Minha casa é sua casa
At around 4PM that same day, my cell-phone rang, and my heart stopped as I saw Telma’s number on the caller I.D. It was some of the best news of my life, as she told me that everything was good, and I the place was mine. I’ll always remember the phrase that she said that made my day: “Tudo certo,” meaning, everything’s certain. We were to meet the next morning at the bank to sign the paperwork and seal the deal.
The next morning I woke up extra early from sheer excitement alone. I met Telma at the apartment at 10:30 and we headed to Banco do Brasil to take care of business. An hour later I had the keys to my new apartment!!! Even though I already had rented a place for the week, I was never so excited to pack up my bags and “move in” to the new pad. I did it. It was 100% done. My new home is now in Brasil.
I spent the next three days and nights enjoying Recife and my new apartment. Every day I learned something new about my apartment and its neighborhood. I was less than 100 steps from the beach (I counted!) The supermarket is just one block away from me. One of the coolest surprises happened when I asked my doorman what bus line would take me to the mall, and he informed me that it’s just an eight minute walk up the street, how dope is that! (By the way, the mall, called Shopping Recife, is the biggest mall in all of Latin America!) And finally, I didn’t even know if my place even had a pool, until after I had moved in, and get this–it’s on the TOP FLOOR, just one level above my apartment! You walk out my door, and up one flight of stairs, and you’re on the 26th floor chillin’ in the pool, overlooking the ocean and the city. It’s freakin’ PARADISE!!! PAIR-UH-DISE!!!