Je t'aime Magic Jack et YouTube

I mentioned a couple months back how much I love Skype and now I'd love to sing the praises of Magic Jack and YouTube, the latter I appreciate much more now that I live abroad. 


I'd seen a number of commercials on TV advertising Magic Jack and I it always sparked my interest, especially as I knew I was going to/wanted to live outside the US and this product seemed perfect for expats. So I was sure that I wanted to buy one once a friend of mine told me that her brother, who's in the Army, uses one while he's in Iraq, Afghanistan, and even Uzbekistan. He later told me himself how great it was and how he had requested an area code to match that of his mother, making it easier for her to call him. I knew I was moving to Brazil so this sounded perfect to me. Not only is the Magic Jack good for me, but it makes it easy (and free) for my family and friends to call me. 


We bought the Magic Jack about a month ago and started using it while we were still living in Florida. It turns out that a lot of Americans buy it and use it as a home phone, or for a second line. It's only $19.95/year (if I'm not mistaken). Very easy to use, even though you do have to plug it into the computer and leave the computer on if you're going to use it to make/receive calls. HOWEVER, if the Magic Jack is turned off, people can leave a voicemail which is recorded and sent to your e-mail. I can download the message in seconds and listen to it even if the Magic Jack is turned off. This is priceless. I can pick up the phone and call friends, family, Amazon, AT&T, and my bank back home in the US and the call sounds the same as if I were in Florida or down the street from my mom in New York. AND we requested the same area code as my mom and my older sister and a number of friends. They don't even need to dial that when they call me. It's WONDERFUL.


Thank you Magic Jack for creating such a simple product that has saved me money and let's me be in touch with my family and friends back home. I can also call any business I need to in the US to "handle business" and not bother my family to call on my behalf. I couldn't be any happier with the service. It's been nice to be able to give people in the States a "local" number.


Along with Skype and Magic Jack, I've found YouTube to be very convenient here as well. I don't know if you remember, but some time back I wrote a blog post about what I was watching on TV and I mentioned "Meet the Browns". Well, E and I love that show and yet we haven't been able to watch it on TBS.com here. I don't know if it's a location thing...? I tried at home and at school. No luck. We can watch the commercials (the previews), but not the show. But it's on YouTube; it may not be the same, but at least we can laugh out loud here in Brazil, too.


So thank you to these three companies for making my life easier and better. 

Update: Internet, School, Apartment

I am connected again! It's so great having Internet at home. If you live abroad then you understand the importance of being able to talk to family and friends, as well as handle your "business" at home on-line. We've been here for fewer than two weeks so it wasn't too long that we were without, and I probably checked my e-mail at least once every two days previous to having Internet at home, but still...Now I can use Skype, my MagicJack, and update my blog :).

Internet - We weren't too sure on how to go about getting hooked up so when we were at my school last week (maybe Wednesday?) we were told to go ahead and contact the company NET using the secretary's computer. I guessed that due to that suggestion (to contact NET) that they must be a good Internet/cable company. We decided not to get cable at this time and chose the 1 Mega Internet option (at only R$ 54.90/month); the faster Internet options were much more expensive. What we got is a reasonable price. That's maybe $35/month, roughly. We don't need cable at this time because we do have about 6 channels (in Portuguese) at no cost and we brought a lot of DVDs with us. We can also watch TV on-line. Our Internet speed is perfect, too. The company sent me a text this past Tuesday notifying us that the technician would be here the following day (yesterday) and he was. Quick and easy. The only issue is that only one computer can be connected at one time and we can't use our wireless adapter yet since we don't have a converter (the voltage is different here than in the US).

Apart from now having Internet, I've also had orientation with the executive director of the school, the woman who hired me, and the coordinators and principals of the school. This all happened this morning. Since I'm teaching 9th, 11th, and 12th grades, I have two administrators and two guidance counselors. See, in Brazil, 9th grade is considered the final year in middle school, but we know that in the US it's the first year of high school, so the principals overlap (as do the counselors). This sounds good to me. I REALLY like the principal that I met at the job fair and the other is very nice as well (I just don't know him as well). The orientation that we had for teachers in international schools was very helpful and informative. I'm more excited about working, especially to such a diverse group of students. The coordinators were all very nice and offered to help us in many ways. 

I was also set up with my school e-mail address, was given a tour of the beautiful campus, and had another delicious lunch. The food at the school is out of this world mouthwatering and it's healthy; there is a nutritionist at the school who makes sure of that. And we were told this morning that it's the law that we be given an hour for lunch (on a daily basis of course). That's what I'm talking about. I also really like how the school is a bilingual school. This way there is a lot of Portuguese being spoken around the school; with that being said, I need to give off the impression to my students that my language skills are rusty so they don't try to speak Portuguese with me. We'll see how well that goes.

It was nice to visit the school for orientation and introductions since we've been doing a lot of running around to get our documents taken care of. In addition to visiting the policia federal and getting my CPF (like my Brazilian SSN), I also had to have a medical exam for my health insurance, open up a bank account, sign documents, among other errands. It's good to now have a temporary ID and to know that I'll soon have a local bank account and health insurance.

Everything with our apartment is good. We've gotten to know the doormen (there are three) and it's nice to never have to open a door (haha). Sebastian is also getting used to his new home. I have to clean this place differently than in the US since there are no carpets (thank God!!) and since we're in the dry season and it hasn't rained since about May, it's not only dry but also dusty outside. I've found myself dusting more often and have realized that sweeping is not as useful as I thought. I need to "mop" the floors. But the "tools" that I have to use to clean the floors are easy to use and it takes less time than it did in the US (or so it seems). Today the school dropped off a chair for our spare bedroom since we only have a computer desk when we arrived. In addition, I found a nice bookshelf at the school that was no longer being used; in fact, it was in storage only to collect dust. I was told that once it was sanded down it would be delivered. I'd say that apart from those two pieces of furniture we're all set. 

We've also been sightseeing, have hung out with friends, have been trying to get E resettled in his country, and of course have been busy running errands and trying to explore/get to know our new city. E's been job hunting, trying to get his school transcripts so he can go back to school, and has found a gym where he can train MMA and BJJ. There are some big time fighters there to train with so he's really challenged. I was able to check it out the other day so that was exciting for me because we met a UFC fighter and I love to meet famous people :). 

Speaking of settling in, I need to organize this place (I've been so busy that I haven't spend more than a few hours at a time here), clean up a bit, and find the closest post office so I can send my defective Kindle to Amazon before they charge me for another. Now that I have Internet I should be updating more often so keep your eye open. Talk to you soon!

No more cable or Internet

"How am I going to live without cable?", I ask myself. Well, that should be an easy answer seeing as I've done it previously and it wasn't that long ago. We actually lived in this apartment for 6 weeks without cable or Internet (when we first moved in) and no one died. We should be fine this time around.


Having TV and Internet is not so much about the entertainment aspect, but the convenience and informative part. I mean, need directions? Want to know what time the restaurant closes? Need to know the temperature outside tomorrow afternoon? What time does your friend's flight arrive? Do you need to confirm your flight to South America? All of the answers to these questions can be found on-line; therefore, having the Internet at home is imperative these days. 


But we'll make do without our own connection to the outside world. We'll still have a phone and can always "borrow" our neighbor's wireless or use our laptops while lounging by the pool at our complex, and watch TV at a friend's house as if we even were to have the time. We decided to cancel only 4 days before we move so we should be fine. We'll be busy with last minute packing, making sure the cat is situated, and of course, saying goodbye.


It's not just the cable TV and/or Internet that you have to be responsible for cancelling (and don't forget to return the equipment that you'l be responsible for if you don't). I have already spoken with our cell phone provider because our 2-year contract is supposed to end next week and if we don't cancel it then they won't say anything and we'll keep paying. So, in order to not have to deal with paying for bills after we leave (for this I'm grateful that cable TV/Internet services are prepaid) we'll cancel our cell phones, downgrade to just one phone, and prepay our service for a month. This way our utilities and responsibilities are easier to handle.


We were told that our final water bill will be taken out of our deposit; this just leaves us with our electric bill which can be paid on-line. Yeah! Rent is of course paid the first of the month. So does this mean that I have everything taken care of? At least the utilities? It looks like it. And anything else we'll have to handle from abroad or with the help of my mom (who graciously offered to help, even though I don't want to burden her with anything).


We've also been selling our belongings like hotcakes (crosses fingers) for a couple of months now and that always makes me happy. Having an empty home makes me realize what we'll be taking with us. We have not started packing suitcases yet because we still have more than a month left here, but we need to have a good idea about what we'll be taking with us. I know that we don't want to be doing anything stressful during our last couple of weeks here. I'm still amaze at how much we have that we can sell and make money off of. Do we need three cameras? No, so let's sell one. Crock pot or pressure pot anyone?


E mentioned today how he wanted to know how I planned on taking all of my books; I told him that it wouldn't be too hard. I already have about 53 lbs of books packed into 2 boxes that I will then put into a larger box and then fill it up until it reaches 70 lbs. We're each allowed two 70 lb bags and then the school will pay for more than 3 additional bags. If E and I, between the two of us, take seven 70 lb bags then we're talking almost 500 lbs. That's a lot! (Plus the cat) I don't think that we'll need anymore than seven bags. And God knows I don't want to push and carry and lug around all of that weight.


Sounds like we have our work cut out for us. 


Wish me good luck.