Bittersweet

They say all good things must come to an end, and that is what is happening. As you might know, I headed back to the US earlier than planned as I was needed back there for various reasons. So, not having done everything I would have liked to, but having had a great time doing what I did and having grown immensely through my just over 3 months here, I left with mixed emotions.

Here is what I was feeling in the days before my departure….

Things I know I will miss (I am sure there will be others that I have forgotten):

• Lot’s of New Friends
• BBQ
• Futebol (especially Inter)
• A Great Office Environment
• Giant Paper Airplanes (need link)
• Cheap Mendoza Malbecs
• Cachaça
• Chimarrão
• The women who work at Café 32 who are always helpful with my lunch order (especially the Inter fan)
• A Very Vibrate Office
• Great Weekend Destinations
• Staying in One Place Unless I Choose to Travel
• Having Enough Free Time to Catch Up on All of Those Little Things
• The Brique Market
• Colorful Money
• Free Laundry
• The Convenience of Grabbing a Cab to Work Each Day
• The Cab Driver Who Practices His English as He Drives Us To Work
• Doing Absolutely Nothing on a Weekend
• Whole Office Email Threads
• In Office Projectiles
• Juggling
• Paddle Ball (including Trevor almost getting beamed as he entered 417)
• Approximate Cab Fares
• Colorful Buildings
• Not Having to Clean Up After Myself
• Calebresa
• Quatro Queijo
• Music in the Office
• Beach Opens http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4YDVeHe4v4
• Elevator Close Buttons that Work
• Feijão

Things that I won’t miss:

• Not Being Able to Communicate
• Take Out Places that Don’t Bring Utensils or Napkins
• Plastic Napkins
• Shot Glass Sized Cups for Pop (though this one does make me laugh)
• The Overuse of Plastic Bags (US is very bad, I think Brazil is worse)
• Buildings without Insulation
• Buildings without Ventilation
• Weather Changes Every Day (Oh Wait, I Live in Chicago)
• The Maid Leaving My Windows Open and My Drain and Shades Closed
• Cabs that Barely Make it Up the Hill on Lucas
• Only Having a Small Portion of My Wardrobe Available
• Not Being Able to Use My Credit Card On Line, Especially to Book Flights
• Gaining Weight (likely related to the calebresa and the quatro queijo, and the BBQ)
• Broken Seat Belts
• Bela Vista (though it is nice being greeted on the way in & out each day)

In addition there are some things that I am looking forward to doing when I get home

• Seeing my Friends
• Seeing my Family
• Sailing
• Alumni Band (yes I’ve already signed up)
• Church and Choir
• My Gym

Of course there are also the things that I know that I have to do when I get back as well and won’t have an excuse to ignore when I am not in another hemisphere (escapism is great while it lasts)

• Finishing Putting Shelving in my Closets
• Redoing my Bathrooms
• Cleaning and Refurnishing my Den so that it is not Just a Storage Locker

They also say that everything happens for a reason, so hopefully my next adventure will enlighten me with that reason and allow me to grow even more.

…and now that I have been gone for nearly two months I think that my lists were pretty accurate. While I have kept in touch with some folks in POA I really miss them and the office and so many things that I shouldn’t bore you by re-numerating all of them. That said there are some things that I got to do by being back in the States that I would not have been able to do if I were still in Brazil.

• Seeing my friend’s sister in two full length films Conviction and Polish Bar
• Going to a reunion of the Greece trip in Las Vegas to get a short dose of warm (well actually hot) weather
• Restarting my French studies

Please don’t think that this is the end of the blogs, I already have some posts in the queue and am sure I will continue to find things to blog about (that is after I finish all of my posts from Greece), maybe not as regularly, but stay tuned to see what life brings me next.

Tchau,

Wendy