Happy B-Day BSB

This is another in the Catch-Up series, although this one might better be titled Ketchup.

Brasilia's Birthday on April 21st was met with lots of good...

• Breakfast at Praline with one of my favorite couples the Robertsons, 
• An afternoon of reading and sun with Andrea and the Robertsons at the Club - this was also the day of Mark's swimming adventure (his account of this afternoon is hilarious)

To disappointing...

• Andrea, Sam and my walk down to the Eixo Monumental only to find we got there late (we got there around 7 and thought we were being Brasilian) so had missed the festivities and arrived when it was obvious that everyone else had been "enjoying the fun" for most of the day. And when I mean missed the festivities, it was a little scary. When the three of us felt it was time to go (the police with billy clubs walking through a crowd of young men kinda led us to believe that), you know it must have been bad. We did stop on the way back for a bite to eat and some cold choppes which did make up for some of the disappointment.

To the celebration that arrived a little late...McDonald's. Gotta love those placemats. They must have printed a ton because I got another one when I went there last week for a french fry desired lunch with Hayes. The placemat includes the usual suspects and facts but a few new things too.  Thought I'd share them.

This fact shares about the large flag in front of the Congress building.  Large flags remind me of the Goo since she always loved them as a kid.

This random fact is about the first baby who was baptized in Brasilia on its inauguration day.

This final fact is related to Brasilia, sharing its birthday with another Brasilian hero named Tiradentes.  The third grade version I was told shared that he "lived a long time ago" and did "lots of good things" but he "had a consequence because some guys didn't like what he did" so the guys "tore his body apart and mailed it around Brazil."  There's a much more accurate version but I appreciate the 9-year-old one for this instance.

So Happy Birthday Brasilia.  You aren't aging so gracefully. In fact one Brasilian I know described you as a 50 year-old woman who'd smoked a pack a day since age 12 and is in dire need of a trip to the plastic surgeon.  There were lots of articles about you, mainly in terms of disappointment (you can read more here and here) but I think there is some hope around that opportunities are being found by some around us.  I'm in a position to teach two of those receiving opportunities on a daily basis.  Lets just hope more opportunities arise soon.