Hi all,
I´m 28 years old, Australian, married, and currently living in a small city called Itapetininga, in Sao Paulo. My husband is Brazilian, which is my reason for moving here.
I have been here a little over 3 months now, and in that time i´ve managed to learn enough Portuguese to converse with locals, go shopping alone, and i am slowly working up the courage to drive around my city by myself (i have zero sense of direction). I´m also working part time at one of the local English schools here.
My husband and his family are super supportive, and all of the people i´ve met so far have been lovely, but i have never felt more isolated in my life!!! In a city of 180,000 people, I am the only foreigner (that I´m aware of). And its a close knit commmunity, so if there was another expat here, I´m sure i would hear about them!
i was such an independent, determined, vivacious person in Melbourne, but here i feel almost completely dependent on my husband; as i´m not confident to go to the bank or travel to larger cities alone. I have lost confidence to make friends, because i worry that i won´t understand something or that i cannot express myself properly in Portuguese.
I suppose my question is, is anyone else in this situation? I am so lonely here, and sometimes i just want to chat with people going through the same feelings and frustrations as I am. EVERYTHING here is different to my hometown of Melbourne, and finding the silver lining is becoming increasingly difficult. I don´t want my difficulties and frustrations to cause problems in my relationship or take a toll on my physical/emotional wellbeing.
Any thoughts/advice/shared experiences would be greatly appreciated!