26. “Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by.” – Robert Frost

Friday, June 14, 2013

Protests: A step in the right direction

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.

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!*

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.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Catching Up


I just realized how long it’s been since I last posted, and I apologize for that.  A lot has happened in the past few weeks! 

Primarily I’ve been getting to know my awesome host family!  My host father is a civil engineer.  He works at one of the Federal Universities, but also spends a lot of time abroad on business trips.  My host mother is a secretary to a judge here in Rio.  I have an older Sister named Eduarda, but the common nickname is duda.  When I first arrived she was in college studying pharmacy.  But she had a change of heart, and is now doing a course to prepare to retake the ENEM, and hopefully earn a spot in another university.
 
One of the most difficult things about college here in Brazil is that it’s incredibly difficult to change your major.  When you take the college test, only offered one time a year, you are competing with everyone to enter in only a limited number of vacancies for each major.  So if you later decide that the major you originally chose is not for you, it takes a lot of effort to restart.
 
I also have a crazy aunt, and a cousin.  They’re a lot of fun, and always making me laugh!  I’ve met my host grandmother once, and we played cards.  It reminded me of playing cards with my grandparents, but of course I played and learned some new games, and there wasn’t a jar of M&M’s to nibble at.  She’s an incredible artist.  She doesn’t have any more wall space in her apartments to hang her paintings! 

A few weeks ago, one of my really good friends Johanna went back home to Aust
ria.  She opted in the end to only have a 6 month exchange.  We were all really sad to see her go, but it was what she wanted, and therefore the best thing at the moment for her.  It was an emotional good bye for us.  While of course I wish she was still here enjoying Rio with us, I am glad she went home, because I learned a lot from that day at the airport.  Principally that my exchange is coming to an end, and soon I’ll be coming back home.  I have to take advantage of every day and make memories!  It also got me thinking about who I’ve met on exchange, and how they’ve impacted my life.  That now I have two places on this planet that I can call a home.  That I know there would be a house with open doors and people with open arms willing to receive me.  The comulation of feelings at this point in my exchange are intense, confusing, and conflicting.  I’m so excited to go home, to be with my family, visit my friends, eat familiar foods, etc.  But now Rio is also a familiar place, with friends and family as well.  It’s an indescribably feeling, and I got the first wave of it when Johanna went home.




Throughout the month of March I made my way to various free classical music concerts.  There wasn’t one in which I wasn’t by far the youngest concert goer.  But it was really nice to get in touch with my musical being once again, even if it was only by way of attending concerts.  I also met various kind old ladies, who were always interested in me, and my story.  I had a fun time telling it to them, and I got to thinking that if everyone took a little time out of their day to get to know a stranger, I mean really get to know them, that people would feel more appreciated.  I would even stipulate that there would be less sadness, therefore less madness, and less violence in this world.
 
I have plans to begin playing futsal, indoor soccer, at the local Jewish club.  I went once and had a really fun time.  It’s not competitive, we’re a group of about 20 ladies ranging in age from 16-40.  I would’ve loved to have the opportunity to train a bit more seriously here, but as it turns out, the female soccer program in Brazil is practically nonexistent.  It really shocked me to find this out, especially when Marta is Brazilian.  However, such is life.  I frequent a gym with the other exchangies for free because one of the host father’s is the owner.  Basically, we’re all just trying to rid some of the weight we gained over the course of the year!  Haha

One weekend in March was spent in a place known as Brazil’s “little Switzerland”, Campos do Jordão.  We were in attendance for the Rotary district conference, and each exchange student was to give a 3 minute presentation about our year.  It was a nerve-racking experience to speak in front of 500 people in a foreign language, but we all did wonderfully.  The Rotarians were all very supportive of us as well.  Afterwards they treated us like celebrities.  We couldn’t take 5 steps without being stopped for another photo shoot.  This simply strengthened my intention to never become a celebrity, because frankly smiling for that long just hurts!  The last night was a ball at the event.  The band was already playing, and no one was on the dance floor.  So we got things started!  The governor of Rotary loved it, and then asked for Peter’s hand in dance.  It was great fun, a nice break from the city and a chance to see a whole other part of Brazil!






Easter in Brazil wasn’t anything like any Easter I’ve lived before.  Instead of easter baskets and hunting for eggs, children here receive a chocolate egg.  Inside the egg is individual chocolates.  My host mother and aunt were in the US visiting Marecella who is doing her exchange there, so we all sort of did our own thing for Easter.  Duda and I went to a friends vacation house in the mountainish region, and we hung out with about 20 of her friends.  It was just a very relaxing weekend of barbecues, volleyball, cards, and charades.  Now I could be generalizing here, but Brazilians are very talented when it comes to charades.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that in general they talk with their hands, but maybe it doesn’t.   I was proud of myself for getting certain words right, like guessing velocity.  But there were also frustrating parts when I was reading the cards to get my words.  At times I just felt dumb in the language, but I suppose that since these weren’t words that are commonly used, of course I wouldn’t know them.  For example, the one word was change purse, but it doesn’t translate directly to English. 



I got bit by a mosquito, maybe on that weekend and it gave me Dengue Fever.  That put me out of commission for about a week, which was no fun.  I’m still very sore from it, and a bit tired, but I’m recovering.  As my friend Tellie says, at least I have a cool tropical disease that I can brag about. -__-  I was to go to RYLA, a leadership workshop weekend this past weekend, but because of the Dengue, I could only get there on Saturday night.  Even so, I made some good connections and friends. 


Well that’s all the big stuff I can think of for now.  I promise to try and be more regular in the updates in my last 80 days!