Cheguei!

I have arrived!

... and am even in one piece!

The last week or so is pretty much a blur. Following my late night arrival from Brasilia a week and a half ago, I spent my last days in Recife madly trying to clean, file, and see friends. There were even several cleaning sessions that finally had to be wrapped up at 2am.... My poor eyes just couldn't take it anymore. What got done, got done. For what didn't, well, hopefully I will be forgiven. :-)

Last Sunday, my last full day in Brazil, I had a terrific lunch at my friend Andrea's house and then final drinks with André and Sarah at California (the restaurant, not the state). Then Monday morning, everyone somehow managed to take the morning off work and showed up chez moi to mount the airport caravan express. Although I had thought that three cars to go to the airport would be a bit of overkill, it turned out that we actually fully used all three (Brazilian cars are small)! At the airport, we were met by Flavio who also managed to scive off from work. Felix safely examined and on board, we had one final caipirinha and then it was time to hit the Recife runway one last time. Strange to see my building looming on the horizon and know that it will be a while before seeing it again.

The travel was all fine, Felix was duly readmitted to his home and native land and three of my four bags arrived with me. Fortunately, Felix was one of the three! The fourth arrived the next day - although I am a little perplexed as to where it went, since I saw it in Toronto and personally put it back on the conveyor belt to Ottawa....

Now I am busy settling in, visiting friends & family, discovering my new neighbourhood (more on that later) and wondering how long my shipments will take to arrive (am hoping for pre-Christmas at the worst!). Work starts again next week.

More musing to follow as I unpack and organise my thoughts.