Saudade

Saudade is a portuguese word that lacks a suitable translation. It means something along of the lines of nostalgia, yearning, ennui or missing.

48 hours rest between me and my departure. I just said goodbye to my visiting friends. They allowed me to re-experience my favorite parts of Rio with the same sense of excitement that I had when I arrived. They also sparked another feeling. Though it is hard to tell sometimes, I have adapted quite well (both physically and mentally) to my new, strange environment. Both my friends got sick here, one to the point of hospitalization. I spent 3 days of their visit playing the role of hospital translator. In addition, they reacted to my homestay the same way I remember reacting my first week in Rio. I had almost forgotten the shock/horror I felt when I saw the amount of dirt and bugs I would be living with for 5 months. It took my friends visit to remind me how crazy this experience has been, especially from the American perspective.

I have been thinking about "saudade" a lot as my time comes to an end here. The thoughts really started on Friday, June 6th. I went to an event called "Jazz at the Maze," and it was probably the most amazing party I have ever attended. The Maze is a seemingly small building that is right in the middle of a favela in the Catete area of Rio. Once inside, it truly is a maze. There are strange staircases that lead to different hang-out areas and several lookout points that offer some of the best nighttime views I have had of Rio. I made a new friend there, another PUC student from New York. She described the experience in perhaps the most precise and concise way I have heard: "The highs are high and the lows are low." Simple, but extremely accurate. This thought has been ringing in my head ever since, and it has sparked the following lists of thoughts.


Things I have missed
Friends and family-I have met some cool people, but none that beat those that I am lucky enough to have in my life at home.
Personal space-does not exist in Rio. A curtain separates my bed from a loud family. Bathroom stalls are so small that I have to brush my legs against the toilet to close the door.
Safety-the horror stories from other exchange students (among other things) have kept me on edge the entire time here. I finally got robbed while my friends were here. Thankfully, it was not violent and not much was lost. I suppose I was due.
Taking care of myself-weirdly, I miss doing my own laundry and cooking for myself. I also miss spending money because I earned the money, not because my parents gave it to me (thanks Mom and Dad!). Independence is a hard thing to lose once you have had it. I can't wait to eat healthy, cook, clean, exercise, and earn some cash.

Things I have not Missed
Stressful schedules- It's funny, on paper, I accomplished more here than the average American student accomplishes in a normal semester. I received 18 credit hours and interned 12 hours per week, all while learning a language and having the time of my life visiting amazing places. Still, the amount of work I put into this is nothing compared to my life in the U.S.

Things I will not miss
Rio's horrific transportation- It takes 1 hour to get somewhere by bus that would take 90 minutes by foot. Rush hour is not an hour, but 4 hours. The traffic never seems to go away.
Brazilian Classism- This aspect of Brazilian culture deserves its own post. Basically, the wealth gap in Rio makes me want to vomit, and the majority of people have an attitude about it that only makes it worse. Wealthy people do not trust anybody because of the stories they hear or witness about violence and crime in their own city. The media and police are corrupt. In reality, the poor are some of the most welcoming and fun-loving people in the world.

Things I will miss
New friends- It is hard to say if I will ever see most of the people I have met here again.
Beaches, forests, parks, mountains, etc.- Rio is indescribably beautiful. Sometimes, it is easy to forget to appreciate my surroundings. When I get home and get over reverse culture shock, I will hopefully have some amazing images left in my memory.
Food- I am a sucker for several Brazilian staples. Picanha steak, rice and beans, smoothies made from Amazonian fruits, empadas, salgados, pizza, brigadeiros, the list goes on...
My own attitude- The way I approach life here is incredibly unsustainable, both for my wallet and my body. The amount of times I have said "sure, why not" to Tuesday night parties, afternoon cakes, and all-you-can-eat restaurants would have me dead-or bankrupt-before age 50 if I kept it up.


So I guess this is it? It all seemed anti-climactic until my friends visited to make me realize how much I have accomplished and learned. Still, distance, both in time and space, will only breed more reflection.

Long Lost Pictures

The first two pictures show a contrast between Rocinha, Rio's largest favela, and Ipanema. Both pictures are taken from the top of Dois Irmaos. I simply turned my body to show the contrast. 

 A view of Lagoa and Joquei Club from the top of Dois Irmaos

The Itaipu Dam provides sustainable energy to almost all of Uruguay and about 20% of Brazil.

The Iguazu Falls are beautiful!

Não vai ter copa?

The news surrounding the 2014 FIFA World Cup has, logically, made its way all around the world. I am going to attempt to recount some objective stories that are occuring at this moment in history and then provide my perspective from living in the thick of it.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/conzpreti/anti-fifa-graffitis-are-covering-the-streets-of-brazil
Here is a buzzfeed article (indeed not the greatest source) that has compiled a fairly effective collection of the anti-FIFA  graffiti all over Brazil. I have seen similar drawings first-hand.
Here are some of the pictures, in case you are too lazy to copy/paste the url.








As usual, the media tends to highlight the negative. In addition to the type of graffiti displayed above, there are many areas of Rio that have created a very welcoming, positive atmosphere for the Cup. Granted, these places are mostly wealthy. If you have not seen the news surrounding the World Cup, the argument from the majority of Brazilians is towards their own government. Millions of dollars were spent on a month long event, while millions of people are suffering from lack of food, shelter, sanitation and education. In addition to the government, citizens speaking out against FIFA itself argue that though in principle, a world-wide event should bring economic prosperity to the host country, FIFA will take most of the profits leaving Brazil in shambles.



http://revolution-news.com/anti-fifaworld-cup-tweetstorm-june-8th-at-7pm-brt-engpt/
Above is a list of tweets with the hashtag #naoworldcup.


http://online.wsj.com/articles/strike-continues-in-sao-paulo-days-ahead-of-world-cup-1402314097
Here is a more academic article about the strikes in São Paulo. The last 6 weeks in Rio have been full of similar strikes from bus drivers, museum employees, etc.


So what do I think?
You won't find me at a Não Vai Ter Copa manifestation, but it is really easy to disagree with everything going on related to this event. There is little to no rebuttal from FIFA or the Brazilian government, which to me suggests that the negative media is largely true. I'm now glad I did not get tickets to a game; I cannot in good faith support something that does so much damage to the place I have come to love.

I've made it?

I have had two very rewarding linguistic experiences in the last week or so. Last Wednesday, while I was walking down my mountain towards class, I got lucky enough to hitch a ride with one of my neighbors. I had never met this one before, so we spent the first 90 seconds saying how are you, where are you headed, etc. When we got towards the bottom of the hill, I told him I was an exchange student from the United States. "What?!" he said, "you aren't Brazilian? I didn't perceive that you were foreign. Are your parents Brazilian?" I said no, thanked him, and laughed as I got out of the car.

The next day, I took a cab home from Baixo Gavea, my University's most lively bar hang-out. I asked him what his thoughts were on the World Cup. He said that he thinks foreigners will be greeted with open arms and have a lot of parties to go to. The problem, he explained, is that the Brazilian Government will embarrass itself by not having completed what it promised (I will write a post in a week or so that attempts to explain the strikes, anti-FIFA movements, etc. It is fascinating and terrifying at the same time). While I was directing the cab driver how exactly to get to my house, I told him that I was an exchange student at PUC. "Ah hah!" he said, "I thought you had a Portuguese accent!" When I told him that I was from the United States, not Portugal, he was quite surprised.

Obviously, these two shining moments do not mean that I speak perfectly in Portuguese. I still run into some people that I cannot understand at all, and others that cannot understand me. Still, documenting these moments is important to me; I am slightly stressed about the idea that the day I leave here might be the most trilingual I will ever be. Chatting online with Brazilian and French friends may be my best way of practicing in the future. Sadly, it will have to be a conscious and forced effort on my part to keep it up.

My blog has become text heavy again. Soon I will post pictures from one of the planet's most amazing places, Foz de Iguaçu.

The End is Near

I only have 5 weeks left in Brazil!!! How did that happen? The last two or three weeks have been hectic. I have been making every effort to try something new each day, mostly using suggestions from my handy Lonely Planet book (they should thank me for free advertising).

My weekends in Rio are quickly coming to an end. Tonight I will travel to Arraial do Cabo, one of the world's most beautiful beaches, for the weekend with some friends. A group of Brazilians are friends with my friend's friend, and they have offered to let several of us stay in their house for the weekend. Brazilian hospitality is quite strange. It is often the case that they will not do anything with you unless they perceive they will gain something from the interaction. Other times, they are extremely nice and generous.

Next weekend I am flying to Iguaçu, and the weekend after that I have tentative plans with some Brazilian friends to go to some unknown location and stay in somebody's house yet again. The World Cup will start shortly thereafter. I have two USC friends coming down for the first week of the Cup that I am excited to babysit. By the time they leave, I will have less than 10 days until I board the plane to head back to the U.S.

It is such a weird feeling to be able to clearly envision the rest of my experience here. I feel as though I spent the first 2 months full of wonder and mystery not knowing what memories I would carry home with me. Then I spent about 6 weeks living completely in the present. Today, it is as if I have been slapped in the face with the end.

Here's to making the most of the last 5 weeks!

Intro to Brazilian Food

The Brazilian diet is even more disgusting than the American diet. I have consumed more sugar and fat here in Brazil than I have in the last 2 years combined. However, I am so incredibly active that the food does not seem to have an immediate negative effect on my body. I walk somewhere between 5 and 10 miles on the average day. In the States, I spend almost all of my time sitting on a box inside of a box looking at a box.

For breakfast, Brazilians typically eat just bread and butter with coffee. A special breakfast (what is typically given to tourists in hotels or hostels) would also include fruit, cheese, ham and possibly coffee cake.

Lunch is typically the biggest meal of the day here. Both lunch and dinner include rice and beans (ALWAYS), some type of meat (chicken, beef, pork or fish) and a vegetable or salad of some sort.

There are great restaurants here, but most are pricey. Nothing here is targeted towards middle class consumers, because a middle class hardly exists. In the states, it is pretty simple to fill up for 10-15 dollars. Here, you either eat at home or pay the equivalent of 20-30 dollars to eat out. Restaurants are always packed with tourists and a few elite Brazilians, but the majority of citizens do not consider eating out as part of their life.

One way to really get your money's worth is to go to a Rodizio restaurant, the famous all-you-can-eat Brazilian style restaurant where waiters bring around endless amounts of food to your table. The most common Rodizio style joints are churrasco (BBQ), sushi and pizza. Back during Carnaval, I went to a sushi rodizio with several German guys who are all bigger than me. The restaurant hated us.

A Quick Lesson From Nature

Why, yes, I am listening to Colors of the Wind as I write this.


Some of the pictures from below come from inspiring places. In general, being abroad leaves a lot of time to do nothing but think (sometimes too much time). When I was in such places, I did a whole lot of thinking. I put my Emerson and Thoreau hat on from Junior year of high school. Here you have the best "Universal Truth" I came up with during the journey.

Chapada Diamantina is full of companies that offer treks through the mountains, waterfalls, etc. For one of the routes, we decided to bypass the tour guide and just see what we could find on our own. Our adventure was slightly dangerous, but you can't live in fear. We went for it, and we made it to the destination: yet another amazing waterfall.

The journey to this waterfall takes you up a small mountain, through a thick forest, and then rock-hopping against the current of a river. The guides know all the turns to make in the forest and which rocks are easiest to jump through. Obviously, we did not.

Take a deep breath. Brace yourself Here comes my profound life metaphor I learned from hopping through the rocks.

When jumping from rock to rock, it is very interesting how hesitation is your worst enemy. At first, I thought it would be best to calculate each move in a very precise manner. With some experience, I found out that speed and momentum were necessary to pull off a lot of the jumps with ease. The few times I fell or scratched myself were the times I spent longest trying to determine my next move.

Alright, Mr. Emerson. My analysis of my experience on the rocks is as follows. Really, it is nothing more than a cliché we hear everyday. Essentially, I learned the importance of following my instincts. Sometimes, perhaps in life's most important decisions, we must feel instead of think. I have a tendency to over-rationalize everything I do. How valuable it will be to have a personal and natural memory that reminds me of the ever-important balance between thoughts and feelings that I so often forget.