feeling tired

I've reached a tired point in all this cross-cultural transition. I walk a lot. We have chosen to live without a car (we always talked about how cool it would be to not have a car, and now we have the opportunity! hooray!). I'm proud of our choice, and if I could get a Brazilian license tomorrow, and a car miraculously appeared in our parking spot, I still don't know if I'd drive, because I'm so afraid of Brazilian drivers. They are crazy. With all the walking I've done, I've lost weight (hooray!). But on the flip side, I'm tired a lot. My feet hurt (I've got foot issues). So a little thing like running to the store for milk, becomes a 15 minute hike and schlepping it back home. Hence, I'm physically tired.

I'm tired as well because it is so hard to understand what is happening around me, and it is difficult to be understood. I've taken a 4 week break from seriously studying Portuguese, and as a result, I'm not moving forward in the communication department. I'm hoping that my kids are doing better being at school for 5 hours a day, and that they are absorbing a whole lot more than me.

Ok, thanks for letting me vent for a moment. On a good note, I think that the chocolate cake I made for Dora's birthday turned out pretty well! I now just have to get it out of the pan and frost it, because I have to use the same pan for lasagna for tonight. But a good cake is a victory! We're having some folks over for a small dinner party for Dora tonight, and hopefully at least one of her friends will spend the night. I've found out that Brazilian girls really don't do sleep overs, but the one friend has lived in the states for several years, so she's up for it. I also found a copy shop where I can print out my worksheets for my English classes (we don't have a printer) for 20 centavos a page--this will help me immensely! And strawberries were on sale this week, and they are really, really good. It's the little things!