Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Back In

The good news of the month is that I've been rehired by my company back home. When I moved here in February, I had to leave my previous position. I was lucky at the time to be given a four-month contract with them on a new project, which kept things running smoothly for a while.

But as the final weeks of that contract peeled off the calendar, and June abruptly became July, the tension in the Davidson Lima household exponentially rose. Money for our wedding is flying out the door these days and the threat of no incoming funds on my horizon made for some sleepless nights.

Worse yet, landing this role was basically my only option for (legal) employment. It's nearly impossible for a Brazilian company to (legally) hire a foreigner. The company has to pay enormous fees, complete an endless amount of paperwork and, most importantly, prove that no Brazilian is capable of doing the job the foreigner has been hired for. So, unless you're LeBron James or the corpse of Steve Jobs, you're not getting a (legal) gig here.

My only option in that scenario would be teaching English. Not that there's no money in it. The demand from the business community here for native English speakers is massive. I could start work tomorrow and make US $30-60 a class. Class means I just sit with some executive in his office and have a conversation for an hour. There are worse ways to spend your day.

The transition, though, especially at a busy time like this would have been overload. To be completely honest, were it not for this job, and we had to rely on just one income instead of two, this whole Brazilian ride would likely come to a close long before Dani and me intended. That's not how I imagined things ending.

Thankfully all of that is behind us now and I'm back in the mix full time. Instead of mere weeks, my calendar now has whole months on it that stretch deep into 2015.

And that calendar is looking ridiculous. Starting July 24 through September 7, every single day I will either have friends in town or be traveling. That's 45 straight days. Not so busy that first week, but when August hits, it's full court press time until mid-September.

And a wedding is in there somewhere too. That little thing.

My company is based in Alexandria, so a ticket for a business meeting is far more of a blessing than it ever has been before. A chance to make money and go home. What more can you ask for?

Soon enough, I will be doing the unthinkable. Imagine this: Quitting your job, moving out of your home and relocating halfway around the world. A few months go by. Then you go back to that same residence, sleep in your old bed, in your old room, wake up and drive the same route to that same job you used to have and potentially even sit in the very same desk where you used to sit. It's the closest thing to time travel I can think of. I get to experience that soon and I couldn't be more thrilled.

Added to all this, my new role is a quality one. It combines some of my old responsibilities with some new areas for growth. A step up and a new challenge rolled into one.

There's also the matter of non-business related travel. South America is a massive continent with a few destinations that I never thought I could hit in this lifetime. Within the next week, now that I've got a stable job, I'm trying to pull the trigger on tickets to one of them. I can't wait to turn this man-that-would-be-crazy-awesome dream into a reality.

Things are looking up down here. Come see us and join in the fun.



1 comment:

  1. Can't wait to have you back on Team Gary in a couple weeks, brother! Good to know you're resting easier these days too.

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