BRAZIL!!!

Although we've been living in Brazil for over a month, I'm finally getting around to blogging about our first week! I guess that's what you get for canceling your life in one country and starting in another...it takes a while to figure things out! Anywho, this post is all about our very first taste of our Adventures in Brazil together!!!

This is Jordan and I at the airport in the wee hours of the morning. Yes, we did pack more than just the bags you see here. Thankfully, my two 70 pound bags were checked in early. Somehow, 140 lbs of junk was still not enough...many, many poor shoes were left behind... :)

Saying "bye for now" to my family was the toughest part of the whole deal...
One last grapple with Nickles, Pickles & Dimes...
Then, 24 hours of flight time, layovers and driving later, we arrived in Campinas, Brazil...the beautiful place where we'll be living for at least the next year. This is where Campinas is within Brasil (the correct way to spell it, if you are a Brasileiro). It is the third largest city and is located in the state of Sao Paulo... We arrived at our new place after a mini-tour of the city and almoco (lunch) with our department head. After unpacking and catching up on some sleep, I found this in one of the closets...my first South American bug encounter. You can't tell from the picture, but this seemingly innocent (&dead) moth was the size of my hand!!!
Jordan and I at the end of our first day of work at Multi-Holding group (Wizard International). I was dead set about documenting it, but the day was so full of excitement that the only picture we got was when we got home in our PJ's....so let's just pretend we're at Wizard.... :)
Later that night, we found the first of our dozen pet geckos. They make wonderful pets...they're low maintenance, eat tons of our unwanted bugs, and provide wonderful security...or so I thought. Funny story: Every night since I've been here I've heard sirens in our neighborhood. Not police sirens, but little, animal like noises. They're right outside our window and J told me that they were the geckos that like to hang out there. I was amazed at how noisy and random they were all night long. Then one day we were outside our neighbor's house talking and this security guard rode by on his dirt bike.....and the gecko siren went wailing off down the street. "That's not the geckos!............. Jordan!!!!"
Our first Saturday we went to the CEO's son, Felipe's, 10th Birthday party. I teach the CEO's kids/grandkids English in conjunction with developing/editing material in the pedagogical department and working in broadcasting. It was fun to get to know the kids right off the bat and learn a little about the culture of a "Feliz Anniversario"...
It was SUPER nice and had tons of fun activities and wonderful Brasilian BBQ for kids and adults alike...
It was a futebol (Brasilian soccer) themed party, as you can probably tell...they had crazy blow-up playhouse things, a blow-up bounce house soccer field that they sprayed down with water to make extra fun, swimming, soccer games, and a sweet fighting ring, which was my personal favorite...
The gringos in Brasil...
They have the most gorgeous flowers...everywhere!!!
The Wizard chakara where the party was at...
Jordan and I with some of our favorite friends, Sueli and Flavio and one of their children. They were just baptized the month before we arrived and are amazing people who we love having as neighbors...Sueli also works at Wizard with us! I didn't realize that I'd been pronouncing her name wrong for the first month until I asked, but she said she loved it anyways... :) As I said before, I loved the fighting ring...everyone loved when one of my students, Moroni, got up to fight the "Gringa English Teacher"...all of the adults, including my boss, lined up at the BBQ area to watch and cheer...it was quite the match!
Later that day, we went to this wonderful park near our house that is called "Parque Portugal." I'm not exactly sure why they call it that, when we live in Brasil...but hey, it's gorgeous!

Jordan and I on some sweet elephants they have their with Sueli and Flavio's little girl...it's surprising how nice their animals are here...
The fun lake they have that has a panoramic view of the city...and they have sweet pedal-boat swans!
The park is also the home of a family of the largest rodents in the world...yummy!
Parque Portugal's rendition of the Bellagio Fountains...
This park even had a trolley...
and some delicious cultural food...
We found one of our favorite things that day...agua de coco!
Well, those are the highlights from our first week! We love and miss you all...stay tuned for more posts about work, food, insects, the Portuguese language and our constant adventures here in beautiful Brasil!