Thirty-one years ago today we first arrived in Brazil. We came with only three suitcases and ten small boxes, to start our life in this country. My, how things have changed since then. But we've just kept going and going and going...
The other day, I looked out the window and couldn't believe it when I saw a yellow school bus going down the street. Now, in the states these are common, but they are totally "foreign" down here. I don't know who owns it and haven't found out what it's doing here, but there it was with "School Bus" written in English on the side - kind of a touch of the states in Bauru.
The repaving was interesting to watch from our sixteenth floor perch though.
They have finished up in our neighborhood. I imagine that the city figures that with as "holey" as the streets are, no one would complain how or when they were repaved. And it is a nice smooth ride to church now (once off our cobblestone street).
And if the traffic noise isn't enough, it is also national election time, so the candidates have sound trucks driving around town with loud music and someone announcing why you should vote for that candidate.
It's been my turn to see doctors and have exams these past couple weeks. Thankfully, the clinics and laboratories have been within walking distance - one nice thing with having two large hospitals within blocks of our apartment - because the city has been repaving streets around our neighborhood, and rather than doing it at night with little traffic, they do it during the day with heavy traffic,
Anyway, the street behind us is a four-lane heavily traveled main thoroughfare. So it was closed down for repaving for three days, and all traffic - cars, buses, trucks...you name it - was redirected down our little one-way cobblestone street. What confusion just trying to get out or get back home!
The repaving was interesting to watch from our sixteenth floor perch though.
They have finished up in our neighborhood. I imagine that the city figures that with as "holey" as the streets are, no one would complain how or when they were repaved. And it is a nice smooth ride to church now (once off our cobblestone street).
And if the traffic noise isn't enough, it is also national election time, so the candidates have sound trucks driving around town with loud music and someone announcing why you should vote for that candidate. With all the progress we've seen in Brazil over the years, some things still seem third-world.
1 comment:
I was wondering where you were. You haven't blogged in a long time! Just think - you won't have to deal with all that down there (the repaving that is) for much longer. Just months of it up here! It is still going on. Also the candidates don't do that here, we just have to hear about the Tea Party candidates nonstop on the TV for the next few months. Ahh, all the things you have to look forward too!
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