Day-to-day

Playing futebol at our apartment complex. Eri
sees the "shirts" and "skins"  teams and now immediately whips
off her top every time to get the game going.

Making the most of a layover. 

We love our balcony, which looks out to the ocean,
so we've improvised a dinner table until our furniture arrives. That's
netting that envelops our entire apartment to prevent anyone
from taking a tumble out. Most Brazilians aren't quite as zealous with the net,
but their idea blends nicely with my American parental paranoia. 

School lunch. Apparently universally not delicious.

On a walk, narrated by Eri.
"Can you believe she only used to be able to poo her diapers and
now she's smarter than most people we know?" astutely says her dad.

Eri at swim lessons. Swim cap is required. Thank goodness
Brazilian girls don't wear string bikinis this young, though the same can't
be said for the boys and their banana hammocks.

We found Brazil's version of Pinkberry, suspiciously
with a pink berry logo. Either way, we love you, Gurts.

First day of school

Eri started at a preschool just a few blocks from our house. She is the only English-speaker there, but doesn't seem to mind. Her teachers say she chatters away in English all day and has no trouble following directions and participating in activities. 

Wearing her uniform (we were hoping for something in plaid,
but oh well) and ladybug backpack.

Vamos!

New friends. When we arrived on the first day, all Eri's classmates ran up to greet her.
Her response: "My name is Eri. I speak Eng-lis."

Chile

While waiting for our household goods to arrive (yep, still) and for school to start, we took a much-anticipated trip to Chile to see our Kansas City friends Scott and Molly, who are wrapping up a two-year stint in Santiago. 

In our week-and-a-half visit, we did pretty much one of everything (rafting, skiing, spa day, massages, wine tour, city tour, shopping, etc.) but the highlight was the Scolly reunion. Our wonderful hosts spoiled Eri and showed us a fantastic time -- they of course know all the must-see places and the best restaurants. We got a good feel for the area, people and culture, thanks to them. 

Our impression of Santiago is a good one. It is very different than Brazil, the most obvious distinction being the language. Despite what the whole world thinks, Spanish and Portuguese aren't the same. Because the pronunciation is so different between the two, we actually had better success communicating in english. Understanding Spanish wasn't a problem, though. (I studied Spanish for years and lived in Spain for six months in college, but my Portuguese has smothered any of those abilities.) Chilean food was not awesome: hot dogs topped with mayo and avocado, beef sandwiches topped with green beans, or for a "healthy choice," as described in all seriousness by one of our tour guides, a slab of beef topped with french fries and a runny egg. So we ate lots of Peruvian food. The people and culture are warm and friendly, like Brazilians, but not nearly as attractive, but geez, who is?

Trivia: Chile and Ecuador are the only countries in
South America that don't border Brazil.

Valparaiso: We took a two-day side trip to the bohemian coastal town "Valpo."

Valpo from our hotel. Even at this height, it still smells like patchouli. 

Our hotel was built into the side of a mountain; the bedroom and bathroom walls are
exposed rock. All the furniture and decor was "up-cycled." We took long showers, though,
 surely off-setting anything green from this laborious, artistic little boutique hotel. 

City walking tour. The majority of the homes and business in the heart of the city
are covered in brightly colored paint, ranging from graffiti to impressive murals.
And, thanks to the insanely large feral dog population, the majority of the streets are
covered in poo. One of us really had a knack for pushing the stroller though it. It was me.

Winter in August. 

 Santiago

Saturday morning at the market.
Molly's shopping cart and Geoff's little precious.

Scott and Geoff at Valle Navado, just an hour outside Santiago.

The hop-on, hop-off city bus tour. Riding on the open roof was one of the
biggest thrills in Eri's 2 1/2 years.

That's that Andes through all that haze. We took short
showers so as not to contribute further to this.

Biking tour through the Maipo Valley wine region.

Look at all mommy's juice, Eri.

So silly.

Dancing! Would it be weird to wear this to Carnival? 

Snacks with "Maw-lee."

Scott and Geoff on the Maipo River. Brye, Molly and Eri on the shore.

Though currently childless, Scott and Molly are two of the best parents we know.

Optical illusion: Is Eri walking on the ceiling or is
Scott standing on his head?

Traveling light.

Exhausted and headed home.

One month in

Well, we love it here.

As Geoff likes to say almost daily,  "It's pretty awesome."

We have been living in Brazil for one month and although we know homesickness will likely set in at some point, we're having a lot of fun right now and really enjoying all the new-ness of this experience. I think we've successfully embraced that it's not like home here, which is good because this would've been a long way to move to experience more of the same.

We've had some frustration (actually, just getting an apartment), some confusion (I used the male bathroom, which is doubly confusing because I do know the words for male and female) and made some etiquette faux pas (three people told us it's not OK to use the main elevator for suitcases, but rather the service elevator), but our first month has been good. Really good.

Some observations:

People: Brazilians are incredibly warm and friendly. And they love children. Eri is showered with candies, treats and juice when we're out. People here love that we speak Portuguese and engage us in conversation at length. We literally leave stores, restaurants, etc. with hugs from the staff. Other people we encounter, more often than not, give us their emails and phone numbers. We've made friends and people are extremely patient with our speaking skills, which are good, but still elicit laughs, though not in a condescending way by any means.

Safety: Florianopolis seems to be a very safe city. We chose an apartment with security and are cautious when and where we go out and about, but have not had any issues. The one asterisk is the driving here. Cars do not yield to pedestrians - ever. It's actually really scary trying to cross a street. Other than that, I never feel afraid, and go out by myself or with just Eri all the time.

Food: The city has a strong Italian and German influence, so we've eaten a lot of pizza. We've tried other typical Brazilian dishes, which are good. Eri and I love pao de quiejo, which are little balls of bread with cheese in the middle, and cochinas, which are breaded chicken blobs that look like big Hershey kisses. We live a block away from a farm-direct market, so we eat lots of fresh fruit, veggies, chicken, fish, bread and eggs. Love it. Smoothies are incredibly popular here and our favorite is acai with banana. Milk is boxed and sits on a shelf until opened, but doesn't really taste much different. Packaged snacks, like pretzels and, to Eri's dismay, Goldfish crackers aren't common. People stop at little kiosks and snack on an empanada in the afternoons. Brazilian beer is cheaper than water, but tastes the same. Geoff and I love caipirinas, which here are like margaritas are in Mexico.

Expense: Some things are incredibly expensive, mostly goods like clothes, shoes, toys and household items, like bath towels or dishes. Services and labor, though, are considerably cheaper here than in the states, like domestic employees and handymen, childcare, pedicures (whew), etc.

Day-to-day: We've spent a lot of time out-and-about to explore, practice speaking and because we don't have any furniture other than a table and chairs and a couple beds. The weather is usually in the mid-70s, so we walk around, go to the parks, and run up and down the trail that separates the downtown bustle from the ocean. (The jogging stroller is a real head-turner, but I don't mind because I'm gawking in return at the super hot women in full spandex bodysuits. I don't think Geoff notices them though.) We've taken the city bus to explore other parts of the island while we wait for our car to arrive. We've had a lot of together-ness (in a good way!) and are mostly just using this time to get settled and be comfortable here.

Riding the onibus. Standing
like the other big kids.

"Goooooal!" Playing a little futebol in the
living room one rainy day.

Seeing the sights.

Playing at the park like the Brazilians.

A bbq called, called churrasco in Portuguese,
at our apartment with new friends.

We gesture a lot to help get our point across.
Although Eri only knows a few Portuguese words and phrases,
she definitely understands there's a language difference here. She constantly
asks me, "Mama, what's she saying," or to translate her English to Portuguese
to someone: "Mama, you tell him ___."

Dr. Steeves!

He'll still be Geoff to us, or Geoffrey Michael Steeves when he's in big trouble, but he's officially on his way to adding "Ph.D." to his name.

Geoff's job with the military during our time in Brazil is to earn an advanced degree, as is the case with all Olmsted scholars. Because he already has a master's in economics, he had the option of pursuing a second master's in another area, or continuing in economics.

In May, he applied for the university's Ph.D. program, a process that included writing a 20-page research proposal. In Portuguese. We found out in July that he was accepted into the program and will start econ classes and research work in August. In Portuguese!

We are all academics in this family. I will start more language classes (with Geoff) at the university in August and begin a master's program in September in business knowledge management (like an MBA in the states). Eri will be starting escola infantil at this same time. She asks daily to go to school and doesn't seem fazed by the lack of english spoken during our visits with her new teachers and classmates. Unfortunately she will wear a little blue and white uniform while all her adorable clothes hang in the closet. Geez. Might as well be in the Air Force.

New Home

After nearly one month of red tape, we are finally residents with an apartment to call our own. We weren't sure this day would come. Really. The details are boring and I can't bear to relive them anyway, however, we ended up in an amazing spot with a million-dollar view of the ocean and mountains (see above).

Wanting to do the urban thing, we chose a high-rise in a downtown Florianopolis neighborhood called Agronomica. We are in the heart of the city's hustle and bustle and within walking distance of everything, which is good because our car is still en route, along with our furniture (see above).

We moved out of the hotel two days ago, and although it sucks to push our own elevator buttons and open our own doors, we're starting to feel more settled already. We're working on doing all things that need to be done in a new place and it's definitely different here than in the U.S. When we tried to order Internet, one company told us they already had enough business in our area and maybe in April they could provide us service. Luckily another company hooked us up and so this blog will live on.

We really love our apartment, and even though it is an apartment, it's the largest home we've ever been in. It's older, which means it came with bedroom closets, and kitchen and bathroom cabinets, sinks, and counter tops. We looked at one brand new apartment without any of these things in the kitchen. We asked when they would be installed and were told when we buy them and put them in. Another semi-new apartment, didn't have bathroom counter tops, sinks, showers, toilets, etc. We asked another place if they would install these things if we paid higher rent, but this ridiculous request was denied. Thankfully in this apartment we just had to get appliances, which was surprisingly easy because stores here don't have the selection of those in the states. All we had to do was measure the space and buy the one appliance that would fit.

The rest of July is all about getting settled before our household goods arrive at the end of August. Geoff and I start classes at the university at the beginning of August and Eri starts preschool. In between now and then we head to Chile for a week and a half to visit our friends from Kansas City, Scott and Molly, who are living temporarily in Santiago. We can hardly wait for the reunion.

Onde estamos?

Florianopolis!

Here's a quickie overview on our new home:

Florianopolis is an island located in the southern region of Brazil. It's just a few miles from the continent and is connected to the mainland by several bridges.

Florianopolis is the capital of the state of Santa Catarina and has a total population of just over 1 million.

The island boasts 42 beaches (we would've been happy with just one) and the tourism draw is strong during the summer months. Ocean / water sports, like surfing, kite surfing, sailing, etc., are popular, and there are mountainous areas with hiking and, wait for it, white water kayaking of course. (Geoff's No. 1 criterion.) The city is also very metropolitan with a strong urban core.

The climate is perfect here (Brye's No. 1 criterion. Don't wanna be cold.). It's winter now and feels like the best summer ever. The highs seem to be about 75 degrees with the lows dipping to the 70s. 

The city and the people here seem lively and vibrant. The New York Times called Florianopolis "the party destination of the year" in '09 (Eri's No. 1 criterion) and the Brazilian magazine Veja named it "the best place to live" in the country. We're not sure about the former accolade, though we now eat dinner two hours later than we did in the states, but far as the latter accolade, it does seem like a pretty good place to be.