William and Fátima

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned them before, but these two fabulous people, William and Fátima, are the hosts of Brazil’s Jornal Nacional, the nightly national news that broadcasts every day except for Sunday, so everyone in Brazil including myself sees them almost daily. I like them a lot. I actually feel very similarly about them as I do about Barack and Michelle Obama. I associate them with the connection with the rest of the world that they provide. They seem like they know what they’re doing, and I kind of trust them, I guess. I also associate them with understanding Portuguese, since helpful photos and videos about always accompany their news stories. I wish all interactions with Brazilians were like that.

It didn’t take me very long being in Brazil before I realized that they’re married. They and their three kids pop up every so often in magazines, and when one of them isn’t on the news, neither is the other one. It’s nice to think about them having a nice family night at home, or whatever it is they do.

Tonight, however, they did not get their usual Sunday evening off – they were on Faustão, which is perhaps the most irritating variety and talk show that has ever existed, but that’s an unnecessary boring description for another time. Since today is the Brazilian version of Valentine’s Day, known as Dia dos Namorados, William and Fátima along with their twenty-one years of marriage were featured. It was too cute. They showed a lot of photos of them as a young couple and with their kids, and spent a lot of time hearing from regular Brazilians on the street about how they’re the most respected married couple in Brazil, and how watching them on the TV and knowing they’re married makes people feel like they’re their friends, just letting them know about the news of the day.

Not going to lie, that is about all I understood – my TV Portuguese comprehension has gone way downhill, since this is the first time I’ve watched any in over a month. But it was great. It was so funny to see so many different emotions on their faces, since they usually have their stoic news anchor faces on.

Oh, the things that light up my Brazilian life.

(There are only nine days left until NINA IN ARGENTINA. I'm trying not to get too excited about it too soon, but there's only so much I can do.)