Santa Maria Fire

There was a fire at a nightclub in the South of Brasil early Sunday Morning.  More than 230 people were killed.  Pease keep their family and friends in your prayers.  

Rochina

I thought now would be a good time to start catching up on the trip that I took in December.  One of the stops on the tour was Rio, and we got to tour the largest favela in all of South America, Rochina.  Favela is basically the term they use here for shanty-town.   The 2010 census estimates that around 70,000 people populate this favela, but actual numbers are much higher.   The favela in recent years has become rather urbanized, and almost all of the houses have basic sanitation, electricity, and plumbing. 

In years past, the government has tried to provide various incentives for the inhabitants to move to another area.  There was a time when they gave the people houses in another place, but the people simply sold these other places and remained in Rochina.  It seems pretty silly to us, why would you want to live in a slum that has been controlled by drug lords for a long period of history.  But the truth is that there’s so much more than the eye can see.  The view that the people who live in Rochina have is absolutely stunning.  You can see the famous parts of Rio from the right part of the favela.  The areas where the government offered them houses did not have these beautiful views.  They were far from the beaches.  Drug lords have been pretty much eliminated from the favela, though police still patrol the streets. 

When I boarded the vans I was expecting to see some pretty rough stuff, but honestly Rochina is very developed.  It looks like an entire city in and of itself.  There are banks, various stores, medicine shops, and almost every house has satellite TV.  Now of course I’m sure that we weren’t shown the worst parts of the favela, but I was still surprised. 

Our tour guide took us into a candy shop within the favela, and many people bought something.  It was incredibly cheap in comparison to all the prices I’ve seen before.  For example, one boy bought a box of 15 packs of mentos for 11 reais.  That’s about US $5.50.  Later one of the trip leaders asked him where he had bought it.  When he said from the favela, they asked him if he knew that it was stolen goods which he had bought.  While that would account for the cheap price, I sincerely doubt that our tour guide would have taken us to buy stolen goods.  I guess we’ll never know though.

Favela houses are small in square footage.  When the family grows they build another level on top.  Some get up to four stories tall.  The people who live within the favelas are a close knit community.  Houses are very close together, and you can hear everything.  The children who live in favelas frequent the public schools because they cannot afford private schooling, though it is cheaper than private schooling in the USA.  The problem is that in recent years the public school system in Brasil has fallen in standards.  The students do not get a good quality education.  For this reason, many wealthy people are creating areas for the children to come and further their education in many areas; the arts, computers, games, basically anything to keep them off the streets. 

Evem though I have been told that there are some rather wealthy people living in the favela, with high end objects such as iPhones, I know that the majority of the population is poor.  It really makes one appreciate where they’ve come from when you get to experience a place like Rochina.  

Take note of the proximity, and how the houses are built on top of one another.

Notice the satellite dishes, found on almost every house.

Favela=shanty town.

Houses were recently painted in bright colors to make
it hard for the drug lords to hide.  In the past, they were
all about the same color.

I think I'd have a hard time saying goodbye to this view as well.

The view from the highest point of Rochina that we went.

It's illegal, but everyone steals electricity.  Wires are running
in every direction.  This makes it hard when the power goes off though.

You know you're an American in Brazil when...

This is something that another exchange student found and posted, and I enjoyed.  I took the ones most relevant to my exchange life, and re-blogged them for your entertainment.  

1. You go to a restaurant, read the menu, and wonder, "X-salad? X-burger? X-chicken? X-bacon? X-WTF?" ("X" sounds like "shee" in Portuguese, and it means cheese is added to the sandwich.)

2. You're afraid of escova progressiva (a popular hair-straightening process that uses chemicals known to cause cancer).

3. You ask for "pau" in a bakery. ("Pão" is bread but without the nasalization, a sound that's difficult for foreigners to make, it means "wood," which is also slang for "dick.")

4. You can't read "kkk" without thinking about a racist group. (Americans laugh "haha," but Brazilians laugh huahuahua, hihihi, rsrsrs or kkk.)

5.You discover that people from Rio think they're better than people from São Paulo, people from São Paulo think they're better than people from Rio, and people from Rio Grande do Sul refuse to accept they're Brazilian.

6.A friend tells you that the party starts at 7 p.m., so you arrive at 7 p.m. And no one is there. (Time is relative in Brazil.)

7. You're given a nickname based on your skin color, and you think that's racist. (Brazilians don't view race in the same way that many Westerners do, so it's quite common to encounter nicknames that translate as "Little black guy," "Little Japanese girl" or "Ghost girl.")

8. Now when you go to an American beach, you think the other women look like they're wearing diapers. (No, Brazilians don't typically wear thong bikinis, but bikini bottoms are considerably smaller.)

9. You were almost hit by a car when you entered the pedestrian crossing because you trusted the drivers would stop.

10. You feel guilty about having a maid.

11. It took you a while to realize why there was a small trash bin next to the toilet, and by then, you needed a plumber.

12. You wonder, "Why aren't there any seatbelts in the backseat of cars? Does a magical forcefield protect passengers?"

13. You forget what it's like to live in a country that follows laws and learn to embrace the "jeitinho." When you return to the US, you try to bribe a government worker and are arrested.

14. Your friends ask you to bring electronics back from the US.

15. You think it's strange to put corn, mayonnaise or mashed potatoes on a hot dog.

16. You don't understand why a lot of Brazilian women will wax their bikini line but bleach their thigh hair.

17. You make a lot of mistakes in Portuguese, but no one realizes because they make them too.

Petropolis

A few nights ago I was talking with a few of my exchange student friends while we were washing the dishes from dinner.  We find it funny that we were all taught that when you wash dishes, that you are to use hot water.  Here, the water leaves the spicket room temperature, and they use this water to wash.  None of us have ever seen a dishwasher here in Brasil.  Also, it's really rare to find a clothes dryer.  But that's simply because the sun's so strong that when you put the clothing on the line, it's dry in an hour.

Just an update on where I am right now. I'm living with my host counselor at the moment while they find a second host family for me.  I have more freedoms here, such as using public transportation alone.       It has opened up a whole new world of opportunities for me.  I'm really enjoying my time there!

Two weeks ago I went to visit two exchange students who are living in Petropolis, another city in Brasil, about an hour away from the central of Rio.  My journey there was fairly long.  20 minutes walking to the train station in Campo Grande, 1 hour and 15 minutes on the train, and 10 minutes on the metro.  Then I walked 10 minutes to another exchanger's house ín Rio.  His host mom took us to the bus station, and actually gave us the money to take the bus, which was $10, so it was incredibly generous.

Unfortunately, the majority of the 5 days I spent in Petropolis it was raining, so we didn't get to do everything we had wanted to.  Petropolis is in the mountains, and it's absolutely beautiful.  We had plans to go hiking and swim in a waterfall, but the rain messed those plans up.  According to Leandra's host mom (The girl with whom I stayed), when it rains in Petropolis there's a high chance of landslides, so it wasn't safe for us to go.

However, we did go out to see the majority of the museums in Petropolis.  Petropolis is a really popular  place to visit for Brazilians, because it has many museums, and a beautiful cathedral!  The Imperial museum is the summer house of the Portuguese Royal Family.  They always went to Petropolis in the summer because the mountains make it much cooler.  It's prohibited to take pictures inside the museum, but it is beautiful, I can assure you that.

One of the neat things about exchange is that you learn about many different cultures throughout the year, by talking to the other exchange students.  While in Petropolis, we each made a dish.  Leandra is from switzerland, and she made chocalate fondue.  Celia is from New Mexico,and she's Jewish.  So shetaught us how to make Latkas, and how to play Dreidel.  It's a game of complete luck, and therefore I lost everything. Haha, well I had one piece of candy at the end!  I made brownies and ice cream, because I figured that the only thing more american than that is apple pie!  Mathilde is from Denmark, and she made us a traditional Christmas dessert.  It's like a rice pudding with chopped, shelless almmonds and a cherry sauce.  There's a game that goes along with it. There is one whole almond in the mix.  The person whose bowl has that almond wins.  Leandra won peanut M&M's.

On Saturday night, Leandra and her host family had a wedding to go to.  Celia and I took care of doing Leandra's hair, with the help of a youtube video.  While they were gone, Mathilde, Celia and I went to a sound and light spectacular that I had seen advertised earlier while walking.  It was a neat story about the royal family of Portugal, a video was projected onto a sheet of water and the imperial museum itself.  

I've been invited to come back in the fall (our spring), because the weather will be nicer.  This way I'll have a chance to climb the mountains, see the waterfall, rent bicycles at the park, and walk around the city.  Petropolis was primarily populated by German immigrants, and was planned out by a German engineer.  The only Lutheran church I've seen so far has been there. maybe when I go back I can visit the church! :)  

That's all for now folks! 

Leandra, Celia, and Mathilde in the wax museum.

The cathedral.

We played the driedel game.  I have awful luck; I started with ten pieces of candy, and ended with one. :(

There's a reason they say the average exchange student gains 15 pounds... 

Mathilde's rice dessert.  

What's more American than brownies and ice cream?  

Celia and my work.  

Isn't Petropolis beautiful?

Latka's!

Leandra's winnings from the wedding.

Sound and Light Spectacular.

Downtown Petropolis

Wedding treats that Leandra's host family brought home for us.  Every time you go to a party
here you will come home with plenty of food!

Artistic credit goes to Celia.

Fun Facts

Most Brazilians don’t walk their dogs.

Many Brazilian women don’t wear bras.

Brazilians say hello by kisses on the cheeks. In Rio the common practice is a kiss on each cheek while in other places, just one kiss. I’ve also been told that there is an area of Brazil where 3 kisses are exchanged, but I don’t remember where.

Brazilians often mix all the food on their plate together.

Brazilians don’t drink straight from cans usually, because they find it dirty.  When sold a can of soda on the street, either a straw or a plastic cup comes with it. 

When you go to the restaurant, they serve you in platters, and you have to serve yourself from the platter.  I have not seen a restaurant where one can order just a meal for him/herself.

Some Brazilians don’t like you to walk barefoot around the house.

Havaianas are worn as slippers in the house.

Speed limits might as well not exist because no one follows them.  The same can be said about stop signs and traffic lights.

Most Brazilians don’t use seatbelts in the car.  Don’t worry Mom, I do! J

Speed bumps are sometimes small yellow plastic squares on the road.  (Much more uncomfortable to drive over than a hump.)

When traffic has stopped for a light, people will come to your window trying to sell you anything from gum, to q-tips or lighters.  Children can be found juggling anything for a few cents.

Girls don’t generally carry hair-ties, they knot their hair instead. 

Soda is found in almost every household and drank almost everyday.

You can’t drink the water from the tap. 

Toilet paper cannot be flushed, instead it is put in the trashcan. 

There is a recap of the soap operas on the noontime news everyday - Everyone from elderly women to teenage boys watch them.

Christmas and New Years

Christmas in Brazil is certainly an entirely different experience!  The most prominent difference is clearly the weather.  At this point of the year the weather ranges from 104-112 degrees, but in addition there is the heat index.  Mother Nature gave us a nice Christmas present, the hottest day in Rio De Janeiro since 1915!  That actually occurred the day after Christmas, so she was a little late! 

Additionally the Christmas spirit that is abundant in the States is missing here.  Sure the stores have a few red and green decorations, but that’s about where it ends.  The only day I ever heard Christmas music was on Christmas Eve when my host mother pulled up a playlist while she was cooking.  So to make up for the lack, my friend Johanna (from Austria) and I decided to sing Silent Night while swimming in the beach, her in German, and I in English.  Ironically as we finished “all is calm” a huge wave came and knocked us off our feet. 

My host family spends Christmas Eve at the house of my host aunt’s parents in Barra, another region of Rio.  We arrived around 10 o´clock in the evening, everyone all cleaned up.  People socialized and ate until midnight.  A typical Christmas food is bacalhau, and my host mother is in charge of making it every year because in years past multiple people made it but only hers was eaten.  Other than that the food is rather typical; ham, turkey, other types of meat, rice, and farrofa.  But for once we didn’t eat beans! 

At midnight Santa arrived bringing presents for everyone.  I felt bad for the guy.  While it had cooled down enough to feel reasonably comfortable in shorts, being in a full on Santa suit would be ridiculous!   After all the presents were passed out, family members handed out presents as well.  Then everyone got together in a circle and played a game with little presents that everyone had brought.  The rules are simple:  you can either pick a present from the pile or steal one that someone has already picked.  However a single present can only be stolen twice, afterwards it remains in the third hand.  I ended up with some fruity smelling shampoo and conditioner.  Hey, one less thing to buy here!

About 4 o´clock in the morning we arrived home to exchange presents within the family.  My host family really seemed to enjoy the tie-dye kit I gave them, though we haven’t gotten around to making the shirts yet.  It was strange to go to sleep at 5 in the morning and sleep until about noon.  Christmas day was rather normal, nothing to special until the evening.  It was awfully hot, so we went to the beach to cool down!  

Host grandfather, sister, brother, and cousin

Santa arrived with presents for everyone!  The poor guy suffered in the heat!

Sunset in Recreio

Christmas Dinner

New Years Eve is a bigger event than Christmas from what I’ve observed. I was lucky enough to be able to attend one of the biggest celebrations in the world, the music shows/ fireworks on Copacabana beach.  Finding a parking spot is quite a chore with 2,300,000 people in attendance.  There’s not much room to sit, but standing for two hours is worth it once you see the fireworks show.  It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in my life. 

There are many traditions in Brasil to bring luck for the following year.  Many have to do with the colors you wear.  Everyone wears white as their main pieces.  However the color of your underwear is up to you, depending on what you wish for in the year to come.

Red=passion

Black=independence and decision

Orange=creativity and boldness

Pink=love

Green=hope

Blue=tranquility

Gold=emotions

Yellow=money and prosperity

Purple=intuition

Many people put flowers in the ocean as a gift to God.  Others jump seven consecutive waves and make a wish.  My host sister Annabella and I did this.  Making our way to the water was difficult because the beach was so packed with people, the majority of them drunk.  Sometimes they’ll try to grab your hand and hold on, but you just have to slap it away and say some not so nice words and they’ll let go. 

There are many families that arrive early in the day to set up tents on the beach, and some even tape off a nice quad, though this is illegal. We sat our things down next to one of these areas, and they proved to be an interesting bunch to say the least.  The one man, who was obviously hammered, seemed to think he was the king of the beach.  He stood by the tape they had put up and told the people trying to get through that they wouldn’t be going this way.  Apparently it was also to difficult to go to the bathroom, which in all honesty is a hassle because of the numbers at the beach, but in my opinion that shouldn’t give you a reason to pee in the sand.

 

Everyone gets very excited at midnight, like everywhere, and sprays champagne, hugs, kisses, the lot.  Exactly at midnight the fireworks show begins, semi-choreographed to music.   It’s truly a beautiful event. 

I’m not sure that I would want to spend my New Years at Copacabana every year, simply because of the number of people and the abundance of trash, but I’m so grateful to say that I experienced one of the biggest New Years parties in the world!  

A portion of the crowd at Copacabana.  An estimated 2,300,000 people were in attendence!

15 minute fireworks show!

One of the best parts of this holiday season was seeing and talking to my whole family back home!  It’s been a long time, and the holiday season is just never the same without your family!  At the same time though, it’s one of the best times to learn about another country’s culture!

The first time I saw my whole family together for almost 6 months!

Merry Christmas

And

Happy New Year