Do you want a doorman? Think twice.

When I first moved to Brasilia I thought that having a doorman was, well, awesome. I had never had one before nor do I know anyone who has ever even mentioned having one. The only doormen that I'd ever seen before were those along the streets of New York City; in front of the expensive apartments/condos near Central Park. 


In Orlando we lived in a gated community, but that's definitely not the same thing. That was to provide us with security (even though 4-5 cars could sneak in before the gate closed). Honestly there wasn't much security there.


Now fast forward to my arrival in Brasilia where I have a doorman (I've seen 4 since we've arrived but it appears that there are 3 regulars). At first I LOVED it. I thought it was great that I receive a phone call when a new visitor arrives and then I can just request to have them sent up, or ask that they meet me downstairs. It's quite convenient to not ever have to carry my keys in hand when I get home because the doorman will just buzz me in. 


I thought how wonderful that I live in a safe apartment, a(n) (upper) middle class neighborhood where every building has a doorman. During our first couple days when we had questions about shops, about how things worked, etc. all we had to do was ask our over zealous next door neighbors or the doorman. Surely they knew everything since they'd been living or working in our neighborhood for sometime.


But that was when I realized that I may not be so sure if  I'm comfortable with having a doorman that surely does know everything about everyone. By the end of our first week the doorman had asked about "the famous Sebastian [the cat]" and that made me realize that people talk. One day the doorman (the man who works all day and even on Saturdays and sometimes Sundays) told me who my mail was from even when there wasn't a return label. I don't know if he's just observant or if he's nosy. Or maybe I'm just paranoid. I can't tell yet.


It seems that he knows too much about our lives; and when I say "our" I don't just mean E and me. The doormen know when people leave, with whom they leave, what time they return home, visitors that stop by, and how long the visitors are there for. This is too impersonal for me. I feel like I don't have that much privacy. In addition, I have neighbors that do not necessarily mind only their business. But that seems to be a cultural issue. My husband talks loud, as do many Brazilians, and one day our neighbor asked him when passing him in the hallway if that was him speaking loudly that one day. I don't like that. 


And so I conclude....having a doorman may give added security, it may be convenient, and the one doorman (who works every other night?) is really friendly and nice. Maybe the apartment is too small for him not to know our business, especially with my elderly neighbor talking up everyone in the building, and even the cat. I just feel like he knows too much and I don't like it. Maybe it's just that I'm American and used to my privacy and I love that I lived for four years in two different areas in Central Florida and I didn't know any of my neighbors; I never even spoke with them. I was not interested and that's that. Or maybe I'm being paranoid because people are a lot more in your business  social in Brazil than they are in the US. Who knows...

Update: Internet, School, Apartment

I am connected again! It's so great having Internet at home. If you live abroad then you understand the importance of being able to talk to family and friends, as well as handle your "business" at home on-line. We've been here for fewer than two weeks so it wasn't too long that we were without, and I probably checked my e-mail at least once every two days previous to having Internet at home, but still...Now I can use Skype, my MagicJack, and update my blog :).

Internet - We weren't too sure on how to go about getting hooked up so when we were at my school last week (maybe Wednesday?) we were told to go ahead and contact the company NET using the secretary's computer. I guessed that due to that suggestion (to contact NET) that they must be a good Internet/cable company. We decided not to get cable at this time and chose the 1 Mega Internet option (at only R$ 54.90/month); the faster Internet options were much more expensive. What we got is a reasonable price. That's maybe $35/month, roughly. We don't need cable at this time because we do have about 6 channels (in Portuguese) at no cost and we brought a lot of DVDs with us. We can also watch TV on-line. Our Internet speed is perfect, too. The company sent me a text this past Tuesday notifying us that the technician would be here the following day (yesterday) and he was. Quick and easy. The only issue is that only one computer can be connected at one time and we can't use our wireless adapter yet since we don't have a converter (the voltage is different here than in the US).

Apart from now having Internet, I've also had orientation with the executive director of the school, the woman who hired me, and the coordinators and principals of the school. This all happened this morning. Since I'm teaching 9th, 11th, and 12th grades, I have two administrators and two guidance counselors. See, in Brazil, 9th grade is considered the final year in middle school, but we know that in the US it's the first year of high school, so the principals overlap (as do the counselors). This sounds good to me. I REALLY like the principal that I met at the job fair and the other is very nice as well (I just don't know him as well). The orientation that we had for teachers in international schools was very helpful and informative. I'm more excited about working, especially to such a diverse group of students. The coordinators were all very nice and offered to help us in many ways. 

I was also set up with my school e-mail address, was given a tour of the beautiful campus, and had another delicious lunch. The food at the school is out of this world mouthwatering and it's healthy; there is a nutritionist at the school who makes sure of that. And we were told this morning that it's the law that we be given an hour for lunch (on a daily basis of course). That's what I'm talking about. I also really like how the school is a bilingual school. This way there is a lot of Portuguese being spoken around the school; with that being said, I need to give off the impression to my students that my language skills are rusty so they don't try to speak Portuguese with me. We'll see how well that goes.

It was nice to visit the school for orientation and introductions since we've been doing a lot of running around to get our documents taken care of. In addition to visiting the policia federal and getting my CPF (like my Brazilian SSN), I also had to have a medical exam for my health insurance, open up a bank account, sign documents, among other errands. It's good to now have a temporary ID and to know that I'll soon have a local bank account and health insurance.

Everything with our apartment is good. We've gotten to know the doormen (there are three) and it's nice to never have to open a door (haha). Sebastian is also getting used to his new home. I have to clean this place differently than in the US since there are no carpets (thank God!!) and since we're in the dry season and it hasn't rained since about May, it's not only dry but also dusty outside. I've found myself dusting more often and have realized that sweeping is not as useful as I thought. I need to "mop" the floors. But the "tools" that I have to use to clean the floors are easy to use and it takes less time than it did in the US (or so it seems). Today the school dropped off a chair for our spare bedroom since we only have a computer desk when we arrived. In addition, I found a nice bookshelf at the school that was no longer being used; in fact, it was in storage only to collect dust. I was told that once it was sanded down it would be delivered. I'd say that apart from those two pieces of furniture we're all set. 

We've also been sightseeing, have hung out with friends, have been trying to get E resettled in his country, and of course have been busy running errands and trying to explore/get to know our new city. E's been job hunting, trying to get his school transcripts so he can go back to school, and has found a gym where he can train MMA and BJJ. There are some big time fighters there to train with so he's really challenged. I was able to check it out the other day so that was exciting for me because we met a UFC fighter and I love to meet famous people :). 

Speaking of settling in, I need to organize this place (I've been so busy that I haven't spend more than a few hours at a time here), clean up a bit, and find the closest post office so I can send my defective Kindle to Amazon before they charge me for another. Now that I have Internet I should be updating more often so keep your eye open. Talk to you soon!

I don't want to clean

I don't really feel like doing anything but moving already. I'm ready to go. When it came to deciding when we'd travel, it wasn't too difficult to choose a date since my contract begins on July 15th. I was out of school in the beginning of June and E could quit any time. I knew that we would need some time to get everything together and I wanted to stay for the 4th of July, so initially this week was when we were going to depart. However, I started to freak out a bit (for lack of a better word), as school was coming to a close, with all the errands/chores we need to do before leaving, so our tickets were bought for next week. We have until next week in the country.


Maybe one more week is the perfect amount of time. I mean, we are mostly packed, even with the set back of having to buy another piece of luggage, and most of our closets and cabinets have been cleaned out at this time. We gave away dishes, a crock pot, a blender, a clock, etc. to friends and even our maintenance man this weekend. The cat has been taken care of (with the exception of our trip to the USDA, but that'll be done in 2 days). So should we be ready? Yes, and I'd say we almost are. We have everything lined up with how we're taking all of our luggage to the airport (thanks to amazing friends!) so there's not much left to finish.


We've said goodbye to my family and most of our friends that we don't see on a regular basis. (That's the hard part I choose not to think about too much). So what is left to do? Oh yeah, clean. Our shopping is done. We're not working. We have to clean. We have to scrub down this apartment before we move out. I have some more papers to organize and then we have to throw away shower curtains and donate bed sheets. Then we have to clean. Clean. Clean. I'm not a lazy person, but cleaning is no fun. However, it's got to be done. Since I don't want to spend my last couple of days in the country cleaning, guess what's on the agenda for today? Breakfast and cleaning out our bedroom closet. At least once the hangers are all taken out and the few shirts hanging up there, I can clean it, vacuum the rug and close it up for good.


I also need to tackle the rest of the kitchen cabinets, the corners of every room, the ceiling fans, and anywhere the cat has been recently. The vet told me yesterday that I'm very organized and it was nice to hear, but it's true because I have to be. Now don't think I'm doing this all on my own. No way. E is helping with everything. He's good with tackling projects that need to be finished; it just can be kind of tough when you know you can't clean out everything because you still need to live here for another week. ......alright, alright, enough writing....time to get back to work. I don't want to clean, but there's nothing else to do.

We have an apartment

We have an apartment in Brasilia! This means that we have an address to give out to family and friends and somewhere we can ship boxes to before we move, if need be (which as of now we're going to pass on). This is great news. I remember back when I accepted the job I started to worry about where we were going to live, but the school has really taken control of the situation and have taken care of this for us. Granted we did have to do the initial research on-line and then send a list of potential apartments to them, but they did the leg work. The representative(s) went to Asa Sul, visited apartments, spoke to landlords, ruled out complexes that did not offer at least the minimum comfort for us, checked out the block, safety, and of course location. And there was no need to apartment search before because apartments always vacate at various times and my employer obviously didn't want to pay for an apartment that no one was living in.


We were looking for a two-bedroom apartment that is near shopping centers, metro/bus stops, and of course that is not too far from the school (so based on recommendations from people living in Brasilia, we chose to look in Asa Sul). Based on what I've found on-line, as well as what I've learned from the school and acquaintances we have in the city, we should be living in a nice apartment in a good area of the city. And our apartment is not only a two-bedroom, but we'll also have an extra room built for a maid. E is glad to know that he'll have a space for his DJ equipment, a kind of pseudo studio. Works for me because then Sebastian and I can share the office space (i.e. the extra bedroom). Now I'm even more excited....we have an apartment in Brasilia! We're almost there...