"The Brazil Girls"

This March three of my good teaching friends from McDole (Gwen, Ann Jez and Tracy Maz) and my sister, The Goo, are coming to visit me in Brazil. They've nicknamed themselves "The Brazil Girls."

Since deciding to come and visit, these four lovely girls get together monthly for dinner to chat about their trip, practice their Portuguese (they have workbooks that Maz copied) and just get to know each other.

I was actually able to attend last week's monthly meeting. We took the train to Chicago and visited the Brazilian Consulate so the girls were able to secure their Brazilian tourist VISAs. Prior to going they had paperwork to complete, photos taken and got their money orders ready.

As we rode in the taxi and stood in line waiting for the consulate to open I gave them a couple of tips about our time at the consulate. The tips included where to go to inside to get their ticket to wait in line (go inside and to the right near the windows), how to say good morning in Portuguese (in case they wanted to practice a little, Goo did) and just to be patient.

My experience at the Brazilian Consulate had always been fine. The staff was friendly, things were completed as promised but it always took a while for things to be completed. I remember when I got my own VISA at one point my mom sent me back to up ask if things were ready and they weren't. It's (Brazil's view) just different when it comes to time. Time is relative and lines and waiting, as I've learned living in Brazil, are just part of life. With this in mind, I anticipated our visit taking close to an hour. We were in and out of there in 20 minutes. Seriously? I couldn't believe it!

Here's a photo of the girls waiting for their turn at the counter.

As we left the consulate, one man waiting for his turned yelled, "See you in the Amazon!" We all smiled as we were the second ones out the door. I was in such shock from our short visit to the consulate, happy shock but just so surprisingly different than my three previous visits.

We spent the rest of the day in the city. Sipping coffee and catching up at Starbucks; having drinks, laughs with our waiter during lunch at the House of Blues; and exploring the Art Institute on foot or in wheelchair. It was a great day out together and nice to see what our little "Brazil Girls" group travels like together. I'd say we're off to a good start. Looking forward to your visit girls!

And for those of you who aren't "The Brazil Girls" please know I'm always looking for visitors to come. I have an extra bedroom, plenty of sunshine to share and enough Portuguese to be a pretty good hostess/tour guide for your visit. Just let me know when you'd like to come. There's never a "bad" time to come so just do it.