An extended weekend in New York

These last few days in New York have been absolutely wonderful, a bit hectic (as in busy and crazy), and for sure special to me. This was our final trip to New York state before moving overseas to Brazil and we all knew it. My best friends showed up to hang out and for a party, my grandparents and aunts and uncle came in from out of town, cousins I hadn't seen in ages were at my parents' house for dinner, and we traveled a lot in just a few days. I took advantage of every minute I had with them all.

We left Orlando early Thursday morning, which means that we hadn't slept much and so dropping off our car at airport parking, checking in, and waiting to board were no fun; however, our flights were on time and we arrived early for our layover and our final destination. There was no turbulence and we both slept a little, even if it wasn't comfortable. Once we arrived, we were greeted by my smiling nieces, older sister, and stepdad. I was impressed by how green upstate New York is as a result of all the rain, and the weather was perfect. I was so glad to be home!


Our first day was spent in the company of my parents and two sisters and two nieces. We caught up, had lunch, ran to the bank to open up an account with HSBC since this bank has branches in Brasilia, and then we finally took a 3.5 hour nap after not really sleeping since the night before. That night we met up with friends. I love the first night of sleeping in my parents' house.


While in upstate New York we took a day trip to a state park in a small, quaint town located on Seneca Lake called Watkins Glen. With my young nieces in tow, we walked a 1.5-mile long Gorge Trail. And then we walked back down after reaching the top and resting. The stairs winded up along the cliff, behind waterfalls, and into the shade of gorgeously green trees. We hiked, took pictures, and enjoyed our time talking and walking together. Once we had made it down the "mountain" we hiked over to a local Italian restaurant for pizza. 

That evening, exhausted and with aching legs, E and I went to my best friend's house for a get together with some of my closest friends from high school and college - those that were in town. We chatted it up, drank some wine, and remembered "the good ol' times". Oh, and I laughed like I hadn't in years. E had to drag me home eventually because we had reservations on a bus to take us to New York City the next morning.


Up and at 'em the next day we were. We had breakfast and grabbed the muffins my mom had made so we had something to snack on during the bus ride if we wanted to. We had a fun filled day in Manhattan, packed with sightseeing and walking; the weather was ideal and the company couldn't have been better. E and I went to NYC with our friends Stephanie & O. We started off the day with a trip to Madame Tussaud's wax museum, went to Katz's Deli for lunch, spent some time downtown - shopping, eating, and pushing through the crowds. We also went sightseeing at The Met, the NY Public Library, Chinatown, Times Square, and ended our night at an outside restaurant in Bryant Park. Again, it was amazing how everything was so perfect. 

Salvador Dali

Janis Joplin

Pele

Lenny Kravitz

At Katz's Deli

The Metropolitan Museum

Our final days in New York were spent with family. We BBQ'd and spent valuable time with each other....catching up, taking pictures, eating my parents' delicious lunches, and watching the boys play soccer. That Sunday night my older sister camped out with her daughters in their tent (her husband had to go back home because he had to work the next day) while my youngest sister and I slept in her tent. Camping was fun despite the concerns I had. Yesterday we rode the carousel since my oldest niece kept asking to see the "horsies". Too cute. We also went shopping; can't forget the final items of clothing and small souvenirs.


Overall my extended weekend was unforgettable and I'm grateful to my parents and family and friends for making it all happen. THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts. We love you.


and E

Rest & Relaxation in New York

We've been having a fabulous time since we arrived in New York State a few days ago. It's been wonderful! Our flights from Orlando to upstate New York ran very smoothly, both planes arriving early. We were greeted by my older sister and my darling, adorable, smilling, standing-on-ther-tiptoes-to-greet-their-aunt-and-uncle nieces, and then my stepdad was right behind her with a big smile on his face, as always.

I was suprised how green New York is; since I usually come "home" during the winter months I'm not used to this, but it's beautiful and a picture perfect way to see the state. I hadn't been here during the summer since '07 so it was a nice surprise. The weather has been perfect - in the mid 70s - and it hasn't rained much.

We've done so much already, too....relaxed with family and friends (spending time with everyone, going to my sister's softball game, hiking at Watkins Glen State Park near Ithaca, and yesterday we went to New York City for the day). So far our vacation couldn't have been better, and today my grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, sister and her family, and close friends are coming over for lunch.  

We'll probably go shopping tomorrow, but only after camping out with my nieces in the backyard tonight (so I guess I'll have to watch tonight's "True Blood" episode on-line at a later time). I can't wait for more family time.

For now I need to get ready for the mass for one of my best friend's mother's who we lost last month. This vacation has definitely been relaxing, despite all of the walking we did at the park and then throughout the City.

Take care,

Happy Father's Day to my stepdad and my mom!

Father's Day is not just for all of the fathers out there. Let's be real, it doesn't take much to become a biological father. And when I say "father" I'm referring to the fact that you have fathered (let's just say it, made) a child. It doesn't mean you've taken care of your child. You were half of the equation in forming a child. For some men that could be less than a minute. BUT it takes a REAL man to become a DADDY. Those are the men that are appreciated today and every day. 


Today we celebrate the men out there who deserve to be thanked, those who have made a difference because you have supported and encouraged your children. You have nurtured and loved, given advice, spent time and energy, been a role model, and raised your children to be the best that they can be. And the caveat that I should have started with is that I may have gotten the terms confused as to whether I should be using father or dad to refer to those who have children. It's not the word that matters; it's what the man did, or didn't do, for his children and for their mother in most cases.


What I don't want to do is whine about deadbeat dads (i.e. mine). I want to celebrate and thank the men out there, like my stepdad, who have taken on the responsibility to help raise and mold responsible, honest, hardworking, successful, good children/teenagers/adults. I believe that to raise someone else's child is especially admirable. That's what my stepdad did. My parents had a nasty divorce (thanks to the man) and it was all very distressing and difficult for us all - my sisters and I'm sure for my mother even more. Now you already know how fabulous she is, and of course she never failed us nor showed any weakness throughout the years. So today's Father's Day is for her, too, because she was a mother AND a father to my sisters and me for a number of years.


Therefore, this Father's Day I'd like to honor both my stepdad (for taking care of us and being our father figure from our teenage years on - and we know how tough that is) and my mother for all she has done, and continues to do, for us. And by us I don't just mean my sisters and me. My stepdad (even after all of these years it's difficult to say the word "dad") has become a father to my fatherless husband as well. And my mother has become a "mama" to him. I'm not just grateful for this; I'm truly touched. We're blessed. 


Today, and everyday, I want to commemorate the lives of two important people in our lives - my parents. My real parents. The mother and father that everyone wishes they had, or are grateful that they have. Thank you to my parents for encouraging me, supporting me (financially and emotionally), helping to make me the person that I am today. Thank you for raising me right, for never pressuring me to be someone I'm not, or to do something I didn't want to. Thank you for guiding me and loving me and missing me when I'm gone. And for letting me choose my path in life. 


Thank you father and mother for accepting my husband as if he were your son. Thank you for calling him son and making him feel like he has a real family, not just in the United States, but in the world. We love you unconditionally and cannot wait to see you in a few days!

Happy Father's Day!

What's on my mind?

As I have less than a month before my departure, I've been thinking about...

• My crown breaking and although I had planned to have it fixed in Brazil (at a much cheaper price), looks like I may have to have at least a temporary crown put on by my dentist =(
• Needing to sell textbooks from graduate school because I don't have room to take them
• Glad I earned some money from selling my textbooks. Maybe I'll use it to pay the dentist.
• How I have an excuse to go shopping =)
• My new clothes
• Sales at the malls and shopping centers
• Donating clothes and household items to Goodwill
• Packing four more suitcases 
• What I'm going to do with my box full of books. Do I buy a duffle bag to put it in?
• Laundry
• Upcoming trip to Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. The consulate again? YES
• Our imminent trip to New York state and seeing friends and family!
• How I'll miss my friends in Orlando and where our goodbye should be because people keep asking me
• Paying the rest of our bills, cancelling our utilities, cleaning up the apartment, and selling our bed and TV
• How I'm glad I'm no longer working

Until there is a cure....

...there is HOPE.

To donate to the American Cancer Society, visit my friend's Relay for Life page

Thank you,

Mothers and Daughters

There is nothing like the bond between mother and daughter. It is unbreakable. It is strong. It is fierce. Impermeable. Unique. One-of-a-kind. We come from our mother's womb and as a result we have the invisible connection that continues to bond us to her throughout our lives.


With this being said, I have had the honor to witness such a bond between two of my best friends (REAL best friends) and their mothers. I mean where the daughters have respect, love, admiration, and true friendship with their mothers. And these women are not mothers because they gave birth to my sister-friends, but because they were extraordinary women during their time on this planet, and they touched everyone in their lives. They were role models, they were strong, they fought the illness that reached out to hurt them and which eventually took them away from us. And yet they remained beautiful inside and out throughout their battle.


But the sickness only took them away from us physically. It canNOT take away their spirit, their strength, their LOVE. These women will remain with us forever; they will live within us, reminding us to be good people, as they were. To work hard, to treat people with respect, to love our husbands, and to be fabulous mothers like they were.


Today I honor the memory of, the life of, and the legacy of Virginia Surowka and Barbara Bogart. Two of the most fascinating women in this world. Two of the most wonderful women that have ever entered into my life, and who I will never ever forget.  And I had the blessing of seeing them as second mothers, as aunts, as an additional member in my family. God bless these women for all that they did while on this Earth. My thoughts and prayers go out to their families everyday, and especially today as Mrs. Bogart has left the Earth this morning to ascend to heaven, pain free. I love you ladies, and I love your daughters Stephanie and Kim who would not be the women they are today had they not been born by you and raised by you. Thank you for your gift.

Stephanie & Virgina Surowka

Kimberly & Barbara Bogart

Barbara (Babs) and Virginia (Gemini), may you rest in peace, and be remembered for all of your beauty and all that you accomplished on this Earth. These women are truly, angels in heaven.


With love,

Je t'aime Skype

The day that I downloaded Skype onto my laptop was the day I really opened up communication between me and my family who live miles and miles away. Don't get me wrong, we spoke prior to having Skype, but we couldn't have these pseudo face-to-face conversations. And I missed those. It's difficult to live so far away from family - to not be able to hug and kiss, sit around and talk, and of course open Christmas presents together. This is what I miss most. Skype attempts to bridge that gap.


It's difficult to live thousands of miles away and still try to watch your nieces grow. Whenever I hear one talk or cry in the background when I talk to my sister on the phone I feel my heart tear a little. Skype can help, even if it's not a complete solution to the problem, it does help. And I can't tell you enough how I love to hear my sister tell me that she hears, "Aunt Mere, Unk E, 'puter" as my oldest niece taps on her dad's laptop.


But what I don't want to do is to focus on the negative, on the fact that I'm far away and so using the computer to stay in touch is the best way; instead, I want to sing Skype's praises and express my gratitude towards my family for embracing technology and buying webcams and/or downloading Skype so quickly so that we can converse more often and easily. And web cameras are not just for bringing families together, they're a great way to keep in touch with friends as well as making free international calls. I know I talked to the travel agent who bought our plane tickets via Skype and neither of us had to pay a dime.

As a result, I have compiled a number of reasons why I'm thankful for Skype and some of my favorite experiences so far using this program to stay in touch with people that I love.


1. I can watch my infant niece experiment with her vocal cords, learn to crawl, and smile as she sees and recognizes my face.


2. I cannot get enough of my eldest niece screaming, "look Aunt Mere!" or "Where's Unk E?" or showing me the dinosaurs and Mickey and Minnie dolls we bought here when she came to visit us. And of course hearing her get excited about Shamu is exciting. And of course, hahahahaha, one day she even yelled out, when seeing E just in shorts, "Unk E is naked!". She's toooooo cute! (and funny)


3. We were able to have our Brazilian Christmas on the 24th of December and then wake up on Christmas Day on the 25th and open presents with my parents and my youngest sister via Skype. They were in New York and we were here in Florida. Priceless. I felt like we were all in the same room (almost).


4. I think it's funny when my sister jokingly put my eldest niece in front of the computer once and said "watch her" and acted as if she were serious and was going to leave the room. I wish I could babysit.


5. My best friend from Manaus has recently moved to Azores, yet we can still talk and joke as if we were sitting in her apartment like we have so many times in the past. Her husband and son can join in on the fun and they can taunt my husband by talking about all of the delicious food from Manaus that he misses so much. We just laugh and remind each other of all of our dear memories.


6. I can talk to my mom and stepdad, and youngest sister. Or I can watch them get up, walk away to play the piano and/or sing, and hear them cook and yell from the other room. It almost makes me feel like I'm right there with them.


7. There have been wonderful conversations with one of my best friends who lives in New York, and who I miss greatly. While talking to her I've been able to speak with her sweet mom, her sister, and niece and nephew. It's been fabulous "seeing" them all!


8. And finally, Skype is an excellent way to ensure that my nieces remember who I am and how much I love them.


I'm forever grateful that my family understood the importance of Skype to me as I live away from them and especially as we know we will soon be even farther away. And I don't even feel silly hugging the computer and acting like I'm going to bite my niece's finger off because I know she loves it by the way she laughs out loud for half an hour each time.

People really care

I know that people care, but it's great to hear it. It made me smile, for example, to hear my mother tell me last night that the guest bedroom is made up at her house for us - and we won't be there for another 2 and 1/2 months. But as E said, she's anxious about our arrival. We're excited to see family as well.

I have a great relationship with my family and they LOVE my husband. I'm glad the plane tickets are bought already, and that we will be able to spend time with everyone - my parents, sisters (minus one :(, brother-in-law, NIECES, and even grandparents! I'll also get to visit with my best friends that live near my parents. I can't wait to see everyone! And in the summer...upstate New York in the summer should be nice.

With that being said, I know it'll be sad to say "goodbye", or "see you later" (which it will be). It made me sad when my (step)dad told me the other week that he didn't want me to go to Brazil. I know, but I gotta....

Along with telling my family and friends and my administrators that I'm leaving, I've begun telling my colleagues at work and even some of my students. You see, as teachers we always have at least one class that really tries us. I really like the students in this class, and have told them that many times, but they are not good students. Maybe it's the age, maybe it's the subject, maybe it's because they're either ALL friends or they're enemies to the 10th power, or that the class is right after lunch (I think that this is a major factor), but those kids are not interested in figurative language, or any other subject in English for that matter. As I was reading them the riot act last week, I told them that I'm moving to Brazil next year. Their response was great because I could tell that apart from being very interested and curious, they were disappointed that I won't be returning to the school next year. I was absent the following day and six of the girls went looking for me in another teacher's classroom before the bell rang. I think they may have thought I had left already. That's touching.

They're not the only ones either. Of course I feel bad when I hear my students say that they want me to stay - even though I won't be their teacher next year. They want to stop by and say "hi" on their way to their 10th grade English class. Me too, kids. But I have to move on with my life and do what's best for me and my family. I think they understand. Or at least I hope so because I don't want to feel guilty. I'm not abandoning my students, I just got a good job offer in a country where I want to live.

My co-workers are also supportive, and some maybe a bit jealous (in a good way). I'm trying to plant the seed in a few of them, too. I mean, who doesn't want to move to another job to teach?

Of course people are curious and want to know more. I've also realized that people seem to only take me seriously when I tell them that I got a job.

My students have lots of questions, some even funny. One student asked me "are there black people in Brazil?" Hey, it's a teachable moment. I'm also asked if I speak Brazilian, Spanish, and Portuguese (from the better "educated" students of course :). Overall, even the students that are going to miss me, seem to be excited about the opportunity and it's fun to talk about.

It's nice to know that people care and will miss you, because they're not the only one.

I miss you already

Dear Family & Friends,

I miss you already, and I haven't even left yet.

With love,
Meredith
 ----------------

Today a good friend of mine called me as I was driving home from work, and one of the first questions she had for me was, "What am I going to do when you move to Brazil?". My response, of course, was, "oh, don't worry, you can call me anyway. I'll have a U.S. number over there". And becuse she's a good friend, who lived in Europe for years, I trust that we will maintain our friendship despite the distance.

We will be getting an international phone plan that allows us to have a U.S. phone number while in Brazil. Because my family lives in upstate New York, we'll get an area code that matches theirs so they can call us in Brazil as if they were calling a neighbor down the street. We'll also need to increase the frequency that we Skype (which is already a decent amount seeing as that we're all in the U.S. still). I'm even looking forward to reverting back to sending snail mail. I mean, who doesn't like to receive letters and cards? I sure do, and my friend Kim is wonderful at this. I love it. I always get excited over the holidays because I know that an Easter, Thanksgiving, and/or Christmas card is in the mail.

Thinking of all of this, and after another talk with another good friend this evening, I got to thinking about how much I'll miss my family (of course!) and the friends that I see and/or talk to on a regular basis. I don't feel like I take any of them for granted, especially with our impending departure, but still... I like knowing that my friend Heather is going to call me when she has a bad day at work and needs someone to talk to. I look forward to my talks and walks with Caridad and her daughter about our futures, families, and the best ways to save money. You know, it's the simple things with people that you care about that you miss when you leave.

I always feel guilty when my friends tell me that they're going to miss me. My family doesn't say much about missing us yet because they know that it's hard enough and at the same time, this is something that I really want. I love to travel and live abroad, and I've wanted to teach English (again) in Latin America for, well, years. I'm thrilled that my family is so supportive of us as we move back to Brazil, even though it will be difficult for them, too. I know that not every expat, or want-to-be expat, has the same support system that I have. And for that, I am grateful. I know that my family loves us and wants what's best for us. We also know that they want to see us at least once a year. We want the same.

To my family and friends in the U.S., thank you for your love and support. I miss you already and love you very much. E and I are truly  blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.

I LOVE my family!

I haven't posted on here in a few days because my sister, my brother-in-law, and my stunningly BEAUTIFUL nieces (both under the age of 2) were here to visit! It was an absolutely amazing time. It was the first time I met my youngest niece and when I say that their names is just the beginning of their adorable-ness, I'm not kidding. They're GORGEOUS! I wish they'd never left, or at least would come back next weekend. But it's not just about how cute they are; they're sweet, lovable, fun, intelligent, generous,....and the list goes on and on. Of course it was wonderful to visit with my sister and her husband, too. Oh, how I miss them already.

You see, family is very important to me, and becomes even more so with every passing year (so I've noticed). It's actually the ONE thing that I KNOW will be extremely difficult to live without while I'm in Brazil. I can do without peanut butter, Oprah, my trashy MTV and VH1 shows, and all of the luxuries of the "first world", but I will miss my family beyond belief. In the first place, it was difficult for me to tell them that I wanted to move abroad, though it wasn't a surprise to them. I knew they didn't want to hear it; I know they don't want us to leave. But I feel that they try to understand. For instance, once I knew I was going to apply for a job in Brazil (even when I wasn't sure there'd even be a vacancy for me, let alone an opportunity) I started leaving hints and "reminding" them that we planned to move back to Brazil anyway. But they already knew, and almost understood. I mean, I've been back and forth between South America and the U.S. since I graduated from high school. But still, I realize that it's a difficult reality to accept from your loved one.

I know they'll miss us and we'll desperately miss them, but I still want to go to Brazil and we just have to accept the fact that we're moving and that it may be indefinitely. As a result, I have purposely searched, found, and accepted a job that pays a higher salary than the one I have now and that will pay for my airfare back to the U.S. when my contract ends (which can be extended again and again....). I will make it a priority to come back to the U.S. to visit my family as often as I can, and to encourage them to go to Brazil to visit us. They know this and it consoles us (even if only a little).

I am blessed to have a neverending support system and a family that has always encouraged and supported me. My mom is my inspiration, my idol, and my rock. My stepdad is the father that I never had, and my sisters are my world. I'm one lucky girl...that's for sure.