News & Notes (updated)

(I added a couple of items)
I'll take the bullet approach which was lately made popular by other bloggers out there.

• The day after loosing his job K found out that our "alma mater" (we don't say that in Brazil), the largest university in Brazil, has an opening for a position in his area. It's a concurso, that is, a competition for becoming a fully tenured professor. He's going to "apply" (it's more like registering to participate and see if he can "win"). Everyone in Brazil is excited about that, obviously, and we think it's an interesting option.
  

• I watched Sicko on the way to Brazil and I really liked it, it didn't make me feel really bad about the pharmaceutical industry as I thought it might, but it made a very strong point that the healthcare situation in this country is absolutely unacceptable.

• I loved the two day trip to Brazil and I was quite surprised by that. My husband thoroughly enjoys there short trips (he took four of them in October/November last year), but I thought I wouldn't like it and only feel overwhelmed that I wanted to stay longer, but that was not the case.

• Short trips are great for various reasons: two or three changes of clothes is all one needs and the hassles of packing/unpacking are eliminated; it's not enough time to miss the boys and home; it's enough for spending some time with friends and family and eating good food. The only downside is sleeping on the plane.
  

• I saw Hairspray on the way back and thought it was OK. Very interesting idea to deal with both racial and body-image issues, if extremely idealized and naive, up to a certain point. In the "real world" I think things are much much harder for overweight people, not to mention that it's nearly impossible for them to maintain such a "sunny disposition." Flat characters, I know, I shouldn't expect any psychological depth in a mere musical, but still..

• I'll write many posts about this, but I just wanted to say that it's been very hard to cope with the devastating news we received last week. Just looking around the house makes me sad, and I feel discouraged when I think about the future. It's just really really tough.

• It won't be easy to care for the boys on my own for ten days... The most ironic thing is that just because it'll be very hard to work, I feel like working on the dissertation right now (also because I'm reading a great novel by one of the authors I'm analyzing). More on that later as well. Good thing my sister-in-law is coming with my nephews on Friday and will stay until Sunday or Monday.

• The best news we had lately is that given the lengthy process he went through to get his current visa K can apply through the same law company for the "grass-colored" card (ok, residency sounds better) for us without the company as a sponsor. It'll cost a pretty penny (around 10K) for both of us, but it may be the solution to our visa woes. Too bad it won't "guarantee" work, but at least it frees us to look for work, right? DOWNSIDE: the concurso I mentioned in the first item might take place during the period while we're waiting for the documentation and K can't leave the country (or, if he left, wouldn't be able to come back). We're hoping it will be ready before then, though. (the examination will be scheduled between 30 to 120 days after the due-date for the applications -- which is January). Keep your fingers crossed for us.

• I'm still pretty sick and I have a correction to make about that. I probably have laryngitis and not pharyngitis since my voice is gone. I don't feel pain, but I cough a lot and there's stuff coming out. Not fun. I found out this weekend that one of the worse things that can happen to someone who loves to talk is losing one's voice. It's quite hard for a mother too -- how can you call your children or tell them to stop running to the street for example? I've been trying to whisper while talking to the boys (which is funny because they whisper back), but it's tiresome. I hope I get better soon.