Hankerin for a Vacation

I have the travel bug. We have been out of Rio for eight months now and I feel as if I need to go somewhere. Luckily we live in the middle of the east coast and can drive in either direction and be in an interesting city. New York is to the north, and Washington, D.C. is to the south. Our favorite pastime is taking road trips on the weekend. We have been to both those places a coupe of times, Atlantic City, Virginia Beach and more! Our goal is to see as much as we can while we are here in this location. Never ones to grow roots, our long term plans include going back to Brazil and setting up in another city, maybe Curitiba.

YMCA

Rosana, and especially Mickael had been after me for years to exercise and lose some weight. I never liked exercise, and dieting was especially hard for me as I am the cook of the family. Since coming here, we have joined the YMCA and been pretty religious about going there at least 4-5 times a week. I think what helps is that we have 2 locations to go to, one of which is just 6 blocks away. Rosana gets her yoga classes 3 times a week, Mickael is trying to tone up his mid-section (not that he needs it) and me, well, I am riding the stationary bike for half an hour and also using a couple of the machines to tone the tummy and arms. It is a blessing really. I attribute a lot of it to the fact that we don't have a television. Now, in the evenings, we have a different ritual than most, and it is much more healthy!

Bruce Springsteen plays Philly

Rosana and I went to see Bruce yesterday, a free outdoor show for the Obama cause. It was very nice, super organized and tranquil. We parked just a few blocks away and made our way down near the side of the stage. Luckily there were still patches of grass to sit on the side of the stage. I was amazed at the crowd, made up of everything from parents with kids to older couples with Obama t-shirts on. The police were on segways, porta-potties placed strategically, and plenty of good mood. I did not see one person drinking alcohol, not sure if this is not allowed in Philadelphia, but not even a bottle of wine was spotted. Bruce came onstage after about an hour of acoustic political music and speeches by locals, including the governor of the state. He played maybe 8 or 10 songs, none of which I recognized and then lifted his guitar and was gone, as were we.

School Days

Went to an open house at Mickael's school last night. Very nice school he goes to, I was surprised at the size of the classrooms. It was nice to meet his teachers, especially since all of them had nice things to say about Mick. I guess the building was built in 1920-30, very high ceilings, wooden floors. It is three stories high with a library and auditorium. I think there are over 400 students there. They have a couple of newer buildings that house the arts department. We felt proud tp see where he spends his days, and it was great to meet his teachers.

Settling In

Amazing that just a month ago we arrived in Philadelphia with just suitcases and a dog crate. Now we have an apartment with a year's lease, a truckload of furniture, and a car to scoot around in. Mickael started school yesterday and seems like he will enjoy it. Luckily it is only 6 blocks from the apartment and he can walk. We have been working to get the place set up. We had to start from scratch since the place was empty except for the appliances. The neighborhood we live in is nice, there are a few stores nearby that sell food, drink and hardware. There are two 99 cent stores that are only a block away and they sell everything, even bread, milk, canned and frozen foods and knick-knacks. There is also a Blockbuster video across the street that will come in handy on those cold winter nights when we just want to stay home and watch a movie. I found a nice wine shop a few blocks away that sells Chilean wines cheaper than in Brazil (woohoo!) I am sure we are going to be fine here, since up until now all signs indicate our destiny found.

First Impressions

Well, we are here for two weeks now, the dust is settling and we are pretty much installed. We stayed in a hotel the first week and diligently looked for a permanent apartment. We found one after a week's search and consideration, a nice 2 bedroom in the University City area. The area itself is bordered by a few colleges and is made up of mostly grand old two and three story houses that look betweek sixty and a hundred years old, very quaint. Since Rosana preferred apartment living, we were forced to find an apartment building that accepted dogs. We found such, signed a lease and moved in a week ago today. Mickael's school is just 6 blocks away and there is also a park just 6 blocks away as well. There is a lot of character to the neighborhood, old style with young faces running around. There was a lot of activity this week as students are returning from their summer breaks and moving stuff into their dwellings. We have found it to our liking, are amazed at how peaceful and clean it is, and hope to find good jobs that are not too far from home.

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The transition from Rio de Janeiro to Philadelphia was an arduous one. The stress, the labor, the weariness, was incredible. We are now in Philadelphia, in our new home! We thought it would never happen, but we were lucky. A lot of things happened at the last minute that really showed us that this was our fate. Add to that the fact that we found a permanent apartment after just one week here.