A few tidbits from Brazil

Abracos e Beijos: Brazil is a little more touchy-feeley than the states. I'm not sure I like it; Eri literally turns her back to it; Geoff fully accepts it.
Here, hugs and kisses are common greetings and send-offs. For the most part, it doesn't matter how well you know the person (first-time meeting or BFF) or how brief your encounter is (even a 30-second conversation between the hi and bye), it will warrant a kiss on the cheek for females and a hug for males. The formality of the relationship is also irrelevant to this social norm. My obgyn (a woman) kisses me hello and goodbye at each prenatal visit, though I suppose she does know me well. Professors and students hug and kiss if they run into each other on campus.
You should also write and say it. Females sign emails and text messages with "kisses" and males with "hugs," in lieu of "sincerely" or just "goodbye."
And, if the person is not present to accept the kiss or hug, it's verbalized. For example, my tough-as-nails pilates instructor (a male, who also knows Geoff), will tell me to pass on a hug to my husband for him. I laugh every time. Ok, drill sergeant, will do.

Like a native: We've been here for 10 months now and the switch has flipped for Eri, 3. She speaks Portuguese like a champ. It really is amazing to see her in action, not to mention pretty adorable. To hear her converse, we like to linger at drop-off and pick-up at her preschool, which is all-Portuguese except for the few hours a week of English class that I'm pretty sure she could teach. Interestingly, she switches easily between the two languages without confusion or hesitation. She replies to whatever language is spoken to her, and is aware of the difference. She often asks how to say a word or the name of an object in Portuguese.

English is tough, too: I have lost count of the number of Brazilians who have asked me about the difference in pronunciation of "sheet" and "shit," which are difficult vowel sounds for the non-native tongue. This seriously comes up a lot. Brazilians are extremely worried about asking for a shit of paper or shits for the bed on their next trip to the United States.

Never a rush: Living here and fully integrating into the culture (i.e. we don't live on a military base and we all attend schools with Brazilians), makes you realize a lot about your own country. Americans are always in a hurry, always multi-tasking, always off to the next whatever. Here, life is more calm. When a class at the university ends, no one bolts for the door. The students and professor hang around, chat and leave whenever. During lunch time, everyone sits down and just eats, no working through the mealtime or running errands. And when lunch is a social engagement at someone's home, it is a five-hour commitment by the time the meal is served, followed by a walk, more conversation, dessert, coffee and more conversation. Then the host asks why we are leaving so early. Well, because it's dinner time.

A few pics:

Ahhh, life is pretty good here.

One little girl on the back;
one little boy inside the front.
Happiness. 

My two favorite things in Brazil.

Eri at our favorite pizza restaurant.

Only in Brazil!
We saw this sign on a jet boat docked at the lake in Florianopolis.

Feliz Pascoa / Happy Easter

As it turns out, Brazilians celebrate Easter, too, and on the same day. There are a few differences here, though, than the states. (No Cadbury mini eggs or Starbust jelly beans. Just sayin'.) Rather than fill baskets with treats, parents here give children large (practically head-sized) hollow chocolate eggs. There are public events, like parties in the mall, but no egg hunts in the park. And most exciting for Eri, the Easter Bunny / Coelhino da Pascoa visited her school's Easter party last week. 

Face painting at the mall Easter party.

Puppet show, that was presumably Easter themed. (The
plot was difficult for me to follow.)

Loot from the Easter Bunny at school.

Bunny bakset and bunny ears art projects.

Loot from the Easter Bunny at home. (She's desperately
trying to get the plastic wrap off a chocolate bunny.)

Egg hunt in the living room of our apartment.

Eating Dad's bunny pancakes. 

Brazilian Road Trip: Iguazu Falls, Curitiba, Morretes & Honey Island

During our summer vacation (December - February in this hemisphere), we took our first Brazilian road trip. My parents, who have visited us everywhere we've ever lived -- good and not-as-good, far away and even farther -- made their way from Idaho to join us on the road in between touring around lovely Florianopolis. 

We traveled for almost two weeks, first heading to Iguazu Falls (second only to Victoria Falls in southern Africa), then to the largest southern Brazilian city called Curitiba, and finally to the car-less and completely tranquil Honey Island.

Highlights!:

Picking up Nana and Gramps at the
Florianopolis airport. Let the fun begin!

In total, we logged more than 1,000 miles on the road (some of them dirt), more than
20 hours driving, and countless loading and unloading of the Subaru.

First Stop: Iguazu Falls

Impressive, to say the least, beating out Niagara Falls in volume and wow-factor. There are 275 drops, with the largest in height being 269 feet. 

The waterfalls of the Iguazu River are on the Brazilian-Argentinian border, so each country gets a portion (think Canada and the U.S. splitting Niagara). We visited both sides, and on the Brazilian side, we stayed at the only hotel inside the national park, giving us before- and after-hours access to the trails. And it had a pool (it was incredibly hot). Another highlight was the boat ride we took on the Brazilian side through the base of some of the falls. 

What a view.

And another.

And another.
(There's the constant sound
of rushing water and NO public bathrooms.)

Eri spent most of the vacation like this.

Paradise, with a really good food.

Second Stop: Curitiba

Curitiba is the capital of the Brazilian state of Parana, north of where we are in the state of Santa Catarina. It's the most populous city in the South and a nice big city to visit. We toured around, stopping at the Botanic Gardens, Oscar Niemeyer Museum, Opera House, etc. We took a day tip to the small, historic and cute city of Morretes by train. 

Botanic Gardens.

Famous Brazilian art (inside).

Nana, Gramps and the City.

Did I mention the heat?

Downtown.

On the train. Morretes or bust.

The Serra Verde Express, or as Eri called it, Thomas.

Adorable Morretes.

Surprisingly, this is not Geoff.

Third Stop: Honey Island

This little island is just off the coast of the state of Parana. Ferries shuttle visitors to and from the island, where there is no traffic or McDonald's, but just complete relaxation. We stayed in little beach cabanas, just steps from the ocean, and spent the days hiking around, playing in the sand and swimming. 

Life is good ...

Our First Carnaval

The famous Carnaval is an annual celebration, held throughout Brazil the weekend before Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent (the 40-day period before Easter). So, it's pretty much a religious party.

The biggest cities organize huge parades, led by samba schools, at public arenas called Sambodromes. They are open to the public, but you have to buy tickets to enter. Neighborhoods and smaller cities host smaller parties called Blocos, where it's basically a free-for-all. 

Disappointingly, this year's big Sambodrome event in Florianopolis was canceled due to lack of funding (read: corruption), but there were tons of street parties daily along with dedicated events just for kids. 

We ended up at the "Bloco dos Sujos" event, where it is tradition for the men to dress like women, and the women to dress like women. So, Geoff stretched out one of my dresses and, along with my parents who were in town visiting, we experienced our first Brazilian Carnaval:

Lots of live music, dancing, food booths and drinking.
This particular party started in the afternoon and
went on well into the night.

Translation: "If you want a kiss from the fat fairy, laugh!"

We don't know these people, but everyone is friends at Carnaval.

Normally a fan, Eri didn't like this particular Minnie.

My mom. Definitely the most attractive lady of the bunch.

Eri and Gramps taking in the craziness from the vantage point of the ice truck.

Street dancing.

More street dancing.

Uh oh. Girls needing their hair held by their BFF is universal...

... as is a lot of drinking-related behavior.

Kids' Carnaval. (Thanks for the par-tay dress, Cousin Macyn!)

Making a mask.
In Brazil, there is no such thing as too
much bedazzling, and that's why we love it here.