The Goodbye Post

You know what? It is incredibly hard to depart from a blog you’ve had for two years. This week I’ve had this post on my mind a lot – the goodbye post. I still remember the day I started the blog. We were living in the hotel and I was bored out of my mind. I started looking up the whole blog concept and just decided to register with Blogger and give it a go.

Two years later, here we are.

I’ve gotten a lot of flak for the title during that time. When it comes to negative commenters, it is always the leverage they use to put me down or make fun of my views. To tell you the truth, it may not be the most professional blog title in the world, but I would never go back and change it.
Why?

Because it represents so much of my initial feelings when I first arrived in this country. People like to go on and on about how there are blonds around Maringá and all over the south of the country. Yes, I know this. Brazil is a diverse place.

However, no one knows exactly what I felt when I walked the streets of Maringá those first few weeks and had people stare at me endlessly. Then to have my friends here tell me the reason they were staring was because of my hair. This was then followed up by having someone tell me the only way they would stop staring was for me to color it darker.

So if you’ve ever wondered – why Blondie in Brazil – well, that’s why. It represents a personal part of this experience for me.

It is with that (and with what feels like some welling tears) that I say good-bye. Good bye to this blog and to my expatriate experiences in Brazil. I don’t have any profound parting words because any reader can go back and read through the roller coaster ride this experience has been.

I will say I wouldn’t change that decision we made three years ago. Experiencing an expatriate life is like nothing I could have imagined. It has changed me as a person for the better, and even for the worse, and I accept both.

I say thank you to all of you who have read the blog and to all of you who have commented and supported me. Even the negative and harsh comments I appreciate because they made me reflect on my experiences, my way of thinking and the way I come across in my writing.

However, while I say goodbye to this blog and my expat life, notice I’m not saying good bye to you. I’m a writer and a traveler and a writing traveler has to have a blog. I launched The 3 Star Traveler this week. An extension of this blog, it will focus on my passions for travel and share a bit about my experiences with repatriation.

I will miss Maringá and all of you, but I hope you will stop by from time to time to check out what I’m up to. Until then – tchau, beijos and abraços!

The Best of Both Worlds

Living in a new country is eye opening. You find things you like, things you don’t, things you miss from home, and things you’d just as soon leave back there. It leads one to think that it would be great if you could combine all the things you love from both places to create one ideal world.

This is what mine might look like (from this point on home = U.S and here = places I’ve been in Brazil):

Changing deciduous trees from home; rainforest vegetation from here

Coffee shops from home; coffee from here

Flight options and schedules from home; flight attendants from here

Big cities from home; beaches and small islands from here

Clothes from home; shoes from here

Gym equipment from home; fitness instructors from here

Chocolate from home (or Europe); fruit desserts from here (mousse de maracujá, crème de papaya)

Chicken from home; beef from here

Diversity of easy to find ingredients from home; freshness and flavor of produce from here

Cocktails from home; juice from here

Whitetail deer from home; Capivara from here

Grass-covered backyards from home; outdoor grills from here

Cozy fireplaces and soft carpet from home; open air homes from here

Football from home; futebol from here

Of course, I’m just day dreaming here. I’ve learned the things you dislike from a place just help you appreciate those that you like do even more. But from time to time it’s still fun to dream.

What Will I Miss?

This is such a popular question for someone who is ending an ex-pat experience. Most often the asker is looking for something about the place where you lived – a food, a store, a characteristic. I've been told I will miss picanha, and inexpensive fruits and vegetables. Well, yeah, maybe, but the things I'll miss go beyond the obvious and tangible. They are actually things more associated with the ex-pat experience than the place itself.

These are the things that are more meaningful to me, things that I will wake up and think, “Wow, I wish I could be that or do that again.” They have more to do with how I spend my time and who I get to spend my time with, what I've developed into, the path my work has taken and many others.

Being an Ex-pat

This takes the number one slot. I am really going to miss being an ex-pat. I have loved experiencing a life outside my home country. I've gained invaluable knowledge about myself, I've changed for both the better and worse and I left the familiar to engage in the unfamiliar which personally means a lot to me.

I've found a whole new community of people some virtual and some that I've had the opportunity or will have the opportunity to meet. Three years ago, I had no idea that this community even existed. I don't even think I knew the definition of an ex-pat at that time.

I also now find that I am distinguished, in my own mind, from being a traveler. I've mentioned there is a huge difference between the two. While I will miss leaving ex-pat life I also welcome being a traveler again. However, I am extremely happy that I took that step to live in and not just visit another place. Not everyone has the opportunity to do that and I'm glad we took advantage of it.

It is going to be difficult to go back to a place and to some people who don't understand our experiences. Oh, how I dread the first comment I hear what roughly resembles “must be nice”. That is a typical response from someone who wants to pretend their life is miserable and travel would solve everything, but when it came down to it, they wouldn't choose to travel or be an ex-pat even if the chance were given.

I think when I return I will still strongly associate with the ex-pat group. I will still read blogs and revisit those commonalities shared by all ex-pats and even some long term travelers. I'm also setting myself up for developing more friendships with others who have experienced what we have.

Freedom of Time

I'm hoping that this is one that can extend when we move back, but I have absolutely loved my transition to working from home. It suits me so well. I am structured when it comes to my work and that combined with the freedom to make my own schedule has been such a gratifying combination for me. I will miss it if I need to go back to an office job, but if I can continue to write and make it work I am going to thoroughly enjoy having a pug sitting on my lap when I do it.

Time with My Husband

Well, this one isn't exactly accurate. Since moving abroad I think our time together has decreased somewhat due to his commute and business travel. However, we do get to spend a lot of time together on most weekends, and because we have been in this experience together we have leaned on each other a lot. My favorite part of living here has been the times I have with him, the things we get to do together and when we discovered new parts of this place together.

Friends

I honestly didn't think that I would make actual friends while I was an ex-pat. I'm not sure why, but I guess one reason was that being in a smaller town I knew the ex-pat ratio would be low. So while many people in other towns enjoy that community, it is something we haven't experienced. For the same reason, I felt that friendships with locals would be difficult as well.

I was happily proven wrong. I have found friendships I plan to continue even after I move. (You know who you are.) This has been one of those unexpected perks that has really enhanced the whole adventure for me.

Okay, so there are some things I'm going to miss too. So to suffice those that want the typical answer to the question, without much explanation, here you go.

Open-air dining – I love sitting outside to eat and the open feel of the restaurants.

Views of the Cathedral from our apartment – There is nothing like a sunrise or a blue sky with puffy white clouds.

Winters – They remind me of autumn at home with the bonus of palm trees. It's my favorite time of year here.

Doces vendor from the feira – No explanation needed.

Food feiras and all festivals in general – I like the combining of cultures, outdoor dining and unique foods you can't get other times of the year such as pastelão or the Portuguese desserts.


Japanese influences and sushi – One of my favorite things about this area of Brazil. It adds a diversity that is so appealing to me. It feels like a peaceful culture to balance out a rather hectic one.

The Latest Find

I’ve had my fair share of exciting finds around here. It took me months to locate oatmeal, then one day cilantro magically appeared, then I found the spice row at the Asian market and finally lemons sat staring me in the face on a recent supermarket visit.

I know you are thinking, “Lori, those things were there all along, you just didn’t see them.” Perhaps for some of them this is true, but I assure you for others it was seriously like magic. In fact, other expats I’ve talked with in other parts of Brazil have similar supermarket experiences.

Things are there one day, they go back the next week and they are gone with no sign of them even existing in the first place. No space on the shelf, no price tag remaining. Then other things randomly appear out of nowhere. It’s both frustrating and entertaining.

Since engaging in this culture was important to me, I tried not to let my lack of finding things bother me too much. But as some posts will reflect, I did have my bad days. While I’d gladly substitute one of the amazing croissants from Açukapé or pão francês with butter for my standard oatmeal, the healthy part of my brain was telling me I still needed that whole grain oatmeal on occasion.


On a similar note, check out what we found at Pão de Açucar in Curitiba:

Cranberry juice! Seriously. We couldn’t believe it.

Produced in São Paulo, although we suspect the pulp is probably imported and the juice made there.

I love cranberry juice and I miss it dearly. I must say, though, if someone said I could give up cranberry juice forever and still have all the great juices of Brazil while back in the US. Well, that would be tempting. I do love the juices here. Who wouldn’t? They are amazing. I could use a little less sugar in most, but amazing nonetheless. However, there is still a special place in my heart for that astringent, tart cranberry flavor.

Did we buy it? For R$14.19 (8 USD) for a liter? Are you kidding me?! No way! I miss things, but my budget-minded personality prevails in most situations. I mean, I’ve gone without it for most of two years. I can last a little longer.

Plan B: Morretes

During our time in Curitiba over the holiday we were determined to make another visit the Ilha do Mel. I wanted more of that peaceful atmosphere – crashing waves, no cars (more importantly no car alarms), only the low rumble of boat motors. Fresh seafood didn’t sound too bad either.

We woke up to a rainy Sunday, but decided to make the drive anyway hoping it would clear up as we got closer to the coast. Well, it did…for part of the trip. I got excited as we drove on and the rain turned to more of a light drizzle and bright skies.

Then as we turned the corner on the final stretch of road, the skies opened up. Ugh. The timing could not have been worse and there was no sign of it letting up. We drove on to the parking lot for the ferry terminal and sat for a bit. Looking at all the cars and watching the rain we knew that it would be a day of sitting at a crowded restaurant, no hiking or good pictures.

We reluctantly made the final call and decided to drive back to Curitiba and stop in Morretes. Poor Morretes, the second class citizen of our travel itinerary, plan B.

People had been telling us about this place for a while. It is a city in the mountains that we soon learned holds some of the gold rush history of the country, similar to, but perhaps not as historically significant (depending on who you speak with) as a city like Ouro Preto.

That certainly doesn’t take away from its beauty though. Even on a foggy, rainy day which didn’t do the surrounding environment much justice, you could still tell that this was one beautiful setting.

There is a train you can take from Curitiba to Morretes that is supposed to be beautiful as well. For us though, driving ourselves 1 hour (versus a 4 hour train ride that costs more money) was a better option. Plus, as I mentioned, we were on the way back from the coast carrying our disappointment.

Wow, it turned out to be a great day. In fact, although I really wanted to revisit Ilha do Mel, I’m very happy that we didn’t pass up Morretes.

The city was a bit wet and dreary, but it was so inviting with a quaint, slightly European feel. I mean, they even had a guy giving gondola rides.

I do have to say, it is touristy! However, it’s not internationally touristy, but Brazilian touristy, so for ex-pats like us it still ends up being a rather authentic experience. We’ve heard many come from Curitiba to have lunch and this seemed to be true.

We didn’t hear one word of English the whole time, no shop assistant grabbing the English speaker when we walked in or waiters breaking into English once they heard us speaking at the table. I have to say it was really nice.

According to the big boards of historic explanation in the town center (which by the way, one side was written in English), the town does have a rich history as I mentioned before, however, if you ask someone around here why they go the answer you get will be “Barreado.”

Barreado is a traditional food from Paraná and now Morretes is one of the only places you can find it. It’s surprising that it hasn’t spread to other areas because it was overwhelmingly popular. It was obvious everyone was there to eat it, and every single restaurant in town served it.

We ended up at Olimpo which looked to be new in town, maybe not as historic as the others, but it had a great balcony. Honestly you can’t miss it, or the other places which serve the dish. This town is completely centered on this specific food.

Barreado is a meat stew made with beef, bay leaf, cilantro and other herbs. It is sealed in a clay pot to cook for 12 to 18 hours. Once at your table you eat it with mandioca flour, rice and fried bananas. This explanation is a good resource if you want to learn a bit more.

First, let me demonstrate for you the wrong way to eat Barreado.

You see, the waitress brought our food and asked us if we were familiar with the dish. We said no and apparently she must have slipped another question in there that we didn’t hear because she took our no to mean we didn’t want an explanation.

Only after we were halfway finished did we see a demonstration at another table. What you are supposed to do is mix the meat with lots (and I mean lots) of mandioca flour. Stir it up and mash the meat, add broth, stir it more and then eat it with rice. It literally looked like a meat paste when the waiter was done and I have to admit, not appetizing at all. Therefore, we kept eating it our way even after the demonstration.

I was completely surprised how much I enjoyed this dish. Usually when it comes to beef stew it all tastes the same, but the flavor of Barreado really stood out from anything I’ve had before. There was an intense, rich and smoky flavor, not to mention the slow roasting made it incredibly tender with no visible fat in sight.

Another ingredient that really stood out around the area was ginger. The small feira taking place during our visit was offering candies made of ginger and the ice cream shop we passed had a ginger flavor as well. I really wanted to try it so I was happy to learn our dessert would be bananas with ginger ice cream. It was great – spicy with fresh ginger and went so well with the bananas and cinnamon.

After full bellies of Barreado we walked around for more pictures of the city. I finally got my panela de barro (clay pot) to take back to the US. Wish me luck in the transport.

So all in all, it was one surprisingly successful travel day; an unexpected surprise.

What I keep realizing here is that it is in visiting these small towns like Morretes that you realize just how much of Brazil is left to explore. For me, these are the types of places that top my travel list for this country and had I not lived here I never would have known they existed.

Just Can't Get Enough

Are you tired of posts about Curitiba yet?

Me neither.

I just can't seem to get enough of that city even though I've visited and posted about it several times before.

We are in our last month of living in Brazil and we knew we wanted to say our final ex-pat good-byes to one of our favorite cities in person. We set off the middle of last week, knowing we would have a long holiday weekend to spend in Curitiba together.

It rained for most of the trip, but somehow that didn't matter because, well, it's Curitiba. The cooler weather and overcast skies just add to the city's charm.

I fell into my normal rut with contentment. I explored the Batel area and enjoyed coffee at Lucca while getting some work done. We ate fondue at Chateau de Gazon and drank Submarinos at the Bar do Alemão.

I've talked about all that before though, so let's move on to what was new and different. I find there is always something that falls into this category with each visit.

Despite the rain and being forced to watch a couple movies during the trip, my husband and I made it out to Botanical Gardens on Saturday. I hadn't been there in over two years and even then it was a very quick visit. We checked out the grounds and stumbled upon some things we hadn't seen before.

There was a new area that was all about plants and the senses. You were supposed to put on a blindfold and then follow the metal railing throughout the area to touch and smell different plants as you tried to identify them.

Quite a cool set up and the whole area was beautifully manicured. We didn't do the blind fold, but we did check out the different plants and snapped some photos.

Next stop?

You guessed it, Parque Barigui so that I could visit Harold one last time and was I in for a surprise! It was feeding time and I got some photos of 19 Capivaras as they munched on the grass near the lake. They didn't seem to mind anyone being around. They were less than 15 feet away! I could have hung out with them forever. I wasn't the only one interested. They were drawing quite the crowd.

Of course, you can't go to Curitiba without getting excellent food and despite our usual repeats we tried a few new places. For example, who knew that a Brazilian restaurant could do Chicago-style pizza so well?

A friend here told me about Michigan Avenue Pizza Bar and considering that I think Chicago-style pizza is one of the best foods on earth I was immediately intrigued, and well, skeptical. So far even the places we've tried in the US outside of Chicago, claiming to have that style of pizza haven't even come close.

When Saturday night came around we decided we would give it a try. We decided to go for two individual stuffed pizzas. Me, the Americano (I mean, why not?) and my husband kept it real with the Mexicana which is actually a Brazilian creation. It has Doritos in it.

The final call – awesome! Not exactly the same, but darn close. It could have used more tomato sauce, but that seems to be a constant issue here. I must admit it didn't hurt that they had a video of a Cranberries concert on the tv for our entire dinner. Considering they are my all-time favorite band and I was eating one of my all-time favorite foods I was quite happy.

In other food, yours truly had the opportunity to try the first frozen yogurt available in southern Brazil, or so claims Yoguland. This modern, colorful little shop recently opened in Batel and it was so good I had to visit twice.

They have two flavors – natural and lichia (lychee). Given the healthy theme the idea is you are supposed to get fruit and granola toppings (yes, they were called “toppings”). Personally, I preferred it plain. I guess I was expecting that sweet, rather fake, frozen yogurt from home, but it was nothing like that. It had the same tartness you get from Greek yogurt, just barely sweet. It was fantastic!

On the second visit we learned the guy taking our order lived in the US for 7 years and just recently moving back to Curitiba. He actually went to the University of Tennessee, not far from central KY. Another “small world” experience.

I can't help but be sad that I won't be going back to Curitiba anytime soon. I'll likely return someday, because as I've mentioned before it tops not only my list for favorite cities in Brazil, but it is on my list of favorites of any city I've visited.

Next post? How our rainy Sunday led to a new discovery – Morretes!

Still Fun with Words

When a language is brand new there are lots of new sounds to laugh at, then you start to learn it a bit better and you find you are the one making those sounds that used to be funny. They become more familiar and less strange and comical. As much as a new language eventually becomes more than just words and sounds, there are moments when old favorites give me a good giggle.

Some days I find myself reminiscing about my rather unsuccessful journey with Portuguese and I remember when we first moved here and I was having a discussion with a girl who worked at the gym. She spoke some English and she was explaining to me how difficult words in English are. (If you don’t think English is a difficult language, check out this post.)

Her argument was that the language has several words that sound the same. Her examples were:

“Tree” and “Three”
“Sheep” and “Ship”
“Beach” and “Bitch”

If you are a native English speaker, like me, you are likely thinking to yourself that those words got a lot less similar sounding as the list went on, but to a non-native speaker, apparently not. That is the best lesson you can experience when you are learning a foreign language by the way; to have someone trying to learn your native language show you that, when it comes to difficulty, your native tongue is pretty crappy too.

Thoughts of this conversation then make me think about my favorite words in the Portuguese language. Often it isn’t even the words that give me a smile, but the way they are used or spoken here.

Rua – The “r” at the beginning of the word gets me every time. I find the word is almost always out of my mouth before I remember to make the “h” sound. Rua (road) is one that always makes me laugh because I usually hear people saying, “hoo-ah, hoo-ah”.

Sanduíche – Just an all around fun word. It is the word for sandwich and pronounced “san-whee-shee”.

Fubá – I remember the first time I said this word with a light accent on the “a”. I was quickly corrected that it is “fu-BAH”. The forcefulness of the BAH at the end almost made me jump it was so strong and loud. It's a flour made from corn, by the way.

Tchau – The best way to say goodbye. Probably my favorite and used in several languages. I love how Brazilians use it with so much conviction like “CHOW LORI!!!!” Then there is the double up like “chow-chow” said quickly and forcefully like “bang-bang”.

Well, at least those words I can pronounce. I have to say that mulher (woman) and Guarulhos (the airport) will never be part of my vocabulary. I simply can’t make my mouth create the appropriate sounds. Thank goodness I can refer to the airport as GRU since that word makes it into my conversations quite often with all our travel.

So I’ve always been interested…if English is not your first language, what words in my native tongue tend to give you a good laugh?

Burning Fields

I am always so fascinated by the burning of the sugarcane fields. These are some photos my husband snapped a couple weeks ago just as it was getting dark out.

The Part of Brazil I Needed to See – Part 2 – Ouro Preto

I can’t believe it has been a full week since my return from Minas Gerais. I haven’t even gotten around to sharing my experiences in Ouro Preto, the best part. Not to say that Belo Horizonte wasn’t great, but Ouro Preto, well, it was awesome.


When we first started walking along the narrow, cobblestone streets it instantly reminded me of Prague. That is, if Prague Old Town hadn’t been full of massive amounts of tourists and tacky souvenir shops when I visited.

That’s not to say that Ouro Preto didn’t have its minor inconveniences too. For example, the crazy drivers barreling down the narrow, one-way roads each time I stopped to take a picture. I couldn’t help but think how awesome it would be if they closed the roads to traffic and used a trolley to take people up and down the hills.

Oh wait, did I mention the hills? Man, there were hills! Probably the steepest of any place I have visited (which was a city and not specifically a mountain hike). They certainly added to the city’s charm, except of course, when you were huffing and puffing up them. Thank goodness it wasn’t too hot yet.

After being in Ouro Preto about a half hour I realized why my host was so caught up on seeing everything we wanted to see on one side of the Praça Tiradentes (the square or plaza in the center of town) before venturing to the other. It was because the Praça is at the top of the hill and both sides are downhill. So once you go down to see one and make the trek back up to the center you sure as heck aren’t going back down that side again!

I made it of course, and despite my break from running during my trip, they helped me to avoid feeling bad about the massive amounts of Minas food I consumed at lunch. Thank you, hill workout.

We stopped at a cool little place called Chafariz for a meal that started with house cachaça and Caldo Verde (soup with collard greens, potatoes and pork) served in a soap stone (Pedra Sabão) bowl.

It was followed by a buffet of foods specific to Minas Gerais such as Feijão Tropeiro (beans, farofa, fried egg, garlic, onion, bacon and sausage), Frango com Quiabo (chicken with okra) Frango ao Molho Pardo (chicken in brown sauce which is actually blood sauce). And yes, I tried the last one because what kind of world foodie would I be if I didn’t at least try it. Good, but just like the pig ears, couldn’t sit down to a whole plate.

Okay, I got a little side tracked with food and exercise. Rewinding to the start of our day.

I snapped a quick picture of the church of St. Francis of Assisi, then we headed down to the sanctuary of Nossa Senhora da Conceição which also held the museum of Aleijadinho, or Antônio Francisco Lisbôa, an 18th century sculptor who developed a degenerative disease mid-life leaving his hands disfigured yet he continued to sculpt beautiful works of art. (Unfortunately, no pictures in the museums.)

On our walk back up the hill we stopped at the fair so I could pick up some souvenirs carved out of soap stone from the area.

Our next church stop was the Nossa Senhora do Pilar. I am told this one of the only, if not the only, church that has undergone restoration. I have to say that after seeing churches of Europe, these didn’t seem quite as impressive. There was beautiful detail and the inside was covered in gold leaf, but unfortunately the funds aren’t there to afford the upkeep. On the other hand, I found the outside of the churches to be gorgeous with beautiful architectural detail.

Other visits included the Casa dos Contos which featured a pictorial view of all the Brazilian currencies that everyone is always telling about. It also allowed a tour of historic slave quarters. That’s always such an eerie, saddening thing to witness, but I feel very important to understand just how badly human beings were treated (and in some places still are).

The next stop was the mineral museum with stunning gem stones from the area. Given my interest in gems as an adult I really think I could have made a career out of staring at those beautiful things.

We finally wrapped up the trip with a walk through the Museum Inconfidência where I was able to fill my brain with all kinds of facts about the uprising and Tiradentes (had no idea that term was a nickname which means ‘tooth puller’ until my visit, by the way.)

I learned more about Brazil’s history in eight hours by visiting Ouro Preto than I have in two years of living here. At the same time, as beneficial as all that knowledge is I have to say that I was most impressed by simply the city itself. Words and pictures can’t describe the beauty of the landscape in the area - the rolling hills and mountains behind historic buildings, and being fortunate with good weather, the bright blue skies that made my pictures pop with brilliant light.

Looking back I find myself not wanting to visit more monuments and museums, but wanting to have the opportunity to sit and soak it all in. I could have stared at that landscape forever. A beautiful place that Ouro Preto.