We have finally received our documents and a ton of information from Honeywell. We have had about 5 hours of conference calls so far. The first call was the total relocation overview, one was with the immigration helpers and another was discussing the property management of our AZ home. We have also received information from the tax people and the destination service provider that helps us do everything in Brazil from finding schools, cars, houses, stores, gym, etc. David will meet with her this week to get started.
Oh yeah, how did this all start? Long story short, it all started earlier this year when we started looking for different houses. We found one that we love. It was friend of ours and they were up for giving us a "deal (who even knows what that is anymore). We decided we couldn't afford it and found another house that we bid on in foreclosure. We were outbid so we decided to go back to the original deal with the first house. After packing our whole house, we were strongly advised not to go through with the deal because is was too risky, and this was about a week before we were moving in.
After mourning that for about a week David called me and said they talked about a position in Brazil that he is well qualified for. I told him to call and get more info. since he has the same boss he had when we relocated to England in Jan. 2001. He immediately called and they said come talk to me right away. He then applied and got an interview on Sept. 5th and about a week after that they offered him the position with a 10% raise and a promotion. WOW!
Since then we have been waiting for Honeywell to five us all the details. They finally got out "letter of understanding" drafted outlining all the compensation and details. We have an entire team set up to help us with every aspect of moving. Since we did this last time they are WAY more organized and helpful that they were when we moved to England. The entire family even gets to take Portuguese lessons before and after we move.
How are we feeling about all this, you ask? David has always been very excited about going. It is the perfect job for him and after 18 years at Honeywell, he deserves it. I am always up for any adventure, I just wanted to see the numbers. I just became employed this year at a newspaper job that I absolutely love. It is the perfect job for a stay home mom and my boss is amazing. Also, with David traveling back and forth to Brazil, obviously I will be making most of the plans involving school, vaccinations, travel, dog sitters, organizing air shipment, boat shipment and storage items, filling out unbelievable amounts of paperwork etc. I have really loved having a part time job this past year and I'm not allowed to work while I'm in Brazil.
We really feel like this is a once in a lifetime experience and this time we get to do it with our young children. We have always loved traveling especially when we lived in Europe. Now I get to go see the rainforest after writing letters on a daily basis to save it. I get to live within an hour of the ocean which is closer than I have ever lived to a beach. I was happy to find out that there are no hurricanes there either! It will be 50 in the winter and 80 in the summer which just started. Their summer break is Dec. & Jan. and school starts Feb. 4th. They also get the month of June off for winter break. Their main holiday is April 22nd which most of you know is Earth Day here! How awesome is that! Plus, how many people get to live in 2 places that have a Z in the name!
When David returns and we have our holiday break, the kids and I will go down there with David for our familiarization trip. We are trying to get the International School that we want the kids to attend to write a letter saying they want to test our kids so Honeywell pays for the kids to go too. I can't imagine leaving them behind for an entire week when we're going so far. Otherwise we would have to pay for them to go. We're also trying to get Honeywell to pay for Brady's school since my job now allows him to attend montessori school for free in exchange for an ad in the newspaper every month. Normally they only pay for kids 5 and older. We think it is important for Brady to continue in pre-school mainly to learn the language with his sister. I'm going to need some help at the grocery store (any store) reading labels in Portuguese.
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