Weekend break from blogging!

Well I did take a little break over the weekend! haha! Our last game was Friday so we had Saturday and Sunday off which is usually unheard of! We relaxed Saturday and went to the beach Sunday. My friend Rafaela joined us at the beach. It was kind of comical getting in touch because our cell phone doesn't work. I called her from our computer, Skype, before we left but she was expected another call when we arrived at her apartment. So we sat out from waiting for a while but she never came out. We then drove around the corner to her cousin's house thinking maybe she thought we were going to pick her up there. After driving around the block a few times we finally came back to our house to call her again. This time we straightened everything out and we off to the beach! The temperature was cooler than usual but it was still nice to get to the beach. Unfortunately, the trip did not do much for my tan as I had hoped. We hadn't been to the beach in a very long time. It was so nice to go again. Rafaela and I decided that we need to go more during the week because there is simply no reason not to! Hopefully we'll go once or twice this week. We already have a trip planned for tomorrow - I'll take my camera :)

Another adventure of the weekend was my encounter with our neighbors. Now if we're friends on facebook (things always seem to relate back to facebook :/ ) you have probably seen my posts about my neighbors... Not that they are bad, we just don't see eye to eye! haha! I think the main problem, if you can even call it that, is the fact that we think differently. I think there are certain ways people do things here and I am unaware of them because we do things differently in the States. A perfect example is how we deal with the water that leaks from our air conditioner. Reggie and I are not really into buying a whole lot of household products while we are here. Not to mention that things are incredibly expensive here, we don't want to only use them for a short period of time then leave.I guess we are kind of stingy in that sense. Well, that stinginess translates to our air conditioner story in a way. Once we noticed out air conditioner was leaking I acknowledged the fact that we have to find something to capture the water so the whole walkways doesn't get wet. Well we only have one bucket in the apartment and that is for the mop. I couldn't use that because I wouldn't have a bucket for my mop then! So I in turn, cut of the top of a 1.5 Liter water bottle and used that as a 'bucket'. Granted it was much smaller than an actual bucket but it served the same purpose did it not? Apparently, according to my neighbors, it's not the same. They continually told me that I need to get a bucket. I just kept nodding and smiling as I thought to myself, "the water bottle does the same darn thing!". There isn't water on the floor any more so the problem is solved. And mind you, my neighbors use a water bottles as pot for plants. If you could use them for that, then I could use them for my leaky air conditioner. To make an even longer story shorter (wink wink), I was told once again by my neighbors this weekend that I needed to put a bucket under my air conditioner to catch the water. It has gotten to the point in the past where they put their own bucket under our air conditioner. I just don't see the big deal with a water bottle when it serves the same purpose. different means, but the end result is still the same! Side note: Reggie and I are not so stingy that we won't buy a bucket. I mean come on, it's a bucket! The only problem is, we don't know where to buy a bucket! haha! I have looked when we go to the store and they don't have simple buckets. I know you can buy them on the street, but I don't go out very much. So our problem continues! It is one of the many encounters with my neighbors.

I'm not exactly sure what today holds but if there is anything exciting I will definitely post it on here. Maybe I'll write again tonight and start catching up on some old memories. We have a game tomorrow against the top team in Angola. We play this twice this week for the Final of the Cup. I look forward to the games, I just hope everyone plays well!

Until next time,

Beijos! (Kisses)

In case you are wondering why I always 'sign off' with beijos it is the phrase used here to say good bye. Also, giving someone kisses, one on each cheek, is the common greeting and exit in Europe and here. Instead of giving kisses as you leave, people just say 'beijo' which is Portuguese for kiss. There is a little Portuguese lesson for you. :)