February 3, 2011
Our third day started out smoothly, as the consultant who had been assigned to help us with the business of settling in actually showed up on time! She started out by taking a very detailed inventory of the apartment, noting anything that wasn’t perfect, so that when it’s time for us to move out, we’re not held responsible for any damage to the place. One of our main priorities when we arrived was to get started on obtaining a CPF – something we’ve learned is extremely important, and a giant pain in the #$&! Without the CPF, an identifying number similar to the U.S. SSN, you cannot do anything. We had found out, while still in the U.S., that our belongings (sea and air shipments) would not even be allowed to leave the States until we had this number. We couldn’t start the process until we arrived here, and had heard that it could take about 2 weeks to get. We’d also been told that the air shipment would probably take one month to arrive, after it’s allowed to leave the U.S., so we’re looking at possible receiving some of our belongings sometime in mid-March, if we’re lucky – I don’t even want to think how long we’ll have to wait for the sea shipment (we were told 2 months, I’ve since heard from several expats that it has taken up to 8 months!)! Obviously, we were anxious and in a hurry to get this process started. We have also learned that in Brazil, nothing gets done quickly – once again, due to another “glitch” we were told we’d have to wait until the next day to do anything. Our consultant, Roberta, realized we were desperate to get this done, kindly rearranged her schedule and we were able to have necessary documents notarized… now all we had to do was wait! At least we lucked into finding a furnished apartment – very rare here – so we have more than the basic necessities to hold us over until our own things arrive.
Our third day started out smoothly, as the consultant who had been assigned to help us with the business of settling in actually showed up on time! She started out by taking a very detailed inventory of the apartment, noting anything that wasn’t perfect, so that when it’s time for us to move out, we’re not held responsible for any damage to the place. One of our main priorities when we arrived was to get started on obtaining a CPF – something we’ve learned is extremely important, and a giant pain in the #$&! Without the CPF, an identifying number similar to the U.S. SSN, you cannot do anything. We had found out, while still in the U.S., that our belongings (sea and air shipments) would not even be allowed to leave the States until we had this number. We couldn’t start the process until we arrived here, and had heard that it could take about 2 weeks to get. We’d also been told that the air shipment would probably take one month to arrive, after it’s allowed to leave the U.S., so we’re looking at possible receiving some of our belongings sometime in mid-March, if we’re lucky – I don’t even want to think how long we’ll have to wait for the sea shipment (we were told 2 months, I’ve since heard from several expats that it has taken up to 8 months!)! Obviously, we were anxious and in a hurry to get this process started. We have also learned that in Brazil, nothing gets done quickly – once again, due to another “glitch” we were told we’d have to wait until the next day to do anything. Our consultant, Roberta, realized we were desperate to get this done, kindly rearranged her schedule and we were able to have necessary documents notarized… now all we had to do was wait! At least we lucked into finding a furnished apartment – very rare here – so we have more than the basic necessities to hold us over until our own things arrive.
The CPF also is required to order or purchase any services, including phones (cell and landline), cable, and internet. That left us pretty well isolated from the rest of the world – it’s amazing how dependent we have become on all of the above. I was feeling pretty frustrated and desperate, being so far from home, family, and friends, and I couldn’t pick up a phone and call. We had to depend on Matt’s cell from home, which was very hit and miss. The cell signals here are pretty bad on a good day, even if using a Brazilian service – if we could actually get a call to go through, we’d get cut off at least twice during a conversation. I’ve always disliked Matt’s Blackberry, especially the touchscreen that I can’t seem to ever use correctly – and I mentioned earlier how humid it is here – word to the wise, don’t have a touchscreen in Brazil, as the humidity actually causes the screen to “freeze” and then you really can’t do anything! We actually have to put the phone directly in front of a fan (for about an hour or 2) in order for it to dry and to be able to use it! On a more positive note, we have a couple of TVs that came with the apartment, and Matt found an old antennae (hidden in a closet) that actually works! He hooked it up, and we were able to pick up about 4 channels – 3 of them even show an occasional movie or show in English!!! Of course, the boys kept trying to surf the channels, looking for their favorite shows – they didn’t understand what a gift it was to even have a clear picture on the TV. I told them to look at it as a learning experience, maybe they’d start learning some Portuguese!
Speaking of Portuguese, it’s difficult to feel so limited when it comes to a language, but we were managing pretty well with what we had learned before arriving here. Matt and I took courses for about 8 weeks to give us a base knowledge of the language. Being fluent in Spanish, it has been easier for me to pick it up, since both languages share many similarities. That brings me to a story of the small world in which we live. Our Portuguese instructor, Tania, had only moved to Pittsburgh (from Detroit, MI) in early December. She is originally from Sao Paulo, and knows the area well. When I told her where we were going to be living, she casually mentioned that she had had a student in Detroit who was also moving into the same complex, relocating with GM for her husband’s job. Our condominium complex is huge – seven high-rises with over 30 floors each, 2 apartments per floor (you do the math) – so the likelihood of us meeting by chance was slim. When our consultant, Roberta, picked us up, she also mentioned that a family she’d worked with had recently arrived with GM, and was living in our building. I wondered if it was the same family Tania had mentioned, but figured it could be any other family, as GM has a very strong presence here, with many expats that make Casa Grande their home. Whether it was destined for us to meet, or a pure coincidence, about an hour after Roberta mentioned them to me, we stepped out of the building, and there was a lady smiling and waving at her. We were introduced, and I was eager to ask her if she’d had a Portuguese instructor named Tania – she had! I could not believe, we’d only been here 3 days, and already had a “link” to home. What are the chances, that someone in Detroit, has the same Portuguese instructor as someone in Pittsburgh, and we end up living in the same building in a city of 13 million people!!! We instantly struck up a friendship, and Ian and Alex were happy to know there was another American boy (she has a son who is almost 7 and a 4 year old daughter) in our building. Another beautiful gift about our meeting was that she had internet – she happily invited us over that afternoon – the boys were in their glory, playing Wii with another boy, and I was in mine, being able to check email and post a message on Facebook!!!
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