The best rewards
of having taken on this expat assignment, and coming to Brazil, have been the
beautiful places we have visited and the wonderful friends we have made. Put those two things together, and the fun is
multiplied. We spent the first weekend
in October at our landlords’ “chacara” with our friends, Ann and John. The weather was perfect for swimming and
relaxing outdoors, complete with a “churrasco”.
Ian and Alex loved playing with Cooper and William, and I stayed
entertained watching Elizabeth run around in her diaper (when she would leave
it on!). We spent the evening in good
company and conversation, staring up at a beautiful, clear sky, dotted with
many bright stars. As I’ve written
before, it is almost necessary to escape the city occasionally – for the clean
air, and the peace and quiet that just never occurs in Sao Paulo. We were all looking forward to another escape
from reality, with a multi-family trip to the state of Bahia for a long holiday
in November.
Holidays in
Brazil seem to come along every other week – Matt gets about 20 days off for
holidays a year. It’s funny, if you ask
most people what holiday is being recognized, they can’t tell you – all they
know is that it’s another day off of work.
The best scenario is when a holiday happens to fall on a Thursday or a
Tuesday, guaranteeing the Friday after, or Monday before as a free “bridge”
day. It just so happened that two of
these long weekends occurred at the same time in the middle of November, giving
most people six days in a row to get away.
Since we arrived and started hearing of all of the great places Brazil
offers as vacation destinations, a trip to Bahia had been on our list of places
to visit – this extra-long weekend seemed like the perfect opportunity. Several of our friends, including Ann and
John, had the same idea, so we decided to plan a group trip. Working with a travel agent, five families
got together for a very memorable and fun-filled vacation. Some of us knew each other well, others had
only met a couple of times or were only meeting for the first time; with so
many people, it can be hard to know how the dynamics may be – but we need not
have worried, everyone got along beautifully and had a great time together, and
the kids were especially happy to have their friends with them.
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| Matt with John, Ann, and Bill at our pousada in Salvador |
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| On the main street in Pelourinho |
The eleven adults
(Ann’s brother, Bill, was visiting and joined our group) and thirteen children between
the ages of two and thirteen (including 3-year old triplets!) flew together and
were met by our guide in the city of Salvador, which is the capital of the
northeastern state of Bahia. Salvador’s
climate is very tropical, warm and humid year-round. The
city sits on a triangular peninsula between All Saints’ Bay and the Atlantic
Ocean. Its historical center,
Pelourinho, is known for its Portuguese colonial architecture and
historical monuments dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries, and has been
declared a World Heritage Site. After
being shuttled to our little pousada in town, we took a tour of Pelourinho –
walking along the original cobblestone streets, we were able to appreciate the
bright colors and cheerful facades of the preserved buildings. Women dressed in the traditional Bahia style
– colorful turban-style headdress, a full dress (usually white), a shawl and
plenty of jewelry – were found on street corners and in store fronts, happy to
pose for pictures in exchange of a few reais. The kids were “troopers” and really did well,
despite the heat, having traveled the same day, and a lot of walking – after
several hours of sight-seeing, our exhausted group returned to the pousada and
spent the rest of the evening there, ordering a delivered dinner, adults
talking and enjoying cocktails, and the kids running around and playing until
they dropped.
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| Our adorable group of kids - they were so good! |
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The next morning, the shuttle buses arrived early to take us
to the port, where we boarded a catamaran for the three-hour ride across a 60
KM stretch of All Saints’ Bay to the island of Tinhare, where we stayed in the
village of Morro de Sao Paulo (MSP). The
main destination on the island, Morro de Sao Paulo offers beautiful beaches,
coves, and calm waters, as well as vast coconut groves. The village’s name comes from the ruins of
Sao Paulo Fort, which sits atop a hill at the northernmost point of the island,
where you will also find an old lighthouse.
There are no cars allowed in the village, so the main means of
transportation is your feet –you have to walk everywhere. Occasionally, you will see a tractor or a
horse-drawn “taxi” for those who have to go longer distances between
beaches. If you have a large load to
carry, you can use the local method of moving goods from point A to point B – a
wheelbarrow! Once our catamaran pulled
up to the dock, we were met by several local men who loaded our luggage into
wheelbarrows and we followed them in a procession through the quaint town to
our hotel.
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| Our luggage, loaded onto the wheelbarrows |
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Once settled into our hotel apartments, we walked a short
distance to Segunda Praia (Second Beach) and found a place to have lunch. It took a while to get all 24 of us situated
and seated, and then the wait began…waiting to have our orders taken, waiting
for our drinks (and for someone to bring a bottle opener so we could consume
those drinks!), waiting for our food…the restaurant staff was very busy trying
to tend to all of their hungry customers, but they also seemed to show the true
meaning of “island time” – they were in no hurry. While we waited, we walked to the edge of the
water and couldn’t get over how calm and clear it was; the beach was crowded
with women in scant bikinis and men wearing Brazilian sungas (“speedo” type
swimwear) – there were people sunbathing, playing soccer, and practicing
capoeira, a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of
dance and music. Eventually we returned
to our table and finally had a seafood feast in the sand – with our bellies
full, we returned to the beach for the rest of the afternoon and reluctantly
dragged ourselves away as the sun began to set.
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| Beautiful MSP with the fort and lighthouse in the background |
Our second day in MSP was designated as a
free day, with no scheduled tours or activities, however, the beaches offer a
wide variety of options for fun and relaxation.
A zip-line runs from the lighthouse at the top of the fort to the beach
a few hundred meters below – most of the kids were too small to try this, but
the one teenager of the bunch couldn’t wait to give it a go. Matt and the boys had been looking forward to
snorkeling; they rented a kayak, rowed out to a reef and were mesmerized by the
number of colorful fish they saw; they said it was the best snorkeling they
have ever done. A few of our friends
decided to relax on the beach and swim in the natural pools formed amid the
many coral reefs, while a large group of us took advantage of horseback riding
on the wide and practically deserted Quarta Praia (Fourth Beach). It had been many years since I had been on a
horse, but I was only nervous for a few short minutes. Once we started on our way, all I could focus
on was the sheer beauty surrounding me.
I have been blessed to visit so many amazing places with incredible
views that I run out of words to describe them.
The crystal clear watered shimmered in the sun, the coconut groves
lining the beach provided a brilliant green backdrop on the other side of the
soft, white sand. I was surprised and
amused to see an official soccer match (with teams in uniforms) being played on
the beach – we even had to stop our horses so one of the players could retrieve
a ball that had rolled into our path.
After our ride, Matt and the boys, and some of our friends met up again
at an outdoor restaurant and spent the afternoon eating, talking, laughing and
relaxing on the beach – such a nice carefree feeling – it was my favorite day
of our whole vacation.
Our final full day in MSP was one we had all been eagerly
anticipating, as we were to take a boat tour of the bay and some of the other
islands. I think I’m not the only one
who had envisioned a peaceful, easy cruise on calm waters – boy, was I
wrong! The first sign of trouble came
when the boat could not come close to the shore, due to its large motor – there
was a risk that it could become caught on the coral below. So, with bags and small children being held up
high, we had to walk through water (above waist-level for most of us) to go out
to the boat. Unlike our very first boat
ride in Brazil, when we were told NOT to put on the lifejackets, the first
thing we did was to put them on the kids.
Though the sky was beginning to turn dark with storm clouds, we took off
– and, I mean, we really took
off. Our boat drivers were going so fast
through the rough and choppy waters that some of us were afraid the younger
children would bounce out of the boat.
After bumping along for about 30 minutes, we stopped in the middle of
the bay (along with several other tour boats) for a few minutes of
snorkeling. I wasn’t tempted to get into
the cold water, especially given the fact that the air temperature was dropping
and the sun was nowhere to be seen; but, Matt and the boys (and a few other
brave souls) jumped in for a few minutes, only to come back disappointed
because they couldn’t see any fish. Once
everyone was back on board, we sped off again to our next stop for more
snorkeling. Unfortunately, the storm was
really moving in by then, so after only a few minutes, it was decided that we
needed to move on and get to land, bypassing stop number three at a smaller
island with no shelter.
By this time, we were all feeling a bit cool, and even those
of us who had not gotten into the water were wet. We arrived to the island of Boipeba and
sought shelter under the canopy of an open-air restaurant – we were all getting
hungry, so it was a perfect place to rest after our wild ride and have some
lunch. While we waited for our food for
entirely too long – island time again – and ate, the rain stopped and the sun
came out. Unfortunately, during this
time, one of our friends, Lauren was watching one of her sons closely and
seeing that he was developing an allergic reaction. Conor, one of the triplets in our group, is
severely allergic to all nuts; his mother is always very careful to monitor
everything that he eats and drinks and always carries Benadryl with her. When it became apparent that he had been in
contact with something containing nuts, she gave him two doses, but was seeing
that his condition was worsening. Having
left the Epi-pen and nebulizer (with which she always travels) back at the
hotel, she started getting nervous and tried to figure out the best way to help
her child (Conor’s last reaction landed him in the hospital for two days). After weighing all of our options, including
having everyone return to the hotel, one of the guides informed us that there
was a clinic within walking distance.
The decision was made that I would go with Lauren, as I was
the only one in our group fluent in Portuguese, and our Brazilian guide; the other
guide (who spoke English) stayed with our group. Lauren and I were wondering what kind of
clinic we may find on a small island off of the northeast coast of Brazil, and
we were surprised to see a gleaming, new building, only recently opened, thanks
to money provided in preparation for the 2014 World Cup of soccer. Our guide spoke to someone and explained the
situation, and despite the large group of people in the waiting room, within
minutes we were in a room and speaking with a nurse. While we were waiting for the doctor, Lauren
figured out that what had most likely caused the reaction was orange juice that
she allowed Conor to have. In Brazil, a
very common fruit juice is that of the cashew plant – below the cashew nut, a
fruit grows. Lauren had not allowed
Conor to eat French fries, due to not knowing what kind of oil they used, and
to compensate, let him have some orange juice.
More than likely, the juice was prepared in the same blender as the
cashew juice, hence the cross-contamination.
Once the doctor arrived and examined Conor, he decided it
would be best to keep him there for a few hours, ordering intravenous fluids
and steroids, as well as three nebulizer treatments. Our group was still waiting back at the
restaurant, and the tide was starting to go down – the boat needed to leave in
order to get onto the nearby river for the return trip to MSP. I stayed with Lauren at the clinic while our
guide went back to tell everyone what was going on and contracted a separate
smaller boat to take us back when Conor was discharged. While everyone else cruised (much more
leisurely, I’m told) down the river, we sat at the clinic and waited as he
gradually improved. After all of the
treatments were finished, the doctor deemed him well enough to leave, but wrote
prescriptions for four different medications, which were filled immediately at
the clinic pharmacy. Lauren had asked
about payment options, wondering if the clinic would accept credit cards – we were
both astonished when we were told that the care Conor had received was
completely free of charge – including his prescriptions. We walked away from that clinic with a new
appreciation for the free health care that was offered there and relieved that
her little boy was back to his normal, healthy self. Cruising back to join our families and
friends, still a bumpy ride, but better than the ride earlier that day, we were
able to watch the sunset – as the sky turned from blue to pink and orange and
the sun dipped below the horizon, Lauren and I talked about the dramatic turn
the day had taken – we were very grateful that in the end, all was good.
We woke early on our final morning in MSP – the boys were in
our room at 6:30AM asking if Matt would take them snorkeling “one last time,
please, Dad!” My initial reaction was to
say no, that it was too early and we had to get ready to leave in just a few
hours; but, apparently, Matt had promised and keeping his word, got out of bed,
agreeing to take them. I decided the
packing could wait, and I joined them for the walk down to Terceira Praia
(Third Beach) where the snorkeling is best – while they snorkeled, I continued
walking on Fourth Beach and took in the breathtaking scenery one last time. As I came back around to meet Matt and the
kids, I watched them swimming back and forth and excitedly calling to one
another about the fish they were seeing.
We were returning to Sao Paulo that day, but our friends were staying in
Salvador one more night – they left a little earlier than we did, returning to
the city via a five hour land transfer – or as they put it, “a boat, a bus, another
boat, and another bus”. Since we had a
flight early that afternoon, we returned to Salvador by air taxi – a six-seat
twin engine plane, a short 25-minute flight that took us straight to the
Salvador airport. None of us had ever
been on a plane that small – the inside of it no bigger than our old minivan. As we took off over the bay, with the
coastline of MSP receding behind us and the turquoise sea below, we stared in
awe and wonder at the beauty we were witnessing. Again, I marveled at the wonderful experiences
this opportunity of living in a beautiful foreign land has offered us. I hope that these are memories that Ian and
Alex keep with them forever – I know I certainly will.
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| My little snorklers |
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Of course, that
Thursday during the day was “business as usual” for most of us. While family members in the U.S. were
gathering together, cooking, watching football and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day
Parade, Matt worked, the kids were in school, and I spent a few hours at the
orphanage. That evening, though, as we
joined our friends, the distance from family and loved ones didn’t seem as
great. Juliana and Steven Edwards (their
son is a good friend of Ian’s) graciously opened up their home and hosted a
lovely evening – we enjoyed a delicious and abundant traditional dinner, from
the juicy turkey to the pumpkin pies; but even more than the comfort that the
familiar meal gave us, we had the warm sensation of being where we belonged. 
