By Cesar’s family’s description, we were going to the Brazilian equivalent of New York and would live in nothing short of a castle situated just shy of three hours from the farm. Cesar and I would have a whole separate sort of guest house situated behind the huge mansion. So… imagine my surprise when (five hours later) I’m driving through the streets and see run-down wood shacks and piles of garbage. Imagine my shock when we pull in to a nice, but humble house (which is costing my mother-in-law R$1,000 a month). It is an enclosed area as opposed to the previous open area filled with ruins and glass, so that’s good for Audrey, though it’s also filled with random steps up and down so we really either need to close her in the house or our room. The “yard” is basically just rocks, which looks nice, but isn’t great for toddlers. The space is a downgrade by a lot. There are three rooms in the house and we have a small room that’s basically connected by an outdoor hallway. Cesar’s mom’s room has a window that is a small distance from our window, so you can imagine the privacy or lack thereof. We also no longer have our own bathroom. There is a bathroom that is connected by a wall, but the entrance is outside and it’s pretty much for everyone whose room doesn’t have a bathroom (Cesar’s mom has her own bathroom, and one of the other rooms also has a connected half bath). The final count of people inside this humble abode is 8 adults and 3 little people ;) The electricity goes out fairly often, and we only have one outlet to begin with. I’m wondering if there’s anything we can do about that, because I think my life could improve by leaps and bounds with a small refrigerator, some plastic carriers (the little box-like ones with holes to carry our things to and from the bathroom), and an internet connection to get some TV episodes (though there’s no more money in the USA, so once I run out of White Collar episodes, I’ll just have to wait for this coming season of Bones to be gifted by a special person who wants to give me a luxury Christmas present of a Bones subscription on iTunes. hehehe. Though, I wonder if I can get my current iTunes account set up to a Brazilian debit card and still keep my USA settings. Anyone know? In any case, it’s a moot poitn until I get an internet of some sort installed, which I need to do desperately. I was super upset last night and this morning to have missed calling my dad on his birthday, knowing that my call is probably worth a lot more with me in Brazil than it would ever be in Kansas City. Cesar’s working on trying to get either a phone card to call out or a modem to connect to the internet or get to an internet cafe. In any case, I’ve decided that I’m going to accept where I am and make the best of it. Yesterday I acted like a spoiled brat, repeating to myself that I “hated this stupid place,” but today I decided that I haven’t yet seen the city. They say there’s possibly a McDonald’s and a mall about 45 minutes away (No way!). I’m not sure how long we can stay here because, while Cesar’s mom has things here, our only source of income is about 6 hours away on the farm. I hope the farm is left in good hands (Cesar and his family hired a family to work as farm hands), because we’re staying at least long enough for Cesar and his brother to work like slaves for his mom. They’re going to build something, though I haven’t yet figured out if they’re rented rooms or actual apartments, and I certainly want to know how they plan to do it all with no plans (meaning building plans. They are tearing down a place his mom owned that was costing more money than it was worth and are going to try to build some sort of building to start bringing in income for his mom. Anybody know of an accountant who can deal with my IRS issues? I can’t seem to get anything resolved and I just need to buy some time until we can make payments again when we come back. My connection here isn’t making it possible for me to deal with the IRS personally. Thoughts?