Back in the US of A

Well, I'm back safe and sound in the U.S. It's still kinda weird. I expect people to address me in Portuguese and I'm still tempted to reply in Portuguese as well. I suppose it will take a bit to adjust. I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't happy to be home. (God, how I missed my bed, my shower, air-conditioning, driving my car, my family/friends, etc.) Living in a gigantic city has certainly taught me a lot. I feel confident that when/if I ever live in one in the U.S., I'm prepared. It's amazing the sense of peace I have being back in a small town. I didn't realize how stressed out the city makes you. You have to worry about: catching the right bus/subway, finding your destination without getting horridly lost, checking the clock every few minutes to not be late, and watching all the people around you in case they want to rob you, hassle you for money or just slam a shoulder into you because you're in the way. Not to mention the noise and the smell. Thousands of cars, bums, strong designer perfumes, food vendors and trash cans makes for quite an interesting mixture of aromas. At the same time, it was a really exhilarating experience. There are endless things to do at all hours of the day and night and the people and places can be quite glamorous.

Brazil as a country, aside from the city aspect, was wonderful. It's a beautiful place (as you've seen from the endless pictures we snapped) and I must say the people are extremely nice. Being a lost little foreigner with a Spanish (not American) accent did not seem to impede people from talking with me. Though they apologetically said, "What?" at least 5 times during every conversation, communication was successful. People have certain ideas about Latin America, if not Brazil, in general. Some of them are true but most of them are not. The public services sector in Brazil (waiters, store clerks, bus drivers, etc.) are SO incredibly friendly and helpful it was amazing to me. They were always willing (in fact, wanting) to chat and almost always went out of their way to do whatever I needed. Brazil really put America to shame in that way. More than anything, being in Brazil made me motivated to know more. Seeing all the things that needed improvement or help and were so close to being wonderful made me very sad at times, though. I could tell lots of sob stories about poverty and violence but that's not what I want people to think of when they imagine Brazil because, in all fairness, those things exist here as well.

I guess I'm just really pensive right now. The flight back was stressful (we missed our connecting flight to Pittsburgh and had to take a later one) and ridiculously delayed so, I had a lot of time to think. I miss Brazil and I regret not doing more, seeing more, talking more but I suppose people always feel that way when they return from a trip. I has changed me, I think, for the better. Traveling and seeing more of the world (REALLY seeing, not just getting a stamp in your passport) is a very valuable experience and I look forward to doing it again. (Felipe and I have been eyeing up Peru.) I'm ready to move on with my life. I look forward to teaching and taking classes this year, graduating and starting my PhD wherever destiny takes me. This will be my last blog entry. I don't believe my life to be so interesting anymore to warrant publishing it online. I will continue writing, in the more traditional, hard-copy sense, about this trip but my voyeuristic period has ended. I leave with a song (Bob Dylan) that sums it up well....
The Times They Are A-Changin'

Movin' Right Along

Felipe got his VISA!!! Yeah! Phew, what a relief. Many of you don't know this story so, I'll give the brief version. Part of the reason that we came to Brazil this summer was that Felipe needed to renew his U.S. VISA. So, we got here and he went online to pay his fees and print out the necessary forms. While doing this, he noticed that the process had changed slightly since the last time he renewed. The American Embassy now requires an "interview" with every single applicant. Only the "interview" isn't really an interview; they are finger-printing everyone who comes into the U.S. So, since EVERYONE must have an "interview" the Embassy is overwhelmed with scheduling such a huge amount of people. (Previously, only new applicants were required to be finger-printed.) As a result, they have a "required waiting period" which ended up being longer than the entire time we were going to be in Brazil---quite a pickle. Luckily, there were still a few ways around this and Felipe was granted his VISA today. He only has to pick it up tomorrow and we're set to return.

Late-Breaking News

I passed the exam! Woo-hoo-- actually, I should say I kicked its booty; I got a 96% out of 100%. So, now I have a nice little certificate that says I passed the highest level of Portuguese IBEU offers. In other news, in case anyone is wondering, Brazil is and has been out of the running for the World Cup. They were eliminated by France--quite justly, I must admit. So, now the final game will go down Sunday between Italy and France. Each are already 3 time World Cup winners so, it's anyone's game, as they say. Also, my baby bro has a birthday coming up on Monday:) (If anyone knows his shoe size, please let me know ASAP!!!) Less-than-sweet 18, haha. He will be joining me at college in the fall and if he somehow manages to sneak into my Spanish class I will have to beat him up (I don't care that he's 6'00", I can still scratch him pretty good).

Back to our regularly-schedule program....

Yesterday, Felipe and I spent the whole day in Downtown Rio. We saw the church where the Emperor Dom Pedro was coronated, the Paseo Real (Royal Passage--tunnels where the royal family used to sneak around so as not to mingle with "common folk"), o Museu da Bellas Artes, o Teatro Municipal (SOOO beautiful---I was in heaven; I love the stage!), and the Biblioteca Nacional (National Library), which was fantastic and happily smelled just like all other libraries in the world :) Unfortunately, most of these things didn't allow any photographs or just a few in very select locations so, the documentation is a bit spotty.

Today, I will probably just laze around on the beach and sip on a coconut or two. Oh, just as a note: I have recently discovered a channel that has the Gilmore Girls (subtitled) and so I've been catching up on the back-episodes.

It's good to be queen

Yesterday, we visited the Palacio/Museu Nacional de Quinta da Boa Vista. It was the royal palace for Emperor Dom Pedro II and Empress Leopoldina and then, when Brazil became a republic, it was converted into a natural history museum. It has exhibits that include: shrunken heads from Africa, pre-Columbian pottery, ancient Egyptian mummies, ancient Roman vases, native Brazilian crafts, entymological charts for Brazil/Latin America in general (pinned butterflies, etc.) and so much more. Not only that, the building itself (as well as the surrounding royal gardens) has such an interesting history. For a history nerd like myself, it was paradise. By far, my favorite display was ancient Egypt. They had mummies, stellae, pottery, jewelry, and a few sarcophaguses (sarcophaguae? What is the plural anyway?). It's a little sad to see someone's coffin but it really makes the imagination run wild--wondering who they were, what they looked like, how the died, etc. Unfortunately, like most museums, we were not allowed to take any pictures. Afterwards, we went back to the last portion of the zoo--which was free and right next-door--and took the pictures we had wanted to a few days before.

Also, today was my last official day of class at IBEU. I take the comprehensive exam tomorrow and if I pass I will receive a certificate of "competency" in my given level of Portuguese. If I don't pass, I will still receive a certificate that asserts my completion of a certain number of hours of Portuguese instruction. Either way, it works so, I'm not worried. Here's a photo in front of the building that houses IBEU---->
My time here is almost up, only about 2 weeks left. After tomorrow, I will start doing research interviews like a crazy person and also traveling around like a crazy person; I want to squeeze every drop of time out and accomplish as much as possible. It goes soooo fast...before I know it, I'll be preparing lesson plans and cooking for myself again...que pena!!! (what a shame!!!)

Let's go to the zoo and see the wild children!

As you can probably guess by the title, we went to the zoo today! It was a lot of fun though it was packed with less-than-perfectly-behaved children. The zoo is set up like a jungle paradise--with coconut trees, palms and various other exotic ground cover. So much so, wild birds of all kinds, butterflies, cats, etc. freely choose to make it their home. Everywhere you went birds were flying overhead and random animals were roaming the walkways. There were a lot of animals native to Brazil; birds in particular--there were hundreds of rare birds. We tried to get pictures of as much as possible but then the camera battery died so, we had to just commit everything to memory. The national bird of Brazil is the blue macaw (arara azul) and we got a nice picture of him...


Later in the evening, we also went to the National Planetarium and saw a show called "Ceu: Mito e Realidade" (The Heavens: Myth and Reality). It basically looked at the major constellations (the zodiac, etc.) and what the story is behind them, in particular how they were named.The place is huge and super high-tech; it made us a bit homesick, though--we go to the planetarium in Morgantown regularly even though it is significantly less impressive.

Below is a photo of a lion-monkey, which is native to Brazil and highly difficult to photograph. While there we had the typical zoo experiences: 1-paying WAY too much for snacks and water 2-getting spit on by at least one animal 3-seeing at least one monkey spread-eagle and playing with himself 4-seeing a pair of something getting it on in front of 50 unsuspecting children 5-baking alive in the heat 6- taking lots pictures that no one will care about but you 7-seeing some unlucky person get pooped on 8-seeing one child have a complete meltdown over ice cream or something like it 9- Ahhh! smelling that "natural" air and 10-watching everyone (kids especially) learn a lot about our furry, feathery, scaly, slithery, slimy friends :)

Rockin' the Fort

Hello again to everyone at home. Today was yet another day full of places, things and no food. We went to the Copacabana Fort, which is on a rocky peninsula just past the infamous Copacabana beach. The fort was constructed in the mid-1800's (when Brazil was still ruled by an emperor). The fort is still used by the military today as a naval observation point. Around the fort is also a museum, cafe and lots and lots of random cannons. As usual, we had way too much fun and almost got caught messing with some ammunition (empty shells, of course), haha. Then we had a lovely lunch in the cafe (which I will not describe or even mention further) and toured the museum. As we were coming out, a huge BOOM shook the building and nearly made me pee my pants. After coming out, we asked someone and found out that the army was practicing nearby for a presentation on Sunday. The troops were marching in formation on the lawn and the military band was playing so, of course, they had to fire up one of the cannons to accentuate the 1812 Overture. Felipe was snapping away and enjoying himself while I was nervously waiting for someone to escort us out for compromising something or other that was "top-secret" and not meant for tourists. Luckily, he was right and no one cared. So, (drum-roll please), here are the photos we stole from the government :)

Better watch out, better not cry....

....better not pout I'm tellin' you why. Niki-Claus is coming to town! All you people at home should be very happy and love me greatly. I spent the whole day after class today shopping for gifts for everyone :) Happily, I'm this close to being done. So, now I'm going to quickly do my homework and watch some TV before collapsing in bed.
By the way, I saw The DaVinci Code yesterday with Felipe (I FINALLY talked him into going). It was fun to see an American movie here in Brazil--though most movies here are American; it was subtitled like any other foreign film, which was a bit distracting. However, I thought it was wonderful and very well done. Even Felipe had to admit that it was very engaging and thought-provoking---though he repeatedly whispered "This is such blasphemy" in the theater, haha. Now I want to re-read the book to see if they changed anything in the movie. I read it so long ago, I can't remember.

Downtown...everything's great when you're downtown...

Ok, so I've been getting some gruff from the peanut gallery about the amount of food pics and food-related entries. Alright, alright--I get the idea. People, places and less food. (sigh) Luckily, Felipe and I made a trip to Downtown Rio today. This is the absolute center of the city--where it all began (i.e. the most historic). There are four churches downtown almost within a five block radius. They are quite similar but really beautiful so, I'll give the quick&dirty photo tour.

This is the Candelaria Cathedral and it's my favorite of the four. Here is a shot of the interior...

Later, we visited the Palacio de Tiradentes (Palace of Tiradentes). He was not royalty but was given a palace/museum in honor of his place in Brazilian history. He was an advocate for Brazilian independence during the monarchy, was killed and became a martyr. His "palace" is actually the old congress building when Rio was the capital of Brazil. We had a great tour guide and it's awesome inside; it really reminded me of Washington, D.C. Here are a few shots of that....

Shortly after, it began to rain so we had to head home but it was a lot of fun while it lasted.

As visions of churros dance in my head....

Not too much in the way of excitement happening here lately. Just been doin' the class thing, watching the World Cup games (for Brazil and Spain--the US is now out of it), shopping, reading/sleeping at the beach and beating my head up against the thesis wall. Being here and seeing how things really are makes me question my original topic. It seems pointless and irrelevant given the plethora of things that could be written about that seem much more pressing. I keep oscillating between the old idea and several different new ideas (though I haven't told my advisors yet). I'm starting to freak out a bit since my time here is roughly half over and I have no real work to show for it---just a lot of thoughts and observations. I've been making "To Do" lists that have nothing checked off yet. I can't figure out if it's the tropical atmosphere, my own procrastination and laziness or something as yet unidentified that is keeping me relatively stagnate here; it's quite annoying to have writer's block and not even be a writer, per se.

These photos are were taken when Felipe and I went to (takes a breath) his brother-in-law, Christian's, parent's apartment along the beach in Barra da Tijuca to watch Brazil play against Japan in the World Cup. For anyone who is following along, the U.S. has been eliminated but Brazil and Spain remain undefeated and at the top of their groups. There is a possibility that Brazil will play against Spain sometime in the near future which will make me very sad, no matter the outcome.

Hmmm....what else. Well, on the food front I had my first experience with Brazilian fast food--Bob's (it's like the Brazilian McDonalds, though those exist too). I hate fast food but, Felipe convinced me to at least try one of their milkshakes, since they are different than those in the U.S. This is what I had....

It is a chocolate milk shake made with good old Ovaltine. It has little crunchy chocolately bits of Ovaltine in it and it's really good. Apparently, Brazilians are rather attached to the stuff. "More Ovaltine please!" Also, on the way back from class one afternoon, Felipe had me try a churro. It is basically a hollow, cylindrical donut that Brazilians fill with chocolate, coconut, guava, and doce de leite (caramel). They look like this....though they are sold by a street vendor with a little cart in Brazil....

They taste REALLY good and are highly addictive. In fact, I want one now.

Tutti-frutti

I LOVE TO EAT!!!!!!!! Food in Brazil is so freakin' good. I love everything. I have not eaten one thing (and I've tried a hell of a lot) that was terrible or even remotely close to that. One of my goals was to eat my way through Brazil and I think I am accomplishing that quite well. The most amazing thing here is the fruit. There are 5 kinds of bananas here!---not including plantains which are quite large, green and don't taste at all like a regular banana. The most surprising part is how different and how much MORE everything tastes. Bananas, for example, I have eaten since I was a baby. However, bananas in Brazil have a very distinct taste. Not to mention the smell....sweet Jesus.....walking by a fruit stand makes me salivate nowadays. Mangos smell the best; you can smell a ripe mango about a block away in the center of the city--it's that strong. I've decided to devote this blog entry to my love of Brazilian food. Although almost of all of my previous entries have mentioned food in some way, haha. It's just too good to ignore. Here are some of my most notable food encounters....

Starting on the left we have--- caqui (kah-key; round, red, looks just like a tomato), maça (mah-sah; Brazilian apple), maracujá (mah-rah-coo-shah; passion fruit, yellow with a little stem), pera (peh-rah; pear), in the center is tangerine and the spiny green fruit is called fruta do conde (froo-tah doo con-jay; fruit of the duke)

Fruta do conde is Felipe's favorite and has quickly become my favorite as well. It has such an aromatic taste it's like eating perfume (but not the overwhelming, old-lay variety). This is the inside...

I don't know if you can see very well, since the photo is a bit dark, but the inside is white with a bunch of little pouches. Each of these little pouches contains a hard, black seed but everything white inside is edible and tastes wonderful. You scoop each part out with a spoon, suck each pouch to release the seed and then spit the seed out. It's quite a challenge to eat this fruit and it takes a while to finish one, but the taste is definitely worth it.

Above is, of course, a pineapple (abacaxi; ah-bah-kah-she) and beside it is a papaya (mamão; mah-mauw). Since I'm speaking of food, I thought I'd throw in this photo too. It's not fruit but, it's a photo of Felipe's dad (Protasio), mother (Sonia), sister (Ana Cecila-all the way from Germany to meet me even though she's quite pregnant) and brother-in-law (Christian-German). Felipe was sick that evening and stayed home but, I had a great time eating sushi and drinking with them. I drank a caipirinha, which is sort of the national drink of Brazil. It is cashaça (Brazilian version of vodka made from sugar cane, sugar, and lime. A few of those can knock the biggest guy on his butt.

Que loucura!

Allow me to set the stage for those of you at home...

--fireworks going off roughly every 5 minutes (in broad daylight) since 6:30AM
-- an entire 4 blocks worth of dogs barking after each installment of fireworks
--the glow of a TV set eminating from every surrounding apartment window
--the streets in a city of several million inhabitants COMPLETELY empty of cars
--no one working or pretending to work at any establishment, though it is not a holiday
--each and every person you pass is wearing something yellow and green somewhere on their body
--the whole 2 pages of the morning paper containing nothing of politics, crime or other social matters but only soccer-related issues
--every club, bar or other establishment with a relatively large television packed with screaming, sweating, drinking men all over the age of 30

...get the idea? Oh yes, my friends...the count-down until 1pm has begun ...it's GAME TIME!!

In the jungle, the mighty jungle

Today (since it is the national holiday of Corpus Cristo and I have no class), we took a car ride up into the jungle (yes, jungle) surrounding Rio. It was a rapid ascent completely in the cool shade of the trees and vines. Along the way, there were several points where we stopped and snapped some pictures of the city and the bay below. As always, it was beautiful. Later we drove through Recreio, which is the newest and quickest-growing area in Rio (where everyone goes to retire). I was suprised to see an Outback Steakhouse, Wal-Mart (so sad) and a TGIFridays along with many typically Brazilian stores at the mall there. The layout of the area reminded me a lot of the suburbs of Washington, D.C. After the drive, we went to lunch at a seafood place---really fresh; fresh because the lower level of the restaurant is a seafood market and the ocean is a block away. We stuffed ourselves on: camarao (shrimp), salmao (salmon), lagosta (lobster), bacalhau (cod), lula (squid), povo (octupus) and other frutas do mar (fruits of the sea, as they call it) along with (much taller) beers. At about 3pm we went to the beach at Recreio and chilled out as the sun set. That night, we went out to a bar called Conversa Fiada (Mumbo-Jumbo) with Felipe's cousin Karina and a few of her best friends. These are a few of my fav photos....

"Palma Mater"

This has got to be one of my favorite things so far in Brazil. The beaches are great, the food is amazing but this....... is fantastic. It is called the Jardim Botanico (Botanical Garden) in Rio. It is a mix between Central Park and a tropical jungle. The palm trees are about 30-40 feet high. This park was originally the property of the Portuguese monarchy when they controlled Brazil from Rio in the mid-1800's. Now, it is a public park. Much of the flora and fauna here has been preserved since the late 1800's (which explains the height of the palm trees at the entrance). The title for this blog entry actually came from a monument at the front gates that explains the history of the park. In it, it names these palm trees at the entrance the "palma mater" (no joke and even in quotations) for the rest of the park.

I love this fountain-- it's so romantic it reminds me of something from Rome or Athens. We took about a dozen photos (which I will send to everyone). These white gables are actually a pretty famous site here in Rio. Several soap operas have used this as a location and also a few movies.

This last photo was actually taken by a professional photographer who happened to be in the park at the same time. The place we are standing is the Japanese gardens portion of the park. Several parts have a theme to them but this was our favorite. The sun was setting as we arrived so, we got some really beautiful photos at the start but, then the sun dropped lower (and the park closed) so we had to leave. We only were able to see about a third of the whole thing so, we will try to schedule another day to go back and see the rest.

I'm having a wonderful time---actually TOO wonderful a time; I haven't gotten shit accomplished in two weeks here. That is highly unusual for me. I'm just racking it up as the "vacation" portion of this trip. However, the "work" part will have to start rather soon.....

On another note, Brazil is completely INSANE right now with World Cup fever. Every street has yellow and green streamers hanging from the lamposts and every other person on the street is wearing a soccer jersey or some other apparel with yellow and green. I have never seen such fervent nationalism and sports enthusiasm. We Americans take our football pretty seriously but we are party-poopers compared to Brazilian soccer fans. I'm enjoying, to be honest. I've never really taken an interest in soccer but, I have to admit, the games are pretty dynamic. Happily, Brazil beat Croatia (barely) 1-0. If things go well against Australia on Sunday, they might shut down the country on Monday in celebration---no kidding.

It's raining...

...and it might not stop for days (due to it being winter here in Brazil). I also woke up with a lovely Brazilian headcold. I feel like poo and my tan is melting, melting..... arg....

Itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, little polka-dot bikini

Ok, it isn't really polka-dotted but ... finally!! I have not one, but TWO Brazilian bikinis. The one on the left is black and white and the pattern mimics the famous sidewalks in Ipanema. I was satisfied with one but the black and white one was such a deal-- US$15-- how could I resist? Admittedly, it is a bit tinier in the back than the one on the right but, hey, my butt's tiny too. The one on the right was a bit pricey but, well worth it. The cut fits like a dream, the material is sturdy and the print really brings out my eyes (or so Felipe says). I also used them, well the floral one at least, on Saturday. Felipe took me to the beach in Baja de Tijuca (exclusive, far away and practically deserted) and then to Ipanema (crowded as hell but really fun). I played it safe with this alien Brazilian sun and, in the end, gained no color at all; in retrospect I think I played it a little TOO safe. However, Felipe--adopted gringo that he is---got quite a burn on his back. If the weather holds up, we plan to go every day this week after my Portuguese class.

Last night Felipe and I went out to dinner at a Japanese place called "Miako". Felipe is crazy about this place and always told me how he used to go here almost every day when he lived in Brazil. It is close to the Japanese Embassy here so, everything (including the owner) is 100% authentically Japanese. The food was great and the restaurante is adorable; in the upstairs portion (only open during the day for large parties) has a tatami (low tables with cushions to sit on and woven floor mats). After a lovely meal of sushi (with mango--a first for me but quite tasty) and sashimi, we decided to have a beer. We ordered two choppes, which is Portuguese for drafts. So, I'm imagining the kind of draft that they show on TV ads-- tall, chilled and foamy...but this is what we got... ...two of the smallest beers I have ever seen!!They must be about 10 ounces each; when the waitress brought them we just started couldn't help but giggle a little. Felipe thought it was so cute that they fit perfectly in my small hands that he insisted on snapping this picture. Since Valentine's Day in Brazil is Monday, we kind of celebrated a bit early but we will probably do something nice the day off as well; he suggested we spend the afternoon at the Jardim Botanico (Botanical Garden) downtown so, that is the plan as of now.

Rape on the second floor????

Sorry to anyone who was scared by the title of this blog entry. Let me start off by saying that everything is fine and it is just a joke...this picture should make things a bit more clear....

As you can see, "Rape" is clearly located on the second floor (219) of this shopping mall with "female style" underneath as the description....oh, so wrong. Perhaps I have a sick and twisted sense of humor but when I saw this I laughed so much I was crying. People walking by must have seriously wondered what the hell was so funny; we got even weirder looks when he snapped the photo and I was shaking with giggles. At first we were like, "Whoa, that's terrible. Maybe we should tell them." Then we just couldn't stop laughing. Felipe often remarks that the most unusual (and sometimes highly usual) things make me completely lose composure and he is, of course, right.

On a very different note, yesterday was my first day of Portuguese language classes. The classroom is small but neat and tidy. (I sent out the photos on Shutterfly.) Originally, I was going to be the only student but, at the last minute, a British med student named Paul joined me. My teacher is a woman named Zacaria. She's short and stout (though lacking the handle and spout) and I don't like her very much. She is a naturally very loud and animated speaker and the class is small so the echo is killer. If I don't understand something or have a question, in addition to an explanation, she speaks as though I have I severe hearing problem, which gets annoying really quickly. As a language teacher, I guess I'm really biased as to how to teach and since she doesn't fit that style, it bothers me. Paul said he had her last summer and she was pretty good so, I guess I just have to give her some time. I have taken to calling her "a bocao" (the big mouth). The workload is reasonable and the lack of students means that Paul and I have to speak up all the time so, we practice a lot. I apparently bought the wrong textbook through Amazon so, I had to buy the correct one this morning before class. All in all, things are starting well in spite of minor set-backs.

Prayin' and Playin'

I find myself a bit atrasada (behind) due to Internet connection issues so, I will now catch up a bit. Sunday, Felipe's parents, Felipe and I went to the Monastery of Sao Bento for mass, then to the Soccer/Sports Club (Fluminese) that his dad has been a member of since he was about 8, and finally we went to see a colonial fort built in 1765 on the other side of the bay (a city called Niteroi). No funny stories--- churches and military buildings don't tend to be funny places-- but we got a lot of amazing pictures. When I say a lot, I mean A LOT! Between us we seriously snapped 1,000; God bless digital cameras!!! Here are a few of our favorites....

The Monastery of Sao Bento--one of the most beautiful churches you could imagine--was built in 1565. Everything is gold and it is a textbook example of the Baroque style. It leaves you breathless when the sun shines in.

This is just a general overview of the tennis courts of the Fluminense Futebol Clube.

This fortaleza (fort) may not seem like much but it has quite a history and quite a view...

(above) Felipe and I enjoying the sunny day and the great landscape :)