Our Jungle Journey

Snow Day

2012-01-22T15:27:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday was a stay at home and hibernate type of day at our house. We watched a lot of football, kept the fire burning, and even drank some hot chocolate. It was the perfect day to enjoy our first snow in Oregon. As you can see, Bubba seemed to enjoy the fat white stuff falling from the sky... sure beats our typical rainy days!

Happy 2012!

2012-01-05T21:21:00.000-04:00

Happy New Year to all my blog-reading friends and family! This time last year we were halfway through my pregnancy and had a low-key New Year's Eve get together with a few friends in Brasil. I know neither Jay nor I will ever forget the highlight of that evening- eating a delicious, lightly fried leaf fresh from our friends' garden.

This year brought us some changes, and we sadly did not have anyone to make us that particular appetizer. But that didn't stop us from trying some new food at our NYE dinner date. Jay ordered the foie gras as his appetizer, and he so generously shared with me. I only ate a single bite and would have spit it out had we not been in a fancy restaurant!

Don't let the presentation fool you ;)

Beyond that choice, we both loved our dinners and the wine pairings. It was only our second time in about 8 months or so having dinner out without the baby, so we really savored our time together.

We stayed out til about 11 and headed home to watch the ball drop on tv with my mom. I am very proud of us for staying awake til past midnight since the night before was a rough one with our Bubba teething.

The next morning, Jay and I took Bubster out for a long hike at a trail near our house. We've learned very quickly to take advantage of the days when it isn't raining, and we lucked out on January 1st with some sunshine.

The fresh air was very invigorating and a nice way to start off the new year. I know Bubba had a good time snoozing while on his walk and kept Daddy nice and warm.
Here's to a 2012 filled with new adventures for us all, close to the ones we love!

End of Hanukkah

2012-01-03T18:08:00.000-04:00

The end of December has brought us many gifts, both literally and figuratively. Bubba cleaned up at Hanukkah thanks to his generous aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Thanks to them, he had wrapping paper and bows to eat for all 8 nights!! Bubba's dream come true...

Another gift we are so thankful for is that my mom aka Mumsey is in town visiting. We finally got to spend Hanukkah together after so many years apart since her winter break from school overlaps the holiday. I am always happy to see my mom, and I know Bubba is happy to have his Mumsey around for snuggles. Plus, she makes a mean latke, and we just had to have our family over for a little Hanukkah party!

We also found ourselves a new Christmas day tradition- dim sum at the Chinese restaurant! It's the total Jewish cliche for Xmas day, but it totally works for us. We originally went just in search of some normal Chinese lunch but decided to take full advantage of all the food zipping by us on the carts. All of us loved the food, and Jay even went all out and tried some chicken feet. His verdict- not so good- but everything else was delish. The only downside is that I haven't stopped craving Chinese since then.

We also hit a new milestone for Bubba that morning when Mumsey was letting him chew her finger and got a little bite. His first tooth broke through Christmas morning, and now a week later, his second tooth has broken through, too. They still look like little teeny white spots on his bottom gum, but the first one sure is sharp! Hopefully he'll get a break before more teeth start coming in. And by "he," I mean "we." Not that we were ever blessed with a good sleeper, but teething has taken us to some new levels of sleep deprivation for a couple nights. Good thing he's just so darn cute and lovable!! Bring it on, teeth!

Bub's First Hanukkah!

2011-12-21T22:41:00.000-04:00

I have to admit I haven't had any particularly special Hanukkahs for probably 8 or 9 years. Being far from family, whether in New York City or Manaus, made the holiday much less fun for me. Not to mention, it's hard to have presents for 8 nights when your mom is hundreds of miles away! ;)
Now that we have a little boy to share the holidays with, they're automatically so much more fun! Last night was Bubba's first night of Hanukkah. He didn't seem too excited, but we were plenty excited for him. We put his presents all around him and let him crawl to the one he wanted to open. He mostly just patted the wrapping paper and tried to eat the tag and ribbon, but we had a good time watching him.

Yummy present

Happy Holidays to all of you! We hope they are filled with lots of joy and love wherever you may be.

Box of Fun

2011-12-17T01:21:00.000-04:00

Bubba has had us laughing right along with him for months now, but we still get a kick out of making him laugh daily. He's especially fond of playing peek-a-boo, loves when we bark like a dog, and giggles when getting his belly and back kissed. We've recently discovered his fascination with boxes and laundry baskets. Who needs expensive toys when you've got something as fun as this?!

First time playing in a box with Daddy

I know I am biased, but isn't that laugh just the sweetest sound ever?

Still catchin' up

2011-12-11T22:43:00.001-04:00

Alright, well I've caught you up to the part where we move to Oregon, right? Only 4 more months to go!
One of the reasons we moved here was to be closer to Jay's brother and his family. We visited for about a week one time several years ago, and thanks to our adorable toddler niece, we have felt pulled to come back ever since. She is no longer a tot and is in fact already in kindergarten, but she is still as charming as she was at 2! She is absolutely in love with her little cousin Elijah, and even brought his picture to school as one of her 3 favorite things. How sweet is that? She loves holding him, kissing him, and playing with him. I'm sure she'll be getting him into trouble in no time!

Cousin love, first day meeting each other

While having a baby in tow can make some things more of a drag, having a baby at the holidays is awesome. It's so much fun to have a real reason to go all out decorating the house or partaking in the season's activities that are normally suited to kids. I think there is also something really special about making memories with your kids that are the same memories you had growing up- like going to the pumpkin farm. Even if he didn't really know where we were at only 5 months, he still seemed to be happy walking around the fields with us, playing with family, and riding the hay ride. Mommy even went in her first corn maze!

A few weeks later, we met the family at another cool place with Halloween arts and crafts for the kids, face painting, and even a small pumpkin patch. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon with our lil moo cow.

We've also been fortunate to have some visitors here in Beaverton. Both Jay's parents and my mom have already come to visit us. We proudly drove them around in our new-to-us car, another perk of living in the burbs. We checked out some trails, the Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, and some downtown spots with them when we weren't oohing and ahhing over the baby boy.

Bath time with PurPur and Gramps

Mumsey's in da house!

Japanese Garden in Portland

The Rose Garden

We also were graced with the presence of my oldest best friend Amy, better known as Boppa. We've been trying to get together forever but something always came up that prevented us from reuniting. Finally the stars aligned, and we had a super fun week exploring new restaurants in the city and remembering the good ol' days like only old friends can do. It was really nice for me to have a best friend around since we don't know many people here and being at home with a baby can be quite isolating. Having her here also made me remember that I'm still *me* even with a baby. Thanks, Boppa!

Girls Night Out in Portland-

So much fun, too much eating! :)

She came at the perfect time to see the leaves.

Lunch in the city

Photo shoot at the park

Elijah's first time in a swing..weeeeee!

Looking back over these pictures, it's amazing to see how much our little guy has changed and grown since we moved. We've seen him learn to roll over both directions, sit up unassisted, pull himself up on us, and be able to sit in a cart at the store or a high chair at restaurants. He's constantly adding new expressions, sounds, and laughs to his repertoire, and we fall even more in love with him every day. He is a happy, smiley little baby who flirts with strangers and squeals in delight when you play peek-a-boo. He's just about as perfect as it gets.

Just don't ask me if he's sleeping through the night yet ;)

Catchin' up

2011-12-08T03:00:00.000-04:00

I know, I know. It's been forever since my last blog post, right? Well, I don't have any excuses... unless you count the stressful international move, followed by a move to a new city, and having an active little baby. To be honest, he started out this process "little" at only 2 months and is now my big 7 month old boy. Wow, I guess I have neglected this blog for a long time!

So for anyone who reads this and doesn't yet know, we made the decision to move back to the United States shortly after Elijah was born. We didn't plan on returning so soon, but due to a family health issue in the states, we fast-tracked it back. It was also rather trying going through the normal things that happen with a newborn- all the doctor appointments, filing his birth certificate, adding him to insurance, etc- while being in a foreign country with a foreign language. Our friends of course were helpful when they could be, but getting things done with a tiny baby who eats every 2 hours all with no car in sweaty hot weather was just not fun. So in the end, we donated tons of our stuff to friends and sold the bigger things to the tenant who took our place. Then we took 3 flights from Manaus to Panama to Los Angeles to Phoenix with our sweet baby boy who barely made a peep the whole 18 hours! Who would complain when you're being held the entire time by Mamae or Papai?

Our happy little trooper

Soooo giddy when we got to baggage at LAX :)

We spent a month or so in Phoenix showing off our little babe to his new family, and Jay and I partook in the splendor of driving a car to Fry's Marketplace! For anyone who doesn't know, that is a massive grocery store with every single thing you could possibly need or want, from baby wipes and fresh sliced Muenster cheese to fresh flowers and Starbucks. I think Jay actually went almost every morning just because he could. Sometimes it really is the little things that make all the difference :)

Speaking of little things... our baby boy loved spending time with his family there--

Crazy Uncle Aaron- Shhh, don't show Daddy!

Sleepy boy at the track in Cali

So happy with his Mumsey :)

Love at first sight for Daphne

He also spent lots of time with his grandparents on Jay's side, too, but they took all the pics with their camera so no pics from me :(

The time went by too fast for me in AZ, but we managed to do a few fun things besides shush Elijah to sleep and walk him around all. the. time.

Daddy was a master shush-er and walker

First Cardinals' training camp at 2.5 months,
daytrip to Flagstaff, AZ

I think he liked it!

Road-trip to visit friends in California!!!

Pit stop for a feeding and new diaper. Almost there!!

Everyone imitating Elijah's thumb-sucking

A new way to go to the beach for me-

no swimsuit, no tanning, no reading,

just sitting under a tent trying to keep sand

from blowing in the baby's face.

OK, so it wasn't all that bad!

While I was sad to see the time in AZ coming to an end, we were both excited to be starting a new chapter of our life in a new place. We shipped off more boxes, packed our bags yet again, said more goodbyes, and loaded up the baby in the middle of the night to get to the airport on time. Fortunately for us, after so many long flights over the past 2 years, this 2.5 hour flight to Portland, OR, just flew by!

To be continued.... (I promise!)

One day to spare...

2011-07-08T21:00:00.000-04:00

With one business day to spare before our big trip, we received Elijah's American passport! Hallelujah! We have been planning our trip back to the states since the beginning of June, and we took a bit of a gamble by buying our tickets back then without having the baby's passports. The prices were looking ridiculous the longer we waited, so we decided to get them and roll the dice.
We wouldn't be allowed to leave the country if Elijah didn't have both passports, so once we started planning our trip, we had to act fast. The Brazilian passport took much less time, though was quite a hassle regardless, but the American one had a 3 - 4 week window to arrive. We didn't start getting too nervous about it until this week, and Jay was very vigilant about repeatedly calling the American consulate to check if it came. After our unlucky experiences in general with bureaucratic things (hello visa), we sort of figured it would come at the last minute. And thank goodness it did, not a minute too late!!!
Now we can officially begin packing up the house, though I of course started my part a while ago. While we are grateful for our experiences here in Manaus, we are looking forward to seeing our family and giving Elijah the chance to be closer to his extended family. We know everyone is anxious to meet our lil Bubba, and we're just as anxious to see them, too.

He's ready for that Arizona sun :D

Festa Junina at the Aeroclube

2011-07-03T21:24:00.000-04:00

We just got back from Elijah's first Festa Junina, and I think he had a little too much fun. He was so content being outside, listening to music, seeing new people, and feeling the breeze blow in his face that he stayed awake the whole time we were there. Granted, it was only a few hours, but in baby time, that is an eternity. Jay is in the bedroom paying the price with our overly tired boy who needs to sleep but is resisting with all 12 pounds of him, but we both agree that it was worth it!
Festa Junina is a fun holiday that involves dressing up like country folk, doing square dances, eating traditional foods, and usually includes a bon fire and fake wedding.

Gloria (the bride), Debora, and me caipira-style

We didn't get to see or do all of that this year cause we left before the party ended, but we still had a lot of fun. It was hosted at the Aeroclube here in Manaus, and we were lucky enough to get a show of professional parachutists jumping. They made it look so easy, and now Jay and I both have something to add to our bucket lists.

The sky made a beautiful background for these jumpers.

We were so lucky to have had such beautiful weather this afternoon while we were there. I figured it would be hot and sweaty like usual, but it was absolutely gorgeous. Not too sunny, very breezy, and no bugs! What more could you want? I know Elijah was enjoying himself.

Daddy and Bubba chillin

Love this face! Look at that stink eye...

Now that's more like it.

Check out the glowing sunset.

Elijah got a little grumpier (aka tired) as the day turned to night, and Mommy had to do some samba-ing with him. He really seems to like samba, and although it didn't put him to sleep this time, he stopped fussing for a bit.

We didn't stay much longer after this since the little guy was gonna need to eat soon. On a side note, he now eats every 3 hours instead of 2, and it is amazing what a difference that makes! We actually get to do stuff now without being in such a rush, as you can see from this blog.

All three of us had a really nice time today, and it was a fun way to celebrate Festa Junina and our own 4th of July! A Happy and Safe Fourth of July to you!

Nosso Brasileirinho

2011-06-30T19:34:00.000-04:00

It's official! Our little Brasileiro has his Brazilian passport. Since he was born in Manaus, he automatically has dual citizenship with the USA. We are going to be traveling this summer to the States, so we need both of his passports before we can leave the country.
We applied for his American one at the consulate here in the city and are expected to receive it next week (4 week process with quite a bit of paperwork). The Brazilian passport is an easier process and typically takes only 6 business days start to finish. We were alas not surprised when we showed up at the scheduled time to pick it up and were told they could not give it to us. After a 30 minute drive to the Policia Federal with a newborn who does not like his car seat, I had the passport in my hand when the lady realized that someone had neglected to do their job, and we were therefore missing some document. She apologized, took my cell phone number, and promised to call us back that afternoon when it was ready.
We drove home disappointed but after so many other so called easy things have gone wrong for us here, we weren't too shocked. Incompetence seems to be a very common occurrence around this town. I proceeded to call the Policia Federal everyday for the rest of the week since no one ever called me back, and was met with lots of ringing and no information. I finally got through at the end of the week and was told that his passport was indeed ready.
While I stayed home with the baby, Jay went by himself to pick it up. Lo and behold, the same exact thing happened to him. He had the passport in his hand when they realized that again no one had done their side of the job, and there was still a document missing. He expressed his growing annoyance to them and came home empty handed. Mind you, it is not that easy to get to the Policia Federal, and everything turns into a bigger chore with a newborn in tow.
Today seems to be our lucky day though because not only did we actually get the Brazilian passport, but we heard that the American one is one its way to Manaus. Nothing like things really happening to lift your spirits!
I don't have a picture to show you of his new passport, but I do have some cute smiley pics from the last few days. Elijah turns into a smiley little guy when he sees me or Jay, and it is just the most adorable thing ever! He also has become fond of lying in his pack and play looking at the shadows and lights around the window or gazing at the giraffes hanging above him. It's so cute cause he makes happy little sounds in there, and we appreciate the free-time to use both of our hands at the same time. As a matter of fact, he is enjoying some pack and play time right now while I write this!

Who wouldn't

LOVE

this boy?!

We are both so infatuated with our little Bubba and every day are amazed by basically everything he does. It's true! We grab the camera so many times during the day or call to each other to come check something out that he's doing. He's already getting so big- 7 weeks, 12 lb 2 oz- and he's outgrown his newborn size clothes now.

Sounds like pack and play time is done, so I'm off to get our little Brasiliero!

Tales of the Sleep Deprived

2011-06-24T21:31:00.001-04:00

Wow! I can't believe I haven't posted anything for more than a month. We've had our hands full with our little guy, Elijah, who will be 7 weeks old on Tuesday. As I reread the last post at 2 weeks old, I had to laugh out loud at the 2-3 hour nap, eat, poop schedule we had. Those long naps basically ended the day I wrote that cause this boy has an appetite like Mamae and Papai and loves to eat every 2 hours. He also only takes daytime naps while someone is holding him, so you can see that he's been keeping us working! Luckily for me, Jay is an incredibly involved and patient dad that never complains about walking around in circles shushing the baby everyday or changing the umpteenth dirty diaper.

We recently had the great pleasure of having my mom here in Manaus with us for 3 weeks. It was not only helpful to have her here to help with the baby but it was really nice to have some of her home cooking again. She of course fell in love with Elijah, and I know the feeling was mutual. Elijah loved his afternoon naps being rocked to sleep by his Mumsey, and she was more than happy to oblige. The time just flew by while she was here, and we were all sad to see her go.

On our way to the airport to get Mumsey, 3 wks old

I could not be happier to see my mom!

She's got the touch.

Elijah's favorite position with Daddy.

He spends most evenings like this

riding around the house sucking on Daddy's thumb.

Look how much he's grown in the 3 wks Mumsey was here!

Despite being sleep deprived, we've managed to get quite a bit done since Elijah was born. We've registered his birth and gotten his official Brazilian birth certificate, had his teste de pezinho (foot prick test) and eyes and ears tests, applied for his American passport, applied for his Brazilian passport, taken care of important bank stuff, and even managed to see a movie at the theater this week together. Elijah is usually a happy, sleepy boy when we're out in public since he spends most of his time in a sling or being carried by Daddy. He is not a fan of the traffic in Manaus though and lets us know by crying whenever we're not moving!

He loves the sling.

One of the highlights everyday at our house is seeing our little Bubba launch into a big old grin when he sees us. It's really hard to get on camera, but it is just the sweetest thing ever. He's been practicing his giggles too, and I can't wait til he gets the hang of laughing for real.

Our big boy

Well, it's 9:30pm now and I hate to admit it, but it's my bedtime! The advice to sleep when the baby sleeps is really true. Maybe we'll get lucky tonight and get 4 hours in a row...

Our little Brasileiro!

2011-05-23T15:52:00.000-04:00

We are so very happy to share the news that our little Brasileiro, Elijah James, was born May 10th! He weighed 3.744 kg/8 lbs 4 oz and was 48 cm/19 in long. We went in for a scheduled appointment that morning, and by the time the doctor called me in, we were in labor. About 11.5 hours later, our beautiful Elijah was born.
Tomorrow he will be 2 weeks old and is already changing and getting bigger. He is a great eater, already gone through one not-so-fun-for-us growth spurt last week, and is generally very calm and happy. He is becoming really alert and is quite observant, looking around with his bright blue eyes at all the new surroundings.

1 Day Old, light hair and orangey highlights

Me and my boy

Elijah loves when Daddy holds him.

My loves. We're so lucky that Daddy is such a natural!

He is an expert soother, diaper changer, and maid :)

My sweet pea sleeping.

We're so happy to have our baby in our arms now and are trying to enjoy all of the new experiences of parenthood. As someone who loves to sleep, I am amazed at how little sleep is really required to function. The first several days we were literally running on minutes of sleep a day, but now we've all gotten much better at napping during the day and night (2-3 hour naps). On that note, he just woke up, so it's time to start the eat, poop, sleep routine once again!

I'll post some more pics and his birth story soon.

Oh Happy Day!

2011-04-30T17:16:00.002-04:00

No, we haven't had the baby yet, but we've still got plenty to be happy about around here this weekend!
I remember how much I looked forward to springtime in New York City. After having cold, gross days for what seemed like more than half the year, a single day of sunshine had the power to bring out the smiles in everyone around the city. We ditched the puffy coats in exchange for cute t-shirts and an iced coffee and took advantage of the usually short-lived sun warming us from the inside out.
Now that we live in a city that is perpetually warm, you'd think that feeling would be long gone. I have to admit, even a place that is always at least 85 degrees gets a lift in its spirits on an especially sunshiny day after endless gray days with thunderstorms. Now if only we had a Starbucks on the corner...
Besides the change in weather, yesterday was a memorable day for us for two special reasons. First, our adorable niece turned 5! It seems like she was barely just talking the other day, and she's quickly become a very chatty, smart, and super cute little kid. And now we know she won't be stuck sharing her birthday with her cousin!
Second, we got news that my brother proposed to his girlfriend last night! Jay and I are both thrilled for them and cannot wait to officially add Daphne to our family. They are such a beautiful couple, inside and out, and they're blessed to have found each other.
The good times continue this weekend, too. Jay is running in his first official race tonight with some friends of ours. It's a relay race where each person on the 6 person team runs 3.5 km. Not exactly a marathon, but it should be fun. Because we're getting close to our lil guy's BDay, Jay would only agree to run if I was there with him "just in case." I'm looking forward to taking some action shots for everyone from the sidelines.
Speaking of action shots, our good friend Debora volunteered to take some pictures of us before the baby comes (today is 39 wks, 2 days). Although we have perfected the one arm self-portraits over the past 10 years together, if I do say so myself, it's great to have some pictures of us further than 2 feet away. Thanks to the cooperative weather this morning and Debora with her new camera, I think we've got some keepers :)

Here's to hoping the next pics we post on here will be of the bebe!!!!

Cha de bebe!

2011-04-11T16:22:00.001-04:00

How lucky can one girl be? Last week was my third baby shower for this lil guy! I feel so fortunate to have such great friends not only in the States, but also here in Manaus. My close friend Debora threw me my last baby shower (cha de bebe) and invited all of our girlfriends. It was a lot of fun for everyone, and we ended up with some really cute books and DVD's in Portuguese for the bebe. I know I will think of our Brazilian friends whenever we read the stories together. We also got some disposable diapers which should come in handy for the really gross newborn poop that is sure to come in a few weeks! For now though, they are serving an equally important job of making our second bedroom smell like sweet, fresh baby :)

Debora and me at the beginning

A Brazilian tradition...the girls all painted my belly!

The belly, Jay, and I all done up!

Just the Ladies (e um menino)

Now we're getting to the final countdown!!! Less than a month to go (36 wks)!!! We can't wait to meet our lil guy and introduce him to all of his Tias e Tios Brasileiros :)

St. Patty's Day in Manaus

2011-03-20T16:24:00.000-04:00

One of the fun parts of living in New York City used to be celebrating St. Patrick's Day. It was always amusing to see how much people (meaning Jay and his friends) looked forward to getting together and going out to celebrate, especially if it fell on a weekend. The last year we lived in the city, Jay and I even marched in a band in the big St. Patrick's Day Parade up 5th Avenue.

As the big day approached here, we didn't really have any plans. Despite this being a country with lots of saint days and holidays, Patrick did not make the cut. I guess not everyone fully appreciates a guy that rid Ireland of its snakes!

At basically the last minute, we decided to get together with our friends Mark and Debora for a traditional Irish dinner. I made an Irish beef stew, and we put it over mashed potatoes with chicken sausage. We couldn't find any proper Irish beer at the grocery store for the stew, but we managed just fine with some expensive Brazilian made Scottish ale.

We all dressed in green and listened to hours of traditional Irish music while we cooked and then ate til we could eat no more. It turned out being lots of fun, and Debora got to celebrate her first St. Patrick's Day!

Cooking the stew, 33wks

Yummy Irish dinner

Don't mind the crazy hair- it gets hot cooking here ;)

Debora and me

Mmmm... Frog Legs

2011-03-19T15:30:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure if it has to do with being pregnant or the fact that I have more spare time now that I am not playing with the orchestra, but I have been on quite a cooking kick lately. Nothing special, just making real food for lunch and dinner more than usual and not going out to eat so much. By real food, I mean we're eating less grilled cheeses and Top Ramen (a favorite of Jay) and more roasts with veggies, paprika chicken with brown rice, etc.

One of the greatest kitchen appliances I have come to love thanks to living in Brazil is the pressure cooker. I had only heard horror stories about it being dangerous in the States, so I was surprised how many people use one here. You'd think in the US of all places, people would prefer the speedy cooking with a pressure cooker (45 minutes for a 3lb roast with perfect potatoes and carrots) over the slow, all day cooking with a crock-pot. And for the record, I use my pressure cooker about 3-4 times a week and have never had any explosions or near explosions.

So last week I thought it would be nice to have some chicken with veggies for lunch. I looked to see what I could throw in the pot, and I found some fresh kale we bought a couple days before. I pulled it out of the fridge, washed each leaf, and set it down to start trimming it. At that point, I saw something small and brown under the top leaf and called Jay over in a hurry. As he moved the top leaf, we both saw two little black eyes looking up at us. Turns out a little frog had come home with us on the kale 2 days earlier, chilled out a bit in the fridge, and almost got boiled for lunch!

Needless to say, we didn't end up eating any kale with our lunch. Hopefully that little froggy enjoyed his break from the heat of Manaus once he thawed out :)

Surprises

2011-03-03T15:16:00.000-04:00

Yesterday turned out to be quite a memorable day for us, and not exactly in the best sort of way.

I'll get the bad surprise out of the way first. As Jay walked me to my last rehearsal for a while, I stopped looking at the sidewalk for a couple seconds. This is never a good idea here because the sidewalks are not only very crooked and very uneven, but there can also be garbage in some spots. Well, as we approached the intersection, I felt something slippery under my foot. I looked back to see what it was, thinking it was just some fruit peel or whatever. If only... it turned out to be a big, dead, hairless rat! And I was wearing flip-flops! EWWW! I immediately got so grossed out that I almost lost my breakfast right there. I made it to rehearsal and washed off my shoe, but it still gives me the heeby-jeebies to even think about it.

While I was busy counting measures at rehearsal, Jay was taking part in a tv show about sports in our state, Amazonas. His Muay Thai teacher invited him and another student the day before to be part of a segment about Muay Thai. He agreed, thinking it would basically be a demonstration of combinations they've learned in class. He was a little surprised to see a scene set up with chairs outside for an interview, and even more surprised when they told him he would be the one getting interviewed! While he does speak portuguese, this live tv situation was not exactly ideal. So the reporter asked him a question, which he answered to the best of his ability, and then he said the guy just looked at his teacher, kind of stunned, not knowing what just happened, and then never talked to Jay again after that! I tried to find a clip of it, but so far haven't had any luck.

That was definitely a day neither of us will forget anytime soon (though I really wish I could)!

Mahler 1 Concert

2011-02-26T13:20:00.000-04:00

I have officially played my last concert as a pregnant woman. For the last 2 weeks, our orchestra has been rehearsing Mahler's Symphony No. 1 with the Experimental Orquestra (youth symphony), and we played a side by side concert this week. As a trombonist, it's always fun to play Mahler, and although it was not a perfect performance, the energy of the group was great. Jay even said it was an "inspiring performance."
One of the big feats for me in this concert, being 30 weeks pregnant, was the fact that I made it through the whole piece (more than an hour long) without needing to go to the bathroom. The lil guy squirmed around a lot during the concert. I think he is a big Mahler fan!

Side by side concert

Low brass section

Our bows at the end

Because of the timing of the opera festival, I won't be playing any operas this season. While I do want to continue playing until he's born, cramming into the hot pit for 4 + hour rehearsals would probably not be a great idea for anyone. It's hard enough to maneuver around down there without a big belly getting in the way.

It's kind of amusing how many people think I am due any day now. It's pretty funny to see their faces when I say I still have more than 2 months left. Jay and I are looking forward to seeing how much bigger my belly will get in the next 10 weeks, and of course, we can't wait to hold our lil guy in our arms!

Back to Brasil

2011-02-12T16:32:00.000-04:00

We had a great end to our extended vacation in NYC and Phoenix, and with our previous weather karma, Jay was hoping to delay our departure to Manaus by another day, too. We didn't get so lucky though, and we left NY during the afternoon on Super Bowl Sunday. Unfortunately for Jay, by the time we landed in Atlanta for our first short layover, it was half-time! Not only did he miss the first half of the game, we had to board right before the second half started. We thought maybe they'd be playing it on satellite tv on the plane, but they didn't. Good thing his team wasn't playing... well, sort of.
About a week before we decided to go to the states in January, we had planned on being there February through March. As annoying as it was to be forced to change our plans because of visa issues, I am so grateful to have traveled at that earlier point in the pregnancy. The going there was not so bad at 22 weeks or so, but the 20+ hours, 2 day trip back at 27 weeks was a little much for this lady. We had 2 short, 3.5 hour flights at the start and end of our trip which weren't too bad. I had to get up and walk around a bit and use the bathroom, but they were nothing compared to the 9 hour flight from Atlanta to Brasilia. Talk about uncomfortable. While the guy next to me at the window seat slept the entire time, neither Jay nor I could sleep at all. I had to get up so much to stretch and walk around, and never felt comfortable enough to doze off. Fortunately, Jay is super supportive and rubbed my legs for me, but there was really no relief until we got off the plane.
That relief was rather short-lived once we got back to our place in Manaus and discovered that there was mold everywhere! Having no previous experience traveling at this rainy time of year, we didn't think it would be a problem. We were seriously wrong on that one. We spent the whole afternoon back cleaning the couch, pillows, floors, bathroom, fridge, and cabinets.
Not exactly the welcome home we were expecting, but then again, somehow it didn't surprise us!

Tales from NYC

2011-02-11T22:33:00.000-04:00

Somehow we ended up with bad traveling/weather karma on this trip to the states. Granted, we don't usually do so much traveling in January or February, but still. Our flight to Phoenix from New York was canceled and delayed a day because of an impending winter snow storm. It ended up snowing 7 inches overnight, and by mid afternoon on the original flight day, most flights were operating on schedule. We had a place to stay in the city and didn't want to chance spending a night at JFK, so we didn't mind the delay too much. On the way back from Phoenix to New York, another impending snow storm in the East caused our flight to be canceled again! We changed it online for free, showed up bright and early at the airport for our new flight the next morning, and were promptly forced to reschedule it because it too was canceled. Our third try to get into the NYC area was successful, and after a brief stop off in Baltimore, we were back to the cold, windy winter days of NYC. The only concern we had with our changing schedule was the time constraint we were under with the visa documentation for Jay. Luckily, our plans were not ruined as the nice woman at the Brazilian consulate made an exception for my desperate husband. Muito obrigada!!
Being 6 months pregnant and with 4 full suitcases, we thought it would be best to forgo the shlepping up non-elevator buildings and sleeping on futons generally associated with staying at friends' places in New York. Jay found an absolutely great hotel on the Upper West Side at a good price. We stayed in a residential building that also rented out places for people in a studio apartment that slept 4 comfortably and had a kitchen and bathroom. We were less than a block away from the subway, Trader Joe's, and Gray's Papaya. We both highly recommend it!

26 weeks prego, Woogo Hotel apt.

My best friend Nik came to visit us there <3

One of the things we most looked forward to this whole trip was our Baby Shower in NYC. My good friend Natalie volunteered to host it at her house for us, and she couldn't have done a better job! We were so thrilled to be able to spend time with all of our friends in one place on a Friday night, and I know that everyone had an amazing time.

Me with the Hostess with the Mostest

We started the night with a delicious homemade dinner of arugula salad, baked chicken, and pasta w/pesto and sun-dried tomatoes. Nat is quite the chef and baker, and everything she makes turns out being awesome. She made lots of cupcakes that spelled out "Showers of Happiness" and even made chocolate lollipops in the shape of baby things to give as favors. It was so cute!

There were a lot of fun games planned, and lucky for us, all of our friends are really good sports! Everyone participated between conversations, and I know I will always fondly remember all of the laughing involved.

This is the game where each person tried to guess

the right measurement of my belly.

Jay's was too short! Good work ;)

Each team had to act out a song with the word "baby" in it.

Ours chose "Hit Me Baby One More Time," as you can see!

The other team's turn singing.

After several fun games, like name the baby animal, we opened our presents. Since space was quite limited in our suitcases, thanks to the generosity of family and friends in Arizona, we mostly received gift cards in NYC. They will all undoubtedly be put to good use for our lil guy.

Plenty of our friends told us after the shower that it was the best shower they've ever been to. Besides the host's obvious enthusiasm and preparation, the reason for this is because we have such great friends in our lives. We truly feel loved by them all, and we hope there is no doubt that the feeling is mutual.

Let's Go Suns!

2011-02-01T18:43:00.000-04:00

Jay's mom and dad treated us all to a Suns game the other day, and it was a great time. They played the Celtics, and the Suns pleasantly surprised us by kicking some serious booty! They were ahead the entire game, and I have to say, that makes the whole experience so much better.

Right before the start of the game

The Happy Hatlers

It was cool to see the game in person, and even better to go home with a win and a super happy husband!

Our Baby Shower

2011-01-31T20:25:00.000-04:00

Not too many brothers are up to the challenge of hosting their little sister's baby shower, but lucky for me, mine was! With the help of his girlfriend Daphne and our Aunt Donna, we had a super fun co-ed shower for our lil bun in the oven.
Since we haven't lived in Phoenix for a long time, Jay and I were thrilled to see so many friends in one place. Besides our family, several of my friends from high school and NAU were there, as well as our trombone teacher from college. It really means a lot to me to have had the chance to spend some time with such dear old friends. Unfortunately, I didn't get pics with them cause we were too busy eating, chatting, and playing games. But here is a pic of us with my cousin Jeremy who came down from NAU for the shower, and my brother Aaron.

We all chowed down on some yummy food, and then played a few different games. I think everyone had a good time playing!

Group shot during a game

Best Toilet Paper Baby

Dressing a babydoll

Phil squared!

After the games, we got to open our presents. We got a ton of cute baby stuff, including some Cardinals baby gear, scrapbook, bottles, blankies, boppy, and clothes. I'm sure everything we got will be put to good use!

We are so grateful to have had such a fun shower, and we can't wait for everyone to meet our lil guy!

School Days

2011-01-26T13:11:00.000-04:00

My mom is a third grade teacher in a one-school district way out in the desert 60 miles from home, and we had the pleasure to spend a morning with her class last week. The kids were super excited to meet us after hearing so much about us. When my brother came to visit us in October down in Manaus, he brought a bunch of colored fall leaves with notes written by her class on the back. I immediately put them on our wall because the handwritten notes were so adorable - like "Dear Sarah, Sorry you have to be alone for Thanksgiving. Well, not alone, but just with Jay," or "How is Brazil? Is it fine? Your mom really misses you." As you can imagine, I was happy to meet the kids that I've heard so much about, too.
After a long and scenic drive, we waited in the back of the classroom to surprise the kids, and they knew who we were right away. They were very excited to see us there especially because we brought a trombone. My mom doesn't mess around, and the kids were very well-behaved, respectful, and polite the whole time despite their obvious excitement.
They had a few lessons to get through in the morning, and then they had a Q&A with us about our life in Brazil. They were curious about playing in the orchestra, the rain forest, and everything else - including our favorite color! Gotta love 8 year olds!!

As I opened the trombone case, the kids' faces all it up to see the shiny parts. It was quite amusing to me because they were just so elated to see it! I played a little bit for them and showed them how the trombone works. When my turn was over, Jay took over and taught them how to sing "When the Saints Go Marching In." While he played the melody and improvised on it, they sang the words with huge smiles on their faces. Once they had that down, they all lined up and marched around the room while singing to his playing. You can find the video on YouTube if you search for "Aguila School Saints."

When it was time to say our goodbyes to the kids, they all started asking when we could come back and even told us that they would miss us! It was great to meet and interact with them, and I'm happy to be able to picture the kids my mom talks about so much.

Jay and I took a ride into town while my mom stayed and finished up the school day. It really is nothing but mountains, cacti, and desert out there, so we took the chance to take some typical Arizona photos. You would think we were two tourists stopping on the side of the road!

25 weeks prego

Longhorn cattle

As you can see, we had a lot of fun out there and are grateful to have seen my mom in action! She is the BEST!

Travelin Time

2011-01-24T15:58:00.000-04:00

We've already been in the States for a couple weeks, but I finally have the chance to update this blog a bit. We left Manaus on a hot, balmy night wearing tank tops and arrived in New York City the next afternoon to freezing cold weather. Luckily our dear friend Arlene arrived prepared at the airport with two winter coats for us. After only being hot and sweaty for many months, we were happy to have the cold, brisk, American air in our faces!

At the start in Manaus, 23 wks prego

Bundled up in NYC

We rented a place from a friend in our old neighborhood and ate at our favorite restaurants around there. When we weren't staying warm inside and resting, we were busy running around seeing friends and taking care of business. We enjoyed several delicious homemade dinners at friends' places and many lunches out catching up with others. We really love our NYC friends and miss them when we're in Brazil.

Nikki and me after brunch at West Side Diner

Our FridayFunNight crew reunited!

Joe happened to be in NYC this weekend,

and we are always thrilled to see him!

Not only were we happy to see Joe that night, we were even happier to see him the next day when he helped us unload our storage unit! It was such a help to have him and his car there, and we finished the job after 9 long, cold hours. Don't worry, I didn't lift anything too heavy! Oh, I even got my first pregnant belly sympathy when I took my coat off at the post office. The clerk was definitely not excited to see us at her window with 21 boxes, but once she saw my belly, she really lightened up and was telling me to take it easy and not be in a rush. Whatever you say, lady!

We were scheduled to leave NYC on the same day as a snow storm was predicted, so we ended up moving our flight to the following day. After hearing the horror stories of people stuck in airplanes for hours during the last blizzard there, we didn't want to take our chances. The storm ended up being handled very well, and we got about 7 inches over night.

Post-storm picture outside our building

After a week of cold weather there, we are loving our sunny, warm weather here in Arizona. It's been especially nice and pleasant here, in the 70's the whole time so far. We've been staying busy hanging out with family, eating, and enjoying the convenience of driving a car! It's been over 7 years since we had a car, and while we wouldn't really want one in NYC or Manaus, we are loving it here in Phoenix. I know Jay has been enjoying his morning drives to Starbucks for a coffee! Sometimes it's the little things :)

My mom lives pretty close to the new stadium where the Cardinals play football, and we happened to stop over there on one of our "just because we can" drives. We found out they give tours, and we both had a great time seeing behind the scenes there.

Inside the stadium

The field that stays outside in the sun

when there are no games

A natural in the press room!

The tour was so fun, and it was really nice to see how happy Jay was checking all this stuff out. I definitely got more smiles in these pictures than usual!

We're still enjoying our time in Arizona, and I will update this week with more pics from our trip to my mom's school and our Baby Shower!

Noise Makers

2011-01-01T14:26:00.001-04:00

First, let me start by wishing you all a very happy and healthy new year! We had a very relaxed get together with some friends last night. It was especially cool because the hosts have an adorable 5 month old little girl, and I got to talk about baby stuff with her mamae. Also, their backyard is filled with all sorts of edible treats. They have lots of fruit- banana, papaya, acerola (like cherries), carambola (star fruit), noni, lichee, grapes, maracuja (passion fruit), and many veggies/herbs- lettuce, spinach, sweet potatoes, basil, erva mate, among others. The host, Gustavo, is extremely knowledgeable about all things natural and works at a reserve with bees. He went around his yard picking leaves off various plants and offering them to us. His mom celebrated with us and made some fried leaves that were delicious!

Not sure what the English translation is for

this plant, but it's edible when cooked

My hubby and me, 5 months prego

Now, humor me and allow me to vent...

I understand that the New Year is a big deal anywhere. It's totally normal to party with friends, light fireworks, and listen to music. How is it that NYE in a port city in the Amazon is more obnoxious than the combined 6 new years we celebrated in the "city that never sleeps"?

OK, so maybe it's a cultural thing, but as far as I see it, dumb is dumb. What is the point of waking up Dec. 31 at 9 am to light off fireworks? How is that fun when you can't even see them in the bright sunny sky? You continuously hear fireworks the entire day, morning to night here. It's just dumb to waste them before it's dark outside, not to mention annoying for your neighbors.

Here is the other factor that made NYE more obnoxious in Manaus than NYC. When we got home from our friends' place, it was a lil after midnight- I get tired fast being prego :) Behind our little villa is an area that used to be an igarape, like an inlet to the Rio. The government removed the shacks that were there and put up free public housing. Normally we have no problem with our neighbors and like watching the kids play and invent games outside.

Some kids playing in the rain behind our house

Last night, however, introduced us to a side of Manaus that we would rather forget. By one in the morning, people had more or less run out of fireworks. But of course just sitting around and talking outside is no fun. Why not drag your 3 foot tall speakers outside so the entire city can enjoy your celebration? The people behind our house BLASTED music outside until 8 in the morning, I kid you not. When I say blasted, I mean it was louder in our house than we can make our own speakers go.

I woke up at 4 am and looked outside with complete disbelief that such rude people actually exists. There were only about 7 people still "partying," and did not seem to mind the crappy, distorted sound only feet away from them. Around 4:30 am they switched from such American classics as Summer Lovin' and I Will Survive to all Brazilian music. When Jay went to glare at them through the window at 7:00 am, there were only 4 people still outside, standing right in front of the speakers. By the time they tired of this amusement and went inside (8 am), we were lucky enough to have a carro do som park right outside for another hour. This is a car with its speakers mounted outside on top of the car to allow them to share their music with anyone within a mile radius. How thoughtful. Who doesn't like the sound of extremely loud music on cheap speakers when they wake up?

Oh, and don't even get me started on the dogs nearby that bark 30 minutes non-stop in front of their apathetic owners...

Feliz Natal Brazilian Style

2010-12-25T23:02:00.000-04:00

We are officially on our "summer" break now! I just got home from playing our Natal (Xmas) Concert at the Teatro, and now we start our holiday time-off.

From our experience in Manaus this year and last, Brazilians tend to celebrate more on Xmas Eve than Americans. Last night, Jay and I spent the evening at the house of a friend's family. The popular thing to do for Xmas is to have a big family dinner late on the night before Xmas. We arrived to their beautifully decorated house around 9:00 pm, and snacked on some salgados (assorted finger foods).

Very pretty outside setting

Right before we ate dinner, our friend from the orchestra Eduardo played some music on his violin. We were at his mother in law's house, so he was kinda obligated to play. Everyone loved it of course, and we heard some Xmas tunes that are popular here. Then there was a prayer said before we all dug into the tasty dinner. Despite having 30 people there, we had plenty to go around.

Veggie salad w/chicken, beef, turkey, bacalhau,

rice, mashed potatoes, farofa, rabanada

By the time midnight rolled around, we had all filled up on all sorts of food, drinks, and desserts. Everyone played a fun game involving trading presents, and Jay and I ended up coming home with a nice key holder from Aracaju that hangs on the wall.

Our hosts, Eduardo and Aline, in the middle,

Debora and Mark on the right

21 weeks prego- no way to hide it now :)

While most American kids are encouraged to go to sleep early so Santa will stop at their house, Brazilian kids stay up past midnight and open their presents before going to bed. Everyone sleeps in on Xmas day, and then enjoys a lunch with family. By the time our concert rolls around on Xmas night, everyone is rested and in the mood to be entertained! I'll put some pics from that up on my next post.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

2010-12-08T17:50:00.001-04:00

We weren't able to celebrate Thanksgiving on the correct day because no one in Manaus seemed to realize that it was a holiday! Jay worked the whole day and the orchestra had two rehearsals that day. We decided we weren't going to let that deter us from gettin our turkey on, so we postponed the big day til last Sunday.
I invited our closest friends from the orchestra for dinner and several teachers from Jay's school showed up, too. It's always fun for us to get the chance to share our traditions with people here, and many of our friends had never celebrated Thanksgiving.
Because of the quality of ovens here, we put the turkey in nice and early on Sunday to leave plenty of cooking time for it. We spent the afternoon relaxing in between peeling the potatoes, chopping the salad, cooking the green beans, and making the dough for biscuits. Thanks to those efforts, we both think this was the most painless Thanksgiving preparation we've had.

Peeling potatoes while watching football

When people started showing up, the only things left to be done were things that had to wait til the turkey was out of the oven (only one rack)! Despite already allowing an extra 2 hours of cooking time for our 18 pound bird (2 stores and $100R/$60US later), it actually took an extra 3 hours to cook- more than 7 hours total with a recommended cooking time of only 4.5 hrs! We may just have discovered the secret to a juicy turkey though, cause it was definitely the most delicious turkey we've ever eaten.

Beautiful Betsy Bird

We had about 15 people mais ou menos by the time we got the dinner going, and although it was a few more people than we expected, there was plenty of food for everyone. Besides the turkey and gravy, we had a tomato and cucumber salad, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, 3 different stuffings, green bean casserole, and homemade biscuits. It was all sooo delicious! I have to say a big thank you to my mom for sending us fried onions and cream of mushroom soup for the green bean casserole, some Stove Top Stuffing, and heavy duty disposable plates to use.

Musician friends of ours

Jay and some colleagues

Once we each had our second round of food, we busted out some games and had a couple different games going simultaneously. Of course, dessert time was soon to follow and the warm caramel walnut brownies I made were a hit, especially served a la mode. One of Jay's friends brought us a chocolate cake, too, that was tasty.

By the end of the night, I think everyone could understand why we Americans love this holiday so much. It's not just the great food and plentiful football that make it so special, but the chance to spend the day with people you care about.
I know we are both grateful this year for our wonderful friends, our supportive and healthy family, and for the little baby boy that will make our lives even more blessed in May!

It's Jazzy!

2010-12-08T15:55:00.000-04:00

Jay started playing with the Amazonas Jazz Band finally, but because of visa issues, he's still not an official member. He has played several concerts with them in the past couple months though, and luckily I got to see one of them at the Teatro recently.
It's always fun to see them play, and this concert had an amazing Italian clarinet soloist. I know Jay really enjoyed the opportunity of working with such a talented musician, and it's nice to have people like that coming to Manaus.

The Band on stage

Jay with the soloist

After the concert

Out of Town Trip

2010-11-16T20:51:00.000-04:00

The final must-do for people visiting Manaus is take a trip about 2 hours away to a city called Presidente Figueiredo, home to many cachoeiras (waterfalls). Our friends Debora and Mark are always game to get out of the city, so they went with my brother and me. Unfortunately, Jay had to pass cause he had to work.
We left on a Friday morning by taxi- very reasonable and easy compared to a bus- and arrived in time for check-in and lunch. We stayed at a rather charming place called Pousada das Pedras that was filled with lots of flowers, plants, jungle animal carvings, and hammocks.
After a typical self-service lunch, we headed out to explore a nearby cachoeira. The trail through the forest to reach the waterfall was about a 20 minute walk, and along the way, we stopped to pose with this thick, hanging vine.

Once we reached the water, we had to cross part of the stream and try not to lose our shoes in the process! Here is Aaron up to his knees in the water.

We hung out in the water for the afternoon and cooled off before heading back before the sun set. That night, we had dinner near our pousada at a very cozy Italian restaurant. We all split a pizza, decided it was so good we wanted more, and ended up having 3 pizzas in all! It was all homemade and fresh, right down to the basil on top that the chef picked from a plant inside the kitchen. If only this place was closer!!

After getting through the night on an incredibly stiff "bed"- looked like a bed, felt like a plank of wood with a sheet- we enjoyed our complimentary breakfast and headed out for another cachoeira. This place was actually a nature reserve and was well cared for with labels on every tree along the trail.

At the entrance to the park

After a 30 minute hike through forest, we reached our destination to find that we were the only people there. Considering we went on a holiday weekend, it was very fortunate and unexpected. The waterfall was especially beautiful, too.

Cool effect from a foggy lens :)

Can you spot Waldo?

We stayed in the water until we were hungry for lunch and caught a taxi to take us to our usual lunch place for grilled meat and all the fixins before heading back to Manaus. All of us slept part of the way back except for Aaron. Having permanent shot-gun ensured that he had the best view for all of the crazy drivers out here who pass on a solid line or on an uphill, pass on the right shoulder, etc. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss!

It was so nice to spend a couple days away from the city in the middle of waterfalls and rainforests with some of my favorite people. I'm already looking forward to going back for some of that yummy pizza!

Typical Week With My Brother

2010-11-07T22:17:00.000-04:00

There were a few things that we just had to do with my brother while he was here in Manaus. After checking off the must-do boat trip on the Amazon over the weekend, we still needed to take him to a churrascaria, a typical Brazilian all-you-can-eat-meat-fest. No trip to Brazil is complete without stuffing your face with every variation on beef known to man, especially when it is brought right to your table and sliced fresh.
Jay and I had actually never been to a churrascaria here, only in New York City, but we live only a 10 minute walk from one so we gave it a shot. I sort of figured that on a Tuesday afternoon we might be the only ones there, but I was wrong. Apparently, these restaurants are not just for tourists after all.
Shortly after we sat down with our first course of salad and veggies (trying to not be sooo gluttonous), we were bombarded with waiters and their meat. I started off by thinking I would take it easy and not eat too much, but my good intentions lasted til the first bite. We all enjoyed our leisurely lunch and ate to our hearts' content, or perhaps discontent.

My bro

Can't get enough

We also spent some time doing things we would normally do during the week, like go grocery shopping.

I think he ended up going to three different supermarkets while here, all at varying levels of cleanliness and ranging in size from small to huge. In fact, one of the stores is so big that some of their employees wear roller skates to get around faster! Now that is an idea that makes sense.

He also got the chance to see some of the crazy high prices for food. Because Manaus is rather isolated from the rest of the country, literally in the middle of the Amazon, lots of things travel many miles by plane or ship to get to us. Produce is unfortunately one of the most expensive things at the store. One medium sized melon, for example, can cost more than about $40US! We have yet to eat grapes here because they are $15US a pound. Here is a pic of a small head of broccoli at our local Carrefour, about $7US. Underneath it, a box of taco shells is more than $10US. I remember when I used to hate paying the high prices in NYC, but they've got nothing on Manaus!

Heart-breaker :(

Another typical weekday experience for him was going to see a concert at the Teatro Amazonas. Our orchestra normally performs on Thursday night, and I was so happy Aaron could be there to see/hear. It's been a long time since he has seen me perform, so it was very special for both of us.

On stage at the Teatro

I'm pretty sure he liked it cause when he came backstage afterwards, he thought it was only intermission (Jay's lil joke on him). It's always a compliment when someone wants to hear more after almost 2 hours of music!

Our First Visitor!!

2010-11-05T00:00:00.000-04:00

Jay and I recently had the very great fortune to have my brother in town for about a week. We were with him this summer when he bought his ticket for Brasil, and we've been looking forward to his trip ever since.
After a 3 day trip to get here, he left very late on a Thursday and arrived very early on a Saturday, he arrived in one piece with all of his luggage. Not a bad start for Brasil ;)
Jay and I picked him up at the airport, and I was all butterflies every time the sliding door opened to reveal the next passenger. And then finally it was him!!!!

After giving him a day to get settled in and rest a little, our friend Debora, Jay, and I took him out on the river. We decided to wing it at the port this time instead of pre-planning a trip with a guide/boat. We settled on a guy with his small, covered motor boat and went on our way to see the Meeting of the Waters (where our 2 local rivers come together to form the Amazon).

Debora, Jay, and Aaron headin out

After about 45 minutes of bumping through the river on rough, metal seats, we slowed down and watched the two rivers run side by side without mixing. Jay and I have been to this point many times now, but it is still really cool to see. The best part of all is that if you're lucky, you can see some dolphins jumping around. We typically have one person see one, then we all look too late, and we have to live vicariously through their description. Aaron must have been our lucky charm though cause we saw schools of dolphins all around us. It was so incredible! A few would jump out of the water, swim a bit, then jump some more. I couldn't get any pics, but I do have some good video to prove it. You can take my word!

We headed back to the port once we got our fill of the dolphins, and we were doing pretty good until the boat stopped. It had been doing this off and on since we left that morning, but the guide always got it going again. Probably should have tipped us off sooner, but what can you do once you're in the middle of the river? Anyway, the boat didn't just start again this time because we ran out of gas! What the???

The driver got some other guys in a boat to come over and sell him some gas, and then he managed to get it all over my seat while pouring it into the tank- which is why you should never wear nice clothes on a boat trip.

We bounced our way back to the port in silence and all rejoiced when we were once again able to stand up and stretch out our legs. All in all, I think it made for a super memorable experience for my brother!

Still smilin :)

Better Late than Never

2010-11-02T22:16:00.000-04:00

Wow, I can't believe it's already been more than a month since I last posted a blog. My bad! Having very sketchy internet is gonna be my excuse for now, but we recently switched to a more reliable internet service so that should help from here on out. Also, I now can use my own computer which means photos of mine can be added to the blog again (if it doesn't take f o r e v e r).

We've basically been up to the same things as usual since the last post. I've been having rehearsals and concerts, and Jay's been working hard preparing and teaching his English lessons. He also started playing in the jazz band here recently after a year of waiting for things to work out with his visa. Things haven't officially "worked out" completely, but at least we are on the right road now.

One unforeseen benefit of the trouble with visas in general is that Jay got to spend a week in NYC in October, courtesy of a Brasilian who needed something from the states but couldn't get a tourist visa. I have to admit it was a bit strange to be the one left behind while he got to travel somewhere fun, but I guess there is a first time for everything! And I certainly ended up benefitting from his stateside trip since he brought back a suitcase full of edible goodies for us.

Just a sample of the foods we miss and don't have here in Manaus.... peanut butter, pretzels, mac&cheese, maple syrup, pancake mix, tortilla chips, taco seasoning, refried beans, and bagels. We can live without most of the food we're used to, but it's hard to get over the loss of Mexican food. We're trying our best to make the nachos, burritos, and tacos last as long as possible!

That would be my toasted everything bagel

with peanut butter and butter. It was heaven!!!

I know that the experience of living here will leave us with a very deep appreciation for all of the choices and conveniences of food in the States. In the meanwhile, we will continue to savor every jar of peanut butter to the finger-lickin end!

If it's not one thing....

2010-09-18T21:44:00.000-04:00

One thing we have learned to accept about living in Manaus is that nothing ever works out in the most simple way. Barely a day goes by that we don't look at each other and say, "How Manausian!" about one thing or another. A year into our life south of the equator, I am proud to say we have learned to adopt attitudes that allow us to get over any bumps in an instant (or two!)
Last week really seemed to present us with more than a normal share of 'if it's not one thing, it's another' situations. Before Jay took his vacation in the states this summer, we heard about a friend of a friend who was moving and selling her 12000 BTU wall air conditioner. We jumped on board right away because there is no central air anywhere here, and our 2 ac's were just not cutting it. Fast forward to last week when we had to hire an electrician to come change the voltage in the wall since, of course, the ac wouldn't turn on properly, and we had yet to be able to use it. OK, no biggie. The guy came, didn't have the proper tools, came back the next day as promised and did a great job. Just when we start thinking this seems too easy, we realize that we've spent several hundred reais on a big fan that blows hot air! Not so pleasant when it's more than 100 degrees outside with 85% humidity. With the help of some friends, we found an ac maintenance company that came out to take a look at the unit, and after dropping some more reais, we now have a relatively cool 2nd bedroom. Now we're looking forward to their return next week when they clean and repair our other 2 units. Hopefully our days of wiping away sweat while lounging on the couch and watching tv are almost over!
Another one of those 'one things or another' this week was not having working internet or computer at home. The crappy internet service is something we have resigned ourselves to accept, but it gets especially frustrating when you're in the middle of a skype call with family and the connection suddenly drops. Not just once or twice either. We're talking like 5 or 6 times in a span of only 10 minutes! When Jay's computer just wouldn't turn on one afternoon this week, we were quick to remind ourselves that this stuff seems to happen here. Luckily for us, one week and many attempts to turn it on later, we are able to use it again. And the internet is even working well now, too!
How very UnManausian....

Goodbye USA, Ola Brasil!

2010-08-20T22:11:00.002-04:00

After almost two blissful months in the US (3 weeks for Jay), we are back in Manaus now. It was a very fun-filled time seeing our friends and family throughout the country and was definitely the longest vacation either of us has taken.
I'll try to start from where I left the blog a month ago, and I promise to be brief...
Jay and I spent a few days with our dear friends in Washington, DC, and then headed up to NYC by double-decker bus. The next week in NYC flew by between meeting friends for coffee, lunch, and dinner, and getting our fill of our favorite old spots.
The next leg of our trip was spent with family in Arizona, and we stayed super busy with both sides. It's fortunate that both of our families are in the same area, but at the same time, it adds a challenge to the planning since we all want to see each other as much as possible. We crammed in all sorts of fun adventures in AZ, including 90 minute horseback riding lessons, watching a Cardinals training camp practice in Flagstaff, eating the famous Brooklyn-style pizza at Grimaldi's, and seeing a Diamondbacks game.

Happiness on a Horse

Go Cards!

Pizza Party with the Cousins

One of the highlights of that trip was also getting to spend a couple days with our adorable niece.

From there, Jay went to see his family in Tennessee, and I went to Las Vegas with mine. My best friend since I was about 5 years old met us with her bf in Vegas, and we had a great time walking the Strip at night, eating as much as possible at the buffets, and laying out by the fancy pool at Planet Hollywood!

BFF

Our first buffet at the Rio Hotel

Poolside @ Planet Hollywood

One of the most fun nights of my entire summer was spent in a casino with my brother, my best friend, and her bf doing karaoke and dancing til the wee hours. The memories from that night of Ms. Marlene and Antonio Winnick on stage are priceless. (Everyone needs a proper Vegas name, of course!)

On stage w/Antonio

Jay and I met at the airport in NYC next, and spent the last 5 days of our US time seeing friends and running errands. I spent a day out in the Hamptons, soaking up the good life with good friends and good food, while Jay took care of some visa business at the consulate. Our last afternoon was a very special one for us because we got to spend some time chillin with our friends that are moving to LA at the end of the month. Lucky for us, they had a going away party planned in Manhattan on our last night with other friends of ours! And even luckier for us, we got to see the sunset over the Hudson River from that rooftop party that just so happened to be the former residence of Duke Ellington! We were both totally thrilled at the idea of walking in the same place as Sir Duke! Since we had to leave for the airport at 3:30 in the morning that night, we pulled an all-nighter with some of our most favorite people in NYC! It was a totally cool way to bring our vacation to a close.
On that note, we had a good trip back to Manaus. We are happy to be here, even happier to be unpacked. And I already have my list of requests from the states started for our next trip!

ps I left my charger for my computer in NYC, so when I can use my computer again I will try to post some pics on here ;)

U S A wesome

2010-07-27T12:03:00.000-04:00

It's been way too long since I wrote the last blog post, and I really don't have much of an excuse to offer. I've just been so busy reveling in all of the goodness that is the United States! There is something so comforting about the familiar, and despite being in the middle of nowhere in Virginia for the last month, knowing that there were abundant stores and restaurants just a drive away gave me great satisfaction.

The Castleton Music Festival ended Sunday night with our last performance of all Beethoven. Overall I had a good time practicing, rehearsing, and relaxing with new friends in the hills of Virginia. Here are some pics from the beautiful countryside...

The white tent in the background

is where we rehearsed and had concerts

Rolling hills spotted with moooo cows

Lake on Maestro Maazel's farm

Horsie :)

Zonkey (zebra/donkey) on the farm,

one of many animals we saw everday

ugly emu

The Orchestra- I am somewhere in the back

My view of the Maestro

After a concert

Jay came to join me in Castleton on the last day of the festival, and it was wonderful to finally see him again after being apart and to show him where I had been living for the last month. Our longtime friends Joe and Dana also came to see the concert, and it was really nice for all of us to be together again. Both boys tried to get some good pics of me on stage, but it is just not meant to be. But we did get the beautiful sunset afterwards on camera!

Joe and Dana and me post-concert

Now Jay and I are having fun hanging out with our friends in Washington, DC, and we'll be heading up to NYC soon. I will definitely try harder at updating the blog while we are out here- especially since the internet is so much faster and pics don't take an hour to upload! Oh, yeah- I also had a very happy birthday weekend at Virginia Beach that I will share in my next post. Viva America!!!

Vacation!

2010-06-28T23:19:00.001-04:00

I suppose technically neither Jay nor I are on vacation, but being in the States is close enough for me! Jay had to stay back in Manaus, but I flew to NYC a few days ago to spend some quality time with my girlfriends before heading off to Virginia. I had an amazing time in New York seeing friends, going out to eat, shopping a bit, and running errands. It felt great to be back in the states right away, and while I do miss my friends and Jay in Brasil, I am very happy to be here now. As much as I like speaking portuguese, there is just something comforting about being able to say what you want when you want without having to think too hard.
Anyway, I am currently in beautiful Virginia to play in the Castleton Music Festival with Maestro Lorin Maazel. I knew this was going to be something special when I saw the limo waiting at the bus station to drive us to the festival. Definitely got off to a great start! It only got better when we arrived to see what an amazing part of the country this is located in. We're surrounded by big trees, the Blue Ridge mountains in the Shenandoah Valley, fresh water creeks and lakes, and lots of animals. So far I've already seen a fox, raccoon, and deer on the roads, and llamas, goats, zebra, zonkey!, horses, and cows on farms. I left my camera in NYC so I don't have evidence of the natural beauty all around me here (or the zonkey) except using my computer's camera, but when I get it back, I will post some better pics.

Our house surrounded by gardens

Hard to tell, but that is the lake

Out on one the many porches here

We start our rehearsals tomorrow, and I am looking forward to playing with everyone here. The people I have met have all been very nice and down to earth. I'm staying in someone's guest house with other musicians, and my housemates are all cool. Our house is situated on a dirt road with its own lake, trails, and a tennis court from what I hear. I haven't had much time to explore yet, but I plan on exploring tomorrow on a run around here.
The only slightly unfortunate aspect of this place so far is the high temps- 100 degrees today- and high humidity- 85%. Good thing the last year in Manaus has prepared me for it!

Festa Junina

2010-06-18T18:38:00.002-04:00

The month of June is a really fun time here in Brasil thanks to the Festa Junina. It's a traditional party popular throughout the country, especially the northeast, and pays homage to three Saints that have holidays this month. It involves dressing up in character as cowboys/country-folk, dancing quadrilha (think square dancing), having a bonfire, and eating traditional foods. Since it's actually winter down here and most places are cold, traditional food includes hot things like quentão, a warmed wine or cachaça with ginger, cinnamon, and orange rind, many foods made of corn like canjica or corn bread, and lots of sweets and desserts.

To make sure everything was ready for our festa, the girls had a pre-party get together to make the proper decorations- a fake fire since it's already hot enough here and bandeiras, little colored flags cut from tissue paper and hung from a string. Besides the decorations, we had typical country music playing during the night.

Almost everyone showed up in a costume, and since everyone brought a typical food (I confess- I made Ghiradelli brownies from the States that were the first thing gone), we had tons and tons of food.

Table full of food

The hostess and me in costume

After we all stuffed ourselves on various cakes, vatapá, rice, pão de queijo, and salgados, we gathered around to start the quadrilha. Everyone partnered up and followed the directions shouted from the leader. We had some familiar do-si-do moments along with some new moves- for example, "chuva" where you raise your hands above your head to imitate rain falling. We danced around the roof laughing our heads off for several songs, and I have to say that the Americanos impressed the Brasileiros with our moves :)

I know it's blurry, but

that is Jay dancing in the middle!

All of us on the roof

We were unfortunately kicked off the roof after our hoedown by the building manager (party pooper!!!) and moved the party down to her apartment. Of course the fun continued despite the manager, and we played another traditional game inside, BINGO! Almost everyone ended up winning by the time we finished, and we all got cute little presents to take home.

I won!!

This was a super fun and very memorable experience for us both. The atmosphere was part carnival-part hoedown, and you know you can't go wrong with that!!

Copa do Mundo!!

2010-06-17T16:01:00.001-04:00

Brasilians certainly do not take their futebol lightly. The sidewalks have been painted in yellow and green stripes for weeks, every other car has Brasilian flags flying, and there are even new murals in the middle of many roads showing their pride. People really get excited for the World Cup and spare no expense here!

The excitement is actually quite contagious, and Jay and I had so much fun watching Brasil's first game against South Korea. We went to our neighbor's place to watch the game and share some tasty Brasilian food amongst friends. Everyone was forewarned not to bother going if they weren't interested in really watching the game! The funny thing to us was how disappointed everyone was when there were no goals in the whole first half of the game, and how quickly they got disinterested. As a lifelong Arizona fan, Jay had no trouble maintaining his faith in the team no matter how boring it seemed. Luckily the second half went much better, and everyone's spirits were lifted after Brasil scored 2 goals. There was lots of jumping and shouting and fireworks and horn honking during and after the game. I can't even imagine how crazy it's gonna get as the Copa do Mundo progresses! I'll keep you posted....

and Go USA!!!

My First Race

2010-06-14T15:54:00.001-04:00

I've had quite a few "firsts" since moving to Manaus, but the one I am most proud of is running in my first 10 km race. My good friend Debora and I have been diligently going to the gym since the fall, and I can safely say that all the effort has paid off for us. Sunday morning we completed our first race, and now we can't wait to do another!

We found out about the race on Tuesday night, and I immediately ran 10 km on the treadmill (for the first time although I've been running for 45-60 mins 3x week for more than a month). I ran everyday this week to prepare for Sunday and did another 10 km run on Friday afternoon. My goal was to finish in one hour, but once I got out on the road I thought maybe just having a goal of not stopping at all would be more attainable. It was 100 degrees at 8:30 in the morning when we started and you can imagine how humid it is here in the rainforest. Plus on top of the hot sun and lack of shade on the route, there were so many hills!

To make a long story short, I finished in 52 minutes and achieved both of my goals. It was a difficult run to be sure, but totally worth the effort. It was such a fun atmosphere there, too, with all the different sorts of runners and who doesn't love free watermelon on a hot day?!

Before the Corrida Rustica

Debora, Marcelo (trainer at our gym), and me after the race

We did it!!!!

Opera, Manaus-Style

2010-06-06T15:51:00.000-04:00

The XIV Amazonas Festival de Opera has officially finished!!! We played our last opera of the season, Lo Schiavo by J. Carlos Gomes, last Sunday, and it was done true Manaus-style... which means it was a big ol' production!

Just like the huge show at Christmas, there were hundreds of people involved in this production. The orchestra played inside the Teatro Amazonas on stage with the full chorus behind us. Maestro Malheiro conducted us live while huge monitors of him outside the theater led the singers. There were also gigantic screens set-up outside to show the main action on stage with portuguese sub-titles. The entire side of the theater, and then some, was used as a stage for the singers, dancers, actors, children, and animals, and there were chairs throughout the whole area for the crowd.

Jay came to see the opera and did a good job documenting it with pictures....

You can see the festive atmosphere before we started,

complete with cotton candy!

The stage is lined in red and one of those monitors faces

the singers (the conductor) and one faces the public.

A cool part of the opera with fireworks

on top of the Teatro.

Lots of actors portraying the natives on stage

while others climb the sides of the Teatro.

Normally the orchestra is stuck in the pit and has no idea or view of what the singers are doing on stage. Fortunately for us this time, they brought in a big flat-screen tv for us to see the action. It was actually kind of distracting because it was hard to focus on the conductor when there was a tv a few feet beside him, but it was nice to know what was happening in the opera. It was especially funny to watch the reaction of one of the lead singers singing an aria while riding a horse who preferred to trot instead of walk at that moment. He continued to sing perfectly, but I can only imagine what must have been going through his mind!

Jay and I both walked away from this performance amazed that a city in the middle of the Amazon can produce such a large-scale, well-made production, and I am grateful to have been a part of it! But even more grateful to know we are done with operas for another year :)

Boat Trippin'

2010-05-31T15:26:00.001-04:00

We had a great time on our most recent outing on the Rio Negro with our friends. My girl Debora's family was visiting from out of town, so she planned a boat trip to give them a look at the good life in Manaus! We all shared the cost to rent a big, 2-story boat and set out on our river adventure early in the morning on Saturday.

Our boat at the port- it's the one on the far left

One of the best ways to cruise the river is definitely laying in a hammock. Our hammock unfortunately was not cooperating very well and flipped over when I tried to sit in it! It happened so fast, but was traumatizing nonetheless. Not to mention painful landing on my head, shoulder, and knee. Since everyone put up their own hammocks on the boat, I used theirs and left Jay to use ours at his own risk!

Relaxin

Our first destination was Encontro das Aguas, aka Meeting of the Waters, where our two rivers, Rio Negro and Rio Solimoes run side by side without mixing due to their differing densities. We've already been there several times, but this time was very special because we got to see dolphins jumpin through the water! I'm not sure why, but these fresh water dolphins hang around this area and though we've thought we'd seen them swimming before, this time it was unquestionable. They were too fast to catch in a picture, but there were several swimming and jumpin together. It was soooo cool!

You can see the 2 rivers behind us (black and brown)

The next stop was Vitoria Regia, another spot we've been to numerous times. Last time we went the river was very low, so the lily pads were basically non-existent. This time the river was very high and we got to see some huge ones. On our way back from seeing them and this very tranquil part of the river, I stopped for a bit to look up into the trees surrounding us. To my pleasant surprise, I spotted a monkey jumping through the branches overhead! We went on to spot 3 or 4 different little monkeys hopping between the trees. It was too hard to get a clear picture of them cause the trees were so dense, but I know I will always remember them and now I can check seeing monkeys in the wild off my to-do list :)

Very calming and peaceful

We also stopped along the river to see some huge 3 feet long fish in an enclosed tank. People paid $5R to feed them small fish on a pole. It was like fishing except that there was no hook on the pole, and the point was to see the huge fish struggling to get the bait. Actually it turned out being the people fishing who really struggled the most and was quite amusing to see Debora's 80 year old grandma fighting to keep her bait away from them. Jay and I stuck to taking pics and laughing at everyone until the fish got either too bored or full to care anymore...

Debora in action

We finished up the trip by cruising by the new bridge that is being constructed across the river. There are a lot of new public works happening around town thanks to the fact that the World Cup is coming to Manaus in 2014, and they are very fast with their construction here.

As we headed back to the port, it started to rain a bit and was quite windy, so we got to experience the very rare treat of being cold. Everyone had such a good time, and we vowed to make this a more usual occurrence now that the orchestra season is coming to an end. I'll keep you posted!

The Blues

2010-05-29T17:47:00.000-04:00

Sometimes it's hard to believe what a small world we live in. A couple weeks back, Jay and I had the pleasure of meeting the members of Eli Yamin's Blues Band. They are currently doing a tour, presenting workshops and concerts, through parts of South America on a grant from Lincoln Center. We heard about the concerts through a friend of ours that works at the school where they performed, which happens to be one of the most reputable English schools in Manaus and only one block from our house.

Anyway, we went to a workshop the first day they were here and really enjoyed the experience. The band is comprised of a pianist/singer- Eli Yamin, singer- Kate McGarry, drummer-LeFrae Sic, and tuba-Bob Stewart. All of them are amazing musicians and gave a very thoughtful workshop that explored the roots and rhythms of blues. Kids and adults alike really seemed to have a good time listening and learning. I was so inspired that I came home singing my own blues (a happy blues, that is)!

After the workshop, Jay and I introduced ourselves to the band and soon discovered that we used to live in the same neighborhood as them in NYC! It was fun to talk to some American musicians, especially such cool ones from our old hood, and we found out that we even have some mutual friends there. Never thought we'd end up in Manaus hangin with New Yorkers!

When they found out that Jay plays, they invited him to join them the next night at their concert. I wish I could've gone to hear them play, but I had my own concert that night. I heard from other friends that Jay got a standing ovation from the crowd, and I know he had a great time jammin. I unfortunately don't have any action shots, but here's some from after the concert.

Jay and the world-renowned tubist, Bob Stewart

Us with the amazing drummer, LeFrae

I highly recommend checking out this band cause they are the real deal!

State of Mind

2010-05-25T11:33:00.000-04:00

It's official... Jay and I will be heading back to the states this summer for vacation!!!!! We bought our tickets and cannot stop thinking about what we're going to do there, eat there, buy there. But buying them a few weeks ago has certainly taught me a valuable lesson: Do not purchase tickets so early.

The strong desire to get back to the states has basically been in the back of our minds starting the day we bought them, despite the fact that we still have more than a month to wait, and it makes life here a little more difficult. Not that we are unhappy now, just that the anticipation of all the good things to come is hard to avoid. And by good things to come, I mean..... clean & maintained streets with predetermined lanes, no stray & mangy dogs/cats, cheap Chinese & Mexican food, pedestrians with the right of way, sidewalks that accommodate 2 people side by side, clothes that last longer than a few months, using a cell phone & iPod in public w/out fear it will be stolen, not seeing ants on or near my food everyday, cafes that sell iced coffee.

Seriously, I did not start daydreaming of walking down an immaculate sidewalk with an iced coffee in one hand while talking on my cell phone until we had a date set to leave. I guess the grass is always greener, right? (And better maintained).

A Kiwi Comes to Manaus

2010-05-22T15:48:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to update the blog for the past couple of weeks, but this last week has been one of those 'if it's not one thing, it's another' type of weeks. Just to name a few of those things- we can't use our front door at this point since the lock is completely stuck, my gym membership is all messed up thanks to some one's ineptitude, and our oven does not work. But we do have internet at home, slow but working, and there is still an abundance of sunshine and suco (juice) to brighten anyone's day down here.

Oh, and we made a new friend recently! One of the highlights from a couple week ago for us was hosting a genuine Kiwi at our place. The former "friend of a friend of a friend," Alex, is now officially just a "friend." He is doing a 2 month trip through Brasil and passed through Manaus a couple weeks ago to check out the Amazon forest and river. After his former plans to crash at someone else's place fell through, he came to stay with us for a few days, and it was a very educational and fun time for all of us. It was educational because we never knew anyone from New Zealand before, and we had all sorts of questions for him about his life there. It was fun because we all turned out having a lot in common and felt a quick connection despite barely knowing each other.

One of the nights he was here, we took him to experience the joy of unlimited pizza and then went out to hear some live Brazilian music with our friends. Next door to the bar was a dance club, and since Alex and I were in the mood to dance, we all went. It was quite memorable since it turned out to be packed with mostly guys, and Alex is like 2 feet taller than all of them, so he really stuck out! Jay kept his back to a wall, and I danced in front of him the whole time to keep away the dudes!!! hehe

Jay and Alex representin' at the bar

Alex in the mix

The following day was a birthday party for a friend of ours, and we took Alex to our typical Sunday afternoon hang on our friends' rooftop. It was really nice cause the birthday girl's hubby made feijoada (black bean stew with pork parts) and fixins for lunch and brigadeiro for dessert. It was soooo delicious, and gave our Kiwi a traditional Sunday meal in Brasil. It ended up being a really hot day, so the guys took advantage of the pool on the roof and cooled off between lunch and dessert.

Alex doing his famous cannonball off the ledge

Amor

We had a great time with our English-speaking, sports-loving, good-music-listening buddy and were sorry to see him go. Now that we've had our first successful house guest though, we are ready and waiting for you! ;)

Quick Update

2010-05-04T20:13:00.001-04:00

Our internet has not been working lately, so I haven't been able to update everyone on our goings on around here. Desculpe (sorry)!
But I am going to take advantage of this quick opportunity, courtesy of a very gracious neighbor, to write a little sumpin sumpin....
In the last blog, I told you about Jay's first Muay Thai test, and I am happy to report that he advanced to the next level!! I am so proud of him and happy that he has found something new he really enjoys to do. He is very dedicated to it, and let me tell you, it really shows in his super lean and muscular body!! He is looking muito bom!!
The Opera Festival continues on until the end of May, but we are finished playing Villa-Lobos' Yerma. The youth orchestra played Gounod's Romeo and Juliet last week, and I was happy to be able to actually see what's going on on the stage. It kinda sucks being stuck in the back of the pit with just a view of the maestro and the first row of the audience. I had to see the opera in two installments cause Jay was not interested in staying after intermission for the second half, so I went back another day and left him at home. I can't really blame him, as the opera is 4 hours long!!! They did a great job though, and we were both impressed with the scale of things. They do not hold anything back when it comes to production here, and it's very evident in the performances. I would post some pics, but it takes forever, so I will do that another time.
We also had a great time the other night at our American friend Summer's Mexican Dinner party. It was the three of us Americans, several Brazilians, and a new friend from New Zealand passing through Manaus this week. Brazilians, and New Zealanders as it turns out, do not have much of an idea of what Mexican food is, so it was a new experience for the other people involved. We made homemade tortillas and refried beans (no canned beans here!), and Summer even made some sour cream from yogurt. Everything tasted amazing, and it was lots of fun hanging out with them.

Our delicious Mexican creations

Speaking of Mexican food, Happy Cinco de Mayo tomorrow to you all!!! Or as we say around our house, Happy Cinco de Jayo!!!!! :)

Big Night

2010-04-24T23:12:00.000-04:00

Last night was a big night around these parts cause Jay had his first test for Muay Thai and the XIV Festival Amazonas de Opera had its opening night.

Jay joined a nearby Muay Thai studio almost 2 months ago with a friend, and while that friend has stopped showing up, Jay has gone religiously almost everyday since he started. For those of us that have no idea what Muay Thai is, it's basically a form of self-defense that involves kicking and hitting your opponents while blocking yourself, but there is no rolling around on the ground with other sweaty dudes. That would just be gross, especially here in this already hot and humid city!

Anyway, I am still shocked at how intense the classes are and how many bruises my man comes home with. He's had huge bruises on both sides of his chest from being punched, on his stomach from being hit repeatedly by the teacher, and on the sides of his legs from being kicked repeatedly. Sounds like a good time, right?! Well, he really seems to be liking it and has gotten into incredibly good shape from all the jumping-jacks, running, push-ups, sit-ups, and of course all the hitting/kicking.

Champions Factory- his whole studio

His professor (tattooed one) talking to the guys

Best pic I could get of him.

I had to leave for my concert before they actually started the test part, but it went well from what Jay said. They had to do some combinations that the judges called out and spar with several partners. Luckily he came home feeling good and has a couple days off to recover before he has to get back to it.

I, on the other hand, only have today off to recover from our more than 3 hour long opera premiere last night. We have been rehearsing this opera, Yerma by Heitor Villa-Lobos, for a couple months now, but just added in the singers, dancers, and soloists a couple weeks ago. Because it is a difficult opera with hard singing roles and lots of people involved, including dancers and a children's choir, every one was quite relieved that we pulled it off last night. We have another performance tomorrow night of it, and several other operas starting later in April and May. If you are interested in seeing all of the programming for this year's festival, you can check-it out here.... http://www.amazonasfestivalopera.com/programacao.htm

After the concert outside the Teatro Amazonas

A Typical Sunday

2010-04-14T23:37:00.003-04:00

A crazy thing happens in downtown Manaus on Sundays. Everyone stays home. The street in front of our house is normally packed with people, thank you very much university on our block, and also has a very steady flow of cars all the time. It's not that it's a bad thing cause without the students there would be no inexpensive food for sale on the street - hello, $2 chocolate cake!!! But it is a very good thing to feel like there really is a day of rest here, and the closure of many stores and restaurants makes you enforce it in your own life.
Last Sunday we were sitting around watching some movies at home, and our friends called to invite us over for a swim. We got our stuff together, took a cab to Ponta Negra, and spent the afternoon chillin poolside. Our friend's dad has a penthouse condo there, and when we had enough of the sun, we went up and enjoyed the amazing views. Ponta Negra is the more posh area of town with lots of tall condominiums right by the river and a boardwalk with rides and games for the kids.

Balcony view of the Rio Negro

View from the other side of apt.

Rainforest as far as the eye can see.

After relaxing a while, we decided to continue our lazy Sunday at an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet. Yes, Jay and I are huge fans of this place, and I have already written about how much we love them, but this time I had my camera. (Sorry, Jay!) We all ate until we were stuffed, and I think I had about 7 slices of dessert pizza alone, but who's counting?! By the way, this is something totally lacking in the American culture- pizza with chocolate, white chocolate, strawberries, peanuts, doce de leite, bananas and cinnamon, chocolate and coconut. Why are we restricted to just boring cheese, pepperoni, or sausage? I am all about the pizza doce!!!

What a face... not sure what that means.

Heaven on my plate --->

White chocolate, sonho de valso, and choco/coconut

The slice on the right is Hot Dog pizza... not good.

A kid next to us put ketchup and mayonnaise

on top of his and seemed to like it just fine. Ewww.

Summer and Luiz in their carb-induced coma!

Since Luiz's car is in the shop, he has been driving around his "tricycle." Of course, it is nothing like the tricycle you are probably imagining and can only be called one because of its three wheels. We had some fun taking pictures on it in the parking lot though and couldn't help laughing the whole time knowing that he really drives that thing around town. Pretty sweet ride, right?!

Summer and me

That's how we roll....

Is it Sunday yet??

Easter Barbecue

2010-04-07T23:52:00.000-04:00

Everyone has a rooftop barbecue for Easter, right? Well, there may not have been a typical ham or Easter egg hunt like in the States, but anytime a grill, meat, and chocolate are together in one place, it's bound to be good.
Since most all of our friends here are far away from their families, we like to spend our holidays (and weekends) hanging out with each other. We celebrated Pascoa on the roof of our friends' building with about 20 people, mais ou menos. Everyone brought something to throw on the grill, and we ended up with lots of steak, chicken, and fish at different times throughout the afternoon. It always starts off as a feeding frenzy when the first plate of meat hits the table cause we're usually all so hungry at that point!

The Chef doing his thing at the grill

The first mad rush for food :)

I missed EVERYTHING from that plate

to take this picture... those people are quick!!

In honor of my hubby, I made deviled eggs for the party. The brasileiros had never seen them before, and I have to admit, Jay and I probably ate almost all of them ourselves. It's the thought that counts though, right?!

One of the cool things about this building is the amazing view of the city from the roof. I mean, it's certainly not NYC, but it's still nice to be able to see Manaus from every direction. We would definitely have had a great spot to see the sunset, but it ended up being too cloudy by that time.

The Amazon River behind us.

Buildings, buildings, more buildings.

Part of Centro, downtown

One of the different traditions they have here is to give people these huge chocolate eggs for Easter. They are not into the Easter egg hunt or basket full of various small candies or treats. They are all about the big chocolate egg! Starting like a month ago at the grocery stores here, they put up long tunnels of hanging chocolate eggs. We're talking like surrounding you on all sides and above your head of every variety of chocolate available (at least in Brasil). You can choose from dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, chocolate with peanuts, with cashews, with Brasil nuts, with puffed rice, with cereal and nuts and raisins, with coconut, and the list goes on. It is really quite impressive!

Anyway, we were all told to bring an egg with us to trade with our secret friend at the festa. After we drew names to see who our secret friend would be, we got in a big circle facing each other. It was just like our Secret Santa at Xmas, and we had to say some clues about who our person could be. I got lucky and drew Jay's name, so when I described my person as "um homem que é muito gostoso" (a guy that is very hot), everyone guessed right away who that was!

Our new chocolates

Our stash:

from the party (2 eggs on the left),

a gift from my boss, the Secretary of Culture (the box of chocolates),

and a free chocolate egg from the mall for shopping.

Not bad for a girl that doesn't even celebrate Easter!!!! ;)

Alter do Chão... Part 2

2010-03-31T22:04:00.000-04:00

To continue where I left off about our vacation to the beautiful and calm city of Alter do Chão...

After watching the beautiful sunset over the Rio with the man I love, we returned to the mainland for some dinner at one of the handful of restaurants there. Despite being a tourist destination for Brasilians and foreigners alike, the food was actually much cheaper than here in Manaus. Not exactly sure why that is the case, but food has to travel so far to get to us in Manaus, and they certainly pass the cost on to consumers. Anyway, we were able to eat 3 delicious pieces of picanha (steak), rice, beans, and farofa for only $8R per person there! Needless to say, we ate there and ordered that a lot!

The next day we had a bit of an adventure with Mark and Débora as we decided to hike up the little mountain on the island. It took us a while to figure out where exactly the trail was, but after some meandering and more random iguana sighting (thanks, Jay), we were on our way.

The view of the city from the top.

Much better view in real life. Trust me.

After hiking back down the mountain, right as we got to the end of the trail, it started to rain on us. And then it started to pour on us. We decided to make a run for it from the trees we were hiding under, and then we all just got soaked. So we stashed our things under a cabana on the beach, stripped down to our swimming suits, and kept ourselves warm in the river while it rained. The water there is a perfect temperature, a bit on the warm side. It continued to rain the rest of the day, but we didn't mind having a break from the scorching sun since we were already sun-burned by that point.

Taking cover from the sun.

Our last full day there was spent on the beach relaxing with our friends. We took advantage of all of the small and convenient restaurants on the water and had a steady flow of fried food and caipirinhas brought to our tables. Jay taught André and Andrea how to play poker, while I did what I do best- read a book. When the sun started to go down, we took a walk down the beach and enjoyed our last night of vacation.

Love me some fried sardinhas!

Shrimps with their heads and legs!

Caipirinhas... traditional drink of Brazil. Yum!

Their friendly game of poker. They used

fried banana chips as poker chips :)

Chillin on the beach with my new henna tattoo on my ankle.

Sunset on our last night.

We actually had part of another day there, and since we had to check out from the pousada in the morning, of course we went back to the beach. Everyone pretty much tried to stay out of the sun cause we were already varying shades of pink and red... some worse than others... (Jay)... We stayed under the shade of the umbrella on our table and ate more fish and soaked up the last moments together with our good friends. We've never taken a real vacation with any other couples, and it was definitely a great experience. Not only is it fun to have other people to hang out with and to explore with in a new place, but it's nice to know we will always share these memories from our trip to Alter do Chão.

Alter do Chão

2010-03-28T14:10:00.002-04:00

At the beginning of February, we got some time off in honor of Carnaval, and we finally went on our first real vacation in Brasil. We had all heard a lot of good things about this town called Alter do Chão in the state of Pará, so we planned a trip there with two other couples. The city is very small and tranquil with no stoplights and just a few restaurants, and everything is within walking distance to the beach.
When we arrived at the nearby airport after the short flight from Manaus, it was still the middle of the night and raining on us. The airport there is super small with only one terminal, and you walk from the plane to the terminal. For some reason, I think it is just so fun and dramatic to arrive that way!

After our flight. Thanks for the umbrella, Tam!

Since we were vacationing the week before Carnaval, we weren't able to find a hotel that could accommodate all 6 of us. One couple ended up staying at one place, and Debora and Mark shared a 2 bedroom "suite" with us at another pousada. We were all rather underwhelmed upon seeing our future home for 5 days, but after some nervous laughter, we figured we wouldn't be spending much time there anyway. Plus, the owner of the pousada was very nice and helpful, and the complimentary breakfast was quite good.

So it's no Holiday Inn....

Well, we really didn't spend much time there except to sleep cause we all preferred hanging out at the beach. The beach is actually on the river (part of the Amazon) and the amount of sand depends on the season. When it is dry season, the water disappears and leaves a lot of beach. The time of year when we were there, we had a good balance of sand and water, and we had to take a canoe to get to the Ilha do Amor.

Ilha do Amor, the most popular and closest beach

At the port- that is the island behind us.

In the dry season, that water is gone,

and you can just walk across to the other side.

The second day we were there, we hired a guide- John Lennon was his name!- and he took us on his boat to a more remote beach. We stopped at a few places along the way to see hidden lakes and some wildlife, and we all remembered how fun it is to be cruising the water in a speedboat.

TOURISTS!!!

This is a hidden lake we stopped to see.

My girl Débora and me

The almost deserted beach John Lennon took us to visit.

We stayed there all morning and afternoon, swimming in the water,

eating delicious fish, hanging out with friends,

and of course, getting some sun.

That is Jay out there.

The little froggy was jumpin in the water,

but I already have my prince ;)

A big iguana that was chillin on the step!

Eating a small, fried fish. Mmmm!

This was before a little bone got stuck in my tongue and

Débora had to work her magic.

Lunch is served! Fish, chicken stew, pasta, beans, rice, farofa.

After a really fun day there, we got dropped off at the Ilha do Amor where we stayed until the sun set.

Sippin on some fresh coconut water. Super refreshing after a day in the sun.

TO BE CONTINUED....

A Morning at the Market

2010-03-25T17:21:00.000-04:00

There is just nothing like having a fridge full of fresh fruits and veggies! We've been kind of going through a bit of a slump lately when it comes to cooking around here, and I think it is safe to say we are both ready for a break from our normal daily diet of coffee, sandwiches, ramen soup, and quesadillas.
While I was at rehearsal this morning, Jay went out to the market with our friends/neighbors. They returned with tons of fresh fruit, vegetables, spices, and fish. By the port of Manaus near the river, there is a huge outdoor market that has rows and rows of stalls with vendors selling all sorts of food. I had only passed through there a few times before on our way to take a boat trip and remember having to hold my breath from the stench of meat, fish, and vegetables all in one place. According to Jay, the market wasn't stinky this time and was "bustling with energy." I'm guessing it helps to avoid the area that is stacked high with slabs of beef and pork and whatever miscellaneous meat products they have available.
Anyway, he came back with watermelon, bananas, apples, oranges, limes, mangos, lettuce, carrots, squash, green bean-ish things, onions, chives, avocado, tomatoes, kale-ish thing, eggplant, and a couple veggies I have never seen before. Plus, he got some fresh fish (on the menu for dinner tonight) and lots of bulk spices. All in all, it was a great adventure for Jay with his portuguese and has already been a much-needed inspiration to us in the kitchen!!!

A small assortment of our bounty

The bananas came on the stalk, and we have both

little red ones and yellow ones.

How exotic, right?!

It's About Dang Time!!!

2010-03-24T19:57:00.000-04:00

YES!!! We finally have stepped back into 2010 and have internet at home after about 2 months without it. At first, it was kind of nice to be a little disconnected from the world, but I gotta tell you, that sentiment wore off pretty fast and was replaced by a persistent annoyance. But lo and behold, we are once again able to use our own computers in the comfort of our own home again. So now I have a lot of catching up to do on this blog and no excuse anymore!
Since I haven't posted for so long, I think it's best to start with some recent happenings. Let's see... The orchestra has been busy rehearsing for the Opera Festival since February, and we should start performing them in the middle of April. Until then, we basically just rehearse them and make any corrections that need to be made. All three operas are by Brazilian composers, and the parts have some editing issues and have a fair amount of errors. Makes for some slow rehearsing at the beginning, and some solid book-reading time for the trombones (shhh, don't tell anyone)!
I started teaching trombone lessons at the music conservatory last week. The students are all beginners, and I was a bit surprised how much I enjoyed teaching them. They do things a little different than we do in the States, and in general at this school, the kids share a lesson with one or two others. The lessons last for an hour and half, and most of the kids check-out an instrument from the school before their lesson. I still haven't quite figured out how and if they can practice if they don't own an instrument, but I guess I will find out soon enough. It's a cool environment though and everyone seems super nice and supportive of the kids there.
Jay has been steadily acquiring English students from among our friends. It's kind of funny how he just can't get away from teaching wherever we live, but he's really good at it, so why not? He also started Muay Thai, a popular type of martial arts, about a month ago. He goes everyday, and it's definitely starting to show. I know I feel a little safer walking the streets knowing my guy has some "official" training!
Last but not least, we have a little doggie now!!! His name is Teko, and he's actually not really ours. He belongs to our neighbor, but since she has to leave him alone at home all week while she works outside of the city, we said we would keep him with us. He is a little Yorkie and is very well-behaved (at least when there are no cats around). He is super sweet, too, and I swear he is always smiling at us!!

Could he be any cuter??!!

Oh, and one more quick thing. If you're ever in Manaus and find yourself craving some good ol' American-style Pizza Hut, don't bother. I mean, the normal pizza menu is good, but we were so disappointed with the rodizio aka All-You-Can-Eat pizza there. Here I was thinking we would get stuffed on greasy, thick Pizza Hut and the pizza was thin crust (ok, at least you can eat more) but the service was super slow so by the time they bring around another slice to your table, you've been waiting 5 minutes. Not to mention the fact that they only had one pizza, cheese, for someone that doesn't eat pork. Boo... and you have to pay an extra $5R for a drink other than water-downed Pepsi. Serious fail for Pizza Hut. We certainly learned our lesson there. Now we are definitely gonna stick to the other pizza rodizios around here that keep steak pizza, chicken pizza, margarita, portugues, corn, palm of hearts, and many others coming at you faster than you can eat. Now that is what I'm talkin about!!!

Time Flies

2010-03-05T18:08:00.000-04:00

Time certainly has flown by recently, and I really wish I was able to post more on the blog here. We still unfortunately do not have internet at home, and as you can plainly see, that has made it difficult for me to keep everyone updated on here. It turns out that the guy with our modem sold it to someone the day before he had an appointment to come set up our internet. It is just one of those kinds of things that you get used to the longer you live here, and you almost don´t even bother wondering why in the world he would do that. As if that is not annoying enough though, it turns out there is no way to find another modem in the whole city cause it was the last one. So we are out of luck until who knows when...
Anyway, I still need to post about our awesome vacation with friends to Alter do Chão, which was a few weeks ago, and we´ve been out on a boat trip and had some fun party nights with friends recently, too. I guess the proof that we actually have tans now will have to wait.
Just to give a short update for enquiring minds, we returned from our vacation right around Carnaval time, and I went back to rehearsing for the opera festival soon after that. A lot of things get put on hold around this time of year here because of the planning and celebrating of Carnaval. The orchestra had more than a week off, and all of Jay´s work was postponed until post-Carnaval time. Now that we are into March, hard to believe!, Jay has begun teaching English lessons to some friends of ours. So far we´ve traded services (free haircuts from one, a closet from another) for some of the lessons, but we are hoping to get some actual cold, hard reais one of these days! I had my first interview all in portuguese last week at the music conservatory- not too painful, and I will start teaching there in a couple weeks. We´ll see what happens with Jay´s teaching there, but he should be starting soon, too.
I will try to write more frequently on here, and hopefully I can post some pics sooner than later. Here´s to hoping this week brings us a modem!!!! ;)

Home Sweet Home 2

2010-02-19T10:39:00.000-04:00

As you can tell, I haven't had a chance to update this as much as I want to because we still don't have internet at home. Hopefully it should only be a few more days without it.
We are still so happy to be living in this new place with our friends all around us. So far we have had coffee and treats together outside several evenings, and there is a party planned for tonight. It's super convenient to just walk downstairs to have a good time (or to borrow something).
The first night here, all 8 of us neighbors had a little party to celebrate the new move. One of our friends here who is a chef made a bunch of really tasty pizzas for us, and we all toasted to our little villa!

Home Sweet Home

2010-02-15T18:29:00.000-04:00

It's been way too long without making a post on here, and after moving and taking a vacation, I am finally getting around to it. Better late than never, right?

We just got home from our beach vacation early this morning, and we are sooo happy to be returning to our new casa! There was some stress and drama associated with the move, but I am happy to leave that in the past. After all of the trouble of arranging the move (can't just call U-Haul down here, had to enact Plan B at the last minute, extra money for bribes, etc.), it was completely worth the hassle in retrospect.

This new place is way bigger, way nicer, way safer, way calmer, and closer to the teatro, gym, and park. We both are still adjusting to the fact that we are not just visiting a friend here, since it used to be our friends' place. As it turns out, there was an open place we were gonna take underneath our friends' old place. Right before we signed the lease, they asked if we would trade places with them, so they ended up moving downstairs, and we moved into an already painted and ready-to-live-in place. Besides having downstairs neighbors that are our friends, we are friends with the other 2 couples that live in the other complex here. Three out of four of the places have musicians from the orchestra, and the other one is has a very cool couple. Everyone gets along very well, and we can't help but think that it's like Melrose Place here, minus the drama!

The guys we ended up hiring to help us move were amazing! Four guys showed up to our old place with a truck and some boxes and tools at a little after 2 pm. They had disassembled our bed and moved all of our furniture and appliances (you have to take your fridge and stove with you) from the old place to the new place by 4 pm. We tried to help them carry some things, and they didn't even want our help. They were incredibly efficient and fast and even joked around the whole time- and it wasn't even expensive.

We were shocked when one guy carried our fridge on his back-

down some steps and across the street!

Inside the new place- that is the living room,

and you can see the 2 bedroom doors

Success!!!!

You can see the kitchen

and laundry room behind us.

I will post more pics later because the internet is being frustratingly slow right now...

And we're on our way to have some coffee with our new neighbors outside :)

Serendipity

2010-02-02T15:16:00.005-04:00

YAY! We're MOVING!

We just so happened to be checking out a friend's washing machine the other day since ours is a complete dud. After closing the deal to buy their machine, they jokingly asked if we wanted to move into the place under them. We've spent plenty of time in this particular "village" at another friend's place, and I have always imagined this as the place I would want to live in Manaus. Unfortunately for us, when we moved here several months ago, there was nothing available. But now, in less than a week, we will be trading our nice but noisy casa for a nicer, safer, calmer, and bigger casa!!! With plenty of built-in friends in the same complex!

We still need to get all the details ironed-out with the actual moving, disassembling of things, reassembling of things, and all that stuff, but we are both so happy!! Once everything is all settled, I will put up some pics for you all to see.
Oh, and now we don't have to worry about moving that washing machine!

Good Things

2010-01-25T15:11:00.000-04:00

I am totally over last week's little issues, and as of now, I am feeling super for several reasons.

First of all, Saturday night a bunch of us girls got together and had a little festa sans men. As if that in itself is not enough fun, we all brought clothes, shoes, and jewelry that we didn't want anymore. So in between eating pizza, pão de queijo, and cake, we dug through piles of our friends' clothes searching for something good. Although I definitely had the least amount of stuff to trade, I mean I did only have 2 suitcases when we moved here, I walked away with some totally adorable things. None of the shoes fit my big ol' feet, but I snagged some black pants and shirts to wear at concerts and a couple really cute dresses. SCORE!

The second reason I am happy is because of the incredible experience I had last night playing Shostakovich Symphony No. 7, "Leningrad." The piece is gigantic and involves 125 people. We played with the Experimental Orchestra, which is like the youth orchestra here, and the musicians filled up the entire stage. The piece was written during WWII and one can hear the soldiers approaching Leningrad, feel the torment and crying of the victims, the hope that remained, and the eventual triumph over the Germans. The piece is very moving in that respect and has some bombastic trombone parts. The Teatro was packed, and everyone seemed to appreciate our efforts. I know it was an incredibly rewarding experience for me that I will always treasure.

This is a rehearsal pic from the newspaper

article about the concert.

You can't see the trombones, but there

were 6 of us in the very back.

The full theater before we started.

The third reason to smile is that after a long month of waiting, the package my mom sent us finally arrived!! She was told it would take 7-10 days to get here, but according to the tracking, it's been sitting in Brazilian Customs for the last couple of weeks. I never stopped waking up with the hope that today would be the day, and it finally was the day! In our package, we got some much needed chapstick (haven't found any here), contact solution (very $$$ here), some cool Cardinals paraphernalia for the man of the casa, my favorite tea that they don't sell here, yummy salt-and-vinegar chips, and some clothes for me, among other things. All in all, it was worth the wait, and we're already looking forward to the next one!

Recent Frustrations

2010-01-19T23:17:00.000-04:00

Lately we have been presented with various situations here in Manaus that really test our patience. While we have actually gotten used to most of the smaller ones, we've encountered a couple especially trying times already this week.
Not much is as embarrassing or annoying as going grocery shopping, getting through the check-out line, and having your card rejected when you try to pay. We had just that happen to us today, but this time, it wasn't that we didn't have enough money in the bank. Right before leaving the house, I checked the balance on my food allowance card (like a debit card from my job), and I saw that it had just been refilled. What luck for us! Needless to say, we left the house with just that card, bought about $100R worth of food, had a rejected card, had to ask them not to put our food away while we walked home, got a real debit card, and walked back to get the groceries. Ughhhhh. It's most frustrating cause it's not our fault, and we wouldn't have bothered to use the card if I hadn't seen the balance on the internet.
Even more annoying, this weekend we planned a vacation with some friends for our week off during Carnaval in February. My friend found a great deal on airline tickets online, and there will be two other couples going with us. Since we were all together, we decided to buy our tickets from the airline's website. We each had to try, no exaggeration, like 40 times to get the tickets to go through without an error. And every single time retrying, I had to enter our names, credit card number, and other info all over again. After 2 HOURS of trying and getting extremely frustrated, my friend ended up getting the tickets for us. We even waited on hold for 30 minutes calling the airline, just to find out that they can't actually sell any tickets, and the problem was just that the system was busy. It was past midnight on a Sunday, which means it was 2 in the morning in the big cities of Brasil, and this is a major airline.
I'm getting the impression that this is really not that unusual here. It's like businesses don't mind if they don't make money or something. Kinda like the time we went to the movies 15 minutes late, and the guy was too lazy and apathetic to sell us our 6 tickets. Too much work for this so-called worker. I mean, he'd have to take our cash, count it, and put in the drawer. Wow, I'm exhausted just thinking about it!
Oh, and don't get me started on how your debit card won't work at an ATM or at a store when it's particularly busy here... :)

Stuff

2010-01-18T12:44:00.000-04:00

Well, a whole week has passed without us going to a party or exploring some part of Manaus. My poor, neglected camera!! I think the fact that I was sick with a cold kinda slowed us down. I just wasn't in the mood to hang out with a bunch of people, exhausting my brain speaking in Portuguese while trying to hide my used Kleenex, ya know?
Luckily I started feeling better just in time for our orchestra concert last night. We had a guest conductor from Italy who spoke only Italian the entire week during rehearsals (my new favorite number is 55 in Italian), and we played some great repertoire. Probably my favorite concert yet this season- Rossini's La Gazza Ladra, Nino Rota's La Strada (movie soundtrack), and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. It was not an easy program, but it was so worth the extra rehearsals. And we played for a full house that was very appreciative, including my hubby.
Now that the Cardinals are out of the Playoffs (boo), Jay is much more available on weekends. We even spent a Sunday afternoon yesterday at the mall with no mention of kick-off times, and he admitted that he was a little happy to not have to be "so obsessed" with football now! Better luck next year, Cards!

Go CARDS!!!

2010-01-10T22:09:00.000-04:00

Since this blog is officially called "Our Jungle Journey," I thought it would be nice to include a little something from Jay's point of view.
I just got home from playing an almost 2 hour long mass with chorus, and I was immediately given the pleasure of watching the end of the Cardinals game on the computer. It had finished just a few minutes before I got here on tv, but we have a subscription online to see all the games. Anyway, after an amazing game filled with lots of ups and downs, this house has one extremely happy man in it.
Here's to hoping that next week's game against the Saints doesn't conflict with my concert... I mean, that the Cards win again!!!!! ;)

The Beautiful Manaus

2010-01-07T14:45:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I know that almost a week has past since January 1st, but we had such a great time with some friends, that I figure better late than never to tell you all about it...
We were both still lounging around in our pajamas when my friend called to say they would be by the house in 10 minutes to pick us up. Luckily neither of us are high-maintenance, and we were ready with a few minutes to spare.
Our first stop was to see the land that our friend purchased a few years ago outside the city. She hasn't had the money to actually build anything on it, but she has big plans of course. There are other houses already built with people living in them nearby, but there are also still a lot of open lots. And by open lots, I mean spaces of uncleared rainforest. While it seems kind of sad to consider chopping down some valuable Amazon rainforest to put up a house, at least there is a reserve on the other side of her property that will always remain forested. And it's not like her property is that big...

When we weren't being eaten by ants or mosquitoes...

Ready for anything!

The toucan in the tree... see his profile?

There were all sorts of ants and bugs out there, as one would expect. We didn't know we were going there until we were in the car, but for future reference, I don't recommend wearing flip-flops, halter top, and skirt to the jungle. But being out in nature and getting to see huge toucans was worth it! Maybe next time we will get to see a monkey (though we could definitely hear them this time).

Next, we made another unexpected stop at a mutual friend of the other couples with us. I didn't take any pictures there, but this family definitely lives in balance with the land. They grow a lot on their land, and have bee hives around their house. We even got to taste some fresh from the comb honey! Super sweet!

We decided to spend the end of the day visiting Ponta Negra, a very posh area of town. It is basically a stretch along the river that has rides for kids, all sorts of snack and food places, and performance areas for bands or dancers. It gets very popular at night, and I've heard it's a good place to find a "date" for the night, if you know what I mean. The other side of the street is full of high-rise, pricey condos. Because it was super crowded when we got there, we parked at the fancy Tropical Hotel nearby and went to watch the sunset from their private beach.

These steps lead down to the river, but the last time

I was at this spot was high season,

and the river was almost up to the top of that wall.

This phenomenon is so amazing to experience.

Meu amor gettin his feet wet.

Our love at sunset.

The day couldn't have ended in any better way. This sunset was absolutely gorgeous, and spending the first day of the New Year with people I love was a real gift.

Happy 2010!!!

2010-01-04T18:41:00.000-04:00

One thing I can say with all certainty is that people here LOVE fireworks. Starting bright and early on December 31st, we were awoken by the sounds of loud and rapid blasting. Immediately fearing for our lives, we soon remembered we don't live in a war zone, it's just Manaus. This continued throughout the entire day at 10 minute intervals.
I guess, being a girl and all, I just don't see the appeal of setting off your own fireworks. It seems a little ridiculous to be lighting them during the sunny day, too. Why not just wait until midnight to do it? Oh, don't worry. There were plenty of fireworks leading up to midnight, too, from all corners of the city. I mean, I do love a good, organized firework show, but random shooting sounds kinda freak me out.
Oh, and some people lit some fireworks around 10pm that made all of our electricity go out in our neighborhood while we were getting ready for our party. Did I mention how annoying it is???
Anyway, after getting ready by flashlight, we went to our friend's place for a little get together. A lot of our friends were out of town for the holidays, but we had a good time with the friends that stayed. Of course, no party would be complete without lots of food, including a manufactured bird that is a cross between a turkey and chicken. No one has ever seen it except in the supermarket, cause it is not exactly a naturally occurring animal. And it didn't really taste like chicken or turkey. Strange.

Some pics of us and our friends....

Noemi, Ana, and me

We were making them pose for us :)

Our hostess with the mostest, Noemi

While we were kinda bummed to be so far from our NYC friends, we still had a good time and got to reflect on our past year. We went through a lot of ups and downs, waiting and anticipating, and we closed one chapter and started another. I hope this year brings us all more ups than downs and that we may have health, happiness, and peace in our lives. Feliz Ano Novo!

Angels, Marys, Flying Jesus, Oh My!

2009-12-31T20:47:00.000-04:00

They certainly do not spare any expense when putting on a show here in Manaus. I mean, we are in the middle of the Amazon here, right? Yet, we still have a 4 story high flying Jesus, people suspended from cranes doing gymnastic Cirque-du-Soleil-type stunts, hundreds of kids dressed as angels, choreographed water shows from fountains, and on top of that, thousands of screaming fans. We might as well be in Vegas for all this action!
The short list of people and groups involved include: (these are my translations)
Amazonas Filarmonica, Full Professional Chorus, Youth Orchestra, Little kid singers, Prof. Dance Corps, Kids dancing, Prof. Jazz Band, solo singers...

They reenacted the whole story of Christmas and set it to music, dance, and narration. We had 2 weeks of rehearsals to prepare for this show, and the entire thing took place surrounding the theater outside on raised platforms. It felt like the whole city came out to see the show, and every one took a lot of pride in this production. Our camera unfortunately died after only a few pics, but you can get the idea...

One crowded area outside the theater before it started.

There were cameramen all over the place recording the show,

and then it was broadcast on the screens for everyone to see.

Just a few of the hundreds of adorable angels.

Other kids involved in the show.

Last, but not least.... THE FLYING JESUS!!!

He was attached to a crane and was flown through

the air while he talked to the crowds.

He even moved his hands while talking!

This is definitely one concert I will never forget!

Noite Feliz

2009-12-25T17:12:00.002-04:00

Feliz Natal pra todos! Today is technically Christmas, but we already celebrated it last night at our friend's house. It was, like always, a party full of good friends and good food. Since the orchestra is playing in a concert tonight and everyone has to delay their travel plans home, we decided to get together with our Manaus "family."
It is normal here to celebrate Natal by getting together the night before for a midnight dinner. Everyone invited arrived with something good to eat. Jay made a delicious turkey, and we also had a pork roast, grilled beef, rice, farofa, potato salad, homemade apple sauce, and lots of bebidas (drinks).

Unlike in the states where kids are encouraged to go to bed early so Santa will bring their presents, kids stay up really late and get their presents on Christmas Eve here. While there were no kids at our party, we grown-ups still exchanged presents and stayed up really late. We did a Secret Santa thing, and we each had to give clues about our person while everyone else tried to guess who it was. I usually don't like those games very much, but this was a hilarious and really fun way to do it. The fact that we are all pretty similar- almost all musicians, all from somewhere else- made it tricky to come up with clues.

Me trying to explain my amigo secreto

(don't mind the nudity behind me :)

Jay and his secret friend

We mostly spent the night laughing, eating, and talking with our friends, but we also snuck in some time for posing and a little harp playing.

This was our conservative pose ;)

Tough guys

OMG it's a real smile!!!!

Realizing how complicated the harp is to play.

In case you're wondering, we are spending today like any other day- a lil laundry, lil cleaning, lil napping. It is weird to get all "in the spirit" when we are used to seeing snow on the ground, and rushing around, stressing about getting the right presents at this time of year. It is a very welcome change to both of us to be completely relaxed and stress-free, and we plan on bringing this attitude with us back to the states.

Happy Holidays to everyone! Abraços e beijos do Brasil!

O Casamento!!! The Wedding!!!

2009-12-23T23:22:00.002-04:00

Last week Jay and I had the pleasure of being invited and involved with the wedding of two great friends here, Aline and Eduardo. They are an incredibly adorable couple, super sweet, and perfect for each other. In case you're paying attention, they are the ones that got legally married earlier in the week, but made it official at their reception.
Since they were already married legally, the reception was more of a celebration of their lives together and was not at a church. A wonderful friend guided the ceremony as they said their vows and exchanged rings. Even in portuguese, it was a very touching union, and it was hard to hold in the tears.

Eduardo plays violin in the philharmonic, and of course, he arranged to have friends from the orchestra play at the wedding. It's been a while since I played a wedding, and it was cool to have the best seat in the house to see the couple. Instead of facing the guests or standing side by side like in the above picture, they actually sit side by side with their backs to the guests during the 45 minutes or so of talking. This is the second wedding I've been to in Brazil, and they were both arranged like that.

All of the musicians involved in the wedding

After the ceremony was over and the wedding party filed out, we all moved to another beautiful room for dinner. The couple walked around and received their congratulations from everyone and were obviously so happy. Their joy was very contagious!

Me, tiny Aline, and Débora all smiles

They have an interesting tradition in Brazil, kind of like our Dollar Dance in the US, but much more lucrative! The groom wears a tie (like an old one from home), and he is paraded around the room by his groomsmen with a pair of scissors. The guests all pay what they wish and get to keep a small piece of the tie. From what the people sitting at out table said, it's basically obligatory to participate, and people are encouraged to give as much as they can. There were lots of $20's and $50's in the collection. It's not uncommon to make $500-800R just from selling the tie! Now that is a tradition worth bringing to the US...

Eduardo selling pieces of his tie

Once we finished with that business, we made our way closer to the dessert table and the dance music. A perfect combination.

Beautiful and delicious desserts-

all individually wrapped sweets

Waltzing

Samba-ing with the ladies

This was such a special night for our friends, and we were privileged to be included in their celebration.

And who doesn't love a reason to get dressed up?! ;)

It's Raining! It's Pouring!

2009-12-17T12:31:00.001-04:00

After being here for a few months and wondering why anyone would call this area a "rainforest," it is finally starting to make sense. It RAINS here. A lot! We'd all been waiting for this time of year to start because it had been super hot and humid (like 95º and 90% humidity) with no rain since August. Just last week, we got the on-again, off-again rain around here, and that cooled off the temperature to make it a pleasant 80 degrees.
Yesterday it started raining before we woke up and only stopped briefly in the middle of the day, then started again and continued to the end of the night. It started raining again before we woke up today, and it has already poured for 6 straight hours now. We're not talking about drizzling, light rain. It is seriously pouring here!

The wet street outside our house

As long as you don't have to go outside during this weather, it's actually quite nice and a great relief to the hot temps. Now, if only it weren't raining inside our house, too!!!
(And yes, Mom... the landlord does know!)

Feliz Natal or Happy Christmas!

2009-12-14T22:19:00.002-04:00

Last night, we walked the few blocks together from our house to the Teatro Amazonas because I had a concert there. To our lovely surprise, as we approached the praça outside of the theater, we were reminded of our good ol' Rockefeller Christmas tree in NYC. Ok, so it's not a real tree like the one at Rockefeller, and it's still in the 80's here, but the spirit was certainly there! There were tons of families out there to see the tree, look at the nativity scene, and eat popcorn and cotton candy under the lights. I get the feeling this is a very big holiday here cause they start putting Christmas decorations in the stores in October here.
As I went inside the theater to warm-up for our concert, I sent Jay on a mission to take pictures of all the decorations.

You can actually walk inside the tree,

and this is angel is hanging there.

The front of the theater is decorated with a beautiful, huge wreath, is all lit up,

and there are two fountains out front adding to the festive mood.

View from the other side.

After his mission was accomplished, Jay came inside the theater to hear us play St. Cecilia Mass with a full chorus written by the Afro-Brazilian composer, José Mauricio Nunes Garcia. He was a contemporary of Mozart, wrote in the Classical style, and was an ordained priest dedicated to the church.

Despite there being various distractions from kids in the audience throughout our performance, we managed to pull-off a good concert. While we do like the fact that the concerts are free and families bring their children of all ages, it can get frustrating when parents allow their kids to cry, talk, or drop things from the boxes while we're playing. On a better note, no pun intended, I am grateful that no one applauded between movements!

Inside the Teatro

My section tuning-up

With the chorus... I was smiling cause I could see Jay!

We made it! Our bows at the end.

This was our last real orchestra concert of the year. The next one we play will be a Christmas concert with pieces we've played this season and various Christmas tunes. I haven't seen the music yet, but I am guessing there won't be any Hanukkah songs!! HA!

Pizza, pizza, and more pizza

2009-12-13T16:35:00.000-04:00

The other day, a couple of our good friends here got married! They just did the legal part of getting married in front of a judge, and we will officially be celebrating next week at their reception. But we couldn't let the day go by without a little commemoration!
We all met up at an awesome pizza rodizio in town, and while the wedding party discussed the details of the reception, the rest of us talked and laughed and tried not to eat too much. That is a pretty much impossible feat at a place where the pizza never stops coming. The rodizio is a pretty popular way to run a restaurant here, and we certainly take advantage of the endless supply of food. Basically, it involves paying a flat price (about $18R there, $10US) for all the food and drink you want. At this pizza place, the waiters are constantly going by your table announcing what types of pizza they have to give you, and you stop them when you want some. It's not just limited to pizza places though. There are Italian restaurants with unlimited lasagna, pastas, and breads, churrascarias with unlimited meat, and even a place with 60 varieties of unlimited soup. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon or evening!
The types of pizza are quite different than what we have in the U.S. I think the best ones are the dessert pizzas, which I make sure is my first slice every time. Ah, the joys of being a grown-up!

Mmm mmm mmm...

Pizza covered with melted chocolate (1st of 4)

While it would be good to try everything, I find that it's best to choose wisely since you want to save space for dessert! In case you're curious about what you are missing out on, there is white chocolate with strawberries, fried bananas with cinnamon and chocolate, chocolate with crushed peanuts, chocolate with cookies, and more. Some of the more interesting non-dessert toppings include pizza covered with tuna, catupiry (creamy cheese), tucumã (fruit from a palm tree), hard-boiled eggs, dried beef, chicken stroganoff, and corn.

Corn Pizza and Pizza Margherita

Everyone at our big table had a great time eating, planning, and celebrating with the Newlyweds (sitting beside me). We all can't wait for the "real" party this week!

Weekend Fun

2009-12-09T23:49:00.004-04:00

Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of getting out of the city and spending some time in the great outdoors with friends. We went to a sitio, which is kind of like rich people's weekend homes on the river, out here. I had already been there once in August and had an amazing time. We were all pumped to get invited back and get the chance to live the good life for another afternoon! I should amend that to say every one but Jay was pumped, because we went on a precious Sunday, and he could not leave behind his football games to join us. His loss for sure!

After saying goodbye to my love, we drove the hour or so out of town to the sitio. No one was there when we arrived, so we took the chance to explore the "river." It was so shocking. Only a few months ago, we took a speedboat out on the river and went out in kayaks together. Now the river was all dried up, and we walked on the bottom of it, all of us completely stunned how fast it had disappeared and been replaced by beautiful green grass.

There used to be water all the

way up past the trees in the white sand!

Me on the bottom of the river-

all those trees were submerged before

Plenty of space for everyone at the sitio

After some exploring, we went back to the sitio to relax by the pool. The pool is really gorgeous and overlooks the river.

Debora and me livin the good life!

There were more than 20 people there, and lots of them

had cute little doggies. Even they liked swimming :)

The woman who invited us to there is the landlord of a few friends of ours, and her grown children and grandchildren spend every weekend at their sitio. There is a couple that live there during the week, and they prepare food and drinks all day for everyone. While most everyone had caipirinhas and snacks brought to them poolside, we all preferred the do-it-yourself service. But we were more than happy to partake in the feast they made for lunch. We had delicious picanha (meat), fried fish, rice, salad, farofa, and more meat. I definitely went back for seconds...

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing by the pool, chatting with the other people about music and our jobs, and checking out the river some more. Definitely an enjoyable way to spend a Sunday in Manaus. We're all looking forward to going back when the river rises again. And luckily that will be after football season, so Jay has no more excuses!

Randomness

2009-12-03T22:55:00.000-04:00

Life in Manaus is like a box of chocolate. You never know what you're gonna get...

Last Monday started off like a normal Monday. Wake up, rehearse with the orchestra, take a break. Unlike after a normal break though, we were kept waiting until the President of the Czech Republic arrived. Once he and his entourage were in the theater, we played two movements of Dvorak's New World Symphony for him. I never got to actually see him, but he gave the section leaders a CD of Czech music. After that random show of cross-cultural goodwill, we went back to rehearsing our scheduled repertoire.

In some more randomness from Manaus this week, you never can be *totally* certain that you will have power and water 24/7. It's usually quite reliable, but 2 times last week in the morning, the power went out for about an hour. One of the days, the water went off, too. Since this has happened several times before, we just went about our daily business (minus showering or doing dishes). By 4:30 in the afternoon, Jay went to check if our neighbors had water, which they did, and then he realized that someone had turned our water off in the street. Not sure why, but the lever to turn on and off our water is outside the house in the sidewalk. Even more strange, why did someone turn it off in the first place?!

For the last random rant, when I went to the gym this week to swim, I met another girl from the US! I heard her talking in the locker-room, struck up a conversation with her (in English!!!), and exchanged phone numbers. It turns out that she has lived here teaching English for almost 2 years. We're going to try to hang-out this weekend. Not sure how many Americans actually live here, but it was sure nice to meet a fellow ex-pat in this hot jungle.

Now that I think about it, it is more accurate to say,"Life is like a box of melted chocolate in Manaus..."

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-27T00:48:00.000-04:00

When we woke up on our most favorite of holidays this morning, I have to admit, we both felt pretty sad. Being so far from our family and friends is a big change for us. Of course living on the East Coast meant being far from our family in the Southwest for years, but there is just something lonely about being in a different hemisphere. Not being able to pick up the phone and call just doesn't feel right.

After talking to our families on Skype though, we both started to perk up a bit, and once we got the business of cooking underway, we got out of our collective funk. We spent the day getting some things from the grocery stores here- all with no last-minute, crowded rush like at home- and got busy chopping, mixing, boiling, and baking. We found the biggest turkey at the store, a whopping 10.5 pounds, and marveled at the little thing. The turkey was the least of our worries, since we had to make everything from scratch for the first time. No help from Stouffer's or our dear friend Joe who has helped us celebrate in style the last 6 years. In the end though, mostly thanks to my hard-working hubby, we had our delicious turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, salad, rolls, roasted vegetables, and key lime pie. Not bad for having no measuring cup and only one rack in the oven!

Taking a cooking break... can't take that heat!

Our beautiful bird

Look at that carving concentration

The Bounty of Thanksgiving

Us and the big PIE!

Once our friends showed up, we couldn't help but be happy and grateful for their friendship and presence in our lives. I know I have said it before, but the people here go a long way to make up for the comforts lacking in the city itself. Everyone happily volunteered their pans, plates, and silverware to make sure we could pull this dinner off. And we certainly did. Except for our one American friend, it was their first time celebrating Thanksgiving, and it was a hit!

Let's get the party started!

We had to pour the wine through a funnel

cause the cork was all messed up!

A trilingual conversation of

spanish, portuguese, and english

The adorable engaged couple :)

Que bonita!! My flowers from Noemi

The only downside is that, unlike in the US, we all have to go to work tomorrow, so good night for now... And Happy Thanksgiving!

Frequently Asked Questions

2009-11-21T21:55:00.001-04:00

We've started to notice that people here are very fond of asking us two questions. The same two questions.
At least once a week, we are asked these by a Brazilian, whether it be someone we already know or someone we've just met.

"Do you like Manaus?" and
"What do you think about Portuguese? It's harder than English, right?"

(Ok, ok. Technically that would be 3 questions, but the third is just more of an affirmation than question.)

Anyway, people are very fond of asking how much we are liking Brazil, liking Manaus in particular. Obviously, the only correct answer would be that we are liking it a lot. There isn't much room for discussion about this topic with a Brazilian. The one time I gave a "yeah, it's ok, I guess..." kind of answer, I realized from the perplexed and disappointed expression on my friend's face, that that would not do. Now we stick with the "oh, yeah, it's so great!" response.

For the question about Portuguese, it is pretty easy for me to say, "Yes, Portuguese is difficult." But how can someone whose first language is English compare it's level of difficulty to a new language? Of course it is hard and English is easy, but that's because I already speak English! I have had various people try to tell me how much more advanced of a language Portuguese is than English (more rules, harder grammar), which leaves me to wonder... if English is so much easier, why don't you remember what you learned in your years of English classes in school?! Before I sound like a complete brat, I have to say that I think Portuguese is a very beautiful language, and I am really enjoying hearing it, learning it, and speaking it.

Just please don't ask me to compare it to English!

First Things First

2009-11-16T22:40:00.002-04:00

Since moving to Manaus, for better or for worse, we've been through our share of "firsts." It seems that I like making lists, so here goes some new ones for us.

First Time...

having a porch- not exactly Riverside Drive, but it's fun just people-watching.

eating a carambola aka star-fruit. Our landlord has trees in the backyard and often gives us some. Hard to describe the taste, but it's good and juicy and has lots of Vitamin C.

having part of the rainforest in our backyard. Hello, oxygen!

having cable at home. That way, you have the best chance of catching 2, maybe even 3, different football games on Sunday! Greeeeaaat.

having a washing machine! In the bathroom! Too bad it is really just a glorified bucket that holds water. It doesn't agitate or spin at all, so we basically hand-wash everything in our "washing machine."

having tile through-out the entire house. It makes sweeping up and cleaning super easy, and there are even drains in the floor for the dirty cleaning water. The only downside is that now I realize just how much hair of mine is everywhere! Turns out Jay was right all along :)

defrosting a freezer. Jay has done it the last 2 times, and it doesn't look like a fun job.

having a hammock hanging in the house. Gotta love the pre-installed hooks in the walls.

cooking with a non-automatic stove and oven. Honestly, it took us a while to figure out how it works- you have to use a match to light the burner or oven every time- but now we are experts!

our friend made her first soft taco. Ok, it's not technically our own "first," but we couldn't believe that she had never made her own burritos or tacos. I guess that means we need more Mexican themed dinner parties!

going to bed listening to the sounds of bats outside. That is, when the 5 dogs downstairs are not barking.

eating brigadeiro. The best, most delicious creation ever! And so easy to make- just heat up condensed milk, chocolate, and a lil butter. I could eat this everyday. Try it. You will LOVE it!!

Makin' Music

2009-11-13T16:00:00.000-04:00

Before you get the idea that we don't do anything but go on trips and go to parties, let me show some actual proof that we do work down here.
Luckily for me, I have had the past 2 weeks off from orchestra, thanks to the Amazonas Film Festival, but return next to week to play some great repertoire. We'll be playing Ravel's Bolero, La Valse, and Saint-Saens' Violin Concerto. We've already played Brahms Symphony No. 1, Schumann Symphony No. 3, and various challenging pieces by the Brazilian composers, Claudio Santoro and Heitor Villa-Lobos, among others.
For those of you who are curious, the schedule for this orchestra is amazing. We typically have concerts on Thursday nights, and we rehearse Monday through Thursday in the mornings. I have really been enjoying this whole only having one job thing, the three day weekends, and the part where I get paid for playing trombone!
I tried to find some pics of me with the orchestra, but seeing as that would be up to Jay to take, I had no luck. But here is one before my first concert and one after the first concert Jay saw me play. By the way, we were at an all-you-can-eat pizza restaurant in the second pic. It was really good pizza actually, and they come around to your table with dozens of different types of pizzas. There is no waiting in line for your pizza, no pushing for the last piece, and you don't even have to tip. The best part was the dessert pizza... melted chocolate, fruit, yummy, warm goodness!

Jay was also quite busy during October and part of November. After introducing himself to the director of the pro jazz band here, he was invited to their next rehearsal. That same night, he was told he would be a featured soloist with the band at the end of October. It just so happens that the third trombonist in the band had to have surgery at the same time, so Jay played his part while he recovered. In addition to having jazz rehearsals three nights a week, he also taught lessons 3 mornings a week at the music conservatory here (all in portuguese!!!). Altogether, he ended up playing several gigs with the band, and he will hopefully get more opportunities like this in the future here.

His solo features were awesome. Several of our friends came out to hear him play, and everyone loved it! And since I had the camera, we have plenty of pics to prove it :) Oh, he even got his name in the newspaper before the concert!

Teatro Amazonas at night

The soloist up front

Backstage after the concert

See, we really do work here... well, kinda!