“No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one.” ― Elbert Hubbard

I arrived from Brazil on Saturday.  M went straight to Florida.  We were together 24/7, and just got along beautifully.  We miss each other.  He will be coming to NY on July 4^th.  I am swamped at work, specially at the end of the month.  My assistant is still out.  So he is giving me space to catch up with work.

He is the one! Yes, I am announcing it to whoever care to listen! I am being extremely bold when I say this is forever.  It feels like forever.  I am going to enjoy this “forever” for as long as it lasts.

My family, like the majority of Brazilians, are very welcoming.  Everyone embraced him right away.  It helps that he is an extremely loveable creature.  He is kind and unassuming, always trying to help others.  I love his generous heart!  My family truly loved him and welcomed him as part of the family.

I had warned him that this would be a work trip.  At times he hinted at wanting to go surfing, etc, but there was no way I could make that work this time.  The beach he wants to go to is very far from my town.  He is now floating the idea of renting a house there for a month this summer.  At this point, I feel I am tied to NY, at least for the next few months.  But I am remaining open minded.

As I mentioned prior, while in Brazil, we painted, cleaned, shopped, did Pilates, spent time with friends and ate.  I ate like the world was coming to an end.  Unfortunately, I have several extra pounds to show for it.

M is vegetarian and stays away from sugar and carbs.  That is, until he met me.  He is not fanatical about his diet, so in Brazil, to be polite, he indulged.  He probably ate more sugar and carbs in 3 weeks than he did his whole life prior.

I normally don’t overindulge in Brazil, but with the excuse of having him try different treats, I did. I figure that in future trips we will tone it down.  There were 3 meals that we did as a family.  Breakfast, lunch and afternoon coffee.  Dinner was just a snack, unless we were meeting friends out.  Those times around the table with my family and friends (there are always a friend or two stopping by) are precious.

We had dinner out with friends 4 times.  We had so much yummy food.  I will be posting about them in following posts. The food in Brazil is unbelievable! Well, I am biased.

We also managed to take a couple of day trips to the town where my sister used to reside and still has an apartment – Poços de Caldas, in the state of Minas Gerais.  We took the cable car to Cristo Redentor (Christ, The Redeemer).  Every town in Brazil has the statue of Christ.  The most famous one is in Rio de Janeiro. 

Unfortunately, the day that we were visiting it, it was a foggy day. They are renovating the area, and there are ziplines, bars and other attractions, but on this foggy day nothing could be seen.

We also took a couple of day trips to the countryside, including to the Pico do Gaviāo (Hawk’s Peak)– It is a mountainous area famous for paragliding.  Gorgeous!

I will write more about our trip to Brazil as time permits.  In the end, M loved Brazil and Brazil loved M.  If anything, this trip made us see that we do belong together. 😊

“Pursue what catches your heart, not what catches your eyes.” ― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart