Today is our 19th day in São Paulo.  We had to go to the Federal Police Station this morning to get our RNE which is something like an ID here (don’t ask me the details).  We need our RNE to open a bank account, get our CPF (another document – I think it’s for taxes?), get a cell phone plan, and get our shipment moving.  Yes, that’s right, I said our shipment of ALL OUR STUFF hasn’t even left San Francisco yet.  Welcome to life in Brazil.  Luckily things went pretty well today and we left after 2 hours with a temporary RNE that will suffice until they issue us a permanent one, hopefully within the next 6 MONTHS.  It’s amazing here.  We were warned that the Police Station would make the DMV look like the most pleasant, efficient place on earth.  Maybe because we got in early it wasn’t SOO bad for us, but I think it’s fair to say it was a couple of hours of solid chaos.  Mamas nursing babies.  Kids running around, screaming in all different languages.  There were a couple of nuns there…  All in all though, it was a success.  And the coffee shop on the first floor of the building actually has an amazing pão de queijo.  So, RNE: check.

In the cab to the station this morning I realized that it was the earliest I had been out and about in São Paulo since we arrived.  Welcome to my life of not having a job…  But, despite regularly showering in the mid-afternoon, the past week was full of “accomplishments” for me.

Wednesday I met up with a new friend, Fernanda, for a Portuguese/English exchange.  Fernanda is married to one my brother-in-law’s coworkers.  She speaks English but definitely has room to improve, and I am desperately trying to learn Portuguese, so the boys put us in touch.  Fernanda and her husband have 2 beautiful kids (4 and 1 1/2 years old) so I went to their apartment to hang out.  It was my first “adventure” on my own so I was really nervous.  Michael wrote me a script for everything I would need to say to the cab driver, the doorman at her apartment, the cab home…everything.  So, I get in a cab and tell the driver where I need to go.  No problems.  Then, 5 minutes into the trip, I realize I DIDN’T BRING ANY MONEY.  What??  Now, I realize that you need money for cabs in ALL countries so I shouldn’t try to blame it on Brazil, but in my defense I almost NEVER bring a purse with me here (since it’s better practice not to), and Michael always carries the money.  Regardless, I started sweating and freaking out as Michael did NOT include “I’m sorry, I stupidly forgot to bring money.  Can you turn around and take me back home, then wait for me outside my apartment, THEN take me back where we were going?” in my script.  Honestly Michael, you should really include more scenarios like these…  Either way, some broken combination of Portuguese, Spanish and English eventually got me back to my apartment to run up, grab my money, and head back down.  I arrived to Fernanda’s 15 minutes late which was still 10 minutes early since we’re in Brazil.  Waiting in her lobby made me feel a little better about my tardiness and gave me a chance to practice saying, “Oi, boa tarde,” in my head so I would at least sound good at first.

I then spent the next 4 or 5 hours with Fernanda and her precious kids.  They live in an awesome apartment complex with incredible amenities for kids — multiple pools, jungle gyms, a trampoline — so there were lots of nannies and a few other moms out with their kids.  Fernanda has a part-time nanny but she said that most women here have full time nannies.  It was great spending time with the kids because #1 they are adorable and #2 they are very concrete.  They are much more likely to be be talking about the chair that they are standing on, the ball that they are bouncing, or the pool that they are splashing in, than abstract thoughts that I would have no way of following.  I was jealous of how effortlessly their 4 year old son Lucas spoke Portuguese.  How can this kid who can barely go to the bathroom on his own speak this language so much better than me??  If I’m being honest so can the 2 1/2 year old who can hardly talk.  But more important than my poor Portuguese, is that I did it.  I survived.  I loved the family.  And I think I learned a little.  That being said, I was “too exhausted” to cook dinner and told Michael that his long, stressful day of work at a law firm in a foreign country didn’t hold a candle to what I had just endured.  Thankfully he is a sweet soul and enjoys cooking.  🙂

Thursday was my first solo trip to the grocery store.  We live really close to a massive Super-Wal*Mart type place (Extra), but the food there kind of sucks, and so does the entire shopping experience, so we have been going a few blocks away to Pão de Açúcar which means “Sugar Loaf,” and is a reference to Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio.  Grocery shopping in Brazil is a little different as it will inevitably be in any foreign country, but it’s totally fine.  The tricky part is at check-out.  See, here we have most things DELIVERED.  It is nice.  I came prepared with my address on a piece of paper and filled out the necessary form, attached it to my grocery cart, and walked out.  Totally unsure whether the groceries would ACTUALLY get delivered to me or not.  Thankfully, an hour later my tiny little kitchen was full of new groceries.

OK so enough of the accomplishments.  We also had FUN this week.  But…this post is far too long already so I’ll save that for tomorrow.  Happy Bachelor night!  (But don’t tell me what happens — I watch it Tuesday nights on iTunes!!)

xoxoxox

We knew about the helicopters in São Paulo before we moved here, but the first week as we walked around the city, every other minute Michael seemed to be saying, “Ash, look, there’s another one!”  “Another one,” was always in reference to either helicopters themselves or helicopter pads on the roofs of buildings.

Helicopter Traffic

Let me back up.  You may not have known this, but due to São Paulo’s intense traffic (supposedly combined with fears of kidnapping among the richest citizens), São Paulo has become the city with the highest number of helicopters in the world.  They are primarily used to transport business executives to and from work, to and from meetings, to and from wherever!  Some helicopters are privately owned, others are owned by business, and still others are rented out as a type of taxi service.  It’s honestly amazing how common it is to see helicopter pads on the roof of buildings.  Michael’s office has a pad on the roof…one can only dream that he will one day benefit from this directly.

Those blue squares atop the buildings are not rooftop pools, they are Helipads! I think there are 7 or 8 in this photo.

Side Note: Without getting too into it, this should give you an idea about how serious the traffic is here.  Hence why we are looking for an apartment that is WALKING distance from Michael’s office…

Get excited because this is the first post of a new weekly series called, “Better Know Brazil” in which I will highlight fun facts and random aspects of this amazing country.

This week, I felt I had no choice but to discuss… CARNIVAL!

Where does it come from?  Traditionally, on certain days of Lent, Roman Catholics and some other Christians abstained from the consumption of meat and poultry.  The term “carnival,” from carnelevare, literally means “to remove meat.”

Today: Carnival celebrations happen all over the world leading up to the season of Lent (in the US, the big celebration is obviously Mardi Gras in New Orleans), however the Brazilian celebration of Carnival is the biggest, most well-known celebration in the world.  The main event for Brazilians occurs in Rio de Janeiro, but São Paulo and the other cities definitely get in on the action as well.

What happens?  In Rio and São Paulo, there are enormous parades organized by local samba schools.  The schools perform and compete with each other as they sing and dance down the streets wearing the most ornate, unbelievable costumes alongside outrageous floats that they all construct.

There are also major block parades and other festivities.  It is said that during Carnival, Brazil receives 70% of it’s annual tourists and this week accounts for 80% of annual alcohol consumption.

Carnival is such a major holiday for Brazil, and because the main event occurs in Rio, when Michael and I arrived in São Paulo last week, the city was already starting to get quiet since everyone gets out of town for vacations.  On Monday and Tuesday of this week everything was closed for Carnival, and today many things (including Michael’s office) are still closed for a “recover-from-Carnival” day.  Seriously.  We have been following the celebrations on TV (which are being shown 24/7) and hopefully next year we’ll be able to partake in some ourselves.   A common greeting / farewell during this time is “Bom Carnaval” which means “Good Carnival” (think, “Merry Christmas”).

So, on that note, Bom Carnaval!

After getting our Visas and running final errands, Michael and I arrived at SFO…4 hours early.  On purpose.  You have to understand that after being delayed time after time, when it seemed within reach, all we wanted to do was get to the airport, get checked in, and go.

Cheers! Taking off in first class (thank you Jones Day!)

We flew through Miami into Sao Paulo.  The first flight was 5 hours and the second was 8.  It’s all kind of a blur of sleeping, movies, not really sleeping, eating… but all that mattered to us is that we made it, safe and sound.  We landed on Wednesday at around 8pm, went through customs, no problem, and then braved the madness of getting our 5 checked bags.

Michael swimming through the masses. 2 points if you can find him. Hint - all you can really see is his black backpack.

Thankfully all of them made it and we were promptly met by our driver, Alsindo, who took us to our new pad.  We are staying in a “residence” which is basically a furnished apartment that functions like an extended stay hotel.  (Note – this is a different place than I previously posted so check it out!)  It’s pretty compact, but perfect for us right now.  When we arrived they had a nice little welcome basket waiting for us that contained: a bottle of pinot, a box of milk (no need to refrigerate this 3.5% box of leite), a huge bar of chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, instant coffee, and a box of tea.  ha.

Arriving at our new (temporary) home after many hours of traveling

We tried to get mostly unpacked and settled in, then headed out to a neighborhood lanchonete (pronounced lan-cho-neh-chee) to pick up some bottles of water.  Lanchonetes are these awesome little neighborhood restaurants that are everywhere.  They are usually partially exposed to the outdoors and serve basic meals (sandwiches, salads, beer, chicken, rice, beans, etc.).  Anyway, after that it was around midnight so, we turned on a little Big Bang Theory (yes, it’s always on here too) and then crashed.

This morning we woke up and couldn’t believe that we were here.  We spent the day walking around our neighborhood and doing our first grocery store run.

Morning coffee & breakfast in the neighborhood .

Michael loves Brazil's pão de queijo. (cheese bread) They have it everywhere!

Stopping by Michael's brother, Joe's, office building!

Lunch at a lanchonete

It is hot but gorgeous outside.  The streets are buzzing, full of people running around.   And Michael and I could not be happier to be here.  We are on cloud 9.  🙂