After the wedding – Week 2
Campinas (Brasil)

Alex and Karen returned from their honeymoon and we were treated to a session of viewing photos from their time away. Very nice. It is very tropical in the north of Brasil, somewhere I think I would like to visit. I think seeing the photos made it more clear to me that I should go, if I get the chance. We, as in Nashi plus Sophie, E with Victoria and Michael, Lori, Alex, Karen, Daniel and I (maybe one or two more), also spent time at a small village near Sao Paulo, called EMBU. It is a small artest village, where there are loads of stalls, arts and crafts and of course food and drinks. We also spent an afternoon at a doctors resort near Campinas, where we swam, played tennis and just chilled out. It was a lot of fun.

What else did I do for the week….

I was staying at Paulo and Lorena’s house and it was a full house. There were people everywhere. Alex and Karen were downstairs, as a few more things needed to be done at their apartment, Ana in one room upstairs, Daniel and I in another and the three boys wherever they could find a place to sleep. It was a very multi-cultural house, people from Brasil (of course), Chile and Australia. Fun times… I think I was the butt of most of the jokes, as I didn’t quite understand what everyone was saying. We also went out for Ice-cream and it was great. Yoy take a bowl and help yourself to as much ice-cream as you can eat. The catch is, you pay by the weight, which is a typical way of paying for food here in Brasil. That said, it was fantastic ice-cream.

I was introduced to a friend of Lorena’s, who was travelling to the north of Brasilia, the capital of Brasil, for a week to go walking in a national park. I was asked if I wanted to go, I was given 10 seconds to think, like the TV show Temptation (Aussie viewers would know what I mean). I think I even heard the chime sound. An answer was given and I decided to go. Get out and see a bit more of Brasil. It is just a little bigger than Australia in land size, so there is a lot to see here.

We also celebrated Andrea’s birthday. (Andrea is Karen’s sister, one up from her). It was a lovely night at the folk’s house and Rogerio, Andrea’s fiancée did a wonderful effort of organising things. He made it a very special night for everyone and the food was great. I think that this is typical me, always remembering the food that I ate. They make these fried cheese balls, which are just delicious. If you ever get the chance to eat them, you must, even if you are on a diet. However, be warned, once you start eating them, you can’t stop... take it from me…

I also organised my trip to Brasilia with the travel agent, all in very bad Portuguese. So now it's off to Brasilia.

After the wedding
Campinas (Brasil)

Alex and Karen were on their honeymoon and I was able to spend a bit of time with Paul, Danni, Natalia, Papi and the boys before they were to return to Chile. Brasil was playing Chile in the soccer, Copa America, which is a very good competition. You have all of South America playing, plus all of North America. It is a very good competition. So we went to a local pub to watch it and had fun giving and taking banter from some locals, who were supporting Brasil, of course. It was good fun, even if I did struggle to understand what people were saying.

I also had to do some work at Alex and Karen’s Apartment. Someone had fixed the plumbing for the upstairs apartment’s shower and never repaired the hole in the ceiling. A hole about 50cm by 60cm in size and right in the corner, which makes it harder to repair. I had spent a bit of time with Alex buying some items to repair the hole and Karen’s sister, Lorena, had a few other bits, so in total we should have had it covered, but as always, there was a few key items missing, which always makes a job harder to finish. Not to worry, Daniel, Karen’s cousin from Chile, gave me a hand to get things going and after a day or two, we had the majority of the hole fixed. Here is Daniel and I working.

I even managed to get out by myself and go for a walk around the local park, called Parque Taquaral. It is a bit of a tourist attraction for Campinas. Apparently they have big rat like animals (they have a special name, but I don’t know what it is) that live in the park, but I haven’t seen any, so I don’t have any photos. I enjoyed my walk, as it gave me time alone to think and ponder life. It was also the first time that I had been alone in Brasil and I really enjoyed the space. I had a wonderful time walking along the paths, seeing people running, walking, talking and sharing a kiss or two. There was even a homeless guy, who wanted to have a chat with me. I think that the people here know the dangers that could fall upon a gringo, but I think I know when to walk fast and when to shut up.

So all up, it was a bit of a quiet week. I even went to Sao Paulo for a day visit but I think I would have preferred to stay in Campinas and relax. Go and have coffee with new friends, instead of going to a big city of something like 15-20 Million. Ohhh Yeah, I even went out and ate FROG!!! I think I may just be the first in my family to eat frog. I can tell you that it is a mixture between Chicken and Fish. (I just kept saying, it's only chicken...)

Wedding - Campinas (Brazil)

Yes, I have been a little slack with my Blog updates. So all you people out there who are complaining that you haven’t received your latest fix of El Mundo de Leigh, well here it is…

The Wedding… What a wonderful day/night. We had gone through rehearsals about 2 hrs before and things were starting to shape up. I was partnered with a friend of Karen’s from University, whos name is Gabi. The photo here is of her and I at the end of the ceremony. We didn’t say much to each other, as I think that both of us were freighted by the language barrier, plus being introduced as the Gringo who doesn’t speak any Portuguese doesn’t help. I found out later on that she understands a little English and can say a few words her and there.

OK, less about me and more about the wedding, what it looked like and how things went.

Firstly I must state that Karen did a fantastic job at arranging everything, with a little help from those around her. Various people running garden lighting cables, wiring up BBQ houses, building platforms over pools, Wait, that was me….Sorry Focus…
The girls helped out with the tables, chairs, flower arrangements, fire poles, screens, etc… Although this picture is a little fuzzy (night shot) it gives an indication of what the scene was like.

The wedding party was large. I think that there were 10 couples, 5 on either side. On Alex’s side were his parents (Luis & Anita), Paulo and Lorena, Paul and Danni, Gabi and I and Coki and a cousin of Karen’s from Chile. On Karen’s side were her Parents, Her eldest sister Natasha and her husband and 3 friends from University and partners. Her other sister, Andrea and her brother Alex performed musical items. They are all very talented. It was a lovely ceremony, even if I understood 1 word in 10 (my Portuguese is bad, but getting better and it is a lot different to Spanish. I now understand 2 words in 10). Karen’s little nephew, Andre was the page boy and her niece, Sophie, did a little dance to Guy Sebastian’s “Angels Brought Me Here”. Being part of the Party, means that I don’t have to many photos, but I hope the ones here do justice. Hopefully if I get a few more from other sources, then I will add them to my blog.

I think that the photos of Karen and Her Father tell the story of what the night was like. By describing her dress, I would only do an injustice, so I hope the photograph tells the story. Even Alex scrubbed up for the event and looked the part. Everyone looked great and I think that everyone enjoyed themselves. I know that I did. Check out Anita (mami) and I. Typical me, am I ever serious???

It was a lovely evening and I even had to give a speech, with 5 minutes notice. I gave it in English and Karen translated for me into Portuguese. Thinking back, there were so many other things that I wanted to state, but just did not think of them at the time. Karen said that she thought what I had to say was perfect, but I know I missed a few topics that I thought were important. I met a lot of wonderful people at Karen and Alex’s wedding.
Please click on the following link for more photos of the wedding, www.akneumann.blogspot.com