One Year Later

Last October was my year anniversary here. October has gone by. In the winter I bought my first apartment here. It is on the same street as our old place. We wanted to live in Copacabana the money I have saved I could probably only get a small studio. Here I bought a three bedroom ( four with the servant's bedroom ) with a back veranda. The living room is pretty large and the ceilings are high. The bathroom has a shower and a bath which is rare here. We are on the fourth, Top, floor of the building. It is a small condo with only 16 units in the building. It was $150,000. reais. The building is nice and in good condition. It just does not have any extras....no doorman, no pool etc. It is worth it though to have space...especially with two dogs. They now sleep in the servant's room and have the veranda to hang out on during the night. Toni is doing well. Work was slow in after the new year but is starting to pick up a little. He is still studying English. I am also still going to my classes twice a week and am getting ready to move to the third level. I just finished my resume so I can look for a job...maybe teaching English. Yeidy came in February. She was my first visitor from the states. It was fun. We went to all the tourist attractions that I haven't seen since I visited the first time. Toni got along with her really well...they were teasing each other by the end of the trip like sibling. I made the mistake of telling Yeidy that Toni does not like sand so of course she kept on throwing sand on him at the beach. It was sad when she had to go and leave me here with all these crazy people ( just partially joking about the crazy part ). I miss New York but probably will not visit this year. Not until I have a job. I have a little bit of money save but I want to keep it for emergencies. Until then I will have to love New York from a far.