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!

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)

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!

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!!!