First Impressions

Roughly one week ago, I was sitting on the deck of my parent’s peaceful farmhouse, watching Cora fill the basket on her trike with rocks from the driveway.

Today, I find myself in a condo peering out giant windows at an array of skyscrapers, palm trees, and bustling traffic… it’s a different kind of beautiful, but beautiful it is.

A quick summary of our introduction to São Paulo:

20+ hours of travel is A LOT, but our littles handled it incredibly well.

Basic necessities should not be taken for granted. Groceries in the cupboard and diapers in the drawer… these are celebrated wins now.

A condo on the 20th floor provides one heck of a view… and creates some crazy wind tunnels if all the windows are open.

Our landlord speaks English! Silvio and his wife Lillian have spent several hours here installing kitchen appliances and answering questions. They are SO kind and so willing to help as we get acquainted with their city.

Brazil has perfected the blackout curtain. Every single bedroom window has plastic blinds on the exterior of the building that can drop down to eliminate all light. Brilliant.

Hand held bidet sprayers and toilet paper that cannot be flushed… an adjustment.

The grocery store has a dedicated checkout line for customers who are pregnant or shopping with kids!

Listening to my husband make small talk with the Uber driver in a language not his own… 💕

And unrelated to São Paulo, yet still noteworthy: Cora started “reading” her books to us this week. It is the perfect way to melt this mom’s heart at the end of a tough day.

We are establishing our new normal here in São Paulo. Our pace is slower, our goals simpler, but this new normal... I kind of love it.