The Day Soccer Stood Still

7/6-7/14

With no games before the semi-finals, it felt weird to have two days without soccer – not so much as withdrawal, as empty space and time to fill. And I won’t lie, after Costa Rica’s elimination, the Cup has lost a little bit of its luster; I’m interested in seeing how the tournament plays out but definitely not as excited about it anymore. Hopefully that will change once the last round of matches gets going. We’ll see. [Nick: I’m just as excited. I never expected CR to be in it at this point, so these were exactly my expectations when we planned the trip; all the fantastic results for CR were a HUGE bonus.]

On our way out of the hotel, Nick recognized a fellow Tico as ex-Costa Rican president Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier. I never would have known. Nick bumped into him at breakfast and asked him if he was actually the ex-President and when he was, I think Fe and Filipe were more excited about the chance encounter than Nick was. [Nick: I had noticed him on earlier days and wondered if it was him (I had not seen photos of him in like 10-20 years). I asked him if he was there in any official capacity and he said no, he was just a fan.]

After our flight back to São Paulo, I was practically giddy to find a Starbucks at the airport (they are nowhere near as ubiquitous here as in the States; in fact it was the first one I’d seen in Brazil). I do not normally care for Starbucks and would, under normal circumstances, not even give the place a second glance, but the idea of being able to order a decaf coffee and not be laughed at for such a thing was way too good to pass up! So after 26 days of travel, Nick and I indulged in the comfort that is American-chains abroad. [Nick: We also had a great Brazilian empanada. Hmm, iced chai and empanadas go well together. Are you reading this, our Starbucks overlords?]

   

We returned to Fe and Filipe’s house in São Jose for a big family get together and BBQ dinner (the picanha was so good). It was fantastic! [Nick: It was so much better than the fancy Salvador restaurant where we watched Germany vs. France.] The girls were really excited to see us (and us them) and they totally wore Nick out by the end of the night. :o) [Nick: No way I could play with those girls forever!]

The girls liked to sing a long to a bank commercial

Blowing bubbles with Tio Nick

My turn, my turn!

No time to talk to the adults, time to play

The following day was a nice break. Fe and Filipe had to go back to work, of course, but we stayed home with the girls and Fe’s parents. [Nick: Poor Camila had a cold. I hope she faked it so she could stay home and play some more.] We went to the playground together (Camila loves swings) and goofed off in the workout room (Isabela was fascinated with the treadmill). [Nick: Camila was using the weight machine and pumping iron, with only slight assistance from me ;-). She was pretty buff afterward.] Nick even played a Disney version of the old game “Guess Who” with Isabella that proved to be a good elementary lesson in Portuguese. Isabela was a very patient teacher. ;o) The girls then headed back into São Paulo with their grandparents, where we would meet up with them the next day.

Swings are awesome!

With no kids around, the house was oddly silent and none of us really knew what to do with ourselves. :P [Nick: Fe had the great idea of visiting the Brazilian space agency nearby, but unfortunately their visitor’s center was closed that day. Shucks, I would have loved to learn more about their space industry.] But we got by on renting a movie (you can still find Blockbusters here), taking naps, and running errands. Later that night we stopped by to watch Filipe play soccer with his church group, where Nick was once again told how much he looked like Kaká. :P