The art of solving problems you did not know existed

It has been a while since I first thought about this, writing my blog in Portuguese and English (one day, soon I hope, it will be in Italian as well). Here I write about my thoughts about living away from my home country and every day life in Italy. I was born and rised in Brazil, where I also learned English, so pardon me if you find some errors – I’m really not an English native speaker!

The art of solving problems you did not know existed

Yeah, that’s it. Living in another country is the art of solving problems that you didn’t even know that could exist. “oh, but you live in Europe, nothing can be that bad!”

No, it isn’t bad. But it’s a very important part of the adapting process and of your real life, the one side tourists don’t get do see.

For example, nobody from a tropical country knows that there’s an especial product that you have to put in the windshield wiper fluid so it doesn’t freeze during winter. And how about putting chains in your tires? I really pray that I’d never ever have to put these on my on. I would definitely stay inside of the car crying waiting for someone to do it for me!

Last week, after a very cold month, I cleaned the fireplace. There was – literally – one kilo of ashes! Guys, I’ve never had a fireplace in my life! I thought it was self cleaning!

And the garbage? This is another problem that I deal with on a daily basis and never thought could be this challenging. Here in Brescia, we have FIVE types of garbage: organic, plastic, paper, undifferentiated, tin and glass. Everything single piece of trash has to be thought through. Don’t forget to wash as it will be sitting in your house for a little while (they collect only once a week). But I feel really grown up when I read the labels just to be sure where to put it!

About the safety where I live, you can sleep careless knowing that your front door is opened (done that several times), buuut you will have to buy a 30 euros chain to make sure you find your bike is where you’ve left it.

Here, you could find clothes from all around the world (specially from India), but you will ask your mom to bring you some denim that are a good fit for your brazilian curves or a pair of leggings thick enough not to be seen trough when you bend.

At some point, you’ll find out that this amazing supermarket where you buy brie cheese and swiss chocolate for a bargain do not have the ingredients to make your favorite dishes. And you're going to turn to that bad looking chinese market around the corner...

All the medicines have different names. Even those commons you used to get for a headache. But you’re only going to find out that on this one day that you’re really late and have to run to pharmacy to get and an anti-acid.

Did you know an eggplant rottens in three days if it stays outside your fridge? Well, when I lived in Brazil, I had all my meals in a restaurant near by. Here, I cook EVERY SINGLE MEAL and now I can tell how long any vegetable survive around here!

No, these are not problems, they’re more about the way you get to live your life in a completely different place with a different culture. It worths! The moment you wake up and realize that you’re exactly where you wanna be all these things vanishes away.

I’d like to know from you, expatriated like myself, how hard has been it?