Everyday Life

Some of you may be wondering what everyday life is like in Brasil.  Well, I can only speak for this Gringa's world in Carioca Land.  My day consists in large part of water tasks.  You know, like washing clothes and dishes and baby paraphernalia and floors and bathrooms.  All that water stuff.  The first thing I need to show you is the manner by which Cecilia and Will get their drinking water.

Glazed Terra Cotta Water Filter

Water from the faucet goes into the top and drips through 2 filters before it's captured in the bottom reservoir.  It tastes really good.  The fridge door holds two pitchers, a recycled glass juice container, and (my favorite) a recycled Absolut Vodka bottle--all keeping the precious commodity of pure drinking water.  The last thing I do each night is drain the bottom reservoir by filling up all the water containers and then load up the top with water from the faucet.  The first thing I try to do in the morning is restock the fridge bottles, and drink as many cups of water as I can straight from the reservoir.  The process gets repeated as many times each day as needed.

The Water Hole

I mentioned that water for the filtration system come from the kitchen sink.  Guess you've surmised by now that we don't drink water straight from the faucets here.  Another fact that I need to mention is, neither the kitchen sink nor the washer are plumbed for hot water.  Turn on the hot water faucet at the kitchen sink, like I've done a million and one times since arriving, and you got nothin'.  That handle is just a throw-down.

So, the dishes are washed with a sponge, cool faucet water, and plenty of Limpol dishwashing soap.  They're rinsed and set to air dry in the drainer.  If there's lots of grease on the dish, get some water boiling on the stove and oba! you've got a squeaky, grease-free container.  [My friend Kelly uses a bleach solution on all her hand-washed dishes.  Sorry, Kelly.]

Dishes and Sponges Air Dry

 As I said, water gets boiled on the propane gas stovetop.  Before Daniel arrived (BD) there were mostly kettles boiling for coffee and tea, but now . . .

. . . there's always at least one pot of water boiling/cooling or on standby for the baby.  Cecilia is nursing Little Man, so that cuts down considerably on sterilizing all that bottle stuff.  Even then, there's always a breast pump or something that needs a 10 minute boiling bath.  And speaking of baths, Daniel's bath water gets sterilized too.

Sterile Bath Water (in aluminum pot)
Fresh, Cooled, and Ready to be Warmed

We big people get to shower with water that's been heated in the apartment's hot water heater/boiler.  This is a true luxury, y'all.  The 'normal' shower head in Brasil has a small electric heater attached, and you either get cold or scalding or almost scalding.  Get Will to explain how electricity and water combined in this manner don't electrocute everyone!  I'm just grateful for the ability to mix hot and cold.   Personally, I use about a teaspoon of hot water in my shower--the cooler the better.  But again--drink water from the shower head or the bathroom faucet at your own risk; it's city water and not pure.

Since the washer uses cold water only, there are techniques for removing stubborn stains.  All involve a bar of coconut soap, a soaking tub, and the noonday sun on the back balcony.

This big sink is on the back balcony, next to the washer.
All Daniel's 'stained' (read pooped) clothes get scrubbed with a bar of coconut soap,
rinsed, and put in the soaking bucket on the left.

Cold Water Wash Supplies
A good washer, non-chlorine bleach,
liquid coconut soap for  baby clothes,
OMO laundry powder for general stuff,
liquid OLA for delicates,
and fabric softener.

Back to the water thing--Daniel's soiled (as in poopy) clothing and bedding gets the coconut bar soap scrub, soak, and then a 5 minute boil on the stove before it's washed with the other things.  Don't tell anyone, but I've been skipping the boil step here lately.  I'll start it again if you think it's necessary for Daniel's health.  What do you think?

Havaianas Wash Day

 Havaianas--probably the National Shoe of Brazil--are especially good for life here.  Cool, comfortable, stylish, and washable.  Yesterday after sweeping and mopping (again with the water!), I gathered up all the Havaianas for a wash.  See, gunk from the floors collects on the grippy soles, and then gets deposited on the just-cleaned bathroom or kitchen tile.  They're easy to scrub and dry very quickly, since they're designed for beachwear.  And they looked pretty all laid out to dry on the balcony ledge.  The tile floors stayed a little cleaner too.

Couldn't resist an "artistic" shot.

Some of Will and Cecilia's Havianas

Russian Dolls

Peacock Feathers with Silver

Daniel gave me these Havaianas when I arrived in January!

That's the briefest summary of my water tasks here.  I'm grateful for the ability to drink fresh, pure water and shower with water adjusted to my preferential temp.  I'm grateful to have a grandson whose clothes need my hands for cleaning (even for this brief time).  And I'm grateful for this lovely apartment home where I can support Cecilia and Will while they nurture their boy and the Gringa too.

Now, what's for supper?