http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SnKe6TND58&sns=em
The past few days protests have broken out in many of the large metropolis parts of Brasil. The largest and most violent thus far has occured in São Paulo. The protests were "caused" by the increase by 20 cents in fare for all types of public transportation. But in all actuality that was just the tip of the iceberg, the spark that lit the flame of disgust, resent and anger of a large part of the younger population; that flame directed against their government.
The police have reacted with force; tear gas bombs, rubber bullets, and more. The link to the video I posted shows the protestors chanting "without violence".
To many people 20 cents raise in transportation fees doesn`t seem like very much. But for those who are of low income it is devasting. The minumum wage hasn't increased, yet the fares continue to increase. To live in Brasil is absurdly expensive in many ways. Even to go to the shopping mall you pay to park.
What most surprised me when I first arrived was the incredibly noticeable difference in ways of life between social classes. It was utterly shocking to be completely honest. Some have three floor houses with maids, personal drivers, and beach houses to top it off. They take multiple vacations throughout the year. Yet others are working as the maids, earning minimal wage which I believe is around $350 US dollars per month.
I don't want to seem pretentious and to pretend that there isn't a considerable difference in social classes within the US as well. But at the same time I can't close my eyes and ignore what in my perspective seems to be a bigger difference.
Every Brazilian that I have talked with openly acknowledges the corruption in their government, and obviously it's not something they're proud of. But it seemed to me that it was brushed aside as simply: well...that's Brasil.
But I'm proud of the people who are protesting. I think that it's ultimately a step in the right direction. People of all class sizes are coming together to protest against what they believe is an unfair government. Politicians that aren't in it for the people, but rather for personal profit.
I know that there are a lot of Americans that aren't happy with our goverment, especially with the latest news. Maybe it's time for the power of the people?
Peaceful protest for a prominent change and progress?
Yes we can.
The Chance of a Lifetime
My year in Campo Grande Rio de Janeiro Brazil...
26. “Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by.” – Robert Frost
Friday, June 14, 2013
Friday, May 17, 2013
Boat Ride
My host
dad loves to go boating, so one Saturday we went out on the water. I invited my exchangee friend Peter since he
loves anything to do with motors. We embarqued at the yacht club which is right by the sugar loaf mountains and went
all the way to Niteroi. In Rio they have
this joke that goes: “what’s the best
view from Niteroi……..Rio”. The thing
about jokes is that the humor is different in other cultures is that for foreigners it’s not usually funny. That’s also one of the reasons they warn us
to not make jokes at first, because what we consider funny could be offensive
in another culture.
The ride
was really enjoyable, and the weather absolutely perfect! Oh, and a short side note-my hair is sort of
turning red in the sun, it wasn’t just the photo! Today we’re leaving to Angra dos Reis to
spend the weekend. Today it poured to
the point where a street lamp exploded.
I was waiting for a bus when I heard/saw it. That was frightening. So we’re hoping the weather improves so we
can go on a boat ride this weekend as well!
Completly unaware that I was the object of photography. |
Os Gringos. |
Not from the boat ride....but a funny pic from a beach day. They will do anything to sell you food! Hahaha |
My host father's boat. |
Peter (from Germany) and I enjoying the view. |
Grafiti, Beach, and Mingau
One thing
that I’ve found very interesting this year is that in the Portuguese language,
there they make a distinguished difference between graffiti and street
art. In English we tend to refer to
everything as graffiti, even though it has a negative connotation. By establishing two different names it brings
a beauty to the street art. In Portuguese
you say graffiti when it’s like art and pichacao when it's letters, or just a gang symbol sprayed all
over the place.
Personally
I enjoy street art a lot. In my opinion
it brings a new life to the city through its brightness and color. I’d much rather look at a design than a
simple concrete grey wall!
I’ve been
trying to take advantage of the sun here in Brasil. Being in the sun seems to put a bit of energy
in me. But taking the bus everyday an
hour to the beach was getting old. But then
I discovered that there’s a beach relatively near my school. It’s just that the waters are dirty, so it’s
advised not to swim in the waters. It
also has a park nearby which has all these paths for walking, running and bike
riding. It looks so peaceful!
One of
the things I’ve missed most about home is my pets. All my host families have dogs, and while I
like dogs I definitely have a preference for cats! So I love to go to my host aunt’s house and
play with her kitten that has grown up so much this year!
My favorite piece of street art that I see everyday on the way to school. |
It doesn't hurt to die if it's for love. |
I don't know how to talk but I know how to paint. |
Monday, May 6, 2013
Meet My Host Family
My host family is incredible, they make me
feel like a part of the family.
My host father Carlos is an engineer and
teaches at the federal university. His
favorite pastime is sailing on his boat.
He goes every weekend the weather is good.
My host mother Patrícia works as the assistant
to a judge. She loves her dogs, and
spending time with her friends.
My host sister Duda is 22 years old, and she’s
getting ready to study modeling/fashion in college. She had been in university studying pharmacy
but decided that it just wasn’t for her.
Because of the way the college system works in Brazil she has to take a
course to be able to enter in another university.
Their daughter Marcella is on exchange in
California this year, but I do not know her.
I met her at my first rotary event, my first week here, but there were so many people and
I didn’t get to know her.
We’re planning a weekend in Angra dos Reis
where we’ll go out on the boat. I’m
really looking forward to it!
A beautiful city
The other week, we exchange students decided
that we wanted to see the city lights from up high. Of course, as exchange students we always try
to find the cheapest way to do things as possible. So we decided to climb the sugar loaf in
order to see the sunset. We embarked on
the upward journey conquering the smaller mountain around 4 o’clock, and the
journey took about half an hour. At 5,
the sun is already setting! At a little
before 6 it’s pitch dark.
The city is beautiful at night, especially
from a bird’s eye view! Looking down I
remember thinking to myself, this is why they call it the wonderful city…
I think though that every big city looks
better at night. Something about the
little specks of light on the black canvass we call the sky is
breathtaking. Two weeks after I arrived
I remember driving back from the airport after dropping Nicholas off to board
his plane to York.
We had
taken a van so that his friends could come and see him off. I mentioned that I thought the favela looked
very pretty at night. I had only seen
the lights, and hadn’t known that it was a slum. They laughed at me and said favelas aren’t
pretty. But I have to admit, I think
there is an aspect of beauty in them. The
vibrant colors in the day, and at night the lights.
We couldn’t go down for free on the cable cars
until 7 and it was much too dark to hike back down, so we bought some ice cream
and sat around a table laughing and reminiscing on our year. How fast it’s gone by. Wow.
In less than a month, the first exchange student will go home, with the
rest of us following shortly behind. I’m
so accustomed to seeing everyone here, and in a couple of months we’ll be
spread out throughout the world. It’s
incredible what this year has given me…
At the top right hand corner you can see the christ! |
Monday, April 29, 2013
Birthday In Brasil
I celebrated my 19th birthday in Brasil. How many people can say that? It was a fun one, that’s for sure. I had a party with friends, exchange
students, friends from campo grande, and Duda’s group of friends that I’ve grown
to like a lot. I didn’t really want a
huge party, I just wanted a relaxing night.
So we made it a game night, of cards, Dutch Blitz, and charades. Charades in Portuguese can be really
challenging at time, but when you guess correctly, it’s really rewarding. I celebrated on Saturday night, the day
before my birthday. At midnight
everyone began clapping and singing the birthday song. Then later instead of cake we had tandycakes
and brownies, so I blew out two sets of candles, to the English birthday song,
and to the Portuguese birthday song.
Parabéns
pra você
Nesta data querida
Muitas felicidades
Muitos anos de vida!*
Nesta data querida
Muitas felicidades
Muitos anos de vida!*
Congratulations to you
On this dear date
Much happiness
Many years of life
Sunday, on my birthday I was so happy to be able to skype my youth
group back home. It was so nice to see
everyone and know that soon I’ll be seeing them in person. Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes
via facebook, emails, and cards. It’s
nice to know people are thinking of me.
The menue: Sandwhiches, sweets, chips, and drinks |
Brigadeiro, otherwise known as God's gift to the planet! |
Friends :) |
Charades |
My hilarious host Aunt Adriana, |
Me, my host sister Duda, and my host mother Patricia. |
I got sung the birthday song twice! Once in Portuguese, and once in English. |
An awesome present from my friend Celia. Aren't homemade presents the best?! |
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
A Bit Of Humor
A French Bloggers Post about his observations about Brazil after living in brazil for a year...I translated them....Hope you enjoy
-Aqui são umas das minhas observações, as vezes um pouco exageradas,
sobre o Brasil. Nada serio.
Here are a few of my observations, sometimes
a little exagerated, about Brazil. Nothing serious.
-Aqui no Brasil, não se pode tocar a comida com as mãos. No MacDonalds,
hamburger se come dentro de um guardanapo. Toda mesa de bar, restaurante ou
lanchonete tem um distribuidor de guardanapos e de palitos. Mas esses
guardanapos são quase de plastico, nada de suave ou agradável. O objetivo não é
de limpar suas mãos ou sua boca mas é de pegar a comida com as mãos sem deixar
papel nem na comida nem nas mãos.
Here in Brasil, you can’t touch the food with
your hands. In McDonalds, you eat a
hamburger with a napkin wrapped around it.
Every table at a bar, restaurant, or luncheonette has a napkin holder
and toothpicks. But these napkins are almost
plastic, nothing soft. The object is not
to clean your hands or mouth, but is to grab the food with your hands, without
letting the food fall on your hands.
-Aqui no Brasil todo é gay (ou ‘viado’). Beber chá: e gay. Pedir um coca
zero: é gay. Jogar vólei: é gay. Beber vinho: é gay. Não gostar de futebol: é
gay. Ser francês: é gay, ser gaúcho: gay, ser mineiro: gay. Prestar atenção em
como se vestir: é gay. Não falar que algo e gay : também é gay.
Here in Brazil everything is gay. To drink tea is gay. To order a coke zero, is gay. To play volleyball, is gay. To drink wine, is gay. To not like soccer, is gay. To be French, is gay. To pay
attention to how you dress, is gay. Don’t
say that something is gay: this is also gay.
-Aqui no Brasil, os homens não sabem fazer nada das tarefas do dia a dia:
não sabem faxinar, nem usar uma maquina de lavar. Não sabem cozinhar, nem a
nível de sobrevivência: fazer arroz ou massa. Não podem concertar um botão de
camisa. Também não sabem coisas que estão consideradas fora como extremamente
masculinas como trocar uma roda de carro. Fui realmente criado em outro mundo…
Here in Brazil, the men don’t know how to do
any daily chores, such as use the washing machine. They don’t know how to cook, not even to a
basic level of survival, making rice.
They can’t fix a button on a shirt.
They don’t even know how to do things that are considered extremely
masculine, like switching the tire on a car.
I was truly raised in another world.
-Aqui no Brasil, a vida vai devagar. E normal estar preso no transito o
dia todo. Mas não durma no semáforo não. Ai tem que ser rápido e sair ate antes
do semáforo passar no verde. Também é normal ficar 10 minutos na fila do
supermercado embora que tenha só uma pessoa na sua frente. Ai demora para
passar os artigos, e muitas vezes a pessoa da caixa tem que digitar os códigos
de barra na mão ou pedir ajuda para outro funcionário para achar o preço de um
artigo.
Here in Brasil, the life goes slow. It’s normal to be struck in traffic every
day. But don’t sleep at the traffic
light, no. You have to be fast before
the light switches from green. It’s also normal to stand 10 minutes in the line
at the grocery store, even if there is only 1 person in front of you. It takes awhile to pass the items, and many
times the person at the cash register has to type the bar code by hand, or ask
for help from another worker to find the price of an item.
-Aqui no Brasil, a política não funciona só na dimensão esquerda –
direita. Brasil é um pais de esquerda em vários aspectos e de direita em
outros. Por exemplo, se pode perder seu emprego de um dia pra outro quase sem
aviso. Tem uma diferencia enorme entre os pobres e os ricos. Ganhar vinte vezes
o salario minimo é bastante comum, e ganhar o salario minimo ainda mais. As
crianças de classe media ou alta estudam quase todos em escolas particulares,
as igrejas tem um impacto muito importante sobre decisões politicas. E de outro
lado, existe um sistema de saúde publico, o estado tem muitas empresas, tem
muitos funcionários públicos, tem bastante ajuda para erradicar a pobreza em
regiões menos desenvolvidas do país. O mesmo governo é uma mistura de política
conservadora, liberal e socialista.
Here in Brazil, politics doesn’t work only
left-right in dimension. Brazil is a
left handed country in many aspects, and right handed in others. For example, you can lose your job from one
day to the next almost without notice.
There’s an enormous difference between the poor and the rich. To earn 20 times the minimum salary is very
common, and to earn the minimum salary is even more common. The children of upper or middle class almost
all study in private schools. The
churches have a very important impact on political decisions. On the other side exists a public health
system, the state offers many jobs, and offers much help to eradicate the
poverty in regions less involved in the country. The same government is a conservative,
liberal, and socialist political mixture.
-Aqui no Brasil, e comum de conhecer alguem, bater um papo, falar “a
gente se vê, vamos combinar, ta?”, e nem trocar telefone.
Here in Brazil, it’s commun to meet somebody,
make small talk, and say “see you around, let’s do something later, alright?”,
and not even exchange phone numbers.
-Aqui no Brasil, a palavra “aparecer” em geral significa, “não
aparecer”. Exemplo: “Vou aparecer mais tarde” significa na pratica “não vou
não”.
Here in Brasil, the words “to show up” in
general mean “to not show up”. Example: ï’ll show up later” means in practice “I won’t
show up.”
-Aqui no Brasil, novela é mais importante do que cinema. Mas o cinema
nacional é bom.
Here in Brazil, soap operas are more
important than movies. But the national
movies are good.
-Aqui no Brasil, comida salgada é muito salgada e comida dolce é muito
doce. Ate comida é muita comida.
Here in Brazil, salty food is very salty and
sweet food is very sweet. Even food is
very foody.
-Aqui no Brasil, esporte é ou academia ou futebol. Uma pena que só o
futebol seja olímpico.
Here in Brazzil, sports are the gym or
soccer. It’s a shame that only soccer
would be Olympic.
-Aqui no Brasil, não se assuste se estiver convidado para uma festa de
aniversário de dois anos de uma criança. Vai ter mais adultos do que crianças,
e mais cerveja do que suco de laranja. Também não se assuste se parece mais com
a coroação de um imperador romano do que como o aniversário de dois anos. E
‘normal’.
Here in Brazil, don’t be frightened if you
are invited for a birthday party of a two year old. There will be more adults than kids, and more
beer than orange juice. Also, don’t be
afraid if it seems more like a heart of a roman emperor than a 2 years old birthday party. It’s “normal”.
-Aqui no Brasil, nõ tem o conceito de refeição com entrada, prato
principal, queijo, e sobremesa separados. Em geral se faz um prato com tudo:
verdura, carne, queijo, arroz e feijão. Dai sempre acaba comer uma mistura de
todo.
Here in brazil, there is no concept of a meal
with na appetizer, main course, cheese, and dessert all separated. In general, you make a plate with everything:
meat, cheese, rice, and beans. It always
ends up that you mix it all together.
-Aqui no Brasil, o Deus esta muito presente… pelo menos na linguagem:
‘vai com o Deus’, ‘se Deus quiser’, ‘Deus me livre’, ‘ai meu Deus’, ‘graças a
Deus’, ‘pelo amor de Deus’. Ainda bem que ele é Brasileiro.
Here in Brazil, God is very present....at
least in the language. “Go with God”, If
God wishes”, ”God free me”, Öh my God”, “Thanks to God”, “For the love of God”. It’s good that he’s Brazilian.
-Aqui no Brasil, os homens se abraçam muito. Mas não é só um abraço: se
abraça, se toca os ombros, a barriga ou as costas. Mas nunca se beija. Isso
também é gay.
Here in Brazil, the men hug a lot. But it’s not just a hug, you touch shoulders,
the stomach, or the back. But never
kiss. That’s also gay.
-Aqui no Brasil, tem um jeito estranho de falar coisas muito comuns. Por
exemplo, quando encontrar uma pessoa, pode falar “bom dia”, mas também se fala
“e ai?”. E ai o que? Parece uma frase abortada. Uma resposta correta e comum a
“obrigado” e “imagina”. Imagina o que? Talvez eu quem falte de imaginação.
Here in brazili, there’s a strange way to
stay very common things. For example,
when you meet a person, you can say “good morning”, but they also say “and..”. Änd…what? It seems like such an absurd phrase. The correct
and common response is thanks, and imagine.
Imagine what? Maybe it’s me who
lacks imagination.
-Aqui no Brasil, quando você tem algo pra falar, é bom avisar que vai
falar antes de falar. Assim, se ouvi muito: “vou te falar uma coisa”, “deixa te
falar uma coisa”, “é o seguinte”, e até o meu preferido: “olha só pra você
ver”. Obrigado por me avisar, já tinha esquecido para que tinha olhos.
Here in Brazil, when you have something to
say, it’s good to advise that you will speak before you speak. So, you often hear “”I will tell you
something”, “let me tell you something”, it’s the following, or even my favorite
“look only for you to see”. Thanks for
letting me know, I had forgotten that I had eyes.
-Aqui no Brasil, a comida é: arroz, feijão e mais alguma coisa.
Here in Brazil, food is: Rice, beans and
something else.
-Aqui no Brasil, o brasileiros acreditam pouco no Brasil. As coisas não
podem funcionar totalmente ou dar certo, porque aqui, é assim, é Brasil. Tem um
sentimento geral de inferioridade que é gritante. Principalmente a respeito dos
Estados Unidos. To esperando o dia quando o Brasil vai abrir seus olhos.
Here in brazil, brazilians believe very little
in Brazil. The things cannot work
completely, or work out because here it’s like that, it’s Brazil. There is a general feeling of inferiority
that is annoying. Principally in respect
to the United States. I am waiting for
the day when Brazil will open it’s eyes.
-Aqui no Brasil, as pessoas saem da casa dos pais quando casam. Assim
tem bastante pessoas de 30 anos ou mais morando com os pais.
Here in Brazil, the people only leave their
parents house when they marry. So, there
are many people of 30 years or more living with their parents.
-Aqui no Brasil, quando encontrar com uma pessoa, se fala: “Beleza?” e a
resposta pode ser “Jóia”. Traduzindo numa outra língua, parece que faz pouco
sentido, ou parece um dialogo entre o Dalai-Lama e um discípulo dele. Por
exemplo em inglês: “The beauty? – The joy”. Como se fosse um duelo filosófico
de conceitos abstratos.
Here in Brazil, when you meet a person, you
say: “Beauty?”, and the response may be “Joy”.
Translating this into another language makes little sence. It’s as if it was a philosophical duel of
abstract concepts.
-Aqui no Brasil, a torneira sempre pinga.
Here in brazil, the faucet always drips.
-Aqui no Brasil, no taxi, nunca se paga o que esta escrito. Ou se
aproxima pra cima ou pra baixo.
Here in Brazil, in a taxi, you never pay what
it is written. You either approximate a
little above, or a little below.
-Aqui no Brasil, marcar um encontro as 20:00 significa as 21:00 ou
depois. Principalmente se tiver muitas pessoas envolvidas.
Here in Brazil, if you mark an encounter for
8 pm, it means 9 pm or later. Especially
if there will be many people involved.
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