As a birthday treat for Leana, we spent this past weekend (thanks to her parents, a friend, and the manager!) at the JW Marriot on Copacabana beach. As she’s leaving me AGAIN this year (she left our old teaching job... Continue Reading →
To know me is to know I am competitive. There is a lot of mellow in me, a lot of "I could lie on this beach for 24/24 hours every day," but then there is this side that says things... Continue Reading →
What do you say when people ask you how you are? I always say "living the dream." The other day I said this and the friend who had asked me how I was burst into laughter. "Rachel! Whose dream?" she... Continue Reading →
I'm sure someone somewhere has already, but I feel compelled to write a "guide to feeling like you're living in a foreign country, according to someone who is doing an okay job at it, with input from others, who are... Continue Reading →
Here's the joke - in Portuguese, the letter r is pronounced like an "h" in most cases. My name is Hawk-elle here. That's how I sign most of my correspondence, actually. So last night I went to the dentist, in... Continue Reading →
I'm trying to be more healthy with Lent. Last week I bought radishes and like three things I thought were cilantro (and weren't). But the biggest fail . . . well . . . I have a lot of fruit allergies, but... Continue Reading →
Two weeks into Lent and so far, mostly good on the no wine/fries/chocolate thing. I believe in the Lent where you get one day off a week (if you want) because there are technically 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter,... Continue Reading →
Something that's really cool about the Amazons is that they have pink dolphins. Yeah. Really. YEAH! Like, if you asked me to think of two things that I love, in the top one hundred (I love a lot of things)... Continue Reading →
I am in the last 24 hours of my current vacation. It has been 53 days since I have worked. Isn't that obnoxious?! It's also lovely. Really, truly lovely. In that time, I've flown home to the States, had a... Continue Reading →
So you might have heard of a little international emergency called the Zika virus that's really killing our buzz down here in Central/South America. Turns out mosquitos are more than the worst thing ever. They are from the devil and... Continue Reading →
So here's a fun story: I really wanted to go to the Galapagos Islands, and Leana said she would go with me. I was surprised, because she hates animals and a lot of nature. I explained that you get a... Continue Reading →
I love having a "Days Until" app that keeps me excited about things ahead. I love reminding myself "just one month left and you won't have a mosquito bite! just a few weeks more and all the Flaming Hot Cheetos... Continue Reading →
Sunglasses Always Fit 