three weeks in

The past few weeks have gotten us pretty settled in to a comfortable new living situation.  We are renting a little shack behind a main house house that is bedroom and bathroom  and there is a separate little outdoor kitchen.  It is very comfortable and about 2.5 miles from our land, about 45 min from Regina's store and about an hour from Regina's mother's house.  The owner of the house (Roseangela) spends about 75% her time here and rest in Rio (about 2 hours away).  We have been putting in stints clearing brush at our land and getting a feel for things.  Also been dealing with Electric utility to get going on getting connected to grid, but that is looking like a many months proposition at this point and will only get us part of the way as we will need to have a large part of distance covered at our own cost.  For now - we will continue clearing brush and pick a spot to put our first building.  Probably will get some help within a week or two to help move things along.  A lot of our time has just been getting to know the area and resources around here. 
Life can be broken into two distinct categories for now; up on the mountain and down in town.  Where we are is called Brejal, and it is a few miles uphill from a town called Posse, which is about half an hour from the outskirts of Petropolis (where Regina's store and her mother and two brothers live).  Often, going down the hill involves getting into traffic jams and always is a reminder of the huge mass of people coming and going, while things calm down considerably as you go up the hill and get into the farms and residences. 
I'll get some pictures up soon, but our internet her is very precarious (it's by radio wave) and very slow so it's hard to get things out at times. 
The dogs are well and appear to enjoy a lot of freedom and ability to roam. 
Things are moving slowly and it's an adjustment from a more frantic existence I've been used to.  Some of the slower aspects have been a nice break, lot's of cooking (in a pretty simple kitchen), hanging clothes out to dry etc.  Overall, life in the US and here is very similar, but there are many many small differences that provide a refreshing shock to the system.

More later
Sam