The Comfort Zone

Did I say we needed to get out of our comfort zone? Next time I say that, please remind me that as a 40-something father of two I’m fine in the comfort zone.

Exhausting travels as we took an overnight flight to Sao Paulo and then a flight to Porto Seguro. As we took the ferry over the river between Porto Seguro to Arraial D’Ajuda the thought popped into my head, “What the hell have I done?!” I’m not remotely fluent in the language and I have no idea where anything is or what to do in an emergency. My extensive research and planning to have a cell phone working when I landed completely failed. In the days B.C. (before children), when I was immortal, this would be an exciting adventure, but now I am responsible for two more lives. I was on the verge of a panic attack. We managed to get into our home which felt very different, get dinner, and get a swim. By the end of the night I was a touch more comfortable,

On my first day I saw:  A grown man moving his motorcycle in his underwear and t-shirt.

Day two we hit the supermercado, Cabui. The only one in town. For no reason I can think of this was the most harrowing grocery shopping trip of my life. In retrospect I can’t see what spooked me, but I was completely freaked out. I guess it had to do with the thought of feeding the family and things being different/uncomfortable- AND realizing this was for half a year. It took us 2½ hours to get through it. The kids were miserable and I was a wreck. Still, we got food and got home. Another swim, some ping-pong, dinner made at home. We were settling in.

Day three I finally got to snorkel with Sidney! So it turns out that there is a reef about a 100 yards off shore and when the tide goes out it is completely exposed. You can walk to the reef at low tide and see urchins, fish and sea stars (check Sidney’s post with pictures and his amazing drawings). It was a great adventure and just what we needed. We had dinner at the hotel next door, where the boys could use the trampoline and foosball table and the parents could get caipirinhas. Just when I think I’m finally comfortable, April and I sit down to plan the start of home school for the boys. Now I’m really freaked out. I knew my peers at Friends Seminary were amazing teachers. Now I REALLY know it.

Since then:

We’re here and pretty happy. We like our little condo (you can take a tour with Ezra on his video) that is perfectly situated on a quiet beach with a cool breeze. Most days I start the day off with a few hours of school, we swim and/or snorkel, jump on the trampoline, play all kinds of games, go to capoeira class and shop in town. At night Arrial D’Ajuda town is one of the most charming places on Earth. Restaurants, shops and live music lining a winding cobblestone street. It’s magical! Of course I already found the best dessert in town. There’s a popsicle place called Super Paletas. The middle of these are filled with some kind of cream. April had passionfruit with a condensed milk center. It was superfresh. I had Belgian chocolate with a brigadeiro (condensed milk and chocolate) center. We WILL be trying more flavors.

Sidney made his first Brazilian friend, Gabriel, who sadly left to go home to Minas Gerais (the downside of living on an idyllic beach that is inhabited by tourists). One of Sidney’s greatest fears about coming to Brazil was making friends, and he was the first one to do it. How? It started with a boy and his soccer ball. God bless futbol (pronounced futchee-bol in Portuguese). You can glimpse them playing in Ezra’s video on his blog.

Ezra has made friends at capoeira and pretty much where ever he goes. He lives in shorts and flip-flops. No shirt. He couldn’t be happier.

I realize now that what has changed is that I’m comfortable with being uncomfortable. It’s not easy for a know-it-all to not know, and here I don’t. I’m fine with that. The thing I’m most proud of is how April and I have managed ourselves with our Portuguese. No one speaks English here, but we have enough to get by, have basic conversations and take care of everything we need. We’re rockin’ the Portuguese! People are pretty friendly and will try to talk to us, even when we have no idea what they’re saying.