It's only been three days, and Gabi and Mason already smell like Brazil.
I'm sure everyone has their own smell that they associate with places they've been. For me, it's the laundry soap that my mother-in-law uses. It's on all the clothes. It's in the air, especially after she irons. My kids rub their faces against a tummy or shoulder and then their heads take on that heavenly smell that only originates here.
I wonder if she uses a popular brand, because we'll be walking in the mall, or down a street, and I'll get a whiff and have to stop to take it in. I must look like an idiot, suddenly stopping to sniff the air, and then sighing, but I can't help myself.
After we return home, I'll unpack and put away clothes that my mother-in-law washed but weren't worn, and our whole upstairs suddenly smells like Brazil. And when I pull them out days or weeks later to wear, the scent of laundry soap is still so strong that it transports me back to my in-law's apartment, and I bury my face in them to keep me there longer. Or I'll pick Gabi up from school and bend down to give her a hug and the smell will hit me. I'll think, That's Brazil! And hug her a little bit longer.
It may sound strange, but the thing I'm enjoying the most here in Brazil is that smell. It makes me feel so happy.
Reading your post , It make remeber the great brazilian music samba .
ReplyDeleteI love brazil.
love that!! totally have those smells too, weird!!
ReplyDeleteBring some laundry detergent home! Not a ton (since it's so heavy), but just enough for a couple of loads now and again when the smell has long faded away.
ReplyDeleteOh I love that you have a smell like that. It really does make a huge difference. I'm definitely a smell person, too. Do you ever import some of the laundry soap?
ReplyDeleteHey Laura, it's only been a few day and I miss you already. It's so wonderful how you express yourself. I can just seeing you stopping in the middle of the mall sniffing away. It sound like your having a good time. Tell us so more!
ReplyDeleteJen
I feel that same way about Denmark. It's great you have those smells to make us smile and remember wonderful times. ;-)
ReplyDeleteSmells are powerful to be sure. I've been known to stop and sniff the air as well. Glad you're having a good time.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya. When I go back to Spain or even in Tuscany last year, there is that certain "sunny" smell. I wonder if it has to do with actual sun or that often times things are line dried. On the flip side my own mother wears FAR TOO MUCH of the same perfume. I'll walk into a department store and smell "her" then spend the next ten minutes in the car crying about being so far from my family.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it funny how smell, more than any other sensory experience, can remind us so strongly of something from our past? I grew up in England and the smell of cooking brussels sprouts reminds me of Sundays at my grandmother's house, the smell of violets reminds me of a perfume I used to be able to get over there--and there are a million other smells that I only associate with England!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! Thanks for stopping by mine!
I'm a smell person too... I have so many that I love. Probably my favorite is the way the grandparents house smells... woodsmoke and coffee with my grandma's laundry detergent mixed in there. Everything is right in my world when I smell those smells.
ReplyDeleteHope you are enjoying your time in Brazil!
I love the smell of clean good smelling laundry. Did you find out what she uses or what it is that makes it smell so nice?
ReplyDeleteI have no knowledge of Brazil, but I know a lot about the value of happy smells. My grandparents' place was like that. I loved walking in and smelling *them*. When they passed away and we packed up their home a few months later, I cried because the smell seemed to leave with their belongings. But a happy ending awaited. I'd taken all the photo albums and a lot of my grandparents' books. They sit in a closet in my room. Sometimes I open the door just to smell their home again and to feel them around me.
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