Bariloche!

Oh, hey Alex.

Hi John how are you? What have you been up to lately?

Ya know, got on spring break and decided to hop on down to PatagonYAH for a week. U?

Well I got a message probably not more than three weeks ago asking me to come to Argentina. And then I bought a ticket and here I am in Bariloche with you!

Oh, yeah. All this Argentine wine has been making me a bit forgetful.

This week has been real fun. We have been doing outdoorsy things, like trekking for 9 hours in the Andes (being hopelessly lost and dunked in streams and sore from climbing uphill for hours straight) and extreme biking around the Siete Lagos area.

Bariloche is also basically Switzerland and therefore the chocolate capitol of Argentina. This has meant obligatory choco sessions after every meal.

To top off the trip, we are indulging in a big steak/wine/chocolate feast tonight with some friend from the amaaazzzing hostel we{ve been staying at for 20 bucks a night! Go out with a bang before our bus trip back to Buenos Aires tomorrow...

If you ever travel in Argentina, take the bus. It´s like an airplane but with fully reclinable seats, better views, and half the price.

AND if you ever travel to Bariloche, Hostel 1004 is the place to stay. We walked into a ten story building, slightly confused (where is the hostel?). we were directed to the tenth floor, dimly lit, and unsure if we were in the right place, knocked on the door of ´penthouse 1004´. We entered and were AMAZED by the spectacular views the wraparound windows offered. Very comfortable and very chic.

Yeah, ´chic´.

Thats all we have for you now. Bariloche has treated us real nice and I (Alex) for one look forward to coming back someday. We will miss the quaint town and the beautiful mountains but another big adventure awaits: Buenos Aires!

Capim Grosso

I have said before that there is not much to do in Capim Grosso. Passing free time back home is easy - a movie, a hike, a run, trips on the weekends to Manitou or Garden of the Gods, restaurants, concerts... Capim Grosso has none of these things. Not a single one- not even a movie theater. At the house, we always joke, 'What do you want to do tonight? Let's do something new... we could go to a bar!' Because that is all that exists here. Bars and lanchonetes (snack stands). And the joke is always funny, but the reality it portrays has just recently become very heavy for me.

Sometimes, on weekends, people mix it up (ha. joke.) and go to their farm ten minutes away - family farms are generally slightly removed from the town, have two rooms without electricity, a big yard full of cacti, and sometimes if you are lucky a pool (a small concrete hole in the ground). They bring lots of beer, rum, and do what they would do at their house in town - drink.

At the farm this weekend, one of my Brazillian friends said to me, 'Alex, I know I'm smart. I am bright, I like to learn, I almost have my university degree... but it scares me that on the weekends all I want to do is drink and smoke. If i have enough money to pay for my house and food, why wouldn't I spend the rest on beer and cigarettes? Why can't I just spend my whole weekend at the farm?'

This is the serious problem with Capim Grosso. Because it is so small, because there is nothing productive to do, the vicious cycle of working a forty hour week (at the papeleria, the coffin shop, the city hall, any basic menial job, whatever) and spending the rest of your time drinking is EASY. Obviously, this creates an alcoholism problem. People here may not make much, but they sure as heck don't have to spend much on food or rent either - beer is next on the list.

Where is the opportunity here? My friend was absolutely right - why shouldnt he spend his extra money on beer, why shouldnt he spend the weekend drinking? What else has he got to do? Why should my other friend bother getting a university degree when it wont help him get a better job in Capim Grosso (where his mom wants him to stay) when he already has a fine, stable full time job, where he probably will remain for the rest of his life?

I was talking to another volunteer here - she asked me, if i was to stay for an extended amount of time, what kind of project I would implement here. I answered a fmaily planning program - the amount of teenage pregnancies here, the lack of contraceptives, and birth control is staggering and inhibits many girls from going to school and furthering their education at university. Her answer to me was, 'Yeah, but if they are finished with school, what else are they going to do in Capim Grosso? Why not just have a baby? It's something to pass their time...'

It sounds pessimistic, but there is a tragic truth to this. For now, I remain helpless and frustrated for my friends that live here.

End Honeymoon Stage

Of teaching English, that is.

After about a month and a half of teaching English, it turns out I dont actually enjoy it and Im probably not very good at it. I get positive feedback from my students, but the school system here is REALLY horrific (for example, one of my Level 3 students' public school English teacher is my student in a separate Level 1 class) so it sort of makes sense.

I have a class in particular who exhausts me to the very bone. At first excited by their 'enthusiasm' and 'energy', certain that this class would be my 'most fun' and 'most entertaining,' I now find myself reluctant to plan it and needing two advil and three beers afterward (this, is not a joke). Im frustrated because I dont see why I should put my time an energy into a class who cant sit through a low energy class because it is too low energy, but at the same time cant sit through a high energy class because they go BUCK WILD. I am also frsutrated because I am a volunteer here and I am in no way obligated to be here, to teach English to 20-somethings who act like 13 year olds and scream through an entire two hour class. I am feeling tired and run-down and stuck in a small town and frustrated by the Brazilian school system doing something I am not that passionate about.

Thank the sweet, sweet heavens I booked a plane ticket to Argentina for two weeks. This reduces my time teaching here, and in just two weeks I get a heavenly heavenly break.

So, when I leave here, the only thing I will ever teach again is yoga.

Capoeira Batizado

This past Sunday, Vilma and I were ´baptized´ in Capoeira (along with three other MUCH better jogadores). We received our first cordas (the beginning color - green). Batizado is interesting - you are put in the roda, and play with people until you are ready to pass out. The final person you play puts the corda around your waist and boom, baptized. My Capoeira name is ´Raio´, which means ´lightning´ or ´ray´.

"That Would NEVER Happen in the US"

A list we have lovingly compiled of things you would never, ever, ever see in the US.

You would never see.....
-A man, working at a restaurant, without a shirt... his hairy belly touching the food.
-A five year old girl serving beer
-A bartender serving beer with one hand and burping his six month old daughter with the other
-Dogs in a bar
-A student answering their cell phone in class
-A whole family on one motorcycle (half of them without helmets)
-Children who wander the streets from 10 pm - 4 am
-One traffic light in a 30,000 person city
-Normal civilians, who are not sick, riding in the back of an ambulance while the sick person is up front
-A cashier telling you it´s OK if you pay later
-someone bringing their own alcohol to a bar and making their own drinks with the bartender's supplies
-Chicken hearts for lunch
-Riding donkeys next to cars

Happy Two Months!

Highlights:

-Riding in my first ambulance (in the back, on the stretcher... Vilma, the sick one, was riding in the front)
-Learned how to ride a motorcycle
-Learned (and still learning) how to samba
-Been baptized in Capoeira
-Hitchhiked for the first time
-Learned how to be a teacher
-Attended the biggest street party in the world

The Two Faces of Food

I would like to elaborate a little more on my diet here. I fondly refer to it as my Two-Faced diet.

Face One: ´Sickeningly Healthy.´ This is how Charles describes our diet. Every day for lunch (this is not an exaggeration), we eat some form of beans, rice, and Soja, loaded with fresh veggies or fruits from feira. On the menu for breakfast is generally fresh bread and tomatoes (essentially, sandwiches. why do people eat sandwiches here for breakfast? this does not make sense to me). Dinner is whatever you can scrounge together from leftovers.

Face Two: Artery Clogging Fatty Fat. Everything here is either REALLY salty or REALLY sweet - other flavors are hard pressed to be found. My coffee preference has slowly shifted from black with some soy milk to half milk, half coffee, and a generous amount of 100% cane sugar. When eating out, staples are large servings of mayonnaise and ketchup, on everything. Beer works with every meal (because its so light it tastes like water). And there is always fried street food.

And there was that one time we ate chicken hearts for dinner...

Carnaval

Foi. LOUCO.

I had no idea what to expect going in except the bits and pieces seasoned veterans had told me. Words like "war," "absolutely insane," and "a marathon" had come up in conversations prior to the event. Turns out, Carnaval in Salvador is actually just a huge street party with copious amounts of light beer and really good music. I will recount what I remember.

Day 1 : The Intro

We took the 12:45 am bus to Salvador, arrived in Salvador at 5:00 am. Passed the day napping, reading, rejuvenating (I WENT TO THE BEACH WITH NOAH!) for our first night in Pelourinho and Campo Grande. Our pousada was located on the perfect street in Pelourinho, so we got to see parades pass by our window. The night began slow, with a few parades and small blocos here and there.... and then. The samba bloco happened. IT WAS SO CRAZY. I got the first kiss of the night when someone asked, "are you married?" Shocked (do I look married??! I thought), I said "OF COURSE NOT!" and got a whiskery, slobbery kiss from a 50+ year old. Lesson learned: the answer is always, ALWAYS, married.

Vilma and I got seperated from the group in a very, very black samba bloco. We spent 45 minutes basically fighting our way down the street, and because Vilma sticks out SO MUCH with her PLATINUM BLONDE EFFING HAIR, we were admired (read: touched, kissed, tugged, pulled) all the way. It was a fight, but we got out, watched some samba dancing, made some friends, got a free t-shirt, and called it a night.

Day 2 : The Solitude

Spent the day recuperating and eating Acai. Went to Noah's 5 star apartment with a view of the ocean and commenced the night with his roomates. Any sense of time during Carnaval has eluded me, but we went out, us two and his friend from last semester, and we lost Noah literally within the first fifteen minutes. We danced our way into Barra, Ondina, made friends with the most kind, fun, phenomenal Brazillian couple and spent a good part of the night with them.

AND THEN I WAS SEPERATED FROM MY NEW FRIENDS!!! Totally alone, in the middle of a street party of 2 million, and it was the best part of my Carnaval. Dancing, singing, jumping, being alone but actually surrounded by hundreds of friends, it was perfect, and as the sun was rising I took a moto taxi back to the hostel... I have no idea where in the city I was, but judging by the moto taxi ride, I was reeeealll far.

Day 3 : The Marathon

Since it was our last night, we had a goal: 6 pm to 6 am. Met up with Noah again, ventured into Barra, and repeated the previous nights with different happenings here and there.

We ventured onto the streets at around five o clock. The walk to Noah's was 45 minutes, but it took us two hours. Why, you ask? BECAUSE WE HAD TO FIGHT OUR WAY THROUGH A PARADE OF A THOUSAND MEN IN EGYPTIAN DRAG OUTFITS WITH WATER GUNS. What?! Why is this happening?? And unfortunately we were going the opposite direction of the parade. And it was just madness. We exited Campo Grande crying and laughing and soaking wet and confused and excited and exhausted and maddened. All because Vilmas stupid hair catches so much attention.

And, I am happy to say, we made the marathon. 6 til 6, boom, accomplished. Made more and more new friends and danced our little hearts out.

It was perfect, in all seriousness. I sincerely regret not staying four, five, six nights, but I have a funny feeling this won't be my last Carnaval in Salvador.

(As far as pictures go, it is highly advised to not take a camera out due to massive amounts of theft, so the few pictures and videos I got were from the hostel). The beach photos are from our days in Imbassai, post Carnaval.

shoes, pre-Carnaval

shoes post-Carnaval (may they rest in peace)

Happy One-Month, Brasil!

Things I love:
-The line of busy ants that pass in front of me as I do yoga
-Mango tree in our backyard
-Hammocks.... how have I ever lived without one?
-The rare (rare!!!) treat when we eat MEAT!
-My students
-Playing Capoeira
-The fact that I have 7 different names here, because a) alex is reserved for males here and b) people can’t pronounce words ending with a consonant – hence, vowels must be added or taken away. Examples: Alexi, Alexa, Alexia, Alex-ya, Alessandra, Ale, etc.
-The small victories of conversing in a new language
-And how humbling it is to hear conversations where I don't understand anything
-Monday morning feira
-Street food
-Carnaval
-Breezy fresquinha nights after brutally hot days
-Sunday pool and Acai

Things I less than love:
-Doing laundry by hand. because I am domestically challenged, nothing is ever really clean.
-Living next to the associacao... heavy traffic = very little privacy
-Being so meat deprived I dream about eating dead birds
-The dogs here. I AM A DOG PERSON I SWEAR. But after being almost attacked (twice) with some seriously aggressive dogs, I am sworn off dogs until I am back in the US.

When I arrived here and people asked how long I was staying in Brasil, the answer was four and a half months. As time passed, the answer became longer and longer.. "maybe five," "a little over five", etc. I have decided to stay as long as my visa allows, 180 days, coming in at just around six months! And so happy the decision is made!!!

Thaaaat's it. Here's to a perfect second month!

Feira!

Every Monday morning, Feira-livre happens. We buy our food for the week (in seriously large quantities: 5 kilos of tomatoes, 3 kilos potatoes, four bunches of bananas, 3 watermelon, the list goes on...). It feels like the whole city packs itself into the praça to load up on food - the crowd, combined with the smells, the colors, the shouting, the music, what-have-you, is one of the best parts of my week.

Loooove the feira!

Classes, CAPS-I, and CHAOS

English classes at AEC-TEA began this week! The pace of life has picked up, and it's been an experience for me to teach my native language. People have told me English is a hard language to teach, and I never realized it until I was forced to explain why a verb is irregular ("It just is?") or how to describe the concept of leadership with limited portuguese and, on their side, limited English.

I have a crazy range of classes. Level 1 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting from scratch, easy because everyone is starting from the same place, but not easy because everyone is starting from the same place. Level 4 on Mondays and Wednesdays is with one middle-aged man who has a solid level of English, and he just desires conversation. Level 3's energy level is through the roof, 14 20-somethings who are all great friends and need LOTS of hands-on, engaging activity.

And, in the process of learning to teach English, I am also learning to teach English in Brasil, which means everything operates on Brasil time, which means I can (and should) start teaching at 7 pm, but people continue rolling in until 8. Which means not a lot can be accomplished in the first hour because we always have to review for people who just walked in.

Despite the ups and downs of teaching classes, I am a huge fan of the students - who, for the most part, are present and eager to learn. I am excited at the possibility of becoming friends with them, especially those in my level 3 class.

Along with beginning classes, I've started my community projects. CAPS-I, a center for adults with physical and mental disabilities, has been a serious source of joy for me. I worked with people with special needs during Capernaum week at Lost Canyon (and loved it!) but since then have been busy with other things; special needs was never a priority for me. At CAPS-I, I play capoeira, futebol, maculele, art projects, whatever, with special needs adults and walk away elated every time. It is also awesome to be away from AEC-TEA more, and I think of my time at CAPS-I as my own personal "portuguese class".

In other news, in the beginning of February the police went on strike in Salvador, with other cities in Bahia following (Capim Grosso's police went on strike as well). Some have described Salvador as a "warzone," saying things like "THIS IS HELL" and "I don't leave my house." Others have said, "I go on with my life as normal but I'm pissed because I have to leave my job early." Over a hundred people have died in the chaos of the strike. We have been talking about it a LOT here, and some people firmly believe it is completely sensationalized, others are a little more wary.

Which, of course, has us a little wary. Carnaval alone has the reputation of having a wild, crazy, and at times violent atmosphere. When you take a huge disparity between the rich and the poor in a big city, throw a party in the big city, and pack the party with 2 million people (locals and tourists from around the world), shit usually hits the fan in one way or another. Now, even though the strike has ended, one of our friends has predicted even more violence than usual, because "the police are going to be super, super pissed off and beating the shit out of people."

Bring it on, Salvador!

Being a gringa, and other things

In some (most?) places, being called a gringo is derogatory. In fact, I don´t think it is ever a good thing. Here, however, even if being a gringa isn´t necessarily a good thing, I have realized that it gets you invited to some pretty neat places.

In the a city of 30,000 people, I would estimate that about 16 are foreigners, and probably 9 of those foreigners are associated with AEC-TEA. Not too many whities in Capim Grosso. When I walk down the street, I might as well be wearing a sandwich-board-sign that says PLEASE, STARE AT ME AND UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES LOOK AWAY (and obviously this is exacerbated when I am with the Finns - we must look CRAZY when we walk anywhere together!).

As one of the token gringas at a recent party, I was invited to spend some of the weekend at the family farm of neighbor/friend/frequenter-of-aec-tea. I rejected the offer? Because I didn´t really want to go alone with this man and his family? To a farm in God knows where? Question mark? But then the rest of the gang was invited, and we were told there was a POOL, and my new years resolution is to say yes after all, so we went!

The bus dropped us off in a completely random spot off the highway and followed Fernando to a small brick house with a small concrete hole in the ground with some water (uhh.... is that the pool?). Vilma quietly voiced what we were all thinking: ´Where are we?´ It was clearly a family gathering, some might even call it a family reunion... what?? Why were we invited to a family reunion???!! We walked in looking like, well, a pack of gringos who are super out of place. I think one of us probably was actually wearing said sandwich board sign.

However, I feel that all my stories thus far weave the common thread of Bahian hospitality, and this weekend was no exception. Before we could even blink, we all had beers in our hands, invitations to swim, dance, play cards, etc. Merriment ensued as we played games water balloons and pitu (a rank, rank Brasilian rum comparable to Skol in the US), ate some meat whose origin they would not divulge until I tried it first (tripe! cow stomach! liver! ALL OF THOSE!), went on walks, played with a kitten, dominoes, whatever. The party went until late in the evening, we slept on humble little mattresses outside, and when we woke up, one of the first questions was (seriously) ´anybody want a beer?´

The moral of the story is, while I would rather not be called a gringa, I really do appreciate the places it takes me and the people it allows me to meet! And now, after a seriously great weekend, on the agenda is setting up a lesson plan for english classes, which commence tomorrow (ah! tomorrow!!!). Stay tuned!

Evento de Capoeira

Greetings! I am taking capoeira classes (read: I am playing capoeira with 4-10 year olds who can all kick my ass) and the day I got back from Jacobina, my mestre invited me to go to a capoeira event over the weekend. I guess once a month, different capoeira schools get together, play, practice, and party. I said yes with some hesitance: a lot was going on at AEC-TEA over the weekend and I wanted to be here, but I figured I wouldn´t really have the chance to go to an event like this when things get busy.

I went from being very nervous to sahooooo happy in those two days. We played a little in a town called Pereira with the kids from Capim Grosso, piled 50+ people on a rickety bus, and drove on roads a school bus should not EVER be on to a small small small town called Rua Nova. Hot and dry and small, with landscape just like Arizona. Anywhooo. It was kind of like going to summer camp, except you don´t know anyone there, they have been going to camp together for 5 years, and you speak a different language. I was nervous.

The first night, we walked to the praça playing the instruments and singing, and played in the praça. I sincerely regret not capturing this on camera: the entire town gathered and watched incredible capoeristas play. At one point, one of the professors took me in the middle and introduced me to the ENTIRE TOWN (who, during the parties, treated me like I was a shiny new toy). It was quite embarrasing but really so fun.

I can´t say enough good things about brasileiros, they just want to know you and help you understand the language. At one point, my mestre took me aside and said ´you know you are the only person in this town who speaks english, right?´this was a WILD realization for me! Some kids asked me to say phrases in English, and when I did were speechless - wide eyed and mouths open. I told them ´yeah? this is how you sound to me when you speak Português!´

The next day the real event started: capoeira from 10-3 and then a giant samba party from then on. I played, took photos, videos, etc... here is a teaser of some of the photos!

My body was tired after large amounts of capoeira, my mind was tired from only-Português, and for some reason I got a little homesick here (I think it was watching mestre with his daughter - made me miss my dad!). However, I am so glad I went!

Jacobina, entendeu?

Since we still have some time before we begin the hustle of teaching and associação business, we took a day off to spend time in Jacobina (fun with the Finns part 1), a city twice the size of Capim Grosso 60 km away. I really loved this city, I love Capim Grosso but unlike CG, Jacobina is HILLY and GREEN! Our main quest was to find a waterfall since Capim Grosso, you know, has been absolutely sucked dry by the ever present sun.

The first afternoon we walked up a steep, steep set of stairs (that made me nostalgic for the incline)...

That led to Alto do Cruzeiro!

Ate, looked around Praça Castro Alves...

Stayed in a cheap, phenomenal hostel and the next morning woke up early early early to find a waterfall. Our guide Alex took us to two: Cachoeira dos Britos and Cachoeira dos Amores.

I wasn´t only taken with the physical beauty of Jacobina but also the people! Every person we met was so kind, SO helpful, and for me what stood out was after every sentence or two, they would ask ´entendeu?´(Understand?) And not in a bad way - really taking time to make sure I understood what they were saying. It felt very personal to me and you can bet your butt I´ll be back here soon enough!

Dias primeiros

eThings are slow here because classes at AEC-TEA have not started yet - they begin in about a week and a half. My routine is simple but enough for now; I run, eat (rice, beans, fruit and vegetables every meal hehehehehe ahhh), clean (brasileiros are the cleanest people I have ever known), read, play capoeira, walk around town, go to the market, do some more housework, maybe a português lesson, maybe yoga, whatever I feel. We have teacher training on Monday and Tuesday, and in between now and then I am probably going to travel a little bit to find some water! Capim Grosso is H-O-T (I explain frozen yogurt every day to someone different - maybe I miss it?) and would you believe it there is not a single lake or pool here. So we will quest to find a waterfall. And later this month, Carnaval, stay tuned.

Seven people live in the volunteer house, and they are all nice, however only one is local. The rest are from Europa, and three of them speak zero portuguese so it is very frustrating for me to speak english with them. My brain is in full-speed-ahead português mode right now and I feel like it is a set back to speak so much english, so often.

HOWEVER! This will change when classes start. Because, along with classes, we can choose whatever projects we want to work on in the community - and nobody in the community really speaks english because in Capim Grosso, there is absolutely to reason to. I will offer yoga classes at AEC-TEA (in português...real life!) and I have my eye on two community projects: a mental health center and a village three miles out.

The health center offers classes and workshops (read: music, dance, capoeira, arts, yoga) for people with ´mental health issues,´also this term spans anything from depression to down syndrome to mild physical dysfunctions; because Capim Grosso is so small, they don´t have enough resources or people for such a separation.

I also want to go twice a week to this small small teeny tiny village, where unemployment is high and child prostitution and child labor are rampant. I would work with kids there twice a week, playing, teaching yoga, bringing the guitar, whatever. These two places are great opportunities for me to connect with people in the community, and while I am excited to teach english classes, I am really over the moon that I get the other opportunities as well!! My experience thus far with people in the community has been really special - these are some extraordinary people - and I am so excited to build deeper relationships in my time here!

Routine, Travel, Etc.

Capim Grosso! Wahooow. Lots has happened the last few days. I will begin first with my reflections on routine.

In the four days of traveling alone (verrrry alone), with only my carry-on (the airport left my baggage in Sao Paolo), in a state where, hello, the portuguese spoken is SO different than the one I learned (they swallow letters and syllables in almost every word - very african sounding), I realized that not only do I cling to routine, I strangle it. STRANGLE. I am addicted to routine, and when I don´t have one, I truly freak the F out.

And now, as far as traveling goes, I was stressed to the point where it was almost crippling. Like I said - portuguese here is really, really hard to understand. So the 25+ hours spent in airports, navigating my way through hostels, bus systems, my thought process looked a little like this: ´Is this my plane? Is this the right gate? What are they saying right now? Crap, are they saying my gate is changed? Should I ask that man in Portuguese? What if I mess up the phrase? Should I just wait? WHAT IF I MISS MY PLANE? Is this my bus stop? Crap, if I miss my bus stop, when is the next one?´ (etc, etc, etc.)

None of those things happened. I was FINE - but the knot I had in my stomach the entire time was indicative of how much stress was induced.

Now for the good things. I spent two (dirty dirty) days in Salvador at the Nega Maluca hostel (crazy black lady). Swimming in the thick portuguese and making some friends - we went to a few bars in the city and an electronico concert. I took a bus to Capim Grosso - a five hour ride - and the entire time, passing tiny, tiny, TINY towns in BFE, actually. I started to get nervous - did I choose to spend FOUR MONTHS on a patch of dirt with a market and a few houses??! Imagine my joy when we pulled into the centro of Capim Grosso and it is a hustling, bustling city. Phew. My new, dear friend Rosangela picked me up, I am working with a great crew of people at AEC-TEA (google it if you want to know more), I have a room, a navigable town, and most importantly ROUTINE at last!!!