It was Brazilian...with pictures

That is what I say when people aske me how our trip to Brazil was. It has taken us a few weeks to get back into the swing of things since arriving home from our two week excursion in Alberto's homeland. Between work, school, and getting back on schedule... I am still tired. After much thought I think the best way to blog about this trip is to break it into subjects rather than a day to day run down. Alberto and I have agreed it was a "trip" rather than a "vacation", but all in all it was a good experience and very important for Alberto.
RANDOM PICTURES:
Our last name is very common in Brazil. It was all over the place.
A Favela (Ghetto).
Alberto's childhood home and where his sister now lives.
This is how the building look. This picture is impressive because there isn't much traffic. That was rare.

TRAVELING:
We, meaning I, were nervous about what it might be like to fly internationally with two toddlers. Surprisingly enough the toddlers were not the hard part. Airport personel were the hard part. I could not believe the lack of help and human interaction that was available as we tried to check in for our flights. It took FOREVER and we barely made it onto our first flight. What a way to start a trip I was already nervous about. I will not go on about the rest of our airport hold ups and annoyances. I guess that is to be expected. The kids were really well behaved on the planes going to Brazil and coming home. They slept some and ate some and ran around the airports like it was Disneyland. It was a little difficult trying to keep them in their seatbelts and from staring over the tops of their seats and the people behind them, but all in all 30 hours to Brazil and 24 hours back, didn't end up being as bad as it sounded.
ACCOMMODATIONS AND THE CITY:
We stayed with Alberto's sister, Daniella, and her two girls in the house Alberto grew up in. It was interesting to see where he grew up and how much it had changed, yet how much it had stayed the same. Our family slept on an air mattress in the living room. This was rough, but Alberto and I actually enjoyed it to some degree. It was really fun to see the kids go through their night time rituals and snuggle and chat with them in the dark. It was interesting too that Allie wanted to sleep by me and AJ wanted to sleep by Alberto each night. If we tried to change this arrangement they became quite upset.
The houses in Brazil are so different. When we arrrived at Alberto's house I had to ask where we were because it was not obvious what so ever that we were in a drive way and behind that giant gate there was a home. As it goes in most cities, everything is very close together or connected. The houses are generally quite small and covered in tile. I don't think I saw carpet the whole time. As you drive through the city there are all sorts of businesses mixed in with housing, people setting up shop in their garages or on the side walks. One minute you are going through a Favela (ghetto), the next you are in what is considered a middle class neighborhood and every place is covered in spray paint. At first I thought it was all grafiti then after being around for a few days, I realized some of it was there on purpose, it just looked like grafiti because I don't read Portuguese :) One lesson I had to learn very fast was that I couldn't judge a place by its curb appeal or lack there of, once inside it is so much better.
DRIVING:
Many people warned me that driving in Brazil would be so different from here. I believed them, but didn't realize people could be so crazy. There are literally no rules. People create their own lanes, run lights when they are taking to long to turn green, they never signal and NEVER NEVER do something curteous like let another car in front of them. It is truly every man for himself. We learned that there is some unwritten rule that after dark you don't have to stop at red lights. What?? When people wreck, they jump out look it over and drive away, no police, no exchange of insurance. The motor cycles are the worst. They squeeze between cars and weave in and out and blow through intersection like nothing. I was a nervous wreck watching these idiots. The good news is they all wear helmets. Allie and AJ liked seeing all the motorcycles (aka: Michaels) and buses and big trucks (aka: big cuck) which are not actually big in Brazil. However they did get nervous at times also. On our way to the airport to fly home, we were in bad traffic and everyone was packed in like sardines. Much of the time we were wedged between buses or trucks and after a while AJ started saying "Oh NO bus" and "Oh NO big cuck" over and over. He was afraid of how close they were to him. Poor kid. We were blessed with safety and Alberto did an awesome job driving. I was really worried, but he kept his cool the whole time.
VISITING AND PEOPLE:
The bulk of our trip was spent visiting. We visited Alberto's mom's side of the family, several neighbors and old friends and ward members. The best was Alberto getting to see his sister after more than 8 years apart and meeting his two neices for the first time. It was obviously the first time for the kids and I to meet them too. This was the main reason for the trip and really made it worth it. People in Brazil are so nice. I already knew this because I have been around many Brazilians here in Utah. They love to talk and celebrate and hug and kiss. Everyone is loud, some louder than others, but its always loud. I was surprised at how everyone we saw and every place we went, it was as if Alberto never left. There was never an awkward silence or lag in conversation. I knew everyone in America loved Alberto, but guess what, everyone in Brazil loves him too. After a couple days, Alberto ended up making a little calendar/schedule for himself because everyone wanted to have us over for a meal and a visit. We had something lined up all the time. It was hard on the kids and I, but I am glad we got to meet people that were so influential in his childhood and he LOVED catching up with all of them and of course showing off his kids.

THE BEACH:
The weather was a dream come true while we were there, so we decided to load up our rental car, which was to biggest rental car available, yet so small, and head to the beach for a few days. Alberto and I had planned to stay in a nice hotel or resort type place, but his sister had a friend who offered us her beach house. It was a nice place and had plenty of room for the 8 of us, but we ended up having several problems from his niece getting eaten alive by Mosquitos to power outages in parts of the house to no hot showers. Once the showers went out, we decided to pack up and move on. We headed to another beach and found a cute place to stay for one more night. The beaches were beautiful and it was warm enough to go in the water. The kids LOVED it! They played and played and played. I can't wait to take them to California next summer. The beach was definitely the most fun of the trip. There is just something wonderful about the sand and the waves and the breeze.

FOOD:
For months before we left Alberto was telling me all the things he planned to eat while in Brazil. Just as he planned, he ate and ate and ate. I was actually surprised at all the unhealthy, fried foods we consumed. I had to remind myself that the average Brazilian does not eat like this each day. Alberto just wanted all the "good stuff" and people wanted to make us all the "good stuff" to celebrate our visit. I generally liked the food, some of it I could live without, but the real meals were all delicious. I love the flavors that go into their foods. The kids had a hard time without all their favorites. There were days we went to McDonalds inspite of the ridiculous prices and bought them chicken nuggies and fries just so we knew they had eaten something. The milk was an issue for AJ. People generally buy milk in a box there and AJ was not having it. He would take a tiny sip and hand me the cup back if I tried giving him boxed milk. We had to go all over town looking for cold milk. We finally found two stores that carried milk in a carton that was kept cold and AJ was satisfied with that. It was hard to find though and the stores were usually out of it.
IN SUMMARY:
I am glad we finally made this trip and got that out of Alberto's system :) kidding. But really it was a good experience for all of us. Alberto had a great time showing us around and introducing us to the life he knew. Making this trip helped me to understand a lot about my husband and his family and really made me appreciate the life we have here in America. I think I needed that, I know I needed that. I know the kids won't remember it, but I think this was the perfect age to take them and jump start their Portuguese. They picked up a lot of words and by the end of the trip they were saying "Oi" and "Tchau" (chow) instead of "hi" and "bye".