WATER PARKS AND WHIRLWINDS

Lying on the kitchen floor, totally soaked, barely holding my computer above water, really wasn’t how I had expected the day would go.  Although with all the recent events around here, I have to admit that I couldn’t be that surprised.

The morning had actually been rather successful. I woke up early and went with Daniel and his sister to the office to call English schools.  There were already a lot of customers waiting at the office, so while Daniel dealt with things, I patiently waited reading my book in Portuguese (which I’ve read 70 pages of by the way). With the way things work here, I was prepared to be waiting for a long time, very possibly through the afternoon.

If you have never lived in a Latin country before, understanding the way time works would be rather difficult.  (Or as a friend who is currently moving to Thailand kindly reminded me, it is in many countries in the world, not just Latin America in which the pace is so different).  It isn’t like in the United States.  Things don’t start when they say they will, people are certainly not ever early to anything, and if someone gives you any sort of timeline, whether it’s that the food you ordered will be ready in 20 minutes, or the housing agency saying your apartment will be ready by Monday, you can be certain of one thing and one thing only, that the timeline they gave you is one hundred percent utter bullshit.  So, if I had to choose one characteristic most necessary for living in Brazil, I think it would be flexibility. 

           

It isn’t adjusting to a different schedule; it is adjusting to NO schedule, which is far more difficult. In the US things work very systematically.  It's difficult for us to imagine not having a bus schedule because that would mean we wouldn’t know when we would be at work, which of course means we could be late. But if we make being late to work acceptable, or possibly just a non-issue, then we would no longer need the bus schedule…and so this continues. 

In some ways it's quite charming; no one is ever in a rush, or stressed, everyone and everything far more relaxed.  But sometimes I still feel like just shaking them and saying, CAN’T WE JUST GET TO WORK?!  Particularly when it comes to my still unsettled house search, or my finding a job.  

When applying for jobs in the US, if they say they will let you know in two weeks, then thats when you'll know.  If they tell you the food will take about 15 minutes, it probably will, and if a housing agency says you will have the house by Monday then you might even have it Sunday. 

A photo I took in the center of the most populated city in Brazil,
Sao Paulo.  There are more people living in this city than any city
in the United States, including NYC.  Can you imagine this tree
 in the center of Manhattan?

Here, everything takes a lot more patience, which admittedly is not one of my known attributes.  The schools here said they would call the week I contacted them (which was my first week here), two weeks later I was still waiting.  Then eventually one school called to set up an interview, then canceled the interview, then said they would call the next day to set up another interview.  Then never called.  Then, yesterday morning, while I was calling the other schools I had applied to, the school I didn’t call, called to tell me I actually already had the job and had classes, and no longer needed an interview.  Which is really great!! So, I'll stop complaining.  

I was finally feeling great about the way things were going, I was so excited that I had a job (almost officially), I was getting a better grasp on the way things work, and my Portuguese had made notable improvements.

Later that day, when Daniel and I went home for lunch, the kitchen was a mess, so Daniel showed me how to start the dishwasher before heading back to work.  I had the rest of the afternoon figured out, starting with looking up the unknown words in my dictionary and ending with my appointment at the English school that had offered me a position…assuming they don’t cancel. 

Soon, my computer was dying, and Daniel had taken my adapter to the office.  Which meant the only adapter I had for my computer was the one used for the dishwasher in the kitchen.  (I'd like to add that oddly enough, not all Brazilian plugs are the same, so even Brazilians need adapters for their own appliances.) 

I walked into the kitchen with my laptop open, still looking at the Portuguese English translation site, not paying any attention to my surroundings.  Suddenly, I felt my feet swept from under me and slipped onto the Kitchen floor, lying in water about a half-inch deep, flowing through the kitchen.  The backs of my clothes and hair were now soaked.  Very luckily, I had magically kept my computer from actually touching the water.  

Lying there with the water still pouring out of the dishwasher, in complete disbelief of what had just happened, I was reminded of a odd and seemingly insignificant memory from high school.  


I was watching some teen chick-flick with a friend.  It was a typical teen film where it starts with some 'unpopular' girl getting ready for school, with everything just not working out for her, showing what miserably bad luck she has, while playing some overplayed 90’s pop song.  (And of course ends with her getting the most popular guy at school and everyone living happily ever after.)   I really don't know why I even remember this, but while the character in the film was about to be late to school and finally get out the door, she dropped a whole glob of toothpaste all over her carefully picked out blouse. Which is when my friend said, “That stuff never happens in real life! I mean in all the times I have brushed my teeth I have never spilt toothpaste all down my shirt.” I remember sitting there watching the character stressed and late to school because of that damn toothpaste, all the while thinking, really?  That kind of stuff happens to me...all the time! 


Lying with my back in water on a kitchen floor in Brazil, holding my laptop above my head, made me think of that friend and what she would say if she could see this right now.  

After unplugging the dishwasher and changing my clothes I was too frustrated to attempt to clean the kitchen, especially since at this point I couldn’t be trusted to do it myself, so I dried off and went straight to Daniel’s office.

His sister and brother in law laughed and laughed at the story and how absolutely ridiculous and impossible things have been for me lately.  I couldn’t help but break out laughing as well, it really is quite funny. They said it was like some kind of sitcom, “As Aventuras de Seren no Brasil” (The Adventures of Seren in Brazil) which has now become our ongoing inside joke.  Then Daniel's sister, Jacqueline, and I drove home to clean the kitchen together.

It still amazes me how much you can know about someone without actually talking to them.  I mean so much of understanding comes from things other than language; behavior, facial expressions, attitude, energy, body language. You don’t need to understand what someone is saying to know if they’re outgoing or timid, judgmental or accepting, funny or serious, kind or rude. First impressions are not always accurate, but they still have very little to do with actually speaking.  Upon meeting Daniel’s sister, Jacqueline, I knew instantly that she was a kind, extroverted, accepting and funny person, even though I couldn't understand anything she said.  And now that my Portuguese was good enough to actually converse with her, I was only reassured that my previous observations had been accurate. 

After dancing, laughing and singing along to music while wiping counters and washing dishes in the kitchen, it was time to clean the floor.  Without warning, Jacqueline filled up some large buckets of water and soap and just dumped them all over the floor.  The waves of water washed through the kitchen, through the laundry room, into the bathroom, splashing against the wall and flowing back.  The water rushed over my feet, almost to my ankles.  She did this again and again.  I’ve never seen this much water in a kitchen before.  

Daniel's sister, Jacqueline

I must have had a very confused look on my face because Jacque (her nickname) just looked at me laughing, telling me it’s common in Brazil.  That didn’t really explain much.  I mean, what is common?  Flooding the apartment?  How is she going to get rid of all this water?  I mean this was a LOT of water, we aren’t talking like we can use some rags or a mop to soak this up, seriously, where is this all going to go?? We are on the third floor of an apartment building, isn’t this going to go out the front door, into the hall and into the next apartment? Wouldn't this be…I don’t know…NOT a good idea? 

She threw me an old and very ragged broom with plastic bristles and showed with hand gestures to scrub the floors with it, and then walked past me, reached down into the water and opened something in the floor.  It was a drain.  I hadn’t even noticed it before, the whole room was just like a shower, except in the kitchen, and the laundry room and bathroom, all of which were now flooded with water. 

It is brilliant actually, we just scrub the corners and edges of the floors with brooms, then she pours more water, and we continue the process with no worries because it will all just rush down the drain. It was easy and efficient, but mostly it was just so much fun! I told her how cool I thought it was and we laughed and laughed talking about it.  I can tell she is enjoying seeing me discover things here for the first time, which makes me enjoy it even more.  She said when her and Daniel were kids, they used to help their mom clean the floor of their garage, sliding, splashing, and playing in the water, just like a water park.  

I couldn’t help but wonder how we were keeping the water from flowing through the rest of the apartment, this was all so new to me.  So I asked her how the water was remaining in just the kitchen, and she responded by saying 'the door'.  But as far as I'm concerned doors don't keep water out, so I asked what was keeping it from going under the door.  

As a reminder, all this is happening in Portuguese, so truthfully, with translation, I really said something like, “But water no go under door… to all of house…why water not problem?” 

Then she showed me that the kitchen was actually slightly lower than the rest of the flooring (which is all tile since the weather is too hot for carpeting). We spent over an hour in the kitchen, dancing to music scrubbing the floors and kicking around water.  It was truly a blast! I had more fun talking and cleaning the kitchen with Jaque than I had all day!  

At night I went to the English school and now I officially HAVE A JOB! (which yes does warrant capitals and bold letters)

Tonight I am sitting in on a lesson and will start training tomorrow. I can't wait to start working there, and am feeling so excited about everything else as well!
Oh-and Happy International Women's Day!