Day 4 in Brazil

February 4, 2011
Friday was a big day for us – the boys’ first day of school! As we still have no car, we had to hire a taxi to take us to the school. We woke up our very tired children, they quickly got dressed into their uniforms (which they hate, but I find adorable), and lugged about 100 pounds of school supplies into the taxi. Alex, who always drags his feet and takes forever to do anything, was ready and eager to go before anyone else! Ian, on the other hand, was a bit more reserved and quiet – they were excited, but nervous at the same time. As is our ritual on the first day of school, I wanted to take a few pictures of them, but they weren’t too thrilled at the idea – they just wanted to go! As most annoying mothers will do, I still managed to snap a few shots of them, but it’s obvious, when looking at the pictures, that they had no interest in posing (or smiling for that matter) for the camera. After dropping them off, and making sure they were settled, we headed back to the apartment for more “settling in” procedures.
Our consultant picked us up and took Matt to his office so he could pick up his computer and phone, and find out about a car, and took me shopping – to Wal-Mart, no less! I had a huge list of things to buy, and even though I could shop “my” Wal-Mart in Cranberry in my sleep, this was a very different experience! By the end of my time there, I felt the most frustrated I’d been in the past 4 days living in Sao Paulo. Everything is so different – from the kinds of foods (and the packaging – small sizes, in little pouches or bags, shelf-stable milk in 1 Liter cardboard boxes (goodbye large plastic gallon size jugs!)), cleaning products, paper products – that I was exhausted from trying to figure out what to buy. Not to mention the cost – I think I already said that things here are extremely expensive – especially when it comes to something imported. On the rare occasion that I see something I recognize (imported from the U.S.), I literally gasp at the prices! I guess I’ll just have to get used to buying new things, trying out several different products, and figuring out what we like best. Don’t get me started on paper products, though – paper towels are a joke, and toilet paper…let’s just say that the best toilet paper here, may be almost as good as the worst toilet paper in the U.S. – just a warning to those who will be coming to visit us, you may want to pack some Charmin (and bring extra for us, too!)!
After getting back to the apartment, and putting everything away, it was time to get back into a taxi and pick the boys up from school. I was eager to hear about their first day, and was a bit let down when they really didn’t have much to say. Ian met a couple of boys with whom he felt comfortable (turns out they are the only 2 boys in his class who speak English as a native language), and he really liked the lunch – salmon, rice, salad, and fresh mango (a far cry from the lunches at Haine!). Alex liked recess, and mentioned about 4 boys with whom he had become friends. That’s about all the information I could get out of them – but, I guess they are typical boys without a whole lot to say unless it’s something that really interests them. Matt made it back to the apartment shortly after we arrived, frustrated after finding out that the person in charge of getting him his phone and computer was out of the office, and no one else could help him. As is the case here, nothing happens quickly - we were later told, by another expat who has been here about 7 months, if you can get one thing accomplished a day in this city, it’s a successful day! For someone like me, who likes to have lists of things to do, and likes even more to cross those things off, this may be a very challenging 2.5 years!
The highlight of our first few days here came later that evening. Katherine, our new friend from Michigan, had invited us to join a group of expats who gather by the pool every Friday evening for drinks and snacks. There, we instantly felt as though we were among friends. There were families from all over the world - the U.S., Spain, Mexico, Australia – many of whom had lived in other countries as well. They were all very welcoming, sharing their experiences as new expats, and commiserating with what we were going through. The boys eventually joined the large group of kids who were playing together, and we saw the excitement in their faces as they realized they had new friends (that spoke English) who had once been in their shoes. They played with their Nerf guns (without the darts, so they wouldn’t be lost in the “jungle”) and discovered a new activity – cardboard sliding. There are so many people who move in and out of this complex, that there is never a shortage of cardboard boxes. The kids here use the cardboard to slide down the steep embankments on the grounds – a Brazilian version of sledding, without the snow! They even name the “slopes”, including “Bamboo Run”, “Death Hollow”, and “Rumpelstiltsken”! We stayed there talking, with the kids happily playing, for 4.5 hours – a great way to end a long, at-times very stressful, week!