Grandparents

Eri and Leo's grandparents recently made their second trip to Brazil. They maxed out their luggage allotment to spoil our babies and replenish our "essentials," and even hauled a new car seat six thousand-some miles for us. But more so, the help was appreciated as Geoff and I continue our semester at university. We had a lot of fun and will remember this time together always. Thanks for everything!

Tidbits

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups: Peanut butter isn't common here, though Brazilians know what it is and they know Americans love it. On a business trip back to the states, Geoff picked up Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for us to take to our classes at the university. Watching a dozen adults try this wonderful combination of chocolate and peanut butter for the first time was like watching a child take its first steps in their late 20s / early 30s.

Being Foreign But Not Stupid: People often mistake speaking with an accent for ignorance. One of my classmates emailed me to ask for my notes on my oral presentation. She signed the email with "your classmate in the international relations master's program," i.e., the girl who has sat three to my left for the past four months in this aforementioned class. Yes, I know who you are, I just can't pronounce your name correctly. Because Brazilians are so incredibly accepting and warm, this is not offensive, just funny.

Futebol vs. Football: Geoff recently started playing in a weekly soccer game with some of our friends from the university, and some of their friends. My classmate told me that when he told the guys an American was going to join the game, they asked if Geoff knew "futebol" is played with your feet and that no one would be wearing helmets. (See above.)

"A little fatty:" You'd never know Leo Steeves was born premature. At eight weeks old, he weighs in at 12 pounds. Numbers aside, he is often described as "gordinho," or what I loosely translate to "when your boobies rest on your belly, and you have no neck and two chins." (See below.)

A few pics:

Hungry.

At an Oktoberfest parade, Eri saw an open spot and went for it.

In about a month's time, we've been to four birthday parties,
which are large-scale affairs here
and always include a theme, costume for the birthday kid and elaborate
backdrops to cut the cake in front of.

Leo's first trip to the beach. Lots of bare bottoms in Brazil.

Geoff and Eri. October is spring in the southern hemisphere.

Smitten.

Leo Steeves: One Month Old

The newest member of our family is one month old today. It's hard to remember there was ever life without him. His Nana is here (and in just a few days, Grandpa, too) to help take care of him and Eri, who has loved Leo from the start. She is very caring and protective of her brother, and (thankfully) not jealous. 

Ecuador

Our big trip this summer (December - February here) was to Ecuador. It was the most geographically diverse place we've ever visited and we were amazed one country could have so much: tropical islands, big cities, the Andes and the Amazon. Over the course of about 15 days last February, we hit each major region, going from sweltering heat to snowy mountains in just half a day. Because of the uniqueness of this trip and all the travel firsts for us, we didn't feel road weary or ready to come home, though it will probably be the farthest distance we travel during our time left in Brazil. 

Food: Ecuadorian food is very good. We ate lots of different traditional chicken and fish dishes cooked or topped with uniquely flavored sauces. Ecuador, not unlike a couple other South American countries (Columbia, Brazil), boasts the best coffee, and it was good, and so was the chocolate.

Language: Our Portuguese was not well-received throughout Ecuador, and mostly just confused the Spanish speakers -- maybe because there is no shared border? I remember a little Spanish from college, but it's been overtaken by Portuguese pronunciation, so it was only barely useful, and Geoff's language background is in Japanese, only proving useful in translating other tourists' shoulder and ankle tattoos. So, we spoke in English.

People: Ecuadorians seemed very accustomed to tourists, mostly in the Galapagos Islands, as were the ex-pats who run tourism-related businesses there. The mutual goal was definitely to make a buck (literally, as Ecuador uses the U.S. dollar). Elsewhere, and more off the beaten path, we found this to be the case less so, though there were tons of ex-pats (mostly from Europe) there, too, either running hotels or volunteering at wildlife refugees in the jungle.

                                                   First stop: The Coast (Guyaquil city).

A city park right in the heart of bustling
Guayaquil is crawling with dozens and dozens of iguanas.
It was cool, but also smelled.

Wildlife refuge in Guayaquil. Not sure what type of animals these are,
more important was they didn't eat Eri's fingers.

By the time this three-toed sloth turned its head to see who was
petting it, we were already off man-handling other animals. Super. Slow.

Speaking Spanish and not even trying to understand our Portuguese. 

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At Guayaquil's city overlook. (Baby Leo is in utero.)

On a city tour of Guayaquil, which is lovely and didn't feel
Americanized at all. Lots of historic
architecture, very clean, and nice shopping and restaurants. 

                                             
                                               Second stop: The Islands (Galapagos).

We're here and wanna see some Blue-footed Boobies!

On the boat from the airport to our jumping-off island, Santa Cruz,
which is in the center of the archipelago. From here, we took
day-trips to other islands, each of which had their own
habitat specialty. It was really cool.

The land turtles, which are everywhere on
Santa Cruz Island, are about the size of Geoff. ...

... But much older and slower. And probably couldn't support
the weight of its wife and daughter.

Spelunking in the volcanic caves.

On a trekking tour of the one of the smaller islands.

We did a couple snorkeling/scuba day trips to
check out of the aquatic life. (Eri is not actually pulling the boat; it had a motor.)

We saw sea lions, sea turtles, sting rays, (harmless) sharks and tons of fish.

Sea turtle

Sharks

We also took a couple land tours and saw
dozens of different types of birds, sea lions, land iguanas,  etc.

Running into the Pacific with the sea iguanas! 

Sea turtles swimming by our boat and without fear
(any closer and tourists will be laying inside those shells).

Sea lions scale the rock walls of the ocean-front restaurants
and hang out until the waiters shoo them away.

She's sea worthy (and super cute). 

Third Stop: The Jungle (Amazon):

These little monkeys were everywhere. 

We stayed in a little hut right in the jungle. 

Amazon jungle tour.

Trekking through the Amazon with our guide,
who helpfully pointed out poisonous insects and plants for us to avoid.

Swimming!

Riding!

Fourth Stop: The Mountains (Andes, Quito city).

Roadtripping through the Andes.

Hot Springs:

Quito:

Just checkin' out Quito.

Cheese.

On the gondola. 

Frequent flyer. 

Still haven't mastered packing light.