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| The Garden Area at a Cafe in Brasilia. The Tent is Covering Pottery Vendors. |
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| Our Third Son, Jeremy, Having Coffee and Pastries at a French Cafe in Brasilia. He Speaks Fluent Portuguese and Helps Us a Lot! |
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| Pastry Trays to Buy for Christmas |
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| The Sunday Thing to Do in Brasila. Close a Major Highway and Have a Massive Street Party. |
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| Wild Blue Parrot We Saw at the Playground. One of a Pair. |
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| Quinn and Me at Their Apartment. Andrea in Background. |
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| A Display of Breads at a Fabulous Bakery Nearby. Saturday. 20. This day we walked 5 miles plus, in total. It’s kind of funny to me when Darrell or I say, the food overseas seems different from the US. We don’t have the same reactions to it and we can eat things and not have any allergies. Then I remind him that we don’t walk 5 miles every day to get around in the US. If we could mimic our walking, then maybe we would have a different reaction to the foods we eat! lol.
Sunday. 21. Our second of four Sundays at church. We are greeted by Hobson, who has remembered and greeted us every Sunday that we have attended here. Darrell and I decided to walk the hour to the church. It’s a hot and sunny morning, but most of the way is sidewalks with huge big shady trees. After we arrived, got a drink of water and sat down in our place, Jeremy came from a taxi ride and sat with us. After worship, we all walked back towards the apartment, then diverted to the closed highway and greenspace dedicated to Sunday bbqs, biking, and food stands. We sat and ate grilled meat sandwiches with water. We walked on toward the apartment. We crossed back again to the food trucks and found who Jeremy and Andrea called the cake lady. We bought 4 huge pieces of different flavored cake to take with us. We also stopped to have an acai, frozen purple fruit dessert and Jeremy bought an iced herbal tea. On this day, we also walked 5 miles or more.
Monday. 22. Andrea let me know that one of my favorite bread stores, Veranda, a 20 minute walk, is closed. Later in the day, I took a taxi with Andrea to a nice mall that was new to me. Andrea and I shopped around for a while. She found some shirts and some clothes for Quinn to buy. We had a coffee and decided to walk the 3 miles back to the apartment. On our way back, I needed to find a restroom and we ended up at a cafe and had a short break and ordered fresh juice for me and ice coffee for Andrea.
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| The Brasilia Bridge that is a Landmark. Sunset Scene from the House at a Party We Went to. |
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| Melissa, Our Party Host at Her Family Home. |
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| Quinn Playing in His Bedroom |
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| Ping Pong at the Big Playground. |
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| Local Brasilia Birds |
Tuesday. 23. Today was our ab routine for our morning workout. We had a ‘usual’ breakfast for us: Darrell’s pancakes reheated from yesterday. We visited with Andrea over morning coffee. Darrell and I each had some time playing with Quinn. The two of us took off for a walk to a bakery to buy some bread and then to a fruit store and finally for a cappuccino at a cafe. We got back to the apartment as Andrea was getting ready to go shopping. We had lunch and got ready for the evening party. The holiday party and potluck is being given by one of the embassy families that are friends with Jeremy and Andrea. I’ve baked a pork loin and Darrell made fresh pickles. Andrea baked a cake. Around 5pm, Darrell and I were ready to go and Jeremy was back from work. The three of us got an Uber ride of about 30 minutes to the house of the party, an Embassy family of 4. We were greeted by their little dog, and led up to the pool patio of the large fenced house overlooking the famous Brasilia bridge. There were several people there with small children sitting around a table with a craft. We introduced ourselves as we came into the mix. A couple of the people we recognized from previous trips and Embassy parties. Inside the house was a long table set with potluck dishes that we added our things too. We chatted with people, including another set of parents visiting from upstate New York. The visiting was enjoyable, the views and the food were top rate, and the kids enjoyed playing together. After dark, we took an Uber back to Jeremy and Andrea’s apartment.
Wednesday. 24. We slept in until about 6:30 today. Darrell and I did our workout routine on the glassed patio. We dressed for the day and cooked our breakfast of eggs, sausage and sourdough toast. We lingered with our coffee and visited with Jeremy. Andrea let us know that we were included in an invitation for lunch time at a recently arrived embassy couple. They said that we could walk to their house and that sealed the deal for us to attend. Meanwhile, Darrell went out shopping for some fix-it item, and tape to wrap gifts at a hardware store.
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| Christmas Day at Jeremy and Andrea's Apartment in Brasilia |
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| Per Andrea's Christmas Breakfast Request: Jeremy Made Biscuits and I Made Sausage Gravy. |
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| Quinn Getting in Grandpa Hugs Every Morning |
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| Stocking Goodies |
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| Quinn Looking at His Picture Book Gift. His Time in Brasilia. |
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| Call to Grandson, Owen, age 4 yrs+3 mos, in Alabama. |
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| Call to Granddaughter, Esther, age 2 yrs + 4 mos, in Alabama. |
Thursday. 25. Christmas morning for us is getting to opening presents! Especially watching Quinn and seeing his surprises. Darrell and I were up about 6am and did our ‘easy’ 23 minute stretch routine. Jeremy had coffee made soon after. We sat around with some coffee. He had made biscuits for breakfast later and to share with friend, Justin, who was coming over to spend the morning. I made sausage gravy per Andrea’s request. She grew up in Florida, Tennessee and Alabama and was thinking of biscuits and gravy as her US flavored meal. We made it work and the combination was enjoyable as we don’t eat that often. Justin grew up in Colorado and was quite unfamiliar with the meal, but he enjoyed it too. We had some scrambled eggs served with it too. Quinn was ready to open presents, which we did. He had already emptied his stocking with sweet treats and a small vehicle loader. He began to get the presents one by one and we opened them in turn. It was nice that Andrea also had put a gift together for Justin. He appreciated and enjoyed the visit together. He even stayed and played an entire game of Contract Rummy. Around lunch time, Darrell called his mom and sister and talked for a little while. The main topic was that one of Darrell’s cousins, Barry, in southern Illinois, isn’t doing well in the hospital. He’s in his 60’s and will likely be put on hospice soon.
Treat at dinner was homemade, real Mexican tamales. They were made by a Mexican man living in Sao Paulo, and were delicious. Jeremy warmed them up and made a vinegar slaw, sliced avocado, refried beans, greek yogurt and hot sauce on the the side.
Friday. 26. Jeremy’s 3rd day in a row at home on his holiday break.
Nomad Notes. During this week, I’ve gone through extremes. One day I am loving exploring and seeing new places and another day I am thinking of sitting still and dreaming of living in one location. After I view my extreme perspectives, I come back to a middle place of being okay with our current way of transient living. After mixing with the party of employed US people at the party on the 23rd, I am thinking again about how I describe being a nomad. When people look at me and say, ‘Wow! That sounds cool!” I agree and then sometimes I’m able to pull a fun story out and other times I’m feeling the more conflicted and tired side of myself. Moving from place to place with the details of finding our next place to live with the details. The side of me that looks for what I value in short stays and short-term friendships. I hope that in my pondering, I’m getting better at expressing the positives of why and how we live. It is the positives that feel good and enjoyable in our ways of living. I still resist (and so does Darrell),settling down into a longer term living situation.
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