clog blog: August 2014

We are finally back in Vitoria!

After many trials and tribulations over almost a year, our 1 year Brazilian work visas have finally been issued. A thousand hoorays! But it was not without some issue right up until the last moment when we collected our passports from the embassy. And after a 20 week home affairs nightmare Bron’s birth certificate was also finally issued. I was going to do a separate blog post on how to obtain a Brazilian work visa and how to apply for a South African birth certificate but in the interests of my mental health it is probably better to leave that in the past.

A big thank you to all the people who assisted us along the way with the visa process and birth certificate application, especially when we couldn’t attend to it ourselves. Special thanks to Abi for willingness and assistance on the Cape Town end, to Mum and Dad Cross for submitting extra documents and contacting the presidential hotline, and to Bron’s Mom (aka Meeps) for doing the final stretch including collecting the certificate, having it apostilled and couriering it on. Special thanks also to Justin’s secretary in the Netherlands, Edna, for applying for our police clearances on our behalf and arranging everything related to that. We really appreciate all your help!

Last week we did the last of the formal procedures by registering at the federal police (this is similar to registering at the Gemeente in the Netherlands). Even this final step had some last minute issues even though everything was pre-arranged and we were amazed that no one working at the immigration counter speaks English. The bureaucracy and red tape of systems in Brazil can be extremely frustrating and leaves a new visitor feeling quite unwelcome and this is not a good image for Brazil to have, especially for a country whose people are known to be very warm and friendly. But we also don’t see this changing anytime soon. If you ever have to deal with Brazilian bureaucracy, hang in there! It doesn’t last forever and the sun, caipirinhas and friendly people soon make you forget about it.

We enjoyed this last time in Lima much more than the first time and were feeling quite happy and comfortable after 11 weeks there. Even though we were sad to leave Lima in the end, we are feeling happy and settled after 4 weeks back in Vitoria. It is possible that we may go back to Lima for another short stint sometime in the future, but it would be by choice this time.

The apartment we are in at the moment feels very much like a sparsely furnished short-term holiday rental so we decided to look for a new apartment that would be more comfortable for a long term stay. Decent furnished apartments are like hen’s teeth here in Vitoria so we were extremely lucky to find a much better furnished apartment quite quickly and the move date is set for the end of August. The new apartment is a 5 minute walk from Justin’s office and has a beautiful view of the third bridge, the Convento da Penha and the Santa Maria River. We are looking forward to a cosier apartment that is not in the flight path of the local airport, hopefully better internet that is not subject to the weather, skipping the evening traffic and not relying on taxi’s for the daily commute. We will of course miss things from our current area, especially the selection of good restaurants nearby, but for now it is good decision to move. Pics of the new view to follow soon!

In an effort to improve our experience of living here, we are starting a beginner’s Portuguese course this week. The course is 3 hours long twice a week for 4 weeks. This will be a tough schedule for Justin after a long day of work but we feel it is important and will help to improve our daily life here. People here are extremely friendly and we are missing out by not being able to interact more due to language limitations. Portuguese is a hard language to learn but we hope to be able to say more than ‘bom dia’ and ‘obrigada’ soon.

Since Brazil is in the Southern Hemisphere, it is officially winter here. With temperatures ranging from 24 - 28ºC everyday with the occasional 30ºC day, we can totally manage this kind of winter. Considering it is the dry season, we still receive a fair amount of rain. At the moment there seems to be a cycle of about 14 sunny days followed by 4-5 rainy days. At the moment we are in the middle of a rainy period. Even when it is raining it’s not really cold with temperatures around 23ºC or 24ºC. Our winter wardrobe consists of shorts and flip flops, what a refreshing change.

Otherwise life carries on as normal in the work-week routine but we try to mix it up and get out into the sunshine on the weekends. This often includes long walks usually on the beach or on the promenade. We have become friendly with the other expats and locals also working on this project and hang out quite regularly. Activities are usually impromptu and include dinners out, snacks and drinks at someone’s house, tennis or squash for the guys and cycling for the ladies, snacks and games night, treat days with manicures and pedicures for the stay at home wives, and trips to the beach whether here in Vitoria or a bit further afield.

In other news, we have booked a holiday! In September we are doing a 3 week trip to Costa Rica. We have booked a 2 week tour that includes the main sights and an extra 5 days on the Caribbean Coast. I know many of you think we are on permanent holiday but this is our first official holiday of the year. We are super excited and can’t wait! The jungle, volcanoes, hot springs, hopefully swimming with turtles, lounging in hammocks, the sloth sanctuary and the Caribbean Coast: here we come!!

See you next time from our new apartment!

Have a good week y’all!