I cannot even believe that it has been 8 months! SO much has happened, so many experiences, so many new people. So, how have we been coping? Here are each of our thoughts and opinions on our experiences so far.
For the boys, I asked them what they like, don't like? What is difficult and what is easy?
Alden:
*My English class is easy.
*My Portuguese class is a little hard.
*I like that the ocean is close to us.
*I like our house, the rooms, the office. They are nice!
*I have a fun school.
*I like that I am with my family.
*I don't like the bugs that get in our house.
*I like that we live near the pond and can go fishing!
*I LOVE the fruits here and all the juices.
*I don't like plain rice and they eat it every day with beans.
Zane:
*Difficult to learn the language. My Portuguese class is hard.
*The time difference is hard. It took me a while to get used to it.
*I like that there are different animals we can learn about like Capybaras.
*I like that it is mostly warm all year long. We never have to put long pants on.
*I like that we have a swimming pool in our back yard! I would swim all day every day!
*It is hard being away from my family.
*I miss our hermit crabs!
*I like that there is sushi everywhere down here!
Amber:
When thinking about the past 8 months, I reflected on conversations I have had with family and friends. What have we talked the most about? While in some of these things I may sound like I am whining or complaining, please know that I am just pointing out the differences. Thinking about what makes life easier or harder.
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Portuguese is hard! They speak so quickly! While I have picked up a lot, I still have a LONG way to go! While I can communicate basically, without context I am lost. I am capable of sitting in a staff meeting and understanding 80% of what is said, but will still have to question some 'filler' words. The conjugation of words is similar to what I learned in Spanish, but the irregulars are hard to master. I WISH I had more time during my day to practice. When I am at school, my job is to teach in English, therefore, from 730-noon, no Portuguese is allowed. Then I go home to either attend my Portuguese class (which is one-on-one) or work out (focusing on a healthier me!). When we go out with friends, they typically want to practice their English and because it is easier, we typically default back.
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Laundry is time consuming. Being back home for the month and using the washer and dryer really made life just a little easier. Yes, I know that it is much better to line dry your clothing, and if it was just me, it wouldn't be a big deal. But there are four of us. Two adults who work out daily and two children who wear uniforms to school and play clothes at home (contrary to what you might see via Snap Chat, my children do put clothes on sometimes!) Add in towels and sheets and all those extra things, laundry begins to seem a daunting task. Plus, all the things I am used to, pods, smelly, liquid fabric softener, Unstoppables, dryer sheets, bleach that whitens, etc., do not exist here. Does this mean they are not good for clothes/washer and dryers? Or does it mean they are not produced here? Or does it mean the taxes to import are not worth the cost? I don't know, but these are things that take up space and weight in our suitcases each trip home.
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Finding a sitter is impossible. You may be thinking, "Really Amber...Impossible?" Well, we have been here 8 months and still have NOT found someone that can watch the boys. In speaking with locals, it is really not in their culture. You either have a nanny (which we do not need) OR you have family nearby (not unless you count 5400 miles and thousands of dollars in travel 'nearby'). Here, you do not get your license until you are 18. This means there are no young kiddos looking to make some extra money. AND if you are lucky to find one, it means they would have to take the bus to get here. So, if you needed them at 7 am, they would leave their house between 4 and 5 am to get to you on time. Not acceptable to me! I would NEVER ask that of someone. The biggest thing that has hindered our search, we need them to speak enough English to understand when Alden says, 'I can't breathe! I need medicine." or when Zane gets hit with vertigo and needs medicine. The boys have been taught basic sentences, but in a true emergency they are going to revert to English and I need to know they would have the care they needed. We have many people that have reached out to their church, family, kids at school, all with no luck! So for now, every staff meeting, every PD day, every dinner meeting, we either skip it or they kids have to join us.
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Grocery shopping is difficult and food prep takes a lot more planning. . It is difficult because it is not pre-packaged and processed. It is difficult because things that you are used to just 'picking up' do not exist. Oh, you want to make chocolate chip cookies and need chocolate chips...make them yourself. Buy the chocolate brick, run it through the food processor and make your own 'chips'. There are specialty stores that do sell the chocolate chips, but you pay a mighty fine price for them! Oh, and shredded cheese does not exist. My processor has been used more in the past 8 months than it has in the past 12 years! Other things that do not exist or cost an arm and a leg: canned soups (for all the recipes), cereal (only have about five types here), chopped fruit or veggies, canned veggies (only a few), sweet corn (corn here is milho verde or green corn), brown sugar (they have something, but it is not the same), and so many more items. While the lack of these items requires healthier choices on our part, the time spent planning and prepping is more than I would like!
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Fresh fruits and vegetables are everywhere, including your own trees! I love, love, love all the interesting and different fruits we have had the pleasure of trying since moving here. Our trees on our property produce Goiaba (guava) and coconuts. The park has trees that produce Jack Fruit, jabuticaba and some other fruits we have yet to identify. Trees at the school produce mangos and goiaba. All of this fruit is up for grabs, whether it is your property or not. I do not know if this is actually a 'true' rule or just what we have observed. I witnessed people fighting in the park over the fruit! So many friends have complained about how people just take fruit from their trees. The only thing I really miss is having a garden to grow my own vegetables and herbs.
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Traveling has been amazing. I love that we can travel to all the different, beautiful and amazing places that exist here. Everything is such an experience. From hotels, to lingual differences, to beaches, to waterfalls each and everything has been an adventure. Greg gave me a scratch off world map for us to mark off places we have been. I enjoy each time we are able to scratch something off!
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Teaching is teaching! I get this question the most and I have not had the chance to blog about it. What is teaching like? Well, I still have disrespectful kids, I still have to write lesson plans and teach to common core standards, I still have staff meetings, I still wake up every day ready to teach. Yes, there are differences. I have even less time, I only work half day, technology is WAY behind, and the school is very nature focused. It is not perfect. It is not better or worse. It is teaching!
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Driving is still interesting. Oh, I know it could be worse. I have traveled to other countries where being a passenger in the car has almost given me a heart attack in addition to the car sickness. Everywhere we go, we encounter the strangest drivers. Always polite (so far), but always keeping us on our toes! I definitely have gained more patience while at the same time have become a little gutsy - having this go, go, go attitude!
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Having a cleaning lady is weird. This is another thing people ask about. It seems to be customary to have people to help out with things, but it is not something I am used to. I was raised to do things on my own, to fix problems I can fix, repair what I can repair. So when I come home, and there are strangers doing things, it is akward. On the other hand, considering all of the hard floors in this house, and my lack of ability to clean said floors without vomiting due to the hair (even though 99% belongs to me), I am eternally grateful for these people! I am sure Greg is as well as he was in charge of cleaning these types of floors before we moved!
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Everything here takes WAY more time than necessary. This one! This one is the most frustrating. The house that we are renting has had its share of problems. A leaking wall in Alden's room, the water heating and pressure unit breaking, sky lights leaking, gutters not working, a leaking pipe in the ceiling, a broken dryer, and more. None of these things were major problems or caused any serious issues, but getting them 'fixed' took weeks, sometimes MONTHS. Now, it if was our house and we had all of our tools, and I understood the wiring and piping and construction of this house, it would not take so long. Unfortunately, we rely heavily on these workers, through the owner of the house, to fit us into their schedule at their convenience.
Greg:
*America sells convenience in many ways. Things from pre-packaged foods to cheese that is already shredded. When you do find something pre-packaged, like simple trail mix it is generally 5x the cost. Want a cheap craptastic poptart? They don't have them.
*Banking and billing system here is superior. Smartphones are far more popular here than in the US. More people have phones than they do computers. The banking systems took advantage of this and everything can be done from the phone. Paying everything from your car loan to your water bill is done by scanning a bar code. It's simple and immediate. The same thing for sending money to other people. Think of it as PayPal, but faster and in the bank app.
*Government is involved in everything. Make a purchase at the grocery store? Buy a TV? You give your "CPF" and the Government knows about it. They know your salary and even your resume is ran by them before any change is made. Items we receive at work are entered in our inventory system as well as the Governments. Sell an item for too little, they fine you. Sell an item at a loss to get rid of it? Impossible without a fine.
*Here they have niche or specialty shops for many items.The 'Walmart has everything' concept hasn't started yet here. If you want a specific item you go to a store than carries these. Shopping malls are 1999 USA here and are extremely popular. The best restaurants, stores, etc are still in traditional style malls. This makes no sense to me as the weather here is ideal for the outdoor open air shopping concept.
*Taxes are built into the price of everything. Pickup a loaf of bread at the grocery store and it says R$8.99, then that is what you pay. Some receipts will show the tax rate at the bottom in tiny print. If an item is imported then you can expect a 40 to 60% tax imposed on in. They did this to try and push local items, but Brazil doesn't produce that many items to make it work. It's now a hindrance more than anything as the taxes don't go back to the people.
Quality of things is not as high. From napkins, straws, clothes to vehicles. Even things that are "American" brands seem to have lower quality.
*I like the constant produce availability. So many things I haven't had prior and I have to Google what it is and how to eat/prepare it.
*The middle class doesn't exist like it does in the US. I don't have exact numbers, but they have rich and poor with not much in between. The gap is large and it's not decreasing. I read an article recently that said 25% of the population is under the poverty level. That level earns less than $5 USD per day.
