Living abroad has changed my view of what it means to accomplish, well, just about anything. In my old life, I'd find a sense of accomplishment in being part of a team and accomplishing something like... keeping a company from going bankrupt, landing a stellar new client, hosting a fantastic event, landing a fantastic meeting for a client, or not getting an investment banker to slam the phone down in my ear...
Note: yeah I am pretty glad I no longer work in finance these days... just for the record.
On Friday, I picked our vehicle up from the car dealership where it had been getting a tune-up, drove it to sendas, parked in the parking lot, went in and found turkeys for my Thanksgiving dinner I hosted last night, and drove home - on a Friday night in Rio - in the dark - yes it was my first driving experience in Brazil and therefore why this seemingly mundane event is garnering a blog post of its own...
I felt VICTORIOUS after this event! In fact, I called some of my family in Canada, who were ALL together for Thanksgiving, and shared my accomplishment and joy with them. (And and and...! I found TURKEYS! TWO of them!! And... I saw someone I knew at the store!)
After that conversation, I imagine that much of the turkey dinner conversation may have been speculation about what kind of drugs we are on down in Brazil... The excitement about seeing someone I knew at the store would have really thrown them for a loop as some of them live in a small town where it's impossible to go buy a litre of milk without having about 9 conversations with people you know who you've run into.
Moving to a foreign country is almost like being a baby again or a small child. Confusing as hell, and every milestone feels as though it needs to be photographed and written down in the baby book blog. Like... learning to say hi, first full sentence spoken, first full conversation in Portuguese without having to scrunch face to convey confusion, where to buy meat that doesn't smell funny, where to find x,y,& z...
There are so many firsts, and each of them feels like a major accomplishment even though they are all small things we took for granted back home. Thank goodness there are others to share these events with because back home, they are like, yes, kind of like I've seen you do it 1,000 other times?
So true! People who haven't lived abroad just can't understand that getting through a totally normal day of errands, making your way around the city, interacting with locals in their language and customs etc is cause for celebration. Congrats!
Posted by: Emily | October 13, 2008 at 12:42 PM
I think those back home would just think I was "easily amused!" haha. But I was accused of that before moving here, so what do you do?
Posted by: DRL | October 13, 2008 at 08:06 PM
I don't care HOW long you have lived in Rio, driving back to Leblon from Barra on a Friday night in the dark IS an MAJOR accomplishment in my book!! Congrats on the Thanksgiving feast!! Yes, given that it usually takes trips to at least 3 stores to get everything, not to mention trying to navigate it all, daily errands are a feat!!
Posted by: Corinne | October 13, 2008 at 08:58 PM
Congrats to you!! I just got back from Brazil and couldn't agree more! I was so proud that I had breakfast, bought a bottle of wine, some sunscreen and even got a manicure all. by. MYSELF! Success!
Posted by: M | October 14, 2008 at 04:18 PM
Ok I can't take credit where it is not due - the dealership was not in Barra!!
Posted by: DRL | October 15, 2008 at 10:05 AM
Ha! I totally agree! I live in Norway and when I first learned how to order my coffee in Norwegian, I went around to my friends and "showed off" my new skill :) There was some "yay!" and clapping. Yes, it IS like being a baby... a baby who likes coffee. :)
Posted by: brandy | December 16, 2009 at 05:59 AM