In my Bolsa

Bolsa is portuguese for “bag”. Day by day the content in mine has increased but I seem to have reached a plateau so here is what I need to carry around on a daily basis so far in terms of “NEED” and “NICE”. 

NEED

• A bag that isn’t to heavy on its own and durable. I need to be able to close it shut and hang it over my shoulder in order to secure it under my arm in unsafe areas.
• I like to keep my most important things in a cross body purse where nobody can snatch it without having to lug 63kg of me with it. That’ll give em a whiplash!
• RNE is the official dokument in which the Brazilian government acknowledges us as residents. Our passports stay locked in a safe.
• My international drivers license. Araraquara is not a very pedestrian/cycling friendly place and the distances between home, school, gym, friends all require driving so I keep it on me in case I get pulled over by the 3 traffic cops I’ve seen since we got here.
• Mosquito repellent. Brazil is going into the hotter season and with heat and rain come mosquitoes. Diseases spread by mosquitoes and found in Brazil are malaria, denguefever, yellow fever, chikungunya and Zika-virus.
• First aid kit
• Charging device for my IPhone. Google translating, google navigating and basically everything by google drains my battery in 1/2 day. This device can charge my phone 3 times before the device itself needs to be charged.
• Coins. Like I said before driving is the mode of transportation here. Parking meters don’t accept smaller change than R$1. So that 50 centavos coin you find in the bottom of your purse so you can run in and get that loaf of bread?…. Not gonna cut it. I know. I tried.

NICE

• Wet wipes. One of the enlightenments of parenthood.
• Anti-bacterial hand gel. Although I have to say Brazilians are very hygenic. In many restaurants you will find a washing station where you can wash your hands before your meal. After your meal you will find soap, anti bac gel as well as floss and listerene in the restrooms.
• Sunglasses. Araraquara is called “Morada do Sol” which means “Home of the Sun”. Nuff said.
• A good read. Or any read really. Waiting is a national pastime. Where ever you go you have to wait. When we visited the federal police last week we were shown into the administrators office, with whom we had an appointment, and waited for 15 minutes. When she finally arrived she sauntered in with toothbrush and toothpaste in hand, put them slowly in her purse and sat down at her computer as if we weren’t there.
• Water! One of the things I miss the most is cold, clean tap water. Here you can only drink bottled water or so officials recommend.
• Bikini. Because it’s torture watching others cool off in the pool when the temperature reaches 40 degrees. You just never know when you might need it.

That is what’s in my bolsa at the moment.

Writing this I got lots of new ideas for posts. Mosquitoes, drinking water, hygiene etc. I will get on it. If there is anything you would like to know about let me know.

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