Last Night in Brasilia

On our last day in Brasilia, I had to work, tidying up loose ends at the office, like returning my Blackberry and completing my check-out with HR. At home, Sheyla fell from the edge of the bath tub while cleaning the wall in the bathroom and left at noon to go to the hospital for x-rays, less a reflection of the potential seriousness of her injuries and more a comment on public health care in Brazil (she was fine several hours later), leaving us much the way we'd arrived in Brasilia...Elise and I, Sam and Peter in an empty house, surrounded by nine giant red suitcases. Only this time we had Clementine.

It seemed fitting (if not incredibly stressful) to have it be just us during our last hours in Brazil. As I said, it was just us when we arrived and it would be just us as we left. We finished packing and ordered pizza and somehow made it through dinner, eating on only paper towels, having already packed up everything else, including the welcome kit.

We left on an overnight transcontinental flight which departed at nearly midnight. The shuttle came at 8:00, and Mauricio drove us to the airport, and we left Brazil. For now.

Sam up to his usual silliness. Over and over, he would announce throughout the day, "This is going to be the best night ever!"

The coconut palm in our front yard.

The banana tree in the back.

Mangoes.

Churrasco.

Cozinha sem pratileiras.

Bagagem.

Everyone took early baths and put on their pajamas to sleep on the plane. Sam and Pete started waiting for the eight o'clock pick-up at six.

Our two years in Brazil ended much the way it began, hand in hand. 

Photography by Elise Hanna.