Photo Fest!

A montage of photos for your Friday viewing pleasure!! I wish that I had cataloged how far along I was at each picture but I didn't :( I know that the pictures start off at 16 or 17 weeks and end at 32 weeks. I am also wishing that I would have worn the same outfit that way you could really tell how much I have grown!

 I should put this shirt on again and take a photo! It doesn't even cover half of my belly!

 Here I was at the point where I couldn't button my shorts anymore and had to use the belly band.

 Same thing here

I know this photo was right before I left to go home so maybe 5 1/2 months?

 This photo would have been taken after I returned from the US so about 6 1/2 months?

 31 weeks

 32 weeks

I figure since time is going so fast I should post these photos while I have time or I forget :)

Tchau,

Sara

Prego Brain

Lately I catch myself stumbling through the day. It's a wonder how I even get dressed in the morning let alone speak to anyone. I am constantly forgetting the task at hand only to move onto another task to soon be forgotten as well. I can't speak correctly or spell and I lose my train of thought during the middle of the conversation. 

Please forgive all the typos in my blogs. Trust me that they would look a lot worse if I didn't have spell check. 

Tonight Nate and I are going to a trivia dinner and I feel sorry who's team I am on. Maybe our group can get extra points if the prego answers any questions! I am sure will be happy to claim the special girl. As the saying goes- "you're so pretty" which is wrong on so many levels! To bad the saying is hilarious. For those of you who don't know the story behind it: When someone does something stupid or says something dumb- just tell them it's ok and that they are so pretty. 

Off for a much needed nap and maybe that will increase my brain functioning. 

Tchau,

Sara

Like and Dislike

My like and dislike for Brazil today.


Dislike

Being kept up all night by crazy soccer fans setting off fireworks for each goal scored and then honking their horns non-stop for an hour after the game. I promise you that every other week there is a new championship game or someone claiming it's the biggest game of the season. To me it just seems like they are handing out consolation trophy's. When you have that many championship games to be won it's like giving credit to all the crappy teams.... I don't believe in that kind of false spirit raising. Your good or your not but find something you are good at or work harder.

Like

This morning, with bags under my eyes, walking to the fruit stand and paying USD $0.60 for four oranges and three bananas. Brazil gets a lot of crap for being expensive but one thing that makes up for it is the low cost of fruits and veggies. With all the exotic fruits available I fear I have become spoiled. Nate's in trouble when we get back to the US and I want fresh papaya's at 4$ a piece of fruit... yep that's the going rate the last time I was in town at my mom's grocery store. At least you can get them in poke town though :)

Tchau,
Sara

PS- I miss peanut butter (I am out) and the other day I wanted a little debbie snack cake (anyone of them would do). I guess now the cravings kick in?

Natural Born Citizen

There is some confusion about the term and who qualifies to be considered a natural born citizen. Since the 14th Amendment was written, the definition of a natural born citizen has raised several opinions and questions.

Some have said that a natural born citizen is one that is born on American soil. Others have said that when born outside American soil that blood line is also a definition for natural born citizen. Then questions over military bases being American soil brought new confusion to the situation. Also the territories which the US occupies as well as the situation Nate and I are in right now.

Basically what it boils down to is that there has not been a case in court to define the meaning of natural born citizen. None of the above questions have been answered because we have not had an elected President born outside the US. With that being said, the vote can swing either way in her eligibility to be the President.


Wikipedia link below has tons of information with links to references and previous court cases without definition of 'natural born citizen'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_born_citizen_clause_of_the_U.S._Constitution


The link below references what most constitutional scholars interpret the definition of 'natural born citizen' as:
        Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution specifies that, to be President or Vice President, a person must be a natural-born citizen of the United States, at least 35 years of age, and a resident of the United States for at least 14 years.1 Most constitutional scholars interpret this language as including citizens born outside the United States to parents who are U.S. citizens under the “natural born” requirement.
http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30527.pdf

This link below claims to fill in the gaps left by the 14th amendment by listing those who are eligible for citizenship on birth and somewhat defining 'natural born citizen'. Title 8 Section 1401 of the US Code states that anyone born outside the United States, both of whose parents are citizens of the U.S., as long as one parent has lived in the U.S.
http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_citi.html

Lots of food for thought today :) I still believe that she will be considered 'natural born' because upon her birth she is considered a US citizen.... how is that not a natural born citizen?

Tchau,
Sara

Fire Fighters on Strike in Rio

The fire fighters (first responders, life guards, firefighters) in Rio are on strike for better wages and benefits including transportation. Right now their current salary of 950R a month, equivalent to 600$, is the worst paid employees in Brazil. They are asking for and increase to 2000R a month, about 1200$.

This past Friday what set out to be a peaceful demonstration strike turned into tear gas, rubber bullets and flash grenades. Women and children were caught in the mix and a total of 439 men were arrested on charges of political disruption, impeding emergency response and one other that I can't remember. These men were taken into custody by the military police and held without food and water for 24hrs, until transferred to another facility out of the city where they are still being held without representation.

The information above was given to me by a friend, who's friend (a Macae lifeguard) escaped the arrests. Two of our Macae lifeguards are currently being held by the military police and facing 2 to 10 years in jail. The governor of Rio calls these men vandals and claims that he doesn't negotiate with vandals.

I think this is just sad that a city cannot provide more for these men. How are they supposed to live on a salary like that? I really hope that this news gets picked up by other countries that way the city of Rio will have to take action or face international scrutiny. This is one of the reasons why I am even discussing this on the blog.

I found only one story in English on a fire fighter website.

Story in English

Below is a youtube video news story but some good footage.




Tchau,
Sara

32 week photo

Here I am wearing one of the shirts I wore a ton when I first found out I was pregnant! Take a moment to look at my eyes though... Dark circles and bags. I cannot imagine having to work and be pregnant so I give tons of credit to all the mom who have. I guess with the increase bathroom trips at night and only being able to sleep in two different positions (if she let's me) have left me dragging during the day. Well off for my hour walk!

Tchau
Sara

8 months?

Wow. I think I say this every week- where is all the time going? Last night I looked at Nate and said, "Can you believe that I am pregnant?" Little moments like this really make me step back and be thankful for all the entire situation. Not for one minute do I take for granted how blessed we have been. To get pregnant in the first place is a miracle in itself and now to have been pregnant for 8 months makes my heart melt.

I can't help but feel guilty for how great things turned out up to this point. I have watched so many people suffer through miscarriages, infertility, and death of a new born. Sometimes it's just hard for me to accept that people do have success and happy endings with pregnancy. Though we are not out of the woods yet I just want everyone to know that I am loving the gift of life inside me.

I cannot wait to meet her and hold her in my arms and watch Nate's reaction to how little he thinks she is :) Recently all my dreams focus on the positivity. Of course there are moments of fear but family steps in to help out. My dream last night I woke up thinking I forgot to feed the baby but family was staying with us and they let me sleep while they fed her for me. Although not an ideal situation, it makes me feel loved that I am not alone in this no matter how far away I am!

Even though it was just a dream I thank everyone for being there for both of us. We love you all!!!

Tchau,
Sara

Lint trap?

Just found the lint trap to our crappy dryer that we have had a year now! Good thing I have used it less than 20 times. Maybe that's why it sucked so bad? I guess I will have give it another chance to prove itself!

Pictures above are of the lint I took out of the trap, the dryer, the inside of the dryer, close up of the lint trap located at the back wall of the inside of the dryer. Random much?

Belle's Rights

Recently questions surrounding Belle's rights being born in another country have come into conversation. Here is what we know to be true.

She will be born in Brazil and given a Brazilian birth certificate at the hospital once Nate and I provide them with our marriage certificate and other documentation. Once we have this birth certificate, which we leave the hospital with, then we pass it along to someone who does all the rest of the paperwork for us!!

This lady, who will be working for us, informed Nate that once she has the Brazilian birth certificate she will obtain the following for Belle: a USA birth certificate, a SSN# from the USA, a USA Passport, a Brazilian Passport, a CPF (brazilian SSN), and any other documentation needed. 

Belle will be considered a Natural born US citizen immediately and a Brazilian citizen immediately. Many of you may be thinking that the US doesn't allow dual citizenships. This is true, I believe, if you are already a US citizen applying for another country's citizenship. For example, if I try to become a Brazilian citizen I would have to relinquish my US citizenship. This does not apply for citizens of Brazil applying for US citizenship or some other country's in the world. 

Belle automatically becomes a natural born US citizen. Why and how? This happens not only for military families living overseas but for all citizens of the US. There must be at least one parent of the new born child that is a US citizen to claim US citizenship for said child. Yes, she can run for president if she wants to.

Belle automatically becomes a Brazilian citizen. Why and how? The same thing that happens in the US when a child is born on her soil. By Belle being born here she is granted automatic citizenship. Nate and I can chose to give up her citizenship or keep it but it will always be there if in the future she wanted it. We have chose to keep it and follow up with all the paperwork necessary because of the story below and other beneficial reasons for her.

We have friends right now that gave up in the process and it's now hurting their son at 18 years old. He grew up in the US  but was born in Brazil. Now at 18 he wants to travel to Brazil but during an investigation to obtain his proper documentation they found out that Brazil illegally issued their sons passport to a random person. The family has hired a Brazilian lawyer that told them this happens often to families who do not claim their citizenship before 18 years of age. Right now it they have to track down the person using their sons identity, who knows if he did anything illegal, and clear the record. I don't ever want to have to go through this.... ever!

Along with Belle's rights then Nate and I will get some rights as well. We both, after investigation, become Permanent residents of Brazil. To meet this requirement the government will send officials to periodically check our home and living status. Once approved we can trade in our temporary resident visas for permanent visas. This all happens within our USA passport. 

That's about all I know. Of course as we find out more information we will keep you updated!!

Tchau,

Sara

Crazy Cabbie

I filled yesterday with a trip to the spa to get my nails done and then met a friend for lunch. I even managed to stumble upon a maternity store and bought two pair of maternity shorts- pictures later! I also managed to buy a pair of shoes.... shhhhh :)

I've said it before and I will say it again. Some days Portuguese isn't a problem at all and everything falls into place. The heavens open and you feel great about yourself and Brazil because you are invincible. Until the cabbie and I met.

After an entire day full of successful conversations and zero miscommunications I felt pretty confident stepping into the cab for the ride home. Instead of just getting into the cab and making a request to go home then quietly playing with my phone I started up a conversation.

We talked about the difference in Macae and Rio, my husband and his job, my friends and family, directions to get to our random hotel, a wreck that happened on the road, religion involving names in the bible, Belle, my doctor and hospital and the list goes on. We didn't stop talking the entire 25min ride home. During these topics he lectured me on how terrible my Portuguese was and that I should be fluent by now (he should meet my husband :)) He told me about his friends that have been here for two years and have no problems at all. Of course they are single and have Brazilian lovers- Don't think Nate would go for that at all.

I laughed inside my head and the bashing overflowed into me needing more friends and more trips to the spa. He said it was obvious that I didn't talk to my maid ever... I do and he said not enough then! Then he continued to give me a Portuguese lesson telling me to be more expressive and to use more inflection in my voice while we practiced words.

Honestly he was the nicest man ever but seriously. I understood everything he was saying and had an answer for it all. I look back and I feel proud to be this far in Portuguese. Most of the time I have problems hearing what people are saying but I don't really have a problem speaking.... random. Plus I agreed with everything he said. I do need more Brazilian friends and I do need to go to the spa more! Right now the Brazilian friends that I have speak such great English it would be a crime speak Portuguese in front of them.

In lieu of what the crazy cabbie said to me I decided to count up the months that I have actually spent in Brazil minus all of our vacations and trips home. As of right now we have called Brazil home for 18 months but I have only been in the country for 11 months. That's less than a year and consecutively the longest stint I have done is four months. Of course that's not an excuse but I know that I have come far and continue to get better everyday.

Now with Belle on the way I know I will make leaps and bounds in my language skills plus I won't be  going home for awhile. It will be the longest period of time that I spend here clocking in at 8 months! Anyway, I feel nothing but content when I think of my life here and I will continue on as I have been. The cabbie didn't hurt my feelings because he was speaking the truth, if Portuguese was my main goal in living here.

Ahhh the convos I get myself into.  To bad he doesn't live in Macae and I could hire him as a teacher!

Now off to dinner with some more friends!

Tchau,
Sara