Nobody cooks like my Mama can cook!

I am consistently asked this question: What are you going to miss while you're in Brazil? And, don't you worry, I am working on a blog entry about it. But, I thought one of the things that I will miss while I am away, is worthy of its own post.

As you know from my previous entry, my sister is in town. Last night, we went and had dinner with Kay and Colonel(my grandparents) as well as my Mom and Dad. Mom and I decided we should have fried chicken. It is not something we have all that often, but man oh man, is it good! Mom uses Kay's recipe and it's a good ole fashion Southern recipe! It was delish! Even though I eat it maybe once per year, it is definitely something I will miss. Actually, I think in general, it is the more the ability to run over to Mom's house for dinner and let's be real, seeing them that I will miss. But, Im pretty sure if I were to find fried chicken in Brazil, it won't be as good as my Mama's!

Oh, for those of you who are interested, we also had corn puddin'. Yummy!


Y'all come back now, ya hear!
Katie

Confucius Says...

My sister, Neeley, aka the Neel-dogg, came to town this week. On Thursday night, Mom, Neeley, and I had a girls night. We headed over to PF Changs for dinner and then to went shoe shopping. When the waiter at PF Changs gave us our fortune cookies, we each opened them, to see what our fortune would be. MINE WAS AMAZING.

How perfect is that for my life right now. I thought it was so cute, I posted it on Facebook. Then my brother went and got all crazy on me. First, he pointed out that one of my lucky numbers is 22 and that is the day I am to arrive in Brazil!

Then he did a little bit of Math with my lucky numbers, and left this comment:
"Distance from Atlanta to Brasilia : 4154.5 Miles. 22x28=616... 616-54-52-47= 463.. 463x9= 4167. Im sure you will drive a couple of miles to your new place. So you numers almost add up to your distance also!"

And if you are wondering why he mentions Atlanta, my flight will leave from Atlanta! I am absolutely floored!!!!

4 down, 4 to go!

Well today marks a milestone for me. Back in December when I was offered my job, I knew it was 8 months before I would move. However, I used to comment when it gets to March, then I will be on the downhill stretch. Well, today marks my 4 month countdown. 4 months from today. I will be arriving in Brasilia. Im a mix of emotions about it. The past week, it has really kind of hit me hard. I have days where Im over the moon excited and days where Im scared to death!!!

Here are some updates or accomplished lately:
1. I received and returned my Brazilian labor contract!
2. I finished my Portuguese class. Still not an expert, but feel more confident.
3. The school set me up with a school email account.
4. The school is working on assigning apartments. They had to double check on Soph so they made sure to put me in one that was "pet friendly."
5. My classroom is almost packed up!!!!
6. I was able to get a lot of things packed up over Spring Break. The garbage men have a huge load of stuff to pick up on Wednesday.
7. Shopping! I feel like shopping has become my life lately. They are all things I need, but mainly clothes. As a teacher, I dont really own summer work clothes. But in Brasilia it is an average high of 80 and low of 60 all year long, so I need to have enough summer clothes to last me 365 days!!!

Im on the downhill stretch friends. The next 4 months are going to either fly or drag. I hope they fly!

Obama in Brazil

President Obama arrived in Brasilia, Brazil this weekend. He is on a tour of South America, travelling to Brazil, Chile, and Peru. I'm kind of jealous that I missed out on him being in Brasilia. I can only imagine that it was a big deal to the Expats living there as he arrived on Sunday. Even if you are not his biggest fan, I think most people can see how the Expats living there would find this to be an exciting time to live there.

My school email was set up the other day and the teachers were emailing out videos of his speech in Rio. This video is only the first part and you can hear him try his hand at speaking some Portuguese. It is quite good, yet entertaining. He really had a hard time with the futball team name though. Brazil has become one of the world super-powers. It is nice for them to receive that recognition.
Picture source: Fox News

You've Got Mail!

That's right folks, my Brazilian labor contract arrived this morning and by 5pm, it along with my legalized papers were dropped off for the DHL pick-up! Thank goodness I get reimbursed for my expsenses because to send 4 copies of my contract, and 2 legalized documents cost a whopping 83 dollars!!!!!

Here are my documents all signed and ready to go! Wish them luck!

Wild and Crazy Saturday Night

So, when I have free time these days I do a lot of internet searches on Brazil. Some might call me an internet troller, but I consider it research. I was bored on Saturday night so I decided to search youtube for a video on the school and I found this little gem. Evidently, it is used for new teachers and students. In it you can see the school and scenes of Brasilia. I've only watched it 5 times already!!! Stuff like this gets me excited!!!

Four Eyes!

I am trying to get all my doctor's appointments in before i leave. You know the drill. I want to visit them early just in case. Typical Katie, worrying about all the stuff I never really should worry about. I have complained about my eyes to my family and friends for about 2 years now. I've been having a hard time reading and driving. So, I decided to go see the Optometrist(not Opthamologist, but that is a whole NOTHER story) about it. I really did think they would say that I was fine and it was just my imagination. Everything was going fine in the appointment until they told me to cover one eye and read the line on the Eye Chart. O-M-G! I was shocked! If it was an O, G, D, or Q, I could not tell you which it was even if my life depended on it. So, it is official, I have joined the ranks of the nearsighted and those with Astigmatism.

Mom and Dad met me today to help me pick out a pair of spectacles(as I like to call them). Luckily, I do not have a very strong prescription so they were able to send me home with my new glasses in an hour. It is amazing how much clearer I see though.



What ya think? Please excuse the make-up less face. It's been a long day!