Busy busy busy busy bee

I really enjoy blogging (although if you had asked me 1-2 years ago I would have adamantly answered "No way" to just the idea of creating a blog). However, I've really enjoyed these past few months of blogging ,and have just been so busy over the past week that I haven't been able to find the time, or energy, to focus on doing so. And I've missed it.

The real reason why I haven't written anything is probably because I'm tired of reading, studying, and writing for grad school, that I didn't have the strength to do it for fun here.

I even fell a bit behind at work, and just this morning made time to catch up. Graduate school and a full time teaching job (in a tough public school) would wipe anyone out. Even the strongest and most resilient of us.

As for everything and anything Brazil related, I have been working on that. I still need to pick up my visa from the consulate, but am working on figuring out a date to go sometime this month. I don't want to wait too long; plus, I'll feel better once the visa is in my passport.

As I noted last week, I have found the office where we can apply for our International Driver's Permits and I checked on the status of my CPF (the equivalency of our SSN?). Glad to say that my CPF is "regular" so no problems with that. I have also been made aware of how to change my surname on my CPF in Brazil, and how to register our marriage once we get there. Check. Check.

I have also organized some boxes (for the day when I eventually go to the post office to request about media mail), threw away more unwanted papers, and donated books and clothes. I've also contacted the interested buyers that have shown interest in one of our household items that I've advertised for on-line. I want to sell those so I can see more of what we're taking.

We've also been making decisions on banking options here and in Brazil. I'm grateful to my mom for allowing us to forward our mail to her and helping us out with the bank situation in the U.S.

And of course, we need to plan ahead on what needs to be taken care of once we arrive in Brasilia so we don't get too caught up in our move/arrival and forget the important details.

Some things to think of when you move to Brazil. This list refers to what I need to get done, but could be helpful to others:

1. As mentioned previously, register with the closest embassy/consulate. In our case, that'd be the American embassy in Brasilia. On a side note, I wonder if any of my students will be children of diplomats?

2. Register our marriage in Brazil

3. Change my name on my CPF

3. Visit the Federal Police in order to get my Brazilian identification (which I know could take months). It took me 4 months last time I lived in Brazil

4. Find a dentist. I have visited a dentist here and have made appointments for a cleaning and such, but I don't have much time left, and my dental insurance is not all that good, so some things will have to wait for Brazil. Plus, E wants to get braces

5. Take care of E's documents. Not sure where to start with this (but I'm sure E will). I mean, he hasn't lived in Brazil for more than 4 years and he's moving to a new state. Will he need a new national ID? That's the kind of stuff to take care of

I could add on to this list. I mean, I'll need to find a local, good salon where I can get my manicures and pedicures :)...etc etc. I'd say, though, that the above list is a good place to start. I know that my future employer will help us out, and of course we'll do a lot of exploring on our own (with the help of the Brazilians that we know who are living in Brasilia).

Sounds like a lot of work, and it'll keep us busy busy as bees, but it's an adventure and that's what I love most.

Phew. I am not a criminal.

In order for me to apply for the the permanent visa to live in Brazil, I am required (as an applicant over 16 years old) to obtain a "police certificate of no criminal record issued within 90 days". So, as long as I apply for the visa within 3 months after getting this document (which I have to do if I want my visa in time to move to Brazil), then I can ask my local police station for my police record now. Therefore, that is exactly what I did. I am so responsible.

I went to the Orange County Sheriff Department yesterday after work and got my "non-criminal police record".  It was extremely fast and easy to get. More so than I expected.  All I had to do was visit (any) police station in the county,  pay $10, and show my driver's license to prove my identity. It took the clerk  less than 5 minutes to give me the report. Maybe that's because I don't have a record.

What I am hoping now is that it is acceptable that this background check is only for one county - the one I live and work in. They cannot provide information from any other county, or state. This is, after all, not the FBI. Well,  I got what was asked of me and it seemed I was only one of few to walk out of the Sheriff's Office satisfied.

Consulate, we're ready for ya....

Phew. I am finally done with compiling our (small) stack of documents and photocopies that we need to take the consulate in order to register our marriage. Of course it was not without help that we were able to do this. Thank you, again, to Zack and Glaucia (and her kids!!!) for taking time out of their day to help us out out by being our witnesses (attesting to the fact that E and I were both single before we got married).

After an enjoyable meetup with Glaucia (the second "witness") and her children this afternoon, we went to my bank (which will remain unnamed since I didn't have an issue with the branch closest to my house when I went to see the notary only two days before) to get Glaucia's signature notarized. The notary we met today refused to notarize her signature since she is not a member of the bank even though I am and I was with her. Really? I explained to him that it was for me (the customer) and that just two days before another notary at another branch of the same bank had just "put it on my account" and not bothered my friend about whether or not he was a customer. The guy told told me that it is not the bank's procedure to notarize the signature of a non-member and sorry he wouldn't do it. Ugh. We then went to my friend's (nearby) bank thinking we would have luck there; however, her bank also refused since the document is in Portuguese and the notary didn't understand what it was she was notarizing. She said the bank would be liable should anything go wrong. Finally, we ended up at a small store around the corner from the bank and there the owner gladly notarized her signature for only $10. Now I have everything that I needed notarized done, so I guess, all well that ends well, right?

E signed his part (which did not have to be notarized, go figure) and I made copies of each document, our passports, our birth certificates, and our marriage certificate.

All done. We're just waiting on E to get his work schedule for next week so we know which day we can make our trip down south. I love progress.

Making Progress

I have now collected almost all of the documents that we need to move forward with registering our marriage, hence moving towards the goal of applying for my permanent residency (spousal visa). Once I filled out the necessary forms, I had to have my signature notarized for the statement that I had never been married to a Brazilian before I married E. We also need two Brazilians to testify that we were both single before we married (though how they would know I have no idea). Apparently the Brazilian consulate takes their citizens' word for it. Anyway, a good friend of ours agreed to be one of the witnesses so we took a trip this morning to the bank to have his signature notarized at the same time that mine was notarized for my letter of never being married to a Brazilian before. I'm grateful that we were never married before because then we would need to show divorce papers and that appears to be a pain in the behind. Like I said before, the consulate is not asking for too much from us, it is just time consuming because we need to rely on others for assistance (for signatures and notiarizations). For more information regarding registering your marriage in the Brazilian Consulate in Miami, you can read about it here. Sorry it's in Portuguese; I couldn't find a translation on their website and it seems that each consulate is unique in what they require for marriage registration so it's not worth it to direct you to another consulate.

Basically, to register our marriage in the consulate in Miami we need (as it applies to our case):

1. The original and copy of our marriage certificate
2. E needs a Brazilian document (like his passport or birth certificate) which has his parents' names on it
3. For E (the Brazilian) - the notarized document that has two signatures from Brazilians confirming he was single before he married me
4. For me (the foreigner) - the original and copy of my passport or my driver's license and the original and copy of my birth certificate; a declaration (letter) that has been notarized confirming that I had never married a Brazilian before
5. The application to register our marriage in the consulate
6. A $20 money order

I am relieved that I can check most of this off of our list as what needs to be completed. Since I am more uptight organized than E, I have taken on this "chore" rather than ask him to do it. Plus, I did all of the immigration paperwork for him to live/work in the U.S. so I feel almost like a pro at this.