What to say, Iane? Sometimes words scape me...

Eu que sou cheia de lorotas e conversa mole, vira a mexe fico sem palavras. Hoje foi um desses dias.
Minha amiga Renata tocou a campainha, e quando eu abri o portão, ela entrou com esses três quadros debaixo do braço. ( mentira, por que cada um mede um metro de comprimento...e ela teve que entrar com um de cada vez...)
Agora me diz se eu poderia ter recebido um presente mais lindo?


Out of the blue, my friend comes to visit and bring me a gift. Such an amazing gift, i am lost for words. She made three amazing portraits of me and my girls. 1 meter each. They are full of color, spank and fun. And she managed to capture our essence in them too.
Re, I love them!!! T H A N K   Y O U !!

Festa Junina em Hanoi - Brazilian party in Hanoi

Essa é a caipirinha mais fofa do mundo!

Gorgeous or what?

Caipira?

Os noivos da quadrilha

The bride, the groom and baby Dija looking good

O anfitrião e dois dos melhores jogadores de futebol do Vietnam. Um tinha que ser brasuca. né?

Our host and two of the ebst footballers in Vietnam. One had to be Brazilian, right?

E essas caipirinhas aí, quem são?

Hey! how cute can they be?

Cris e Carla - ele gaúcho, ela Portuguesa. Fofos demais.

Cris and Carla - he is brazilian, she is portuguese. Amazing couple.

A menina da direita é a Tati. E hoje foi o aniversário dela. O primeiro desde que ela largou tudo para seguir o namorado, que veio jogar futebol aqui no Vietnam. Quando saíram da cozinha com um bolo prá ela, foi só lágrimas. Inclusive as dela! Uma gracinha.

Today was tati's b'day. When they came out of the kitchen with a cake for her, everyone cried. This was her first b'day abroad, since she decided to follow her boyfriend who plays for a vietnamese football team.

Dia triste / Sad day

Hoje nos despedimos de uma amiga querida, de uma guerreira sem igual. Deus resolveu levar prá junto dele a nossa querida Tina, lá do "Meu Cantinho na Roça". Perdoem por eu ñão postar o link, mas não consigo acessar nenhum blog aqui no Vietnam!
Essa mulher maravilhosa, lá do seu cantinho em Furnas, conseguiu tocar tantos corações mundo afora. Eram seus chazinhos todas as semanas, as fotos do café no pé, suas histórias da roça e o amor imenso com que ela falava do marido, dos filhos e dos netos que corriam na chuva, lá no terreiro, enquanto ela cozinhava no fogão a lenha.
Era tanto amor, tanto carinho, que ele transbordava do mundo virtual e vinha encher a nossa vida de alegria e azul. A Tina, que sempre tinha uma palavra amiga, uma oração na hora certa, um cafuné prá quem precisasse, hoje está lá no céu, sorrindo prá nós e tomando conta de todo mundo, como já fazia quando estava lá no seu cantinho.
Obrigada pelo carinho, pelo cuidado e pelo amor que você nos dedicou. Vá em paz, minha querida!

Today we lost a very special person. Tina, from a brazilian blog called "meu cantinho na Roça", left this world to join God and his angels.
This wonderful woman spared no effort to comfort who needed her. She always had a kind word to help people who reached for her.We will miss you, my friend!

Hoje aproveitei para visitar a catedral de Hanoi. Minha amiga, que mora aqui no vietnam há tempos, disse que ela nunca encontrou a caedral aberta. Nos aventuramos assim mesmo, e quando cheguei lá, sorri e agradeci - as portas estavam abertas e eu pude me ajoelhar em frente ao altar e fazer a minha prece para a Tina, minha amiga querida!!

And to farewell Tina, I visited hanoi's cathedral. My friend, who lives in Vietnam, said she never managed to visit the interior of this cathedral, as it is always closed. We decided to give it a go, and when we got there, we were surprised and grateful to find it's doors open. I had the chance to kneel and pray for my dear friend in a proper church.

em Bahrain, agora é assim! Bahrain nowadays

Fomos ao aniversário badaladérrimo de 14 anos de um amiguinho das meninas, num restaurante da moda aqui em Bahrain. Aquele do castigo, lembra?
A uma certa altura, a minha filha mais velha fala:
- Mãe, estão jogando coquetel molotov ali no gramado do restaurante. ( o restaurante é lindo, tem um paisagismo de babar e tem até lago).
- Não filha, sao os engolidores de fogo que a tia contratou pra animar a festa...

Vale ressaltar que isso aqui não virou uma baderna sem limites e que até agora, só ha histórico de coquetel molotov sendo jogado nos carros de polícia, mas pelo jeito Anita já está preparada para tudo!

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Tonight we went to a super birthday party at one of the best restaurants in Bahrain. My friend closed part of the place for her 14 year old son. This was his punishment for bad behavior, remember?
Sudenly Anita comes to me and say:
- Mom, they are trowing molotov cocktails in the restaurant garden...
- No darling, it is just the fire eaters who were hired as entertainment!

I would like to say there are only reported cases of protesters trowing molotov cocktails at police cars. No civilians were ever targeted, but my daughter is ready to face the worst

Não é á toa que a minha amiga Renata tem um "tag"só prá ela aqui nesse blog. Ela faz por merecer!
Hoje nós fomos a uma apresentação numa empresa local. Eu faço parte de um grupo de network, e sempre tem uns eventos interessantes, então eu procuro prestigiar. Dessa vez, convidei a Renata.
Chegamos no horário, tomamos um suquinho, comemos umas amendoas, conhecemos um monte de gente.
Quando eu fui ao bar pegar outro suco ( ou um vinho, pq também sou filha de Deus), todos os funcionários estavam de bla bla bla e ninguém me atendeu. Voltei rindo e reclamando. Renata disse: vai lá dentro do bar, começa a se servir que você vai ver como todo mundo vai correr prá te ajudar.
Falou isso e foi saindo pra sentar no sofazinho da recepçao.
Nessa escapadela ela esbarrou numa mulher, derrubou o vinho que ela ( a mulher) estava tomando, molhou o chão, a roupa das duas e um papel que estava emaranhado na mão da vitima, pessoa atacada senhora.
Renata pediu mil desculpas. Ficou vermelha, roxa e por ultimo púrpura. Ajudou a limpar o chão, a roupa da outra, pegou outro vinho prá mulher. Foi uma lady.
Um tempo depois começa a apresentaçao. A mestre de cerimonias apresenta a Dra. Fulana, que veio especialmente para falar sobre coaching e treinamento.
Olho para a Renata que está visivelmente estressada. Olho pra mulher e caio na gargalhada. Difícil me controlar quando só o que eu consigo ouvir é:
- PQP, molhei as anotações da oradora!!!!!

Se a mulher engasgou, a culpa foi da Rê. Juro.
Tá vendo, Bah, não acontece só comigo não. Acontece com as minhas amigas tambem...

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No wonder  my friend Renata has  her own "tag" in this blog. She deserves it!Today we went to a presentation at a local business. I belong to a networking group , and they are always organizing interesting events, so I try to participate as much as I can. This time, I invited Renata to come along.We arrived on time, had some juice, eat a few almonds, met lots of people.When I went to the bar to get another juice (or wine, 'cause I deserve it), all employees were chatting away and no one noticed me. I came back complaining. Renata said: go inside the bar  and help yourself . You will see how everyone will serve you imediately.She said it on her way to the sofa, she had enough of standing up.In her escape route, she bumped into a woman, knocked her wine down, weting the floor, both their clothes and some scrambled paper the woman was holding.Renata was really apologetic and she made sure she mentioned it several times. She seemed to be really embarassed, and she behaved like the lady she really is. She helped the lady clean the spill, reassured her regret, organised a new glass of wine for the lady.
The presentation begins. The master of ceremonies  calls Dr. X - the same woman Renata bumped into, goes on stage.Renata goes red. She looks very distraught. I look at the stage and burst out laughing. It was very hard to control myself, specially when all I can hear is:- F*** I ruined the speaker's notes!!If the woman did not deliver a goos speech, it was Renata's fault. I swear.

Nasci na casa errada/ I was born in the wrong house

Tenho uma amiga que é tudo de bom nesse mundo. Acho que o único defeito dela é não saber dar castigo prá quem não se comporta bem.
Há um tempo atrás, minhas filhas e uma das crianças dela, fez uma guerrinha de ovo na piscina da casa dela.
O castigo?
Os três teriam que passar pelo menos uma hora na praia do clube no dia seguinte. Como eu não sabia que era castigo, só o filho dela foi punido. Pecado.

Esse mesmo filho recentemente não terminou um trabalho da escola a tempo. Depois de pensar e repensar ela chegou logo a um veredito:
- Vai ter que ter festa de aniversário esse ano. E não vai ser dois amigos jogando video game na sala não. Vai ser num dos restaurantes mais badalados de Bahrain. E pode ir convidando todo mundo da escola...

Por mais que eu pense, a única conclusão que eu consigo chegar é a de que eu nasci na casa errada!!!

PS - Todos os filhos dela são fofos, educados, gentis e bem resolvidos. Isso prova que o sistema de castigo é um sucesso...

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I have a friend who is amazing. I think her only drawback is her inability to punish who doesn't behave properly. A while ago, my daughters and one of her children, decided to have  a little egg war in her pool.The punishment?The three of them would have to spend at least an hour on the beach club the next day. Since I did not know it was punishment, only her son was punished. Poor kid.
This same son recently failed to complete a school assignment on time. After thinking and rethinking what kind of consequence would be suitable, she decided:
- You will have to have a birthday party this year. And don't even think about inviting a couple of friends to come home and call it a party! It will be one of the finnest restaurants in town. And tomorrow you can go and invite everyone at the school ...The only conclusion I can reach is that I was born in the wrong house!PS - All her children are gorgeously well behaved, polite, courteous and respectful. This proves her system is a success ...

Brega / Kitsch

Nos temos um amigo otimo aqui em Bahrain. O cara e engracado, divertido, boa gente de tudo. E fa do Fabio Jr.
Conhece todas as letras, curte, quer ia ao show no cruzeiro. Tiete assumido.
Outro dia fomos a um churrasco na casa dele e rolou um karaoke. Deu Fabio Junior ate nao poder mais.

Era uma cantoria so. Todo mundo berrando a plenos pulmoes:

Demorei muito pra te encontrar

Agora eu quero só você
Teu jeito todo especial de ser
Eu fico louco com você ...

Ou

Quantas vezes

No seu canto em silêncio
Você busca o meu olhar
E me fala sem palavras
Que me ama, tudo bem
Tá tudo certo
De repente você põe
A mão por dentro
E arranca o mal pela raiz
Você sabe como me fazer feliz...

E

Você já sabe

Me conhece muito bem
E eu sou capaz de ir e
Vou muito mais além
Do que você imagina...

E eu la me divertindo. Ai o Mau ( o tal amigo que e super fa) chega de mansinho e fala no meu ouvido:

- Da uma olhada. Ninguem gosta de Fabio Junior. So eu. Eu sou o unico fa dele aqui. Por que ele e brega demais!

E eu olho aquele povo se esgoelando de cantar todas as musicas de cor.
Rolei de rir!!

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We went to a barbecue at a friend's house who is a big fan of Fabio Junior, a romantic brazilian singer that many people consider kitsch.
The karaoke started and most songs were Fabio Jr's.
Then my friend comes next to em and say:

- I am the only fan fabio Junior has here. Because he is kitsch, no one like him. Just look!

And sure enough, EVERYONE was singing, dancing, yealling his lyrics. I laughed my head off.

Remexendo no bau... More memories...

Estavamos eu e a Yolhi, tentando encontrar passagens de ultima hora pra eu viajar pra qualquer lugar. O feriado era enorme e como aqui todo mundo tem dinheiro, ja nao havia passagens pra lugar nenhum.

A noite, eu tinha combinadod e sair com uns amigos, e a Yolhi ficava me infernizando que ela precisava ir ao cabelereiro, por que ia a um jantar de negocios do marido, e tentando me convencer a ir ao cabelereiro tambem.

E eu queria passagens. E ela queria que EU fosse ao cabelereiro. Quando eu disse que ia leva-la pro cabelereiro de deixa-la la se arrumando, ela se recusou. Disse que sem mim, nem morta. Mas continuava insistindo que eu fosse ao cabelereiro.

Eu, que como todo mundo ja sabe sou a fina flor da educacao, disse que se ela nao parasse de me encher o saco, nem banho eu ia tomar pra sair com aquela turma. E ainda emendei, muito delicadinha, que se eu conhecia o grupo, eu ainda ia ser a mais bem vestida, mesmo que eu nao me arrumasse e nem passasse perto do cabelereiro...

Yolhi desistiu de mim. desistiu de ir ao cabelereiro ela mesma, e nos conseguimos comprar passagens para a Siria.

Cheguei em casa, tomei um banho correndo, botei qualquer roupa e fui me encontrar com esse pessoal.

Quase morri de vergonha-remorso-vontade de rir, quando cheguei la e a "saidinha" era na verdade uma festa surpresa para comemorar o meu aniversario.

A cara da Yolhi ( que teve que fazer escova em casa mesmo) foi impagavel!!! 

***********************************************************

 Yolhi and I were trying to find last minute tickets  for me to travel. The public holiday was long and because this is a rich country, all tickets were gone. We would go to the companies and say: can you sell me tickets to somewhere? Anywhere, really.

That same  night, I had an invitation for dinner with other friends, and Yolhi was pestering me, because she needed to go to the hairdresser, she a business dinner to attend with her husband.
God, she was annoying. She tried all day to convince me I also had to go to the hairdresser and get myself sorted.
All I wanted were tickets. But she wanted me to go to the hairdresser. When I said I would drop her off at the hairdresser's, she refused. She did not want to go by herself, she really, really wanted me to go.
When I edcided it was enough pestering, I treatened to go out without even showering, if she did not stop bugging me. My friend is a true friend, she would not want me to be embarassed, so she "sort of stopped".
Yolhi gave up on me. gave up on going to the hairdresser herself, and we managed to buy tickets for Syria. I was thrilled!
I got home, took a quick shower , put on the first clothes I found and went to meet our friends.
Imagine my face when I realized the "outing" was actually a surprise party to celebrate my birthday.
Yolhi face was priceless! Her eyes were screaming: I told you so, I told you so!

E foi assim que eu cheguei aos 40... And that's how i reached 40...

Anita, eu, Ana Maria, Belmiro e Fabio. Posso dizer que esses dois sao sem duvidas, os nossos amigos mais antigos em Bahrain.

Anita, me, Ana Maria, Belmiro e Fabio. I can say, with no fear to be wrong, that they were the first couple we met in Bahrain.

So mulheres brasileiras... Adelaide, euzinha, Francine e Alessandra.

Only Brazilian women... Dee, me, Francine and Alessandra

Do you think they are a couple? Neils and Emilie.

Voces acham que eles sao um casal? Niels e Emilie.

Dee & Walter

Emilie, George, Jo and Joyce!

Amigas do coracao. Irua, Lina and Irua's mum

La na India era assim

70's in India...

Niels and Mario!

Jane, my Australian friend...

Sumitra, Pradeep & Severino

Generosity

I have been thinking a lot about the people who crossed my path throughout my life. One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how generous people are and how much they are willing to help others.

I've been on the "receiving" end of a lot of generosity, people showing how caring and detached they can be when you need them. 
And I confess that I am not the most generous person in the world. I am not the girl who will wake up at 5 am to help her neighbor in need and can still carry on with her day as if not had happened.
I am an available person, don't get me wrong. But I'm the shoulder to cry on, the person to whom you turn to talk, but not the one who will help you carry the  fridge to the new house.
For example, when I move (and I'll move a lot), I contract packers, shippers and all other "helpers" that I can find. I would not call a friend and ask him/her to help me pack/unpack/move. 
On the other hand, if someone remembers to bring me a sandwich while I supervise the movers, I will be very grateful. And likewise, it will be much more likely for you to find me bringing a treat for those who are working, than to see me unpacking dishes and glasses in a friend's kitchen.
But all this "bla bla bla" and these  lame excuses are to say that I would like to be more generous and really help people.
It is easy to help when such help does not cost you anything, does not disturb your routine. If you are already doing somethuing, you can do it to your friend too. 
The thing is to help others when you do not want / do not like / would not be doing that anyway.
Taking care of the little child that you like is easy. But to be generous and take care of that twat who shouts all the time, is another thing all together. That shows real generosity.
Giving someone a ride to a place you are going anyway does not score you any points, but to cross town at rush hour to help that friend who is stuck there is to be generous.
In my "generosity"list you easily find things like going out at dawn to help someone in an emergency, listen to that friend who needs my lap / attention / affection until the wee hours of the morning, even when my family is hysterical because they think I like my friends best, stay in the hospital with someone, help with family dramas ... all this things are easy for me.
My problem is to help others with things I would not ask for help myself.

Can I call a  taxi? So I'm not going to call that friend to come pick me up / take me there.
Can i do it myself? I will spare the friend.
Can I pay someone to do it for me? No friends requested ...
But I also know that not everyone thinks like me, and that perhaps this business of being generous has more to do with what the "other" thinks is important and not what I think is important ...

Our new home

Pic taken from the street - the car is not ours!

Foto tirada da rua - o carro nao e nosso

Yesterday was our house warming party and for the first time since I was 11 I was afraid my party would be a disaster because no one would show up.

Lots of people I know simply left Bahrain because of the political troubles and I was worried I would not have enough quorum.

I booked the party for 8 pm. At 8:30 I only had two couples here ( and I am normally getting out of the shower, running with people at our door). My worst fears were proving right. Darn.

By 9 pm I had around 30 people in the house and I was pretty happy and relaxed.

The party was fun. A good mix of people, good food, nice drinks and lots of laughter. I could not be happier.

I will post some pics of the new house, so you can see where we live.  :-)


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ontem foi a festa de inauguracao da casa nova. Eu estava morrendo de medo da festa ser um desastre por que a maioria das pessoas que eu conheco ja foram embora de Bahrain ( por causa dos conflitos politicos).

Marquei a festa pras 8 da noite. 8:20 eu so tinha dois casais na sala. O meu coracao apertado, um medo danado de ter que passar pelo papelao da festa onde ninguem apareceu...

La pelas 9 a casa ja tinha mais de 30 pessoas e eu pude relaxar. Ufa!

A festa foi gostosa. Comemos, bebemos, rimos e nos divertimos - e eu descobri que apesar dos pesares, ainda tem muita gente aqui em Bahrain pra 'brincar" comigo.

:-)

Do portao

From the gate

 Our pool

A piscina

Uma graminha e a garagem

A patch of grass and our garage

Dinning room

Sala de jantar

Dinning room - other angle

O outro lado da sala de jantar

Living room

Sala

A parede das mascaras

MAsk's wall

TV room

Sala de TV

Lunch/ breakfast room

Copa

Cozinha

Kitchen

"F" OFF...

Another day I was listening to two great friends of mine whilde they were discussing their relationships:
- I get so pissed off with my husband that every time he passes by, I show him the finger ( when he can no longer see, off course!)
- Do'n't do it girl!!
I imediately Imagined all the reasons she was going to lay on the table this is not good for the relationship/for you/ for life/ for your heart. You should try and get it sorted/ talk to him/ bla/bla/bla
Before I finished my thoughts, she completed the sentence:
- I used to do it all the time, until my husband looked back and caught me. No I only curse him mentally when he passes by...

This friend of mine is just genial...you gotta love her!!

TRAICAO/ BETRAYAL

A friend of mine, married for almost 20 years, found out her husband was cheating on her. On the phone, I did everything i could think, to comfort her, until she said:

- Inaie, he has been cheating on me with this woman for 12 years now. But what really hurts me, is the fact that she is not educated at all. She even says : POBREM, instead of PROBLEM... How can I forgive?

After careful consideration, I had to agree -  no forgiveness for him!!

*********

Uma amiga minha, descobriu, depois de quase 20 anos de casada que o marido a estava traindo. Tentei de tudo para conforta-la, ate que ela solta:

- Inaie, ele me trai ha 12 anos...mas isso nao e nada. O pior de tudoe  que a fulana fala POBREMA! Ai nao da pra perdoar, ne?

Tive que concordar. Nesse caso, perdoar nem pensar!!!

Scoundrel

I was going to Brazil and asked my mother to call some friends and let them know I was on my way. She made some calls and then...


- Hello, can I speak with Scoundrel please?
- What?
- S C O U N D R E L, please
- Who do you think you are talking to, lady?
- Oh, I am Inaie's mum...
- Scoundrel speaking!



During the same holidays, my kids saw the same guy in a public place and had no doubts:

UNCLE SCOUNDRELLLLL...

he run to hug them, hoping they would stop the yelling!


Of course there is an explanation for all of it.
Marcelo has been Fabio's friend forever and 20 some years ago, someone called him scoundrel, just to make fun of him. the nickname stuck, I met him, the time passed.

My kids and my mum never realised he may actually have another name, they only know him by Scoundrel. And they are probably the only ones who still call him that.

PICS FOTOS

Here are the pics you have been asking for. Don't know what i am talking about? Here you can find all about it.  and no, this are not the pics for the press - these are MY pics of the party.


Aqui estao as fotos que voces me pediram. Voce nao tem a menor ideia do que eu estou falando? Da um pulinho aqui.  Essas fotos nao sao as da revista, sao as que foram tiradas com a minha camera.

Fabio, eu e Kamala - ela tem o sorriso mais lindo de Bahrain!

Fabio, Kamala and me - she has the prettiest smile in the country!

Pot of cultures and nationalities: Syrian/German, British, Croatian/French/American, Brazilian and Syrian.

Panela de culturas e nacionalidades: Siria/Alema, Ingles, Croata/Francesa/Americana, Brasileira e Sirio.

The only thing that really matters in life: good and true friends!

A unica coisa que realmente importa na vida: amigos sinceros e verdadeiros!

Austria and Venezuela - and in the belly, a gorgeous bicultural baby!

Austria e Venezuela e na barriga, um lindo bebe bicultural!

Sofia and Josh - Pity they are leaving bahrain soon...

Sofia e Josh. Que pena eles estarem indo embora de Bahrain em breve!

Joanna - first person I met in Bahrain

Joanna foi a primeira pessoa que eu conheci em Bahrain

Canadians galore!

E os Canadenses marcando presenca.

E esse foi o nosso primeiro amigo em Bahrain!

And Elder was our first friend in Bahrain

New Zealand, America/Croatia and India really well represented!

Nova Zelandia. USA/Croacia e India muito bem representados

I would love to be a fly and hear what Alasdair and Sean are talking about... Brilliant minds - that's all I have to say.

Eu queria ser uma mosquinha pra ouvir a conversa desses dois. Alasdair e Sean - duas mentes brilhantes!

Lyneti - a new friend! I hope this friendship last forever...

Lyneti, minha "recem amiga"- Espero que essa amizade dure pra sempre...

Scothland, France and Panama!!

Look at THAT...

Olha AQUILO!!