are supposed to be 10 - 15 minutes apart, catch up with one another during the route, so that all the buses come around the same time.  Stops are not marked, and unless you know exactly where you are going, and which would be the closest stop to get off at, or to catch the bus at, it is hit or miss.  It would not take much for the city to revamp the bus system, with marked stops with signs, available bus routes, color coded routes plotted on maps, and most importantly information for tourists, or even a monthly bus pass would be a huge help.  I had asked Laura's friend Raissa (born and raised in JP and uses the buses) about bus information, and she also could not find anything useful on their websites.  The tourist office also does not have much information, and nothing they can put into your hands.  You however can tell them where you want to go, and they can tell you which bus number would service that area, and also point on an artists rendering of the city map where you would catch that bus, and indicate where about it would drop you off, if you can recognize the stop and signal you want off should there be no one waiting to get on at that stop, obviously for a tourist, this is less than ideal or even pratical, and without enough language, next to impossible to navigate.  Ok, enough of my rant about the bus system. :(  On to the mall.

We arrived at the mall without incident, having made the trip once before, and been by the mall 4 times now, as the Hiper BomPreço route passes the mall.  The mall was less crowded this morning than on our previous trip.  The girls immediately went to the restroom, the rocket ship of a bus ride must ring out the liquid.  We first checked out Americanas Lojas, a cheaper discount store, for cameras.  There were one of the two "junkier make do" camera models we found on their website that were advertised as R$199.99 = US$125.  I don't want to purchase a nice camera here, as they are 2 - 4 times the cost of the same camera in the US.  I had resolved to spend the $125 on a junky no name camera to at least chronicle some of the things happening here, but upon arrival at the store, the tag was marked R$299.99.  I wasn't mentally prepared for $185 so we walked out of the store. US$185 was too much to pay before investing in a new SD card, batteries and such.  We walked all around the odd shaped mall, looking at each camera store.  I saw little digital cameras for almost US$800.  It was a US$200 - $US250 Olympus SW770 - 790, I can't remember the exact model, had I had my camera, I would have photographed it. :(  Memory cards, that sell for US$10 - US$20 on Amazon.com can run up to and beyond US$50, for the same exact product.  We walked the top and bottom floor of the mall, didn't see anything else cheaper than the Americanas Loja store, and decided to hold off.  Laura really wants to have some photos of the hospital, doctor and delivery, so I will have to grin and bare it eventually and purchase an overpriced junky camera.  The fact that there isn't very much variety and availability or accessibility of products is a concern.  Almost all stores, only had no more than 5 cameras to choose from, and between the 4 or 5 stores at the mall, no more than 15 different models to choose from.  It is like living in a world where only 15 cameras exist, your choices are limited severely. :( You are also unable to import into the country these goods without incurring a duty tax, which could cost as much as the product itself, if not more than the product + shipping costs, if the product would arrive at all depending on the post.  I am slowly coming to terms that I will be required to purchase a camera here that will cost more than the camera I want to purchase upon return to the US, and that these two cameras will be on opposite extremes of the spectrum. This thought makes me depressed.