Yesterday consisted of watching older men swimming in their underwear and being put in prison by a witch.
Just another normal day...
OK, maybe not. I should explain. After a morning of independently studying Portuguese, I went with Carol to watch Luca's swimming lesson. There were so many cute little kids already swimming better than I could ever dream to, and it looked like such fun. Afterwards, Carol gave Luca a shower while I went back to the viewing area so as to not overcrowd the locker room. I was by myself sitting there watching the pool, when all of a sudden these men came and got in the pool. And male swimsuits in Brazil are the equivalent of underwear, by the way. So that was an experience.
And later, Isabela (almost 3) told me that I was a princess and she was an evil witch, and she promptly imprisoned me. There were only 4 unlocked doors leading to the room, so there was no hope of escape!
We also spent a significant amount of time throwing flip flops at a bush and trying to get them stuck, which is actually a ton of fun. Unfortunately, Luca got his stuck on top of the carport, so I tried to knock it down with my flip flop, which went over the beam and landed....well, I wish I knew where. We haven't actually found it yet.
I'm fairly certain a cow was giving birth outside my window last night. There was some intense mooing going on. And every once in a while, a chicken gave a screech so loud and sudden that my body left the bed for a minute, and my heart would have won gold if there was an Olympic category for heart speed.
I closed the window because I didn't want to win gold, but I forgot about that this morning and promptly slammed my face into the glass. Luckily, it now has a nice nose print so that shouldn't be happening again anytime soon.
I took a walk around the neighborhood this morning. It is beautiful. Due to safety concerns, most of the subdivisions are gated with someone manning the gate at all times and a special card required for entry. The rest of the subdivision is surrounded by a tall wall, topped with barbed wire and security cameras. This makes them incredibly safe.
This afternoon we visited a community center that hosts a before/after school program (most kids here only attend school for half the day until they reach high school). The center reminded me very much of the centers we volunteered at in Washington D C. The kids are ages 5-12, and I'll be volunteering there starting Monday. Everybody there is SO nice, but I'm a bit nervous because not a single person there speaks English!!
I'm currently sitting in a beauty parlor and Carol is getting a massage that consists of having the hair on her head pulled. Apparently it's very painful, but it really relaxes the muscles.
There is a thunderstorm going on outside, but I wish there was a stronger word for it. I've never experienced thunderstorms as intense as the ones here. The skies just open and it's like there are faucets coming from every inch of cloud. The streets become river-like in a matter of minutes, and the thunder is absolutely ear-piercing.
Well, that's the news from Brazil. Hope everything is going wonderfully wherever you may be!
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Monday, February 22, 2016
Brazil Beginnings
What an adventure this life is! I can't sing God's praises enough for allowing my fingerprint to be left all over the world. Little, insignificant me. Incredible.
Today alone, I have....
- had a 5 year old translating for me
- eaten the BEST BANANA of my life
- found a pastry delicious enough to name a kid after
It all started Friday as I went to the airport, a little late, after seeing my awesome little (and big!!!) cousins. What an awesome farewell(:
Luckily all the lines were short, and I made it through in no time. I didn't even have to be searched by the TSA this time! Hooray for not using explosive lotion!!
I had a direct, 10 hour flight from Detroit to São Paulo, and it was also my first red eye flight where the seat next to me wasn't conveniently empty. Turns out, it's super uncomfortable to sleep sitting up, especially when a strange person is sitting only inches away! In case you were wondering...
I arrived at GRU an hour early and made it through customs without talking to a single person, something that I imagine to be impossible in the USA. Then we had an impromptu game of hide and seek, as Carol went to a different terminal and it took us a while to figure that out! I also was attempting to explain to a security guard in Portuguese that I was looking for a person at the bank, and I didn't actually have any reason to go there if she wasn't there. Harder than it sounds!
I also met an Iranian family at this time, and they were very interesting to talk to. I only mention this because I never expected to converse with people from the middle east while in South America. I guess the world really is small(:
After Carol found me, we drove back to their house. It's a beautiful country. It took me a little bit to figure out who spoke English and who spoke only Portuguese - even within the airport this was a struggle. It has also taken me a little time to adjust to the culture, as it's a bizarre thing to jump into a family in an unfamiliar place. But everyone I meet is so beyond friendly(: I love them all!!!
The kids are SO MUCH FUN, but they are definitely still in the process of getting used to having a strange person in the house. I'm also discovering that it's difficult to play make-believe in two different languages...
We went to a fruitaria today, and there were so many fruits I've never heard of before. We got a bunch to try, and I'm STOKED! And the fresh juice is amazing.
And it is raining. And raining. So very much.
This of course is only a shadow of all that has occurred here so far, and the adventure will continue!
Boa noite(:
Today alone, I have....
- had a 5 year old translating for me
- eaten the BEST BANANA of my life
- found a pastry delicious enough to name a kid after
It all started Friday as I went to the airport, a little late, after seeing my awesome little (and big!!!) cousins. What an awesome farewell(:
Luckily all the lines were short, and I made it through in no time. I didn't even have to be searched by the TSA this time! Hooray for not using explosive lotion!!
I had a direct, 10 hour flight from Detroit to São Paulo, and it was also my first red eye flight where the seat next to me wasn't conveniently empty. Turns out, it's super uncomfortable to sleep sitting up, especially when a strange person is sitting only inches away! In case you were wondering...
I arrived at GRU an hour early and made it through customs without talking to a single person, something that I imagine to be impossible in the USA. Then we had an impromptu game of hide and seek, as Carol went to a different terminal and it took us a while to figure that out! I also was attempting to explain to a security guard in Portuguese that I was looking for a person at the bank, and I didn't actually have any reason to go there if she wasn't there. Harder than it sounds!
I also met an Iranian family at this time, and they were very interesting to talk to. I only mention this because I never expected to converse with people from the middle east while in South America. I guess the world really is small(:
After Carol found me, we drove back to their house. It's a beautiful country. It took me a little bit to figure out who spoke English and who spoke only Portuguese - even within the airport this was a struggle. It has also taken me a little time to adjust to the culture, as it's a bizarre thing to jump into a family in an unfamiliar place. But everyone I meet is so beyond friendly(: I love them all!!!
The kids are SO MUCH FUN, but they are definitely still in the process of getting used to having a strange person in the house. I'm also discovering that it's difficult to play make-believe in two different languages...
We went to a fruitaria today, and there were so many fruits I've never heard of before. We got a bunch to try, and I'm STOKED! And the fresh juice is amazing.
And it is raining. And raining. So very much.
This of course is only a shadow of all that has occurred here so far, and the adventure will continue!
Boa noite(:
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Red Tape
I have done a decent amount of traveling in my life thus far - family trips all around the United States, a mission trip to Mexico, a youth exchange to Denmark. So I figured going to South America would be a piece of cake.
But I realized something, and I realized it fast: I have never before been faced with the task of taking care of all the nitty gritty details of traveling. My parents would book the hotels and rental cars and all that good stuff for our family trips. My church took care of all the Mexico technicalities, like travel insurance and currency exchange, and the Lions Club took care of all that for Denmark.
So here I was, thinking it would be a piece of cake to hop on a plane and head for South America. WRONG!
First of all, there was the whole issue of the visas. I can't even begin to express how much I now despise visas! Both Brazil and Bolivia require USA citizens to have a tourist visa for entry. I was completing my Brazilian visa application during finals week, and it made my exams seem easy!
The applications themselves weren't necessarily hard, it was the documents that were required to accompany them that posed the difficulty. Here are the items that were required for both visas:
- A passport
- A passport sized photo, with very specific requirements for background color, lighting, direction of head, amount of hair touching face - even the facial expression has to be correct (no smiling allowed... but also no frowning allowed)
- A bank statement that proves you have enough $$ to sustain yourself - even if you're staying with a family and don't realistically need nearly as much as they require
- A signed letter of invitation from the host family, including very specific information such as family address, national ID numbers, jobs, etc.
- A copy of flight itinerary proving you will not be staying more than 90 days. This sounds simple enough, but when one of the tickets must be booked entirely in Spanish, and then the bank gets all suspicious and shuts down the debit card that is being used for the purchase (because I mean what American flies on Bolivian Airlines), it becomes a little more challenging.
- A money order for $160, and it has to be the through the USPS. No checks allowed.
And that $160? That's for Americans specifically, and it's only because that's how much we charge outsiders to obtain a visa to visit here. And it looks like almost everyone is required to get a visa to come to the USA!
Here is the price chart located on the Brazilian Consulate's website for Brazilian Tourist visa fees:
Below this on the website are several more charts for all the different types of visas that simply say
USA: <insert high cost>
All other countries: <insert significantly lower cost>
Definitely feeling the love here.
And actually, as far as Bolivia goes, we are one of the only western countries that is required to obtain a visa. Lowell Silverman, in his blog entitled "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (If I Must)," wrote the following:
"If you are a citizen of Canada, Mexico, Australia, Japan, most countries in Western Europe, Turkey, most of South America, and several other countries, congratulations! Bolivia likes your country. You don’t need a visa to enter Bolivia. Check your country’s specific documentation requirements like passport or ID for entry. Alas, poor Americans. Not only do US citizens need a Bolivian visa (unless they’re of Bolivian origin, apparently), but the requirements appear to be the most stringent of any country in the world."
(His complete blog can be found at https://lowellsilverman.wordpress.com/2015/06/02/obtaining-a-bolivian-tourist-visa/)
The other difficulty I had with the visas was that I couldn't get through to the Bolivian Consulate to ask my questions (I think they only have one or two phone lines, so they're almost always busy), and since I couldn't get in contact with them, I grew very nervous to send my passport to them. What if it didn't get back in time? What would I do?
So I made an unexpected trip to New York City. Luckily, I was in Connecticut anyway so it wasn't too much of an inconvenience, but I did manage to get sufficiently lost around Grand Central Station. The consulate was absolutely the nicest office I've ever been in, and the woman at the desk was one of the nicest people I have ever encountered in my life.
I had also made an unplanned trip to Chicago with my parents to go to the Brazilian consulate. This was very different from the Bolivian consulate experience. People were lined up outside the door before the consulate even opened! (Between Carnaval and the Olympics this year, they're experiencing a LOT of tourism!) And everything was extremely formal at the consulate, compared to the casual atmosphere at the Bolivian consulate. Everybody was very friendly, though!
And then on top of all the visas, I had to get specific immunizations with international certificates for reentry into Brazil after going to Bolivia (Yellow Fever), so that involved calling all the health departments in the thumb area and beyond.
And then there was the currency exchange, which is through my bank and wonderfully fast, but they didn't have as much Bolivian currency on hand as I needed, so that poses a problem.
And then there's insurance, and trying to get a new phone before I leave so I will have communication in case I get lost or kidnapped. I just wasn't expecting all of these technical details! It's overwhelming.
But it will be totally worth it!!
But I realized something, and I realized it fast: I have never before been faced with the task of taking care of all the nitty gritty details of traveling. My parents would book the hotels and rental cars and all that good stuff for our family trips. My church took care of all the Mexico technicalities, like travel insurance and currency exchange, and the Lions Club took care of all that for Denmark.
So here I was, thinking it would be a piece of cake to hop on a plane and head for South America. WRONG!
First of all, there was the whole issue of the visas. I can't even begin to express how much I now despise visas! Both Brazil and Bolivia require USA citizens to have a tourist visa for entry. I was completing my Brazilian visa application during finals week, and it made my exams seem easy!
The applications themselves weren't necessarily hard, it was the documents that were required to accompany them that posed the difficulty. Here are the items that were required for both visas:
- A passport
- A passport sized photo, with very specific requirements for background color, lighting, direction of head, amount of hair touching face - even the facial expression has to be correct (no smiling allowed... but also no frowning allowed)
- A bank statement that proves you have enough $$ to sustain yourself - even if you're staying with a family and don't realistically need nearly as much as they require
- A signed letter of invitation from the host family, including very specific information such as family address, national ID numbers, jobs, etc.
- A copy of flight itinerary proving you will not be staying more than 90 days. This sounds simple enough, but when one of the tickets must be booked entirely in Spanish, and then the bank gets all suspicious and shuts down the debit card that is being used for the purchase (because I mean what American flies on Bolivian Airlines), it becomes a little more challenging.
- A money order for $160, and it has to be the through the USPS. No checks allowed.
And that $160? That's for Americans specifically, and it's only because that's how much we charge outsiders to obtain a visa to visit here. And it looks like almost everyone is required to get a visa to come to the USA!
Here is the price chart located on the Brazilian Consulate's website for Brazilian Tourist visa fees:
Below this on the website are several more charts for all the different types of visas that simply say
USA: <insert high cost>
All other countries: <insert significantly lower cost>
Definitely feeling the love here.
And actually, as far as Bolivia goes, we are one of the only western countries that is required to obtain a visa. Lowell Silverman, in his blog entitled "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (If I Must)," wrote the following:
"If you are a citizen of Canada, Mexico, Australia, Japan, most countries in Western Europe, Turkey, most of South America, and several other countries, congratulations! Bolivia likes your country. You don’t need a visa to enter Bolivia. Check your country’s specific documentation requirements like passport or ID for entry. Alas, poor Americans. Not only do US citizens need a Bolivian visa (unless they’re of Bolivian origin, apparently), but the requirements appear to be the most stringent of any country in the world."
(His complete blog can be found at https://lowellsilverman.wordpress.com/2015/06/02/obtaining-a-bolivian-tourist-visa/)
The other difficulty I had with the visas was that I couldn't get through to the Bolivian Consulate to ask my questions (I think they only have one or two phone lines, so they're almost always busy), and since I couldn't get in contact with them, I grew very nervous to send my passport to them. What if it didn't get back in time? What would I do?
So I made an unexpected trip to New York City. Luckily, I was in Connecticut anyway so it wasn't too much of an inconvenience, but I did manage to get sufficiently lost around Grand Central Station. The consulate was absolutely the nicest office I've ever been in, and the woman at the desk was one of the nicest people I have ever encountered in my life.
I had also made an unplanned trip to Chicago with my parents to go to the Brazilian consulate. This was very different from the Bolivian consulate experience. People were lined up outside the door before the consulate even opened! (Between Carnaval and the Olympics this year, they're experiencing a LOT of tourism!) And everything was extremely formal at the consulate, compared to the casual atmosphere at the Bolivian consulate. Everybody was very friendly, though!
And then on top of all the visas, I had to get specific immunizations with international certificates for reentry into Brazil after going to Bolivia (Yellow Fever), so that involved calling all the health departments in the thumb area and beyond.
And then there was the currency exchange, which is through my bank and wonderfully fast, but they didn't have as much Bolivian currency on hand as I needed, so that poses a problem.
And then there's insurance, and trying to get a new phone before I leave so I will have communication in case I get lost or kidnapped. I just wasn't expecting all of these technical details! It's overwhelming.
But it will be totally worth it!!
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