It's Still All Danish to Me... Days Two and Three in Denmark

After a good night's rest, Nathan and I got up to hit some more sites. We took the meto back to the old part of town and started with the Royal Navy Museum, which we honestly did not find terribly exciting.



Next, we headed over to the old hippie part of town. There was a village created called "Christiania."



It was an area where people who no longer wished to live in the EU gathered and lived. The area was filled with free art, unique people and a lot of interesting living conditions. Not to mention the smells of drugs everywhere. In fact, we weren't even allowed to take pictures inside (even though I snapped this one shot posted below)! It was an interesting stop.



Throughout the day, Nathan and I were amazed by the number of bikes we saw. There were certainly more bikes on the roads than cars. With flat terrain and easy to access bike lanes on every street, Copenhagen is a great city to live in for people who love to bike.



To close up the day, Nathan and I headed to Tivoli Gardens, where we walked around, saw the copy of the Little Mermaid, and saw some of the free shows they hosted there before heading back to the hotel.



On Sunday morning, it was already time to head back in our own directions. I had to leave to Norway and Nathan for Germany. The weekend certainly flew! However, it was great to see Nathan again, hear a bit of Danish (even though I obviously understood nothing) and explore Copenhagen.

It's All Danish to Me... Day One in Denmark

The night of July 1 I headed to Denmark. I was to embark on an 8 hour journey by bus before I would meet my little brother, Nathan, in Copenhagen. Since he is currently living in Germany, it was the perfect opportunity for us to meet up in a place he'd always had dreams of traveling to... the land of our Grandpa Nygard (my mom's dad).



It was an early Friday morning when we met up and neither of us had slept at all that night. However, we got to work finding the tourist information, found a free walking tour, and began making our way through the main sites in the old part of the city.



We first headed to the city center, which is the beautiful building posted above. Then we checked out the museum of Hans Christian Anderson.



Carrying our Copenhagen guide, we walked the streets filled with old landmarks and stories, taking lots of pictures and learning lots of neat things.



After that, we headed to the National Museum, The Prince's Palace and The Royal Chapel. We spent several hours touring them all and learning a lot about Danish and world history.



Finally, after attempting to figure out the Danish metro system, we somehow managed to take the metro to our hotel and find where we would be staying the night. We relaxed, watching the Brazil soccer game, going shopping at the nearby mall and hanging out.

160 USD...Is That All?

I had heard the rumors that Norway is expensive. However, while rumors are rumors, there is usual some foundation or reason why they began. So I came prepared to not be sticker-shocked. The second I stepped off the plane in Norway, I was ready to accept the prices as they may be and brush it off saying, "Well... it's Norway..."

Haha... brush off the prices? How naive I was...

My first price scare was my taxi from the airport to the university. After a 25 minute ride, I was charged 160 USD. And that was at 1/2 the cost it would have been had I not booked the taxi ahead of time. I almost cried as I handed over 3 full days' salary.

Scared by the prices, I refused to buy anything. However, leaving for Denmark to visit my brother, I was dying of thirst and needed to buy something to drink. Browsing for the cheapest item, I came across two choices: a 12 oz bottle of water or a 12 oz bottle of Coke... both for the low price of 4.35 USD. ALMOST FIVE USD!!!!!! Was this place insane?!? 5 USD for a bottle of Coke?!?

For 8 USD, you can buy a can of beer. For 5.79 USD, you can have yourself a McDonald's Big Mac (the highest price in the world). And for only 6.27 USD, you can fill your car with a gallon of gas.

This is no cheap place to vacation. While to Norwegians the prices are completely normal, they are almost unbearable to the rest of the world. In Norway, however, pay is very high. The lowest salary workers (street cleaners and deliverers) make over 24,000 USD year. Norway doesn't even need to have a minimum wage because those who earn the least are still able to earn enough to live.

As I struggle to buy laundry detergient, bus tickets and bottled water on my Brazilian wages, it's incredible to think of how rich the country of Norway really is. So rich that even the poor have the money they need to purchase the things I can't even afford here.

Hei Norge! (Hello Norway!)

On Sunday, June 27, I landed in Norway. After a ten hour flight from Sao Paulo to Germany, a 7 hour lay-over in Munich and a 2 hour flight from Germany to Norway, I had arrived. That afternoon, I set foot on the land of my ancestors...good old Norway.

It was an interesting feeling. A bit uncomfortable, a bit exciting and a bit adventurous. As I stepped off the plane, I was among a sea of blondes, something I had certainly never seen in Brazil, and maybe hadn't seen to that extent in my entire life. And that's when it hit me... I was in Norway!



I will be here for six weeks, taking courses at the University of Oslo along with 600 other students. As many of you know, I am here on a Peace Prize Forum scholarship covering the fees for my room, board, airfare and tuition. I was one of 10 American students to receive the scholarship.

At the university, I will be taking an intensive course in Scandinavian Politics every morning from 8-10. In the afternoons, I will be attending a seminar for Peace and going to guest UN lecturers and visiting UN sites. It's quite the program!

Here is a picture of the dorms I live in... beautiful!



While I am currently antsy to get home, I think this time in Norway will be a great adventure for me. It will be a time for me to look at the politics of a different country and really see how the UN is playing a role in world peace. I'm hoping to really learn and grow from this experience.

See You Later Brazil...

It was a Saturday afternoon. After a full year in Brazil, it was time to say goodbye. Or, not necessarily a goodbye, but at least a "see ya later." Adriano was busy with an event he had been planning for months and my host mom had to go to work, so I was heading to the airport alone. Or so I thought. At the last minute, me friend Leo came all the way to accompany me to the airport and send me off.



A year. A year is a long time. And yet nothing. It flew. And yet was cram packed with memories. In a year I learned so much, grew so much, changed so much, matured so much. I'm not the same person I was when I left. And I'm okay with that.

A year. Wow. It was a hard goodbye. A lot of hugs. A lot of kisses. A lot of tears. But it was a necessary goodbye. It was just hard to leave the place I had loved for 12 months...

It's good for me to leave and have the opportunity to see if Brazil is really what I want. It's important for me to finish my college education. And, of course, it's going to be great to see my family and friends from back home again. But it was hard... very hard to say goodbye.

As I said goodbye to Leo, I cried. As I worked my way through security, I cried. As I got my visa stamped and worked my way through customs, I cried. As I boarded the plane, I cried. As I took off, I cried. But they were good tears, full of all the great memories I had had in the past year. And, thank goodness, I know I'm going back.

As I left Brazil, Leo left me with a note talking about our friendship and my time in Brazil. And the last lines were the lyrics to the song "Wheel" by John Mayer. They fit the situation perfectly so I had to post them for you.

"And airports
See it all the time
Where someone's last goodbye
Blends in with someone's sigh
Cause someone's coming home
In hand a single rose...

And if you never stop when you wave goodbye
You just might find if you give it time
You will wave hello again
You just might wave hello again"

I'm starting a new phase in my life, being in Norway and traveling through Europe. I'll be finishing up college and concluding some research projects. And... I'll be hopefuly starting out on my own again in Sao Paulo.

It was a great year. And hopefully just one of many more to come.

Dad's Reflections

As Erin’s father, I am writing this article as a follow up to one I started a couple of months ago but never sent in for her to post. In March Marlene and I were privileged as Erin’s parents to visit Brazil and see the place and the people with whom our daughter Erin has spent the last year. It has been a wonderful year for her – filled with new places, people, ideas and passions. From a distance we have read of her exploits and on Skype we have been able to see her, hear her or chat with her. By the time she returns home this summer she will have turned 21 and in some official way become an adult. With her brother in Germany as a foreign exchange student this year – it has been a year of change for our family – our kids venturing out to new places and we as parents learning a new chapter in our own as empty nesters.

Our time in Brazil was a great experience. We saw Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paolo, some of the surrounding countryside and some of the beaches. We learned much about Brazil – a rapidly growing economy that looks like a world leader in many ways – and a developing nation with much left to work out in others. We saw more motorcycles on the roads than we’ve seen in other places. We saw lots of efficient cars and lots of luxury cars. And Sao Paolo must be one of the capitals of the world for high-rise buildings. There are tall buildings everywhere! And Rio was beautiful and fun and we enjoyed a tour of the city, beaches, food and bossa nova music.

A few weeks after we returned to the United States, we heard of floods in Rio. The areas where poor people live, called “favelas,” had been washed away in some places. Many homes were destroyed and many lives were lost. These areas are places where people build their homes on poor quality land, often with beautiful views, but literally stacked one house on top of another (sometimes seven stories high!). When the rains came, the poor quality of the ground meant buildings collapsed and lives were lost. Had we not just toured these communities we would have hardly noticed the story on the news. But since we had just seen these places and met some of the people there, the story of the floods took on a new image and significance for us. It is a good reminder of how traveling opens our eyes and our minds to whole experiences and ways of life that we might otherwise miss.

Another piece that was important for us was that this was a time and place where we visited our daughter on her turf. She knew the place, the people and the language. She was the knowledgeable one. We were the guests and she was the guide. It was nice to see what a capable woman our daughter is becoming and to see her talk to people in a language she didn’t speak just a year ago – and to do it well.

Erin is leaving Brazil this week. She won’t be coming home to us but is heading off to Oslo for another adventure as part of the Nobel Peace Prize forums in Norway. More new places, people and stories. It will still be a few weeks before we see our daughter but it is nice to know she is growing up with her eyes and ears and heart open to new people and experiences. It is a different world than the one we grew up in just a generation ago and she and others are preparing to lead it – and I think they are going to be ready to do it well.

Birthday in Brazil

21 years old. On June 25, I turned 21 years old. Because I didn't get to celebrate my birthday with friends or family the year before, I wanted to make sure to celebrate my birthday this year.

And celebrate I did! My host mother made homemade pizza and cake for my birthday. We had a variety of family friends come over to join in the fun. Starting at 8:30 that night, the people began to pile in. We enjoyed a late night of food and and good conversation. It was a happy birthday!

It's a Date

Well, I waited a while to post this... but I'm officially dating in Brazil. His name is Adriano and I met him last September. However, we didn't start dating until this Spring.



While the distance is far (me in Norway, him in Brazil), we'll see if it can last. He's currently planning to come visit me over Christmas.

Hmm... let's see. The usual questions are:

How did you meet him? We met at a concert/club last September but didn't keep in touch well.

How old is he? 23. His birthday is May 12.

What does he do? He is an English teacher at two high schools. He is also finishing uop college and will be done in December.

Any more questions? Ask me in a few weeks... I'm almost home!!!!!!!!

Mato Grosso do Sul, Saturday & Sunday (Part 2)

To learn more about the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, the five students headed to the public university early Saturday morning to take a class on the history of the state as well as learn some information on the native populations in Brazil.



It was really interesting for me because I learned a lot about the background of the area and how the history is affecting the current conditions in Brazil, especially in places outside of the major cities in Brazil, which are less affected by globalization and more affected by the past and traditions.



After the class, we headed to a fish restaurant. And, like the night before, we ate and ate and ate. It was quite a meal.



Following the meal, we headed an hour away to a private area where a man was able to take us out on a tour of the lake by boat. The boat was small so we had to separate the group into two. Here is a movie of the tour:



Finally, we closed out the day going to a local family’s home and eating some snacks and conversing with them. It was a great way to see how life in the vast, hardly inhabited state of Mato Grosso do Sul really is.



On Saturday, we slept in a bit more and then headed to the local water park. Every day up until then had been beautiful weather so we were so excited to finally be able to enjoy the sun and soak up a bit of a tan. However, the day quickly turned cloudy and cool, making it a chilly day at the pool. Here is a picture of me being attacked by a bird at the beach. I don't think I've ever been that scared before in my life... Haha.



We ate a delicious lunch. Here is a video of the lunch we had with some traditional Brazilian music:



We finished out the day heading back on the bus and arriving in Sao Paulo the next morning at 6am. Overall, it was an interesting experience and it was great to see how the countryside of Brazil lives, something I had not yet experienced in my year here in Brazil.

Mato Grosso do Sul, Thursday and Friday (Part 1)

Mato Grosso do Sul (The thick forest). Two weekends ago, I ventured out of Sao Paulo. It was one of my first trips outside of the city in a long time. It had been a while since I had last traveled across the Sao Paulo border, but it was a good chance to escape the city air and light pollution for a bit. And escape it I certainly did. Mato Grosso do Sul is the bunt of a lot of jokes in Sao Paulo, being known as a hardly populated, back-water state. I went to the city of Tres Lagoas, a “large” city of 80,000 there. The trip was coordinated for the Americans who had stayed in Brazil an entire year, making the total 5 students in all.



While it was a good experience, I’m not going to lie… I missed Sao Paulo shortly after leaving… However the good thing about the state is that it is much warmer than Sao Paulo. The cold Sao Paulo winter (okay, 50s and 60s are cold for me...) is certainly not my idea of the Brazilian paradise.



To arrive at the next state over, I took a 9 hour overnight bus. I left Thursday night and arrived early Friday morning. Unfortunately there were a number of stops on the way so every two hours a large group was leaving and a new group of people was entering, making it impossible to sleep. Lights on, people yakking, it was not a pleasant night's sleep.



Friday morning I dined at the hotel and then my group headed out to the local hydraulic power plant. It was terribly. A six hour tour of the power plant and surrounding local projects left me exhausted and in a somewhat grumpy mood.



However, I did learn one interesting tidbit on the trip: In Brazil, during a major soccer game, the power plant has to have extra people watch the energy usage. While the game is playing, the energy usage is fine. However, during a commercial break, all of the people using the power from the plant leave their televisions on during the commercials and use the bathroom, pop popcorn, etc, draining all the energy stores! I thought that very amusing.



In the middle of the tour, we stopped for a much-needed lunch break. Here is the movie I took of us eating a traditional Brazilian lunch and listening to Brazilian music.



That night, we took a tour of the downtown of the small town of Tres Lagoas. Then the group headed out to a Churrasco. It was the best Churrasco in town and it was packed. A Churrasco is a Brazilian BBQ. We ate. And ate. And ate. There was beef and chicken and fish. There were beans and rice. There were salads and bread. And for dessert, there was baked ice cream. It was a meal meant for royalty. And it was delicious.



Following the dinner was the option to visit a dormitory to meet college students. However, after the long night of now sleep from before, I was suffering from a terrible cold and could not go out. I enjoyed a good night’s rest though.

The Job Interview

So I don’t want to leave Brazil. After 12 months here, it’s my home. I speak the language, I know the bus routes, I walk the streets at night, and the people I spend my time with are here. This truly is a place I am happy at.

But, I guess you can’t always have what you want. My visa is expiring. I have school to finish in the U.S. I won a scholarship to study in Europe. I have a lot of neat opportunities ahead that don’t involve Brazil. So what’s the second best alternative? To move back after graduation in January 2011.

But how will I do that? Well contrary to popular belief, gaining a visa in Brazil for an American is not an easy thing. By no means is it a walk in the park. And besides studying, there are just three ways for an American to live in Brazil: 1) Have a Brazilian baby 2) Marry a Brazilian 3) Be contracted by a company in Brazil to work a job that a Brazilian cannot work. At this stage in my life numbers 1 and 2 do not seem like good options so I am going for number 3.

And today was one of my first steps in that process. I have been working for over a month now on perfecting my Portuguese resume and, finally, it came of use. On Tuesday, a friend of mine at my university told me that she had mentioned my name at her work, Rockwell Automation, and that they were very interested in me. As an American, I would be an asset to the Brazilian branch of the American company.
So today, very excited, I made the trek to the other side of Sao Paulo. It was over an hour and a half and, fortunately, since it was the day after a holiday, there was almost no traffic to worry about. It was a journey in and of itself. But it was a good journey, well worth the time.

At Rockwell Automation, the company works to import finished manufactured products and sell them within Brazil. They are looking for someone to work within the logistics department working with the shipments that are coming from the United States, especially Chicago, into Sao Paulo. As an American, I would be an especially useful asset for them. While I do not really understand much about logistics, I would be able to learn to work with the transportation of products and importation of the finished products coming to Brazil, as well as work competing against other companies to receive the products.

While this may not be the job I choose to take next January, it is a neat opportunity I am excited to think on.

Black, White and Grey All Over...

It’s not just black and white in Sao Paulo... there is a bit of grey too. The people here are a range of any possible color from the varied European, Native Indian and African groups. The buildings range from red to yellow to blue. But, for some reason, the cars lack any sort of creative color... In Sao Paulo, there are three car color options: White. Black. Grey.

But why is that? In the U.S. we have red cars and green cars and brown cars and blue cars. Not to mention the crazy colors that come out such as unique oranges, yellows and purples that some people purchase. Well, I haven’t done any research, but this is something I’ve been thinking about for a while now. Why in the world does Brazil not have colored cars?



And there are two things I can think of. First, Brazil’s over-filled streets used to be fairly empty not long ago. Only recently have Sao Paulo and some of the other big cities in Brazil, such as Brasilandia and Rio de Janeiro, been able to afford cars. This idea of each family having access to a car is very modern as Brazil’s economic strength in the world is also a new concept.

As cars became more and more popular in Brazil, a few cheap models have flooded the streets. Everywhere you look, there are the same three or four car models. The car model companies sell cars cheap and in the same color, so there aren’t options for people to choose from.

However, I think this lack of car color goes beyond the fact that these three colors are affordable cars. I think colored cars come with a status. Someone with a car with color, therefore, is seen as someone who can go above and beyond the average car and therefore has an excess of money. And in Sao Paulo, no one wants to be seen in the street as having an excess...

My hypothesis is that this lack of color out and about on the streets has come about as the majority of people have purchased the same color and those who can afford to purchase something different don’t want to stick out. In the U.S., it is normal for people to have any color, so the car does not stick out as much. Here, no one wants to be the odd man out, the yellow car in the sea of greys or the orange car in the wave of blacks. Being the odd man out in Sao Paulo risks being the person whose car is vandalized, robbed or attacked. And, as far as the streets are concerned, “blending-in” means living with a sea of black, white and grey.

Personal Space Bubble... Hahaha

Growing up, I often talked about people who were in my “Personal Space Bubble.” As Americans, we don’t like to be very close to people. There is always a certain “bubble” surrounding us and when someone is too close, we begin to feel very self-conscious and uncomfortable.

Well, Brazil has a very different concept of personal space. This idea of being separated from others is not a common idea at all. There are several times throughout my day that I notice this lack of personal space. While it is uncomfortable for me, it is seen as completely normal for Brazilians and I am sure that they don’t even think about it.

First is on the buses. The public transportation here is often packed, packed, packed. For example, each morning I take the Cohab/Antartica-Pinheiros bus. And each morning I know it’s going to be quite the bus ride. Everyone is going to work and to school. With rush hour, the bus is late and people have to pile on. Oftentimes, I enter and the space is so packed I have to push forward through the door and let the doors close behind me. I am literally crammed between the people and the entrance door… and if the doors were to open, I would fall out. Literally. The large public buses normally should hold 35 seated people and 38 standing people. While the seated people are always unchanging (there are only so many available seats!) there can be anywhere from 60-70 standing people. There is certainly no sense of personal space… And when someone from the bus needs to exit from the back of the bus before everyone else… Well, just let me say, it’s quite the disaster…

And talking to friends. People like to be near when they talk. I was at my university with another American friend. We were talking to a Brazilian and she kept getting closer and closer. We would take a step backward and she would take a step forward. We were slowly moving over the campus and, while both I and my other American friend felt uncomfortable, the Brazilian didn’t even notice.

While a lack of personal space normally makes me feel uncomfortable because I worry about bad breath, here it is completely normal to invade someone’s space. Each and every day I am in close contact with people who would normally keep a reasonable distance from my “personal space” in the United States. While I’m slowly accustoming to this lack of space, I do still often notice when people are “just a bit too close…”

"On Time" in Brazil?

Punctuality? Is there such a thing as punctuality in Latin America? The common myth is that people in Latin America have little sense of punctuality, that things rarely start “on time.” But are they really that different than the United States? I mean, how many events in the United States actually “start on time.”

Well, after my year here, I have come to see that the myth is pretty much true. While I tend to be anything but punctual in the U.S., often procrastinating and running from activity to activity in my over-booked schedule, I find that I am at least within ten to fifteen minutes of the start time… and NEVER late for work.

Here, I tend to stick to the same habits. I’m often running late for classes or activities, finishing assignments and projects right before the deadline, and rushing to and from place to place. However, it seems that when I arrive, I am still considered “right on time,” at least according to Brazilian standards. In the United States, whatever event or activity would have already started, here the people are gathering right along with me to begin… and sometimes aren’t even close to beginning and consider me to be "early"!

Here in Sao Paulo, there is a much stronger sense of being "on time". The corporate life forces people to at least attempt to arrive near the start of an appointment, I think mainly because many Brazilian companies work with the United States and Europe and have realized that many non-Latin Americans are irritated by non-punctuality.

However, around Brazil, this little sense of time is very common. In Bahia, where I first stayed, my two-hour courses would start 45 minutes late and my break would be 15 minutes instead of 5. People often meandered in the streets with little preoccupation about arriving somewhere “on the hour.” Life just came and went, it was more about what was accomplished rather than when it was accomplished.

And here in Sao Paulo, I still see this value strongly in the university life. At my school, classes rarely start on time, often beginning a half an hour late. Students come and go as they please throughout the class, going to the bathroom, chatting with friends outside for a break, or making photocopies at the nearby copy shops. It is acceptable to arrive late and leave early. Deadlines for written work aren’t so much “deadlines” as “guidelines,” meaning that something that should have been turned in a month ago is still accepted without penalty, something never seen in the U.S. universities.

However, this lack of strictness about time doesn’t mean that life is easier or that the people don’t work just as hard. It means things are done in a very different way. In the U.S., I have strict deadlines to follow. If I don’t follow them, I know I have consequences. Here, I have to have a lot more accountability and responsibility. If I arrive late to class and leave early, there is certainly no punishment, but I may not have the information for the test or paper I will have to write later. If I keep putting off an essay that was due a month ago, I may never turn it in and there is no one to remind me to turn in the work, I just fail the class.

What I’ve learned is that this lack of punctuality initially seems to be taking the “easy road.” However, it actually requires a very different set of skills to complete the work. I am required to develop responsibility to do the things on my own because no one is sitting next to me with a deadline. If I don’t come on time or complete the work, it's socially acceptable… but I may see the negative results way down the road.

So, as far as I can tell, the myth is normally true that punctuality is often not as valued in Brazil as it is in the United States. However, it does not equal laziness. It, instead, requires Brazilians to lead a different lifestyle with a different set of skills required to succeed in this environment.

Carnafacul São Paulo 2010

What is Carnafacul? Until about three weeks ago I had no idea. Until about three days ago, I had only some idea. But now, I have experienced Carnafacul. And let me just say... it's possible that never again will I have the opportunity to experience something quite like that...



Carnafacul was created in 2004. It is the largest university event in Brazil and has around 200,000 people that attend. It s hosted in cities around Brazil but I went to the one in Sao Paulo. I purchased my ticket (quite pricey!) a month in advance. On the day of the celebration, I met up with some friends at around 11:00 and we made the huge trek to the stadium where Carnaval is hosted every year. There were so many people trying to get there that we waited hours in the line of cars to enter. However, it's Brazil so this didn't stop the party from starting... there was a celebrating in the street with music playing and people dancing. We arrived around 16:00 to the parking lot.



Before entering, we had to put on yellow “abadas” which are special shirts they use for Carnafacul. Each event has a different bright, crazy color. Then, we had our ids checked to ensure that we are college students and we were allowed to enter. To the side, you can see us dancing and getting ready in the parking lot before we entered the party with our matching shirts.

Never before have I seen something so crazy. The soles of my shoes were literally ripped off by the crowd, I was caked in mud by the end of the night, and my hair had certainly seen better days… But it was a night to remember.

Below is a video from last year’s Carnafacul for you to see what type of craziness I’m talking about. Throughout the night, I lost my phone, money and house key. But somehow, it was still worth it. I'm here in Brazil to experience new things, and this is certainly an unusual experience I'm adding to the list.

I’m just an Average Joe...the Surprise of Customer NON-Service

In the United States, good customer service is essential for a business to do well. No one likes to be treated poorly by the employees of a particular store, company or business. After being treated poorly continuously at a place, usually the customer stops purchasing a product or service from that company and finds another place.

However, customer service and customer respect does not seem to be as important here in Brazil. I first noticed this when I arrived in Bahia, northern Brazil, where I spent my first month. I would walk into a store and three or four employees would pounce on me. While I first thought they were being EXTRA polite and available to attend to my every need, I later realized they are there to make sure I don’t steal anything.

While this is very common here in EVERY store (a employee will personally follow you around, holding anything you want to try on… so you can’t steal it), some employees are more polite than others. I went to a particularly terrible store the other day. It was a thrift store. Here, the thrift stores are not as cheap as they are in the U.S., but I am in desperate need of some dress pants since it is getting chilly here and I need them to be as cheap as possible. There, the owner personally stood next to me as I looked at each piece of clothing. I decided to try on a dress and the woman bluntly told me, “That won’t fit you.” Feeling a bit insulted, I told her I wanted to try it on anyway. It fit perfectly and I wanted to purchase it so I asked her how much it cost and she responded 30 R, which is MUCH more than it should have been. I told her no thanks and left the dress with her. She muttered to me as I left, “Guess you should have asked the price before you wasted your time and mine trying on that dress…” So rude!

Also, in many dressing rooms in stores in Brazil, the dressing rooms are just curtains. The women working the dressing rooms will just pop in and out of the rooms with no warning, seeing whatever bare part happens to be out at the moment and showing it to the world around as well. So disrespectful! Normally, she wants to see how close you are to being done if the dressing rooms are full so more customers can enter.

But the reason I wrote this blog is from an incident that happened the other day. I went to my friend Lowell’s house. Neither he nor I had eaten supper yet and it was already 21:00 so we were starving. Lowell had a coupon for buy one get one free pasta dishes at a nearby fast food Italian restaurant between 23:00 and 11:00. We decided to wait the extra two hours and go out to eat with the good deal. We arrived at 22:30 and had to wait an extra half hour before we could order so we could get the deal. Upon ordering, we presented the coupon. The woman serving us said, “That is an old sale. We won’t accept that anymore.” We argued because there was no expiration date and we had received the coupon in the mail… how were we to know it had expired? She didn’t care.

Then we asked to speak with the manager. And the same thing occurred. No matter how much we argued with them, they refused to let us use the coupon even though there was no expiration date. Whatever happened to the idea that the “Customer is always right?!?” I guess that’s more of an American concept than a global concept. Any respectable American restaurant would have accepted the coupon and apologized for the inconvenience. We were so upset by the terrible customer service that we left without ordering… more to prove a point than anything. And to be honest, I regretted that decision on my way home because I had to walk home and didn’t get back until 23:45... by which time my stomach hurt it was so hungry.

To me, at least, it seems that customer service is not as important here. Yes, there are plenty of employees to help in most stores. However, the employees aren’t as concerned with making each customer happy. My Portuguese professor said that in the United States, unlike here in Brazil, he “felt like a king” when he went shopping. With no extra smiles or friendly staff ready to bend over to assist me with my every need, I guess here in Brazil I just feel like an “Average Joe” when I go about to run my errands.

Caipirinha... Brazil's National Drink

Caipirinha (pronounced kiy-per-een-ya) is Brazil's national cocktail, made with cachaça (pronounced ka-shah-suh), sugar, lime and ice. Cachaça is Brazil's most common distilled alcohol. Cachaça is common here because it is made from sugarcane, a very cheap and easy thing to produce here.



How do you make a caipirinha?
These directions are obviously for the average joe. If a true caipirinha-maker catches you using these every-day items instead of special "caipirinha tools" for the preparation of the drink... don't tell them I told you how to make it!

Ingredients:
1⅔ fl oz of cachaça
½ Lime cut into 4 wedges
2 teaspoons crystal or refined sugar
2 or 3 ice cubes

Place lime and sugar into old fashioned glass and mash them two together using a wooden spoon. Fill the glass with crushed ice and add the cachaça. Enjoy! (Tip: Watch how much you drink... it's easy to get carried away with this sweet and sour twisted beverage)



Tried this and a bit bored with it now? Try these other variations:

+Caipivodka/ Caipiroska- vodka is substituted for cachaça.

+Caipirissima" is a caipirinha made with rum instead of cachaça

+Caipifruta is a very popular caipirinha drink in Brazil, consisting of cachaça, crushed fresh fruits, condensed milk and crushed ice. We drink this a lot at churrascos, the Brazilian BBQ. The most popular fresh fruits used to create Caipifrutas are tangerine, lime, kiwi fruit, passion fruit, pineapple, lemon, grapes, mango, cajá, and caju (cashew fruit)

+Caipirão is a typical variation from Portugal. It's done using the typical portuguese liqueur Licor Beirão instead of cachaça.

+CaipirItaly is a typical variation from Italy. It's done using Bitter Campari instead of cachaça.

+Caipiroshka is a version from Russia made with vodka.

+Sakerinha is a version made with sake.

+Caipiroska Negra or Black Caspiroshka is made with black vodka instead of cachaça.

+Passionfruit Caipirinha is used to describe cachaça and passionfruit juice

Brazilian Beach Bodies

Rio... the land of sexy women with toned bodies wearing thongs. For most people around the world, Rio seems like a dream. In reality, it´s more common to see chunky or even obese women on the beach... still wearing thongs.

In Brazil, there is an air of self-confidence and acceptance with one´s body. In Rio, it is not at all uncommon to see many middle aged and older men wearing speedos around town and even to beachside restaurants. While I personally would prefer that most of them wear a shirt and pants... I do try to admire their self-confidence.



Women all wear tiny bikinis and thongs, no matter what their body shape or age. Brazilians seem more accepting of body ´flaws´then we are in the US, where we have popularized the tankini and boy bottom bathing suits to cover up any imperfection. Brazilians are a diverse group of people and in that sense look a lot like Americans. If you glance around at the beach goers in Rio, you might think you were at Jones Beach in NY, except for the tiny, tiny swimsuits and better tans.

What does a vegetarian eat when she eats out in Brazil?

What are the CHEAP vegetarian options when eating out in Brazil? Here are three unique Brazilian options.

Brazil isn´t the most vegetarian-friendly place- few restaurants have a vegetarian section on the menu, and usually the only option is a grilled cheese sandwich or fried cheese pastry. When I go out with my friends to eat at a sandwich or snack shop, I always have to get a roll with greasy cheese… cheap but not always appetizing. However, Brazil has a few unique restaurant options that make it easier than other Latin American countries for both the vegetarians and non-vegetarians to enjoy: the self-service restaurant, the pizza rodizio and the lanchonete (sandwich/snack shop, pronounced laun-choh-neh-chee).



* Self-serve restaurants can look like downscale delis or very nice restaurants. They have food laid out buffet-style and the price is based on weight. There are rarely “all-you-can-eat buffets” here in Sao Paulo. Some of them include pricey items like sushi for additional costs, and most have staples like spaghetti with garlic and oil, green salad, mashed potatoes, potato salads and various meat dishes. You can find places where the food is certainly questionable and others where the food is some of the most expensive food around. Every buffet will have the Brazilian standard though... rice, beans and french fries.



* The second veggie-friendly option is the pizza rodizio, an all-you-can eat pizza fest that many restaurants have after 6pm. For one price, varying from 6 USD- 12 USD, you sit at a table with an empty plate and a series of waiters making the rounds with trays of different types of pizza… including dessert pizzas! At some places, they are super aggressive and actually start shoving slices of pizza on your plate before you stop them... it´s like they want you to get the most for your money. Shocking! You only have a split second to survey the pizza before the waiter runs away or forces it on you, so it can result in many strange slices ending up n your plate (e.g. dried anchovies, unshelled shrimp and garlic, etc)... but there is usually an empty plate that you can use as a trash can for rejected pizza slices. This is actually a dangerous dining option (for the waistline), since you can stuff yourself with delicious pizzas and then invariably can´t resist the rounds of nutella, strawberry and banana dessert slices. Yum! I’ve only been once, but it was definitely worth it.



*Finally, the lanchonete is another option. The picture here a very standard lanchonete... but unusually empty! There are at least 1-2 of these on each block. They are sandwich/snack shops that sell many types of fresh juices, fried snacks, and cheap platters that include rice, beans, french fries, salad and meat/omelet for about 4 or 5 USD! It is certainly confusing at first and takes a bit of practice. First, order from a cashier and get a receipt. Then, bring the receipt to the counterperson, fight your way through the crowd and thrust the receipt in the workers face because there is usually a crowd of people and the system works… you must be aggressive because no one will wait for you! Finally, check to make sure it is the right dish you were given in all of the chaos. While a chaotic and intimidating situation, the food is usually decent and cheap… two pluses for a student!

Have you Heard of Guarana?

Coke. Pepsi. Sprite. Fanta. We have it all. The only sodas (or pops, as Midwesterners tend to say) we are missing (as far as I can tell…) here in Brazil are Root Beer and Dr. Pepper. However, there is a soda here with a different twist. Perhaps you’ve heard of it, but most likely not. It's called Kuat.

Guarana is an Amazon fruit. It is sold here in two forms: juice and soda. While the actual fruit is not available to purchase, at least not here in Brazil, one can buy the fruit concentrate juice. Or one can buy the flavored soda, known as Kuat, produced by Coke.

It’s incredible to see how a company, such as Coca-Cola is able to market its products by changing its products and sales to meet the specific needs of the people it serves. The Brazilian people love things to be VERY sweet and love fruity flavors… so Coke created Kuat… the soda flavored after the Amazonian fruit Guarana.

As American companies make their way down to South America, it’s incredible to see the new products they offer here that aren’t available in the U.S.! Instead of chocolate soft serve ice cream at the Argentinean McDonald’s, for example, there was Dulce de Leite ice cream, an Argentinean favorite, and Oreo makes “Dulce de Leite” Oreos, an absolutely delicious snack. American chip brands have churrasco flavors, the Brazilian-style BBQ. Pizza Hut serves a more Italian-style pizza to compare with the Italian pizzas made by the Italian immigrants here, with Brazilian toppings such as corn, egg, ham, and many more available.

As companies continue to globalize, it’s interesting to see how the companies adapt to their new cultures and clients. Each place is unique, as are the people who live there. An American company we all recognize and know well isn’t exactly the same in each place. It has make changes to meet the needs and expectations of the people around the world. Because of this, I find many American brands with unusual products here I would never find in the U.S.

Peter L. Berger said, “The negative side to globalization is that it wipes out entire economic systems and in doing so wipes out the accompanying culture.” However, while Brazilian society certainly has been deeply impacted by United States economics and culture, large globalized companies realize that globalization has not, in fact, made a universal culture. Therefore, they must work hard to find a way to incorporate their product or service into another culture, such as Brazilian culture.

Field Report #1: Subjective Culture

For my Inter-Cultural Certification class, I needed to write a blog about a series of questions about my own cultural values and beliefs. Here are some of my reflections about my personal values and why they make me American.

Gender: Female. Race: Caucasian. Nationality: North-American. Heritage: German, Norwegian, Danish. Hair Color: Brunette. Eye Color: Green. Height: 5’ 7”. Education: College-level. Economic Class: Upper-Middle Class. Language: English. Religion: Lutheran.

It seems that, from looking at me, I can be placed into a standard stereotype. I fit the description of what seems to be a “standard” American. However, what is interesting is that the “me” people often judge to create a first-impression is just a list. It’s a list of characteristics I happen to have. A list of characteristics I happen to share with thousands, if not millions of other people around the world. And from this list, people automatically create a profile of me because it seems that I am a “stereotypical” American.



And for the most part, I do fit the description of a stereotypical American. Especially in the values I share with Americans. I value hard work and determination. I believe that if someone works hard enough, they can reach their goals. I realize that while this is no way always true, and in fact there are many cases of people I know who have ever reached their goals because they hard much of their lives but barriers and obstacles have always stood in their way. However, I am a firm believer that hard work at least usually provides people with a way to work toward their goals and begin to provide for the things they need. This is something I share with many Americans.

I am also a firm believer in equality. Gender equality. Racial equality. Belief equality. Americans value equality in every form. While equality is no always practiced, we like to at least think about it and hope that we are being equal… we love the idea of equality. And if we’re not treating everyone equally, we certainly don’t flaunt it because inequality is not acceptable. I believe that everyone is created equal and I at least try to lead a life showing equality toward all.

And finally, independence and individuality. Americans love to be considered unique and special. Each American college student is given their chance to choose their own college courses… something Brazilian students do not have the opportunity to do. Why? Because Americans want to be individual; no one can ever take the same exact courses as another because each person’s strengths and interests are different. Brazilians are not as concerned with individuality. In Brazil, each student with the same degree takes the exact same courses. I love the idea of being seen as special. No one at Luther has studied in Brazil. I am the first. Almost no Americans speak Portuguese, I’m one of the few. I’m a vegetarian who loves dogs, chocolate and the color blue. No one in the world is just like me.

However, I think there are several American values related to capitalism that I do not share as strongly. Extreme competition and wealth are two things many Americans value. The American dream often consists of the dream of lots of wealth and having anything one desires. While I, of course, love to live a comfortable life style with things I don’t need (a laptop, ipod, etc.), I don’t dream of being rich. And I certainly don’t dream of participating in the competition it takes to become wealthy. The idea “Kill or be killed,” is not a principle I live by. However, I do realize that, by world standards, I am extremely wealthy so perhaps I value wealth more than I think I do...

Also, Americans live in fear and value extreme security. Since September 11 the United States has lived in a world of fear and has desired security. We have put into effect new domestic and international laws, have fought new fights, have begun new programs, etc. to protect ourselves, often from the rest of the world. Much of what we do as a nation is done as a way to gather together for protection against the fears we have, whatever they may be. I believe that I, for the most part, do not share this idea and that, because of this, have been able to travel and live experiences many other Americans will never have the opportunity to live.

However, while I share some specific American values and not others, I think it is important for Brazilians, and anyone else I encounter on my trips, to see that I am a “stereotypical” American. I am American, true and true. I love the United States, love the experiences I have lived there and the people I have spent time with there, and look forward to future times in the United States. While I may not live in the United States my whole life, I am American.



And it is important for people to see that the United States is full of “stereotypical” Americans like me, Americans who do not fit a set profile, are each unique, yet make up a nation. I want the people I meet here in Brazil to know, a stereotypical American isn’t a set profile because each American is different. We share some values and not others, but we’re not just characteristics to put on a list of paper and judge. Together, we make up an interesting American nation!

The Resume Problem

A few days ago I began my resumes for my job search for next January here in Brazil. I need four resumes, I realized: One to teach English at an English school (now that I officially have my English teaching certificate!), and one to work in an international corporation working with international relations. However, in addition to these two in English, I need to have the resumes translated into Portuguese so that my Brazilian employers can see my qualifications even if they cannot read English.

However, in addition to just translation work, I realized there is a lot of other work to do. Things that American employers find relevant, a Brazilian employer might not find relevant. Something that an American employer would hope to find at the bottom of the list, a Brazilian employer might leave for the bottom of a list. And finally, the layout an American finds appealing is not appealing to a Brazilian. For all papers at school, for example, Brazilian professors expect the paper to be aligned on both sides while American professors only like it to be aligned on the left side.

It surprised me that even within capitalistic, “westernized” companies around the world, there are a variety of differences. I can’t market myself in the same way here, I need to find what a BRAZILIAN, not American employer is looking for and what qualifications I have to meet their expectations.

This should be an interesting challenge in the next couple of months. At my visit to Natura the other day, I found that international companies in Brazil don’t yet have a concept of “international relations,” the very thing I study, within the workplace. There are no “international relations” jobs like there are in the U.S. Here, this is a very new concept. The Natura company works in Brazil, France, and Spanish-speaking Latin America and is soon to open the company in the U.S. “How in the world can they operate without the basic job of someone communicating between all the regions, doing the international relations?” I wondered. But they operate in a different way.

As I continue my job search, I’m working to find what I, as an American, can offer a Brazilian company. With my English, Spanish, Portuguese and soon to be French as well as my studies in International Relations, it seems clear to me that an international company (like Natura) that works with the very languages I study and in desperate need to have someone who can work on the relations within all the various companies. I would have thought they would be excited to have me. Now, it seems my task is to figure out how to market myself in a way that they would agree… they need me!

Visit to Natura!

Today I visited Natura. Natura is a Brazilian cosmetics company. It sells a variety of "natural" make-ups, lotions, and other similar items. It gives the appeal of offering its clients a variety of very natural, environmentally friendly products.



The tour was awesome! We were first lead through the perfume plant where their perfumes are made. If I remember correctly, they sell about 200,000 perfumes a month! Here is a picture:



Then, we saw their storage warehouse. It works exactly like the warehouse in Monsters Inc where the computer sends up a signal and a machine grabs the correct box from thousands of other boxes. This warehouse was for the raw products. There is another warehouse for the finished products.



Next, we saw where the company packages all the boxes of items. The system is perfect. The boxes move perfectly and the items for each individual order enter exactly as requested. Technology is certainly incredible these days! The only human hands touching the items as they are packed are the people at the end who double-check the orders to ensure quality and the correct order.



Then we saw the training building. The picture below is a gold wall in the building for people who have worked selling Natura products (because Natura is sold like Avon, there are not many Natura stores). Each person working 15 years of more selling Natura products receives a gold ball and they choose where to put it on the wall. The wall is absolutely beautiful.



Natura is interesting because it is focused on the well-being of its employees. The quote on the main entrance of the factory shown in the picture below means "Our reason for being is to create and commercialize products and services that promote well-being and being well."



And the company tries to live up to that by encouraging their employees to have good health. At the start of every shift, employees must do 10 minutes of exercise and another 10 at the end of each shift. During their lunch breaks, there is a gym for them to use and they are welcome to use it on the weekends and holidays too, along with their families. There is a daycare on the premises so that mothers can come visit their children during the day. Transportation to and from the buildings is either by electric car or bike, depending on the worker's choice. And the factory is outside of Sao Paulo in a forested area. Natura seemed to be truly living up to it's "natural" ambiance.

And the company is great. I really loved learning about the operations, the company's growth and its anticipated expansion into the U.S. in the next couple of years. While the tour guide was NOT at all helpful when I asked about international relations jobs, I think Natura would be a very interesting job opportunity for me, especially as the company looks to expand into the U.S. in 2012. I'm going to do more research and see what I find...!

Cell Phones in Brazil

Who has a cell phone in Brazil? It seems like pretty much everyone! But cell phone use is different here in Sao Paulo. Brazil, unfortunately, has some of the most expensive phone use in the world so the Brazilian people adapt... and use the phones differently.

Brazil has options to have a cell phone plan, like most of us have in the U.S. However, these are very pricey and most people I know do not have them. They tend to be for executives and businessmen who are constantly on their cell phones. The majority of the people have “pay-as-you-go” plans. You buy the phone (mine cost 90 R/ 50 USD and is the cheap basic model most people have), buy the company’s phone chip (5 R/ 3 USD), and then recharge the minutes every time you get low.

You can go to some gas stations, pharmacies, newsstands, lottery houses and other miscellaneous stores to get recarga (credit, pronounced hey-car-guh) for your phone. I tend to go to a little store about two blocks from my house run by a little Korean lady. I pay her, she prints out a coupon with a code on it for me, and I call a number and input my new code to get the credit.

You have to plan well with your credit, though. Since Brazil is a Catholic country, nothing is open on Sunday. If you run out of credit after around 8pm on Saturday night, you’re out of luck until Monday morning. Unfortunately I know this from experience…

And the credit runs out too quickly it seems! Sometimes it seems that I buy credit and the next day it’s gone! Why? Because calls and texts cost a small fortune here. To call someone with a phone from my cell phone company (TIM, pronounced cheem), it costs about 20 US cents a minute. To call someone outside of my company, it costs me 90 US cents a minute. And that’s only in Sao Paulo. If I call outside the city of Sao Paulo, it can be anywhere from 2-4 USD a minute…

Below is a picture of my phone type. However, this model is more expensive than my model because it accepts chips from two different companies instead of just one. The person with this advanced phone has two numbers, two types of credit to buy, and pays less per call because they can call people from two different phone companies for a cheaper rate:

Needless to say, with the expensive costs, when I take down someone’s number I ask them if they have my phone company or TIM or not! I don’t like to call people who don’t have it and avoid calling them when possible. But here in Brazil, I don’t like to call people in general. Way too expensive! I resort to a 20 US cent text when possible and avoid all calls unless absolutely necessary. However, it is free to receive calls so I don't mind when people call me!

I’ve noticed that these high rates highly encourage the “Let it ring 2 times then hang up so they have to call you back and waste their own credit instead of wasting mine” approach…

Oui je peux!

Can I learn French? Oui je peux! (Yes I can!)

As I've been looking more and more at my future (with only a semester left of college, it's coming quicker and quicker) I made sure to sign up for a course this semester called "Carreiras Internacionais" (International Careers). The course is designed to help students look at what they have studied at PUC in International Relations and begin to prepare them to think about their own careers and how to market themselves to obtain a job position they want. It's a perfect class for what I need right now!

Well, during the month of April, my professor had to do research abroad and wasn't able to teach classes. Instead, we were assigned several papers and other assignments to do on our own time to help develop a career plan and allow us to better look at our personal goals, competencies and qualities.

During one of the assignments, I had to look up UN job openings online, find one that interested me and begin to reflect on the qualities I have that would help me obtain the job and what I need to work on. To my surprise, almost all of the jobs required French! I had always been so against French, considering it ugly and without much value. I never realized that it was one of the five UN languages and that French and English were the two main UN languages, required for many international positions in Europe.

So there it is. For an international career, I should know French. That is one of my weaknesses I need to work on. So I made a deal. My host sister teaches French while I teach English. About three weeks ago we began our trade. I teach her English and she teaches me French. And in three little weeks my ideas about French have completely changed. What was once ugly is now beautiful. What was worthless is now useful.

My host sister, as a fluent speaker of both French and Portuguese now has a job as an executive bilingual secretary for a French company in Brazil as well as a job translating for the wedding of a famous French actor and model who is getting married in Brazil to a Brazilian. Almost every business person in Brazil speaks Portuguese and English and/or Spanish. But those who also speak French have something special to offer. My hope is that I can continue my studies so that I, too, will have something special to offer.

Can I learn French? Oui je peux!

The Strong Brazilian Woman

Brazil is changing. And with that, so are gender roles. Much to my surprise, the single Brazilian woman is a common sight here. I live in an apartment of four women: a 55-year old divorced woman who hasn’t been married in over 30 years, her 31-year old daughter who moved from France last August and who hasn’t dated since, a girl from Southern Brazil who broke up with her boyfriend a while ago and hasn’t found a new one, and me. Four women. Zero men. Below is the picture of the four of us:



Now, I remind you of a point from my previous blogs. On the surface, Brazil is a machista society. Many men you meet on the street treat the women they don’t know as though they are food to be devoured. Strangers feel the need to whistle and yell at anything moving in a skirt or dress. The men on the streets comment to the women as though they are food, yelling “gostosa” and “delícia” (both terms to describe how delicious food is). And Brazilian men have a phrase saying “Há duas coisas quentes aqui no Brasil: o café e as mulheres,” which means “There are two hot things in Brazil: the coffee and the women.”

However, these stereotypes of men dominating women seem to be often only what happens in the street and a Brazil of the past. Underneath these attacks is a strong Brazilian woman. Many of the women in Sao Paulo work, are single and earn decent money. More and more are going to college.

While women are certainly still outnumbered in politics, executive jobs and other high-leadership positions, they are catching up. And the average woman in Brazil gets married at a later age than the average woman in the U.S. It seems that it’s not just the United States that’s working on gender equality… Brazil is making huge strides too!

Here is a picture of two single ladies: Me and my host mom!

The Indian Way (Caminho das Indias)

The Indian way. It’s the story of an Indian family in Brazil and an Indian family in India, somehow linked together and all speaking Portuguese (regardless of the fact that the Indians in India would speak another language…). To be honest, I never quite figured out the plot… but somehow this show entranced the nation of Brazil nightly for nine months. For the final episode, of every 100 T.V.s in Brazil, 81 were turned to watch the emotional last telenovela episode of Caminho das Indias. The closest thing to compare to that number in the U.S. was the 1970 Academy Awards (78%) and the 1978 final episode of M*A*S*H (77%).



So why was Brazil so smitten with “The Indian Way?” To be honest, it was a cheaply done telenovela with “Indian” Brazilian actors (some of whom somewhat pulled off looking Indian, and others of whom looked nothing close to Indian) and cheesy lines (the last of which was two people simultaneously saying “I love you” at the end of the episode).

Brazil was smitten…because it’s Brazil. And it’s a telenovela. Brazil LOVES its telenovelas, much like many countries in the world. However, in Brazil, these cheaply done telenovelas are different from those around the world. Until the 1970s, Brazil took telenovelas from Mexico and Argentina and changed them into Portuguese. However, in the 1970s, Brazil began to create its own telenovelas. It created telenovelas that starred and applied to the Brazilian people and the ups and downs of the Brazilians.

“But why in the world telenovelas?” we Americans ask as we sit in front of our well-produced, weekly shows like "Law & Order" and "Lost". The telenovelas are cheaply made with superficial, similar plots. However it offers something special to the Brazilian people. First of all, it is made by Brazilians, starring Brazilians, and totally Portuguese, something no show sent in from the U.S. can offer. Also, it is a show that is watched by people all over Brazil, all of whom are united in the evenings by the same t.v. program, regardless of social class, skin color or dialect.

And the telenovela, surprisingly, tries to recreate real life. The people in the telenovelas are often far from beautiful and of all colors and races. While there are a few gorgeous stars, the rest appear to be everyday people. The Brazilian telenovela is funny and easy to follow, something the hard-working people in Brazil look forward to after difficult days of work. And finally, as surprising as it is, telenovelas provide a way to confront political problems. They talk about controversial issues underneath the superficial scenes and drama and provide a way for Brazilians to begin talking about issues that are often skimmed over.



I often find myself watching the newest episodes of “Escrito nas Estrelas” (Written in the Stars) with the women I live with and am becoming hooked to the story. For a country that cannot invest in its movie industry like the American Hollywood can, the telenovelas are a fantastic way to unite Brazilians and provide them with Brazilian, prime-time showings that address the points the Brazilians want addressed in an inexpensive way.

The telenovela is a way to find something to talk about what anyone you meet. It’s a way to keep up with the newest clothing fashions. It starts new phrases and expressions. And, while to most of us, the cheesy drama and the terrible cinematography is a bit too much, to the Brazilian people, it provides a sense of pride, unity and reflection.

Trabalho Voluntario (Pronounced Truh-ball-you Vuh-loon-tar-ee-oo)

Sunday began my first day of volunteer work. I’ve been here nearly 10 months and finally realized how selfish I’ve been. Yes, I’ve given time here and there to help individuals I know or taken a bit of time out of my day to answer directions or help someone on the street, but never have I actually volunteered my time for an organization. Except perhaps infancy, I am sure this is the longest span in my life that I’ve gone without volunteering (since my parents are in fact ministers) and I feel a bit like something's missing.

So Sunday I went. I woke up early (for me on a Sunday!) at about 10:30, took a shower and prepared to leave. I met a couple of friends at my university about a 25 minute walk away from my house. We left at 12:00 for the bus stop, waited for the right bus to come, and then took a 35-40 minute bus ride to the end of the line.

From the end of the bus line, someone came and picked us up. Unfortunately, there were a lot of us and little space, so we crammed 5 people in the back seat and 2 people in the front. It was almost an hour ride to the destination… and a long, hot hour ride at that!

When we arrived at the community of Copão Rodavante (or something like that...), we came to a church. There, the church gives space to the community to have English classes from 14:00-17:00 every Sunday. The people come, ready and eager to learn English because, though it’s required to be taught in all schools here in Brazil, the public schools have such poor funding and education that the students learn nothing. Most beginning students in the volunteer program can hardly introduce themselves in English let alone communicate graver issues and they have been "studying English" for years in public schools. Here is a picture of the church:



We arrived and set up for classes. They were short a volunteer professor today so I got to work with the Advanced Elementary Class! I teach English regularly here in Brazil, so volunteering to teach lessons certainly wasn't a problem. Since it's an 8 or 9 hour commitment in one day, the program works on a rotation basis, so the volunteers come once a month to teach. Each class has about five different professors that rotate through. My turn to volunteer will come again in a month! Here is a picture of a volunteer professor (who can be anyone who speaks English well enough to teach it) setting up for an Elementary Class:



I stayed in a class with two students, Maria and Amanda, who were both shy and struggling with English, yet eager to learn. Maria was very timid and hard to get to talk while Amanda was excited to talk but so nervous the words just couldn't come out. Their classmates did not make it to the class that day unfortunately. However, I had a great time with those two.

After the three hour class, I introduced myself to some of the other English students in some of the other classes who had never met a native-English speaker before. While most of them could only ask in English "How do you spell your name?" and "What is your favorite color?" since they were a very basic class, they took advantage of my Portuguese and soon began asking about my opinions of Brazilian men (a somewhat awkward topic...), the Iraq war, the death penalty and more. It was intense but they were so excited to meet an American and see what an American thinks. I really felt welcomed and appreciated.



After the classes, we piled back into the car to make the ever-long trip home. I was exhausted, but it was a good day.