Our "cast"-away
Poor Kilah. On her birthday, of all days, she was opening her window, and the heavy window came falling down and hit her on her forearm. Ouch! We didn't notice any break, so we hoped it would heal on its own. After a couple of days the pain was still really strong so Shannon got a friend who spoke Portuguese to take Kilah to the doctor. They did an x-ray and the doctor said, "I think she has a hairline fracture. Better put it in a cast." Of course, the big joke here is that they always put you in a cast whenever you hurt yourself. We see kids in casts almost every day at school. It's their remedy for almost everything.
Of course, you would think that Kilah would be upset, right? Oh no, she is the first in our family to have broken a bone. It was a proud moment for her, and obviously, she wasn't in too much pain. Another adventure in Brazil!
We got it!
We have our new home!The financing has been approved and the seller has signed the papers. Now we just have to wait until July to sign some more papers (pay some more fees...grrr) and pick up the keys. Hooray!House hunting
I apologize for the dearth of posts lately. It's not that things haven't been happening as much as it has been the fact that we have been preoccupied with something else. We've discovered that buying a house in Mississauga is an option for us, thanks to "zero down" mortgages and a very good credit rating. So we have been scouring the mls.ca website for homes and we have actually put offers in on a few of them. This is a picture of the third home we've pursued, and it looks likely that we'll settle on this one (don't tell the seller that yet, though.) We're pretty excited to think that we'll be able to move in and strt to get settled right away. It sure helps to have family in the area to be our "eyes" in this situation. The home is a four-bedroom townhouse (connected to two other homes) and it's only about two kilometers from the office. Your prayers for our housing situation are greatly appreciated.
Live at a Brazilian soccer game
To live in Brazil is to learn to appreciate soccer. My first professional game turned out to be a playoff match between Santos and another team from the state of Sao Paulo. It was quite an experience.
The game took place at the famous Morumbi Stadium where U2 played not long ago.
This flage of Santos covered thousands of people and they furled and unfurled it in only a few seconds. It was very impressive.
The people in Brazil tend to be less "reserved" than North Americans, so when it comes to anything that touches their hearts and passions like soccer does, they get a little expressive. Here's a little movie I took which does no justice whatsoever to the atmosphere in the stadium at game time.Vinte Cinco de Março
In Sao Paulo, there is a famous street market where you can buy just about anything really cheaply. It's called "VEEN-chee SEEN-cou de MAR-soo" and it simply means "March 25." Technically, you can drive your car down this street, but good luck. The place is literally swarming with people (personal space can take a hike!) Shannon has gone there several times with other PACA ladies to get some bargains.
Since this is where the people are, it tends to attract those who seek a crowd. This "fellow" stands perfectly still for minutes until someone puts a coin in his little box. Then he starts to move as if he were a mechanical man. These guys are so good that you really have to double check to make sure it truly is a human being.
Although the street is Vinte Cinco, there are a few other side streets that have become as busy as the main avenue. This hill is one that we had to walk up and to do so was like being in Times Square at 11:00 PM on New Year's Eve. The place is so packed with people that you almost have to move as a herd. It was an experience in itself.Of course, what really made me want to go to Vinte Cinco was the fact that the police patrol these streets and often make sweeps of the illegal vendors. Shannon has seen some pretty vicious stuff. I decided to see if I could catch some of the action, and behold I did (although there was no violence to be seen that day.)