New Photos!

Here's my third album:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039165&id=1547790310&l=910fd5127f

New M.O.

So I was posting stuff pretty frequently there for a while, then things got a little crazy and I got behind and I couldn't possibly do justice to everything I've done in the past month via blog post. Plus it just would have taken forever to write. Thus, I've decided to simply post the album links for all the photos I've taken during my adventures and you can keep up with me that way instead. Picture's worth a thousand words right? Well I have about 400 photos to share so far. Let's call it even. Check back every once in a while for updates, and enjoy!

Album #1 Click here

Album #2 (work in progress) Click here

In the swing of things

The two month mark has come and gone, and I'm feeling more and more like I actually live here. It was especially apparent to me when George came to visit and I had to speak for him and navigate for us the whole time. A bizarre feeling, but I'm pretty proud of myself. I loved getting to show him around all my favorite places and some new ones. We had a rowdy good time, and I was very sad to see him leave. Sibling trips need to happen way more often. Side note: George may not have spoken a word of Portuguese, but hearing him speak Spanish was extremely impressive and sad. I really think I've forgotten most of what I learned. I can understand everything that's being said, but now I couldn't form a sentence without thinking about it for about 5 minutes first. And I studied Spanish for a long time. I guess you're not supposed to try to master them simultaneously, but still. I was really good at it for a while there.

I've recently begun a long process of trying to figure out what I want to do after college. There's work and there's graduate school, neither of which I am too sure about. I thought I'd start by volunteering somewhere in São Paulo while I'm here, to see what kinds of options there are in my area of interest. The problem with interdisciplinary majors is that I don't really have a focus. I know I want to work with Latin America in the realm of social and/or economic development. What I don't know is in what capacity--government agency, non-profit, for-profit, diplomacy, MNC, NGO, in the U.S. or down here... Feeling slightly lost and ignorant. Fortunately, I heard from some Manna friends about a microfinance/social enterprise non-profit that is working in Brazil now called Ayllu, so today I met up for coffee with it's founder, Melissa, to talk about volunteer opportunities. She's wonderful and what she's done is very impressive. Unfortunately, Ayllu is still super small (founded in 2007) and doesn't have room for volunteers, plus they are getting ready to move to Curitiba where there is more infrastructure and it will be easier and more efficient to support local businesses the way they need. I hadn't had to answer this question straight out until Melissa asked me, but I think what I really care about most is protection/development/improvement of education and the environment in Latin America. Good news is that Melissa's temporary SP office is at The Hub, a hotspot for really cool organizations like hers that are trying to change the world, basically, and she's going to send my information to all its members to see if they need volunteers. And she sounded like they did. Definitely excited to see how it turns out.

In other news, I've done a ton of stuff on my list of things to do in São Paulo! Went to MASP, ventured out more in Pinheiros, Jardins, and Itaim, ate Chinese and Japanese in Liberdade, went to some new restaurants/bars, bought my first Brazilian bikini, partied on Rua Augusta among SP's crazies, finally went to the jazz bar down the street, and had a lovely picnic in Ibirapuera. Sometimes I can't believe I'm getting school credit for being here.

So that's my status. Making plans for St. Patty's Day 2010, as I'm sure you all are. And then Thursday I'm going to be singing "Parabens pra você" (the birthday song) via Skype to the most wonderful, loving, beautiful, supportive, amazing mother in the entire world!!! Whom I will get to see in just 11 days!! Eeeeek!

But until then I get to spend this weekend in Paraty, a gorgeous beach town northeast of here in the state of Rio de Janiero, with the CIEE group. Major relaxation is in order. And lots of sunscreen. Can't wait!

Back to School

Sorry for the super long delay in writing this post but I've been pretty busy. Anyway, Carnaval was a blast! Hard to believe it's already over. Florianopolis has some beautiful beaches and our hostel was a really cool place to stay. It's owned by a couple of really sweet girls who DJ at a club in town, so we got some VIP access one night. The music selection was one of the funniest things I've ever heard--including Spice Girls and Hanson? A few Aussies and Swedes were staying at the hostel too so we made some interesting new friends. It was so nice to wake up whenever, head to the beach, drink some caipirinhas, jump some waves, walk around, people watch (ooh so many thongs), and head back to get ready for the night. The Florianopolis Sambodromo was really fun, but, not surprisingly, the parade was not as impressive as São Paulo's. The Centro had some street parties going on, and we were bumping into and meeting tons of random people from all over. Unfortunately, I got extremely sunburned one day at the beach and have been recovering for the past two weeks. Sunscreen doesn't cut it here I guess. Hopefully I'll figure it out, because we have two trips to Paraty and Rio coming up and I cannot afford another burn like that one. Regardless, getting psyched for Paraty and Rio! This time it'll be the entire CIEE group traveling together as opposed to me and a few of my friends, so should be interesting. Also, George is coming to visit next week! Yaaayy! I can't wait to show him around. He has threatened to say nothing but "AMURRICA!" the entire time, so hopefully we won't get arrested or mugged.

Last Saturday I finally made it to the flea market in Praça Benedito Calixto, and it was awesome. Tons of antique silver, photographs, records, leather goods, old postcards, clothes, knives, sunglasses, jewelry, you name it. I could have spent all day there. Plus there's apparently some really great ethnic food in the middle of the square I need to try next time. I've made a running list of things I need to do around the city and it's pretty long so I better get cracking. One of my friends and I have pledged to get out more and explore the city, and we're starting this week with MASP and Avenida Paulista. My list also includes 39 different bars/baladas. It's a tough job but someone's gotta do it.

My first few classes have gone pretty well. I can generally understand everything going on. Four hours of one class is a lot, though, and feels even longer during a night class when you can hear hundreds of people partying on the street behind PUC. On top of that, I'm trying to concentrate in another language. Thank God I only have one night class. I've just tried to read my first assigned reading, and it's also extremely challenging. The workload wouldn't be that much in English, but it takes so much longer when I have to consult my Portuguese dictionary at least once every other sentence. I'm sure it'll get easier, but jeez. The Evolution of of Political Citizenship in Brazil? Not quite ready for this vocab.

My new language teacher, Laïs, seems great. We only have language class twice a week now, and culture class once a week with Wilson. No classes on Fridays! First time in my whole life.

Just discovered a couple of events coming to São Paulo I'm super excited about. Cirque du Soleil is performing Quidam throughout March, and I've heard it's amazing. I loved Alegria when I was little, so I'm interested to see how this one compares. Also, the world's largest rave is coming to São Paulo on April 17th! It's called Sensation, usually gathers about 40,000 people, really famous DJs, and everyone wears white. Never been to a rave, but I'm in Brazil, and this is as big as they come, and I like to party, so why not?

Also, my mom and Ellen are coming to São Paulo at the end of March! They're going to whisk me away to Manaus and then Rio right before Easter. Can't really believe it's happening... the Amazon and Ipanema in the same week... I think my life will be complete. I can already tell the next few months are going to go by way too quickly.

Oh! And my buddy Dillon's coming to SP this Thursday with some UVa students on some kind of service trip for 10 days. He thinks he'll have time to meet up, so could be an SJS reunion in the mix. So many visitors! Must. Remember. Go. To. Class.

Carnavalização 2k10

Spending my 21st birthday in Foz de Iguaçu was one of the best decisions I ever made. I actually turned 21 on a bus full of sleeping smelly Brazilians--without any alcohol--but it was definitely worth it once we arrived on the Brazilian side of the falls. It was one of the most spectacular things I've ever seen. There was a walkway that put us out over the water and surrounded on all sides by waterfalls, probably 300° of falls. There are several different levels of waterfalls, so we had some above and below us, which means we got pretty much soaked. Very refreshing after spending, count 'em, TWENTY hours on the bus (we thought it was going to be sixteen). Despite the length of the trip, it was really awesome watching the Brazilian countryside roll by. It's a huge part of Brazil that I'd never seen before and it's beautiful. The hills are covered with farms and dairy cows, and the sunset was gorgeous. Also, the bus driver put on a bootlegged Avatar DVD in Portuguese. Sweet. After hiking around the Brazilian side and taking in the views, we went back into town and got some dinner where I had my very first legal beer!! Woo!! Went back to the hostel and spent the rest of the night swimming, hanging around the pool, and meeting a bunch of fellow international travelers. That was one of my favorite parts, just asking people where they're going and why. We met Germans, Dutch, Britons, Mexicans, Argentinians, Spaniards, Australians, Isrealis... and they were all so nice.

The next day we set off on a bus with a bunch of other hostel guests to the Argentinian side of the falls. Our bus driver was CRAZY and would whistle the same 4 second song every 2 minutes. Without fail. For an hour and a half. His response to most things was overwhelmingly, "MAMMA MIA!" and he enjoyed referring to everyone by their country of origin. We felt apprehensive when handing over all our passports for him to take into the immigration checkpoint, but sure enough he returned with passports in tact. I officially have an Argentina stamp in my passport now! A slightly sketchy process, because no one on the bus ever saw or spoke to an immigration official, but we crossed over the border nonetheless. Anyway, we made it to the park and quickly (and sadly) realized we had forgotten almost all of our Spanish. Anything we tried to say came out a weird mix of Spanish and Portuguese. It was pretty frustrating/hilarious, but we managed, and started hiking around. Looking back, the Brazil side has more beautiful, panoramic views, but the Argentina side is more fun because we could get much closer to the falls, and there was also a short rafting tour that took us underneath one of the falls, the highlight of the trip in my opinion. The key word here is under, not behind, but directly under. We had been walking for hours (Iguaçu is the largest waterfalls reserve in the world), hot and sweaty and tired, and then we just got pummeled by tons of freezing water. I couldn't even open my eyes there was so much water hitting me from every direction. It was awesome! Felt like a new person after that. Then we took a little train to Garganta del Diablo, the tallest and biggest single fall in the park. It was amazing. We had to walk about half a mile on a walkway over the surprisingly calm river to get there, then we started to hear the rush of water, and the cloud of mist got bigger as we got closer. Then the river drops off into a massive semicircle opening--the the water was so loud you had to shout to be heard, and the mist was almost blinding. Just unbelievable (picture above is Garganta).

The people watching was absurdly amusing, the wildlife was adorable (see Coati pics left), aaand I got pretty sunburned even after re-applying sunscreen about five times. What are ya gonna do. On Sunday, we checked out of the hostel, and Alicia and I went to the Parque das Aves before having to catch our bus, while the other three lounged by the pool and waited for us. Totally worth it. The park is kind of like a zoo, in that all the birds have large but enclosed habitats, but then there are some habitats where we could go inside and be like inches from toucans and parrots and macaws. So cool! So many weird and beautiful birds. I know the females like their males colorful, but I'll never really understand how neon colored feathers survived evolution. They had birds from all over Brazil and South America, in addition to other places around the world. There was also a butterfly/hummingbird habitat, and a reptile section. Unfortunately, I had spent my camera battery the day before in Argentina, so I couldn't take more than 4 pictures before the thing totally died. Such a shame. Especially because we were lucky enough to witness the most bizarre, fear-inducing bird I've ever seen or heard of. It's called the Southern Cassowary, or Double Wattled Australian Cassowary (Casuar in Portuguese), and it's the closest thing I've ever seen to a dinosaur. It apparently feeds on nuts and fruit, but is also known to have KILLED HUMANS BY KICKING THEM TO DEATH. What. The. Hell. Just read this article abstract:  

This species is Australia's largest bird and holds a reputation for being dangerous. Cassowaries and ostriches are the only birds world-wide that have caused human deaths by physical attack. Incidents occur every year in Queensland; the incidence of cassowary attacks in Queensland is reviewed. Data were obtained for 221 cassowary attacks, of which 150 were against humans, 75% of these by cassowaries fed previously by people. The feeding of cassowaries appears to change their natural behaviour, making them bold and aggressive. Victims were chased or charged in 71% of the incidents, and kicked in 15%. Less frequent actions included pushing, pecking, jumping on, butting with the head and snatching food. The cassowaries appeared to be expecting or soliciting food from humans (73% of the incidents), defending food (5%), and defending themselves (15%) or their chicks or eggs (7%). Contrary to popular belief, jogging did not incite cassowaries to attack. Although cassowaries should not be considered dangerous, they can cause serious injuries. Seven attacks against humans resulted in serious injuries (puncture wounds, lacerations, broken bone) and subsequently one death, caused by cassowaries kicking or jumping on victims. In the single fatal attack, the victim was trying to kill the cassowary. Four of the seven seriously injured victims were crouching or lying on the ground.     Journal of Zoology (1999)

YIKES. Here it is folks. Mid-attack. The ones we saw at the Parque das Aves weren't in an aggressive mood, but they were huge and scary. Gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. Just YouTube anything about cassowaries or cassowary attacks and you'll get it.

Anywho, the return bus trip back was actually TWENTY TWO hours due to the fact that we were stopped for a good three hours in middle of our drive at 3:00AM. The polícia randomly chose our bus to pull over, and it just so happened that some idiot had bought too much stuff in Paraguay and had his bags confiscated. The guy then gathered money from people on the bus to bribe the police, which made them even angrier. Subsequently the police decided everyone's bags needed to be searched. Also, a couple kids on the bus didn't have identification and were taken off the bus. This was several hours away from Foz, so my question is why didn't the bus company do something about these people before they let them on the bus in Foz. Would have avoided any problems if we were pulled over. You can imagine how much fun it was to sit on a bus in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night for hours, sleep deprived and cranky. To top it off, this particular bus did not have air conditioning. So add sweaty to that list. Yaayyy. This bus ride was most unpleasant and bizarre, but overall the trip was tons of fun and just beautiful. A relaxing retreat after being in a big, polluted, crowded city for a month.

This week has technically been the first week of classes at PUC. However, nothing actually starts in Brazil until after Carnaval. So we were advised to attend class to see if professors showed up, and if they did, to give them a letter from CIEE telling them who we are and about the exchange program. Out of the three classes I attended, only one actually took place. So we'll see how everything is after this week. When I showed up on campus on Monday, I was greeted by a sea of first year students who had been colorfully painted and given nasty haircuts by upperclassmen. People were drinking on the street at 7:30AM. And they continued to drink all day long, of course not going to class, and at night moved the party to the street behind PUC which is full of bars and restaurants where the students hang out. Pretty fun first week of school if you ask me. I didn't go to any big parties on campus this week, but one night I got some drinks with friends at one of those bars, and we met some PUC students. They were really nice, and it's always good to practice Portuguese with young people. We always end up speaking English with each other even though we know it's a terrible habit.

This afternoon kicks off the Carnaval celebration! The city as a whole stops working and starts partying. Carnaval technically ends on Ash Wednesday, but I don't think anyone goes to work or school next Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. Most Paulistas leave town for Rio or Salvador for Carnaval. Tonight, I'm going to the Sambodromo here in São Paulo to watch all the samba schools parade from 10PM tonight until around 6AM tomorrow. Then I'm traveling with a few friends to a beach town called Florianopolis in Santa Catarina on a bus that leaves at 11:15AM. I'm packing my bag today and we're going to regroup at my friend's house briefly at some point before heading to the bus terminal tomorrow. This is going to be a crazy night to say the least. Some American students from the CIEE business program are staying at our hostel as well, so should be a pretty fun group. The hostel looks cool, too: http://floriparadise.com/home.html Hopefully the bus rides are less eventful than before. Get ready for Carnaval stories when I get back (Thursday)!

"Sou Fiel, sou Gavião"

My first ever live futebol game (last Saturday, 23/1) was tons of fun and really wet--it rained for practically the entire game. It was one of those times where you just accept that whatever waterproof device you're using will eventually fail and you will be soaked to the bone, but you're not going anywhere. Hypothermia and hilarity ensued. São Paulo beat Rio Claro 3-0, which seemed to please most of the fans (both are SP teams, but the losing team was less popular). Surprisingly, the stadium was on the empty side, and people didn't get too worked up. I don't think it was a very important game.

The next day, a group of us went to a Samba school, which is more like a Mardi Gras krewe than an actual school. The show was extremely impressive--like a miniature Carnaval on a Sunday night. Escola de Samba Mocidade Alegre is one of the best schools in São Paulo, so I was really glad we got to see them. The whole performance is composed of a large drums/percussion band off to the side, some guitarristas on stage, several costumed sambistas--either in pairs or solo--dancing in the middle of the floor, and then a few other organized dance groups on the periphery of the floor. The audience is surrounding the dance floor, dancing of course, and also standing/dancing on second story platforms, where our group was. All the Brazilians knew all the words to the Mocidade Alegre song, and everyone just danced and sang for hours. A conga line formed on the floor and a bunch of people from our group went down to join in, so it was pretty funny watching them mix it up with all the dancers, whose costumes, by the way, were outrageous. I've never seen heels so tall, or feet move so fast... I don't know how they do it. The whole performance made me super excited for Carnaval in a couple weeks.


SP B-Day 2k10 (last Monday) was a great day, and more relaxed than I anticipated. I went with a group of friends to Parque Ibirapuera for a Jazz Sinfônica concert with special guest Ray Lema, a Congolese pianist and songwriter. It was absolutely beautiful. So beautiful in fact that I fell asleep in the sun and got an extremely unfortunate sunburn on the lower eight inches of both my shins, the only place I did not put sunscreen (damn you, leggings). Anywho, I've learned that Paulistas don't really fit into the party-all-the-time Brazilian stereotype, so you don't just stumble upon parties in the street every day, not even on a holiday. It's very common that Paulistas will go out of town on holidays so the city is actually a little calmer.

After the concert I went to Avenida Paulista with some friends to the Livraria Cultural, a great bilingual bookstore, where I picked up some bird books for my bros and some Brazilian cookbooks so I can make brigadeiros and feijoada for all of y'all when I get back. Nom nom.

This past week was really fun and full--did some shopping, chose the classes I'll take at PUC, took a language quiz, went out to some really fun bars, paid a visit to the Policía Federal to have my temporary residence approved, and had my first night going out solely with Brazilians! My friend Débora picked me up on Saturday and took me to her friend's house party a little outside the city, and it was pretty different than what I've been doing so far. The party was nothing unusual--grilling outside, playing cards (a game whose rules I will never learn)--but to have to speak Portuguese for an entire night with actual Brazilians... exhausting and interesting and hilarious. I learned a lot that night because I was forced to get comfortable listening and speaking and keeping up with multiple conversations at once. The main problem is that there is so much slang I don't know yet. It can make understanding really difficult. Hopefully once PUC classes start I'll be spending more time with locals and picking up more language like that.

Also, my second ever live futebol game occurred yesterday, and it could not have been more different than the first: Corinthians vs. Palmeiras, the craziest, most aggressive rivalry among São Paulo teams. It was insane. The Corinthians fan-base has a reputation of being especially rowdy, and they lived up to it. I've never heard so many Portuguese cuss words in my life. Fortunately we were in the middle priced section, which meant the rowdiest people were nowhere near us, nonethless everyone around us was screaming profanity and singing the fight songs and jumping off the walls nonstop. It was an exciting Sunday afternoon to say the least. The game was played in Corinthians' home stadium, so I was relieved to find out that the purple shirt I had worn was actually in accordance with Corinthians colors (black, white, purple). The Palmeiras visitors section was a sea of solid green, and even from a distance they seemed just as loud and rambunctious as the Corinthians fans. In the end Corinthians won, 1-0. There was much rejoicing. Ana Paula said it was good that I went to a Corinthians/Palmeiras game so early in my stay, because as the games get closer to the finals, they get rowdier and more dangerous and it's less likely that she'll even let me go to them. The picture shown above/right is one of several MASSIVE Corinthians banners that unrolled out over the crowd during the game. This one says "Gaviões da Fiel," (Loyal Hawks, or Hawks of the Loyal Torcida) which is not only the Corinthians Sports Club fan organization, but also a Samba school, and I read somewhere the largest fan organization in the world (?). Apparently, Ana Paula's oldest brother was the first white person to join back in the 80s. Crazy. (Torcida, by the way, in this context means something like "supporters" or "fan-base." The actual word means "twisted." You can make of that what you will.)

I took my final language exam this afternoon (not bad at all), and I turn in my final culture paper tomorrow. I can't believe this first month is over already! I'm super excited for Wednesday especially because a few friends and I are taking a little trip--Foz de Iguaçu, here we come!! It's a small town about 660 miles west of here in the state of Paraná, on the border between Brasil and Argentina. Sixteen hours by bus. Yikes. But it'll be worth it--275 waterfalls along 1.67 miles of the Iguaçu River. Garganta do Diabo (Devil's Throat) is the tallest fall: 269 feet. I can't waaaiittt. Pictures I've seen are absolutely beautiful, and we can go on both the Brazilian and Argentinian sides of the falls. Plus there is crazy good wildlife spotting to be done. 450 species of birds. Jealous, Matthew?

Observações

During my 13 days here, I have noticed some weird/cool/noteworthy things that have become part of my daily life. Here are a few of them:

1. Cafezinhos. I always drank my coffee with plenty of milk and Splenda back home in either a large mug or thermos, but these little bad boys have converted me. Cafezinhos are tiny cups of super strong coffee and people drink them outside sitting at cafes or, in my case, as a break in the middle of a three and a half hour language class. I end up having two or three so the size of the cup is kind of irrelevant, but they are so cute! I was walking around a mall last week and people were sitting at Starbucks drinking from teeny weeny little Starbucks mugs. I'm pretty sure they don't have those in the U.S. Anyway, I've come to enjoy strong black coffee as a result. Whodathunk.

2. Power outages. I endured a few of these in Ecuador, but I was only there for four weeks. The first one I experienced here was unfortunately one morning before class when I was about to take a shower. Aaaaand the water heater is electric... I shiver just remembering how cold that shower was. Of course, the power turned on the second I stepped out of the shower. There's no air conditioning here, so it really sucks when the power's out at the apartment because our little fans turn off. Today, the power shut off in the middle of culture class with a deafening thunderous boom. The projector turned off so we continued without PowerPoint and in the dark. No big deal.

3. Daily rain showers. These are pretty consistent during the summer. Usually every night, but sometimes they start in the afternoon. Everyone here has an umbrella on them at all times. If the rain starts during the day, it's likely to pause again before nighttime, and the funniest thing happens. The majority of people do not whip out their umbrellas. Instead they just stop whatever they're doing and wait. Dozens of people just standing under awnings or inside buildings watching the rain. It doesn't matter if the rain lasts 15 minutes or an hour, they will wait. Actually this lax attitude about time and schedule is pervasive. Unless it's in a more formal context, people show up for meetings or get togethers any time within about a two hour window of the previously planned time. It's amazing. It can be confusing when you have no idea when to leave to show up places or when class might end, but it's also nice that there's no pressure to be anywhere soon (especially because buses are so unreliable).

4. Grafite. There is so much graffiti here, it's hard to find an undecorated surface. But it's different than in the U.S. The majority of it is not meant to deface public or private property. It's funky art or poetry or political dissent or someone confessing their love for someone named Marcela. And it's everywhere. Some of them are extremely impressive paintings which look like they took days or weeks to complete. I've been trying to take pictures of them whenever I can, but I don't like taking my camera out much as it screams "I'M A TOURIST."

5. Staring. If you make eye contact with someone walking on the street in the U.S., it can be uncomfortable and one of the two parties usually averts their eyes quickly. However, in Brazil, people don't feel this discomfort. They will stare at you for way longer than necessary. I think it's part of the machismo culture, because it's usually men who are constantly checking out women this way, whistling, honking their car horns. It's apparently totally acceptable and unoffensive. Or, if people are offended, they don't act like it. There was lots of horn honking in Ecuador as well, but there are SO many more people here that it feels more frequent. So interesting, because it's like people have fewer inhibitions about expressing their approval of someone's appearance. In fact, it's encouraged and expected. Image is huge to Brazilians. I think that's why there are so few overweight people here. It's customary for people of any type of relationship to greet each other with complements on eachother's physical appearances. Que linda, que elegante, que bonita!

6. Ambiguous words. I've come across what feels like millions of Portuguese words that have at least 5 different meanings. For example, brigadeiro: a) a rank in the army in between colonel and general, b) someone who fights or quarrels in general c) a delicious chocolate truffle d) the name of the chocolate shop in my neighborhood, e) any one of the many streets with names like Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima or Avenida Brigadeiro Luís Antônio, f) Hotel Brigadeiro, or g) the neighborhood called Brigadeiro. When people say this word, it could be a person, place, or thing and I have no idea. Second example, chato: a) flat or level, b) boring, c) annoying, d) generally bad, e) rude. And the feminine version chata could mean any of these, or barge. It's tough because when I'm trying to say someone is annoying, I may not want to imply they are also rude. Or if someone is rude, they are not necessarily annoying. And if I say a girl boring, am I also calling her a barge?

7. Water, water everywhere... no wait, not really. No one drinks water here! They drink juice, beer, or coffee. That's it. Public water fountains are a rarity. You can buy water bottles but I think it's similar to that European thing where no one uses ice, and if you get water, it may or may not be "com gas." Also, when served a canned soda or bottle of beer, it always comes with a glass. It's evidently more appropriate to drink from a glass than anything else.

Those are my random musings for right now. In terms of news, my language quiz last week went well, I got a 96! Yay. And I don't have homework tonight because instead of class we're going to the Museu da Língua Poruguesa tomorrow. Yay!

I met Ana Paula's mother last Sunday. She's adorable. Ana Paula, her brother, her mother and I went for pizza last Sunday and Senhora could not stop petting Ana Paula's hair and hugging her and cooing and telling her how much she misses her (she lives 20 minutes away). It was really sweet.

On Tuesday, my friend Liz invited Ana Paula and me over to her apartment to have dinner with her and her host mom, Marisol. Our friend Elena came too, and it was sooo much fun! Girls night in but in another language. Marisol is hilarious, and I think she and Ana Paula really like hanging out; they met at a host family meeting before we got to Brazil, and Liz thinks Marisol had her cook just so she could have an excuse to have Ana Paula over. Either way, we were thinking about making it a tradition.

Earlier that day, I finally made it to Parque Ibirapuera with some friends, and it was gorgeous. It's the park in São Paulo most often compared to Central Park. It's huge and has tons if different outdoorsy things to do including several theaters, I believe, a few lakes, basketball courts, lots of people jogging, etc. I didn't have much time because I had to get home to get ready for Liz's dinner, but I sat in the shade reading my book while amigos Matt and Frank played soccer with some locals. It was super relaxing. I need to go back when I have more time (and when I don't have to be the soccer mom).

Good news! I'm becoming comfortable/confident in my bus riding abilities. I actually had two days this week where I was able to get to class and back without a single trip-up. More independent = happier Elizabeth. I also know the area better now so I've been going to the market for things, running around the neighborhood, checking out shops. Kinda freaked out about it there for a second, but thankfully it's feels less intimidating now.

Tons of stuff on the agenda for the weekend because it's São Paulo's 456th birthday on Monday. Which also means no class on Monday, woop woop. I probably won't blog again until next week so here goes:
Friday- Museu da Língua Portuguesa with the group, then my friend's 22nd birthday party, then there are two different music shows I could go to... not sure what we'll do
Saturday- Hopefully check out the Saturday flea market near my house, then my first Brazilian soccer game! São Paulo vs. Rio Claro
Sunday- Going to a samba school with the group, Escola de Samba Mocidade Alegre

There are also things going on all weekend that I really want to do but I can't possibly do all of them... a rock/ska/samba show at Ibirapuera, two art exhibits, a play, a documentary about São Paulo cinema, a contemporary dance performance, and on Monday there's a huge 30-hour festival in Centro, a jazz orchestra concert in Ibirapuera, and another play put on by a famous theater company.... oy. Wish me luck.

And happy birthday Paul Nugent!

Busy Weekend

Last Thursday was my second night out on the town, and it was so much more fun than the first weekend. We've all relaxed a bit, and Thursday's balada, Bar Camará (inside shown at right), was more low key. We got to watch the end of a futebol game on a big white screen, where a São Paulo team (Corinthians) beat a Rio de Janeiro team (Fluminense), so there was much rejoicing and singing by the locals. Corinthians is the best/most popular team in São Paulo and 2nd best in Brasil. Almost everyone I talk to is loyal to Corinthians. However, Ana Paula's mother is a fan of São Paulo, a team whose audience is apparently calmer. Ana Paula said Corinthians games can get violent... I believe it. It's no joke, futebol is religion.

On Friday after school, Ana Paula and her friend/employee Cristiana (I was mistaken earlier, her name is not Carolina) taught me how to use the ônibus to get to and from classes. We decided it was time to wean me off Ana Paula's car. Cristiana lives a lot further away from work and gas is really expensive so she's an ônibus expert. Ana Paula never takes the bus; it was hilarious watching her learn at the same time as me. We rode the bus to the CIEE office and from PUC back home (PUC shown at right and below). I came away from the lesson slightly overwhelmed, but determined to get it down. It was really frustrating that I felt so dependent on Ana Paula and her car. It's extremely annoying to be unable to get from point A to point B efficiently and without someone holding my hand. Monday would be the first official trial.

 That night, everyone in the program went to a Samba show at CESC, which is a community center with various locations around the city, much like a YMCA. The show was inredible. I love this music. I can't really dance to it well yet but it's so much fun to watch them play. And the entire audience knows all the words. The group is called Samba da Laje (right), and it's one of the best in SP. They started as a family group, and have been playing together for about 12 years. A guest sambista came on stage to sing after a while and he was announced as being pretty famous (below)--I can't remember his name but he was wonderful. 

On Saturday we took a field trip to Pinacoteca do Estado, the oldest art museum in São Paulo. Brazilian art is different than any other art I've seen because the tension between and mixture of African, European, and indigenous influences is plain as day. Sometimes on purpose, sometimes as a result of failed "anthropofagy," as Professor Wilson says--the concept of one culture consuming another and by this creating a completely different one; Wilson has been teaching around this theory all week. I'd never heard the word before but it makes sense when you study colonialism. Luckily, Wilson was our tour guide. He knows SO much about everything, it's ridiculous. Pinacoteca is located in the center of the city right next to the Jardim da Luz, which is a gorgeous park. We walked around for a while admiring waterfalls and fish until we started getting bitten by mosquitos and all we could think about was dengue fever. We tried several different exit gates but they were all locked. I've never walked so fast in my whole life.  (Right: Rodin sculpture, "Génie Du Repos Éternal," I was excited to see there after falling in love with the Musée Rodin back in February)

Once free of the humid dengue prison, we made our way to the Memorial da Resistência, a museum about life and politics under the military dictatorship. It felt a lot like a Holocaust memorial. There were lots of old documents and letters under glass, and the videos they had playing in different rooms were actually really helpful in clarifying the timeline of events. The museum is housed in the original building where political dissidents were imprisoned and tortured. For real. Pretty creepy.

It's super late and I have to get up early so I'm stopping there for now but much more on the weekend/week to come! Até mais

Primeiras aulas e o maior shopping de São Paulo

I'm slowly breaking out of my host/guest and director/student babysitting relationships. I went out on my own (with friends) for the first time today!

I'll start with yesterday. It was the first day of both our Portuguese Language and Brazilian Culture classes (aulas). Ana Paula drove me to class in her car and picked me up at the university afterwords, so I felt very taken care of, but kind of chaperoned. In any case, it's nice to not worry about safety in transit on my first few days.
My language teacher, Sérgio Duarte, is 45 years old and has a PhD from USP (the best university in Brazil) in Applied Linguistics. He's a certified translator and English-Portuguese interpreter, in addition to having a good working knowledge of Spanish and French. He's translated tons of documents for official use in São Paulo and for US and UK law firms. Pretty impressive guy, plus he's extremely patient and warm. If anyone wants a visual reference, he actually looks a LOT like that Brazilian guy in "Love Actually" that Laura Linney is in love with. I think the actor's name is Rodrigo Santoro. Anywho, the teacher and the class are both extremely interesting. All the program participants were split up into several different levels of skill, and there are six people in my class, which is nice because I don't feel as embarrassed when I make a mistake.
The CIEE offices are in a smallish two-level apartment, and my class is upstairs in a room with a window facing what would be the backyard if there weren't another apartment behind it. Our classroom window is always open, so we can hear everything that goes on in that apartment--it's pretty weird and cool at the same time. Because while I'm learning about all these different linguistic idiosyncrasies, hand gestures, slang, and speech habits of Paulistanos, I can hear the washer/dryer buzzer of some random person and smelling their laundry detergent and listening to their radio as if I were in their house. It feels almost too intimate that a stranger's life can be so exposed to me, but then, that's Brazil. And not that I've been spying, but I can also see really well into people's apartments in the building across the street from Ana Paula's from my bedroom. It's like "Rear Window," where I see all these different people living different lives stacked on top of one another. Sounds creepy (I swear I'm not), but I think it's one of those things I'll always remember about living here.

After Language class, we all walk to some restaurant in the neighborhood para almoçar, then on to PUC for Brazilian Culture class. Our class is in the Predio Velho, or Old Building, which is very pretty and colonial (complete with concrete crucifix in the quadrangle), compared with the New Building which is apparently very '70s ugly. Our professor is Wilson Honório da Silva, and I've come to respect him a great deal after only knowing him for a few days. He is 46 and was born in the favelas, or slums, to extremely poor parents and went on to get a scholarship to study at USP. He's now an author and co-founder/coordenator of the USP Center of Black Conscience. He fought against the Military Dictatorship in the '70s, personally contributing to the establishment of the United Workers' Socialist Party (PSTU).  He is also gay, and a self-proclaimed Marxist. It would be a gross understatement to say that his perspective on Brazilian culture is interesting. He speaks extremely fast and the acoustics in the room are awful so it's sometimes hard to catch certain words, but I can understand almost everything, and his lectures are enlightening to say the least. I feel like I'm getting VIP access to all the crucial issues Brazilians have been/are thinking/talking about for centuries.
Another funny Brazil-y thing: for two consecutive days during this class, there has been some sort of party or celebration or show consisting of extremely loud music out in the quadrangle, which is right outside our room. It was so loud that Wilson had to shut the door and even then, the noise was distracting. I have no idea what they were doing out there, and when I asked the student director sitting next to me today, she shrugged and said, "É PUC." "That's PUC" for you, I guess. Maybe tomorrow I'll pretend to go to the bathroom and sit outside for a minute to watch because I'm always disappointed when class is over and the quad has completely cleared out. I'll keep you updated.

Yesterday after classes Ana Paula picked me up and took me to the mall because I needed a few things from the drugstore and it was close. It wasn't just any mall, though; it was the biggest mall in São Paulo. It was actually enormous. And the best part is that malls here are called shoppings. Not the action, but the actual building. As in, "Let's go to the shopping." Hilarious. Anyway, she called her brother Alex and he met up with us for some ice cream. He is really funny, and he and Ana Paula have a very sweet relationship. He actually went to PUC, so he was telling me all about the university and comparing it with others in Brazil. Ana Paula went to Mackenzie Presbyterian University (also in São Paulo), and she had a lot to say about it too. Alex is a lawyer so we broached the subject of politics, and I explained how consistently drilled into my mind it has been that it is extremely risky to discuss religion or politics with Brazilians. They both assured me that it's OK when you're with friends, and that Brazilians are not so sensitive. So I guess it depends on who you ask. It was fun getting to see Ana Paula interact with her brother and listen to her talk about her country.

Today's classes were just as exciting as yesterday's, but I won't bore you with details. What I was most excited about today was that after school... I didn't go straight back home!! I called Ana Paula to tell her not to pick me up because I was going to Avenida Paulista with some friends and then to see a movie at six. I was happy to hear that she had no problem with it, and she offered to pick me up afterwords if I needed her. So we hopped on the treacherous rollercoaster that is the ônibus and rode for about 10 minutes to the Avenida. There's a mall there that we went to during our stay at the hotel and a few people needed to buy cell phones and some just wanted to shop, etc. It also has a movie theater, and Wilson had told us we have to see the new biographical movie about Lula. He hated it, but we have to see it. Well. I understood maybe 40% of the dialogue, and I haven't studied Lula all that much yet, but it did seem slightly over-dramatized/romanticized. I think Lula may have paid the director actually. In any case, it was my first experience seeing a Brazilian movie without subtitles of any kind! Movin' on up...

Later on, I had a frustrating hiccup with my debit card, and my house key broke off in the keyhole upon returning home. Booo. Luckily, Ana Paula is wonderful and said she would help me call the bank tomorrow, and that she would have another copy of the key made, no problem at all. I'm really glad I didn't get stuck with a host who's snobby or distant or has five children. Many of my friends have told me they have families like that. Graças a deus!

A Room of One's Own

Sweet relief! I'm finally moved into Ana Paula's apartment. She is absolutely wonderful. We met last night at the hotel when all the students had dinner with their host families, and it could not have gone better. Of course, I was nervous speaking Portuguese with her but she was extremely helpful and reassuring. She even brought me a present! I learned that she in fact doesn't have two separate businesses--I had thought that she had a psychotherapy practice and a human resources business, but turns out she uses her psychology training within her human resources firm. She's the headhunter and she has an employee who conducts interviews. This employee, Carolina, is actually a friend of Ana Paula's, and the three of us just went out to lunch down the street from our apartment. Carolina doesn't speak much English but we were able to have a pretty decent conversation (I found out that Ana Paula is a fan of Madonna, The Police, and Bon Jovi). Ana Paula's been helping me with my Portuguese throughout the day, teaching me which phrases and words are most commonly used for certain things. I'm loving it. She showed me around the neighborhood (bairro) a little bit, and there are tons of cute little shops and restaurants.

Ana Paula's apartment building is really nice compared to most of the other ones I've seen. There's a security guard in a box outside who lets people into the gate, so it seem very safe. She's on the 11th floor, and her apartment is super cute. Very simple and put together. She has a housekeeper who comes once a week, I think, and does the laundry, etc. I have my own bedroom with two pretty large armoires, and several drawers underneath. I'll share a bathroom with Ana Paula, whose bedroom is right next to mine.
There's no air conditioning, and it's about 90 degrees outside, but there are a couple fans going here in the living room so it's pretty nice. She set me up with a Minimodem to plug into my computer so I can use the internet at home whenever I want. We just went to buy a cell phone for me and she helped set up my minutes and everything. So sweet.

Before I left the hotel with Ana Paula this morning, all the students had to take the oral part of the Portuguese placement test. I was called in to speak one-on-one with one of the Brazilian professors, and he asked me a few questions about why I am interested in Brazil, why it is important to the world, and how much experience I've had with Portuguese. Apparently I did well, because he told me afterwords that I would be taking the higher level class, which I think he will be teaching. So huzzah! I'm glad I didn't waste three semesters of Portuguese at Vandy. The Portuguese Language class starts tomorrow at 8:30am at the CIEE office, then afterwords I have Brazilian Culture class at the university (PUC). I think they are within walking distance of each other, but Ana Paula said she would drive me to my first class, and then maybe walk with me for the first several days until I know my way around.

Ana Paula gets back in about an hour, but I'm not sure what else we'll be doing today/tonight. Hopefully just relax a little bit. In fact, I may get a head start on that right now...

Até logo!

Exhaustion

First morning waking up in São Paulo! And I feel slightly crazed. Traveling yesterday was pretty rough on the old system, on top of which we stayed out dancing last night until about 2am, and I had to wake up at 6:30am. Needless to say I need a nap. But we get a few hours of down time today thankfully.

Debora and her friend Adriana picked me up at the airport and drove me to the hotel, which was really sweet of them. It was refreshing after struggling through customs with my (massive) bags to sit down and have the warm wind coming through the windows for an hour. It wasn't raining when I landed, nor has it really stormed yet like it was supposed to. However Debora said the rains have been causing tons of problems for the city and surrounding areas.

I said tchau to Debora and Adriana, and after checking in and putting our bags in our rooms, all the students who had arrived at that point went out to lunch together at the mall down the street with some CIEE program leaders (who are actually Brazilian students our age). I've gotten to know some pretty cool people, and I've met even more people whose names I can't remember. I imagine I'll get to know them better in time, but so far I have a few go-to friends and they're really fun. Kelly (girl I knew from my Portuguese class at Vandy) is my roommate while we're in the hotel, so it's nice to be with someone familiar.

After lunch one of the Brazilian students took us to buy cell phones, which takes an absurd amount of time when you arrive at the tiny kiosk with 20 people. Debora said she would lend me her old phone so all I had to buy was a SIM card, which I did, but now I'm going back today to get a phone because I don't really know when I'll see her again. Anywho, we had an orientation meeting at 5pm yesterday, then dinner at the hotel. We left to go dancing around 10pm, en masse, which proved a little embarassing. If we didn't already stick out enough, just imagine the attention a tour of 35 or 40 people walking down 5th Avenue would attract, if 5th Avenue were in a society where people not only made eye contact but tended to stare unabashedly. I can't wait to move into my homestay and not feel THAT much like a tourist anymore.

Our enormous party walked throughout the city for what seemed like about 3 miles to a club that turned out to be closed, so we took taxis to another club called Geni (shown below). There was a live band and lots of people were dancing. It was pretty fun/funny; our whole group kind of finally let loose. Really entertaining getting to witness timid American boys dancing within inches of saucy brasileiras. Also interesting was the mix of Brazilian and American songs the band played. And all the Brazilians knew all the words. They may not all speak English, but they can sure as hell sing some Sly and The Family Stone.

I've met several Brazilians around town at this point, and speaking with them is so exciting, because they're so excited that you want to speak Portuguese. I've gotten some enthusiastic feedback about my Portuguese, so hopefully they're not flattering me too much. However, any slight criticism in this culture is considered offensive so I doubt they would correct me if I made a mistake. Also, they like to respond with any English they know when they find out I'm American. Oh well. I'm trying!

We got up early this morning for some more orientation and to take a Portuguese language placement test which will divide into two classes, A and B, for the rest of this month. It wasn't too hard. I'll find out how I did tomorrow. We just had lunch in the hotel, and now we get a few hours to do whatever before another orientation meeting at 4:15pm. Then we meet our host families for dinner at 8:30pm. So excited to meet Ana Paula! Hope she likes me. Hope my conversation skills are up to par... yikes. In any case, I get to move in with her tomorrow yaayy! Finally be able to unpack for real. Trying to keep a suitcase together while living out of it for 48 hours is difficult.

I'll try to sit down and write some more stuff once I'm settled in the new apartment. Can't wait to get comfortable and get to know the neighborhood. Wish me luck!

The Final Countdown

The odyssey that has been acquiring my visa is over and I have emerged victorious. Now I have photocopied seemingly thousands of documents and credit cards and IDs, gotten my yellow fever vaccine and malaria tablets, bought my first pair of Chacos, stocked up on toiletries, eaten my weight in Tex-Mex (how I'll miss it), checked the weather (72 degrees and thunderstorms this whole week), and found out who my host family is going to be.

She is actually a single woman, 37 years old, living in a two bedroom apartment in a neighborhood called Pinheiros, which is supposed to be very cool and bohemian and happening. Her name is Ana Paula de Freitas, a psychologist and human resources headhunter, and, gathering from our correspondence, she seems wonderful and warm and smart and I'm really relieved/excited to be living with her. She studied at Cambridge and also lived in LA for a few months when she was younger, so she speaks English well. Thankfully, she also shares my aversion to seafood. Hooray!

Débora has said that she will pick me up at the airport, which is nice. She's been an extremely helpful contact in so many ways. Apparently her friends and family are dying to meet me. Got some amigos in the bag already! Score.

Flying to Newark Friday afternoon, then to São Paulo that night, arriving Saturday morning. I think this is my last North American post, so I'm sure I will have a lot more interesting stuff to say next time.

Beijos!