Brasilia: Best and Worst

Our time in Brasilia is coming to an end pretty soon here. I feel like in our lifestyle, a few months is actually quite a long time, so I can't have one foot out the door yet. I'm getting excited about our next post (Wuhan, China! Woohoo!!), but I'm also realizing how much I have grown to love Brasilia.
Honestly, at the beginning, I liked Brasilia. There was nothing I DIDN'T like, but it was hard to feel excited about it. That's probably most of why I haven't been blogging much about it. After living in China, Brazil feels very much like living in America-- though with several differences.
Now that we're faced with the prospect of leaving, we're realizing that we can't take it for granted any more. Brazil is awesome, and we're going to enjoy it while we have it!

The best of Brasilia:

Weather:
This has been a really tough winter. There were a few days in a row that it didn't get above 65* Fahrenheit. Oh man!! And then in the summer, it rarely gets above 90. So basically, on a normal day it hovers right around 80 degrees. During the dry season (May to October), the skies are clear and cloudless. I was a little worried about rainy season, though, because the only thing I new about a rainy season came from "Forrest Gump." During the rainy season (October to May), we might have a week of drizzly, nonstop rain, but most of the season, it is just an afternoon rain shower or even a downpour, and then sunshine again.

Clean Air:
Sandwiched between two tours in China, we cannot appreciate enough the clean air that we enjoy here in Brazil. We have started eating all our meals on our front porch, and we usually exclaim at least once about just how clean it is!

Music:
Brazilian music is awesome. I can't get enough of the Samba stations on the radio.
My new favorite song ever:


Brazilians Love Kids:
When we moved here, people told us that Brazilians love kids. Having just left China, where we were mobbed like celebrities every time we left the house, with people pinching cheeks, taking pictures, and tsk-tsking us for not dressing our babies warmly enough, we were used to a country where people love babies. But the best part about Brazil is that people love babies AND know how to behave around them! I can't remember a single time where I've walked past someone who didn't stop to say hi or smile at my baby. They might squeeze his toes and cootchie-coo a little to try and make him smile, but then they move on. Brazilians love kids, and my kids love Brazilians. I can't say the same was true about China....
Brazilian kids are a little crazy. They are universally rambunctious and rowdy, and they don't believe in sitting down and being quiet. Penny would always come home from school and

Housing

Religious Freedom

Portuguese


Worst of Brasilia:

Lack of Communication

Food

Driving everywhere

Big embassy