This had to be one of the best days we’ve had here, and we’ve had some good ones. A really authentic experience. We went over to the house of our capoeira teacher, Deivid, to make our own berimbaus. A berimbau is the main instrument of capoeira. It has one string and a dried gourd. Video at end shows how it works/sounds.

I’ll post a full update soon, but I just had to share this day. We had such an amazing time.

http://youtu.be/_3Y8c50c8c8

Did I say we needed to get out of our comfort zone? Next time I say that, please remind me that as a 40-something father of two I’m fine in the comfort zone.

Exhausting travels as we took an overnight flight to Sao Paulo and then a flight to Porto Seguro. As we took the ferry over the river between Porto Seguro to Arraial D’Ajuda the thought popped into my head, “What the hell have I done?!” I’m not remotely fluent in the language and I have no idea where anything is or what to do in an emergency. My extensive research and planning to have a cell phone working when I landed completely failed. In the days B.C. (before children), when I was immortal, this would be an exciting adventure, but now I am responsible for two more lives. I was on the verge of a panic attack. We managed to get into our home which felt very different, get dinner, and get a swim. By the end of the night I was a touch more comfortable,

On my first day I saw:  A grown man moving his motorcycle in his underwear and t-shirt.

Day two we hit the supermercado, Cabui. The only one in town. For no reason I can think of this was the most harrowing grocery shopping trip of my life. In retrospect I can’t see what spooked me, but I was completely freaked out. I guess it had to do with the thought of feeding the family and things being different/uncomfortable- AND realizing this was for half a year. It took us 2½ hours to get through it. The kids were miserable and I was a wreck. Still, we got food and got home. Another swim, some ping-pong, dinner made at home. We were settling in.

On this day I saw: A grown man in his underwear grocery shopping. 

Day three I finally got to snorkel with Sidney! So it turns out that there is a reef about a 100 yards off shore and when the tide goes out it is completely exposed. You can walk to the reef at low tide and see urchins, fish and sea stars (check Sidney’s post with pictures and his amazing drawings). It was a great adventure and just what we needed. We had dinner at the hotel next door, where the boys could use the trampoline and foosball table and the parents could get caipirinhas. Just when I think I’m finally comfortable, April and I sit down to plan the start of home school for the boys. Now I’m really freaked out. I knew my peers at Friends Seminary were amazing teachers. Now I REALLY know it.

On this day I saw: A grown man in just his underwear and a hat drinking a beer in the middle of the ferry.

Since then:

We’re here and pretty happy. We like our little condo (you can take a tour with Ezra on his video) that is perfectly situated on a quiet beach with a cool breeze. Most days I start the day off with a few hours of school, we swim and/or snorkel, jump on the trampoline, play all kinds of games, go to capoeira class and shop in town. At night Arrial D’Ajuda town is one of the most charming places on Earth. Restaurants, shops and live music lining a winding cobblestone street. It’s magical! Of course I already found the best dessert in town. There’s a popsicle place called Super Paletas. The middle of these are filled with some kind of cream. April had passionfruit with a condensed milk center. It was superfresh. I had Belgian chocolate with a brigadeiro (condensed milk and chocolate) center. We WILL be trying more flavors.

Sidney made his first Brazilian friend, Gabriel, who sadly left to go home to Minas Gerais (the downside of living on an idyllic beach that is inhabited by tourists). One of Sidney’s greatest fears about coming to Brazil was making friends, and he was the first one to do it. How? It started with a boy and his soccer ball. God bless futbol (pronounced futchee-bol in Portuguese). You can glimpse them playing in Ezra’s video on his blog.

Ezra has made friends at capoeira and pretty much where ever he goes. He lives in shorts and flip-flops. No shirt. He couldn’t be happier.

I realize now that what has changed is that I’m comfortable with being uncomfortable. It’s not easy for a know-it-all to not know, and here I don’t. I’m fine with that. The thing I’m most proud of is how April and I have managed ourselves with our Portuguese. No one speaks English here, but we have enough to get by, have basic conversations and take care of everything we need. We’re rockin’ the Portuguese! People are pretty friendly and will try to talk to us, even when we have no idea what they’re saying.

On Sunday I saw: A grown man in his underwear standing in front of his house checking his cell phone. Well, I didn’t see that exactly, because that man was me. I guess I’m in my comfort zone.

Note: These men mentioned were not in their underwear. They were wearing the Brazilian bathing suit called a “sunga.” It just looks like underwear, and it’s worth mentioning that it’s always guys with big round bellies wearing these. For the record, I was actually in my underwear, which does resemble a sanga. 

        

Let passion be your guide, service your gift, family your home and the world your school.

After reading Bruce Feiler’s book, The Secrets of Happy Families, our family created the “mission statement” above. We added some other beliefs that defined us and my amazing graphic artist brother-in-law, Paul,  turned it into this wonderful work of art. Now when we lose our way, we literally have a map that leads us back to ourselves.

The map was also a reminder for April and me of how much we value traveling and the importance of experiencing other cultures. We were also reminded of this when a friend of ours talked about taking her family to live abroad for a year. That comment reignited something in April, and she passed that spark on to me.  I had no idea how we were going to make this happen, but I knew we had to find a way. Then, last fall, in a conversation with my department chair, Derek, I mentioned that I’d like to see more non-western movement added to our curriculum, such as African dance and capoeira.

If you don’t know what capoiera is, it’s a Brazilian martial art/dance form that was created by slaves to disguise their training to fight and free themselves. It generally involves two capoeristas “playing” in a circle as others sing and play music. It looks like this.

Derek asked me about teaching capoeira, and I responded that it would take several years if I started now as I could only go to one or two classes a week with my schedule. That’s when Derek suggested applying for the sabbatical my school awards one faculty member per year to go to Brazil and study it intensely. Some ideas popped into my head immediately.

Oh yeah, and this, too.

South America wasn’t even on our radar as potential place to live for awhile, but it seemed like it was meant to be. In the fall of last year I decided to take a capoeira class with Capoeira Brooklyn to see if I would like it. The movement was fun, but it was when Mestre Foca handed me an agogo (a percussion instrument) to play along that I was sold. The chance to move in new ways AND play music- I was IN! I quit Aikido- the Japanese martial art I had been practicing for the past 4 years- the next week and started training in capoeira immediately. Sidney started training, too.  I applied and received the sabbatical in December. Just like that it was all set in motion.

So now we are flying to Brazil on January 20th for six months. April and I have studied Portuguese for the past year, got our visas, spent way more money on immunizations than expected and are preparing to home-school our children while I do an intensive study of capoeira. Though we are a bit nervous about leaving what is familiar, it’s time for an adventure!

The whole family will be blogging while there. You can find out how we’re doing and where we are on this site, as well as how to get in touch with us.

We’ll be living in a 2-bedroom condo with a pool on the beach in the tiny beach town of Arraial D’Ajuda in southern Bahia until the the end of February. After that we’ll see where my training takes us. Plans include Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Recife, but you know what they say about the best laid plans.

Wish us boa sorte e boa viagem!