A Day in the Life of an Expat!

I have to give myself a pep talk before I attempt to drive here. I get sweaty just thinking about it. I would never boast being a good driver anyway, but here, you factor in the motorboys, the street signs all in Portuguese, the traffic, the potholes, safety issues and the general lack of driving rules and it is basically a recipe for disaster. Here is an example of what Sao Paulo traffic looks like:

The motorboys, as they call them here, are always weaving in and out of cars like mosquitoes and it scares me to death! There are no rules with them. I saw one drive in the opposite lane toward on coming traffic and he didn't even move as an oncoming car approached him. He simply moved to the side a bit and continued in the wrong lane to bypass all of the traffic that was built up in the correct one.

That being said, Gracie-girl had to go to the Dentist today. We said a prayer before we got in the car and I put the address in my trusty GPS and off we went. Apparently, I am too vocal about being scared to drive because at one point I caught Grace praying vocally that "Mommy would be safe and not scared!" She actually ended up praying three different times on our journey there and back. Bless her heart!

Everything went great at the dentist. I am actually convinced we have the most darling dentist in all of Brazil. The picture says it all!

The fun began when I stopped for gas after the appointment and realized that I must have dropped my credit card on the street. To make matters worse, my phone was running out of juice and I had to have enough for the GPS on the way home. I called the dentist office to make sure they didn't have it, and that used a lot of battery because they have to search the whole office for someone who speaks English and then I waited for them to search the office for the missing card. After confirming it wasn't there I quickly sent Jordan a text and told him to cancel the credit card and I would call him later to explain after I made it home.

That's when we got lost.

Sometimes the GPS wants me to turn crazy places that don't look safe and by avoiding them, I end up on quite the adventure. All I know is that after driving for a good 10 or 15 minutes I ended up driving right back where I began at the dentist office. I thought about getting out to walk the street and look for my darn credit card, but I felt it was a hopeless cause and I was worried my battery was quickly going to die before I made it home. So after a few more prayers that my phone wouldn't die and we wouldn't die I can thankfully say that we made it! One more Sao Paulo drive under my belt.

On a very happy side note, Jordan called me right when I got home to tell me about an amazing phone call he had received. A random Brazilian business owner called him at work, explaining that he had found a missing credit card on the side of the street. He saw that the credit card said JORDAN MONSON and he took it upon himself to google that name. Out of all the names he found, there was only one Jordan Monson working in GM Brazil. The man called GM headquarters here and asked for Jordan and that is how the two got in contact. Jordan is swinging by on his way home to pick up the card from this guy. I love when negative stereo-types get contradicted. All I have heard since I got here has been the lack of safety and I have built this fear that everyone on the street wants to steal from me. Don't me wrong, I know I have to be careful, but it does my heart some good to remember that kindness is everywhere!

I am loving my experience so far. Brazil has many beauties and most impressive so far are in the hearts if it's people!

Tchau, Tchau!

A little Blue and Mostly Yellow

Whenever I think about it, I try and have my kids tell me their happy and saddy (not quite sure the spelling of this invented word) events of  their day. I decided to color coordinate this post and talk about the Blues (sad things) and the Yellows (happy things) of our lives around here lately.

The Blues 
Skyler was beyond excited to inform us last Friday that a girl in his class gave Beta Fish as a surprise to all the kids who attended her party. We missed it, but he told us she was going to give him one anyway on Monday. All weekend we talked about this fish. Skyler even wrote a book about his fish that Thais illustrated for him and read to the entire family. They decided together to name this fish BLUE. They could hardly wait for Monday to come, so they could meet this highly anticipated new pet fish! Sure enough, Skyler came on Monday proudly carrying his fish and boy was he ever ready to take care of this thing. The problem is, Skyler + Pet Fish=Disaster. He fed the fist an all-you-can-eat buffet within minutes of owning this little guy. I caught him trying to hold it several times, and we told Skyler Blue was going to die if he kept touching it. Unfortunately, there are just some things kids have to learn for themselves. Our poor Blue lasted just one day in the Monson household. Sad :/

The other Blue around here happened to our poor Gracie. She was jumping on the bed and knocked her teeth! Her front teeth were pushed back pretty far and she got a pretty good lookin' fat lip. This tooth displacement has made her lisp even more evident and although it's adorable at four, we are hoping her teeth move back and we lose this lisp at some point. The good news is that apparently dentistry here in Brazil is top notch and I really love her dentist! So does Grace. They were instant friends :)

The Yellows

This is kind of random, but one thing I love around here are the eggs. I have always been told that darker colored egg yolks mean the egg is healthier. The only egg yolks I have eaten in the States are large and light yellow (even though I buy the brown healthier ones). Here the yolks are small and so dark they are deep orange. This picture shows the cheap large white eggs versus the brown ones here. Like I said, random! Makes me happy though.

The next happy are the kiddo's schools! I spent all day yesterday at the schools and I feel beyond grateful for the sense of community, and quality of education available here. First, I went to Skyler's assembly where he had a little speaking part. I visited his classroom after and took a picture of the girl Skyler is crushing on ( yes, a crush already!)


His face says it all! Mom you are embarrassing me! Oh Skylee, boy! Get used to it ;)

Skyler's teacher is the coolest! Quite often she will text us pictures of our kids throughout the day. Here is Skyler reading to his classmate.

After meeting with a few of Thaisy's teachers as well, I headed over to the little Montessori school to join Gracie girl for lunch. They actually allow Eli to come on an hourly basis when I need babysitting and he loves it too!

My last happy is an app called WhatsApp! Basically this app allows smart phone users to call or text anyone world wide for FREE! You are using the internet so when you are at home you use your Wi-fi and when you are out you use your data plan. I have LOVED talking to friends and family over the past week. It did my heart some good! It made me feel like I am not so far away ...

Tchau!  

Eu não falo português!

I need to learn this language! Before we moved here I had BIG plans to study Portuguese early and that way I would come here prepared and able to make conversation with Brazilians. It serves me right that now, the only phrase I have mastered like a native is Eu não falo português! (I don't speak Portuguese) . Luckily for me, Brazilians love to hear foreigners try and speak their language. They are so warm and encouraging. They don't seem to care that I am completely butchering their words to pieces. I know not all cultures would be so forgiving. I promise to work harder, Brazil!

Our stove was fixed yesterday and to celebrate I thought I would make a popular dish here, Beef Stroganoff. I bought this packet of pre-made sauce and when I went to check-out at the register the girl scrunched her nose and made it clear that what I was buying was well, gross! In broken words I explained that I wanted to make Stroganoff that night. She immediately turned off her register and bade me to follow so we could get the "right" ingredients. Cream de letche, ketchep, mushrooms. beef labeled Stoganoff because it is cut perfectly for the dish. Then you buy noodles or rice to put it on and these shredded chips to put on top. Voila! That's what I got to work with. Never made it before in my life, but this girl did not lead me astray. It was actually quite tasty. I might experiment with it a little bit more. I have since looked up more recipes on-line, but definitely a keeper! I am just grateful for the kindness Americans are shown here( or at least, in my experience so far) Would I turn off my register to show a newcomer around? Kindness rules! 

Tchau!

Letting Go! (picture me singing FROZEN at the top of my lungs)

I think anytime you experience big changes in life there is a process of letting go. Some things are just plain hard to let go of....Others, not so much. For example, here are my babies totally zoned out in front of the television. Normally, I would feel this terrible nagging guilt for being the mom that lets her kids do that sort of thing. In Brazil, however,  I can just let.that.go! You see, even though they are watching American shows like Bubble Gubbies, it is all in Portuguese. Seriously, the guilt just vanishes because it is completely educational and good mothering to have them learn another language. My advice to all mothers is just start changing your television settings to the language you want your kid to learn and then.. Poof! T.V. guilt will be obliterated instantly.

The next pictures show a little bit harder of a let-go. My Gracie-Pie/the Lou-Who/Ray of Sunshine started all day preschool five days a week. It is this super amazing Montessori school and she is in heaven. No doubt I am five times as sad as she is, but I wasn't really planning on her basically starting Kindergarten this year and I will MISS her. She is just so bored during the day and without the right tools to keep her entertained all day, I didn't want the picture above to be how she fills her day. Today I took her into school an hour late because I wanted her with me longer. I scored the stink-eye from her teacher for that. Soooo I guess I just have to let go and let this little girl do her thing. We sure don't keep our babies home for very long! I feel like you blink and they are off :'(

Tchau!

Viva Brazil!

It is honestly a bit surreal to start this post from my living room in Brazil. Jordan and I have been dreaming about this for three years and we are still a bit dazed over the reality that we are now living it.
Even though we got here on Saturday, today was the first day of reality. School started for the kiddos, I have a fix-it man fixing just about everything in my kitchen. He and I are having a heck of a time communicating, we have resorted to a lot of comical impromptu sign language and equally terrible Portuguese from me and English from him. And yet, we still manage to get the job done.

I was late picking up my children because we are having a tropical rainstorm and the power has been off and on several times. It happened to be off when I needed to take the elevator down to the lobby to meet them. I resorted to take the stairs so I wouldn't be stranded on the elevator, and while the light was on when I started my journey of five flights of stairs, the power went off half way down and I couldn't  see my hand in front of my face. I patted walls while holding Gracie and then I would set her down on the bottom of a flight of stairs and head back up for Eli in his stroller. Needless to say, after taking forever maneuvering down the stairs, there was no bus and no kiddos at the bottom. I managed to remember the word ESCOLA and communicated to the security guards that I was looking for my kids. They were found, a little annoyed/scared/crying that mom wasn't there when they got off the bus but all in once piece.

I have this nifty contraption that's a washer and dryer all in one. The dryer is a hot mess (pun totally intended) and after 5 hours of drying, the clothes were STILL damp. The directions to this machine are all in Portuguese so I thought I restarted the dryer but when I checked on the clothes at hour 6, they were soaking wet instead. Whoops!  We will definitely be trading that baby out for a separate washer and separate dryer.

Despite all of today's ' AHHHHHHHH I live in a foreign country' chaos, I can't even describe how grateful I am to be here. I feel like this is a fresh start for me. As I go through new stages in life as a wife, then a mother, then a mother of multiple kids I have to really focus on tuning into myself or sometimes I get lost. My kids and I all feel this crazy excitement to learn Portuguese and learn about this fascinating new culture. It feels good to have a new sense of purpose. I think this will be good for us all.

I need a blog to journal all of my observations, epiphanies, adventures and pics so we'll see if I can follow through.

Tchau!