My Daily Life in Brazil

I have had many people ask me what my daily life consists of here, so I thought I would share a little bit about that. Granted, I'm a bit tardy as I have less than one week remaining before I head to Bolivia, but I'll write about it anyway!

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I wake up early and go with Carol to drop the kids off at preschool (a really cool preschool by the way, where everything is outside, the kids learn fully through play, and they even have a random tortoise who wanders around the school). She then drops me off at NAS, where I spend 3-4 hours interacting with the awesome kids.

NAS is an incredible organization. They provide a safe place for kids aged 5-13 to come before or after school while their parents generally work. Every day consists of different activities - sometimes it's origami, sometimes it's capoeira (a Brazilian martial art), sometimes it's reading in the library, and sometimes it's free play outside (during which time the soccer balls emerge, the swing set becomes overcrowded, and several varieties of tag are brought to the forefront). 

At first it was difficult for me there, as the kids at NAS were very curious about this strange new person and would bombard me with questions in Portuguese, and I really couldn't understand and it was very awkward. However, since then, the kids have figured out how to communicate with me (plus also my Portuguese has improved immensely, but mostly they have figured things out). The most common form of communication involves taking me to the place and demonstrating what they want me to do. Also common are drawings. The most popular of all, however, are the games that require little to no language at all. Like the high five game that goes "up high, on the side, on the other side, down low, TOO SLOW!" Except everybody is getting way too fast... There's also a game where people will tell me to look at the giant 3-headed butterfly (or something equally bizarre) then tap me on the shoulder when I look and tell me, "Foi uma fantasma!" (It was a ghost!)

I can't even express how much I love each and every kid there. It's incredible. I don't know how I'm ever going to be able to say goodbye.

Tuesday and Thursday mornings are reserved for rest, studying Portuguese, communication with my family, and often organizing photos or chipping away at blog entries.

Around 12:30pm, everybody returns to the house. Lunch (which is the biggest meal of  the day) is served both at the kids' preschool and at NAS, but anybody who hasn't eaten does so upon return to the house. The kids bathe, and Isabela prepares for her nap.

After 2pm, everything varies. Sometimes there are swimming lessons, sometimes I wander a new safe area while someone has an appointment, sometimes we go grocery shopping, frequently we go on miscellaneous adventures, and sometimes the afternoon is simply spent at the house playing.

I didn't actually notice this until I read it somewhere, but dinner is generally later in Brazil because the lunch is bigger. (I didn't notice because my family at home generally eats on the later side - I recall once eating LUNCH at 9pm). In the USA, I'd estimate that the average dinnertime is between 5 and 7. Here, I'd say it's between 7 and 9 (judging not just from the one family, but from what I've observed as a whole). 

Nights consist of Carol's incredibly creative games outside, random dancing with the kids, and a few tv episodes. Very popular here is Tom and Jerry, Mr. Bean the cartoon, and Masha e o Urso (Masha and the Bear - a Russian kids' show).

Alas, it's time for bed. Snore snore!

Weekends are my favorite, as they involve many miscellaneous adventures! One weekend we went to Ubatuba (a GORGEOUS coastal town), one weekend we went to an awesome lake, some weekends we went to kids' parties of various varieties, and most recently we spent an extended weekend in Salvador! More about that later.

So that's life here! It's pretty awesome. The people make it that way(: (and I mean, the warm weather doesn't hurt anything either...)