Bright spots so far

How is your week going? Mine is going well and I had many bright spots that made me smile and feel proud

First, look at this pic sent by our helper yesterday. She noticed Bubble taking up leftover milk and laughed out. haha…so funny

then we replicated at night and yes, Bubble loves milk/yogurt, I’d say any food.

I’ve continued to have lunch with my colleague and expanding my plate size, following my doctor’s recommendation (more carbs!) I love that this buffet always have vegan options for me. Carbs in this plate: rice, farofa, black bean, and chickpea meatball. So good.

I had a lunch meeting with someone I met few month ago. The last time we had lunch, we spoke in English. This time, we communicated with Portuguese! I think I’ve come to a new level now. Since the start of this year back to office, I’ve had lessons everyday Monday to Thursday, and I started listening podcast in Portuguese (finally found a podcast that I leisurely love to listen, about endurance athlete). Incorporating Portuguese to my life outside of work broke the mental barrier. I also conducted our weekly team meeting in Portuguese and felt comfortable. Next level would be to make a presentation to local audience in Portuguese!

Related to the above, I had lunch at a really nice restaurant by the lake. They serve Amazon fish. My husband loves fish and so far I haven’t found a place in Brasilia that serves Tambaqui and Piracuru. Excited to take him there this Friday.

Finally, I found my perfect Physio therapist, who also sees Sofia (for uneven shoulder height). I started to feel tingling sensation of my left index finger 10 days ago. I wasn’t worried because I’ve experienced it before if I sleep on my shoulder in a wrong way. I waited for it to go away which it didn’t and it started to bother me that my left hand feels numb most of the time. I went to see Dr. Bruna who’s also does Osteopathy yesterday and OMG, I found my physio! She is so nice, knowledgeable, did a lot of massage/ventosa/acupuncture to my should and back, and I felt 50% better by the end of the session. There’s more, she’s a runner too! So I know who to go for muscle release or any other adjustment I need going forward. Oh… she speaks perfectly English but I asked to speak in Portuguese. šŸ™‚

I feel like living in health and wellness heaven in Brasilia. So many good doctors! Information is gold and I’m grateful for all the good recommendations I’ve had so far.

My energy and mood level has came back to norm after being mildly down for few days during period. It has been 3 months since I started HRT. I’ll write about it next. Let me know if you have specific question you’d like me to address.

6 thoughts on “Bright spots so far

  1. Well done on your progress in Portuguese! It seems that your total immersion strategy is really helping you to pick up the language fast. I should start to listen to French podcasts on my runs!
    And yay for a physio who runs!
    Brazil seems like a heaven for runners – I’m sure the running community is huge!

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  2. I am so glad you’re thriving, Coco! You put so much time and effort into your health and wellness and it pays off!

    Those pictures of Cookie made me smile ā¤ Thanks for sharing!

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  3. That is great that you are now able to feel more comfortable conversing in Portuguese! I remember when I was in France, finally getting over that barrier where you are struggling to understand your friends, to kind of thinking, hey, I did not have to mentally translate EVERYTHING! Wow. I hope that the fact that you already spoke Spanish helped; I know it did with me when I was in Brazil! I remember one time, checking into a lodging, where the guy was telling us something in Portuguese (probably where the bathroom was or the like) and my friend looked at me and said, did you understand any of that and I could tell him that actually I had! It is so strange when sometimes you don’t realize what language the person just spoke to you in!

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    1. yes, when you master a language, it becomes a form of communication and you understand the meaning without realizing it’s a different language. It’s happening for me in Portuguese and feels so good to finally get it.

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  4. I’m getting caught up and reading the last few posts that I missed. I love the information that you got from the sports doctor, and now this PT as well is really good news. I’m super impressed by your language skills! Taking it out of the office has clearly pushed you to the next level. Do your husband and the girls know any Portuguese yet? Also, yay carbs!

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