Arriving

My original name for this blog was "A Life Once Imagined," a title inspired by my favorite quote: "Live the life you imagine." And so far living here in Brazil has been exactly that. Ben and I are living an adventure we've dreamed of for at least a year -- one that's been stirring in our subconscious for much longer than that.

However, once we got here, I realized the real story was about us, the Americans, trying to make it in a country where we stand out so much. Not only because we're American, or because I'm blond, or because of the clothes we wear-- but because we're truly in a forgeign land. Not forgien like England or Australia or Canada. No. Here no one speaks English. At all. They don't have shops like they do in America, or drive in lanes like they do in America. They don't serve food like they do in America. Sure they have McDonald's here, but it cost about $30 US to eat one "value" meal. It's a big event here to go to "fast food," instead of the I'm-too-lazy-to-cook-tonight meal back home. And that's one stark difference between our McDonaldses ... a place that's supposed to be known for its consistency around the world. Not that I'm complaining. Instead we eat cheap coconuts on the beach. Instead we run to the little vendor on the corner. And when we ride the bus, it's more thrilling than a roller coaster ride. Everything is new to us. But that's what's making everything so exciting. I don't know about Ben, but it's just the adventure I was looking for.



We arrived t Rio safely after 24 hours of straight travel. Sabrina, our Brazilian hostess, was there to pick us up at the airport. She zipped us right over to Ipaitu, our new home, and our beautiful apartment. The entire place has white tiled floors and lots of windows that let in the ocean air. It smells of mildew -- not like an old towel, but like a place that's been weathered by the rain. I love it. Our room is modest, with a bed, dresser and attached bathroom. We were surprised to crawl into bed the first night and realize they don't use comforters, but only one sheet to stay warm. That's all you need in this humidity.

A view from our apartment

Itaipu is to Rio as the Valley is to LA. It's about an hour's drive away but still has the hustle bustle of the big metropolitan nearby. Part of me wishes we could be closer to Rio, but on the other hand it's nice to be away from the tourism and absorbed into this raw Brazilian culture. And we have the best beaches here! I've seen two of them so far, and both were just the paradise you'd imagine: palm trees, surrounding cliffs, white sand and cheap, cold beer. Just perfect. Oh, and the view of the people is pretty nice too. Everyone is beautiful, from the surfers to bartenders to the cable guy. Even the pigeons are glamorous and come in all white or white and brown speckles.


There's so much more to say I could type for hours. I'm going to try to get most of it recorded in here sometime down the line. Right now I'm still trying to make sense of everything myself. But all this new stuff, these unknowns, is what our adventure is all about.