My Mohawk Man

I'm in the US at my desk and I just pulled up the Web site from the sports tournament where the kids are playing. Look who I found!! Looks like my son is sporting a mohawk. Time for me to get back home! I leave tonight.

Meriva on the Move

In Brazil, they don't stop you for speeding. There are computerized cameras on the roads that just take your photo as you cruise through a specially marked zone at the wrong speed. You don't even know. They simply mail you a ticket. No hassling, no long stories...you just pay. Ro came home smiling last night with a special letter with a photo of my red Meriva.

I got a ticket for going 103 in an 80 while Hannah and I went to Poços de Caldas a few weeks back. It sounds faster than it is because that is kilometers per hour, not miles. (Conversion is about 65 in a 50 mph zone.) To me, that ticket is like a badge of honor. In Michigan, I had major trouble with speeding tickets and had to pay exorbitant insurance rates and actually go to traffic school to keep my license. To get one here just tells me I've settled in!

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.

Our Art Loft

While I was out of the country last week, Ro found time to buy a new potter's wheel. Our patio now has a weaving loom, a potter's wheel and a drafting table with Jackson's stuff on it. If we add underwater basket weaving, we can open up a mental health unit right here on the 14th floor.

Ro sure seems happy with the new addition. I think he'll be able to survive the next few years here now. The Graded art teacher gave him the name of a place where he can fire his work.

Jackson got accepted to the College for Creative Studies this week. He was pretty pumped that all three of his choices said yes. Now he has to make a decision.

Hannah is doing well. She is in the midst of picking classes for her junior and senior year. She is trying to work in another language (Spanish) but I don't know if her schedule will be able to handle it. They sure push the kids here.

This is my latest weaving project. The silk/cashmere yarn is so soft but I wish the water lilies pattern popped a little more. Maybe it will be more prominent after I wash it. I always stink at picking the right colors. (Makes me miss my Saturday weaving friends!) I am trying to get this off the loom so I can put my Weaving Olympics project on before the Olympics end this weekend. I am the international entry after all. My CCS friends and I are all doing the same piece with different yarns and then dipping them in indigo dye. Should be interesting. Luckily, I'm not back in the US again until April 5 so I get to count the Special Olympics too!

Jackson's New Home??

I am finally back in Sao Paulo after two wild weeks in the States. The first order of business was five exhausting days at the National Automobile Dealers Association conference in Orlando for work. Once I finished up with that, Jackson met me in Orlando and we ventured North to Savannah to check out Savannah College of Art & Design.

He's already been accepted there but since Jackson had never seen it, we thought it best to take the "official" tour, see the dorms and get some questions answered. What an amazing place! SCAD has engulfed many historic buildings in the city and turned them into incredible examples of historic preservation by adapting the structures to the school's needs. Seventy-two buildings sprinkled throughout the town make up the campus. There are classes in old train stations, churches, synagogues, even a former coffin factory. There was a whole building devoted to fibers/weaving. (I made Jackson go look at it.) Once you get past marveling at the architecture, you really start to appreciate the sophistication and high levels of technology that SCAD has incorporated into every curriculum. In short, we were impressed.

The city has all these beautiful squares and trees and funky restaurants. Very cool.

Jackson has submitted his portfolio for scholarship consideration. We should hear back in a few weeks. SCAD is a very expensive school so we have our fingers crossed that they come up with some money.

It was nice to spend some time with Jackson. We got his eyes checked, glasses made, hair cut and did some serious shopping during this whirlwind trip. He was looking for these certain bats so I think we visited every baseball store between Orlando and Savannah with no luck. (We are going to order them online and have our neighbors Sean and Amber bring them when they visit in March.) One of my bestest high school buddies, Tracey Strachan, lives in Jacksonville so we had a great dinner with her husband, David and her son, Camden. All in all, it was a fun and productive trip.

A Five Foot Fish

Ro went fishing with his work friends yesterday near Sao Sebastio's Ilha Bela Island and caught this freaky fish. It is called an espada, which translates to blade. The fish weighed about seven pounds and they grilled it up and ate it on the boat.

Man in Motion

Jackson has his mock IB art exam today so yesterday was a flurry of tweaking his models and drawings for the show. This piece came out very cool. In its final state, it will be hung in the school gallery but we set it up in the apartment last night to get it just right. It is hung from fish line and tied to a board that we suspended from the ceiling. Jackson made casts of his hands and legs to make the player. He filled my car with a dozen or so 3-D objects and portfolio cases which I took to school this morning. Hope his show goes well.

Jackson and I are going to visit Savannah College of Art and Design February 17-19. He is going to fly to Orlando (alone!) and meet me after I finish with the National Automobile Dealers Association convention there for work. We'll make the four-hour trek to Savannah, Georgia from there. Everybody tells me that Savannah is gorgeous. He knows Wayne State and CCS well already so it is critical that he sees SCAD to help him make his college decision.

Good Friends...Spicy Food!

Last night, Ro showed off his Thai cooking abilities for our friends Nandita, Prateek, Thana, Silva, Leslie and Richard. Ro has not been able to find good, spicy Thai food in Sao Paulo anywhere...and it has frustrated him. So this month, while I was away at the Auto Show, he took it upon himself to learn how to make Thai food. He watched YouTube videos, researched Internet recipes and then began combing the Asian markets in Liberdade to find the right ingredients and cooking utensils. Success!!

Ro put me in charge of the bar, appetizers and dessert. Everything else was his domain. He was sweating up a storm over the wok but he did an amazing job. He made matsaman, pad see ew and pad king. They were all great.

I really missed our big Detroit dining room and its 14-person table last night. Don't you love how the guys and girls just naturally separate when given the opportunity?? We are so lucky to have found such amazing friends here in Sao Paulo.

Cover Boy

Jackson's mug is on the Graded Web site again. This shot is from the school's mid-January Habitat for Humanity building effort. Jackson worked really, really hard for a week helping to build houses in a very poor area a few hours from Recife. It was a great experience for the 25 kids who took part in the effort. They raise money all year long to fund the build.

10K in Sao Paulo

I have done tons of runs in Detroit but one of the things I really want to do before I leave Sao Paulo is a race here. I signed up today for a 10K on March 21 in and around the Pacaembu area. We start at the stadium where the Corinthians soccer team plays. I always like a goal and this will help me focus my training. Besides the shirt is kinda cute! I like the runner on the back.

Even if my time is crummy, I feel pretty good that my Portuguese dictionary and I were able to pay the fee online!

With the three hour time difference between Detroit and SP, I've been doing the death march through the trails here pretty faithfully every morning with my pals Leslie, Nandita and Thana and then hitting the treadmill in the gym. All I'll need to do is step up my treadmill time and then do a good bit of distance in Burle Marx Park on the weekends.

I'd love company. Any one want to join me?

New Weaving Project

These 10 beautiful balls of silk/cashmere are going to be my next weaving project. I'm using a shadow weave pattern out of my Handwoven magazine for a 15" wide piece. In theory, the pattern is supposed to look like water lilies. We'll see. Ro reminded me today that we have to ship my loom back in five months and it would be good if I finished the piece before then. He knows me too well!

It is so nice to be home. Like always, Dan and the kids seem to do just fine without me but I sure feel best when I'm here. It was a traumatic trip back to Sao Paulo with canceled flights, comped hotel rooms and lost luggage. I left on Monday and finally got back here on Wednesday. But I'm past all that and just pleased to be home.

The kids finally go back to school from their summer break next Tuesday. (Monday is a Brazilian holiday.) This sure has been a long holiday for them but they are still scrambling to get their homework done. Whatcha' guys been doing all this time??

Crazy Days in the D

When I'm home in Detroit, I usually don't write on my blog. After all, it is called "Departing the D" not "Visiting the D." I've had a very pleasant, hardworking trip but I'm anxious to return to Sao Paulo on Monday/Tuesday.

In addition to making sure my key card still works at Crain, the main reason I'm home this time is to help out with our biggest event of the year, the Automotive News World Congress. I was so proud of the entire marketing/events team. They did an amazing job pulling this together. The event attracted 1,000 people over the three days. We had 18 sponsors, 20 major speakers from the auto companies and a million details. You know it is a big deal when you have protesters! Sergio Marchionne's speech was interrupted three times by some very irate individuals. Security is definitely going to be beefed up next year. (Note to self--the protesters all bought very expensive registrations. Maybe this is a new niche for us!)

I renewed my membership in the downtown YMCA while I was home. I've been going over there every morning before work. So pleasant! It amazes me how many people are working out really hard at 6 a.m. I think the Y is going to be a big help to me when I'm back here for good beginning in mid-June.

I am blessed with some amazing friends. It has been great to catch up with them while I'm here. I'm really going to need them next year. GM has approved our "split family" status. Dan and Hannah are going to stay in Sao Paulo for two more years. Hannah's school in Brazil, Graded, is wonderful in so many ways and she is very fortunate to be able to graduate from there.

Jackson, Java (our dog) and I are returning to the US and will move back into our house in Indian Village. Jackson will be going to college somewhere (either Savannah, Wayne State or CCS) so that means I am going to be alone a lot of the time. It will be really, really hard but they give us a few more trips back and forth so we can stay connected...and somewhat sane. Hannah will be coming back to Detroit for her two six-week breaks in the summer and winter. Somehow we'll make it...and be stronger from the experience.

Another Acceptance!

Jackson found out yesterday that he got accepted to Wayne State University. He would follow their industrial design curriculum. The only one left to hear from now is College for Creative Studies. (He got accepted to SCAD--Savannah College of Art & Design--a few weeks back.) The advantage of Wayne is that he could get a lot of his early credits done much more efficiently...cough, cough...and way cheaper...than at an art school. It is exciting (and a little sad) watching him grow into the whole thought of independence and college. I'm not sure where he'll end up but the decision-making is an interesting process. This is one of the drawings Jackson recently completed.

I leave tomorrow night for Detroit. It is Auto Show/World Congress season so I'll be mighty busy this trip to the D.

Feliz Ano Novo

Happy 2010. For the past 30 years, we have celebrated New Year's Eve with a great bunch of friends from high school. There is a core group of about 12 people that are always there and the party moves from house to house each New Year's. No matter what, the celebration involves a lot of eating, shots and college football games and leftovers the next day. The guys always play this dumb drinking card game after midnight called "Horse Thief." Somebody usually throws up.

We started first at a parent's house, then had wild trashcan parties at our college apartments, moved to restaurants and discovered they were too expensive, journeyed through the "new Mommy years" where someone was always pregnant and staying awake was no problem because a baby was always up. During recent celebrations, the kids played poker and neighbors joined in the fun and the parties had gotten pretty wild again.

Our friend Karl is a wine salesman. He has a life size Dick Clark New Year's poster from one of his suppliers and every year we take photos in front of it. Those photos are a great way to chronicle how much we've all changed.

Since we are 5,000 miles away, we missed the party last night and were feeling a little blue. We felt like we were really missing something. I think the only other time we missed it was when we were in Japan. While the fireworks were going off in Sao Paulo and it was still three hours before New Years in Michigan, we called Rick and Lori's house to wish them all a Happy New Year. There were only six people there. All the babies are now in high school or college and wanted to do their own thing. A few of our friends had to stay back to make sure the kids got home safe. Heavy sigh.

We'll be be back for next year's party. I guess it will be time to transition to another kind of celebration again. Hannah suggested that now the kids will have the wild parties and we can go out for a quiet dinner and stop by the wild party for the midnight celebration. NO WAY!! We're not giving up the ship that easy.

Poor Hugo

This is a photo I took through Skype of my Dad's new blue cast. While we were at the Falls, the rails were all wet and he slammed his hand the wrong way against one of them. It swelled up and turned funny colors while we were traveling but he didn't have it x-rayed until he got back to Michigan. The hand specialist gave him the U of M colored cast this week. Looks like he got out of snow shoveling for this season!

It just amazes me that I can take a picture of my Dad's hand 5,000 miles away. Skype has been my salvation for this journey to Brazil. I can talk and see everybody and it is totally free. Al Gore sure invented a way cool Internet.