New Friends and New Professions

Almost a month in to our adventure and things are starting to fall into routine. The kids are in school, and though they protest some mornings, they seem to be getting accustomed to it. We have a house with a kitchen so don't have to eat at restaurants every evening. We have a better feel of the town and are not getting lost (as much). We are starting to figure out the price differential between gasoline and ethanol that makes buying one more economical than the other (gasoline is more expensive but you get better mpg's). We still have no home internet, and that is a tale of Brazilian bureaucracy more painful than our bank account story, but I can't stomach to retell it quite yet. My Portuguese still stinks (obrigado, de nada) but Amy's is getting so good she can almost haggle with the local vendors. So, all in all life is good.

This weekend we relaxed and enjoyed some of the parks in and around Campinas. On Friday we visited the Lagoa do Taquaral, an urban park in the center of the city akin to Central Park. Lots of joggers, walkers, and street side vendors who sell coco gelado and other local treats. CC and John found a wee little friend foraging in the bushes. Little "blacky" as they named him, seemed to really take to Carina as he followed her everywhere (and she him) for the 30 or so minutes we walked around the park. Luckily, people leave cat food by the gates of the park and he stopped to eat as we exited the park and distracted the kids with toys - otherwise we might be accidental pet owners.

CC, John, and little "Blacky" in Lagoa do Taquaral

On Saturday we stopped by a small crafts fair at the Praca de Coco in Barao Geraldo. John has been anxious to open a lemonade stand in Brazil; however, they don't seem to be as popular south of the equator as they are in the States. So, he satisfied his entrepreneurial streak by setting up a makeshift stand at the local craft fair. He worked all morning drawing pictures of dinosaurs and then sold them at the fair for 25 centavos a piece. He sold 7 of his 10 drawings - one to an excited 3 year old, two to his dad and sister, and a handful to two grandmotherly-like craft vendors; and he then promptly spent his earnings, plus an advance from dad, on a dinosaur puppet from another vendor. He now has the bug and is making decorated paper airplanes for next week's fair.

John hawking his wares at the Praca de Coco fair.