Two days after returning from our memorable vacation to Bahia was Thanksgiving Day. We originally did not have any plans to celebrate, as it is just a normal day here in Brazil (out of the 20 holidays they recognize and celebrate, Thanksgiving is not one of them). At the start of the month, Matt had told me he would have to travel for work as soon as we returned from our trip and would not be here on that Thursday. Since I thought he would be gone, I had just planned on taking the kids to Kung Fu after school, and maybe stopping for sushi afterward. So, I was pleased and surprised when we received an invitation to celebrate and have dinner at a friend’s home and even happier when Matt informed me the same evening that he would be staying here that week. There would be five families getting together and my mouth watered with every email that was exchanged planning the menu and deciding who would take what.
Of course, that
Thursday during the day was “business as usual” for most of us. While family members in the U.S. were
gathering together, cooking, watching football and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day
Parade, Matt worked, the kids were in school, and I spent a few hours at the
orphanage. That evening, though, as we
joined our friends, the distance from family and loved ones didn’t seem as
great. Juliana and Steven Edwards (their
son is a good friend of Ian’s) graciously opened up their home and hosted a
lovely evening – we enjoyed a delicious and abundant traditional dinner, from
the juicy turkey to the pumpkin pies; but even more than the comfort that the
familiar meal gave us, we had the warm sensation of being where we belonged.  | |
| Our gracious hosts |
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| Our Feast! |
With December
upon us, it was once again time to start saying goodbye to families who would
be leaving Brazil for good. Every six
months (usually June and December) there seems to be a mass exodus from Sao
Paulo and our expat group continues with the ebb and flow of this lifestyle –
friends leave, new folks arrive. This
time I was having to say goodbye to my sweet friend, Tina; Denise, my volunteer
buddy, also was leaving unexpectedly; my friend, Larissa, who happens to be
Brazilian but hated her time in Sao Paulo (she’d lived in the U.S. for 15 years
and had a hard time acclimating to life in this big city) had prayed to return
to her beloved Texas – she got her wish and her family was sent back more than
a year sooner than anticipated – unfortunately, she also was taking her son,
Lucas, with her – he and Alex became good friends, as they lived in the same
complex and were in the same class at school.
There were multiple farewell lunches and “one last” get-togethers – Matt
wondered how many times I had said goodbye to Tina – several, but, then again,
you can’t say it too much!
The most
memorable farewell celebration, by far, was a day trip to Rio for lunch – I
joined eleven other ladies and literally flew to Rio for the day, just to have
lunch! It sounds crazy, I know, and
definitely not something I would normally do.
The more rational side of me thinks it’s nuts to spend that kind of
money to go have lunch!? But, the other
part of me, the more relaxed, just-go-with-it side that has emerged since I moved
here, thought, “What the heck? Why
not? Six months from now, when I am
living back in the States, I won’t be able to just fly to Rio for the day to
have lunch!” When I talked to Matt about
the idea, he consulted his calendar and quickly agreed to arrange his schedule
so he could drop off and pick up the kids that day – did I mention I have the
world’s best husband? One of the ladies,
whose husband works for an airline company, was able to get us discounts on the
steep (due to short notice) airfare – still expensive, but half of what it
would have cost – and arranged for a bus to transport our group while in
Rio. We had planned to have a short
visit to the infamous Christ statue or Selaron Stairs for a photo-op, and then
lunch in the Santa Teresa district of the city, possibly followed by some
shopping in Copacabana before returning to Sao Paulo that evening. Of course, we hadn’t accounted for rain
putting a damper on most of our plans.
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| The Rio Dozen |
Due to foul
weather that morning, the Santos Dumont airport in Rio, which has a runway that
precariously juts out into the ocean, was closed for two hours, delaying our
flight. Finally, the airport reopened
and our flight was authorized to take off.
Before leaving, I had called our bus driver to alert him of the delay –
he reassured me that he was already at the airport and would remain there until
we arrived. Twenty minutes into the
short 50-minute flight, the captain announced that the airport had closed again
due to poor visibility – we would be going into a holding pattern, in hopes
that things would improve and we could land, which we finally did, two and a
half hours later than scheduled.
Unfortunately, when I called the bus driver to tell him we had arrived,
he informed me that he was waiting at the international airport, one hour’s
drive across the city. Apparently, when
the airport closed again (while we were in-flight), he was informed that our
plane would be landing at the other airport and quickly made his way there. Given that it was already close to noon, we
decided to skip any photo-ops (rain notwithstanding) and took taxis straight to
the restaurant and arranged to have the bus driver meet us there.
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| Champagne toast with Tina on the bus |
If you plan to be
in the Rio area, I highly recommend the restaurant, Aprazivel, on a street by
the same name. The setting is beautiful
and very unique, the service was excellent, and the atmosphere was chic yet
relaxed. The 2 ½ hours that we spent
there flew by with wonderful food, cocktails, laughter, and conversation – and a
hefty check. With only two hours before
we had to be back at the airport, we decided to board our private bus and head
to Copacabana to try to get in a few minutes of shopping. Before we even made it onto the bus, the rain
started coming down with a vengeance. No
one was looking forward to getting drenched, so a last-minute decision was made
to go to the Copacabana Palace hotel for dessert and drinks. This luxury hotel is one of the most famous
and exclusive in Rio – our loud and large group was shuffled from one area to
another until we were able to order drinks, but no luck in getting
dessert. Craving chocolate (after seeing
a petite gateaux on the menu at the restaurant that got my mouth watering) I
decided my first stop at the airport would be for coffee and a sweet treat. Someone managed to purchase a bottle of
bubbly and snagged some plastic cups for the bus ride back to the airport and
we shared a toast in honor of our friends (Tina, and a fellow Aussie, Deb, who
was also returning to Australia). A few
hours later, safely home, I reflected on the day – I had spent too much money,
a lot of time waiting in the airports (our return flight was also delayed), but
was surrounded by a fabulous and funny group of women and had a day I would not
soon forget.
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| Farewell! |
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