Brazil: The Highs and Lows

While we have had an amazing time in Brazil, it wouldn't be accurate if I talked only about the great things and ignored the hard, not so great ones. I will attempt to make a balanced post about some of the good and bad things we've encountered. Overall, the highs will definitely outweigh the lows in my memory. There have been challenging things and situations during these last few months, but we have been able to get through them. Now that it's nearly over, I am happy to be going home, but sad to leave this beautiful country and people. 

The HIGHS:

• The People 

We have been so impressed with the people we have met in Brazil. Overall, they are kind, generous, and willing to help a stranger in need. Jonathon's host and his wife, Emilio and Fernanda, have been amazing. They have helped us in so many ways, especially in the beginning when Jonathon was by himself and just needed some friends. They are lovely, down-to-earth people who are easy to talk to and fun to be around.

I have already talked about Edson, our taxi driver, but I just want to mention again what a tender mercy it was to meet him and be able to go to church with him weekly. Being able to ride together without the stress of getting two Ubers each way made our Sundays so much nicer. 

When we decided we wanted to go to a soccer game, Emilio referred us to one of his friends who helped us through the whole process. He was a complete stranger, yet he helped with the ticket purchase, and connected us with a friend who drove Jonathon and the boys there, stayed with them the whole time, and then drove them home. He wanted them to be safe and have a good time at their first soccer game. I was so impressed with how he cared about us.

The amazing church members here get their own special mention below!

• The Food

Wow! The food here has been spectacular. One of our favorite things has been trying all of the new, interesting flavors. We have loved almost everything we have tried and will miss so many yummy things. Hyrum is our biggest foodie, and he is so funny about food. He told Jonathon, "Food just tastes better in Brazil!" 

My very favorite food in Brazil is the flavor combination of cheese and guava, known here as Romeo and Juliet. You can get this flavor in many different forms. I love it in tapiocas, egg rolls, cakes, etc, but my favorite is on a french roll every morning for breakfast. It is the perfect combination of sweet and creamy.  Usually, I use requeijão (a soft cheese similar to cream cheese) and goiabada jam, but I also love queijo minas (a white cheese) and goiabada jelly. 

We have had some incredible meals here, both at restaurants and things we have learned to make. Moqueca is one of the most famous dishes here in Bahia. It is a type of fish stew. I am not a huge fan of seafood, but I wanted to at least try it. I was blown away by how good it was. We got the shrimp version, and it was delightful and so flavorful. We also loved getting pasteís, coxinhas, skewers (chicken and queijo coalho), churrasco (barbecue), Brazilian buffets, rodizio pizza, pão de queijo, and more. My favorite restaurant in the food court is a buffet that you pay by the kilo, which means I can try a little bit of whatever I want. I get to eat so many interesting things.

Jonathon has been amazing here and cooked us so many Brazilian meals. It has been so nice to not have to make all of the meals. He made us galinhada (chicken and rice) and feijão (beans) weekly, estroganofe, tapiocas, and Brazilian hotdogs (using grilled onions and batata palha).

Hyrum loves smoothies so much. Every day at 3 o'clock he makes everyone a smoothie. They sell pulpa packets (frozen fruit packs) in many delicious flavors. Our favorite flavors are mango, pineapple, acai, guava, strawberry, and maracujá (passion fruit). He mixes 5 pulpas, some drinkable yogurt, water, and bananas to make the smoothie. It is the perfect snack for a warm, humid afternoon. I will definitely miss 3 o'clock smoothies! 

The desserts here are also so yummy. We love tapiocas (similar to crepes, but made with tapioca flour), churros (filled with chocolate, doce de leite, goiabada, etc.), cakes (so many moist delicious options) bomboms (round, chocolate candies with wafer layers), quindim (a custard with a coconut crust), and acai bowls. 

 

• Participating in the Church

I can't say enough about our ward (Ala Centenario) and the Saints here. From the moment we walked in the door, we were accepted, loved, and cared for. They already loved Jonathon, I could just tell. His friends immediately greeted us and made sure we felt comfortable. 

The boys have done very well in their youth classes. There are very few youth (around 10 total), so every single person is needed. Andrew and Christian both answer lots of questions and participate fully at church. It was a very proud day when Christian blessed the Sacrament in Portuguese for the first time. I was amazed by him! He has very little experience with Portuguese outside of our home, but he was willing to help fulfill his Priesthood responsibilities. Andrew also helps by passing the Sacrament. I love them!

They do not have any piano players here, so I have been playing for the last 8 weeks. I am far from proficient, but everyone has been so kind when I play. I think they like having a melody and timing to follow, rather than the acapella that they usually have. I admit that it has helped me feel needed since I can't contribute much else to the actual meetings. Relief Society was really hard since I speak so little Portuguese and nobody speaks a word of English. A sweet lady named Dada sat with me the first week. After RS, she took ten minutes to have a very simple conversation with me. We used lots of hand signs and the basic language that I have to communicate with each other. It made me feel seen and heard that she was willing to do that. After several weeks, I was getting nothing out of Relief Society, so I had the idea to ask if I could attend Primary. Our sweet Primary counselor, Jessica Reis, is amazing! She immediately took me in and involved me. I have been able to sit by Hyrum each week, learn the Articles of Faith in Portuguese, sing Primary songs translated on my phone, and follow the very simple Come Follow Me lessons. It was the best decision, and I am so thankful to have been guided to go that route. 

The Primary is small here too. There are about 10 kids, so everyone is in one group. That means that the youngest kids are a little wild and crazy, which has been a bit hard for Hyrum. Luckily, they do split up toward the end to have a little lesson for the older ones. He doesn't speak a whole lot in class, but he understands things well, and he participates when asked. It was a proud day last week when he got in front of the whole group and quoted the first and second Articles of Faith. He was very nervous, but he did an amazing job! 

The church building is only about 15 minutes away, and we spend about $6 in travel expenses, so it's really not bad. The missionaries have been amazing. The first 3 weeks we were here, there was a baptism every week... all of them teenagers. We attended the baptisms to support them, and it was neat for the boys to see some of the great parts of missions. I love that there is very little judgment from members here. It doesn't matter if you are wearing typical church clothes, if you make a mistake on the prayers or piano, or if you are new. They are just so happy to have you there. And when you aren't there, they recognize that and make sure everything is ok. It has been eye-opening for sure to see Christ-like ministering in action among the Brazilian Saints. We love them!

 

• The Beach

We live 5 minutes from the beach and have spent more time there this summer than the whole rest of our lives combined. Sometimes when we are bored in the afternoon, we will just head down there to play in the water. There is a beach very close (Praia do Farol da Barra) that has bigger waves for boogie boarding, and one that is slightly farther away (a 20 minute walk to Praia do Porto da Barra) that is calm and ideal for swimming and snorkeling. The boys prefer the bigger waves to body surf, but I just love to walk along the beach and enjoy the sea breeze and get my toes in the water.

It is also interesting to note that beaches are different in Brazil. When you go to the beach, there are people there offering umbrellas, chairs, food, massages, etc. You really don't need to bring anything. I enjoy being able to pay R$20 (about $4) for an umbrella and chairs so I have somewhere shady to sit while I watch the boys play.   

• Sight-seeing

I won't rehash all of the places we have been and things we have seen, but it has been amazing! The Amazon was simply incredible, Rio de Janeiro literally made dreams come true, Praia do Forte was relaxing and peaceful, and the Pelourinho was always full of life and history. So many memories!

• Our Apartment

Finding a good place to live was one of the scariest things when we were first looking. We didn't know the area, and we only had pictures to go off of. We put a lot of thought into it and finally decided on a place on AirBnB. We know we probably paid a lot more than necessary for it, but we wanted to do it through a reputable, US company so that we would have some recourse if something went wrong. We have been so happy with our decision. The apartment is even bigger than it looked in the pictures. Since we have spent a lot of time here, I am so grateful that we had room to spread out. Christian and Andrew share a bedroom, Hyrum has his own room, and everyone has a bathroom. The kitchen is also bigger than expected. There are some problems like old furniture and appliances that don't work great, but it has been a good place for our family. We have a 24/7 doorman, and we have always felt safe here. That is a huge blessing!

• Visitors

Jonathon's parents, my parents, and our friends, the Knapps have all come to visit us in Brazil. Their visits have been some of the highlights of our whole summer! It is always easier to get out and explore and do fun things when you have company. 

• The Weather

Ah, Salvador! The high temperature is 75-85 degrees year-round. While we were seeing reports of 105 degrees in Utah on the news, we were enjoying 80 degrees with an ocean breeze. I don't love hot weather, so I will miss the lovely temperatures here. We were here during the rainy season, which sometimes put a damper on our fun, and sometimes the humidity was a bit high, but overall, it was very pleasant. 

• Our Location

Close to the beach, close to the lighthouse, close to the University, and close to the mall... we really couldn't have asked for a better location! We are only about a mile from the University, so Jonathon usually rides a rental bike to work, which has been amazing. They have a shared bike system here that only costs $5 per month. Also, I had no idea how great being close to the mall would be. During rainy days, we often go to the mall just to walk around and get some exercise. We also go to the food court for dinner often because it is almost as cheap to eat out as it is to purchase groceries. Christian and Andrew love a restaurant called Companhia do churrasco that does a Sandwich of the Day for $4. They have great, premium meats like top sirloin and are delicious!   

• Cultural Appreciation

We have learned so much about the Brazilian culture while we have been here. I love how everyone greets each other with Bom Dia! (Good morning), Boa Tarde! (Good Afternoon!), or Boa Noite! (Good Night). People are very friendly and helpful, but they are also really late. Haha! Everything starts way later than announced. This is especially true of Church activities. They will say it starts at 7:00, but then it won't actually start until 7:45. We thought we were getting the hang of it, but we intentionally planned to be late to the last activity and were still the first ones to arrive. People will also stay out late. They eat their big meal at lunch, and then will eat a smaller meal at 8 or 9 o'clock at night. That was a big adjustment when we were first invited to eat with Emilio and Fernanda. 

It has also been good to see how most of the world lives. Poverty is real here, and most people are just trying to make it day to day. Talking to Uber drivers, we have learned how little they make when they have to pay the fees, gas fill-ups, etc. We always try to tip well because the drivers get all of the tip. The people may not have a lot of money, but they are happy and are always ready to have a good time. Nearly every youth or ward party involves playing soccer, karaoke, dancing, and food. 

• Sunset at the Lighthouse

I have already written about it, but watching the sunsets at the Farol da Barra is one of my favorite things to do in Brazil. Beautiful and Magical every time!

 

The LOWS:

• Grocery Shopping

Ugh! Grocery shopping has been a continual problem. Without a car, we are pretty much stuck walking to the nearest grocery store for all of our needs. It just so happened that the nearest Bompreço was under renovation the entire time we were here. The fruit/vegetable selection was almost non-existent for much of it, and half the time, the things we were looking for were out of stock. It was also extremely difficult because we could only buy what we could carry. The whole family would go to the grocery store two or three times a week so that we could carry it all home. The bags were also very flimsy and tiny, so they would often rip. Mom brought me some canvas bags when she came, and it was a huge help. I will be so happy to get home to my car, my Sam's Club, and vegetables. Every time Jonathon found somewhere with real vegetables, he would buy me a salad. Haha!

The wimpiest shopping bags ever! 

• Laundry and Dishes

It is the little things that I will be thankful for when we return home. Our washer/dryer was so small and took so long to run, so laundry seemed to be going around the clock. One small load of laundry took 3.5 hours from start to finish. It feels petty to complain because I am so happy that we had a washer/dryer, but I will definitely enjoy getting back to ours at home. Our kitchen sink here is also miniature, and we have no hot water. Apparently, that is normal in Brazil. We are one of the lucky few that have a dishwasher, but it worked so poorly that it seemed better to hand wash in cold water. After much trial and error, we settled on washing by hand to clean the dishes, and then putting them in the dishwasher to "sterilize" them. It was a lot of work to keep up.

• Language Barriers

This was a big, obvious problem that I knew would be challenging. In fact, I am proud of us for getting through it, but I can't deny that it has been hard. Jonathon is a pro with the language, so when he is with us, there are no problems, but he has to work, so we are often left alone. That means either staying home a lot or dealing with the anxiety of trying to figure out how to speak to people. Andrew understands most things, but he is pretty shy about using his language. I wish we could have helped him break through that barrier more, but I understand about being introverted, so I don't push too hard. 

• Boredom/Loneliness

Directly associated with our lack of language skills was boredom and loneliness. When it is hard to go out in public, it becomes very easy to stay home and feel sorry for yourself. We spent a lot of time in our apartment during the day. Sure, we went to the beach and the mall a lot, but you can only spend so much time there. To pass the time, we have played LOTS of card games (Skull King, Rook, Rack-o, Citadels, etc.) and we watched TV or movies. To help me bond with the boys we embarked on a mission to watch Clone Wars while we were here. There are 7 seasons, so it definitely took some time, but we just finished it! It was a good way to understand my boys better and pass the evenings with our family. When the boys complained about boredom, I reminded them that they often felt this way at home too, so it wasn't really all that different.

• Transportation

Our family isn't even that big, but here we sometimes feel like a circus show. Taking 5 people anywhere is incredibly difficult. They only drive small cars here (almost all 5 passengers), so when you account for the driver, we have had to get two Ubers almost everywhere we go. We always call Edson when we have a set time for things, but the majority of our trips are random Uber rides. We are grateful to have Uber though because a few years ago we wouldn't have even had that option. Jonathon usually takes Christian, and I ride with Andrew and Hyrum so that both cars have Portuguese speakers. It is always a good feeling when both Ubers show up safely at the right location.

• Late-night parties

Brazilians definitely know how to party. We discovered that firsthand over their Independence Day (July 2nd for the state of Bahia). For the two weeks surrounding it, the government gave permission for people to hold concerts basically all night long. Someone on the other side of our street, played loud music every night until 3 am. It was so loud and so obnoxious that Jonathon and I couldn't sleep. We wore ear plugs, but that didn't even drown out the noise. I thought I might go insane. Luckily, we were gone to Manaus for one week of it, so we only had to endure a week. We didn't know that they had a permit, so we emailed the landlord asking if there was someone (police?) we should call to get it shut down. Once we knew that there was a time frame for it ending, we sucked it up and got through it. Not my favorite week in Brazil...

• Apartment Artwork

This was pretty mild and not a huge inconvenience, but still worth noting. The owner of our apartment is very eclectic when it comes to art and decorations. Some of them were very charming like animal statues, old cameras, a record player, etc. but a lot of the artwork portrayed nudity, which we weren't okay with. As soon as we got to the apartment, we had to hang up sheets over two of the paintings and put a pillowcase over a statue that was particularly revolting. Once the sheets were up, everything was fine. It made for some interesting decorations.

 

• Big City Sights and Smells

Living in a big city (Salvador has 4 million people) comes with certain sights and smells. When we lived in New York, the smells were very similar... sewer, urine, rotten food, garbage etc. The smell isn't everywhere, but you definitely catch a whiff of it every now and then. I would say that Salvador has less trash on the streets than New York though. Jonathon says that Brazilians are a very clean people and are always tidying things up. I have especially noticed this at the beach. The beaches are really quite clean. That might be just our area though.

I'm sure there are many more things that I could add to both sections, but that gives a good overview of our time here. What a wonderful adventure it has been and how much we have grown through the highs and the lows.