Welcome to Campinas

Boy oh boy, do I have lots to tell you about! This past day and a half have been full of all sorts of excitement for me which is funny because they have been pretty calm days for everyone else. We haven’t been running around doing a lot of stuff (a lot of that has to do with the accidental four hour nap I took yesterday hahah) but even just wandering around and doing a couple little things has been incredible for me! Because I’m in Brazil! With Juliana! And everything here is so different. This isn’t France and this isn’t Chile and Portuguese is made up of only extremely easy and etremely difficult words (nothing in the middle). Here they have avocados the size of small footballs and bright yellow birds and mosquitos that don’t bite you (my new favorite kind) and there are turtles on the money! I have definitely been feeling the culture shock, but I have to say that I have never in my life felt more at home in a foreign country. This has everything to do with Juliana and her family and their incredible hospitality and kindness. I have been looking forward to seeing her Brazilian life since I met her almost 5 years ago, and now that I am here it is as simply normal and beautiful as I ever could have imagined it to be! I feel at home here because this has been a home of mine ever since Juliana came back from exchange and told everyone I was family. I don’t have to introduce myself to anyone or tell them about myself because they already met me in Juliana’s stories. And through the broken Portuguese and English and a lot of laughs and smiles and gestures, I am getting to know them too! 

When I arrived at the airport in Sao Paulo, Juliana rushed up to give me a big hug and then handed me the string from the red heart balloon she had bought to surprise me with that had flown away when they got out of the car. She was wearing a red dress to match the balloon hahah and it was very cute and with me its always the thought that counts! Then I got to hug her mom, this amazing woman who raised Juliana and who I’d been dying to meet in person ever since the first time I met her on Skype. While we waited for Juliana’s dad to pull the car around, I realized for the first time how rough the whole learning Portuguese thing was going to be. Slowly and sweetly, Elaine asked me questions that I did my best to answer but soon it turned into her using whatever English words she could to try to communicate with me hahaha. I was glad Juliana was there to translate for us, because I wanted her to know so badly how much she already meant to me as Juliana’s mom but I was so tired and overwhelmed by the fact that Brazil smells like cookies that I’ve never tasted and so disoriented by how much taller I was compared to the rest of the airport people! Everything was distracting hahah but soon Juliana’s dad pulled around in the car and I got to meet him too and then loaded up my things and got into the car. Campinas is about an hour away from Sao Paulo, and I spent the hour in the car catching up with Juliana and marveling at everything I could see from the car window. From what I could see from the car, Brazil didn’t look anything like anywhere I had ever been! The plants looked so different and I trully had no idea what the billboards were advertising hahah. Juliana’s parents did their absolute best to chat with me about anything they could in the car! I could tell they were very happy to have me there, and it made me feel so welcome. :) 

When we got to Juliana’s neighborhood I had no idea which house to guess was hers, but when we got closer she described it as “the one behind the big blue castle” hahah and she was right. In her neighborhood there are a bunch of smaller rectangular houses behind little white gates and then this very random big blue castle house, and she lives right behind it. I am personally very glad she lives next to this big blue castle because it means I will always be able to find her house hahah. :)

When we got inside, she showed me around and I was very impressed! Everything was so shiny and clean and organized! She took me upstairs to see her room where she has this lovely balcony that overlooks a part of her city and apparently has the best view of the moon in the world. Then she took me downstairs where I was suprised to see that her house had a hallway that led us right out to the back yard and the backyard had tile just like inside the downstairs of the house! So basically her house is like half inside and half outside but all one house and I have never seen that before and I think it looks very very cool! It honestly worried me for a moment because one of my first thoughts was “what about when there is bad weather?!” but then it occured to me that it is currently the dead middle of winter in Brazil and it is 80F and sunny so I stopped being worried hahah. The first thing I did after my tour was take a very nice warm shower to wash the 28 hours of travel out of my hair, and then I brushed my teeth and drank a big bottle of fresh water and changed into a little dress so I could be cute like Juliana hahah. Then Juliana and I went to the outside part of the house and we each ate a pear and did a lot of catching up and memory sharing. :) It is just so nice to talk to her about anything, guys. She is such a big and important part of who I am and helped me grow in so many ways when we were in California so sitting on a porch and talking to her felt so natural and nice. The pear was also really good! You should all come to Brazil and eat a pear. Juliana kept offering for me to sleep because I looked so exhausted, but I told her I didn’t want to nap because then I would waste the day and wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. Finally, she convinced me to take at least a two hour nap because it was only 10am and I would have the whole rest of the day to get tired again before night time, so I agreed. So in my nice clean clothes I climbed into her bed and closed my eyes and then I opened them and it was half past two! There is something magical about waking up from a nap you didn’t mean to take. If you have stuff you need to be doing it can be upsetting and stressful but when you wake up in Brazil at your best friends house feeling wayyyyyy better than you did before it is certainly very magical. I got up and went downstairs to find out that Juliana’s parents had left to run different errands but they had made yummy food so Juliana and I sat down to have lunch. At this point I also got to meet Juliana’s little brother Victor, who was very nice and has very fun curly hair and has grown up so much since I saw him on skype four years ago hahah. Juliana used to tell me about how badly she missed Brazilian meat and beans and different vegetables, and I was lucky because I got to try a bit of each for lunch! I was surprised by how much I liked the rice and bean combination. It wasn’t rice like what I’ve tasted in other countries and the beans were a lot more flavorful than what I am used to. Also I was starving and it was so nice to wake up to a warm meal hahah. 

After lunch, I finally got to meet Juliana’s boyfriend, Bruno, for the first time! She had told me little things about him over the last two years and I couldn’t wait to meet the boy who meant so much to Juliana. When he got to the house he gave me a big hug and seemed very friendly in a quiet way and I realized that even though I liked him already, he is someone you have to spend time with to get to know. And I met him yesterday so all that I know right now is that he is a good listener and really cares about Juliana and whatever is happening in her life. He is a part of any conversation even when he isn’t talking and he is very good at speaking English! I’ve always been impressed by people who are quiet and comfortable at the same time, and so far it seems to me that Bruno is such a person. Because there is nothing awkward about his silences! And it may seem like I have thought a lot about Bruno and that’s true hahah and its because he is dating the most wonderful girl in the world. Seeing Juliana and Bruno together brings me a lot of joy because they are so respectful and sweet to each other. Seeing them always makes me think of Alishua so I have told them a million stories about him hahah. They are definitely my favorite couple to third wheel with! :) 

Juliana and Bruno and I took an uber to what was explained to me as the biggest mall in Latin America! So that was impressive. It was very big! And apparently I only saw a small part of it! We walked around for a little and then stopped at a little italian cafe to get coffee. I had just exchanged my money and they let me buy it because I really wanted to use my Brazilian money for the first time! The coffee was good, but the company was even better. We hung out there for over an hour and talked about school and cultural differences and anything else that came up hahah. Its crazy how much we have to talk about after 4 years of growing older! Its also crazy how Juliana and I remember different parts of all out memories together and its fun reminding each other what happened or why, like we fill in the pieces for each other. Bruno told me that after meeting me, different parts of Juliana, parts that aren’t so Brazilian, have started to make more sense to him. I think that is pretty cool. :)

After ubering home from the mall, I realized I hadn’t really taken any pictures with Juliana and I really wanted to brag about seeing her on social media so we rushed upstairs to take a picture on her balcony. Juliana has a very interesting obsession with her the view of the moon from her balcony, and she really wanted it to be in the picture but to her great dissapointment we couldn’t find it! We took a couple pictures anyways (actually Bruno gets all the photo credit) and then we sat in her room for a little and talked with her dad and Bruno. That was when my first realy Portuguese practice started hahah. I was feeling awake and enthusiastic from the coffee so I decided to actually give it a shot, and just trying a little harder I was able to understand a bit! After listening for awhile, I started to remember some words so I would use them in broken sentences, but it seemed like Juliana’s dad understood me and it felt amazing! In Chile and France I didn’t try to speak anything but English on the first day, but I only have two weeks here so time is of the essence. I was proud of myself for the little I was able to do, and I think it meant a lot to Juliana that I was trying hahah. 

A little later, we went downstairs and cut up a bunch of veggies to make some soup for dinner. While we were getting dinner ready, Juliana’s dad came up to me and gave me a little chocolate and told me that it is one of his favorites, and that even though its something small, he has a goal of getting me something small that he loves every day so I can share in enjoying some of the best simple things about his Brazilian life. Just like that, a tiny piece of chocolate became so important to me hahah. I don’t know when I should eat it haha I’m just so proud to hold it in my hand!

At dinner, I kept up with the Portuguese practice and found myself understanding more and more! It is hard because I am bad at pronouncing the words, but very very fun and it is so nice to be able to connect with Juliana’s parents! The food was soooo good! I had two bowls of soup and joked about how nice was to eat some nice warm soup on a cold winter evening hahah. :) 

After dinner, Juliana made some delicious brigadiero and we ate it and watched Star Wars before falling asleep. She had gotten up super early to come get me at the airport and I had barely slept on the plane, so we were pretty exhausted! We ended up falling asleep on the couch and had to crawl upstairs to fall asleep for the rest of the night hahah. It was such a fulfilling first day in Brazil, and I went to sleep feeling safe, loved, well-fed, and very happy. 

Elaine made me some special little heart cookies :)

 

This morning Juliana and I slept in until 8:45 before getting up to go on our first Juliana and Sally run! Juliana hasn’t gone running for quite some time, but she wants to work out with me while I’m here and hopefully develope some sort of routine and keep it up after I leave! I think this is awesome. We took it slow so that she wouldn’t hate it, and we ran and walked for a little over an hour. Tomorrow morning we plan on getting up so we can run early in the morning because that’s my favorite part of the day! We made a deal that by the end of my trip, I have to be able to speak Portuguese conversationally and she has to be able to run the whole course without stopping! I like this plan hahah its a nice one and we get to help each other.

After showering off and changing, Juliana and Victor and Bruno and I all headed off to a street market to get Pastel, a fried street food that is actually Chinese but it very popular here. It was a nice walk to the market, and when we arrived I got to see so many cool fruits and veggies! The Pastel was interesting and I really liked the texture of it. We ate it in the shade and sipped sugar cane juice and I learned that Juliana LOVES sugar cane juice hahaha. After that, we went to a pharmacy to get some sunscreen and then walked back home for lunch.

For lunch we got to eat the rice and beans again but this time with some squash and once again it was delicious! Such a satisfying meal! And after lunch we had a cup of coffee with some cookies Juliana’s mom had made before Juliana had to go upstairs to study for some medical school tests she has tomorrow. This was around 3pm, and now it is almost 7pm and I have taken forever writing this blog hahah. It turns out I have a lot to say and am very out of writing practice. Also, my nails are a little longer so I keep hitting the wrong letters. I don’t think I am going to proofread this one before publishing it because I want to get on with my night and go learn more Portuguese. But before I go, there are a few other things I want to say! 

 

I brought some gifts for Juliana’s family because I wanted to give them a little taste of California. I brought Juliana some Black Oak coffee and and a Papas and Pollo tee shirt and she loved them and is actually wearing the shirt right now. My mom gave her a bracelet and some earings that she hasn’t removed since I gave them to her yesterday hahah. I brought a smores inspired chocolate bar for Victor and he ate the whole thing already, and I brought Elaine an apron for when she bakes cookies and shes been wearing it all day long hahah. I don’t know why but watching everyone enjoy their gifts has made me so so so happy! I just wanted to do something nice for them because they are doing a thousand nice things for me every day! I also brought Lagunitas for Bruno and his dad becasue they make their own beer, and he said it was the perfect kind (thanks Alishua hahah). 

I already have so many good stories to tell about this wonderful place and I know that I haven’t seen anything yet. I just can’t wait for the rest of the trip! I am not going to blog like this about every day I just wanted to talk about the first day because it was such a good and important one! I hope this was interesting to read about, because there is more of it coming later. :) BJ hahaha

Also, by the way, I found a way to fit this in my suitcase and smuggle it to Brazil. I am proud of this accomplishment and Elaine is very happy hahaha.