Brazil and back again

Josh loved Brazil. Mary loves Kirkwood. For the Ralston siblings, life was turned upside down when their mother, Jennifer Ralston, accepted a new position in 2012 working for Monsanto in São Paulo, Brazil. The warm temperatures, vast wildlife and new set of international friendships led Josh Ralston, junior, to fall in love with the city. Although his sister, Mary Ralston, freshman, enjoyed her experience in the Brazilian city, her friends and family in St. Louis remained at the forefront of her mind.

“Their initial reaction [after hearing about the move] was shock,” Jennifer said. “Then it was a mixture of excitement and sadness to leave their friends.”

Mary was driven to tears. She had always thought about growing up in Kirkwood. Although the unknowns of Brazil terrified her at first, Mary was determined to embrace the time she had left with her friends and pushed away her disappointment.

“I had so many friends here [in Kirkwood], and never imagined leaving,” Mary said. “But I wouldn’t have had as much fun if I was always worrying about when we were going to leave and how much I was going to miss everyone.”

According to Josh and Mary, São Paulo was like a whole new world when compared to Kirkwood. The city, which has almost 20 times the population of St. Louis, is always busy. Initially, Mary was concerned about the atmosphere of São Paulo which she viewed as dirty, polluted and unorganized. With time, however, the Ralstons came to love the parrots, toucans and monkeys thriving in their backyard and the year-long warm temperatures.

“It was a really big change in general,” Josh said. “It was not just friends, but also everything we were accustomed to.”

English is uncommon in São Paulo and one of the biggest challenges Josh and Mary faced in Brazil was learning to understand Portuguese. The siblings attended separate schools, both of which were American institutes taught in English. Both Mary’s school, Graded, and Josh’s school, Chapel, offered the Ralstons a sanctuary from the new Portuguese world around them and opened the door for new friendships. One of Josh’s new classmates in Brazil, Naoki Takano, ended up becoming one of his best friends.

“Josh is very shy, but he’s a kind, funny boy who likes to joke around,” Takano said. “He’s also a hard worker, and he makes steady efforts to accomplish [everything] that he loves.”

Although both Mary and Josh were enthusiastic about making new lifelong friends while in Brazil, it was just as important to Mary to maintain connections with her friends in Kirkwood. By using Facetime, Mary kept an active friendship with her best friend Abbey Painter, freshman, despite the distance between them.

“When you are true friends with someone, they can be gone and you feel no distance,” Painter said. “As soon as they come back, it’s like they were never gone.”

This past year, after living in Brazil for more than three years, Josh and Mary heard the news that they were moving back to Kirkwood. Josh was disappointed he was leaving São Paulo. He had a home there and knew he would miss all of his friends, including Takano. Contrarily, Mary was enthusiastic about the move. She knew she would be sad about losing all of her new friends, but was more excited to reconnect with old ones and return home.

“I like Brazil, but I like [Kirkwood] better,” Mary said. “I didn’t want to stay there for another four years [of high school].”

Back in Kirkwood, Mary currently runs for girls’ cross country and hopes to play soccer in the spring after fine-tuning her soccer skills in Brazil. Josh is a part of a radio controlled flying club at Buder Park and has a strong interest in aviation. Mary feels like she’s jumping right back into her old life after reconnecting with Abbey and other old friends. Josh, however, feels like he has a fresh start and is excited to make the best of it. Though they are happy to be home, both siblings said their time in Brazil was a key component of creating who they’ve become today.

“I probably would have been a different person if I stayed here my whole life,” Mary said. “[Josh and I] got to meet so many people from so many different places while we were there. It was an amazing experience.”

art by Erica Miget

photos by Jordan Roundtree