Ange: Travel and beach

Well, believe it or not, I AM actually still alive.

I know half of all 2 of you, my loyal fans, have already deserted me, due to my lack of putting out (gasp!), but you also know that when it rains, it will surely pour, so I'm sure you're preparing yourself for that. Amen.

Well, here are a few brief observations about my trip here:

-46 hours from door A to door B; ack!; remind me never to make this trip with children :)
-When the entertainment system on one of the two long flights went down, the poor steward was attacked in the galley with food and drink requests; when people aren't being entertained, they seek to entertain themselves with food, I guess
-One of my fellow passengers told the following anecdote: She was in Sweden and had a coffee cup to throw out; since she thought the post box was just a fancy recycle bin, her cup ended up in that; haha; I told her she might get arrested for terrorism; she said if you end up with any mail full of coffee, it was her; just thought you should know :D
-It's pretty odd to watch two total strangers meet on a plane and hit it off, sparks flying and everything; I thought that only happened in unrealistic movies; hrm... Brasilians these days (!!)
-Two naughty fellows, upon hearing me answer someone in Portuguese, on the plane (translated): "Oh! We thought you were European, all big and white like that [literally translated from "brancona assim" -- would take too much time to explain how the big part is actually a compliment, even though it sounds negative -- Brasilians are just like that :)]!"; our family does draw quite a few stares since all the girls are well above average height for Brasilian women, and then when the sisters decide to put on the heels and my brother is nearly 2 meters... just wow... shock and awe for all the poor Brasilians... :D

Well, so, spent a week at my family's Home before leaving for the beach. Those were actually pretty productive days and I slept quite well most of those nights, since my schedule was completely reversed, so arrived exhausted, slept, then got exhausted again at the right time every night. I've now officially acclimated, because now I can't sleep. Hahaha. Oh well, that's life...

Well, so, yeah, we did a lot in those few days... I got my hair cut (not CUT-cut -- that is, not severely, aherm), we had an English immersion day (another of the Home's new ventures -- besides the monthly gourmet meals for special invitees), went to my step-grandmother's birthday party, had my step-grandmother over for a birthday celebration, spent a day traveling here... All the super important stuff. :D

So far, at the beach, we've had some lovely days of jogging, walking, talking, volleyball-ing and generally lazing around at the beach. My other brother, Cris, and his wife, Misty, arrived today. So, now, the family is complete, with all siblings present. Yay!

Pictures and plenty of videos forthcoming, to be sure, but I leave thee with these, to start off with...

Ready to go out, much to Ana's dismay and Rafa's delight (for the record: I removed the socks before leaving!!):

Rafa making himself useful at the shoe store, on Ana's behalf:

Our books in a bookstore/cafe:

When little sisters try to make themselves taller than their oldest sister -- and all the goofy-ness inbetween:

English conversation on English immersion day:

The alluring (sure-sure) and the alarmed:

Secret messages at pizza dinner:

Mother doing her back stretches (yes, you're right, it does look rather Muslim if you turn the picture sideways):

Mother and son:

To each his own, I guess:

Not sure what I was pontificating on:

Bone was supposed to get a shot of the finished hair cuts/processes, but he didn't quite get the point, as we can tell by the missing portion of Marina's head -- erm, yeah (please note the hair color similarity, prrr-prrr):