Recife Trip: Success

We are home after an eventful trip to Recife, but before all the details, here is a quick rundown of our itinerary for the trip:

1. Sunday the 23rd, at 10:15 AM 10:55 AM:Leave for the bus station.
2. 12:30 PM: Bus leaves for Recife.
3. Monday the 24th, at 6:15 AM arrive in Recife.
4. 1:30 PM: Arrive at US Consulate.
5. 2:30 or 3:00 PM Leave US Consulate.
6. 7:15 PM: Bus leaves Recife for Teresina (with us aboard).
7. Tuesday the 25th, noon: Arrive in Teresina.

Does that look grueling enough? It was more than enough for me. I am still recovering!

It is a fairly common thing among Evangelicals when traveling to ask for hospitality and give it in turn. So we thought we would try to save on the hotel that way. On the advice of our pastor here (who had tried to find other arrangements for us ahead of time, as one needs the commendation of a pastor) we asked to be taken to this Baptist Church/Seminary, but ended up at a slightly different church.

We walked in at about 7:15 AM, and to my wonder there was a service going on. On the way to the church from the bus garage Kylie had put her diaper to good use, so we were really in need of somewhere we could change her quickly. Nádya asked someone sitting in the back who the pastor was.

I went down front to where he was sitting, and asked him if we could talk outside for a moment (the music was playing so loud that it was difficult to communicate). It turns out that he was not the pastor—in fact, he did not even go to that church!

He is a missionary from the United States. He was also kind enough to invite us to his home and rest there. It was a beautiful apartment with a wonderful view of the city—which is drastically different from Teresina, and far more beautiful. They were very gracious in offering their home, taking us to lunch, and even offering s'mores (marshmallows are impossible to find). They even dropped us off at the consulate!

At the consulate we were treated very cordially (in stark contrast to last time), and all the applications, forms, and other documents were accepted. I did need two more documents for Kylie's registration, but those can be emailed when I get them. So, it was a successful trip.

I have already had a couple people ask me when we were coming home since the trip was successful. We don't know. This is the first step in the process, now we wait to be called for our big interview in Rio de Janeiro. There will also be some more documents to get for that, as I recall, but hopefully they will inform us what we need to do before we get there. They say they will.

Now we just wait.

[More panoramas of Recife here, and other photos of the trip are coming.]

[composed and posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: eventful trip, bus station, missionary, commendation, recife, cordially, marshmallows, drastically, baptist church, Our Activities, Our Story, leaves, rundown, itinerary, bus garage, s'mores, Teresina, evangelicals, stark contrast, kylie, grueling

Will Travel For Visa

The ink is dried. The writer's cramp is still wearing off my hand. The paper cuts are beginning to heal. The forms are all tucked safely in a nice folder with our passports and work-permits. We even have the bus tickets.

Recife here we come!



We are heading to Recife via bus this Sunday at noon so that we can do two things at the US Consulate:

1. Register Kylie as a citizen of the United States of America.
2. Apply for Nádya's immigration visa.

This is the first step in getting moved to the US. If all goes well the process will take about six months, and who knows, maybe less (okay, so that is not to likely).

It will be a seventeen or eighteen hour bus ride on two-lane roads with a two-month-old. Want to sit behind us?

Very long-time readers may remember that we have made the trip to Recife before. It did not turn out the way we hoped. The rules have changed now, and are a good deal clearer now (at least, so it seems to me). The Consulate even seems to be more ready to answer questions than before.

Other News:

Following are some posts you may have missed if you are not signed up to the email subscription to Karl and Nádya's Blog*:

• Kylie recently turned two months old there is a post about that called: Two Months With Kylie
• We had a beautiful rainbow the other day: Teresina Rainbow
• I also posted a story about burning saltwater that you should read.

*This is a different list than many of you are already on, but still managed by me—I am in the process of trying to switch you over to this list, but you have to sign up for yourselves.

[composed and posted with ecto]

Technorati Tags: passports, six months, work permits, kylie, immigration visa, bus ride, teresina, united states of america, Our Activities, Our Story, bus tickets, recife, feedburner

How We Celebrated Thanksgiving

In Portuguese our word "Thanksgiving" is usually translated to "Ação de Graça." While it is not celebrated at large in Brazil, there is at least one city where it is a local holiday. Recife, according to the Brazilian version of Wikipedia, celebrates this day because there are so many of American heritage there. Its mostly just another day in Teresina. We decided to have a simple meal to celebrate.

Allan, Hérika, and Yluska came over to join us for dinner on Friday evening. We had barbecued chicken, and mashed potatoes with soda (pop/whatever you call it—that fizzy sugary drink).

No, we didn't have all the trimmings, but it was a very thankful time; we each shared a few things that we were thankful for. It felt good to do that, sort of like I was at home.

Anyway, it was a really good evening. I am thankful it happened. :D

How was your Thanksgiving? Any interesting stories you care to divulge?

Technorati Tags: barbecued chicken, fizzy, soda pop, mashed potatoes, portuguese, brazil, thanksgiving, trimmings, wikipedia, friday evening, american heritage, recife, brazilian version, divulge, Brazil, Family, family and friends, family gatherings, family members, Life In Brazil, Living Outside the US

The Latest

Well... I suppose I should apologize for letting the dust collect on this site the past couple of weeks. We got our internet connection back, but I have been to interested in other things to take the time to write.
We took a bus to Recife on the 19th of September. The purpose of this trip was to get Nádya's visa process started. It was a 17 hour bus ride which left at 8 PM. Bus here is the most affordable way to travel, and most of the buses are well-equipped for long trips. We decided to spend an extra R$15 each to get the more comfortable seats on this trip, and we were glad we did. I have never seen a bus this big. It had two axles in the back, and two in the front. On this bus the better seats are in the bottom I think so that there is less side-to-side motion when the bus goes over bumps. I slept very well that night. I think Nádya did not sleep as well as I, but still slept.

About 2 hours from our destination that bus had mechanical issues (it appeared to be a U-joint, or some similar thing), so we had to wait for another bus to come get us, and take us the rest of the way. That bus was considerably less posh (for us anyway), but we were grateful for the air conditioning.

The next morning we went to the Consulate in Recife. We were told that we should come back at 1 PM to do our business. So, we waited around in a park and enjoyed the much cooler climate of a coastal city. I had (what they called) a hamburger for lunch at the delicatessen and Nádya had rice and beans (other things too, but its not a meal unless it has rice and beans).

When we returned to the Consulate, we were ushered through the security stuff, and into the office. Well, it was more of a window type thing. We spoke with a very polite Brazilian man who was an assistant to the Vice Consul, he told us that he thought we might not be able to apply that day. He then said that we could speak with the Vice Consul, as it was my right as a US Citizen. I thought it couldn't hurt, so I said yes.

The woman who came to the window had these huge eyes and she said “Do you live here, yes or no?” See, in order to apply for a spouse's visa here, one must have residency here. I have the card, and was told that once I had this it would be okay to apply here. I was so astounded by the abrupt manner in which I was treated that I barely had words (well, I had some...). I stammered around a bit, but I think the best I managed was something like “Yes, I think so.” She then repeated herself “DO YOU LIVE HERE OR NOT? YES OR NO! YOU DECIDE. I don't think you do.” And with that she turned and left. The polite guy came back a moment later and we asked him a few more questions and left.

I have written a letter to the ambassador here in Brazil, and am working on sending copies to some other government officials, regarding this issue. I have never been so frustrated as to write a letter before. I can't believe that anyone would treat anyone like that.

That same evening we caught a bus back to Teresina.

So, it looks like we won't be coming to the States much sooner than early spring. They told us to come back in December to try again. Joy. If all goes well then, we might be back in March.

In the meantime, at home, my brother Nathan has returned safely from his tour with the Marines in Iraq. He is excited to be home, and is planning a wedding for spring. They want to wait until we return. Also, my parents are planning a move to Idaho in order to be closer to my grandparents, and possibly save some money.

I also have some pictures to post of the Independence Day parade here. I don't feel like posting them today though.

Technorati Tags: Love, Observations On Life, Our Activities, Our Story

Internet Problems

We have temporarily lost our internet connection at the house, so when it is back up I will write more.

We are planning a trip to Recife next week to start the visa process. Your prayers are appreciated!!