Counting our Blessings

When I got here, it was really difficult for me to adapt. There is no doubt that many things are still challenging. I am not going to list them here, it is not my point. Rather I just paused this weekend, while we hosting a few of our friends, and realized that we are blessed in so many ways here.
We have this beautiful weather, most of the year. It is sunny and warm.
Nature here is just stunning. And pristine. And there is no absolutely no pollution like we had in Beijing.
We made so many good friends, so many good people are surrounding us now. So many interesting and special individuals.
And we are very blessed to have landed in the house we have now. 

Saudade

Moving from an apartment to a house has been fun, allowing us to do things we were not able to enjoy before. I planted a garden (still waiting for the harvesting period). We play football or pétanque in the grass. We take pleasure in observing the wildlife around us. We play in the pool (even more since our filter is installed). We eat outside, hang out in our hammocks, and spend our evenings enjoying the breeze on our terrace. Occasionally when we are not busy taking care of the kids, we catch a sunset over the city. I am from Rivière-du-Loup, where each night the sky is a wonderful tableau of colors, and where sunset watching is an activity in itself. Here the sunsets are also definitely pretty, but since we are in the tropics, the sun goes down so fast that I often forget to take the time to watch it.
Last week we received an email from our landlord, praising this time of the year, the dry(er) season, when sunsets are wonderful to watch. He was probably suffering a bit from nostalgia, or saudade, as he had to leave this beautiful house to move in a city apartment. Upon reading his message, we invited him over for a sunset. And tonight, it was really pleasant to have him and his girlfriend over a few bottles of bubbly and some interesting conversation so em portuguese. And to really take the time.

Wet

Before our departure, it had been raining for a while. So I was expecting sunny weather upon our return, as I was assuming that "summer" in Brazil coincided with sun. Isn't that we keep the best time of the year to take kids off school for two months? Just to clarify, living in the southern hemisphere means having upside down seasons, and also upside down school holiday calendar. In other words, the Brazilian summer is also coinciding with Christmas. Therefore, kids here, in the Brazilian school system, are off for two full months. And they will only get two weeks off in July.
So I had imagined that these kids would get a hot sunny summer holiday. Well, no. Poor kids. January is a rainy month. I mean, rains are more like downpours. Or like a bucket of water falling on our head. Tropical rains. Lots of wind and horizontal rain. And many times, a grizzle of rain, more like Vancouver's grey grizzle. And most times, a sky covered in clouds and grey. And more humidity than ever before. I found today a pair of shoes that started collecting mold. A reminder of my days in Congo, where wood furniture, clothes, books, leather articles were all rotting.
But I feel we are lucky. Our kids are back in school, so I only have to manage their activities in the afternoon, not all day like the Brazilian moms... And our house has so many windows opening to our lush garden that it is actually very enjoyable to be home, and to watch it fall outside. When it is not raining here, we can see in the distance the clouds moving over the city and discharging themselves on one Asa or the other, depending on the moment. It is very pristine.
And furthermore, it is easier to keep the house clean... My little monkeys are mostly playing inside, enjoying their many toys received over Christmas.
But don't misunderstand me. When the rainy season comes to an end, we will all be happy...

Spring is Falling on Us

Here it is "Spring". Well, I am not sure to call it this way, as here in the tropics, it is not really blooming more than usual. So many trees with wonderful colors - reds and pink and purple and yellows and others - flowers. But it is also raining intermittently during this period - showers that are really strong, almost mini storms - and at other times, just soft rain - both beautiful but so different to a spring that I know that it makes me think of some kind of fall. Except that the red in the trees is from their blooming flowers - and the usual crispy leafy carpet on the ground is made of their fallen petals.

Vai Chover!

It has been really hot recently. When we arrived, it was quite fresh, with nights at 15 degrees maybe, and days below 25. We needed covers at night, and long sleeves and pants during the day. Then after a couple weeks, the weather just became all a sudden more hot, including during the nights.
In fact the whole region has been under a drought warning for quite a few weeks, there has been no rain for a long time - probably more than 3 months. I did not really expect the heat, as I did not read about extreme weather in Brasilia, rather about a more temperate and even weather, year-long. The heat at 12 o'clock has been important; Noam described it as "hot like if-I-was-being-baked-in-the-oven hot". It was a bit surprising to me to hear him talk in these terms. Our time in Israel earlier this summer, with its blaring 40 degrees at 9 AM, has somewhat rendered me immune to this more reasonable heat; it was so cooking hot over there that these mere 35 degrees are not too cooking hot. Yet, the reduced amount of humidity in the air (less than 20%) is a real problem, posing a health threat to the weaker ones, giving headaches to many, and simply making everyone more tired and cranky. In schools, the government requested to limit all physical education and physical activities, to limit the movements of kids to avoid further dehydration. In the French School, the balls and small tricycles were put away.
And everyone has been waiting for the rain, hoping for it to come soon.
Finally today, at lunch time, it has showed its feathers in a few lovely drops... I looked up, the sky was gorgeous, with the clouds and the sun rays battling up there. And tonight the rain has really arrived, full on, tropical way, with thunder and lightnings, the wind gushing across our place.
Oh! does it feel good to feel this breeze! Oh! does it smell nice and refreshing!

What Appears Dead Might Reveal Itself Otherwise

In front of our window stand what I thought was a very tall dried-out tree. 
A couple days ago it bloomed incredibly beautiful bright yellow pompon flowers. 
My window looks like a Japanese picture.

The city is sparkled with these beautiful surprises. Was told they are called "ipê" but I have not found anything called like that in my dictionary. I found they would be actually called Paratudo or Craibeira. These trees bloom during the drought, their flowers come only for a few days, before the leaves. They usually announce the beginning of the rainy season. They would have some medicinal properties, healing fever, inflammations, digestives problems. Check here for a beautiful picture of a full tree.