One of these weekends, our son spotted unique formations in sky. Husband was quick enough to get the camera and register the view through our window… The very peculiar sky over the city of La Paz, in the neighborhood of Achumani, place we’re calling home… ♥
Front & Back
Our Family’s ‘Happy Holidays’ Card
Image #20: 20 Days of a Joyful Christmas: Our Happy Holidays Card!
Image #18: 20 Days of a Cold Christmas: Christmas Stories at School
Unlike last year, when we spent Christmas surrounded by the tropical Brazilian weather; this year, we may have something ‘closer to a White Christmas’, considering we’re in La Paz, and at least, we may experience some cold weather… The season’s wardrobe isn’t packed with colorful light pieces, ‘havaianas‘, and sneakers, like last December… Bring out the boots and coats! Let’s get some warm wine out and sit down by the fireplace, where the kids will get their nighttime Christmas stories…
This year, the lights have been out for a while, tree is up and twinkling, we’ve got a yard instead of an apartment veranda, but it’s a bit too cold to be out at night, which is actually, great!
In order to celebrate our “non-tropical season of joy”, we’ve been sharing images that showcase how we’re seeing and enjoying this time of the year. Are we gonna get any snow?! Who knows… maybe!
Image #17: 20 Days of a Joyful Christmas: Anxiously waiting to see if they made it to Santa’s “Good List”… I guess they did!
Image #16: 20 Days of a Joyful Christmas: Mayan Calendar
Backstory: Our family’s got Portuguese, Spanish, English, French, Mexican, Native American [and who knows what else!] heritage. All into the very same pot… and due to work, we’re bound to the foreign service life(style). That said, we like to ‘collect things along the way’, as we travel, as we move from country to country. And funny enough, we do not not have ONE Mayan Calendar. We have THREE… We like the pieces, and I don’t think they’re any indication of the ‘end of an Era‘- let alone, the end of this world we call home…
And right now, since we were able to get our stuff/household effects from our last post, the calendars are mounted to the wall…. Next to an Elf Stocking (!) and a ‘twinkling plant’, surrounded by tiny colorful Xmas lights. As you may see, we’re a pretty eclectic family… We believe in Christmas Morning Magic, Santa, Elves… and everyone gets along just fine, around the Mayan predictions!
Now, go over for the quick explanation from NASA… Happy Solstice!
Image #15: 20 Days of a Joyful Christmas: Silently listening to Santa, while he reads a Christmas story…
Silent kids during “Breakfast with Santa? Surprising!
What wouldn’t one do to be on ‘his good list’?
Image #14: 20 Days of a Joyful Christmas: Holiday Cards are on their way… What about you?
Image #13: 20 Days of a Joyful Christmas: And this boy here sent only FOUR LETTERS TO SANTA! Hopefully, one of the 4 will make it to the North Pole with his long, long, wish list…
Twenty days until Christmas – through twenty images of joy… We’ll get a bit closer each day that goes by… Previous image here.
Image #12: 20 Days of a Joyful Christmas: Up with the holiday spirit! Crazy head day for school!
Twenty days until Christmas – through twenty images of joy… We’ll get a bit closer each day that goes by… Previous image here.
Image #11: 20 Days of a Joyful Christmas: Sweet Season!
Twenty days until Christmas – through twenty images of joy… We’ll get a bit closer each day that goes by… Previous image here.
Image #10: 20 Days of a Joyful Christmas: The Ballet Folklorico de Potosi, Bolivia.
Twenty days until Christmas – through twenty images of joy… We’ll get a bit closer each day that goes by… Previous image here.
Image #9: 20 Days of a Joyful Christmas: Not quite your regular ‘Elf on the shelf’… more like ‘a non-stop climbing pre-toddler’! Climbing on the half-desk… going up the stairs… just got caught, while, quietly, trying to move on… Oh, the perks of being a mother of 3 little ones! Who needs adult supervision, anyway?
Twenty days until Christmas – through twenty images of joy… We’ll get a bit closer each day that goes by… Previous image here.
my two boys after the match
Image #8: 20 Days of a Joyful Christmas: My two boys on a regular Saturday morning…
While many are still sleeping in, my boys head to the soccer field at the kids’ school… The ‘older one’ is the player, but my ‘youngest boy’ has to be there to support his dad… I couldn’t be any happier when looking at their faces… That’s a good wish for this 12.12.12: I’ve got 2 girls and 2 boys, and being able to witness their happiness is priceless… Today, I’m sharing the joy these boys bring to my life, through their shared passion: sports!
Twenty days until Christmas – through twenty images of joy… We’ll get a bit closer each day that goes by… Previous image here.
Image #7: 20 Days of a Joyful Christmas: Evergreen centerpiece.
There’s a bit of backstory to this branch of evergreen. It used to belong to a much larger tree, in front of the Radiation Treatment Facility here in La Paz. The tree has been trimmed to offer space for a canopy, where patients and patients-to-be would benefit from some much deserved shade, while waiting to be called into the facility. Several branches were cut down, and a few of the volunteers decided to take them home, using them as part of a unique Christmas decoration…
Two weeks later, one of the branches still exists as my dining table centerpiece… beautiful… a keepsake of a day of work, but most importantly, reminding us about how blessed we’ve been… There’ll be no holidays at a hospital facility for our family… we’ll spend these holidays together, as a family.. we’re all healthy and grateful…
Twenty days until Christmas – through twenty images of joy… We’ll get a bit closer each day that goes by… Previous image here.
Image #6: 20 Days of a Joyful Christmas: Literally driving among the clouds, outside the city of Nuestra Señora de La Paz… And we DID GO through this ride [or at least, the fab hubby did... all the driving!]. Here is the link for the complete Photo Essay!
Twenty days until Christmas – through twenty images of joy… We’ll get a bit closer each day that goes by… Previous image here.
Image #5: 20 Days of a Joyful Christmas: Joy after the Hail Showers…
Twenty days until Christmas – through twenty images of joy… We’ll get a bit closer each day that goes by… Are we gonna get any snow?! Who knows… maybe! Previous image here.
Image #4: 20 Days of a Joyful Christmas: Let it snow in school… if [natural] snow doesn’t fall down from the sky, the solution is… let’s make it! [nothing wrong with having fun with school-made artificial snow!]
Makes Fluffy Artificial Snow in Seconds!
Twenty days until Christmas – through twenty images of joy… We’ll get a bit closer each day that goes by… Are we gonna get any snow?! Who knows… maybe! Previous image here.
Image #3: 20 Days of a Joyful Christmas: Getting ready to enjoy the holiday season dinners, nights-out, get-togethers… That’s when you know you’re IN BOLIVIA… it’s possible to find PEPTO BISMOL [or any similar!] in a LADY’S PURSE… hummm, wonder why!
Let’s enjoy the holidays!
Twenty days until Christmas – through twenty images of joy… We’ll get a bit closer each day that goes by… Are we gonna get any snow?! Who knows… maybe! Previous image here.
Image #2: 20 Days of a Joyful Christmas: Hang on… we’re almost there… The family is ready!
In order to celebrate our “non-tropical season of joy”, we’ll continue to share images that showcase how we’re seeing and enjoying this time of the year. Today, a ‘snapshot of our family’… aren’t we the best looking family in town?!
Twenty days until Christmas – through twenty images of joy… We’ll get a bit closer each day that goes by… Are we gonna get any snow?! Who knows… maybe! Previous image here.
Unlike last year, when we spent Christmas surrounded by the tropical Brazilian weather; this year, we may have something ‘closer to a White Christmas’, considering we’re in La Paz, and at least, we may experience some cold weather… The season’s wardrobe isn’t packed with colorful light pieces, ‘havaianas‘, and sneakers, like last December… Bring out the boots and coats! Let’s get some warm wine out and sit down by the fireplace, where the kids will get their nighttime Christmas stories…
Image #1: 20 Days of a Cold Christmas: Could she wait for Xmas to be here?!
View from the Emperor’s Bridge and Old Town Recife
Dona Lindu
Sculpture from artist Abelardo da Hora, honoring the former Brazilian’s president, his mother (“D. Lindu) and siblings, facing the difficult decision of leaving the drought territory (Northeastern Brazil), trying for a better future in the Southern region of the Country… One of the several expressions of art, culture and tradition we’re able to find in Recife, Pernambuco, our current home…
Post Office building, with its respective collecting box - still in business!
Brooklyn wall telephone
Several options, different paths to choose from...
Searching for your own path...
A change in direction is always an opportunity to experience different things...
The experience...
Lonely Observer...
A new month has started. In three weeks we’ll say goodbye to Summer, and welcome Fall [or, the closest to it, since we're right below the Equator].
New hopes. New beginnings.
Taking time to enjoy the first sunrise of the month…
Capturing a very common, yet peaceful and characteristic moment among these friends… just another work day, just another day out in the sea… the boat ride… the fishing routine… and then, brining back the boat and the results for selling…. Just another day, like many days in their lives…
I thought it’d be a good way to start a new week: bringing to light the beauty of living with the recognition that there is good in every moment one experiences, and every incident one encounters, and to remind ourselves of the blessings life brings. Like this photo, for example – just a regular beach bungalow, right? But it’s got a smile to it! Life greets you, in the most strange ways – one only needs to be open for it and ready to look for beauty, anywhere… everywhere!
Capturing another very peaceful moment among these friends… particularly, I’m in love with the image textures!
Wait… it’s a bit more than a gigantic beer can on the side of the road… it’s a traffic engineering device… hiding not one, but two traffic-monitoring camera… very clever!
A very “shy” pair of cameras silently watch and monitor the street traffic…
Capturing a very peaceful moment among these two friends…
Other interpretations of “simple”
Finding time and peace of mind to enjoy life, despite the difficulties…
The peaceful waters contouring the 'natural swimming pools' are definitely a sight!
The comforting sound of water...
Details from the charming little villages in native Brazil...
peaceful view
family, first.
Who said that ‘work can’t be interesting‘? Just got a great counterexample of that!
Definitely not an unattractive day of work. And interesting. And fun. And, it’s during working hours! (Why some of us aren’t that lucky??) Not his first, and likely, won’t be his last experience on a helicopter. Husband got to do a flyover Recife, and the city’s surroundings, visiting sugar cane fields, sugar plants, and making sure he’d snap a few good shots of our coastline, and a few touristic sites, downtown. My “task“, as a committed partner, isn’t limited to listening to the descriptions and stories about the new places; but I’m also responsible for sharing the unique images coming out of these “little adventures”… in this case, the aerial photos. Hope I’m doing a decent job, despite the “almost-green-of-envy” look” on my face C’est la vie!
[now that I get to think, do need to change my work commute... it only involves a car ride, or simply walking!]
A few shots of a very familiar setting, displaying the “twin towers” of Boa Viagem, Recife
Downtown Recife:
Heading out to the beach:
Flying over the sugar cane fields:
We won’t be having a “white Christmas” this year… The warm northeastern region of Brazil has never experienced a snowfall. And this year will be no different. We’re in the tropics! That said, and like last year, we’ll get to enjoy a nice, sunny holiday season, with Christmas lights hanging from our apartment veranda, twinkling and reminding us that December is here….
In order to celebrate our “tropical season of joy”, we’ll be sharing images that showcase how we’re seeing and enjoying this time of the year. Twenty five days until Christmas – twenty five images: one a day…
There’ll be no “snowmen” or “gingerbread houses” – they’d likely melt! No charming heavy coats or boots – they’ll remain in the closet, waiting for the next visit home. The season wardrobe is packed with colorful light pieces, ‘havaianas‘, and sneakers… For a holiday celebration night? A nice long strapless dress (or a pair of khaki pants and short sleeve collar shirt), are a must-have!
Cheers to a new Christmas, when the white snow setting isn’t present, and instead, is replaced by warm colors, natural lights, blue skies and wavy waters kissing the sandy coastline…
Image #1: 25 Days of Tropical Christmas
Translating into English would be something like “It’s easy to talk about me, but it’s not easy being me“…
A few interpretations for the idea of hidden:
behind the door
under snow
bathing outside
behind the armchair
See what others have to show, for this week’s photo challenge!
My adventures as a 20-something expat in Barcelona, Spain
a peek into the realms of my twisted mind
#art #Caribbean #fashion #spanish #portuguese #reggae
Promoting Kindness, Offering Forgiveness & Sharing Gratitude
Museum of Documentary and Fiction
Adventures between cultures
brasileiro? latino? no speak americano?? click!
Photo Project: 52 Bolivian Sundays
good feedback!