One Year Ago Today...

One year ago today I moved back home.

One year ago today I arrived in Sao Paulo with little more than a few cardboard boxes and a suitcase packed mostly with books clothes, negatives and cameras... We had pretty much no money just debts.

Today, finally, my husband has managed to finish paying off his bank loans... (they paid his university).

I would never have guessed that one year later we would be looking for a place of our own in the truest sense of the word... somewhere to build our future on.... a place that we can decorate, paint, sculpt to our likings and where we can imagine sometime in the future possibly starting a family there.

My parents are growing older, (aren't we all!) and I am happy to be here for them after so many years.... just as they are here for us and always have been. I see them happy looking to the future with us, supporting us and it makes me thankful and so glad to be here!

...and to celebrate all that, here's a photo of my favorite place!

Things that drive me mad/ things that make my day

Things that drive me mad here in SP:

-Lack of organization in large corporate supposedly professional companies.

-Ugliness

-People who throw trash on the streets

-Extremely crowded busses full of sweaty people

-lack of respect towards others

-Loud obnoxious people

-bad quality stuff

-The way people drive

-The fact that there are buss stops which are impossible to see and that have no signs to let one know what buss stops there

-How expensive mushrooms, asparagus and other food like that is

Things I love and that make me smile:

-How the guy who sweeps the streets every morning smiles and sings while he works

-When someone offers to hold my bag in the bus because I'm standing and they're sitting

-How people aren't afraid of people, how they strike up a conversation with anyone anywhere under almost any circumstance

-The flexibility

-Crowded busses with sweaty people who are tired have worked all day and are still in a good mood

-The market

-The heat

-Generosity

-How plants grow much faster and stronger

-Nature

When things fall into place

Well, I was planning to go to the beach this weekend but then we thought it was going to rain so decided to stay after all. As luck has it, I was called up to do a last minute shoot. A fellow photographer friend of mine was unable to take on a job so she kindly passed it on to me.

The pay is bad to say the least, but a job is a job and at least there's some reward... Right now my priority is to work!!

The shoot consists of a "making of" for an add. I have to photograph 4 singers in the studio, while they're recording the song that will then go on the add... if I understood correctly.

I can't put up any photos yet, but hopefully soon...

In the end it didn't rain, but still was worth staying in town.

Tradition

It's carnaval at the moment here in Brazil. Now as most people know, this is a BIG deal over here. I think this is a particularly special occasion for people who aren't so well off. There are many many people here who live from and for this, literally... all year round they prepare for these couple of days of craziness.

Yesterday we went to the street carnaval close by my parents house. The men went dressed as women and the women as men. It was a big big crowd of people... all happy and smiling. There was maracatu (drums) and we all went along walking around dancing to the music... It was really beautiful...

Tradition is important I think... Not all of them, but the things that we repeat in time and that keep us together and happy... like family traditions.....

Speaking of which, here's a photo of my youngest cousin from last Christmas.

Back soon!

xoxox

absent but not really

I haven't posted in a while...

Lots has been going on. I went to Rio and fell in love with the city. I had already been there twice before years ago but somehow this time was different... I found it so beautiful in comparison with Sao Paulo...

I do love SP, but it's damn ugly!!! Whereas Rio is just beautiful and of course there's the sea... ah the sea....

Anyway, am working on some projects... stuff that will bring more work in. Have started a computer class... getting my act together. Can't be left behind when it comes to computer programs or you can forget work altogether!

But back to uglyness... Its not really necessary, not at all. I've started to make a list of ways to change this... It will take time but its not impossible, someone just needs to begin doing something about it!!

things to look at...

I saw a really good film today, or at least I enjoyed it a lot. You know those movies where nothing really happens, no one story, no violence or sex... just a glimpse of life? Well, it was something like that. "New York I Love You" is one of those movies that make you love the little things in life.

Another interesting thing to watch: "No Impact Man: The Documentary" It's about a man and his family in New York who decides to try to live without creating any impact on the environment during one whole year... It's a little crazy to say the least, but sure makes you think.

Last of all, a photo of mine came out on a blog of some fellow photographer friends here in SP:

http://ciadefoto.com.br/blog/?paged=4

more later...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I don't know what happened to blogger, but I couldn't access any of it's blogs for days and days...

Well, January is here with it's terrible floods and torrential rain in Brazil.... Non-stop freezing cold and snow in most of Europe.....

The weather has gone mad everywhere... We screwed around so long that now we'll just have to get used to it and deal with the consequences!

I spent New Year's on a little piece of Paradise.... Unfortunately, at the same time, people not at all far off were suffering from the rain and sometimes even dying under avalanches of mud!

Still, I am deeply thankful for the wonderful days we had with a great group of people in an amazing place.

Our daily routine consisted of swimming in the sea... bathing in the waterfall, cooking , eating, and enjoying each other's company.