Road Trip!

Sue and Heather have been 2 of the people in Brasilia I always know I can count on. They are like my Brazilian sisters, they aren't just friends. As soon as we got back from our summer vacation we decided we needed to start planning our Independence day holiday! So, we asked Kev-O, Heather's hubby, if we could steal her away for a girls get-a-way, and when we got the go ahead, we got to planning. With only three days we knew we needed to go somewhere close, so we decided on Pirenopolis, a city about 2.5 hours away from Brasilia. We didn't care what we did, we just knew what we wanted...a pool.

Saturday morning, we loaded up Sue's car and hit the road. Although we had a hard time escaping Brasilia, we finally got out. The ride was smooth(except for the 500 speed bumps along the way) and then we saw it, a girls vacation dream...the new outlet mall. You read that correctly people; Brasilia has an outlet mall, and yes it has designers from north of the border. We instantly stopped to check it out and get a McDonald's ice cream cone!

Brasilia's outlet mall, only 45 minutes away from Brasilia.

Once we arrived in Pirenopolis we headed to our pousada! We had scoped out Pousada's on tripadvisor, in order to find a nice one and man did we luck out. When we arrived we settled into our rooms and then settled next to the pool. :) Not only was the pousada really pretty, it had a great restaurant. In fact, we ate every meal there but one! After a little resting by the pool we decided to venture out and see what was going on. Very quickly we ran into many of our EAB pals who had also decided to get out of Dodge Brasilia too. We shopped and shopped and shopped a little more. I found a beautiful wire basket but when I saw the price I knew I needed to wait it out and make sure I didn't want anything else more

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The next day I woke up with a Migraine headache and decided to skip out on the waterfalls. After some high doses of Tylenol, Sudafed, and a nap, I woke up like a new woman. So, I parked myself by the pool for the day till Sue and Heather got home. We were going to meet up with some of our EAB folks later but first we needed to go shopping to get all the things we decided to buy. One problem, almost everything was closed, including our stores! But, we were able to have a great dinner with our friends!

Almost the whole gang!

The next day we got up to head home but first we thought we should give the stores one more try. And surprisingly the two stores we needed were open! I knew it was meant to be so I ran in and bought it!

The basket was my big purchase but I couldn't resist these porcelin balls too.

A close up. They are tiny clovers all hooked together and some are gold leafed. I love it and know I will have it forever!

I try to count my blessings often while I live abroad. Yes, there are things that I miss. Yes, there are people I wish I saw more. But, all in all the people here are in my life for a reason and this weekend was a reminder of that. They love me unconditionally and care about me for who I am. Thank you Sue and Heather for being such wonderful friends! You mean the world to me.

It's football time in...BSB?!

I see your Facebook status updates. You know the ones I am talking about, the ones with your pumpkin spice lattes, your pictures from Neyland stadium, everyone in Orange, basically all the ones that remind me that you all are entering fall. And, I hate you for it! Okay, I don't really hate you...I hate that I am not with you. Because I am missing the fall something awful this year and it's just not fair! :(

Just so I am not outdone by all my "friends" I am here to let you know that not only is it "football time in Tennessee"...It's also football time in BSB! That's right people, there is a football team here in Brasilia and I am not talking about soccer. Pure, American football (that is played by Brazilians)!

It all started when a 40 foot tall yellow goal, "popped up" in the soccer field by my place. Then we noticed that on every Saturday and Sunday at 4pm, they would appear. Pads, helmets, footballs, the whole shebang! It was so interesting...and then they started playing. That is where it all went a little downhill.

Bless their hearts, if football was based on spirit, these guys would be SEC champs. You can litterally hear them scream their team name from inside the apartment.

AL-E-GAY-TOHRS!!
AL-E-GAY-TOHRS!!
(yes, it is supposed to be Alligators but that is how they pronounce it.)

And, when someone CATCHES the ball, they go freakin' nuts! However, I don't think that the Brazilians really know what to think about all this "American Football". When I was taking these pictures, some guy walked by me and in Portuguese said, "This s#@* is crazy, huh?" I almost died.

A close up of fall in BSB.

So, there you go. You folks ain't nothin' special. So keep enjoying your lattes and start wearing your scarves. But, if you wanted to bring me one of those lattes, I would happily drink it for ya! Happy fall from the 205, y'all!