Nicole B's Scavenger Hunt

This is Nicole B's 2nd Scavenger Hunt.  

We had to find and foto these items that she posted and here are my versions!

1. A souvenir

2. A Fish

3. A Religious Building

4. A Fire Department

5. A Manhole Cover

6. A Postcard

7. Water

8. A Communication Device

9. A Life Event

(Flying!)

10. A Foreign Stamp

11. A Tree

12. The Living Space of a Non-Human

13. A Street Mirror

14. A Decoration Fixed on a House 

(remember, most people live in apartment buildings here!)

15. A Foreign Flag 

(this is a flag for a local soccer team)

16 A Fire

17. An Antenna

18. A Phone Booth

19 A "Verboten" Sign

20. A Beach

21. A Cityscape

22. Something Goofy

23. Something Carved

24. An Eye

25. Something Rural

Competing forces

A few weeks ago I was still walking Bella on her long walk at 5:30 in the morning.  Something that I found so interesting was that the moon seemed to be daring the sun... it was a competition in my eyes.

The moon was out full force in the night...it reminded me of a huge flashlight shining a path on the ocean.

Then the next morning, as the sun was rising, it was still daring the sun...

still high in the sky.

The sun won...because it took over the moon's bright light, even if the moon was still hanging there for all of us to admire

:)

Saturday Night Lights

Looking for something to do on a Saturday night?  Well, why not just come here and watch the creation of a flying saucer?!

Yes, you read right...a certified flying saucer, lights blipping and flashing, and even I heard faint sounds of the Star Wars theme song......

Ok, the whole story....

Some man made a flying saucer and decided to fly it here past all the beaches, which were lined with people to see it.

The flying saucer was escorted by 2 "visible" helicopters and one "invisible" helicopter that was flying the flying saucer through the sky.

Sorry that pictures are so blurry, but it was the best I could do at a moment's notice.  

This was one of the strangest things I think that I have ever seen.  People were clapping on the beach for it and everything...I was lucky any fotos came out at all because I was laughing so hard at this situation...

Anyways....

one for the records for sure :)

Longing

What am I longing for, you may ask?!

Chinese food....good Chinese food. 

I am so surprised in a place like where I live, very cosmopolitan, very hip, very trendy...

there is not ONE single good Chinese food restaurant in sight.  Not even one that comes close...and trust me, there are only less than a handful to try anyways!

Last night we went to see Angels and Demos, (highly entertaining), and then for dinner.  I was craving lettuce wraps and orange spiced beef, or sweet and sour chicken....or anything that slightly resembled what we used to eat from the Chinese food joints in the US and even in Venezuela!

But nope....I find the sushi here (I know that is Japanese, but hey, here they combine it all!) to be gummy and not really made with fresh seafood.  Then we ordered some beef and vegetable wakisobi dish....it was edible.  But the flavors and taste are just nothing resembling ANY Asian dish that I have ever tasted.

So, I long for June when I can go and savor my lettuce wraps, orange spiced beef, sweet and sour chicken, spring rolls, shrimp fried rice, sticky rice, beef and broccoli, chicken and veggies.....

Tell Me Why

Such a powerful statement....

Pensive days

I know, here I go again about how long it has been since my last post. 

Really, I have been preoccupied with many things. 

I have been feeling quite introverted and pensive, so therefore, I feel that I do not have much that I want to say out loud.

My Mom went into the hospital last week with broken ribs, pneumonia, bronchitis and emphysema.  Please keep her in your prayers.

It is very hard to be so far away, and to not know whether I should be hopping on the first plane to go see her, or waiting until summer vacation.

As of right now, I am waiting because she is getting stronger and a slight bit better, it seems, with each day.

There is always something to preoccupy our time, but this one has really sent me into a tailspin with worry.  Living overseas is fine, enjoyable and I like it very much.  BUT, when sickness hits, it is hard to be so very far away.....

Show me Your World , Part 2

Nicole B is having a little show and tell about our cities.  We are a diverse group, so check out her blog to see a little glimpse into Our Worlds!

Click on her name above or find her in my list to the right....

A Glimpse of My World, Brazil

Wordless Wednesday

Finding Balance

Happy Mother's Day

Today I received a beautiful poem that I would like to share with you:

Flowers, chocolate, candy

That's all you ever get

I do believe it's dandy

but love is all you want

Love, love, love

love is in the air

On Mother's Day

I think it's pretty fair

by my son, 10 years old

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mother's and children out there!

Flower Friday

I think I may start this every Friday....

usually I go to the flower market on Thursdays, condition the flowers and arrange them on Friday.

So, here is what I did today.

The small set of three were for my girlfriends that I went to lunch with today.  We went for pre-Mother's Day!  

Enjoy and have a great weekend :)

Breakfast

The art of burnt toast....

I excel in this art form.

I forget that I have actually put something in our broken toaster oven.  As you can see, we have a knob broken off, plus the timer inside takes way longer than needed to turn off.  

So what do we do?

We use these pliers to turn it on, 

then plug it in, wait for the toast to finish and unplug it.  Usually, about 15 minutes later, you hear the ding even though you have already eaten your toast, washed the dishes and have moved onto something else. 

My problem is that I get involved in something else and forget that the bread is in there.  Did you know that bread can actually catch on fire?  Well, I do :)

Here is the first try from this morning.  See the smoke?

Then the second was about the same (yes, I know... how could I let it happen again!  but really, it was so quick to burn the second time!)

Finally, my breakfast.  3rd time is the charm right?!

These fruit on my plate look a lot like tomatoes, but they are called Caqui.  They are a delicious, juicy, sweet fruit that I have seen nowhere else but here.

Hope your breakfast was a little simpler than mine!  Buen provecho!

Why I haven't been blogging....or excuses, excuses, excuses :)

I just feel busy.

I have been spending more time walking Bella, training Bella....boy the book I read on Airedales was right...their "puppy stage" is a lot longer than other breeds.

The school always seems to beckon...

today there was an "emergency" for proof reading the cook book that the PTA is getting together.  Granted, it was supposed to be ready by December...didn't happen, and therefore I had to scramble for a few Christmas presents.

So, I rush there to help out.  I sit down, we giggle a little about some of the translations...i.e., for a Chicken Pot Pie, there is the "dough" and the "feeling"....

yes, meant to be "filling"...hahaha

but then we stopped proof reading about 15 minutes after I got there, because they weren't even sure if we had the right copies to proofread.  

Get it together people!  I am BUSY!!

I am trying to exercise....

not going well, but I promise I am going swimming tomorrow morning!  It has been way to long that I have been out of a pool....almost since Venezuela where we swam with a swim team, intensively, 3 days a week!

Then there is the usual mundane chores:

make the beds, sweep the floor, clean the dishes (yes Virginia, there is no automatic dishwasher in my apartment), oh yea, and 

READ, READ, READ

Tomorrow is book club, or as I like to call...traveling library!  It is so much fun and I always seem to get great recommendations, especially from Gabriela!

Yesterday afternoon I started Sarah's Key.... great book.  I finished in less than 24 hours! Then there was The Book Thief , The Alchemist and The Thirteenth Tale.  Really, they were all great books.  

Two of them (the first 2 listed above) happened to be about different aspects of children in Nazi Germany.  They were sad stories, but so good..

plus I saw the movie, The Reader...again about Nazi Germany...

I am very happy that Kate Winslet won best actress.  It was a good movie!

So, that's where I have been/what I have been doing...

I know, probably boring to all of you, mundane to anyone else besides me...

but I just thought I would let you all know!