Workin’ Girl

Posted in Brazil by

Well, I am happy to report that a MIRACLE has occurred and I got a job in Brazil!  A super sweet job that I am super excited about.  Let me tell you all about it…from the beginning…

Back in April, some of Michael’s family (Sharon, Ollie, Lise and Shannon) came to visit us in Brazil.  Very soon after the visit, Shannon, who at the time was working for a family foundation, attended a conference in LA.  At the end of the conference, Shannon randomly shared a cab to the airport with a fabulous Brazilian woman named Helena.  Shannon told her about her recent visit to São Paulo and about her family living in Brazil, and Helena told her about the non-profit that she ran in Brazil.  So Shannon, being the amazing person that she is, connected the two of us.

Fast forward to late October when I heard from Helena that they were looking to hire someone!  Preferably someone who could work as a consultant out of the US because although the only office is in São Paulo, the company is a US non-profit for tax and infrastructure reasons.  (Translation: no work-visa problems for me!)  So, I interviewed, I was hired and I started on Wednesday working for WINGS! 

WINGS is a non-profit organization that works to strengthen philanthropy and a culture of giving worldwide through mutual learning and support, knowledge-sharing and professional development.  It’s a little hard to explain, but basically there are foundations that give money away to non-profits and other causes/organizations.  Then, in most countries there are associations that organize and connect these foundations so that they can learn from each other, collaborate, etc.  So WINGS brings together these associations of foundations from all over the world to promote smart, efficient philanthropy and to look for ways these organizations can work together to solve global issues.  Pretty cool right?  And every 4 years WINGS hosts a conference where all of these organizations can connect in person.  This conference is called WINGSForum and the next one will be in the Spring of 2014 in Istanbul, Turkey.  And among other things, the focus of my job is to help plan this conference!  

The WINGS office is about a 20 minute walk from our apartment and I work with two other Brazilian women, Helena and Ana.  We share the office space with two more Brazilian women so it’s a really fun work environment.  Because the work is international, the working language is English, however since everyone else is Brazilian, the spoken language in the office is Portuguese which is like a DREAM for me.  I am really hoping that this will help me improve my Portuguese.  I’ve just started on a part-time basis, working Monday – Thursday from 10-5 which has made it a nice, easy, perfect transition.

Anyway, all in all it has felt like a total miracle + dream come true.  When we moved here, I knew that this is where God was calling us to be and it was so clear with Michael’s career that this was the right thing.  However I always struggled with what the move meant for my career.  And now I feel like I can’t imagine anything better for me.  I am really excited about so many aspects of the job — all that I am going to learn about the sector from a global perspective, the amazing people all over the word with whom I get to work, the great work environment here… everything.  Such a blessing.

SO…that was a long-winded and overly detailed way of saying that after 9 months I finally have a job & I’m pumped!  🙂  Woohoo!!

Here & There – Pictures

Posted in Brazil, Friends by

No major updates — just a few random photos from the past month or so!

Michael at BOS*BBQ

Celebrating April’s birthday — photo by Jana.

Homemade tortilla chips & guac!

Fun Saturday — friends, beers and coxinhas at Bar Veloso!  — w/ Joey!

São Paulo easily has the best sushi I’ve ever had.  –At Temakeria e Cia.

Group dinner at Tordesilhas (yum!) followed by jazz at Nos Fundos.

Michael hanging out w/ his boy, Neymar, at the Congonhas airport. NBD.

Double date with Trent & Paige at D’Olivino!

Ridiculous flowers from Michael in celebration of two & a half amazing years of marriage!

The 7 Month Slump

Posted in Brazil, Reflect by

Generally, I’m a pretty positive person.  And I’m going to go ahead and pat myself on the back for having been pretty cool about this whole moving to Brazil thing.  I think I’ve handled it really well.  And for the most part – for the first 7 months – it wasn’t THAT tough because I was genuinely happy and super excited to be here.  It was a decision that Michael and I made together, after careful thought and much prayer.  It was an opportunity that Michael worked many long hours to make happen.  And it was an adventure.  For us.  Together.  And I love a good adventure!

Then came 7 months.  The 7 Month Slump.  Suddenly – and it was literally overnight – I started getting frustrated so easily by the big and the little things about life in Brazil.  The streets are dirty, people are always smoking, the air is terribly polluted, it smells bad, everything is extremely overpriced, our apartment layout is weird, I don’t have a real job, things never work right, everything is ten times more difficult and more bureaucratic than it should be, the internet is always kicking me offline, I’m living permanently without a microwave, a dryer & a disposal, my oven is too small to fit a regular cookie sheet and my dishwasher, well, you can see what I am working with here, I miss my friends and family from home and sometimes Portuguese really gets on my nerves.  UGH.

I love that this graph is called the “Happy Meter” and that it describes the slump as “Hostility” which I think is pretty accurate.

Poor Michael — for a couple of weeks every little thing about Brazil and our life here was getting to me.  I just didn’t feel relaxed — it was almost like I was waiting for something to happen (like for us to MOVE) but there was nothing to wait for.  We were not moving and this country was not changing.

Throughout life we are called, over and over, to make the choice to persevere in love through difficulty and challenges.  Just because something is hard – be it a job, a marriage, children, friendships, pursuing a dream – it doesn’t mean that you’re doing it wrong or even that you necessarily need to change anything.  Sometimes things are hard because you’re doing them RIGHT.  I mean, some things are just tough.  So although it was a challenge, it was also an opportunity to practice choosing joy and making the best of something that I wasn’t FEELING that great about.

We have now been in Brazil for over 8 months and I can confidently say that I am the happiest here yet and there is nowhere else I would rather be.  I know that it’s not always this quick and easy to “bounce back” from something and I know that this challenge was small compared to all of the problems out there – and for that I am truly thankful! – but for me it was a good reminder that love and joy are not always feelings but are often choices made in opposition to our feelings.  The hope is that these choices eventually do lead to a change of heart and renewed feelings, but that is not the goal.  The goal is to be obedient to God’s call on our lives.

Anyway, I know that all of this is a normal part of adjusting to life in a new country, and somehow, after coming out of it, I feel much more settled here.  More content.  More permanent.  More at home.

Desperate Times

Posted in Brazil, Friends by

Call for desperate measures.

Not sure if you’re aware, but last night was kiiiind of a major night in television for the Harpers.  First, we had the Giants playing, at home, in Game 7 of the National League Championship (where our old apartment building was frequently featured on TV!) AND the final presidential debate.  Currently, Brazil is 2 hours ahead of EST which meant that the debate was on from 11-12:30.  Although our preferred bedtime is more like… 10:30 (don’t judge) we persevered.

Just as the Giants locked up the win to head to the WORLD SERIES! (woop woop) and we turned our attention 100% to the debate, our TV and internet inexplicably stopped working.  We freaked out.  We were frantically unplugging, replugging, pressing buttons… to no avail.  Foiled again by this crazy country!!  

Thankfully we have friends down here – Trent & Paige – who we knew were also watching the debate.  They actually don’t even own a TV (which is totally ridiculous but not totally relevant at this point) but they were watching it through YouTube.  So, we called them and listened to the last 40 minutes of the debate through speakerphone.  People.  THIS is how dedicated we are. 

Countryside Getaway

Posted in Brazil, Friends, Travels by

Last weekend there was yet another glorious Brazilian holiday.  I’m not exactly sure what this holiday is for but I have heard rumblings that it is in celebration of the Virgin Mary as the Patron Saint of Brazil, whatever that means.  Regardless, for me, it was a sweet escape from the city to spend a weekend laying in hammocks, eating amazing food, snuggling with puppies and hanging out with friends.

One of our friends down here has been working tirelessly updating, renovating, furnishing and building on an incredible property in the countryside of São Paulo.  His family purchased a gorgeous estate and he has been working hard to make it absolutely out-of-this-world.  Because it is a personal property I don’t want to overshare photos of every single room, but trust me…it was unreal.  Michael and I both said that we had never been anywhere like it.

Here are some snapshots of the weekend that included 14 friends, lots of incredible home-cooking, a boys’ golfing trip, silly pool-games, little hikes around the property, and lots of lazy fun.

The most epic breakfast sandwiches (thank you Trent) at the most epic table (thank you Kenneth)

Relaxation is spelled H-A-M-M-O-C-K.

Beauty.

So many animals!

Hiking scenery.

The perfect knife + the perfect toss = the perfect slice.

Paige, aka Master Chef, with quite the braid of mozzarella.

The kitchen is always the gathering spot.

Homemade brick oven pizzas!

In the breakfast nook.

Brian crushing his first experience getting iced.

Michael’s golf swing — also known as silkybutterysmooth.

And tell me.  What could possibly be better than ending the weekend with a bunch of brand new, cuddly PUPPIES?!?!

So much love!

Shivers, the runt! Our fav.

**Photo credits to Divya & Paige!  Thanks girls!**

My first-ever DIY!

Posted in Home / Design by

Michael moved from Washington DC to San Francisco during the fall of 2009.  He shipped the little amount of furniture that he had in DC, and then drove a U-Haul from Phoenix to SF, bringing some new items from home.  One of the new items was actually not new at all, just new for him.  Michael’s mom had a great set of bookshelves that originally belonged to his great aunt that she gave him to bring.  We thoroughly enjoyed the bookshelves while living in SF, however it felt like it was time to give them a little facelift before we hauled them all the way to Brazil.  So… before we left San Francisco, while Michael was traveling for work, I attempted my very first-ever DIY project and painted them!  (Of course we agreed on this before he left.)

Some people are naturally artistic, crafty, and love doing projects like this.  I, however, was terrified.  I had never done anything like this before and was scared to death of ruining this antique, family heirloom.  That being said, I was inspired by photos online and especially by my dear friend, Emily Penn, and all of her DIY furniture makeover successes.  Emily introduced me to Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint which allows you to paint directly on literally any surface without having to sand, prep or prime the area first.  This was MAJOR for me as I never could have managed all of those additional steps.  This chalk paint is only sold in select locations so I drove an hour South to San Jose and picked up my supplies at Magpie!  The ladies there were very helpful and gave me some pointers before I headed out.  One more stop at Lowe’s to get a couple of brushes, tape and a painter’s tarp for the floor, and I was ready!

That evening I started the preparation process and moved everything off the shelves.  I pulled them away from the walls and laid down my tarp on the floor.  I got it alllllll ready but I was too scared to open the paint, so I decided I to wait until the next day.

        

PART of the MESS….

The next morning I woke up feeling super nervous.  I made coffee and tried to procrastinate, but since the place was such a disaster, I knew I had to just start the painting!  Here is how it went…

          

At the point of the photos above, I was absolutely petrified that I was effectively ruining this furniture beyond repair.  The first coat went on streaky and uneven and the wood was showing through quite a bit.  I was crossing my fingers that the second coat would be the difference, and it was huge!  I actually could have used some more in certain areas, but I ran out of the white (which says a lot for the size of these shelves — I had been told that this paint “goes on and on forever.”)  I debated going back to the store for more, and had it been just down the street, I probably would have, but at this point I just wanted the shelves to be DONE as soon as possible!  (And in reality, I will probably re-paint these in a few years something totally different.)  Anyway, after the white I wanted to paint the backs black to give it a little more of a modern look / some visual interest.

         

After the painting you rub on some wax and then buff it to finish it off (which, to be honest, I didn’t really do because I am lazy).  In the end, I am SO glad that I went for it.  I think they look great (enough) and are a much better fit with our furniture — especially given our apartment layout in Brazil.  I learned a lot and am excited about doing more projects in the future.  🙂  Side Note:  Still trying to figure out the hardware situation.  I painted all of the original hardware black but one of the knobs broke (hence the missing knob above) so… still a work in progress.  🙂

What do you think?!?!