July 2001
Gisleide and I were married in Fallbrook, California on July 20th, 2000. It was a wonderful ceremony, and we enjoyed the entire evening very much. Trying to coordinate the event from the other side of the country was difficult, and we barely survived it. We did receive some wonderful help, though, from friends and the event coordinator at the place where the wedding was held. Here are a couple of pictures from the event. A whole bunch of photos can be found at http://alexkiefer.net/wedding/ if you haven't seen them already.
We have lived in Washington, D.C. for over a year now, and have enjoyed it quite a bit. There is so much to do in town, not even counting all the monuments and museums. D.C. is a really unique place.
We spent Christmas with my parents in Mexico. I had not been down there for a couple of years. It was Gisleide's first time there. We had an adventure getting there and back. We got stuck in Dallas, Texas going both ways. The first time due to delays caused by mechanical problems. On the way back it was due to bad weather in D.C. The only good part to come out of it was that we were upgraded to first class on the flight from Dallas to D.C. We took the Metro from our house (we live two blocks from the nearest station) to the airport and back. It was really quick and easy. We both enjoyed Mexico quite a bit, but Gisleide was hoping it would be warmer than it was. My uncle Vern was also there. We had a great time visiting with him. We wish that we got to visit with him more often but Washington state is so far away from us.
A little over a month after we got married Gisleide went to Brazil to take care of some business that she has been procrastinating for quite a while. She ended up spending a little over three months and did not quite finish everything. She got back home a week before we went to Mexico. She might have to go back to finish things up, but maybe not. During her stay she made a trip over to Rio de Janeiro for some fun. She planned on a three day visit there but ended up spending ten days. Here is an email that she sent out to some friends of hers upon her return.
Hello Everyone,
I am finally back home after three months in Brazil. I didn't have much fun there, except for the ten days I spent in Rio. I worked very hard on getting the apartment finished, and I mean worked. I hired some workers, but I had to supervise them and I did some of the work. I know how to do all kinds of construction work now. I started work each day at 6:30am and finished at 8:30pm. If you need some work done in your house, I am available. The apartment is looking pretty good now, but is not quite done. I came home to be with my honey during the holidays. I will have to go back to finish it in early 2001.
I had so much fun in Rio with a bunch of international people that I extended my trip from three days to ten. I went to a wonderful European restaurant in Rio named "Carpaccio & Cia." The food was awesome and the service was excellent. There are two of them, one in Leblon and one in Ipanema. They even have a web site: www.carpaccioecia.com.br. I also went dancing in a disco. One that I liked very much is called "W." It is in Leblon. I had planned to go to Bahia also, but ran out of time to make the long trip up there. I will go there on my next trip.
I had a tough time getting adjusted to the attitude of the workers there in Brazil. They all showed up late. I interviewed so many workers to find ones that would show up on time and work. I missed the United States so much. I really enjoyed the food in Brazil. It was so cheap, also. I ate all kinds of fresh fruit and fresh squeezed juices. I lost some weight and look fabulous. The weather in Minas changed a lot. It would be hot one day and then cold and rainy, which made me sick. I worked some on the weekends tutoring English. I did not enjoy doing things with the people in Minas, all they wanted to do was drink beer and I hate beer.
I brought lots of coffee back with me to give to everyone. I brought so much stuff back with me that I had to pay the airlines for an extra suitcase.
I am sorry that I could not telephone all of you while I was in Brazil. It is very expensive to call from there. Also, I was staying with friends and family, and I did not want to complicate the situation with phone calls. I am sorry that I missed many of your birthdays. I meant to send cards, but the lines in the post office were so long, and you can't buy stamps anywhere else like you can here. I visited with my family while I was there and everyone is doing well.
Alex suggested that we have a party for both of our birthdays, but we are having a problem deciding when it should be. Since so many people will be out of town during December we are thinking of doing it in January. Also, what is everyone doing for New Year's? We do not have any plans yet and are accepting suggestions. We can host a party here if a bunch of you do not have plans yet. Please let us know soon so we can plan for it.
I have been working in the house since I got home. In my absence the house changed so much and I have to put it all back into place the way I want it. I kind of didn't even recognize my own bedroom. I have been trying to catch up on my sleep. I could not sleep well where I was staying in Minas. The woman I was staying with snored all night long. I could not sleep on the flight back and then I am still adjusting to the time change. I am really timed at 9pm and wake up very early.
We will be going to Mexico, to visit my new in-laws, for Christmas. We will be gone from Dec 21st until the 27th. We will be lounging on the beach. I hope you will have happy and safe Holidays.
Gisleide
While Gisleide was away I did lots of work on our "new" house. I painted a number of places in the house and the rod iron fence in the front yard. I also installed speakers in the wall upstairs and downstairs for the stereo. I rearranged lots of furniture throughout the house. I patched numerous drafty spots in the house that appeared once it got cold outside. I started work on finishing our powder room, which has just a toilet in it right now. I patched the tin roof on the garage, which leaked a little bit. Part of the garage door fell off, so I had to fix that.
I went to my fifteen-year college reunion in October. We had a fair turnout, but not as good as the ten-year. I got to visit with a few people so it was fun. It was nice that I live only about 30 miles away from Annapolis. I planned on getting to the football tailgater early, but roadwork was being done on the freeway so I ended up sitting in traffic for almost two hours. Gisleide was still in Brazil during the reunion so I carried a picture of her with me. She was a big hit.
The presidential national election was local news here in D.C. It was all over the national and local television news, and the radio news shows. I got really tired of hearing the same news told ten different ways by the different agencies. It was pretty interesting to compare the different "facts" told by each of them. Some of them were saying the exact same thing, word for word. They must have been getting their news from the same source. I voted here in D.C. The outcome here was roughly 83% for Gore, 14% for Bush and 3% for Nader. So, Gore easily won D.C.'s 3 electoral votes. I am sure that you have heard about all the noise being made about voting rights for D.C. There is a new slogan on the license plates here, "Taxation without representation." It looks like we will not get a representative in Congress any time soon because our current at-large representative is a Democrat and the Republicans don't want to reduce the slim margin they currently have. It is much more complex than that, of course, and it is very political.
During the beginning of cherry blossom season I went down to the tidal basin where all the cherry trees are, but they were just beginning to bloom. I went back when the blossoms were in peak and took a few pictures. The crowds were tremendously large.
Gisleide had to go back to Brazil again to try to finish up her business there. She spent a couple more months this time. It is now 99% done.
My car was stolen during the night from across the street from our house. It was not recovered, so the insurance company paid me for it. We have not replaced it yet. Gisleide being in Brazil has slowed us down in doing this. Right now I commute to work on the metro and bus. It takes a little bit longer to commute, but it is much less stressful, I get time to read and I get about 40 minutes of exercise walking each day.
I served jury duty for the first time in my life. I got selected to serve on a criminal trial. It was a drug offense in the bad part of town. It was very interesting, educational and boring all at the same time. One interseting thing was that the prosecutor was a U.S. Attorney and did not work fo the D.C. government at all. This is due to the symbiotic relationship between the federal and local governments here. It is all part of why D.C. is not a state, it gets lots of federal support and money and therefore the federal government has oversight of how things are run here.
My niece, Jessie, took a school trip to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City near the end of June. We had a small amount of time to visit while she was here in D.C. I had not seen her for about ten years, when she was one year old. I was able to recognize her just fine from the photos that my sister, her mom, had sent.
My twenty-year high school reunion is at the end of July. Gisleide and I will be going to southern California for two weeks for some vacation and the reunion. Hopefully there will be a good turn out for it. I have done a lot in the ten years since our last one. It should be fun. Gisleide and I will have our one-year wedding anniversary while we are there.
Well, that is all for now. We hope you are doing well and would like to hear from you soon.