Sick break

My eyes still feel hot, which could be a side effect from the 3-D movie we watched this afternoon (today I lost my 3-D virgin status to TRON...and yes, I feel cheapened) or, more probably, because this is the NASTIEST cold bug I've ever caught. Doesn't help that my body doesn't seem to know what it's supposed to fight; my joints have been squirmy and aching for a couple of weeks now. We'll be trying a new arthritis treatment plan soon if we can get the Brazilian insurance plan to okay it. Be praying for that. They tell us we have a good health plan, but I've yet to truly test it out...

Being under the weather, I'm going to be a little slower than usual in posting about Christmas Eve and Christmas here. Our holiday was probably warmer than what most of my readers are experiencing right now. If you're stuck in the snowstorms, maybe it'll cheer you up to know there are a lot of expats who are cranking up their AC's and dreaming of snow and sweaters and Christmas by the fireplace. We'd trade the beach for that for at LEAST a couple of days!

But while I recover, a quick Christmas snippet:

We went to the beach for just a few hours today, in the late afternoon, and ended up plopping down on the sand right next to someone we'd met just the night before. Small world. As usual, I brought nothing to the beach except my wrap and a book. In between paragraphs, I could see a woman wandering down the beach, asking people for money. She used the slightly-archaic-but-very-precise term "esmola" (alms) while asking for money to go buy a water. Not having a cent on me, I tried to be polite while also encouraging her to move on, but instead of finding another person, she changed her tone. That "I'm-trying-to-intimidate-you-since-guilt-didn't-work" thing. So I said, "Look, there's a coconut my husband was drinking. He's coming back, but he can share mine. He already drank some, but if you're thirsty, you can have it."

She paused, as if confused by what I'd just said. (Granted, this was probably not the way most of her begging transactions go.) "He already drank out of it?"

"Yup."

She straightened up, the rough tone gone. "Yeah, that's okay. Thanks anyway..."

Good thing that woman didn't accept my offer, as after she left, I realized he'd drained his coconut before heading into the waves. Oops! I would have honored my offer and given her what was left in mine, but she really wouldn't have wanted to catch this cold...and that DEFINITELY would count against me in the alms department!