I just passed one year in Brazil and the time here has flown by. Looking back on the past year I started out here thinking I would be lucky to last a year here given that I thought the time for my job would be in the 9-12 month range, and yesterday I emailed off to the visa company to start the process of a visa renewal and obtaining a visa for another two years (to be on the safe side). Also, prayers on this subject are always welcome too knowing the pains that I had to go through to get my current visa.
The admin that works on our floor told me that they just got the increased rent amount on my apartment and while it was only R$200 more per month I was surprised that on a 30 month contract you can just up and raise the rates because I've been here for 12 months. The only things that have been added by me are a pressure cooker, floor drying rack, and some new glasses, all of which have been paid for by me and not the owner of my apartment. I chalked it up to another learning experience for my life in Brazil and another difference in culture between life in the United States and life here in Brazil.
Speaking of rentals, if you follow this blog still you probably know that I still own my home in Oswego, IL and have had the same tenants in that house for the past three years. The couple that moved in there (who are consequently now divorced but the wife has stayed) are leaving this month so it was an added level of stress because while I was losing at least 50% of my mortgage and HOA costs per month, it was better than zero. This coupled with the girl who sublet my apartment in Chicago informed me that she would be moving out of the apartment a month before I arrived home and a month before the lease expired didn't help matters. It has been an a huge blessing to have the parents and friends that I do because not only I am fully moved out of my apartment in the city, with movers fully paid, and everything locked up in storage, but I rented my house in what I think has to be a record three days by listing it on Craigslist and enlisting the help of one of my friends wives to show the house for me. Not only did the house rent but I found someone that wants to pay cash up front for the entire year and she could turn into a long term renter, or someone that wants to buy the house if/when the market recovers. Now the tasks shift to hiring the help to get my house back in order once my current renter moves out of the house (which going back to my house I am convinced that there is a curse on the house because two married couples that lived there are now divorced and the woman moving in is also going through a divorce.......just weird). I have already hired a painter to help me paint the entire inside of the house, hired a cleaning crew to come in and do a 'move out' cleaning, and also a carpet cleaning crew to follow the cleaners and clean and protect the carpet in the upstairs of the home so I am on a roll.
I filed my US taxes this past week which was no easy feat being 5000 miles away. The fact that I've done them the past three years online and can import a lot of my data automatically really helps so it wasn't too bad, but getting in touch with my tax adviser given the time difference and with Portuguese classes, working out etc, proved to be the biggest challenge but alas it is done and the refunds are on the way. Now comes the fun part of figuring out what I am going to buy and then where to put the rest of the money for it to grow to help with Adam's New Car Fund for when I return to the states. I already bought 2 iPad 2's and have sold my original iPad to a guy I work with here in Brazil. I am going to bring the other 2 back (one for me and one to sell in Brazil at an awesomely high price and make a nice profit). I've also been hit up to bring people back laptops etc but this trip will be low key for presents etc just because I won't be at home for very long and that is not the focus of why I am coming back. I think the next purchase will be of course for Madeline as I am sure she is in dire need of some new Pumas or Nike's (she will get to pick) and then a lot of things for my nephew who will hopefully be arriving while I am back in the states for this quick trip.
Things down in Brazil are busy as usual. March was an absolutley crazy month and it started at the end of February when my boss and President came into town which kicked off three big projects that I spent most of March working on so that I could have wrapped up and presented to them. We had a visit from the Internal Audit staff during March as well which culminated into a great weekend in Rio de Janeiro, sitting on the beach, getting some sun, and just relaxing. We hit a Samba bar on Saturday night and took some hilarious pictures which I will have to post here and get up on Facebook as well. I also cannot forget to mention Carnival which was one of the coolest experiences I have ever seen. Canival started on a Friday night and went through Tuesday with street bloco's, parades, bands, beaches, and of course the Sambodromo. This is really a whole other post in and of itself so I will have to carve out more time to talk about this experience but it was one of the best trips I've ever taken and well worth the money spent. I would highly recommend that anyone looking for a once in a lifetime experience check this out and you CANNOT miss the Sambodromo. I would also highly recommend that if you're looking to go to Rio that you stay on Ipanema beach and not Copacabana. I've stayed on Copa twice now and Ipanema was much cooler, lots of people, and a lot more things to do. Copa has the street fairs and lots of vendors, but you can always go for a walk or a run up the beach to check it all out.
I think that's about it for now. I have to put the finishing touches on a presentation I'm giving this afternoon to the technical staff here in Brazil (it's about finishing railroad axles in Brazil vs the United States, yes exciting stuff as you can imagine). Funny how things change as your career changes. A few years ago I thought I'd stay in audit for quite a long time now I am about to do a presentation in Portuguese about railway axles, who woulda thought.
I hope everyone is well back in the states. I miss you all very much and can't wait to catch up.
Cheers
Adam
