On Death and Dying.

Nope this is not going to be a morose blog - in fact it will be the opposite, I want to tell you that death is nothing to be afraid of, to talk about death can be very enlightening, to plan ones funeral can be a very peaceful process.

Picture this scene, 00H30 in a hospital room, 2 woman discussing a funeral ....giggling, yes it is possible. If you have stared death in the face once you are not afraid anymore, whether the person lived or died.

Twenty one years ago was my first time, staring into the face of death, was I going to be a widow at the age of 27 with two little boys? I looked at my life from all angles, yes house would be paid up, I would have an almost new car - which I couldn't drive, yes I would have to work again, but that would not be the worst that could happen. I decided that my parents could move in with me, they still lived in an apartment then, and we would be okay. I made peace with death and have never been afraid since - after all what are we afraid of???

If we understood the process of life and death then death would not be our greatest fear. In 2004 I stared death in he face again, this time my mother was diagnosed with a terminal disease MDS, she died in  2008, in 2007 I faced death with her, once when she rallied and came back to tell the take and then finally leave this world on September 19, 2008 with me holding her hand and joking with her! At 10h55 he too her last breath and gently left with that huge Silver Angel that she first met for months earlier when she was in a coma.

In 2010 I once again sat with death, six whole weeks we sat together and watched over Frank. Once again I made my peace, silently went through all my options and then sat besides my husband whilst other people around him either passed away or went home. The saddest was a young man in the room next door, cancer had spread to his brain, just like Franks nephew Louis. I watched him die - not physically but watched the monitor when the switched off the life support - I cried with the family whom I never knew. There was another young person, a girl who was kept in a coma as she could no longer breath on her own as her lungs were calcifying, yes become bones. I do not know what happened to her but I always have happy thoughts when I think about her.

Now once again death is visiting, it is close enough as it is my husbands oldest sisters only son who is leaving us, he is 30 years old and ironically his sister has just found out she is pregnant with her third child - after two girls I know they are hoping for a boy -I am sure they will name him Louis and if it's a little girls she will most probably be Louisa.

This is the circle of life.

Traffic Chaos, of a different kind - and they wanna host the Copa do Mundo!

The joy of living in Brazil is that there are so many stories to tell. One of the main topics of conversation here is the traffic - as you may have seen from my previous posts. 

A three day long weekend ahead and we do something crazy - decide to take a break from Sampa and visit a darling friend in Brasilia. Why should this be weird, after all we often travel on long weekends in SA. As a rule due to traffic chaos we never travel during peak times - like long weekends or holidays - well an ordinary weekend is no different so we stay home. 

This was one break that I had set my heart on, I love Brasilia it is like a bigger version of Windhoek, just very green even if it is built in a very dry area. For those that do not know - Brasilia is a 'custom' built capital. Rio used to be the capital of Brazil only 50 years ago - in fact to be exact on April 22, 1960 Brasilia was born. I spent about 24 hours there earlier and loved it, but even better is that one of my soul sisters is there. 

So here we are on the plane - late of course - that is the only way it works in Brazil then we spend almost an hour trying to get to the runway to take off!! Really if Congonhas was a huge airport it would make sense but it's in the middle of Sao Paulo and small with one runway!! 

The other issue I have is that Brazilians are so used to this type of service no-ones says a single word! Just put a rowdy bunch of Soccer fans on that plane and you will have a riot on your hands!!! 

We had an absolutely fabulous weekend eating, enjoying wine, swimming, even had feijoda (only second time I have eaten it as the first time made me sick- and believe me I eat beans and the cuts of meat that are used!)Bubbly on the waterfront a guided tour! Our friend make the best braai under the sun - Frank loves to watch her! She makes the fire, preps the meat, the works!  

Sunday evening came way to fast and another journey in the air lay ahead. First we boarded late but not too much then when all is closed and ready to rock and roll some moron discovers he's on the wrong plane! Again no-one says a word!! We I didn't shut up I called the guy every name under the sun - of course I could do this because almost no-one understand English! Fortunately his luggage was on the correct plane so the delay was only 20 minutes and not an hour while they search for it. Brasilia's airport has a long taxing time almost 20 minutes just to get to the queue.

Once in the air the pilot managed to catch up and over Sampa were in time AND then the pawpaw hit the fan again. Now the traffic chaos was not only on the ground but in the air! Circles for 45 minutes before the plane got a slot in the queue! The only good part was that the airport was prepared and the bus took us directly to the luggage collection point! No long walks! 

Now the moral of this little story is - airports can't handle a 3 days long weekend and now they have to host the Confederations Cup, the World Cup and the Olympic Games - and don't tell me there is time - Brazilians admit themselves they cannot plane ahead! 

Welcome chaos - fortunately I will not be here or I would be driving a tank!