I think about our trip, the weeks, months and years of planning….the reality of it all didn’t really hit me until I found myself standing in my empty house for the last time. I was flooded with the memories. The blood, sweat and tears which went into turning those bricks and mortar into our home. The family and friends, the network of love and kindness which we leave behind, and I ask myself one last time, ‘Are we doing the right thing? Have we made the right choice?’ although at this point, I realise we have already reached the point of no return.

We are a week into our trip, and it has taken me this long to finally write and I am still not sure what story I have to tell.  But, if I don’t start, I will have nothing to show at the end. I keeping thinking about all that we have set out to achieve on this journey; are the girls on the right track to becoming  better human beings am I am on the right track to becoming a better person, am I growing from the experience? 

Right now, it still feels very much like a holiday, although the accommodation is somewhat different to what I am accustomed and my appreciation for air conditioning has been taken to a whole new level.

Our little people enjoying some respite from the heat with home-made ice creams in Paraty.

During those last couple of days in London I realised my Christmas gluttony had caught up with me and I wish the removalists had packed the bathroom scales, so I hadn’t been able to realise the full extent.  The dress code here in Brazil is somewhat more risqué than me, the prude, is accustomed to.  While it has reminded me that we all come in different shapes and sizes, it has made me more self-conscious and aware just how much I have let myself go in recent years….well since children really, so almost a decade! This isn’t who I set out to become.  My shorts being so tight that they may just cut off circulation is another unwelcome reminder. The first thing I am determined to change this trip is my health, and perhaps if I write it down, it will become more than just a superficial new year’s resolution.

Armed with time for a change, I have set out to make a positive transformation and despite the space restrictions in our recent living quarters and the excruciating heat, I have found myself waking early every morning (all seven of them) and attempting some kind of exercise which will ultimately lead to sore muscles. An unexpected secondary benefit has been the quality time this has allowed me to spend with the other early riser in the Benjamin family – Lucy.  She spends this hour every morning correcting my form and up-staging my very clumsy efforts to follow the fitness app on the phone.

The little people writing their journals during our first guest house in Rio.

The girls seem to always be concerned for each other’s wellbeing, they are always on the lookout for each other and despite the odd squabble they are getting along well, so a great start. Teaching the girls has started too, though we were not intending to start so early into the trip with all the textbooks on their journey across the Alantic ocean.  We have fallen into a nice morning routine. After breakfast when the girls have chowed down their food and we are still finishing up, they write their journals from the day before. By the time us adults have finished, and things are cleared away, they are eagerly reading their entries aloud or shoving their books under my nose for approval. The routine has formed quite naturally and most of the time they are both obliging.

The little people working together to sail a boat they found on the beach.

Rio de Janeiro was an eye-opener, a large chaotic city and all that such a city brings. The story of the Favelas is a sad reality the city is yet to overcome.  The museum of tomorrow moved me with its message of consumerism and the future we are creating. Christ the Redeemer reminds us that someone is looking over us, while the way the jungle claws its way through the man made mess of the city, shows the determination of nature at its finest.

  • The train up to Christ the Redeemer
  • Lucy doing her best impression
  • The view from Christ the Redeemer

Yesterday however we arrived Paraty – it is world’s apart from the Rio de Janeiro that we left behind, although it was only a four-hour bus ride South. Paraty is an old colonial town rich in traditional architecture, it transports me back to a time gone by; cobble stoned streets, brightly coloured buildings with wooden shutters and even horse drawn carriages! It is immediately obvious here that we can drop our guards, the girls can carry their cameras around without any risk, cars frequently stop to allow us to cross the road and people greet you with a smile and are genuinely helpful. The food here also comes as a welcome change from the beans and rice which had been my primary diet for the last seven days. Being vegetarian and gluten free in Brazil has been restrictive to say the least! For dinner I found a Thai restaurant and despite Nick’s original scepticism, the vegetarian stir fry and pad thai were an absolute delight to the taste buds. I admit it was a tad on the expensive side – doubling the cost of our average meal even after splitting two serves between the four of us.  Though, I didn’t care for that moment and I was going to enjoy every last bite. The variety of vegetarian food offered here is certainly greater; Mexican nachos, chickpea falafels and salads constructed of more than just tomato and lettuce, so we may just stay here a little longer.

So, as I shed my old skin – quite literally – may the journey begin and whatever adventures good or bad, may come.

Mel, 7th January 2020

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