Carnaval

So most of you probably know about Carnaval. It's an interesting celebration. It starts today - 4 days before Ash Wednesday which is the beginning of Lent. Of course, Lent is a period of time when Catholics (and Brazil is a very Catholic country) abstain from something. Traditionally, it was meat that was given up. And that's where the word "carnaval" comes from: carnelevare, "to remove meat."

That's enough of that for now, but I just want to establish that this relatively solemn Christian occasion beginning on Wednesday is what sets the stage for the excesses and extravagance of Carnaval. I do recommend that you watch this video though, even if you are a Carnaval expert. The governor of California doesn't disappoint.

I kind of don't think that our Carnaval experience will be exactly like Arnold's. We're headed to the mountains rather than the beach. We're going to Campos do Jordao with our good friends Leca and Peter and their little girl Julia. We're staying at the Orotur Hotel for 4 days later this week. We'll update our stay there after we get back. Abby and I looked into heading to the beach for Carnaval last month, which would be the more traditional thing to do. Rio wasn't our target, but nonetheless it was nearly impossible to find a hotel that wasn't booked. The few crappy hotels that seemed to be left were outrageously expensive anyway. So, Campos here we come.

Hopefully we have our car back by then. Our car has had some transmission problems and is in the shop being fixed. Fortunatley, we've had it for 4 months and our warranty is good for 6 months. It'll be nice to get it back after Abby and I have had to ride to school with Noah on the kindergarten bus. It's a little crazy riding in with a bunch of 4 and 5 year-olds. They're a funny group, but the silliness level is a bit high for me at 7:30 in the morning.

Ok - so that's what's going on here. Above all, we're happy to have the week off too spend together and with friends. This is our last real break until June when we come home, so we're glad to be traveling and seeing more of the country.

Finally, a photo of Noah at school yesterday when they celebrated Carnaval with costumes and a little school parade. Noah decided to reuse his Halloween costume.

Coach Kasky

If you visit our school website www.graded.br and watch the pictures on the main page for a minute you will see Paul coaching the softball team during their game last week!

Edited to add...

I don't want to sound all whiney about Valentine's Day. Of course, it IS a Hallmark holiday. Who needs roses, chocolate, and a quiet conversation that isn't interrupted by spilt milk? Certainly not me. But, just in case we decide to celebrate next year, I've already got Paul's gift picked out...the snuggie! Shhh...don't tell. Who needs sushi when you can have a snuggie*?

Watch the infomercial-it is TOTALLY worth it!

Happy Valentine's Day

The calendar said it was February 14th so I'm going to go out on a limb and assume yesterday was Valentine's Day. The kids celebrated at school, but Brazil does not celebrate Valentine's Day until June 12th so we weren't bombarded by the usual cards, candy, and flowers abundantly displayed at the local grocery stores. It didn't feel like Valentine's Day-we ventured to Starbucks for coffee and muffins but I wasn't feeling very well and spent the rest of the day in bed. We couldn't score a babysitter for a dinner out, so Paul made omelets for himself and the kids. Maybe we'll try to celebrate on June 12th when we're in Austin with built in babysitters!

Valentine Girl!

Making valentines for friends....

I'm a not-quite-baseball coach

Unlike in most Latin American and South American countries, Brazilians do NOT play baseball. I say that emphatically. Don't get me wrong... there are baseball leagues here. Relatively low-level ones. But the only people who play in them are Japs (I don't use that term derogitorily... that's what Brazilians call people from Japan, and it is NOT politically incorrect here) and Americans. At least as far as I know.

But this semester at the famous American School of Sao Paulo, I have been recruited and accepted the position of high school varsity SOFTball coach.

Excuse me for a moment.

Ok, I'm better now.

I can't say that the transition from playing BASEball to coaching BASEball to now coaching softball has been an easy one. Perhaps if I had a SINGLE player who had previously played softball down here I would be able to understand the game better. Perhaps if the didn't pitch a gigantic ball underhand....SLOWPITCH at that....to the plate, I would recognize the game as similar to baseball. And perhaps if I had more than TWO players who know what the HELL they're doing out there, I'd accept the game more willingly. But alas, this is my fate.

So tonight was the first game. We played PACA - the Pan American Christian Acadamy. We lost 16 to 10, which is fine. I have a team of 21 players. 11 freshman, 8 sophomores, 1 junior and 1 senior. I have one player who just moved here from Michigan who is a solid baseball player. I have one freshman who knows what he's doing and can hit the ball hard. I have a junior who couldn't play last year due to back surgery, but is a solid player. And I have a pitcher who I'm pretty sure has never touched a large fruit in his life, let alone a softball. And they're my top-4. Wooo-hooo.

So now I'm a *cringe* softball coach. And it's not quite baseball.

Hot Date

We had a hot date tonight! Hot because our apartment was ridiculously bathed in the afternoon sun. I'm not very good at math, but I do know that Brazil+summer+afternoon sun+no air conditioner=very, very hot. It was so hot that Sophie felt laying on our hard cement floor to watch "Annie" was actually a better option than the rug or couch because it was cooler. So we did the logical thing-we left our apartment and went down to the pool where it was much, much cooler. Seriously. Paul and Noah met us down there after the softball game at Graded and brought us Subway. Yum! It was great. I don't know if my excitement over the evening is a testimony to my enjoyment of the simple pleasures or how lame my Friday nights have become. Either way,I'm not embarrassed to admit I think it was the perfect way to start the weekend!

Sophie gets some relief from the heat!

Perfect atmosphere, gourmet food, and good company!

The First Six Months

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Never a Dull Moment

On Monday evening Paul returned home from softball practice reporting helicopters circling repeatedly right above the school. I hadn't noticed the sound at our apartment (less than a mile away), but sure enough, for the rest of the night we heard helicopters. One of our neighbors called telling us of some disturbances at the nearest (and one of the largest) favelas -she advised us to stay put, not to walk to the grocery store or go out driving if we didn't have to. With our television still broken, we relied on some internet reports about the events.
By Tuesday morning, we heard that things had quieted down and we went to school as usual. Today everything started up again-helicopters circling and general chaos on the other side of our school. After school activities have been cancelled for this afternoon, as police are afraid their may be some demonstrations. We don't have any hope for snow days in Brazil, but civil unrest will get us out a bit early!
See the full story here.

It was so much fun...thank goodness it is over!

Play the videos back to back to catch the whole "Parabens Pra Voce" at Sophie's party...just ignore my beautiful voice!

Sophie's birthday was a great success! We tried to keep it small, but we are so fortunate that our immediate group of friends here includes 7-8 couples and many, many children under 6. It was a little crazy! We had fun enjoying pizza (Dominoes!), cake, and plenty of adult beverages to maintain our sanity. We are looking forward to a quiet day of clean up and pool time today. A few pics from the day:

Sophie and Noah


Sophie was really excited about a new "sister doll" until....

she realized it wasn't a real baby.

The whole Portal gang!