Friday, June 24, 2011

"Who Are You When I'm Not Looking"


Entao, troquei a fonte da letra do blog porque o ponto de exclamacao da fonte que eu estava usando parecia um L minusculo e ficava muito estranho. Dai eu ainda queria uma letra que parecesse mais pessoal, mais perto de uma caligrafia manual (de preferencia nao mto perfeitinha, pois minha caligrafia manual nao eh das melhores tbm), entao nao me sobraram muitas opcoes e acabei ficando com essa!

Bem, vamos ao post propriamente dito!! O titulo desse post eh na verdade o nome de uma musica do cantor country Blake Shelton. A musica quer mais ou menos dizer que as mulheres a vista de outras pessoas estao sempre bem arrumadas e parecem perfeitinhas, controladas, mas o cantor se pergunta como que elas sao quando estao sozinhas!! Eh interessante e me fez pensar! Nao vou ficar aqui revelando tudo aquilo que eu intencionalmente escondo dos outros, mas essa musica acabou me dando a ideia de escrever um post sobre a minha rotina enquanto estou sozinha com a Rebequinha em casa, que abrange a imensa maioria do tempo!

Desde que casei e cheguei aqui nos EUA, as pessoas sempre me perguntavam curiosas: "E o que voce fica fazendo durante o dia, jah que voce nao trabalha?". Bem, eu respondia a minha rotina, e eh claro que era mais sossegada que a de qualquer pessoa que trabalhasse, mas tbm nao era tao vazia como elas pensavam. Agora a minha rotina mudou, eh obvio, entao soh faz sentido contar da minha rotina atual apenas! Esse assunto eh meio complicado pra mim, pois na verdade ainda nao estou satisfeita com o aproveitamento do meu tempo! Entao eu vou falar como eu pretendia que fosse o meu horario, sendo que alguns dias eu consigo cumprir e outros dias nem tanto!

Ok, a minha semana eh dividida em tres diferentes rotinas! A rotina um corresponde as seg, qua e sextas-feiras; a rotina dois corresponde as ter e quintas-feiras; e a rotina tres corresponde aos finais de semana. A diferenca entre as rotinas um e dois eh o horario que eu assisto missa! Na primeira, a missa eh as 8:30am e na segunda a missa eh as 5:30pm e isso faz certa diferenca!

Entao o nosso dia aqui em casa comeca cedo, entre 6:00am e 7:30am, sendo que o horario mais frequente eh por volta das 6:45am que eh quando o alarme biologico da Rebecca toca! Entao eu acordo e amamento a Rebecca na minha cama enquanto o papai ainda se revira nos lencois! Pouco tempo depois a Rebecca esta toda contente e loucaaa pra brincar com o papai!! Mas antes a gente oferece o dia pra Deus os tres juntos! Dai o papis troca a fralda da Rebecca! Ok, dai todo mundo levantou, lavou o rosto, etc, entao vamos os tres pra sala!

A gente deixa a Rebecca brincando com seus brinquedos enquanto preparamos o cafe da manha! Na maioria das vezes eu preparo, mas as vezes o D chega mais cedo na cozinha e jah comeca a fazer alguma coisa! Ok, tomamos cafe da manha! Ultimamente temos comido um paozinho q nos dois gostamos, esquentado na torradeira, com margarina e salami, ou algum outro tipo de frios! Um cafe brasileiro, ou cha, ou sucrilhos com leite de amendoas. (O D toma um yakult todo dia!). Com esse paozinho que eu gosto faco tambem as melhores torradas cortadas bem fininhas e as vezes quero ficar comendo apenas torrada com a minha deliciosa margarina, mais cafe!!

As vezes a gente coloca a Rebecca no cadeirao e liga "Dora, The Explorer" no Netflix, conectado a TV, ou outro desenho enquanto tomamos tranquilos o nosso cafe da manha. Terminado o cafe, o D vai pra academia do condominio enquanto que eu lavo as loucas e depois dou mingau pra Rebecca. Quando a Missa eh de manha eu levo a Rebecca comigo. Deixo o D ter um quality time sozinho! As pessoas ficam babando na Rebecca na missa, nao deixa ngm prestar atencao, rs, e dae a gente volta, e o papai jah esta nos esperando na entrada do condominio pra ele chegar a tempo no trabalho (as 9:15am).

Dai a Rebecca jah vai estar meio sonolenta, entao amamento e coloco ela no berco! As vezes ela jah esta dormindo no peito, mas na maioria nao, mas ela sabe que eh hora da soneca da manha e nao reclama, ate gosta! As vezes chora alguns poucos minutos antes de dormir, mas nao tem sido o habitual! E ela vai dormir por 1h15-2h30, sendo 2h o mais frequente!). Enquanto ela dorme, eu rezo um pouco, vou no pc, deixo alguma coisa preparada pro almoco, as vezes eh dia de fazer papinha da Rebecca, arrumo a cama, ou limpo alguma coisa q ficou por limpar!). Ah, em geral enquanto eu estou na cozinha, eu ligo o meu ipod e rezo o terco (eu gravei a minha pp voz rezando o terco pra facilitar pois me perco mto rezando sozinha).

Dai a Rebecca acorda e jah esta na hora dela almocar! Dou papinha e dou agua (com seringa, pois ela nao sabe mamar mamadeira, nem usar nenhum dos mtos copinhos q a gente comprou pra ela! Mas ela esta melhorando!). Dai o papai chega e almocamos! Tbm colocamos desenhos pra Rebs enquanto comemos senao ela nao deixa a gente comer! Dai o D brinca um pouco com a gente e ele volta pro trab e eu lavo as loucas! Dai fico meio que vistoriando a Rebecca ate dar a hora da soneca da tarde. De novo amamento e coloco ela no bercinho e ela dorme mais ou menos o mesmo tanto que na soneca da manha!  Dai, que vem a minha perdicao! Nesse horario livre ou eu durmo as 2h inteiras ou eu as jogo fora no pc. Ok, as vezes escrevo no blog, rs. e tipo, eu poderia aproveitar e ler livros, tocar teclado, desenhar ou pintar q eu gosto, mas nao!!! Tenho vicio, admito.... maaaas prometo que estou trabalhando nisso!

Bem, dai a Rebecca acorda e eu estou morrendo de saudades dela - ela acorda sempre suuuper feliz e animada!! - amamento, e depois brincamos juntas! Depois de um tempo eu dou uns biscoitinho de bebe pra ela (tenho q ficar olhando pq ela ainda nao tem dente e as vezes engasga, isso porque eu pico bem pequeninho). Tento dar mais agua! Dai ficamos nisso ate o pai chegar! O pai chega e vamos pra piscina eeeh!! A Rebecca adora brincar com a gente na piscina!! Ela tem mtaaa energia, rs!

Voltamos pra casa depois de uma meia hora, damos banho nela, depois papinha, peito e direto no bercinho!! E ela dorme direto por umas 10h30-12h. Enquanto a gente se reveza nesse meio termo, um toma banho e depois o outro. Dai preparamos nossa janta e descansamos! As vezes assistimos um filme, ou algum seriado (no momento estamos assistindo os DVDs de "7th Heaven", mas na lista vem "Full House".) Quando nao assistimos nada, as vezes lemos algum livro por uns 10 min, embora eu quisesse fazer disso um habito! Dae a gente vai dormir entre 10pm e 11pm.

Ok, esse post jah ficou longo demais e nem falei das outras rotinas! Entao vou resumir o restante mesmo! Bem, quando a missa eh a tarde, nao dah tempo de irmos de piscina de tarde, mas sobra tempo de manha - logo depois que o papai sai pro trab - pra eu caminhar por 30 min com a Rebecca de carrinho pelo condominio enquanto eu rezo o terco! Ela adora sair pra passear!! Tbm nesses dias eu fico com o carro de tarde pra poder ir na missa, entao a gente leva o papai no trab depois do almoco e o buscamos depois da missa!

E de fds, eh tudo diferente! Nao temos horario, mas que nem a gente ta tentando fazer sempre, precisamos logo de manha decidir oq vamos fazer! Damos uma saidinha com a Rebecca, preparamos umas refeicoes mais gostosinhas, vamos na piscina, andamos juntos no condominio, vemos filmes, etc! E no domingo vamos na missa das 8:15am. O melhor horario! Ainda estamos cheio de energia, o dia rende e nao atrapalha a rotina de sonecas da Rebequinha!!

Alem disso, ainda encontramos tempo pra falar no skype com nossas familias, junto com a Rebecca durante toda a semana!! E ainda nessas duas ultimas semanas tive q ir em tres consultas medicas, uma da Rebes de rotina, e duas minhas, uma de oculos e uma de lentes de contato! Aqui eh separado.... Tbm eu acabei indo no supermercado em algumas ter ou quintas de tarde com a Rebequinha!!

E eh isso!

Nossa, esses posts longos me cansam mas nao sei fazer diferente!!!!!

Ate mais!!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

"Father's Day"

Now it's time for my brazilian friends to be surprised with the post title, because Father's Day in Brazil is only at the second Sunday of August! And as a matter of curiosity I'll be just saying that Mother's Day is on the same day in these two countries! Well, so lucky D and my dad as they got one more day in the year to be specially remembered and congratulated!

In the case you have asked yourself whether or not I ask D's permission to write about him, I'll answer that, yes, I have always done that! And every time that I know something I'll write could be kinda embarrassing to him, I also asked his permission specifically in every of these cases! But this time, I haven't done that because I want to surprise him! But knowing he is a sweet husband he would have let me write this anyway!


I want to talk a little about his qualities as a husband and as a father, and besides paying tribute to him I also hope to encourage my girlfriends to seek good guys too and for them not to be content with little! I believe that guys are only waiting for an exigent woman so they can bring out the good man they have inside! But in order to do so, I want to be very honest here and say to you that I don't intend to promote the hunting for the charming prince! Yes, girls, he doesn't exist! Some get close but all of us have defects and we all make mistakes, sometimes unintentionally and sometimes intentionally.


Ok, so having said that, I will pass to the due compliments! My mom always told me that in order for you to marry someone you need to admire this person. And then, have plans together! Well, while D is extremely good in foreign languages, is good at all instruments (specially the guitar) and being very good at all sports (I used to loooove watching his indoor soccer games!!), it's not these materials things that counts! They made me fall in love with him but they are useless (almost! lol) to make me love him for all my life! And it's about these no materials things that I want to write about! I will try to elaborate a list sorted by importance level, but I know somethings have equal value, so don't consider the order too much!

 

- He was always open to have children! I think not all of you really know the true dimension of a guy wanting to have children, but it's gigantic, believe me! I'll tell you a little story about something that happened a long before we have any conversation about kids. On our first week together, for an amazing coincidence, my friend Claudinha, overheard D talking to his friend Thais, at some juices' booth at our university! I might say that Claudinha didn't know how D looked like but she knew I was dating a japanese and by the conversation she overheard she could tell that my new boyfriend was D! In sum, D was telling Thais that his girlfriend (me, Gabby) has a lot of siblings (ten!!) and then he added like if it was the most obvious conclusion: "I'll have to work very hard to have a lot of children myself." hahaha soooo cute!! He noticed that maybe I would want to have a lot of kids too and instead of running away, he accepted that since the beginning and had a positive reaction!



- He never complained and always accepted that we use the NFP methods to avoid children when we have to! Really, what a good and generous man! He neeeeever complained, had long faces, said anything pejorative and always respected me! (For those not familiar with NFP, it's very simple! It just means the couple should avoid having intercourse when the woman is fertile! I use the billings and the temperature methods and I'm also learning the saliva method! And I also know that there is an instrument from Europe that measures certain hormone level! I'm planning on acquiring it, but not for now!)


- He's incredibly good, attentive and respectful with my family!! He was all of these while we were dating but now he is MUCH more that I could have ever desired! What a relief to bring home a guy like D! My siblings love him! Among the many love displays (lol) I'll just tell you about my bro Marcos that always jokes (or not) saying that first comes D and then me! He always plays with my bro Pedro, goes cycling with him, takes him to fish, helps him find little jobs, picks him up at school, goes with him to excursions, etc, etc! He helps my little sisters with their homework, plays games with them, and much more!!!


- He is a very hard worker!! And this was always something I would demand my future husband to be! He is very concentrated and interested in what he does!! You know that person that can read a paper or end a presentation in those free 15 min here and there? Well, I was never like this, but he is very good at it!!

- He is interested in good information and gets all excited with good resolutions!! Currently he is reading the book "Father, The Family Protector" but he likes to know every kind of good information regarding our children's education and wants to apply it asap. Still regarding it, I must say that on the night I first wrote this post, D wasn't home yet ( @10pm) because he drove 50 min to a certain city so he could attend an Opus Dei's recollection! In these recollections you listen to all kinds of good stuff and practical advices on how to become a better person at the place you are in the world! D, for example, always comes back from these recollections like the best man in the world! Super caring, sweet and super happy!!


- He apologizes very easily! I think women are aware that sometimes the words "sorry" and "thank you" can be kinda rare on a man's vocabulary. Well, I know I'm lucky but D is the opposite of it!! And this makes all of our discussions go away very easily and also be short in number! Besides this, he always tries to improve and change things for better!


- He comes back to work to have lunch with his family everyday!! I know it's only a 5-8 min driving but still many people from his work don't do that! This only shows me his generosity toward his family! 



And the list could go on, but these things are more than enough to make me admire him for all my life!


D, thank you so much for everything! I love so much! Thank you for being my father's children! I'll love you for all my life! I hope to always improve everyday so I can be a better wife and a better mother of your children so you too can always love me for the rest of your life!


Now I want address some words to my father too! I don't even know if he reads my blog but nevertheless and I want to pay tribute to him as well!

Dear daddy! You are and will always be my example of a hard worker, a good father and a good husband! Example of a man who prays! Of a man who strive to improve yourself! Of a GENEROUS man - my father is on the top of the universal list of generous people! And just thinking seriously about all of these things makes me want to cry in admiration for you! I love you so much!




And I finish this post with a toast for all the good man out there! The ones that always seek to be a better man everyday!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

"Dia dos Pais"

Agora eh a vez dos meus amigos brasileiros ficarem surpresos com o titulo do post! Mas jah explico que nos EUA o Dia dos Pais neste ano sera no dia 19 de Junho (terceiro domingo de Junho) enquanto que o Dia das Maes acontece no mesmo dia nesses dois paises! Entao, sorte do D e de meu pai pois eles ganharam um dia a mais no ano pra serem especialmente lembrados e parabenizados!

Caso voces algum dia tenham se perguntado, ou nao, eu quero dizer que todos os posts que jah escrevi nesse blog antes passaram pela aprovacao do D! Inclusive eu sei que escrevo certas coisas que poderiam ser desconcertantes a ele, mas eu tambem sempre pedi a permissao dele pra falar dessas coisas especificamente! Contudo, dessa vez quero surpreende-lo! Pois bem que sei que, como sweet husband que ele eh, ele deixaria eu escrever esse post de qualquer maneira!

Quero falar um pouquinho das qualidades como marido e pai que vejo no D, e alem de lhe prestar homenagem espero com isso estimular minhas amigas a procurarem caras legais tbm e a nao se contentarem com pouco! Os homens as vezes soh estao esperando por uma mulher que seja exigente para que eles possam trazer a superficie o homem bom que eles tem dentro de si! Mas para isso, quero ser mto sincera aqui, e tenho que dizer que nao pretendo inspirar a procura por "principes encantados". Sim, meninas, eles nao existem! Tem uns que chegam perto, mas todos nos temos defeitos e erramos vez ou outra, as vezes sem querer, e as vezes querendo!

Ok, dito isso, passo agora para os devidos elogios. Minha mae sempre disse que para casar com alguem voce tem que admirar essa pessoa! E depois disso, ter planos juntos! Bem, enquanto que o fato do D ser extremamente bom em linguas estrangeiras, ter muita habilidade musical (tem facilidade pra qualquer instrumento mas toca e canta muito bem no violao!), ter muita habilidade esportiva (eu adoraaava assistir seus jogos de futsal!!) nao sao essas coisas materiais que contam! Elas serviram para me apaixonar por ele, mas sao inuteis (quase, vai!) para me fazer ama-lo por toda a minha vida! E sao sobre essas coisas nao materiais que quero falar melhor!! Vou tentar elaborar uma lista por ordem de importancia, mas sei que tem coisas de pesos iguais entao nao considere a ordem tanto assim!!

- Ele sempre foi aberto aos filhos. Acho que nem todo mundo sabe qual eh a verdadeira dimensao de um cara querer ser pai, mas ela eh gigante, acreditem! Vou contar uma historinha que aconteceu muito antes da gente ter qualquer conversa sobre filhos! Na nossa primeira ou segunda semana de namoro, por uma incrivel coincidencia, uma amiga minha (a Claudinha) acabou ouvindo o D conversando com uma amiga dele (a Thais) na barraquinha de sucos da Unicamp. Diga-se de passagem que a Claudinha nao conhecia de vista o D mas ela sabia que eu estava namorando um japones e ela acabou descobrindo que era o D pelo o que ela ouviu da conversa! E, resumindo, ela ouviu ele falando pra Thais que eu (a Gabi) tinha muitos irmaos (dez). E depois ele falou, como se fosse a conclusao mais obvia: "Eu vou ter que trabalhar muito pra poder ter muitos filhos tambem!" hahaha que bunitinhuuu!!! Ele percebendo que eu poderia querer ter muitos filhos, em vez de dar o fora, desde o comeco aceitou e teve uma atitude positiva em relacao a isso!!

- Ele nunca reclamou e sempre aceitou que usassemos metodos naturais para evitar filhos quando precisamos fazer isso! Serio, que homem generoso!! Ele nuuuunca reclamou, fez cara feia, falou qualquer coisa pejorativa e sempre me respeitou! (Pra quem nao entende de metodo natural, deixa-me explicar que nada mais eh que abstecer-se de relacoes sexuais na epoca que a mulher esta fertil! Eu uso o metodo da temperatura e o metodo billings para ter evidencias do meu periodo fertil, e estou aprendendo o metodo da saliva, mas ainda sei que existe um aparelho que vende na Europa que mede o nivel de um hormonio x! Pretendo adquiri-lo, mas nao pra jah!).

- Ele eh incrivelmente bom, atencioso e respeitoso com minha familia!! Ainda na epoca de namoro mas hoje em dia ele eh MUITO mais do que eu poderia desejar!! Que alivio levar pra casa um cara como o D! Meus irmaos o adoram. Dentre os muitos exemplos de amor explicito, rs, vou falar soh do Marcos que brinca, ou nao (rs), que primeiro vem o D e depois eu! O D sempre brinca com o Pedro, vai andar de bike com ele, leva no pesqueiro, ajuda a arrumar bicos (rs), busca na escola, acompanha na excursao do clubinho, etc, etc!! Faz licao com as meninas, joga bola, e muito mais!!!!

- Ele eh otimo trabalhador!! E isso eh uma coisa que eu nao aceitaria que fosse diferente em meu futuro marido! Ele eh concentrado e interessado no que faz!! Sabe aquela pessoa que consegue ler um paper ou terminar uma apresentacao nos 15 minutinhos que tem aqui e lah? Pois eh, eu nunca consegui fazer isso.... mas ele eh mto bom nisso!

- Ele eh interessado em boa informacao e fica todo animado com boas resolucoes!! No momento ele esta lendo "Father, the Family Protector", mas toda boa informacao que diz respeito a educacao de nossos filhos ele se interessa e quer aplicar! Ainda em relacao a isso, aproveito pra falar que no momento sao quase 22h e ele ainda nao chegou em casa pois foi assistir a um recolhimento do Opus Dei em uma cidade a 50 min daqui. Mas jah jah ele chega! Nesses recolhimentos, que sao mensais, voce ouve tudo sobre bons propositos e como ser uma melhor pessoa no ambito que voce se encontra! No caso do D, toda a vez que ele assiste alguma dessas palestras, meditacoes, recolhimentos, ele volta o melhor homem do mundo! Super carinhoso, sweet, e super feliz!!

- Ele eh incrivelmente facil pra pedir desculpas!! Acho que as mulheres estao conscientes que "obrigado" e "desculpa" sao palavras por vezes raras demais na vocabulario de um homem! Pois eu sei que tive sorte, mas o D eh simplesmente o oposto disso! E isso faz todas as nossas discussoes passarem mto facilmente e serem de numero reduzido! Alem disso, ele SEMPRE esteve disposto a mudar coisas, a melhorar!!

- Ele vem almocar em casa todo dia!! Eu sei que sao apenas 5-8 min de carro, mas ainda assim tem muita gente no lab dele que nao volta para almocar com a familia! Isso me mostra um pouco da generosidade abundante que ele tem com a familia!

E a lista continua, mas essas coisas sao mais do que suficientes para eu o admirar por toda a minha vida!

D, muito obrigada por tudo! Obrigada por ser o pai dos meus filhos! Eu te amo muito e vou te amar para sempre! Espero tambem todo dia melhorar para ser melhor esposa e melhor mae dos seus filhos para que voce tambem possa me amar para sempre!

Agora quero falar do meu pai tambem! Nao sei se ele le o meu blog, rs! Mas quero deixar a minha homenagem!

Papai, querido! Voce eh e sempre foi o meu exemplo de bom trabalhador, bom pai e bom marido! De homem que reza! De homem que se esforca por melhorar! De homem GENEROSO - meu pai tah no topo da lista universal de generosidade! E soh de pensar seriamente em tudo isso jah fico com os olhos marejados de admiracao por voce! Te amo muito!

E termino com um brinde a todos os homens bons por ai, que estao sempre dispostos a melhorar!

Saturday, June 11, 2011

"Valentine's Day"

"Valentine's Day"? What the heck? If it was at least "Father's Day", ok, but....

Yes! Because tomorrow is "Valentine's Day" in Brazil. And "Father's Day" in Brazil is only on the second Sunday of August. But the brazilian "Valentine's Day" is a little bit different because is more like "boyfriend/girlfriend's day" only! So it's kinda silly!

But special dates ask for a post, even when it's the most commercial date ever created! Like if it was necessary to invent a day to celebrate it! In my understanding, everyone who is dating is always happy and always celebrating since they are always going out and coming up with little surprises to each other! If a relationship it's not like that, so I think it's time to rethink why these two people are together and maybe it's time for them to break up!

Speaking of breaking up and endings, it's exactly because of this that I think it shouldn't exist a day dedicated to the lovebirds! Because they are not suppose to be eternal! Or they get married or they turn into nothing (because I don't believe in friendship after a relationship but this is a subject to another post!). Look, I am not a bitter person regarding all of this! On the contrary!! I used to love the time when D and I was dating and I like romantic things (those that don't cross the tacky border).

I'm not against commercial dates, either, because "Mother's Day" and "Father's Day" are also commercial days but at least they are meant to pay tribute to those who are the most essential people in the life of every person!! And these dates means a lot for those in focus: mothers and daddies! Plus, try to go blank in these days to see what happens!! And I'm not only talking about the usual emotional mothers, but fathers too!! In my home, we used to think my dad didn't care whether he would get a present on Christmas, for example, even though he always got a little thing or two, but one time I clearly remember his radiant face when he received a good surprise! From that day on, I started to considerate more dad's feelings too!

But back to my point! In the case, if we are always trying to honor someone so it should first exist the "Married people's Day"! Because they are potential mothers and fathers and strive everyday to keep they love alive against all kinds of difficulties in the name of their ideal of "forever together"! These things simply don't apply to those still dating! And besides, in the context of the married couple, to create a day dedicated to them would help them to revive the love between them, another thing that shouldn't be needed while two people are only dating.

It's obvious that married couples also take advantage of the existence of the Valentine's Day to celebrate themselves too! But the nomenclature question that end up adding all who are dating, don't please me! But like I said, I'm not a bitter person regarding it! I also like to receive chocolates or some flower even though we had agreed not to give any gifts at all! And if money is not a problem, I also think it is valid to go out to a fancy place! 

Anyway, I just don't like this exaggerated buzz around this date! Like it was some kind of misfortune not to have a boyfriend exactly on the 12th of June. I was always a supporter of that proverb "better alone than in bad company". And my dad seems to like this too since he used to give his daughters some chocolate and a gift on valentine's day for some years already!! That was always very nice!! =D

But back to what I was saying! "Better alone than in bad company". And it is regarding this that I want to write about! I want to dedicate this post to all the single ones (mostly to the single ladies, probably!). For those who are single because of the LACK of option! Because there is no reason to get all sad just because you don't have a boyfriend. I know it seems very easy for me to talk about it since I've already found the love of my life, and it is easy I must admit! Buuut, it's exactly because of my married condition that I want to say some words! Because being already paired with someone I want to mention all the things I would do if I was single or that I wish I had done while I was single!

Lists, here we go!

- Travel!!! Obviously this would be the first thing on my list! But, really! Go travel!! Because travelling alone while dating is very annoying and it turns to be impossible when you are married! Lately - say for the last 2 years - I've been having this fix idea that I wish I had learned how to surf before I started dating, got married! So, if this is your dream too, go out there, travel to somewhere and learn it!!

- Go to the gym or practice a sport! Yes! Take the opportunity to get serious about working out your body! Or practice a sport that you like or even start to learn that sport you always wanted to! Racket ball, for example! Get into really good shape because nothing is better than to feel good about yourself while you are single! I'll never forget that phrase from the movie "Miss Congeniality": "people like those who like themselves" or something like that! But it's very true!! 

- Make up, hair and nails done! Again the thing here is to feel good about yourself! Be always pretty! Show the world and specially yourself that you are single not because you are not attractive! It's because you're way too beautiful! lol

- Work, study and pray! Yes! To be single it's a great phase to catch up with everything that is kinda "so so" in your life! Take this opportunity to work hard, study hard and also boost your spiritual life! Notice that doing so you are going to relieve your stress and your dissatisfaction with yourself! Nothing is better than to be in peace! Spiritual peace and material peace! Who likes that feeling right in the beginning of the semester that your are gonna fail at some subject? Or feel that you are about to miss your job or feel that you are never gonna get a better position on your job?

- Books! Read looots of books! If you don't have the habit, try to acquire it and you won't regret it!

- Study another language! Even if it is the case to be autodidact! There are plenty of books for this matter and lots of materials online!

- Play an instrument! If there is no money for classes, try to be autodidact too!

Be audacious and take this time to better focus in all these things and acquire good habits that can be extended later when you are finally dating! Be happy!! Listen to music that makes you happy! Be smiling with the world! Be more polite with people and be a better person! Do social work! Go to the movies, eat popcorn, go out with your friends to the park, to the mall, and why not, to the restaurants too!! And also flirt!! lol To flirt is very cool and it's only allowed during this phase of life!

Anyways, these are all things that I would try to do if I was still single with the mind I have now! Summarizing, I just wanted to say that there is plenty of cool things to do while you are single and that maybe you will look back when you are no longer single and you are gonna wish you had enjoyed more this phase! Please notice that I LOVE to be married! It's not the opposite that I am trying to express here!! To get married is very cool, but this is also a subject for another post!

And that's it!

"Dia dos Namorados"

Datas especiais pedem por um post, mesmo que seja a data mais comercial que jah foi inventada como o "Dia dos Namorados". Como se precisasse criar uma data para comemorar! A meu ver, quem namora esta sempre feliz e sempre "comemorando", sempre saem para jantar, inventam surpresinhas, etc. Oras, se um namoro nao eh assim, penso entao que esta na hora de repensar o motivo pelo qual essas duas pessoas estao juntas e talvez seja a hora de terminar o relacionamento.

Alias, falando em terminos, eh exatamente por isso que acho que nao deveria existir um dia dedicado aos namorados. Pois namoro nao eh pra ser eterno. Ou vira casamento ou vira nada (porque nao acredito em namoro virar amizade, mas isso eh assunto pra outro post!). Veja bem, nao sou uma pessoa amarga quanto a isso! Pelo o contrario!! Eu adorava namorar o D e eu gosto de coisas romanticas (as que nao beiram o brega!).

Tambem nao sou tao contra dias comerciais pois o "Dia das Maes" e "Dia dos Pais" tambem sao datas comerciais mas pelo menos tem o sentido de homenagear duas figuras essenciais na vida de qualquer pessoa!! E esses dias significam muito para as pessoas em questao: mae e pai. Alias, tente passar em branco para ver o que acontece! E nao estou falando apenas das maes que intrinsicamente sao mais emocionais. Os pais tambem!! Lah em casa a gente sempre achava que o papai nao se importava de nao ganhar presentes no natal, por exemplo, apesar de ele sempre ganhar uma coisinha ou outra neh, mas lembro-me claramente de um dia que o papai ganhou uma surpresa e vi nitidamente o quanto ele apreciou isso!! Depois desse dia passei a considerar melhor os sentimentos dos pais, tambem!

Mas voltando ao meu ponto! No caso, se se pretende homenagear alguem, deveria entao antes exisitir o "Dia dos Casados"! Pois esses sim sao potenciais pais e maes e lutam todo dia contra as dificuldades de se viver junto, mantendo o ideal de juntos para sempre!! Coisas que nao se enquadram no ambito dos namorados! Nao se pretedem que sejam potenciais pais e maes e nem eh feito para durar para sempre! Ainda no caso dos casados, criar um dia dedicado a isso ajudaria a reviver o amor entre eles, coisa que nao deveria ser necessaria entre os namorados!

Eh claro que existindo o dia dos namorados, os casados tambem aproveitam o dia para comemorar! Mas a questao de nomenclatura que acaba abarcando tambem os que sao simplesmente namorados, nao me agrada! Mas como eu jah disse, nao sou uma pessoa amarga quanto a isso!! Eu tambem gostava de ganhar chocolates ou uma florzinha mesmo quando eu e o D combinavamos de que nao era necessario dar coisa alguma!! E se dinheiro nao eh o problema, eu tambem acho valido sair pra jantar em um lugar especial!!

Enfins, soh nao gosto do buzz exagerado que se cria ao redor dessa data!! Como se fosse infortunio nao se estar namorando bem no dia 12 de Junho. Oras, sempre fui a favor do ditado "antes so do que mal acompanhado". E meu pai tambem sempre me pareceu bem feliz com isso, uma vez que jah fazem alguns anos que se virou tradicao lah em casa, meu pai dar presente para nos - filhas - no dia dos namorados!! Huuum, sempre um chocolate muito bom e mais algum presentinho!!

Mas voltando!! "Antes so do que mal acompanhado". E eh sobre isso que quero falar aqui!! Quero dedicar esse post a todos os que estao solteiros por FALTA de opcao!! Oras, nao eh motivo para se entristecer soh por que nao tem um namorado (a), apesar de que sinto que estou falando mais para o publico feminino aqui! Eu sei que parece facil pra mim falar isso jah que jah achei o amor da minha vida! E eh mesmo! Maaaas, por isso mesmo que quero falar algumas palavrinhas!! Pois eu que jah estou emparelhada quero falar de tudo que sinto falta fazer ou que gostaria de ter feito se estivesse solteira!!

Listas, aqui vamos nos!!

- Viajar!!! Obvio! Essa seria a primeira coisa da lista mesmo!! Viajem, mesmo!!! Pois viajar sozinho enquanto se namora eh muito chato e impossivel quando se esta casado! Ultimamente - diga-se pelos ultimos 2 anos - tenho a ideia fixa de que queria ter aprendido a surfar antes de namorar, casar! Entao se esse for o seu sonho tambem, mew, vai fazer au pair no Havai ou qualquer Work Experience in US e aproveita pra trabalhar, viajar, fazer compras e aprender a surfar depois, hehe!! Falta de dinheiro nao eh mais desculpa no mundo de hoje! Arranje um emprego no shopping nem que seja soh pra guardar dinheiro pra viajar e de sobra, voce ganha experiencia social e conhece novas pessoas!!

- Academia ou esporte! Sim, aproveite pra pegar firme em alguma academia ou esporte que voce goste de praticar ou aprender aquele esporte que voce sempre quis jogar, squash por exemplo! Fique com o corpo em forma, porque nada melhor do que se sentir bem consigo mesmo enquanto se esta solteiro! E nunca vou esquecer aquela frase do filme "Miss Simpatia": "As pessoas gostam de quem gosta de si mesmo!" Muito verdade!

- Maquiagem, cabelo bem cortado e penteado, unhas tratadas!! De novo no esquema de se sentir bem consigo mesma!! Esteja sempre bonita! Mostre para o mundo e especialmente pra voce mesma que voce nao esta solteira por que nao eh atraente!! Eh por que voce eh bonita demais!! rs!

- Trabalhe, estude e reze! Sim!! Estar solteiro eh uma otima fase pra por em dia tudo o que esta meio mal na sua vida! Aproveite para dar um gas no trabalho, no estudo e tambem na sua vida espiritual!! Veja bem, fazendo isso soh vai aliviar o seu stress e sua insastifacao consigo mesmo!! Nada melhor do que estar em paz! Paz espiritual e material!! Quem que gosta daquela pressao desde o comeco do semestre de que voce vai bombar alguma materia? Ou entao, sentir-se que esta na iminencia de ser despedido ou ter a sensacao de que nunca vai subir de cargo?

- Livros!! Leia muitos livros!! Se nao tem esse habito, tente adquiri-lo e nao ira se arrepender!

- Estude outra lingua!! Nem que seja auto didatica! Tem livros de sobra para isso e muito conteudo na internet tbm! Para quem quer melhorar o ingles, recomendo o site: http://englishpage.com/ espcialmente a secao de exercicios!!

- Toque algum intrumento! Se nao tem dinheiro para aulas, aqui tambem vale o auto-didatico!

Seja audacioso e aproveite essa epoca para se focar melhor nessas coisas e criar bons habitos que possam ser extendidos depois que voce estiver namorando tambem! Seja feliz!!! Ouca as musicas que te deixam feliz! Seja simpatico com o mundo! Seja melhor educado e melhor pessoa!! Faca trabalho social!!! Vah ao cinema, coma pipoca, saia com as amigas no parque, no shopping, e porque nao nos restaurantes tbm?? E tambem, paquere!! kk Paquerar eh gostoso e soh eh permitido nessa fase da vida!!

Enfim, essas sao todas as coisas que eu tentaria fazer se estivesse solteira com a cabeca que tenho agora!! Resumindo, so queria dizer que tem muita coisa legal mesmo pra se fazer quando se esta solteiro e que talvez depois voce se arrependa de nao ter aproveitado melhor essa fase!! Mas veja que eu adoro estar casada, viu? Nao eh o contrario que eu quero transmitir!! Casar eh muito bom, mas isso tambem eh assunto pra outro post!

E eh isso!!

Monday, June 6, 2011

"Switzerland"

This post came out reaaaally late! I will write about our trip to Switzerland!

So D had a conference to attend in Davos, Switzerland. However, in Davos there is no airport - at least not one with public access - so we had to disembark in Zurich and from there take a train to Davos. Which was good so we could visit Zurich as well. Since D's lab was paying for the trip but not for any kind of extras expenses like any regarding mine or Rebecca's so we were trying to save on everything we could. Including my plane ticket which was "bought" with miles saved with American Airlines and for Rebecca's ticket we only paid 10% of an adult air fare, so everything was "cheap" considering it was a trip to Europe!

Ok, our plans were: get to know Zurich on the day we arrive there, get the last train to Davos at the end of the day, stay in Davos all the days of the conference, and on the day before our departure we would go to Zurich and stay one more day there and spend a night at some hotel before catching a flight on the following early morning. And our plans came out almost as we've planned. I'll explain it!

So, our trip began with a driving to DFW airport - about a 2:30h driving - then we caught a flight to NY and from there, another flight to Zurich. Which means our day started pretty early and the first flight was a reasonable flight of almost 4h. Then we waited our connecting hours and the last flight took us about 8h to get to an end! Well I guess it is common sense to say that one can't sleep well on a plane and we are not excluded from this. But besides that, try to imagine adding a little baby to your trip. Conclusion: we slept little on the day before and then we slept NOTHING at the plane!

So arrived in Zurich with a 6h difference of our local time zone (ahead), ie, it was already morning so the day was juuuust beginning.... Well, but we went ahead with our plans: walk around Zurich! Bad idea!! I was literally dizzy!! The floor was moving under my feet and it wasn't an earthquake! D was trying to convince me I was still felling the flight sensation, but NO! I was really dizzy!! I was like a zombie walking! Buuut, we went ahead with our plans!

Besides that, we had to find some way to make everything works in a place that the main language is the german!! Owa!! It was an interesting experience but a very crazy one too!! It is sooo different to us!! But I was impressed with the human capability to get what you want even not speaking the language of a place! We got our train tickets from a german speaking machine but I have no idea how we made it!! And some signs in Zurich still have something written in english but not in the most part of them!

Well, but if we talk to someone in english they will understand it, huh? #not! And the situation was even worse in Davos that is a small city (even though it is - annually - the home of the biggest international conference in the world). In Zurich many people could speak french or italian besides the german but in Davos people speak only the german! Well, some people in charge of giving information for tourists indeed speak english.  And some people at the restaurants too, but, these ones, really not much! Maybe the germans can speak english but the swiss people don't.

Well, now I have forgotten every word I'd learned and even imitate the accent of the automatic voices on the buses and trains was getting kinda easy there, but now everything is gone!! But I was happy we could make it!! It was a very unique experience in my life! But back to Zurich. I was dying! We got a train to the main station and from there we started walking through the historic downtown streets. Oh, I didn't tell you before but we got with us the big stroller along with the car seat - the system travel - so Rebecca could sleep while we walked! Poor baby, she was soo tired from the trip.

I thought downtown was pretty neat almost like I was expecting it to be! But besides our sleepiness we were also hungry. So we started looking for a place to have lunch. And everything was expensive! Since I was aware of that I didn't fall down. But we ended up finding a reasonable place to eat, that it was more like an italian cafe full of students. They serve pastas, soups, fruits and juices. It's funny that none of the pasta sauces had meat on it. I've heard that Zurich was a good place for vegetarians. Was it good? Well, it was, kinda...

But as we were seated eating our lunch we were almost sleeping over our plates. So we decided we should take the next train to Davos so we could rest at our hotel. So that's how we changed our plans. Well the train take 2h and you have to change trains in the middle of the way, but we made it even though we were almost sleeping and Rebecca was now pretty awake! But I was glad we couldn't sleep on the train because we would miss some gorgeous views!!!

So we arrived in Davos at its main station for buses and trains. We could made ourselves understood so we knew which bus to take to get at our hotel. We checked in, we gave Rebecca a shower, we also took a shower and all of us laid on bed to sleep - Rebecca had a crib (with a toy) for her! I had put our alarm to wake us up before everything was closed so we could go out to have dinner. So D and I woke up but we had no conditions to go out and eat. But D had an amazing strength, stood up, and went out to buy something at some local market. So he found one, bought some breads, deli and some soup and that was our dinner!

The good thing was that besides having a 6h time zone difference, all of us slept all night like it was our local time because we were sooo tired! So on the next day D had his conference to attend and there he went! This conference had a lunch break of about 4h so people who would like to ski could do that! Davos has many places to ski and from its streets we could see little points rolling down the slopes!! But since we were taking care of Rebecca we didn't ski and instead of that we went out to the streets to get to know a little of Davos and find a restaurant to have lunch.

Now making it short, all the restaurants were waaay too expensive and the food was not that great. It was pretty normal or way too german for our taste. Ok, we could find italian places but they weren't quite good either. But it was nice to know the culture, the place and the food even though it was only to say it's not between our top ten favorites. And about snow, we were there at the end of winter/beginning of spring so it wasn't snowing but there was still a lot of snow accumulated on the ground. (In Zurich everything was already gone).

And just to mention it, on Saturday night we attended mass in one of the three catholic churches in Davos and we didn't understand anything! Some things looked different but I can't be sure because I wasn't understating a thing there. It wasn't my first experience like this, though, because before in Las Vegas we ended up attending a vietnamese mass.  

Oooh, one more interesting thing! One of the days I watched tv at our hotel room! I always turned it on so Rebecca could watch some cartoons but one of these day I tried to watch something myself. And surprisingly I could understand - I think - a movie with french audio and french subtitles and also Disaster Date!! This american tv show is sooo funny!! I could understand it because it had german audio OVER the english audio so I could get some key words in english! For those living in the US, you can watch it online at the mtv's website. 

So going to our last day in Zurich! We bought the city transportation pass so we could use all the transportation we needed. So arriving at the main station we went to our hotel, left our bags there, and had lunch at some Mc Donalds we had seen on the way. lol Yes, Mc Donalds. But, there is a pro point for it! We could taste the english fries! They look like tangerine buds! It is nice but I still prefer the traditional french fries!

Well, back to what I was saying! We got to know more of Zurich, we thought about visiting a museum (ticket included on that city pass we've bought), but then we gave it up, had coffee at some nice place over the river e then we got an electric bus to go to Luxemburgerli - the famous sweet-shop which invented the also famous "macarron". See picture below. It is nice! The "cookie part" reminded me meringue and the filling is very soft! Everything is very light (talking about the weight itself). Now I know you can find these macarrons kinda easily worldwide from different confectioneries. Ok, then, guess where we ended up having dinner? At Mc Donald's again, haha! What??? I like it!!!

And finishing, just to tell ya that we ended up getting the wrong train on our way back to the hotel and besides this we walked with him a looong distance ahead!! But it was somehow cool! We could see a different and very unique part of Zurich! I don't even know how to explain it! And we also saw a vine yard, but dry! But it was cool too even though was already getting dark! But we were in good mood so we just took another train back to the main station and took the right one to our hotel!

And that is it! This was our trip!! And now just a few more considerations I wrote so I wouldn't forget:

- In Zurich there are lots of drinking fountains spread all over the city!
- In Zurich there are many watches - clocks? - spread all over the city!
- The functionality of our hotel in Davos impressed me and I'm posting some pics of it!
- The swiss people look at you too much!! It is not like americans that feel it is forbidden to look at someone you don't know, and they manage to be worse than brazilians. I felt very uncomfortable with this!
- I thought the swiss people were not very polite... really! In this aspect, americans are still on the top of list of the most polite people.
- Pc's keyboard is different! And btw, bring your adaptor coming to europe because they didn't have any for the american's plugs.
- The standard tip is only 8% before the 10% in Brazil and 12% or 15% (?) in the US.
- Extreme punctuality! And to achieve it: they don't wait anyone on the buses' stops, for example, not even that person who is literally running out of breath to get it! =/
- And for last, just to make a comment that when our english wasn't being enough to communicate there, our portuguese helped! You can try your spanish if you have it too!! People who speak french and italian can understand some portuguese and better it, some spanish!

And that's it!! Oh my... this post came out gigantic! I got tired if it!!
Rebecca at the plane

bagage porter at the main station in Zurich

main station

one of the many watches in Zurich

famous narrow street

swiss pocket knife


D on the italian cafe in Zurich


Drinking fountain in Zurich

Me Zombie with a wide awake Rebecca

Train route views from Zurich to Davos



hotel in Davos


our hotel room view

swiss money



Different keyboard

the "y" is on the place of the "z" and vice versa!


oven


garbage can coupled under the sink and sided with the fridge!

Tableware kept on the drawer.

I like it!



Hose that is also a shower. I also liked the tiles covering all the  bathroom walls.

train on the way back



Famous Sweet-shop "Luxemburgerli"

macarron