Life was so busy at the end of May and beginning of June that I kept delaying preparing for Brazil until after everything else was done. When Girl's Camp was finally over, I really had to get my rear in gear and take care of everything. This time we needed Visas to get into Brazil, even as tourists. They were only supposed to take a day or two, so I wasn't terribly worried, but it ended up being a lot harder than planned. Mine went through very quickly, but the boys had a lot of problems. Due to potential for child trafficking, we had to fill out papers and have them notarized stating that we were their parents. This took a few days to get done. Then after we submitted the paperwork, the government rejected them 2 or 3 days later saying that the name on their birth certificates did not match my name because it showed my maiden name. I had to upload my marriage license and submit again. A few days later, they were rejected AGAIN because they said the picture of their passports wasn't complete enough. Grrr... By the time their visas came through, we only had about a week until the trip. It was definitely more stressful than it should have been.
With 2 days left to go, we started getting packed up and making sure the house was clean. Since we are only going to be gone a month this time, no one is staying at our house, which made it a lot less stressful. We have a neighbor boy taking care of the house and the cat, so we also spent some time making sure he knew what to do. We worked really hard to get everything ready to go and were able to leave feeling pretty prepared.
Packing was easier this time because we knew a little more about what to expect. We packed about 8 changes of clothes for each of us, along with swim stuff and regular toiletry items. Then we packed lots of things to do while we were hanging out in the apartment (watercolors, drawing sets, our foldable keyboard and piano books, tons of board games and card games, and a beach football. We also packed a bunch of things for Christian that we can mail him when we get there (customs makes it nearly impossible to get packages through), some of our favorite foods that we miss while in Brazil (peanut butter and mac and cheese), several canvas grocery bags, and of course, all of our technology (computers, ipads, phones, Jonathon's sequencing machine, and a bunch of lab equipment). We each had a backpack, a carry-on, and a checked suitcase. It seemed like a lot of luggage, but I was happy with what we brought and the space we used.
Red-eye flights are never fun because it is so hard to sleep, but we did have awesome seat locations. Since we were at the very back of the plane, there wasn't enough room for a third seat in the row, so it was just a big empty space. That allowed us to put our bags on the side so we had more room for our legs. Super nice!
As we expected, we missed our original flight from São Paulo to Salvador. That meant that we had a couple extra hours to kill in São Paulo. By the time we made it to Salvador, we were so exhausted! Thankfully, Jonathon's two colleagues, Emilio and Luzimar, picked us up at the airport so we didn't have to find an Uber big enough for our family and our luggage. They took us to our apartment to drop off our luggage. It officially took 29 hours from the time we left our house to the time we arrived at our Airbnb. Then we went with them to dinner at Camarada Camarão in Shopping Barra. We had an amazing meal (crispy lobster pastries, sesame breaded shrimp, and parmesan chicken), and it felt so good to eat real food after all that airplane food.
After dinner, we went back to our Airbnb and went to bed. The next morning, we tried to get settled in. We put all of our luggage away and explored the apartment and building. We spent a little more money this time so that we could be closer to the beach and have a good view. I had no idea how much I would love it! The location is top notch. I spend too many hours a day looking out at the ocean. It's actually quite distracting! The views are amazing from every room, but particularly stunning from the enclosed porch area off of the living room. The whole wall is made of glass windows, so you can see everything. I eat breakfast here every morning, and I don't think I would ever tire of it.
The view is incredible to begin with, but over the last week, we have now started to see whales from our windows. July is the very beginning of the humpback migration season. We have seen tons already, but I can only imagine what it will be like in August and September. There is something quite magical about seeing whales breaching out in the waves from the comfort of your apartment. Beyond amazing!
Another reason that this apartment cost a little more was because it has a swimming pool and gym. Last time the boys and I spent a lot of time in the apartment when Jonathon was at work, so we thought this would be a great way to pass the time. We have loved going to the gym every day. Andrew is particularly enthused about working out right now, so it has been really good for him. Hyrum has even gotten quite into it and has decreased his mile time on the treadmill significantly.
Since the beach is only steps away, we have gone several times already. We mostly just like to walk in the waves and look for shells. I love that the water temperature is perfect all year around. We usually just go to praia de farol da Barra because it is closer, but when Jonathon got home from work early one day, we ventured over to praia do porto da Barra. That beach is sheltered and much safer to actually swim in. The boys brought the football and played in the water.
On Saturday, Luzimar insisted on taking us out to tour somewhere in Salvador. We had never made it out to the famous church, Nosso Senhor do Bonfim, so we decided to head there. It features an interesting combination of religions, Catholic and Candomblé, an afro-Brazilian religion. The main church area is fairly typical of old Catholic churches with lovely woodworking and gold gilding. Then when you go to some of the outside rooms you see things like plastic legs and hands hanging from the ceiling. It can be a bit disturbing if you aren't prepared for it. In Candomblé, people pray and ask for miracles for speedy recovery from illnesses by hanging replicas of legs, hands, arms, and heads. Baby dolls are even hung by some worried parents. Along the walls are photos that show the miracles that Bonfim church has allegedly bestowed upon people.
The church is also famous for the colored ribbons that people tie to the gates and fence outside. Tradition holds that if you tie three knots in the ribbon, you will be granted 3 wishes. People from all over the world add their bonfim ribbon when they visit Salvador.
After we finished looking around the church, Luzimar took us to several other attractions in that part of the city. We had never been to the Northeast part, so it was all new. We went to an old fort with a lighthouse where they used to station the canons. It had a lovely lookout where you can see the entire Bay of All Saints. The third stop was the most famous ice cream place in Salvador, Ribeiras. The store was gigantic with tons of tables. They had at least 40 different flavors of ice cream to choose from with tons of strange or interesting flavors like milho verde (green corn), plum, chestnut, cream with raisins, cupuaçu, biribiri, and acerola (Brazilian fruits). We got a variety of flavors. My favorites were pineapple, brigadeiro, doce de leite, and the best one, toasted coconut. Yum!
One of the really fun things about being in Brazil is feeling a little more connected to our Christian. Since we are now in the same time zone, it made talking to him on Facebook Messenger much easier. He is struggling with confidence and self-doubt right now because he has been out so long and still not had a baptism. It is so hard to watch your kids struggle without really being able to help them. He will be okay though because he will just keep going and doing his best. That's just the kind of kid he is. He was so excited to be a missionary when he first left, and I hope he finds some joy again in doing the work. There are lots of prayers being said for him, so I hope he is uplifted and feels them. Love that boy and love being able to talk to him! It was a wonderful first week in Brazil!
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