Brazilian view

My mother-in-law says she and her husband bought this apartment (now our apartment) specifically because there is a huge green space across the street from the front verandinha. It’s a giant rock with green growth – complete with lots of birds.

Works for me.

The view out our window is quite natural, and we do not have to suffer another urban apartment building.

(wishing I could provide a photo - but the camera continues to confound me…)

The ever-growing monster f*cking things up is the restaurant at the base of this beautiful green hill which is thriving and expanding. Can you say NOISE!? At least they seem to have retired their pizza delivery service – those motorcycle delivery boys were LOUD outside our window! – plus cigarette smoke!

But each morning the view is wonderful (and quiet) – with the cute pair of vulcher birds flying together. Mangoes drip from the trees – and there is a huge avocado tree. Green is so much better than another apartment building!

Making white clothes white

Today I am doing the laundry. We are pretty old school here - not fancy chic living. We have no hot water in our house - no hot water at the kitchen sink -- no hot water at the bathroom sink.  We DO have hot water from the shower b/c the showerhead is a water heater.

Anyway - this is all to say that washing clothes - especially whites - is less than effective. Even with bleach (lots of soaking - a load takes nearly 2 hours). I suppose I could boil water on the stove and add it to the washing maching -- but really -- how hard do you have to work!

Just trying to have clean clothes!

Making it work

I was going to post a very cool bit about my recent fling with French Onion Soup. I have pics and everything.

But for some reason I cannot get the pics off our camera and onto my computer. I just did this a month ago with our Peru pics, but now the wires don't fit. WTF?

So instead you get my mini rant and another thought.

Life has been good and Luiz is thriving. (Me too, for that matter.) Everything except the camera has been great.

One observation here at home is that I can tell the time by the sound of the traffic outside our window. Speaking about after dark...

Laying in bed, trying to sleep, I know the time by the sounds I hear.

It's not yet 1:00 until the adolescent chatter calms across the street at the pizzaria,

It is 2:00 when I hear the soft (yet quite audible) rumble of plastic wheels of a small army of night shift street cleaning workers rolling by with their trash containers, on their way to their stations.

Just about 2:30 the private trash pickup company pulls up to the restaurant across the street. For a good 20 minutes we are treated to the sound of clanging trash containers and the mechanics of a truck compacting its load. Nice...

Then on most nights - Friday and Saturday excepted - we have relative quiet from about 3:00 - 5:00.

Starting at 5:00 the busses start their rotation. Now, I love me some busses. They are my saving grace when I want to go anywhere. But we have somthing like 10 different bus lines passing in front of our apartment. That's good when you want to go somewhere, but not so good when you want to sleep.

So I don't need an alarm clock. But the good part is I have no reason to wake up early. I just roll over and let the sounds wash over me until I am ready to get up and take a walk along the beach.

Polishing English at Zanna Sound

As an expat without a sponsoring employer, my employment options in the short run here in Brazil distill down to teaching English (even if you don’t know crap about English grammar). To be fair – I never suggest to potential students/clients that I am an English teacher.  I state that I am simply a native speaker with some smarts. So I describe myself as an English “polisher”, which is of value to bi-lingual professionals.

Get it right. Speak clearly and concisely. Communicate effectively. Be articulate. Connect with those who speak English. That is my job.

It has been very exciting this past year to work with Zanna at Zanna Sound.  Learning about Sound Branding as an English consultant for Zanna Sound in Rio has been very interesting and it has certainly been innovative stuff. 

Zanna, principle of Zanna Sound, is more than an intriguing and inspiring client. She has changed and is changing the landscape of marketing via sound, and I have found it remarkably interesting to be in this process.

There is nothing more fun than a smart client with sophisticated content wanting my assistance. Thank the goddess that most of my English students/clients are advanced professionals with interesting things to engage in.

Zanna lights up the room. She is a brilliant innovator and has built an international reputation as a leader in Sound Branding. She is in fact the premiere professional in this field in Latin America.

Sound branding is that thing you already know about – think about the sound that happens when you turn on your computer. You instantly recognize the sound – and the association with the brand. Think about the ambient sound you hear when you go into some retail spaces (good or bad). Think about the sounds associated with some companies when you are put on hold on the phone. This is all thoughtful stuff on their part. (Or it should be.)

Zanna Sound works to educate companies about the significant value of working this sound dynamic to their advantage. And Zanna has developed an innovative methodology for securing results.

I will not go into the details – but do follow the links to learn more.

Suffice it to say that Zanna is an innovator, she is opening new spaces for companies to grow their brand, and she will be a force to be acknowledged for many years to come.

It is a delight to work with her – and I look forward to more collaboration in the future.

Check out her website!

Sometimes it is fun to go to work.

Note: - Zanna is currently in southern France at Cannes Lions (the 59^th annual conference of creativity) as a juror and a presenter.

I'm playing it

OK -  it's Valentines Day here in Brazil. Game on!

I'm making a ham quiche (per my love's request) and a chocolate torte - in spite of his diabetic quadi quadi quadi. - Take two pills.

Festa Junina whoo hoo

It's Festa Junina season.  That is to say it is country food and tradition party time.

From my point of view it is a corn thing.Sweet corn pudding - canjica - oooh so good. Then boiled whole corn served in the husk with butter and salt. Or, creamy corn polenta-like "pudding" combined with savory special ingredients - just like your grandmother used to make.

Everything designed to keep you warm on a cold winter's day.

Goddess bless corn.

Love me some Festa Junina.

Visiting Machu Picchu

I can honestly say that you never (I never) expect to see something so amazing as the preserved ruins of Machu Picchu. To see the clouds clear in the early morning so high in the mountains – moment by moment. It would be breath-taking except that the air is so pure we were able to breathe so deeply. We took it all in.

Magic – I typically don’t believe. But that morning exiting our mini bus at the gates to Machu Picchu – I was reconsidering. I definitely reconsidered.

We were inspired by the whole of it all: spiritual sites, lavish places of rest for Inka dignitaries, spaces for workers, tiered agricultural areas, lots of uncanny scientifically spot-on bits. Plus seeing the beautiful lamas wandering the grounds.

We spent over two hours on a guided tour (recommended) and then another several hours just feeling the energy and exploring the site.

It is possible to take a tour from Cusco – to and from Machu Picchu - in a single day. Totally possible. But as is our style, we chose to stay in Aguas Caliente and get the early morning bus to MP to see the clouds rise. But you can do either – think about your priorities.

Only the photos tell the real story.

The clouds clearing.

Could it be more beautifu!?

The tiers are partly to stop erosion - and partly to provide gardens.

Luiz and our guide.

Is my husband the cutest man ever, or what!?

We are singing Happy Birthday to Luiz here -- he got a bit emotional.

Tell me - is it possible to be more inspired?

Slow and steady!

We LOVED our trip to Machu Picchu!!