A quote for my next 84 days here...

A quote I need to follow... just thought I'd share since its been rough adjusting to the Brazilian way of life - or maybe its just that we know NO ONE and don't speak the language and it's FREEZING here.
SO i will read this everyday :)


“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did so. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”


:)

Weekend Activities in Curitiba

The Brasilian band at Matriz & Filal in Curitiba... videos will be posted on facebook :)

Here it is the restaurant/bar/hot music spot :)

A mini Barrett Jackson  in the park 3 blocks from our place! Paque do Braça.

My dad's old car...or at least very similar ;)

Salmon Carpaccio with orange and light vegetables - SUPER YUMMY.

My dad's on his bike on the left...more of the small street/park  car show...

AND HELLO EVERYONE... Im enjoying a Cappuccino and Gelato with my sis and poppa at a place by the Park :)

Barigüi Parque

Brazil celebrated the holiday Corpus Christi this Thursday - which celebrates the Body of Christ after the fifty days after Easter are over. Not typically 'celebrated' as a holiday in the States, however, the brazilians are well known for having many holidays to celebrate through the year! Most of the city shut down for the weekend and we were left to enjoy a more quiet city (since some of the population leaves to head elsewhere for the weekend!)
So, we biked to the Barigüi Park. It's about a 3 mile bike ride away from our place and is quite a large and beautiful area to run,bike, play sports, or stop and eat at the small eateries that are there too! I have to say though - my legs were super sore from Spinning class and aerobic dance class (aero local) that we took the day before and now from that CRAZY ROMPING bike ride! It sure isn't the easiest city to bike around! Tiff will post pics on her blog of us in the park :) SO check out her site soon for those... :)
On another note- we got to experience FIREWORKS right outside our place on this holiday! What a site and display - they sure do go big or home here!

Mais Photos!

At the Park - everyone replenishes with Coconut juice!

This is an idea what Brasileiras where to workout...leg warmers, tights under shorts, and crazy patterned spandex pants!

Harvard sweatshirts are displayed at Sam's club for purchase. This cracked me up.

One of our products here in Brazil! BURN ENERGY DRINK!

And Powerade! Super YUMMY! Flavors - Uva, Laranja, Tangerine e Mountain Blast.

NOT our product!!! Tiff is trying to push it over. VAI VAI VAI!

Hope you enjoy the photos... we had our first portuguese lessons today - two different professors Beatrice and Jouglas. Feel like im 4 or 5 years old back in kindergarten learning english... quite tiring on the brain!

MISSING EVERYONE. XOXO

Chame uma Ambulancia!

In the Ibirapuera Parque! I have to say the funniest part about walking through this park was the ambulance we saw just driving through it. CHAME UMA AMBULANCIA!!

And my papai is standing next to it. LOL.

Happy Papai Day!

Well I totally forgot it was Father's Day today. AWESOME. At least we are with our Dad 24/7. Happy Father's Day papai. (They don't celebrate this day here in Brazil... probably why I forgot!)AH!  A quick blog from me tonight... since I'm not in the normal peppy Nat mode. Adjusting, adapting, and being away from everyone for me is always hard the first 3 weeks (especially when you can't communicate with anyone). It's like I am in one of those glass snow balls and watching everyone around me interact while I am stuck waiting... hoping that the glass will break soon!!! Anyways enough with the analogy... that's just me and my current state. So I will just deal with it. Wish I could change that aspect about it. LANGUAGE LESSONS START THIS WEEK.

On a side note - DEMI: I love you. And again I wish I had been there last night at your dance production. I know you were Amazing. You are the best EVER.

Here is a quick list of what we did while in Sao Paulo this weekend!

1. Dinner at the Rubiyat in Itiam Bebe with a group of the owners in Coca-Cola.(YUM!)
2. Went to our birth hospital - The Albert Einstein  - the amazing place where we entered this world!
3. Drove to our parents old home and grandparents home to check them out - according to my dad they look exactly the same!
4. Walked through the Ibirapuera Parque for an hour. (Picture is above.) They sell coconuts for you to drink/stay hydrated there at every stand! CRAZY.
5. Visited and ate the most amazing dinner at Dennis and Monica's house where we also met our cousin Johnny and his wife Helen.
6. Slept a little.
7. Met up and had lunch with another cousin Nicholas and his family at a lovely restaurant.
8. Drove back to Curitiba (6 hour drive). kill me. that road and the people who drive on it are nutso.

And a lot of other little stuff!
OK. pictures to come... just not now :) Much love. miss you all.

Sao Paulo's Wicked Wonderland White Party

Bom Dia!
This is where Tiffany and I were invited to go to this Saturday night in Sao Paulo - called Skol Sensation. The problem is we didn't bring white clothes with us on our drive up from Curitiba and the DRESS CODE is WHITE ('Branca'). UGHHHH!!! Check it out though - looks like a COOL CLASSY Vegas show/rave! Alati I KNOW you would love this - when I saw it I thought of you! :)

http://youtu.be/2E6mfq7ylqY

As of right now we are in our hotel room - just had breakfast downstairs with our Papai and we will be hitting the fitness center here in a couple hours! I don't think I have adjusted to the time change yet... SUPER TIRED all the time.

Much love to everyone :)

Gemes Identicas = Idenitical Twins... that is one of the many terms we learned today! YAY! time for bed! :)

Caipirinhas and Photos

We are in Sao Paulo now! Check out my Photos!! MY FIRST CAIPIRINHA! Muito BOM. :)

Meu Papai and I shared the Brasileira Bife ( Beef) :)

Arrived Alive!

Traveling to Brazil is a pain. Plain and simple…not gonna sugar coat it. Ha! Here at my Dad’s apartment is nice though – on the 8^th floor of the 9-story building we see beautiful views from every window of Curitiba.  Absolutely breathtaking and pretty cool to be able to watch the city at work during the day and coming to life at night (besides the horrible construction we wake up to every morning on the lot behind our building!) It’s like freshman year in PV West all over again!

 In this 3 bedroom 4-bath I’m sharing a room with my sister and have finally unpacked my 3 gi-normous bags. I’m super pumped to have finished with that and I’m honestly amazed how nice this place is!  Last night my dad and I went to the mall where I helped him pick out new dishware and some other necessary kitchen items, following this we ventured to the supermarket ‘Angeloni’ – a marca da sua casa’ – and learned a lot of new food words while shopping around  - touring through the market is like it’s own Brazilian textbook. Peru=Turkey… Frango=Chicken… so on so forth!

            For those of you dying to know – we will have Internet here on Monday – complete access for all of us to utilize the network here – THANK GOD! Skype is the best form of communication, so maybe get an account if you want to chitchat with the Varty Party! I was excited last night to have the chance to Skype with Mark (YAY!), my mom and my bestest lil sis ever – MIMI! 

**The only way we can be online here at my dads – until this Monday – is if his iPhone is here – because we access the internet through his phones network.**

            Just got back from dinner - some Spanish Tapas (Tapeo) restaurant. YUM! We leave for Sao Paulo tomorrow and will be there for the shareholders board meeting and to visit with our cousins and our parents and grandparents longtime friends Dennis and Monica. We will return on Sunday and will begin our Portuguese lessons (MUCH NEEDED so we don’t feel so foreign here) next week!

Tchau (ciao) for now! J

MISS YOU ALL!

The Big Day is Here

AHHHH!!!!
It's 12:23 am and in just over a day - because traveling time = about 24 hours... WE WILL BE IN CURITIBA. Today consisted of PACKING. FOREVERRRR. I have finished and HOPE that my 3 large bags will suffice - thanks to my amazing boyfriend MARK who supplied me with TWO of his huge duffel bags. The odd thing is if you were to look in my closet you would think I packed nothing. There is a full closet of clothing in my room - its semi- ridiculous. ha. OH and to add to this MY SISTER has 3 large bags of clothing and shoes. WE basically have 6 bags of stuff we can share. HAHAHA. (WHERE ARE WE GOING TO PUT ALL THE LUGGAGE WHEN WE GET TO OUR DADS?!?!?)


Anyway it's hangout time (Alati and Jason - thanks for stopping by and spending time with us before we head out tomorrow. YOU will be missed. A LOT.)


MARK thanks for the smooches. ;) THOSE WILL BE THE MOST MISSED.


NOW ITS PRISON BREAK TIME!!!!! GOODNIGHT USA. BOM DIA Brasil!

Back to our Birth Country

THIS IS WHERE WE ARE GOING - T-3 days for the entire Summer! Escaping the heat in Scottsdale and heading south of the equator to be welcomed by some winter weather. Enjoy following me and my adventures. :)