Still here!

Don't worry--I'm still here! We made it back safe and from our adventure to the beach. It was wonderful. I will write about it. But now I'm trying to deal with several things:

1. We have a leak in our bathroom. It's been going on for some time, and now Miguel finally wants to do something about it. Which involves tearing the wall apart. Ugh.

2. We are starting to look for another apartment. Our rent and condominium went up, and we are not so happy about just how much of our budget is going towards housing. We thought we had a place, but then found out that the rental agency wouldn't accept the Orquestra's letter which would serve as a guarantee (fiador). There is an interesting system of making sure that property owners get their rent payments, involving lots of paperwork, promises, official signatures, and signing over your first born child. The Orquestra pretty much takes care of this with the letter, essentially guaranteeing that they will pay everything. But for some reason, some companies don't accept it. Boo.

3. Rashes. Bea has got some crazy rash. She woke up last Wednesday morning covered with bumps. They got better, and then yesterday she got more. I took a trip to the hospital this morning (that's what you do when you need urgent care) and the doctor thinks she is just having an allergic reaction to bug bites. But she looks so pitiful, all splotchy. And Matt's got some strange skin thing around his ankles.

4. George. We had some wonderful friends offer to watch George at their house while we were gone last week. Somehow, he managed to escape. They've spent countless hours looking for him, and Dora and I spent about an hour yelling and searching for him. Dora is so sad, and it makes me feel bad that we didn't just have someone come here, and guilty that she has to go through this. Humph.

Not your average to do list. But you know, writing it all down makes it seem not so bad. Bad, but not crisis. And in reality, there are so many good things:

1. Samuel, the neighborhood barber has blessed us with 3 HUGE avocados. Avocado smoothies, yum.

2. My worst music class at the Canadian school yesterday was really fun! Not necessarily well behaved, but the kids gave my Easter presents, hugs, kisses, and I even got a few, "You are the best teacher ever Miss Shelley," and "I love you Miss Shelley."

3. Our iron broke, and it's getting fixed for a mere R$25 (new cord). This would be practically impossible to take care of the states, but thanks to the abundance of appliance repair shops around, and Brazilian's value for repairing things rather than throwing them out, our wonderful iron is getting fixed!

4. We've been having Sebastian go downstairs and practice soccer/futsal before he plays on the computer, and it's paying off. He's getting much better!

I could go on, but Beatrice is complaining about itching. I'll hopefully write more soon, especially about the beach!