Driving!

Exploring on Our Own

Our second weekend here arrived with the promise of a little adventure.  Now that we had a car, we decided it was time to start figuring out how to get places.  We’ve heard that on any given weekday, there are as many as 7 million cars on the road here.  With no medians or shoulders, if a car breaks down, runs out of gas, gets pulled over, or gets into an accident, there is nowhere to go, creating a bottleneck situation.  Weekends in Sao Paulo offer a bit of a reprieve from the hustle and bustle of weekday traffic.  Many people head out of town to nearby beaches, or just enjoy relaxing with family and friends, and cars can move around the city a little more freely.  Don’t get me wrong, there is still a lot of traffic, but it actually moves – giving us a chance to drive around without feeling as intimidated and frustrated. 

Our first venture in the car as a family was simple, or so we thought.  We wanted to go to a local office supply store to return some school supplies, then over to Wal-Mart to take advantage of having a vehicle to carry large items (a case of shelf-stable milk, 10-liter jugs of water, etc.).  Without the benefit of having a GPS, Matt carefully studied the map, consulted “googlemaps” and planned our routes.  Both places are nearby, so we felt it would be relatively easy to find our way.  We headed out onto the very bumpy roads – many roads here are cobblestone, and while I find them very picturesque and charming, they really make for a bumpy ride, the paved roads are not in the best shape, many areas with potholes and uneven pavement – and then there are the numerous speed-humps that are everywhere!  As we bounced along, with the boys fussing at Matt because they kept bumping their heads, we felt confident that we were finding our way – until one of the main roads we needed to take was closed.  We’re told this happens a lot here, so we tried to figure out how to navigate around to a different street, but had no clue where we were – we abandoned our adventure to the office supply store, and went on with the task of trying to find our way back toward the apartment, with the hopes of making it to Wal-Mart once we were in “familiar territory”! 

Thanks to Matt’s good sense of direction, we did make it to Wal-Mart, along with about a million other people (they also like to shop on the weekends here – lesson learned, shop only during the week!).  We loaded up the cart and the car, and I decided it was my turn to take the wheel.  I have to be honest, Wal-Mart is only about 2 blocks from our apartment (it’s confusing, but to get to Wal-Mart, it can take about a mile of driving in order to avoid a very dangerous left-hand turn out of our complex – to get back is easy, as we only have to make two turns, both with traffic lights), but I figured that I needed to start somewhere – I’m taking baby steps here!  I was very proud of myself for getting us home, but still think it will be months before I’m comfortable behind the wheel of a car!  Later that evening we had a great dinner with friends we’ve met, and enjoyed watching Ian and Alex play with their son, who is also 10 years old.  Little by little, we are feeling settled here, and knowing the boys are happy gives us a sense of relief and a feeling that we’ve made the right decision to move our family to this end of the world.

Sunday brought another adventurous day for us – a trip to Ibirapuera Park – a beautiful park in the middle of the city that offers an oasis and escape from the craziness of Sao Paulo.  With its many walking and biking paths, unique plants and trees, and beautiful scenery, one can take a deep breath and unwind.  We had our soccer ball with us and joined others in the open green spaces to kick it around – I’m sure we looked like the Americans that we are, as our skills aren’t even remotely close to those who are born and raised here.  We like to joke that boys here are born with a ball at their feet, learning how to kick it as they start to walk.  This has actually been one of the issues holding the boys back at school – at recess, the only thing boys do is play soccer.  Since Ian and Alex lack the experience the other boys have, they are frustrated because the others don’t include them as much in the games.  Another drawback of recess for them is the language barrier.  Though English is spoken in the classrooms, recess is free-time for the students who don’t speak it as their native language – they use this break to speak in Portuguese (or Spanish for the many Latin American students), and the boys get frustrated because they don’t understand them.  We’re trying to get them to understand that in just a few months, they will learn Portuguese and be able to communicate better with everyone around them.  We’re also encouraging them to practice their soccer skills as much as they can – once they feel more confident in their ability, they can be a bit more aggressive and prove to the other boys that they can play alongside them and not just watch from the sidelines. 

After playing, walking, and people-watching, we bought the boys fresh “coconut water” from one of the many vendors that line the walking paths – they literally drill a hole into the top of large green coconuts and pour the water from the fruit into a little bottle – and headed back to the car.  Because parking spaces in the park are very limited, we had parked a few blocks away.  It is pretty comical to witness the situation with parking here, as there are vagrants who stand on the streets and wave you into spaces, promising to “watch” your car in exchange for a few ‘reais’ (Brazilian currency) - I have since learned that you are really paying them to not key your car.  We had parked on the street and tried to ignore the man who was asking for money, when a kind lady (who spoke English) told us about a safer area that offered free parking on Sundays.  Once back at the safer lot, we climbed into the still-intact car, with me behind the wheel – I was very nervous, as this was a much longer drive and the traffic was a bit heavy – but confident that Matt could navigate and help us find our way home.  It felt so good to actually be driving, that my worries melted away, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief as I turned into our complex and enjoyed the success of my first “real” adventure on the roads.  Of course, as I said before, it will be a long time before I am confident enough to try to do this on my own!