Fitness, Buddha, and Mexican

I've been feeling like I need to not only update my blog, but to write more about my daily or weekly activities in this city - to give insight into my life in Brasilia. People always enjoy "seeing" the city where you live through your eyes and not what the travel books and/or Wikipedia write about a particular destination is like. I receive a lot of comments on Facebook whenever I take pictures like these. I'm going to try and add a more personal touch to my posts, as well as pictures that I've taken. I'll start with this post, with this weekend.


Yesterday morning E and I went to Brasilia Capital Fitness at the Convention Center in downtown Brasilia so that E could check out the "fitness scene" in the city and try to get some free samples. We really didn't succeed at either objective. This event was planned, as far as I could tell, to promote local gyms; to sell fitness equipment, workout clothes, supplements, books, and anything related to working out. There were also classes that you could participate in (or "try out" I'd say). These included spinning, a kind of step aerobics, kickboxing, and there were treadmills with people running (maybe some kind of competition?).  They did look like fun, especially the kickboxing class, but I was not dressed for the occasion and I wouldn't have felt comfortable joining by myself. The day before I had gone to a local gym in my neighborhood to get information about joining so I'm preparing to return to working out (and am happy about it). So I was kind of in the fitness mood when we went to the even yesterday.


One thing I noticed were the women's clothes. There was not ONE woman who was NOT wearing tight (in most cases FUGLY) work out pants. I'm talking spandex. And on top of that, most of them wore the 80s type scrunchy socks, but in this case (in this city) they pull them up to their knees. Very very 80s. And when I talk about the colors on the spandex pants, I mean, really ugly patterns with loud colors. Some women even had one piece workout body suits on, with cleavages and camel toes to boot. Holy culture shock! 

E wasn't impressed with the event and found the price of all of the protein supplements to be outrageous because frankly, they were. We ended up just walking around and around the arena until he decided that he wanted to try out "rock climbing". A local company had brought a "wall" with them and anyone was welcome to scale it. Although it wasn't challenging to him, E climbed up since he has ants in his pants and enjoys any physical activity. 

Neither of us was sad to leave this event.


Later on in the evening, after a relaxing afternoon at home, we went to the Buddha Temple in Asa Sul. There was a kind of festival happening there (a few weekends in a row?) where there was food, music, shops, games, music for teenagers, and the temple was open so that we could visit and get a taste of Japan and the Buddhist religion. We went with a few of my co-workers. We waited in a long time to pay for our food, then another long line to pick up our food and drinks, and then we sat down next to the temple and enjoyed our food. I'd never eaten caramel bananas before but man was it delicious (not sure if that's Japanese food) and E and I shared a Yakisoba that was good. We bought some homemade soaps at one of the shops; one was made of maracuja (passion fruit) and smells delicious. In fact, the bathroom is starting to smell the same way so it's great. It was fun to do something different and to support the Japanese community in Brasilia.

Finally, to end my weekend, I had a very Brazilian breakfast with maracuja juice this morning, worked on lesson plans and organized myself for school tomorrow, and then had lunch with some of my co-workers at a nearby restaurant called El Paso. It was pretty good. I had to say that I wasn't expecting it to be very Mexican, but it was pretty close, especially with the decor and the Spanish background music. It was nice to sit back and relax, talk, and eat something different. The food was delicious, too.


Overall it was a good weekend. I got to try visit new places, try different food, and hang out with friends. Next weekend is the garbage pickup in the city and the following weekend we're going out of town to Goias so there's a lot to look forward to.

Updates

College re-opened, I am back to hostel. Finally, in FINAL year, a super senior, feels good. Tho, I enjoy being at home, being back in hostel, feels different. Here I have a another identity then just a daughter and sister. It's just a year left, I've no idea what I want to do next. But, I am pretty sure gonna miss this place, the silent echoing corridors, long walks from the gate, everything. Even though this year barely started, they say you never realise how final year passes away and everything comes to an end. And nothing remains the same ever. Hmmm...
Last month, I did realised that its true when they say, you make real friends in college, and those are the one's who will last through out your life. Yes, I would like to believe, I finally know who my friends are, and I am pretty sure, they will be there for me through out the life. Touchwood.
There is a busy month ahead, lot of things to be figured out, lot of decisions to be taken.
Will keep you updated :)
Till then wish me luck!
And yeah I know I haven't been writing regularly, now that I am back to normal life, I will try my best to do so.
Lots of love :)

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Libras - Brazilian sign language

Anyone who knows me or reads my blog knows that I have wanted to be a translator for many years - whether it be ASL (American sign language) or Spanish/English or Portuguese/English. I love languages, I love being able to communicate with people who are from different cultures/backgrounds, and who speak other tongues. Hence, my place in an international school in Brazil.
Speaking of my new job at the school, I have learned that there are a number of hearing-impaired staff at the school. One woman in particular reminds me a bit of a good friend's sister so I immediately liked her. She works in the library.Today I wrote to her on a piece of paper that I want to learn sign language from Brazil (I was told years ago that sign language not only differs by language, but by country) and that I know ASL. She told me that it's called libras (sign language) in Portuguese and we compared the alphabet that I know with the one she knows. I was also able to understand most of her gestures and she even taught me the sign for "friend".

I'm relieved to find out that the two alphabets do not differ much, and when they do it makes sense to me. For instance, the symbol for the letter "t" in ASL means a woman's intimate body part in Brazil, so that letter is different. The same goes for the letter "f" which is a derrogatory symbol in Brazil. The "m",  "n", and "g" are slightly different, but it's easy to learn. Soon my ASL alphabet will be replaced with a Brazilian sign language alphabet - much like how Portuguese replaced Spanish in my head.

This is what I found on-line while my co-worker was standing next to me - so she approved. If you know ASL you'll see that it's not all that different.

I believe that my co-worker will be a good teacher (to me) and she seems patient, so I'm grateful and will be trying to learn as much BSL (Brazilian sign language) as possible. She also pointed out another deaf staff member and I briefly met another one on accident; I realized when she didn't respond to me that it was because she couldn't hear me. She could read lips very well, though. I think it's wonderful how my school has hired so many hearing-impaired people, and how the hearing staff can communicate well with them. In the work place there seems to be little to no disparity between those hearing and those impaired. 

I'm so happy to be able to learn a new language and be able to make new friends. It's even more amazing how the woman who works in the library, who I mentioned above, has learned English on top of libras and Portuguese. So she's trilingual. And she is quite knowledgable about ASL, too.

I am looking forward to all that I can learn in my new position. I know I haven't written too much (yet) about my life and work here in Brasilia but I will do so as soon as I have some down time. I got my schedule for the school year today and it looks really good.

I have met some fabulous people at the school and I'm now ready to meet the kids and am excited about the novels that they'll be reading this first quarter - Tuesdays with Morrie, 1984, and Of mice and men. Back to school it is...

How to weigh your luggage

I know I've mentioned previously that it's a good idea to take your luggage to a FedEx or other location that has large scales in order to weigh your bags before getting to the airport. I learned the hard way by trying to put 70 lb, HUGE, bulky bags on a small scale designed for people that it doesn't work very well. Um, yeah, it's pointless. Well, not completely a waste since I was successful in weighing our two smaller bags. The rest of them we took to our local grocery store (Publix); E made two trips and we got a general idea of how much each bag weighed. 


The only problem with making trips back and forth to weigh your bags is that once you get home you do a lot of rearranging. You remember that one bag was two pounds over and another was three over, but you have no idea how to exactly make them even without dragging them to the store to weigh them again. That is, until I discovered this....thanks to our friends/neighbors who had just bought a brand new Digital Luggage Scale. Our friend was over and she mentioned that her in-laws had purchased a handheld scale and that it can hold up to 88 lbs; she offered to lend it to us so we didn't have to go to the airport without a good understanding of how much our bags really weigh. Simple, small, and easy to use.

The scale that we used doesn't look exactly like this but it does the job, and you can change the unit from pounds to kilos to grams to ounces. All you have to do is place the bag upright on the floor near a staircase and stand on the (approximately) the third step up. Hook the luggage onto the scale and lift (and I mean lift because remember some of these bags weigh in at 75 lbs) and wait for the scale to give you the correct weight of the bag. I don't suggest doing this unless you're strong or want a hernia, so be careful. Luckily I live with a professional athlete. We were easily, and quickly, able to shift weight and volume among the 3-4 bags that we have that were a bit overweight, once we knew their correct weight. Turns out we actually have about an extra 5 lbs to spare overall. That's amazing news because I was worried about that.  


I feel a hug sense of relief, because we all know how stressful this move has been for me (well, for anyone). So we have almost 560 lbs of luggage - and that doesn't count our carry-ons. I'm not worrying about the weight on those because my carry-on luggage has never been weighed before and I'm going to avoid that at all costs. I know that the cat can only be 10 kg (about 20 lbs) including his carrier but we're safe there. What's left to do then? Finish cleaning the apartment, take a trip to the local GoodWill, pack our carry-ons, and meet friends for dinner.

My first stops in Brasilia

With only a couple days left before we leave, I'm already making plans about what we need to do once we arrive in Brasilia. My employer sent us an e-mail outlining the plans they have to pick us up from the airport, take us to our furnished apartment, lunches and dinners with administrators throughout the week, sightseeing plans over the weekend, etc. They are very organized and have planned everything for us for our arrival. 


In addition, we've made plans to visit with friends during our first week there. A good friend of a good friend of ours has gladly volunteered to take us to where we need to go, show us around the city, and even help us unpack our suitcases. She's so kind. I can already feel the warmth and welcome of the Brazilian people. And to add to this, a VERY good friend of mine from Amazonas will be in Brasilia for work the week we arrive so I'm extremely excited to be able to catch up with her. I miss her greatly. 


But we'll also need to REST, settle in to the apartment, make the cat comfortable, unpack, and of course explore. We'll also have to make a few stops within the first couple of days in our new city to make sure we have what we need at home and to get me ready to live in a foreign country. These are....

Just another Thursday: July 7th

Outside my window.. it's hot and humid and sunny

Today I feel.. tired, overwhelmed, but content

I am thankful.. for good friends. In particular (today), for Zack, Emily, Aliah, Stephanie, Jelis, and Paolo

Tomorrow I am going.. to have a Greek lunch with a friend, a Japanese dinner with friends, and then to party on the last Friday that I'm in Orlando at Siberian Nights with a Brazilian DJ (from Manaus!)

I am wearing.. yoga pants and a tank top (I've packed all of my good stuff)

I wish.. that my 8th suitcase won't exceed 70 lbs and that the airline will look away if E decides to take a BIG bag as his personal item

This weekend.. will be my last in the States (for awhile)

I am reading.. "1984", "Committed", and will soon be reading "Of Mice and Men"

I am working on.. packing and moving to Brazil

Yesterday I.. cleaned the house, threw away garbage, donated food and other items to our friends, made arrangements to sell our car, read, and packed

I am hoping.. for a smooth trip to Brazil with NO issues (please, please)

I am hearing.. E's techno music and a knock on the door. My shoes arrived!

I bet you don’t know.. that I'm about to go out and get a pedicure

One of my favorite.. things to do lately is sleep :)

I don't want to clean

I don't really feel like doing anything but moving already. I'm ready to go. When it came to deciding when we'd travel, it wasn't too difficult to choose a date since my contract begins on July 15th. I was out of school in the beginning of June and E could quit any time. I knew that we would need some time to get everything together and I wanted to stay for the 4th of July, so initially this week was when we were going to depart. However, I started to freak out a bit (for lack of a better word), as school was coming to a close, with all the errands/chores we need to do before leaving, so our tickets were bought for next week. We have until next week in the country.


Maybe one more week is the perfect amount of time. I mean, we are mostly packed, even with the set back of having to buy another piece of luggage, and most of our closets and cabinets have been cleaned out at this time. We gave away dishes, a crock pot, a blender, a clock, etc. to friends and even our maintenance man this weekend. The cat has been taken care of (with the exception of our trip to the USDA, but that'll be done in 2 days). So should we be ready? Yes, and I'd say we almost are. We have everything lined up with how we're taking all of our luggage to the airport (thanks to amazing friends!) so there's not much left to finish.


We've said goodbye to my family and most of our friends that we don't see on a regular basis. (That's the hard part I choose not to think about too much). So what is left to do? Oh yeah, clean. Our shopping is done. We're not working. We have to clean. We have to scrub down this apartment before we move out. I have some more papers to organize and then we have to throw away shower curtains and donate bed sheets. Then we have to clean. Clean. Clean. I'm not a lazy person, but cleaning is no fun. However, it's got to be done. Since I don't want to spend my last couple of days in the country cleaning, guess what's on the agenda for today? Breakfast and cleaning out our bedroom closet. At least once the hangers are all taken out and the few shirts hanging up there, I can clean it, vacuum the rug and close it up for good.


I also need to tackle the rest of the kitchen cabinets, the corners of every room, the ceiling fans, and anywhere the cat has been recently. The vet told me yesterday that I'm very organized and it was nice to hear, but it's true because I have to be. Now don't think I'm doing this all on my own. No way. E is helping with everything. He's good with tackling projects that need to be finished; it just can be kind of tough when you know you can't clean out everything because you still need to live here for another week. ......alright, alright, enough writing....time to get back to work. I don't want to clean, but there's nothing else to do.

An extended weekend in New York

These last few days in New York have been absolutely wonderful, a bit hectic (as in busy and crazy), and for sure special to me. This was our final trip to New York state before moving overseas to Brazil and we all knew it. My best friends showed up to hang out and for a party, my grandparents and aunts and uncle came in from out of town, cousins I hadn't seen in ages were at my parents' house for dinner, and we traveled a lot in just a few days. I took advantage of every minute I had with them all.

We left Orlando early Thursday morning, which means that we hadn't slept much and so dropping off our car at airport parking, checking in, and waiting to board were no fun; however, our flights were on time and we arrived early for our layover and our final destination. There was no turbulence and we both slept a little, even if it wasn't comfortable. Once we arrived, we were greeted by my smiling nieces, older sister, and stepdad. I was impressed by how green upstate New York is as a result of all the rain, and the weather was perfect. I was so glad to be home!


Our first day was spent in the company of my parents and two sisters and two nieces. We caught up, had lunch, ran to the bank to open up an account with HSBC since this bank has branches in Brasilia, and then we finally took a 3.5 hour nap after not really sleeping since the night before. That night we met up with friends. I love the first night of sleeping in my parents' house.


While in upstate New York we took a day trip to a state park in a small, quaint town located on Seneca Lake called Watkins Glen. With my young nieces in tow, we walked a 1.5-mile long Gorge Trail. And then we walked back down after reaching the top and resting. The stairs winded up along the cliff, behind waterfalls, and into the shade of gorgeously green trees. We hiked, took pictures, and enjoyed our time talking and walking together. Once we had made it down the "mountain" we hiked over to a local Italian restaurant for pizza. 

That evening, exhausted and with aching legs, E and I went to my best friend's house for a get together with some of my closest friends from high school and college - those that were in town. We chatted it up, drank some wine, and remembered "the good ol' times". Oh, and I laughed like I hadn't in years. E had to drag me home eventually because we had reservations on a bus to take us to New York City the next morning.


Up and at 'em the next day we were. We had breakfast and grabbed the muffins my mom had made so we had something to snack on during the bus ride if we wanted to. We had a fun filled day in Manhattan, packed with sightseeing and walking; the weather was ideal and the company couldn't have been better. E and I went to NYC with our friends Stephanie & O. We started off the day with a trip to Madame Tussaud's wax museum, went to Katz's Deli for lunch, spent some time downtown - shopping, eating, and pushing through the crowds. We also went sightseeing at The Met, the NY Public Library, Chinatown, Times Square, and ended our night at an outside restaurant in Bryant Park. Again, it was amazing how everything was so perfect. 

Salvador Dali

Janis Joplin

Pele

Lenny Kravitz

At Katz's Deli

The Metropolitan Museum

Our final days in New York were spent with family. We BBQ'd and spent valuable time with each other....catching up, taking pictures, eating my parents' delicious lunches, and watching the boys play soccer. That Sunday night my older sister camped out with her daughters in their tent (her husband had to go back home because he had to work the next day) while my youngest sister and I slept in her tent. Camping was fun despite the concerns I had. Yesterday we rode the carousel since my oldest niece kept asking to see the "horsies". Too cute. We also went shopping; can't forget the final items of clothing and small souvenirs.


Overall my extended weekend was unforgettable and I'm grateful to my parents and family and friends for making it all happen. THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts. We love you.


and E