After the busy day at school yesterday, we assembled and decorated our Brazilian Christmas tree. From the photos you can see Sierra is almost taller than the tree. No, she hasn't grown 4 ft. since our arrival! The tree is just short. :-)















Then I looked outside, and the rain was so heavy that from a distance, if you squinted, it almost resembled snow falling! Could we have a white Christmas in Rio? Doubtful!! Nonetheless, we all enjoyed listening to Christmas with the Steeles and Jewel, extended Sierra's regularly 8 p.m. bedtime to 9 and thought of our wonderful Christmases past along with the present blessings in our lives. Many hugs and warm wishes to everyone!

Busy Day.....










Sierra had a Portuguese performance today. Here's her teacher and she is next to two of her friends, Ashlyn and Christina.









Here are the girls singing and gesturing along to one of their songs.










And Sierra acting the part of a snail...not sure where the umbrella plays into the costume of the snail, but I think we're supposed to use our creative minds.










Here are two of her pieces of art! I love the winking sun rising over her house!!!

In thinking about our daily routine, I realized that there are many things we are all ready taking for granted in our environment. When I think of all of you, I can visualize--for the most part--where you are, what it looks like on your commutes to work, what your homes are like, what the weather is like...in talking to my mom last night on the phone and assuming she knew what capoeira is, I realized although you are all in my heart every day, you are not at my side seeing the same things I see. So, it is my mission this week to begin taking pictures of the "ordinary". To give you a sense of what day to day is really about for us here. To give you a visual when I mention that we snuggled in front of the TV and watched movies eating popcorn.



Here at right are two pictures of our living room from each end,
looking out toward the veranda and looking toward the entry door. Sierra happens to be sitting on the couch at the moment studying her times tables via flashcards. We spend a lot of time in this room, many times watching SpongeBobSquarePants on DVD (I hear the theme song now as I type) with Sierra...I never realized how totally silly that cartoon is until watching the same ones over and over and over and over and over again! But, if it's not SpongeBob it's High School Musical which I have seen now too many times to count but I can tell you that I can sing along to all the songs without watching the words on the bottom of the screen. However embarrassing that may be to admit, it scores me big points with my girls at school who all love the movie as much as Sierra. Disney sure hit it on the head with that one.

Or, perhaps you've wondered about where I do the cooking? Here is a picture of what is considered an "Americanstyle kitchen" from the laundry/maid area looking into the kitchen and toward the backdoor, which we never use. But if you believe I do ANY cooking other than frozen drinks in the blender, you are sadly mistaken! lol
I actually love our kitchen. We have much more counter and cupboard space than what is typical in a Brazilian kitchen. We recently got a new refrigerator that nicely chills our juices, soy milk, water and Cerveja (the most important beverage to have ice cold).

I was pondering the same thoughts of sharing what we see day to day with all of you last week while walking through school. I have uploaded a couple of pictures in past blogs of my classroom and the view from my door, but I haven't really taken pictures of the hallways or the layout of this beautiful campus where I'm working.

Many of our families complain about the fact that we neighbor the largest favela in Rio (favela=shantytown/slum). But there isn't another campus internationally that outdoes the beauty of EARJ. The relationship with the people living in the favela and the school has historically been amiccable. Any conflict we have heard thusfar is unrelated to school or anyone at school. I keep my fingers crossed that when they are able to build the new campus out in Barra, Rio (which is like Miami in Brazil with a replica of the statue of liberty in front of the mall and not somewhere I would choose to live while here) we are financially able to maintain both the Barra and the Gavea campuses so that I am able to remain where I am currently. That is a few years from now though and many things could happen between now and then. Until that time, I am thoroughly enjoying the beauty that surrounds me daily and push aside any worries regarding things I cannot control to a later date.

I would have included pictures of our bedrooms, but they are not presentable. Although the rest of the house is clean, the beds went unmade this Monday morning and a few straggling clothes line the floor/end tables. We'll save pictures of those rooms for a later day if it becomes worth worrying about.

Hopefully this gives you some insight into our daily lives. :-)

By the way... capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that is very popular. It was originally invented by slaves as a way to exercise and build strength in preparation for escape. The art is very entertaining to watch. Unlike other martial arts, the competitors never actually make contact even though it appears that at any moment a leg will collide with a head...

I will end with another picture of my beloved child, who continues to amaze me with her compassion, intelligence, humor and charm. She LOVES Brazilian fashion--go figure--

Paz e amor (Peace and Love) to you all!!!!

Today was another wonderful day in Rio. We spent the morning relaxing at home, and we ventured toward the beach this afternoon on our way to the Hippy Fair in Ipenema. Stood for a while and watched a GREAT volleyball match. I have to say our time spent at the Hippy Fair today involved more English then we've heard the whole time we've been here. It is a very popular tourist location. Essentially, it is an open air art fair with several hundred artists selling their goods. The pictures to the left are two of a painting we purchased at the end of our browsing. We actually watched the man paint the picture. It was phenomenal to watch him complete the masterpiece. There are five artists from a local fahvela who paint every day at this particular place in the plaza. The men were very friendly. We understood basically everything they communicated to us, which was a really cool feeling. And they invited us to come visit in the plaza any day and enjoy cerveja with them. :-) It was a wonderful end to a relaxing holiday for all of us.

Greetings to all and may your travels to be with family this week for the holiday be safe and relaxing!

Sierra and I enjoyed some girly pampering Friday afternoon by getting pedicures together. Her feet are as ticklish as mine, and we both grip the sides of the chair when they take the pumice stone to the bottoms. We giggled and chatted and tried to understand the women giving us our pedicures enough to explain what we wanted. As you can see, the results are good!

We have a 3 day week this week, off today and Friday. Only about 3 weeks remain of this first semester. It is amazing how fast the time is going. I can't believe it's all ready Thanksgiving week. Enjoy the turkeys and stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and pumpkin or sweet potato pies, depending on your family's traditions. (Or, pecan rum pie, which is really good also)

Many blessings to all of you. I am most thankful for the family and friends in our life. We are truly blessed.

Life is all about perspective. I read the following quote on a blogsite of a friend and had to share with all my friends and family as well.

"One of life's best coping mechanisms is to know the difference between an inconvenience and a problem. If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire-then you have a problem. Everything else is an inconvenience. Life is inconvenient. Life is lumpy. A lump in the oatmeal, a lump in the throat and a lump in the breast are not the same kind of lump. One needs to learn the difference." ~Robert Fulghum
Makes you stop and think, doesn't it.

Sierra enjoyed playing Paddington in her class's production of "A Bear Called Paddington" this week. She was awesome! Totally getting into character. Here she is posing after the performance I watched Friday.

In the two pictures below, Paddington is making a "mess" in the tub while the other cast members sing and dance Splish Splash. Enlarge the tub picture below to see the bubbles.












Here Paddington is impressed with breakfast in bed the first morning in the Brown's home. Notice Paddington investigating the egg. :-)






The last shot shows Paddington convincing Sir Sealy to take back his daughter, whom he's bannished from the kingdom because she won't marry some smelly man. (Sir Sealy and the daughter are characters in a play that Paddington goes to see, but Paddington doesn't understand that it's acting since he's just a bear!)

Sierra did a beautiful job!! Many teachers commented on what a good performer she is. She enunciated her lines, maintained character even when the audience would laugh, appropriately, and even kindly coached her classmates when they forgot their lines. I am very proud of her. The BEST part...She LOVED it. She really enjoyed acting. I'm so glad she had such a good time.

Coming soon....
Sierra as Paddington!
Check back in upcoming days for pictures and testimonials of Sierra's acting debut!