It's Winter Here

I am so cold today! We left sunny Rio on Friday and have been spending the weekend traveling to Sao Paulo. On Friday, we went to Paraty. It's a nice coastal colonial town, its really pretty and very small. We ran into the same people everywhere and what was crazy is that remembered us immediately. It is a good place to visit, not somewhere to spend more than a weekend though.

We are currently staying the night at a hotel in Sao Jose dos Campos. I can't imagine having to put that on a postcard. I'd just say Sao Paulo and hope it gets to the right place. I'm very curious about what Sao Paulo will actually be like, there has been a lot of talk about it but I don't know what to trust. When I was coming to Brazil there were many things that I heard bout the country, many of them told to me by "professionals" that just were not true, certainly not of Rio. The first thing was that I was in mortal danger everytime I stepped outside my apartment in Rio, and even in the house the danger was only down about 20%. Yes, its a city that has a lot of crime. And yes, there are many murders and homicides that take place. But I was rarely the areas wehre that was most prevalent. And even then, I didn't feel like all the warnings were completely true. Not taking public transportation at night isn't a bad suggestion in the US either, but its not as bad as I was told. Next, the power just goes out all the time so carry a flashlight. That is almost verbatm what I was told about Brazil. And they knew I was going to Rio and not like some random isolated town. The power never went out, it didn't even flicker and I didn't see anyone else with a flashlight...probably because they knew full well it wasnt about to just drop at 1 in the afternoon. I was also told that I would most likely (80% chance) get sick hte first couple of days. Like, violently sick; and its normal but if I get a fever along with the 'sickness' (a word I dont want to type and dont know how to spell) to go to the hospital.

Some people also said that I should be able to speak in Spanish to people and they would completely understand, so I didnt need to worry about not speaking a word of Portuguese. Now, imagine if someone was talking to you and didn't speak very good English, so they just decided to start speaking French because they sound alike....but you dont speak French you speak English. I mean Spanish and Portuguese are very related but if someone doesn't speak it, they don't speak it. I was helped in understanding what people were saying someitmes by knowing the amount of Spanish that I do, but with pronunciation and everythign being fairly different it didn't help me that much with conversation.

So those were the things I was expecting to experience in Brazil and didn't, but there are also things I was not expecting. Like paying so much for water. I can see why they don't drink very much water here. For the most part it has to be bottled and that's expensive. In the US you order water at a restaurant because you don't want to pay...here its at least R$2,50. And yest that's right, here they use commas where in the US we would use a period and vice versa. I didn't expect things to be so much more expensive than at home. They charge a ridiculous amount for things as simple as floss and sunblock. I thought the food here would be amazing. I based that on absolutely nothing, I just assumed it would be all kinds of delicious and its just ok. They have just as many non-local foods (Chinese food, Italian places, etc.) as we do at home. Bummer. I also expected the bathrooms to be awful, but I've been in way worse in the states. So that was a pleasant surprise. Honestly, most things were pleasant surprises. No rolling blackouts, I'm healthy, and I didn't get robbed. I'd say I came out pretty good in Rio. I'm excited to see what Sao Paulo holds. But I didn't think about how cold it is...guess I need to go shopping.

Here are some phrases I use pretty much everyday. The main problem with Portuguese, especially carioca (Rio de Janeiro) Portuguese is that its nearly impossible to hear and spell correctly, or see and pronounce correctly.

Bom dia (bong geeah)= Good Morning

Obrigada= Thank you

Tudo bem/bom= How are you?/I'm well.

Onde está/fica...=Where is... (I get lost often)

I'll think of some more and put them here as well. I am beginning to round out my time here in Rio, so soon I will be in Sao Paulo and sharing that experience. Sao Paulo is about 4 times as big as NYC so that should be way different than Rio. I expect it to be even louder if that's even possible. It's so loud in the streets I can barely sleep sometimes. The buses roll past like they are jets and there's always people yelling and having an overall good time in the street. Another reason that I look forward to going to Sao Paulo is that we stay in a hotel!!! Where I might have my own bathroom, I will have TV, and I might just might have access to computers more than I do here, also I will maybe have better seasoned food. My host has either high blood pressure or high cholesterol so she uses a negative amount of salt on her food. She pulled out a salt shaker that I'm positive has been around since Portugal owned Brasil. She's gotta do what she's gotta do though.

But it will be bittersweet, I really do like Rio despite the noise and the expensiveness. Probably can't get away from that in Sao Paulo either, but then Rio has the beach!

To answer some other burning questions, the majority religion here is Catholic from what I can tell. But they have many ones here, like in the US. Thing is, I've only seen like one church since I've been here and its a tourist attraction. I don't think they even have service there.

Sorry for the Delay!!

I am so sorry for the long wait between posts! The one thing I don't like about this country is how disconnected I am. My host doesn't really have the internet, or cable, and I can't use the phone. So I am going to try to answer all the recent questions and update on like the past week.


Update on the food (at least the food here in Rio). Even though that is exactly what I am doing, Brazilian food is nothing to write home about. Everything in general is more expensive here, despite the approximately 2 to 1 exchange rate. And theres a big startch infatuation that at the same time I understand I despise. I took a picture of a meal I ordered that came with a side of rice and french fries. Can I get some steamed broccoli? Other than that it is very similar to what we have in the US. They have more fruits here, but I've seen they have less herbs and stuff. But there is a meal, the feijoada, that is a traditional thing they have that is specific to here. Its basically a bunch of beans and meat.



Classes. I go to Portuguese class every..single...day. It starts at 830am, and since we all should know that I don't even like to have 930 classes, this is tough. But its better. I take the bus everyday with another student in the program. Its not a long bus ride but it would be a long walk. I learn a lot in class, we do work from a workbook and then listen to music. The music helps us learn about the culture and also new vocab. The visits to the businesses have left something to be desired. So many companies here are run by the country! So as you can imagine, they have little to nothing in the marketing department. But another reason I haven't liked the company visits that much is because they have all been very industrial companies, no consumer goods or anything like that. We have been to an oil company, a power company, a company that does oil and power and mininig and for some reason owns a restaurant, and then a develepmental bank that finances them all. BOOORRRRIIINNGG. I can only look at oil rigs so much. But in the future we will be going to businesses that I am more interested in so I look forward to that. The worst thing about these visits is that I get home so late! I like getting home late because there is nothing to do there and now that the DVD player is broken, there's not much. But I am exhausted because we go from class, to the business, then back, then maybe to eat. Its 9 by the time I come home again.



As a group we have been on a couple of trips and we have somemore planned. I wrote about visiting the favela which is basically the slums. I'm not really a fan of such, but I went anyway. It was good to see but at the end of the day I was really just left sad and extremely tired!!! They put the favelas on hills and the steps to get to the top. I can't find the link right now, but I'm not heavily featured, and its probably for the best. It's like going on a safari....except to see people's lives. Wiggity wiggity wack. BUT we also went to Corcovado this week to see Cristo Redentor, Christ the Redeemer. It is so beautiful, the statue is great and the view of the city is amazing. I can't see it from my house, but it can bee seen from most of Rio. I took lots of pictures, and they all kind of look the same, but it's still very cool. We also went to Pão de Açúcar, but we couldn't go to the top because it was cloudy, and a cloudy picture isn't worth taking. I haven't been to the beach enough for my liking, but hopefully this weekend won't be rainy and I can waste lots of time there. The only thing about the beach is that a) you might get jacked if you fall asleep b) they try to sell you something constantly.



I feel like there are questions that I missed but I don't remember!!

Word of the Day: Cansado

I have been asked to write about the mundane and so I will do my best.

I am way too tired for it to only be 8:00pm, but after all the walking I did today it's to be expected. We took the bus this morning again and all went as planned until our afternoon lectures were "canceled" and rescheduled for tomorrow. This left the entire afternoon to do whatever, but again with it being so hard to communicate once the group separates it was mostly chaos for a few minutes. Eventually we split up into two groups and 5 of us went to lunch. Brazilian food is good. It's not too much different than the food here, but the eating experience is. It is much more laid back and they don't rush you out. People sit and chat and then a random band comes around from off the street playing and asking for money. As go-go-go as the city is, people still seem to feel no rush.

So after that it was one walking adventure after the other, the beach, some malls, and then trying to get home. I don't think I was on the right bus but I know enough Portuguese now to ask for directions and understand them. Not really in a hurry to get home other than the fact that its dark out. There isn't much to do here. Miss Sonia speaks no English and the other student isn't here that often. SOOOO it's boring. But this place is nice. I have a large room, larger than I think either of my rooms are in America. And Sonia is cool when we understand each other. Hopefully soon the group will find a way to hang out because once you're in the house you're kind of stuck. But we have lots of activities planned that will soon be underway.

Two lectures tomorrow and a company visit on Thursday should keep us busy. And on Saturday we are apparently taking a tour of the 'hood. And I mean that very literally, I don't understand why it's a tourist attraction or why they allow us to come and view their poverty and take pics....then leave to our nice houses that have water and electricity. I also wonder about the $50 that we have to pay to go??

And cansado means tired.

The Most Important Meal of the Day

Breakfast!! I really miss eating Honey-Nut Cheerios or any other cereal for breakfast. Here they want you to drink coffee all the time (and are almost offended when you say you don't like it), especially for breakfast. And that's it. I just can't do it, its not enough! I didn't end up eating a real meal until 6:30. Tomorrow I am gonna stop at a shop somewhere and buy something, anything before I go to class.

Other than adjusting to a completely new eating schedule everything else here is great. The lectures are interesting even though they are way way way too long. The Portuguese classes are going well. It's amazing how being in a house where the host speaks ZERO English will teach you a language so quickly. By the end of the 4 weeks I will probably speak better Portuguese than I do Spanish. I guess my next trip will have to be somewhere that speaks only Spanish so I can bone up on that too.

So far I really love being in a foreign country. It's kind of an adrenaline rush to be so far from anything I know. I miss everyone already...BUT making new friends is cool too. The city is so alive and noisy, but different than the lively and noisy cities in the US. It's somehow beachy and urban at the same time. I plan to be at the beach at least most of the day Friday, its sooooo pretty! The view is mountains and horizon, so lovely. Some of the other students are thinking of taking surfing lessons, and I probably will too. When in Rome?

I made it!

This is actually my 2nd day in Brazil, I think the title of this post would have been more appropriate for yesterday. However, I wasn't able to access a computer until today.

But to reiterate, I have arrived safely in Brazil. I still only speak about 12 words in Portuguese, and most of them involve my address here. Miss Sonia is my Host-Mom and she is really nice. She speaks as much English as I speak Portuguese, but she's cool. I have a very nice room with a cool view of the other building and a little garden. Main problem is that my phone doesn't work so I'm quite isolated from the other students. It will work out though.

OMG Rio is cool. I already really like it here. It's a super busy city but has a somewhat laid back feel still. The weather is nice, the view from like everywhere is beautiful, and there's lots of places to shop! I haven't done too much of that yet because a lot of places weren't open, but ohhh tomorrow after class...there's a pair of sunglasses I saw that were literally made only for my face. Which is good because the only pair I actually own are in VA. We are already making plans for the shopping and tours we will do throughout the trip.

Some people mentioned jet skis and hand gliding, jet-skis are ok because if I fall off I can swim. But if I fall off of a hand glider I'm kind of set-up, because I don't fly. We'll see, there is a first time for everything.