Carrossel

Last month I started interacting with Brazilian children on a more formal basis – at nursery school. The playgrounds in the public parks are okay, but I was getting a little bored with the metal and concrete, the ground is often wet, and meeting new kids everyday has its drawbacks. But around the corner from my house is Carrossel, a small preschool that has a class of under-two year-olds, which is unusual in these parts. They play inside, on a covered patio, and in a private back yard, all filled with state-of-the art plastic toys and arts-and-crafts. So I gave it a try.

I go see the "kids" (the word I say every time my folks ask me if I want to go to Carrossel) four mornings a week. It’s actually just four hours a day, but during that time I play and eat both snack and lunch. My Portuguese is improving - my first words were beijos (kisses) and arroz (rice). First we kiss, then we eat. Sounds good to me. Since this is gaúcho territory, once a week we lunch on what they call churrascuria. But by now I’m no fool to the difference. Where are the all-you-can-eat chicken hearts, pork ribs, and beef sirloin, not to mention the “traditional” dance show?

Aside from the inevitable language confusions –- for instance, they call snack “lanche” -- the other big difference from my daycare in the States is that in this class, I’m one of the oldest ones. It’s a bit different being a role model and I miss hanging out exclusively with the big kids. But we often get to play with the older kids outside or in their room which has a cool plastic house. One of the triplets in my class and I played on the first day I was there. I mainly worked the counter, while she cooked up the salgadinhos and feijoada. Aside from the triplets, I tend to play with Julia, Chico, Pedro, Clara and Tiago. The mornings are light there as most parents drop their kids off in the afternoon. But my afternoons are too busy with napping to stay all day.