Back from Brazil

You all wanted to know about Brazil. In short, it was very difficult, but I enjoyed the time I had with my brother and sister-in-law. Marina has been taking English classes, so her English has improved enough that for the first time that my parents visited, she was able to talk in English to us! She still needed some translation help from my brother, but mostly she did ok on her own.

I really liked her a lot and think she is a great influence on my brother. She and I bonded a lot on the trip too.

But my head went WILD! I stayed in bed probably 2/3 of the time I was down there because I was hurting so much. That was very frustrating, obviously. And when we went out, we tended to stay out much longer than I normally would do so.

I got really upset at my brother sometimes because I would be so very sick (both head and stomach) and have to lie down at someone's house, and I'd be begging my parents to ask him to take us home, but they wouldn't because it would be culturally inappropriate, and it is part of their culture to spend long hours just visiting with each other.

Well, I'm one of the first to understand culture, but the way they kept ramming that down my throat every time I got frustrated that he wouldn't take me home when I was really sick got really upsetting to me. If he or especially if his wife got sick (and she gets migraines too, just not as badly as I do), he'd be out of there right away. So you can't just say that the culture wouldn't allow it.

I also ended up going through my percocet so fast because I was so sick that we had to find a doctor friend of my brother's to prescribe more for me. He wrote a script for me to get 12 doses, but since the pharmacy didn't have the box of that quantity, they gave me 30! That would never happen in the U.S. that way! But I was glad, especially since I went through all of them during this difficult trip.

And for the one (Cheryl maybe?) who asked earlier, no, no guy in my life yet. I got to the point of emailing with a guy on eHarmony, and we talked on the phone once last week. But then he hasn't contacted me since. Since I was the one to call him, it seems that he should call or at least email me next. I'll probably send him an email to ask what's going on. I have slowly brought up the migraines, but they came out more on the phone, so maybe he got scared away. We'll see.

I have the international students coming tonight, so this afternoon I'm making fried rice. We ordered a cake from Costco for one of our team leaders, who just turned 21. I was really impressed when I got an email from him asking his friends to donate to a children's fund in lieu of giving him presents. That's awfully mature for a newly 21-year-old!

We're still trying to buy a condo. We sold the old one, so we have to buy a new one within a certain time or have to pay a lot of taxes. So we're bidding on a couple in Glendale, since the one in Pasadena hasn't moved since our bid in June!

I've struggled a lot with my head since getting back from Brazil. I'm mostly in bed. We've been back 3 weeks, but I haven't done much at all during this time.

I'm glad you were able to spend some quality time with your family while in Brazil, Vicki. That family time sure helps make up for all the "sick" time we stay isolated.

Hope you're soon readjusted to being home so you have less pain. Traveling can be so difficult on a migrainous head.

Take care,

Becky

Awww Vicky I am so sorry the M didn't let you enjoy your stay more.
I always dream of going to Brazil ever since I saw movies with Brazil in the backdrop. The sun, the beaches, the sand, the ocean! so beautiful!, so gorgeous! have you been able to enjoy that as well?

Looks like it wasn't all that bad, though - I am happy to learn you like your S-i-L, and you could communicate with her in English, too! Being and immigrant to Canada I know firsthand how frustrating the language barrier is.

On the other front, have fun with your international student!

I missed you and your postings, am so glad to see you back!

Risa

Vicki,

It sounds like the best part of the trip was getting close to your SIL. That's a lot! I am sorry that you didn't get to play tourist more, but your head dictates what you can do in that regard. I'm glad to see that you're home and posting again. We missed you.

Chris