I attended our usual Tuesday afternoon RSO meeting, where I found out the monkey was too decomposed to tell if it died from Yellow Fever.  But it was reported, there were four monkeys found in a 3 block radius from the Consulate that had died from the disease.

The week following the discovery at the Consulate, there were several teams from the Brazilian Government who combed the grounds for more evidence.  I am told the disease is transmitted by mosquito, and will only affect primates. (humans and the monkeys)

This is not a matter to be taken lightly, and something I am not used to.  In Moscow, both Terese and I contracted the H1N1 virus, which to me was just a very bad cold that last three or four days.  Ignorantly, I did not know I had the virus at the time and just went to work.   Terese evidently contracted it from me.  No telling who else did.

If you need an ambulance in Sao Paulo, you may have to wait up to four hours for one.  Find a dead monkey and emergency crews will arrive within the hour.

Last week, one of the Local Guard Forces (LGF) was making his rounds when he happened across a small dead monkey on the grounds near my shop.  I personally would have thought nothing of it after spending two years in Ethiopia, but here it is a different story.

This was on a weekend and within minutes, the Consulate was on lock-down.  No one was allowed on compound unless they have been vaccinated against Yellow Fever.  This was a shocker to me.

I went in to the Consulate the next day, Sunday, to do some work and yellow tape had cordoned off the area around my shop.  Terese and I both were vaccinated before going to Ethiopia so it was not an issue for me.  I was able to slip in around the building to get to my shop.

The next day, Monday, guards were positioned at the entrance to the Consulate allowing only those who had been vaccinated into the compound.  The rest were directed to a vaccination post, where Bombeiros (Brazilian Fire Fighters) gave Yellow Fever vaccinations to those who did not have them.  This was not a trivial matter.  It was an active attempt to control a possible outbreak of a deadly disease.

This is Monday, a week later and the monkey still has not been determined to have died from Yellow Fever, but it is not an issue they will take lightly.  Since I am in the Security Office, I saw the pictures of the monkey.  It was only about 5-6 inches long, still very young, yet it sent a shock wave through the Consulate and the Brazilian Government.  No small matter.

We often take for granted what we have and never realize how close we are to our demise.  Many things in our lives can be our ruin, yet we are still able to walk the streets comfortably, thanks to Science and Technology.

I have become good friends with the nurse at the Consulate.  She is Brazilian and spent a few years in Tennessee of all places, where she learned her perfect use of English.  I am often amazed how many of the foreigners I meet in the world who learn our crazy language, can speak it better than this old Texan, who lived in the US for a crazy number of years, and then some.  One of our beautiful friends we met in Adana, Turkey learned her English in Tennessee also.  I don’t know what it is about Tennessee, but it has made a difference in many lives.

I have had a few short discussions with this Brazilian friend, and realize her personality is unlike any I have interacted with.  Although she is a nurse, she is also a mathematician.  That alone raises all sort of interests in my mind, because it points to someone who I can have a good discussion with.  For some reason, I am drawn to people of intellect.

A few weeks ago, she sent me an email politely suggesting me to drop by the Health Unit to visit.  So, I dropped everything and went by to see how she was doing, where she told me she and her fiance were getting married and asked if I wanted to attend.  I was elated!  “Ah … yeah!!  Will there be Brazilian women there?”  She laughed and said, “Of course!”

The wedding was in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, and hour and half by plane.  I quickly made reservations for air-flight and hotel.

So below are pictures I took of the ceremony.  The wedding was announced to be at 5:30 pm, but it did not actually start until 6:30.  This is Brazil.

There was a small string ensemble with a flute, playing light music that seemed to float among the trees.Then it was down to business …Afterwards, the quests headed for the food as the couple prepared for the reception.  Food ….  that was an understatement, and as would be expected in Brazil, the Country of passion and colors, the settings themselves were works of art. And here is the table with the wedding cake, in the center.These two people are completely opposites and yet I see how they will compliment each other throughout their marriage.  She is vibrant and sociable and he is quiet and reserved.  Where he is subdued, she will boost him up.  Where she is bouncing off the walls, he will calm her down.He is an American from Tennessee, who is an engineer for the automobile manufacturer Nissan, and they are planning to move to Japan with his job soon.  These are good people, and I look forward to seeing what happens to them in the next 10 years.   … a new Adventure for them.

As for us, keep kicking butt.

RSO stands for Regional Security Office.  It is the office in charge of all things relating to security at an Embassy/Consulate.  It is also the office that I work under.

Yesterday, the RSO had a BBQ for all its people and I, of course attended.  As with any Brazilian BBQ, the meat just keeps on coming.  There is only one other place on Earth that I have eaten more meat in one day, and that is the backyard of a good man know as Ron Luke.  (my brother-in-law)

I took several pictures of the meat before, during and after cooking.  See below: I added some of Terese’s chicken wings and they disappeared before I could get a picture of them, except in the image above, in the shiny bowl.

I cannot express to you the amount of meat that was cooked.  As I stated before, the Brazilians cook meat in such a way, that it is shared by all as the meat is cooked.  When any is ready, they will place it on the counter and cut it into strips.  People will come around and grab a strip or two to enjoy.  The process of cooking is part of the social aspect of the BBQ.

And the people …What you see is just a small fraction who attended.  The local guard force (LGF) is under RSO so many of them came with their families.  Below is a picture of me with two couples.  The two men I work with often and I have great respect for them.  The two lovely ladies are their spouses.Now the next picture I am posting is one of my favorite families:The tall husband with the thin face is Tommy Hale.  He is the Office Manager for the RSO.  I call him Professor Hale and he calls me Dr. Nolte.  Of all the people I work with, he helps me more than I can express.  He has a very dry sense of humor, and is ornery at the core, where you don’t see it.  He is an American.  He told me where he lived, California being one state among several others.  He said he drove through Amarillo Texas one day and got a ticket; that’s all he remembers.  Since he speaks Portuguese, I get him to do translating for me.  When Camila leaves me a note I will take it to him to decipher.  After he paraphrases what she says, I will detect a very slight smile on his face which tells me the next words out of his mouth will be … if you pardon the expression, BS.  Usually, it is something like:  … and she says you are a sexy hunk of a man.

I can honestly say that my respect for Professor Hale is enormous.  I will always find an excuse to drop by the office just to visit with him.

… and then at the BBQ yesterday, I met his wife, Lucy and daughter, Lula.  I fell in love with both of them.  The discussion I had with Lucy was both serious and comical.  She has it in her mind that I will find a lovely Brazilian woman and marry her.  Much was discussed yesterday with her, but the last words to me before she departed, was, “I will be at your wedding.”

I am planning for a wingfest in the next few weeks and will definitely invite them.

In other news, I have a batch of beans cooking away and have added several super-secret ingredients.  I will let you know how they came out.

MotherDear, I received your pickling recipes and find them tickling.  Especially the watermelon pickles.  Perhaps I can conjure up some in time to bring them to you for the reunion.  We will let Marsha judge them.

As I stood in my kitchen cutting up chicken wings to pre-cook, along with ribs brought home from the BBQ, and chopping up onions, peppers and garlic for the super-secret ingredient beans, I realized I have never in the past spent so much time in the kitchen as I do now.  Perhaps someday, I will become a world renown chef!

… it would be another adventure of Life.

Kick butt, D.

It is very nice having someone come to the apartment once a week to do the things I don’t want to do, but the young lady that does, seems to have a mind of her own.  I don’t know if she is into energy conservation, or just wants to pester me.

I have little green dots on the washer and dryer to show her which settings to use, but she insist on using what she wants to use.  I want my clothes double-rinsed and she does not.

When I come home, the settings are thus:I have a small Turkish lamp in my bathroom that stays on 24/7.  It never gets shut off, except my her.  I even removed the switch so she wouldn’t shut it off, but then she just unplugs it.  Below is what the lamp looks like in the evening:And this is what it looks like before Camila:And this is what it looks like after Camila:And my bath mats get re-arranged.  Below is what they look like before Camila:… and after Camila:Same with the pillow things I don’t want on the couch.  Here is before Camila:… and after Camila:I could translate a note to her telling her to cut that crap out, but then it wouldn’t be fun putting things back.  Some people would get upset and chastise her, but I have learned to see Life through Terese’s eyes; though minor, it’s just another interesting adventure.  But I do need to tell her not to move the settings on the washer/dryer.  Sometimes she uses hot water, and I learned that destroys many of my shirts.

– additional minor things to share.  Remember the pickles?  They came out well, except for being too salty.  Still eatable, but I will have to locate a recipe for pickle juice that I can modify.

Visit more next year.  Happy New Year, etc. etc.        Kick butt, D.

The professional pictures from the Marine Ball have been posted for all to see, so I picked off a few to show you the decor.Many people had their picture taken with the Marines, and I was one as seen below.  The guy with the white pants is the “Gunny”, or Det. Commander.  Good guy.  The joker with the blue tie is me.Speaking of Marines, several joined me and a friend at the Irish pub we like to go to.  Here is a pic of us.  The pretty girl is engaged to the Marine next to her.Last Friday, I got myself invited to a BBQ put on by the good guys in the Facilities Dept.  The Carpenters, Electricians, HVAC guys, etc.  I found this to be most interesting, because it showed me the Brazilian way of BBQ, much unlike ours in the States.  They place meat on the grill, cook it and place it on the table and slice it.  People come around and eat some of it.  Several pieces of meat are on the grill continuously and the preparations, cooking and serving is a slow process with everyone mingling around.Each piece of meat, when done is placed on the white cutting board on the counter and sliced for all to come by and get a piece.  The dark bags on the white table in front has bread in them.  So, the BBQ lasts several hours as the cooking takes place.  During all this, several of the guys brought out their drums.  The first movie below is a short one a little over a minute, and the second one is about two and a half.  Click on them to bring them up.  Someone will have to download these for MotherDear to view, since the resolution on her computer is so low.

Drums #1

Drums #2

As I sat there being a part of this, I realized I was the only American there.  I had essentially invited myself, and yet they welcomed me completely.

Another incredible adventure of Life.