Wolfpack Family Vacation

I just returned from my family vacation/visit with my parents and 3 siblings! Everyone came to visit me here in Brazil and I organized a tour of Brazil. We went to Rio de Janeiro, Ouro Preto, Iguazu Falls and took a train ride through the Atlantic rainforest to Honey Island!

It was an amazing trip, with a ton of wonderful family memories that I will enjoy for a long, long time!

Here are some pictures from the trip....

Abraço,
Mollie





Iguazu Falls




Honey Island/Ilha do Mel






Mom & Dad in Ouro Preto

Getting Ready for Vacation/Ferias

Man! While it's been a fantastic 2009 so far, it's been very long as well. I've done a lot of travel for work to the US, Germany and in Brazil and had only a few days here and there to take a break from work! So, my upcoming vacation is well deserved and overdue!

My entire family (mom, dad, and 3 siblings) are coming to visit me in Brazil! I am very excited to show them Brazil and spend time with them. They will visit Brazil for approximately 12 days. We are going to visit Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Foz de Iguazu, Curitiba, Ilha do Mel and finally, HORIZONTINA!! I have organized a great trip and it will be fun to see all these new places. I only know Rio so it's really a vacation for me as well.

I have many final things to still organize, like extra mattresses, transportation to/from Horizontina (not as easy as it sounds), and of course, a churrasco!! But, in one week, I'll be on vacation!!!

Um abraco,

Mollie

Semana Dificil!/ Tough Week

Whew! Thank goodness the week is almost over. It was a tough week for me! It was very cold in Horizontina, work has been crazy, getting ready for the Wolf family invasion, and several problems in my house. But, the one that took the cake was when I woke up today (Sunday) to a surprise.

Actually, I woke up early, oddly, for a Sunday. I got a drink of water, was going to feed the cats, then heard something " pinging" onto the hard wood floors. I looked up and saw WATER streaming out of the ceiling fan!! NOT COOL!!!! Not GOOD!

I called Kevin, Sandy, and Emma (American ex pats living here) and they came to my rescue with comic relief, yummy food (oreo cheesecake!! Hershey kisses!), bom senso (good sense) and uber-support! Sometimes, you just need to talk to someone in your own language about the weird things that go wrong in Brazil. Kevin helped to diagnose that " yes, water is coming through the ceiling." I then called someone to come help figure out the source. Turns out some " cana", which is like PVC pipe (I think) had some how came loose from the water tank in the roof and was leaking water. It founds its way to my opening from the ceiling to the ceiling fan.

Luckily, it was quick to fix and no damage to furniture or the floor was done! However, as of this writing (8 pm) there is still some dripping. So, I believe there was a lot of water in the ceiling for who knows how long. UGH!!!

The highlights of the week were good friends, churrascos, and getting some surprise flowers from my new friends, Fernanda and Luiz. Photos of the beautiful flowers attached.

I am thankful to have survived the week with the support of WONDERFUL friends and the week is over.

Um abraco,

Mollie

Pretty butterfly decoration

Such a lovely surprise!

Beleza!!!

49 degrees! Temperature INSIDE my house one morning. Yes, that is real.