Power Failures & Blasts from the Past

Last night at about 9 it started to rain ridiculously hard. A few minutes later the power flickered a few times and then ultimately threw in the towel, leaving me in an entirely dark apartment, terrified of how many lizards would manage to get under the door without me knowing. Apparently the "oh no, the power just went out" scream is universal, as the screams from surrounding neighborhoods confirmed my suspicions that it was just a power failure rather than a ploy by bandits to siege my building. Left with little to do (no internet, no TV, no fan, no hot water shower head, no light by which to read AND no candles...good one, Cris) I determined that I would abandon my plans to clean (ok, I really had no choice) and just go to bed. I also determined that, in my extensive history of behavioral studies (read: Bachelor of Arts in Psychology) the converse of the Universal Power Outage Scream is also true, and remaining consistent with the celebratory nature of Brasilians, I would know that the power was back on when I heard cheers and applause in the neighborhood down below (the way a packed movie theater cheers when the projector is fixed of its little glitches.) I took a dark, freezing cold shower (again, no choice) and got in bed. Not 10 minutes later my theory proved correct. Thunderous applause and joyful cheers filled my 8th story bedroom, and I reached over to turn on my fan. As the blades began to whip cool air into my face, I smiled smugly that I had predicted so accurately how the human race responds to power failure.

I had an amaaaaaaaazing weekend this past weekend, spent with my childhood neighbors. I met up with them on Saturday night at the mall at around 6, and had so much fun I didn't leave until 10! Then we went out again the next day, and had Sunday lunch together at Mangai, the really cool restaurant I always mention/post pictures of. They loved it, and we had such a great time together. I hadn't seen them since I was about 8. They had just as many memories as I did (particularly of the Nintendo we had in our basement, haha), and had updates on all of our neighbors whom still live on the same street! I am excited and antsy to go back and visit Brasilia now, and they made sure I knew I would always have a place to stay if I went back...2 doors down from the house I grew up in! Life is crazy. Below are some pictures of our time together. Though they mean nothing to most of you, some of you know how much they mean to me!





Have a great week!