The French Project

Well, well, well…. Where to start!??!?!
Since the French Project started, we’ve been having a lot of conference calls with people in Brazil, England and France.
At the office, everybody knows that I´ve been in France for a while and that I used to study French at Allian*ce Françai*se. But in any moment, I pretended that I spoke French fluently. I always said that I can get my way around in French, I can order food in French, I can keep up a small talk in French, but I NEVER pretended that I could keep up a technical discussion in French.
Last Friday, we had a conference call; everyone was speaking in English, until someone made a remark that one of the guys DO NOT speaks English. I froze, because I felt that something was coming my way. My director said and I quote: “Don´t worry, Fabiola speaks French fluently, so he can call directly her, if he has any problems. “
By this time, my jaw was on the floor. And I was FREAKING OUT……
After the conference call finished, my boss said that we have to talk to him and he has to change this. But then Friday came and gone and nothing was said.
On Tuesday, I arrived at the office before 7:00 am, because it was my “day without a car” day, and as soon as I turned my laptop on, my phone rang and it was the Brazilian Guy who lives in England and is the Project Manager. He called to clarify a few points and he want to set up a date for a conference call in French. I was really sincere with him and said that I do not speak fluently and that we will really need to keep up the meetings in English rather than in French.
He politely asked me my French background, I answered…. And guess what?!?!? I have a conference call in French next week. He said that it would be just the three of us and we will try to keep up in French and if I don´t understand he will translate from French to Portuguese to French again.
So, stay tuned for my next French adventures.
And talking about French adventures….. I am going to Pa*ris to do the software homologation and I will be staying in Par*is between 3 to 6 weeks.
I will post more details when I have them…

Fabiola

Wordless Wednesday - Caldo Verde

Weekend in Review

We had a pretty busy weekend…. I didn´t leave the house that much, but I got a lot of tiny and big things done.
Ø I filled all our taxes: mine, Pau*lo’s and In-laws’. Pau*lo got the biggest refund… As he said, my eyes are shining with plans that I am making for his money ; )
Ø I got my nails done (it was way over due). I put some RED nail polish, which is completely out of the ordinary for me. I am a beige kind of person, when it comes to nail polish.
Ø I did go to the grocery store to stock up in the heavy items for the next 5/6 weeks.
Ø We made plans to get my MIL for lunch on Friday, since we will have another extended weekend.
Ø I made plans for mother’s day (Yes, you read it right. I made the plans, even though we are talking about my MIL. If I leave this to my Beloved Husband, he will just pretend he never heard of Mother’s Day – more on the plans later).
Ø I studied French, because I started French classes last Friday. Since I am paying BIG BUCKS to have a private teacher, I better study as much as I can and brush off all the dust on my French skills and learn to speak even better. (I have a whole post planned to tell you all about the French project).
Ø And now, I can proudly say that I finally made-up my mind about having a child. This decision has been haunting me for at least 3 years now. And I can finally say that I am really confident about what I really want. Let´s just say, Pau*lo is thrilled with my decision. Since, the last word was mine as he wisely put (I will right more about this later).

I hope you week is full of blessings.

Fabiola

Traffic Jams Observation

When you live in a city like São Pau*lo, the traffic jams are part of your daily basis.
For instance, it takes me 50 minutes (on a good traffic day) to get from home to work. I live about 10 miles from work. But, it can take as much as 90 minutes. In the evening, it takes about 70 minutes (on a good traffic day) to get from work to home.
You get the picture of how AWFUL are the traffic jams down here.
On the past few weeks, I started to observe people around me, when we are all stuck for a brief period of time.
There are ALL sorts of things that people do while they are inside their cars.
A LOT of people sing, talk on the phone (under Brazilian law, it is forbidden to talk on the phone while driving), pick their noses (mostly men), do their makeup (only women) and fewer people talk to themselves….
But I had seen a few curious things too:
1. Cross stitching;
2. Get their eyebrows done;
3. Read the paper;

As for me, I am an outlaw, I use my cell phone when I drive, or better yet, while I am stuck in traffic ; )
And I have my faithful blog friends. I always turn on my cell phone and “surf” on the internet. As for today, Amber from Crazy Bloggin' Canuck was my entertainment during those crazy minutes.

Happy Friday!!!

Fabiola

Back to reality

We just came back from our trip to Pen*edo. We had a wonderful time and we rested, we hiked, we walked and we rested again. After the first three months of the year, we really needed this break.
Now, it is back to reality. The bags are unpacked, laundry is getting done. Soon, I will go to the grocery store to buy a few items that we are missing. And even sooner, the holiday will be over and we will be getting ready to work and the tough weeks ahead of us.
I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

Fabiola

Itati*aia National Park – The Visitor Center

Our last stop in this peace of heaven was a quick stop in the Visitor’s Center. It is really well organized and it tells the story of the region, how was colonized and all about the animals of the region.

Pa*ulo signing the visitor's book

My personal favorite: the animals walk of fame.

** Note: It is not common to have Visitor Center in the Brazilian Parks and it is even more rare to have well organized Visitor Centers like this one.

***The animals were NOT killed to be put in the windows, they are all artificial (Yes, I asked one of the Visitor Center employees).

Itati*aia National Park – Part 2

Continuing our walk through the park….. We went to the Blue Lake (if you ask me, it should be the Green Lake). It was a wonderful place (with a hard acess too). I don´t know if it is just me, but the sound of the water gives me plenty of peace of mind.

Itati*aia National Park - Part 1

The Itati*aia National Park is located in Itatiaia, in Rio de Jan*eiro state. It is the oldest Brazilian Conservation Unit. It was created in 1937.
The park is divided in two parts: the low part where it has the park itself and the high part where for professional hikers.
We visited the low park where it is located the vistior center as well as the Eco Tourism part of the park.
Since we are in the end of the raining season, there were only one waterfall and one lake open. The other parts were closed for safety measures.
We started our journey to the Bride Veil Waterfall. It is only ¼ mile up, but we were walking in an 1100 m altitude. The way was too slick and to narrow as you can take a look on the pictures bellow.

After about 20 minutes of walking up the hill, we started to listen that beautiful water sound.... After we crossed the rock above, we were blessed with a wonderful Gift, cortesy of Mother Nature.

This last week was way too good.

Until yesterday I was having an ordinary week at work and with a lot of worries on the family side.
But yesterday, I got two pretty big news: one work wise and one family wise.
As for my family, my brother went to his oncologist yesterday and he still is a Cancer Free person. He had non-Hodcking lymphoma in 1999. It was pretty bad with a lot of concerns if he would make. He beat the cancer and has been a healthy young man.
Last week he went get tested (blood work, CTs) and it was found a little cyst on his kidney. We were all taken aback. So, we had pretty crappy week. We were all worried that the cancer might have come back….. But finally yesterday, we got the NEWS. The doctor said it is nothing to worry about, because the cyst is too small and his blood work is perfect. She asked him to come back in 6 months rather than in a year, just to be in the safe side.
As for work, I was promoted. I wasn’t expecting this happening before the end of the year. My boss told me, since I am taking a lot of new responsabilities with the French Project, I should be rewarded. So, needless to say, I am thrilled;
So, as planned we came to Pene*do and we went out to celebrate over a really wonderful dinner.
I ate Smoked Trout Risotto with a delicious apple pie for desert…. YUMMY!!!

Me and my risotto

My apple pie

Paulo and his mango cream for dessert

Have a nice weekend,

Fabiola

Long Weekend

Since we will have another extended weekend, Pa*ulo and I will be heading to Pene*do for the weekend. We will leave tomorrow at lunch hour.
But I will leave you with 2 pictures of my niece that “Granpa” a.k.a my father send it to me…

Have a nice weekend,

Fabiola

The question is finally answered.

It was always: the class or the teacher?
When I went to college, I had Statistics classes and I always hated it. I was really good at it, but I always hated it. I wasn’t sure if I hated the teacher or if I hated it the subject.
I had a really mean teacher. He was really good at what he thought, but nevertheless mean. That is why I never could answer the question: the class or the teacher?
But…. After a long time, I can finally answer, I hate the subject…..
With the French Project, the statistics came back from the ashes like a Phoenix in my life. And like everything I don´t like, I tend to put in some area of my brain that is destined to be forgotten.
So, now I am buried in French books as well in Statistics 101 books too.
I will have a couple of hard weeks ahead of me, but June is coming and everything will be just fine.

Fabiola

PS: I found a private teacher and I am back to French classes next Wednesday.

Totally Guilty!!

I hope you hadn´t given up on me.
I didn´t have a chance to stop by and wish you all a Wonderful Easter. I hope you did though.
Truth to be told, there are so much things happening and I am feeling completely overwhelmed.
Apart from all the families’ issues that we have to manage, taxes that are due in the end of the month (I have to get done my taxes, Pa*ulo´s taxes and my MIL taxes).There are a lot of work things happening. As I said before, there are really good things, for now everything is confidential, so I can´t disclosure all the details.
But I can anticipate to you that I am in a desperate search to find a private French teacher, because I NEED to brush the dust of my French skills ASAP.

That is all for now.

Fabiola

What a week!!!!

Is it Friday yet??? This week has been dragging to pass. I have too much work to get done, our taxes to get done and I feel tired and in pain…. Man… what a long week. I AM THRILLED that we will have a long weekend ahead of us.
Nevertheless, I will host the Easter lunch at our house on Sunday, but at least I will have 2 days to rest and get everything ready.

Fabiola

The way I found to deal with stress

As you all know, we have been going through a lot these past two months.
With no surprise, my neck, shoulders and face pain came back in “high speed”. One night I even wake up and felt a little “sand” on my mouth. I broke the tip of one of my teeth.
So, I went back to my dentist. She has a PhD on Jaw dysfunctions’ and she is all for Natural treatments as a complement for the normal treatments.
For the past three weeks, I have been going for facial massage along with acupuncture sections.
I normally have lunch time appointments, after my lunch break, I NEED to go back to work. But I really wish I could come back home, I come back so relaxed; I have no pain what so ever and I feel really happy because I am in NO PAIN. It just feels so good.
Have a nice week,

Fabiola

This kind of thing won´t happen to everyone

Today was one of those lazy Sundays. We went to church and we came back home, had lunch and watch TV. No big plans, no prior arrangements, just a plain lazy Sunday.
By 6:30 pm, it started to rain. So I decided it was a good time to dye my hair and cover my gray roots. I prepared the product and started to apply on my hair. When I had ¾ of my hair done, the lights went off. It came back for two or three more minutes. Just enough time for me to finish and the electricity went off for good.
There wasn’t anything to do except to wait for the light to come back. The time passed and it was time to take the product out of my hair and the lights were still off. So I had to endure a really cold shower, because the water heater only works when the electricity is on.
I am just hoping my hair doesn´t look like Bo*zo´s hair when I can finally see the final product.
I have to leave now, because my laptop’s battery is almost dead.

Have a nice week,

Fabiola

PS: It is been 75 minutes since the light went off and still no sign of electricity.

I will vent a little.

Even though Pa*ulo and I have been married for 8 years, I never felt I had MIL or FIL for that matter. We ALWAYS lived far away and Pa*ulo is not the “I want to see my family every vacation or holiday” kind of person. Well, neither am I.
We always lived really well far away from everybody and truth to be told, I missed my family, but I didn´t have the need to be close to them. I am perfectly happy to see them twice a year or once every two years, like it happened when we lived in US and when we lived in Ba*hia.
Since the FIL ordeal started, I have a MIL and a SIL. And so it began.
My SIL is a strange person; she is someone who doesn´t get along with any of her brothers, or her cousins or any of her relatives for that matter. But unfortunately, she thinks she owns the family and she can make all the rules and she can rule EVERYTHING. And my in-laws always let her do whatever she wants in all aspects of their lives, including she is the one who always controlled their money. The brothers always tried to help their parents, but they always turned their backs to the sons and they embraced their daughter. Even when it was crystal clear that she was stealing money from them.
When my FIL passed away, there were a lot of things that have to be taken care. When Pau*lo started to look at all the paperwork for insurance, pensions and a lot of other things, all the dirty secrets started to appear.
I will summarize it for you: they are a step away from bankruptcy and when an older person passes away, under the Brazilian law, the heirs have the duty to pay it.
Since my SIL is broken too, we are the ones who have to clean up their mess. So, I can just say that 2009 will be a bumpy year and a year to forget.
I long for those years away from families and family problems….


Have a nice weekend,


Fabiola

We*ight Wa*tchers for the third time

As you all know, I always had weight issues. Even though I am on a pretty good routine with Cur*ves, I felt that I was in need of a little encouragement and support.
I already tried We*ight Wa*tchers twice in different times of my life. And I was a little resistant to start over yet again. But deep down, I knew this was my best shot. So, I decided to “open” my eyes a little.
I found a We*ight Wa*tchers Office on the building that I work. I work on the 8th floor and their office in on the 18th floor. Two weeks ago, I decided to go for it. I found a meeting at 6:30 pm, on my “Day without a car” day. So it fits perfectly my schedule.
In two weeks, I lost 3, 5 lbs. I am really proud of myself.
You might have been wondering, why will she try something that she already did and it didn´t work?
I feel this time is different in only one aspect. For the first time in my entire life, I am combining diet (or reeducation as they called it) and exercising. I always did only one at a time. I was always too lazy to combine both of them.
So, I am excited and I am willing change my way of facing food and exercise.
Have a nice weekend,
Fabiola

I am alive!!!

I am alive.... Life has taken over once again.
Apart from all the burocracy that people have to deal after a death of a loved one. I feel like I have been riding in a roller coaster at work. There are a lot of (good) things happening.
I promise I will be a better blogger soon.

Fabiola