What I miss and don't miss about living in Brazil - Saudades para o Brasil

The other day I was thinking about how much I miss living in Brazil.  I was thinking about how I'm afraid I might forget Portuguese, how I miss certain people, and how I miss living near the beach.  But then I also started thinking about the crappy work situation we had, how we didn't have a lot of money, and how some people were not very nice to me.  So I decided to write about the things I miss and don't miss about living in Brazil.

(The pictures included in this post don't necessarily represent the text that they precede or follow.  I just wanted to include some of my favorite photos from our year of living in Brazil.  The year recap is posted here.)

I don't miss not having a car.

I do miss having everything I need within walking distance.

I don't miss the crappy living/work situation.

I do miss the 10 minute walk to the beach.

I don't miss not having a stable job.

I do miss my sweet violin and piano students.

I don't miss how expensive everything was.

I do miss the super nice malls and shopping centers.

I don't miss a few specific people.

I do miss a few other specific people who became good friends and surrogate family.

I don't miss having to take taxis everywhere.

I do miss the interesting conversations I had with the taxi drivers.

I don't miss the heat and humidity.

I do miss being able to wear sundresses and flip-flops every day of the year.



I don't miss being misunderstood because of my American accent.

I do miss being able to learn and speak Portuguese every day.

I don't miss being far away from family.

I do miss meeting interesting people from all over the world.

I don't miss the traffic and crazy drivers.

I do miss the unique and beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro.

What do you miss about living abroad?  Or if you are living abroad, what do you miss about home?

XO,

Julie

Updates

I've had so many ideas of things to write about, but just not enough time to get any posts finished!  *Sigh*  There's never enough time in the day.  I get home from work completely exhausted and don't even exercise or clean my house, much less journal or blog.  It's pretty lame, actually.  

Here's what's been happening around here:

- It's finally "Fall" in South Alabama!  Nights in the 30s, days in the 60s.  I'll take it!

- My choirs recently competed in the National Peanut Festival Choral Competition.  My 6th grade show choir won 3rd place in their division (against high school groups) and my Upper School Chorus (7th-12th grade girls) won 1st place in their division!  If you're interested, you can see videos of their performances here (you have to scroll down past the most recent sports announcements).

- We started rehearsals for Beauty and the Beast, which will be performed in February.  I was stressing out that we wouldn't have enough students audition, but we had just enough to cover the main roles and even have a few "villagers."  The rehearsals are super fun and I'm hoping it will turn out great.  I've NEVER been involved in theater before, so now that I'm in charge, it's slightly stressful.

- We bought a fish tank and some fish.  Every day Peter walks in the door and yells, "What's up my fish-es!"

- Have you ever laughed so hard you literally fell down?  I "ROFLed" for the first time yesterday. Peter and I were joking around, making some nerdy word-puns, and Peter said something so random and hilarious that I literally could not keep my balance and I flopped on the side of the bed and slid to the ground.  It was epic.  I've never laughed so hard in my life.

- Recently, during bath time, I've been re-reading the Betsy-Tacy series.  Have you ever read them?  They're my favorite books, ever.  I told Peter if we ever have a girl I'm naming her Betsy.

- I randomly came across this picture, below, and for some odd reason, I love it.  I have no idea why, but I'm obsessed with this picture.  I really want to print it and frame it but not sure I can get away with displaying it.  Might creep people out.  If you love it as much as I do, you can download it here for free.

What's been happening with you lately?

XO,

Julie