Easter Cod?

A couple people this week have asked me what we're doing for Easter this year. I can tell you one thing for sure...we're not eating that salty cod! Just like ham is the traditional Easter dish in the US, Brazilians eat bacalhau, a salty codfish. They cook it with coconut milk or wine. I've tried it on a couple buffets and it just doesn't do it for me. For Easter, it is sold in all the stores here and most of the time it is displayed without any sort of refrigeration or ice. No thank you.

Thankfully, Brazilians do understand the importance of chocolate. All the stores are lined overhead with these beautiful large chocolate eggs covered in foil. Most of the eggs are hollow and have a small toy inside.

Jackson has a baseball tournament all weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) so our holiday will be pretty low key. Also, I leave for Detroit for two weeks Sunday night so maybe my Mom will take pity on me (please, please) and set aside some Easter leftovers for consumption on Monday.

June 27--Graduation Party

All signs are pointing toward Jackson joining the Class of 2010 as a high school graduate of Escola Graduada De Sao Paulo on May 29. Yea! I am so proud of him. We're planning a graduation party at our house in Indian Village on Sunday, June 27. I will get invites out soon but mark the date on your calendars now. We still don't have our flights booked home yet but it looks like we'll be leaving Sao Paulo sometime shortly after school lets out on June 10. Hannah is going to stay in Detroit all summer. She is really looking forward to spending some time with her friends. Ro will be able to spend a few weeks in the D helping us get settled back into the house before he goes back to Sao Paulo.

It is still hard to believe that this little guy in glasses is going to college in the Fall!

Running....

Sorry I have been a failure at blog postings the past few weeks. We had our fabulous neighbors--Sean and Amber--from Detroit visit, Hannah went to Angra for her Model United Nations gig, Jackson organized a run at school to raise money for Habitat for Humanity, I ran a 10K and Ro tried to keep sense of it all. We even had St. Patrick's Day thrown in there for good measure. (We had fun, but Brazilians don't get this holiday!) So we have been all about DOING.

One of the highlights for Sean and Jackson was the discovery of a cool skate park in Sao Bernardo. Jackson's skateboard skill has been accrued mostly riding up and down our flat street in Detroit. This was a real challenge but he did great. Sean is more of a veteran but he was dealing with all new skate gear that he bought here. My photos don't do it justice (Jackson is in the middle of the photo) but they lived to see a new day.

Vidro

Hannah and I (the guys were at baseball) got up early yesterday and followed our friends Richard, Leslie, Thana and Silva up into the mountains to a great little town, Poços de Caldas.

It took about 3.5 hours (in some heavy rain) to get there but it was worth it. We visited several glass showrooms and watched the artists working at the first place, Cristais ca Doro. The prices were extremely affordable. We all left with many packages. My favorite line was when Richard asked Leslie, "Where are we going to put all this glass?" and she replied, "You're just going to have to buy me a big house." I think we're all looking forward to the day when we don't have to live in apartments any more.

Our friends spent the night in the town at the greatest throwback hotel. Big chandeliers, high ceilings and a hot springs pool with Roman columns. It looked gorgeous. We didn't stay because Hannah had plans with her friends Saturday night...a very important Harry Potter marathon, all six movies in one night!

Model United Nations

Hannah's Model United Nations Club has a competition March 17-21 in Angra, Brazil. They are going to leave school in the morning and then ride a bus for about seven hours to get there. It will be three hard days of resolutions and discovering ways to solve all the world's problems. Good educational trip. I get that. So I signed the permission slip.

So today, I get the link to the hotel where they're staying. Holy crap! Check this place out. (There is a button at the top left for English.) It's a fabulous resort. I want to go! Now she tells me...oh ya, we get a three hour lunch break everyday so we can go to the beach. In my next life, I want to come back as Hannah Robar.

Goofy Dog

Poor Hannah! Last night, she was trying to watch the USA v. Canada hockey game and do her homework at the same time. Java kept jumping on the couch and pushing against her back in an attempt to get some attention. It was hilarious. Java certainly thinks she is human.