5 things I never thought I'd do, but I've done in Brasil

A while back I wrote about the five things I've want to do but don't. In all the time that I spend sitting in traffic, waiting for the bus, washing dishes, doing laundry, I've compiled the following list of things that I never believed would happen, but have

1. Do things that I shouldn't. I'm not going to go into much detail here. But I will say that in the US, rules are created to be followed, and the expectation is that you will follow them or suffer the consequence of breaking them. If you follow the the rules, things usually go well for you. This is not always the case in Brasil. Sometimes, you follow the rules, and you make more problems. Sometimes the rules are so incredibly complicated that it isn't really possible to follow them. I think that regulations are made here with the expectation that people will try everything possible to get around them (jeito!) and so they become increasingly complicated with time. But I never thought I would totally ignore the man who sits at the entry to the club who tells me that my children can't go in. I never thought I would drive without a car seat (don't worry, this has been resolved). I never thought I would ignore the neighbor who keeps telling me that I need to pay R$100 for the party that I held in the party room last year, even though I didn't know I was supposed to pay for it.

2. Wear a bikini in public. I've always been a modest person. There isn't really such a thing as a modest bikini. But I actually sported one when we went to the beach. And my husband snapped pictures. And people have seen them! Gasp!

3. Drive in Brasil. Bumpy roads, no signs, rules that defy all logic, total disregard for lane lines when approaching a stoplight. And the Motoboys with a death wish! But I'm driving. And I'm getting to be almost okay at it. And I even drive a stick shift!

4. Wash the kid's shoes. Come on, I'm busy enough as it is. Who has time to wash the kids shoes? Oh wait a minute, is it really that obvious that we're not Brazilian? And is it possible that those shoes are really that nasty dirty? So here I go, getting carpal tunnel and scrubbing with an old toothbrush...

5. Send my kids to private school. And pay for it. I've said it before, school here for kids is pricey. Public schools are sadly not very good, and people with the resources send their kids to private schools. From my informal survey, private school tuition runs between R$500 to R$800 a month (with the American School being at least 3 times that).

The final birthday party is this weekend, so hopefully after this I can have a little more time to do the things that give me energy (write my blog! cook! have friends over! walk!) Happy almost Birthday Dora!