Can't Blog Fast Enough!!

Myth #1 Life south of the equator is lazy and slow.

Truth is, I cannot believe I arrived less than 3 days ago. Let's see if I can sort out all the activities of Wednesday afternoon, Thursday, and Friday before they are lost to the old Gringa.
*** Wednesday ***
Stroll to Brunch and Back
Just like many, many people here in Niteroi, Will and Cecilia don't have a car. People walk to destinations. Or if the destination is too far to walk, they take the bus, or call a taxi, or find a friend or relative with a car to help out. This makes life less complicated (in some respects)as well as much more active. Want to get a meal? Walk. Need a few groceries? Walk to the store. Need more groceries than you can carry home? Walk to the store and catch a taxi back. This is such a foreign concept to a Texas Gringa, and I really like it. I am so glad, however, that I'm being broken in to this new routine by a woman who is 8 1/2 months pregnant. Cecilia and I walk about the same speed. Either that, or she's taking pity on me and slowing down . . .
Life-saving Nap
After 22 hours of travel, including a comfortable but sleepless overnight flight and our neighborhood stroll for brunch in the tropical mid-day, I couldn't fall into my bed fast enough. Just enough sleep to fend off the zombies.
BTW--Currently Rio is 4 hours ahead of Central Standard Time. Will and Cecilia's schedule parallels ours. They rise about noon, at home I get up at 8-ish. They eat dinner around 10-11 PM, at the same time that Steve and I are eating, 6-7 PM Texas time. Generally at home I'm retiring around midnight, so I'll be able to run with the young ones in Rio when they start watching a movie or have visitors until 2 or 3 AM.
Cool Shower
During my Apartment Orientation, Cecilia and Will told me that their hot water capacity was such that the three of us could take our decent hot showers every 15 minutes or so, allowing for boiler recovery time between each one. Not to worry, I assured them. Cool showers are my new luxury.
BTW--the weather right now is just like Texas in early summer. Temps in the mid to high 70's at night and days in the mid to high 80's with lots of humidity. The sun is close and hot, but any shade and the breeze from the bay keeps activity in- and outdoors manageable. People walk and stand in the shade, just like in Texas in the summer. Only in Texas we walk from air-conditioned car to air-conditioned home, work, mall, or work-out facility.
Family Dinner
Cecilia's mother, Dora, brought a fish casserole and rice for a family dinner on Wednesday night. One by one, all the people that I had heard Cecilia talk about were arriving. Sister Flora with her son Juan, Brother Helio and his girlfriend Cecilia (yes, that's 2 Cecilias). Skype images and brief conversations were now face time. I'm getting the hang of the Brazilian greeting of a cheek to cheek air (or actual) kiss--first on the right, then on the left. Some greetings are followed by a hug, some are not. I'm generally a hugger, so I'm trying to tone down my habit of embracing right out of the gate.

Dinner was delicious and loud. Dora will be the first to admit this. People talk and talk over one another, like a big Italian family, they say with a smile in their eyes. Actually, I don't mind this at all. It takes the heat off me to try to carry on a conversation in Portuguese. There are no awkward silences! And I find that I'm not completely in the dark about what's going on. Body language, context, and tone of voice give me lots of clues along with my ability to speak Portuguese like a 22 month old child. Also, Dora knows a little English. Flora, Helio and Cecilia (his C) speak good English and really want to engage in conversation to practice. And of course, Cecilia and Will are also bi-lingual. So my thoughts of being unengaged in group dynamics have not materialized at all. C's family is very warm and engaging and lively and caring. Everyone is very glad that Will is Cecilia's choice. I'm so grateful that Cecilia is Will's choice as well.

Tomorrow I hope to finish yesterday's high points, but the Gringa needs to get horizontal in my comfortable bed. So, I'll leave the list to help me remember:
Thursday
Couch Time/Sewing
Flowers
Stroll to Lunch
Stroll to Salon for C's Manicure
Stroll Home via Beach/Coconut Water
Dinner at Home/Babe
Cool Shower
Friday
Housecleaning
Flowers
Cool Shower
Will & Cecilia's Civil Ceremony
Stroll to Lunch
Stoll to Place C's Flowers
After Party Party
Cool Shower