Happy December!

I just got caught in a full-on tropical rainstorm. I was about 3 blocks away from IBEU, where we had Portuguese classes, and where there are computers/internet available for free, when the skies just opened up, no warning, and it was pouring.

Ten minutes later and I ducked out from the overhang under which I´d taken shelter, squelching on.

I am now staring out the window at a beautiful rainbow over the sea, drying out my soggy bag and marveling that it is completely summer and completely December.

It´s funny the things we are so used to we don´t even question. Read More...

Itinerary

Dec 15 4:20PM Depart Fortaleza
Dec 15 9PM Arrive São Paulo
Dec 15 11PM Depart São Paulo
Dec 16 1:35AM Arrive Foz de Iguaçu
Dec 19 7PM Depart Foz de Iguaçu
Dec 19 9PM Arrive São Paulo Read More...

Children´s Games and Packages!

Wow, quite a spate of posts recently--either I´ve been too busy or not busy enough...not actually sure which!

Today´s class was primarily dedicated to children´s games. We started off talking about typical food in the US and I waxed lyrical about the wonders of peanut butter, which is a surprisingly regular occurence. I thought it was important to talk/answer questions about food for a couple of reasons:

1. Everyone here eats rice and beans at least once a day. That´s not an exaggeration. You can´t find someone who doesn´t know how to cook arroz e feijão. When food comes up, Brazilians always want to know what our equivalent to rice and beans is. I have yet to think of something similar...I think the closest might just be PB&J sandwiches...cue another chance to sing peanut butter´s praises! When I told them sandwiches are really common and talked about Turkey Clubs and BLTs, they asked me if that was why Americans are all so fat. I wasn´t sure what to say but I ended up blaming (probably semi-unfairly) Fast Food.
2. Of the Brazilians that have actually visited the States (none of whom are students of mine), the majority have only been to Disney World, and maybe the other theme parks in Orlando. So they come back to Brazil complaining about how American food is awful and expensive to boot, and all anyone eats is hamburgers, hot dogs, and french fries. I wanted to correct this erroneous thinking.
3. Food is part of culture, intrinsically, and like I´ve said before, it´s funny to think about something we all need to survive changing so much from place to place.

The games we ended up playing:
-Duck Duck Goose this was definitely a favorite--people picked it up quickly and we played for a while. Incidentally, duck = pato and goose = ganzo, same as Spanish.
-WAH! Yes, all you Whiptail/BDC readers out there, I officially brought WAH to Brazil! We had an excellent time playing and by the end they really got it I think, though they definitely preferred duck duck goose.
-What time is it, Mr. Fox So I forgot the translation for Fox, so that was kind of lost, and I think I may have played it slightly wrong, but they got the general gist.
-Simon Says (Simon Diz) They really liked this one. I explained it to them and then said someone else had to be Simon because I didn´t know enough body parts yet—probably not quite true but I was tired of leading games and it got a laugh. We played that for quite a while.
-Morto Vivo We formally ended with a Brazilian children´s game they decided to teach me, and we had a lot of fun. When the leader says ´morto´, you have to squat down, ´vivo´, stand up. It´s simple but fast-paced and fun. I lasted for a long time which I was proud of.

We ended up formally ending right at 12 o´clock, but about half the students stayed after and we played ´rock paper scissors´and I taught them a few clap games.

I had by far my most fun day today, and I left in a stellar mood to head home for a late lunch, and then head over to the SIT headquarters where I picked up MAIL! A beautiful blouse and a letter from my wonderful Gran, and another letter from the Wellesley Office of International Study containing tons of news, a letter from the class dean, and (more importantly) Swedish Fish, Starburst, and a recipe for pumpkin pie— just in time for Thanksgiving! I think I might try and make something for class tomorrow; I´ll let you know how that endeavor turns out. Fátima´s oven doesn´t have any degrees or much temperature adjustment, so...well, we shall see.
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Conversation

After the usual questions about where I’m from and how long I’m here for and what I’m studying, it goes something like this (in Portuguese):

“So, do you have a boyfriend back home in the States?”
“No.”
“You don’t?”
“Nope.”
“What about here? Do you have a boyfriend here in Fortaleza?”
“No…”
“Really?! But you’re so beautiful! I can’t believe you don’t have a boyfriend!”
“Nope, don’t have a boyfriend.”
“Have you at least kissed some Brazilian guys since you’ve been here?”
“No”
“Aw, but why not?!”
“I guess because I’m shy!”

Cue the less mandatory but still common conversation about Brazilian men and how they are happy to look at you/cat call you, but generally don’t want to buy you dinner or date you.

It gets old. Very quickly.
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My Sunday Afternoon, or Why Getting Lost on the Bus is a Good Thing

So last Thursday, I got horribly lost on the bus. I guess it was bound to happen at some point. I usually take the bus line ‘Grande Circular 2’ to CUCA, but I wasn’t really paying attention, and I ended up getting on ‘Circular 2,’ which is a completely different route.

…Only it goes a while on the same route before turning into a completely different route, so I was sitting on the bus for quite some time before it occurred to me that the bus didn’t seem to be going exactly the same way as usual. I figured it was my poor memory, and it took me a bit more time before I summoned up the courage to head up to the driver and make sure that the bus was headed toward CUCA. I got a confused look from the bus driver, instructions to go to the terminal Antonio Bezerra and take a different bus from there from the guy waiting to get off, and then there erupted a small argument between him and a girl who appeared to be about my age, apparently about which way I should be going. Finally the older guy ceded and got off the bus, and the girl motioned to come sit next to her. We disembarked at UFC, the university…allllllll the way across town. She walked me quickly to a different bus stop and loudly asked if anyone was getting on the “CUCA/Barra” line. One girl, also about my age (there were lots of college students around…it is a university campus after all) said she was, and we got the bus together.

The CUCA/Barra bus took a long time to arrive, and we had an even longer time riding the bus all the way back across the city, and Joelma (that was the girl’s name) and I had a nice time conversing and getting to know one another. She’s taking an English class at the UFC and works two different jobs. We exchanged e-mails and phone numbers and made a tentative date to go watch the new Twilight together (I wasn’t particularly enthused, but it’s something to do and hang out again).

After much conversation, I ended up going to her house and chilling with her and her two sisters on Sunday afternoon. She made lunch for us to eat together (lasagna, delicious) and around 4:30 we left to walk to CUCA (it’s about a 20-minute walk from her house) to watch yet another gorgeous sunset, and then go to a Baroque ensemble concert. The ensemble was great, playing a bunch of really old stuff, but also some arrangements of Brazilian music they’d written for the group, including some great pieces composed originally by Luiz Gonzago.

Joelma and her sisters had never been to the theater before…I was taken back to the days of my youth when I’d go to some small ensemble performance with my mom at Penn and fall asleep halfway through…but either way, it was enjoyed by all. And that’s the story of why getting lost on the bus is a good thing.

But my Sunday didn’t end there! Fatima had introduced the group and is friends with a few of the musicians, and a big group of us (about 9) ended up going out after the concert for delicious pizza. I had a nice conversation with one of the recorder players who said he could procure me an oboe to play! And I’m going to an orchestra concert of his on Thursday! They’re playing some Villa Lobos.

So basically, a really solid day.
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Tough Second Week

…Two more to go before write-up and presentation time; then it’s off to the south of the country (not exactly sure where, yet…), then…? I can’t believe the time—it’s just flying by.

The week has been particularly hard, for a number of reasons. I am really starting to miss some of those true constants: family and the ability to make it back to Brunswick from school in three hours or less; friends, both at school and at home; Wellesley, in all its ridiculous glory; and, of course, Ultimate. Our team splits into A and B teams at the end of the fall and the team list was recently posted. As I read through all the names, I realized I only recognized about half of them, maybe less!

It’s easy to get lost in this eternal summer, and think that time has stood still and everything will be waiting right where I left it when I get back. But of course that’s not the case, it can’t be. And recognizing that as I prepare for more transition will be crucial.

One of the reasons that this week has been so hard is due to my continual struggle for independence and against common sense. Don’t worry, common sense continues to win out, in the form of an armed escort to the bus stop as I’m leaving CUCA for home every afternoon. So far since CUCA’s opening there have been multiple students who’ve gotten mugged, including one girl who was robbed at gunpoint. All the professors get an escort to the bus stop, but I really hate it. I have stopped taking my laptop there, and really, it’s thanks to some good sense, and more sheer luck, that I haven’t had anything happen to me so far.

I feel like I’m treading very on a glass floor, and one wrong move, the whole thing will shatter. The only thing I’ve ever had stolen from me before was a bike, when I was 10 and living in West Philly, but somehow I feel like getting robbed here would be more mentally debilitating than anything else.

The fact that I am constantly thinking about it is probably a good thing, but I have just felt way too on edge lately.

Class at CUCA is going really well (see picture of another glorious sunset!). My students are bright and engaged, eager and curious. I’ve gotten about half a dozen invites to lunch with them, and a dozen more ‘Orkut’ (pronounced orkooch…Brazilian equivalent to Facebook) invitations.

Friday, ‘deu uma volta’ (I took a walk around the bairro [neighborhood]) with Beatriz, a 15-year-old, from my class. She has 5 brothers and sisters and lives about three blocks away from CUCA. Though I know I’ve mentioned a lot about it being dangerous above, it’s only really dangerous when you’re sozinha (alone) and when you’ve got a backpack/bag on you—that tends to draw attention. So I left my bag at CUCA and walked with Beatriz to get to know the neighborhood a bit. We went to her house, where I got to meet her mom and a couple brothers and sisters, including her 19-year-old brother, who’s deficiente—handicapped. I’m not sure exactly what handicap he has but it’s pretty debilitating. He can’t walk or even sit up without help and clearly has limited mental capacity. But he was really happy to see a new face, I could tell, and I think it meant a lot to Beatriz that I was willing to go with her. Her mom was also excited to meet me and Beatriz raved on and on about class, which was a bit unnecessary.

Beatriz warned me before that her family was poor, and I shouldn’t expect too much. I didn’t know quite how to respond to that. Even if I’m not “rich” by American standards, or anything, if she knew how much money I bring into that world, by my plane ticket alone, she’d probably be shocked. And when I met her family, her house was pretty humble—four rooms, she shares a room with three brothers and sisters, and one TV, no cable—but it was the house of a family that was living comfortably with what they had, sharing what was maybe not a ton, but you can tell they have enough, and they’re happy, and what’s more, eager to share it with whoever shows interest.

I was planning to do the next class on food, but I think I’ll save that for Thanksgiving day. One of my students had an interesting class idea, one I think will work—child games and songs exchange. I’ll teach them the ones we play in America, we can do some Brazilian ones too. I can only come up with ‘Duck Duck Goose,’ ‘Quack Diddly Oso,’ and Mafia, so if any of you have other suggestions, please let me know!!
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Re: Learning to Samba

I think the key is to move your feet really fast, have fun, and not care about whatever atrocity you're committing to the name of 'Samba'.





Seriously, I think I'm getting it. Read More...