We arrived in Rio on January 13. The first thing we noticed was the heat! We went from snow and 20' temperatures to sunny and high 90's. Unfortunately our luggage didn't arrive until the next night, but that didn't stop us from enjoying the first few days. Grace was so excited to visit the beach and drink coconut water right from the coconut! She could spend all day splashing in the waves.
We spent a lot of our fist month apartment hunting. We finally found a place in Barra and plan on moving in next month. Until then we are staying in a temporary apartment in the heart of Ipanema.
We visited a small town, Conservatoria, our second weekend here with another Olmsted scholar family. This was our first trip outside the city of Rio, about three hours away. We drove through several small towns where horse and cart were not an unfamiliar means of transportation. This was an amazing contrast to a city of 11 million just an hour away. Conservatoria is famous for a group of people who get together in the town center and sing every weekend night. Of course this being Brazil, they start late-around 11:00. A crowd gathers around them and follows them as they sing and play guitar through the small town. While there, we also visited a coffee fazenda (farm).
We felt pretty well prepared for our move here, but as always there have been a few surprises. It is hard to believe how little air-conditioning there is here. None of the apartments have central air and many of the restaurants open right up to the street and have no air-conditioning. It has been close to 100' everyday so this is definitely hard to get used to. Another shocking thing is the cost of living. We cannot believe how expensive it is to live here-from housing to groceries. We find ourselves missing the conveniences (and food) from the United States. We have seen favelas (shanty-towns) in books and magazines but seeing them up-close is unreal. It is hard to believe the difference in social classes here. All the upper-class people have maids and nanny's. All the apartments have a service area, which includes a bedroom for the live-in maid.
The people here have been very friendly as we attempt speaking Portuguese. We felt pretty prepared after taking our language classes in Washington DC, but being immersed is a different story. We feel like we have the basics down, but still struggle to understand and express ourselves. It can be very overwhelming. Hopefully with time, the language will get easier.
We are on the eve of Carnaval and are unsure what to expect. The block parties and parades started a couple weeks ago and are escalating each day. Last Sunday morning I went for a run and most of the people I saw were still out from the night before. Brazilians definitely know how to party!
Each day we are thankful to wake up here. It is hard to believe a year ago we had no idea Dean would be chosen as an Olmsted scholar and that we would be moving to Brazil. What an unbelievable opportunity!
