Sétimo Mês

Sétimo Mês
Today is dia 22 de Mars. What does that mean? It means that seven months ago today I walked off an airplane and stepped into Brazil. At seven months in, I feel like I am at an emotional peak. My thoughts often drift to the ones I love back home. I often find myself imagining how it will be coming back...I expect that my parents and friends will bring me an automatic comfort. I dream about my brother...and the unparraled joy of being in his presence. I will need all them...My heart swells at the idea of sitting with them around a campfire...telling stories and laughing so easily...but this joyful thought cannot exists with out the heaviness in my chest. A heaviness that reminds me what I will have to leave behind.
These thoughts, dreams, emotions loom. I've been telling myself and telling those who've asked...I am not ready to go, but I will be when I the time comes. I still believe this...I believe that the same out of body, out of emotion force that took over me on the way here will return again and nothing beyond the furture 15 minutes will be of concern.

Routine
I've picked up a bit of a different routine with in the past month. I frequent high school Monday through Friday 7 until 12:45. On Tuesday I have Portuguese lessons with the other exchange students. Monday through Thursday teach English classes to three different groups of students ranging from 14-23 at the language school ICBEU (Culteral Institute Brazil USA). Thursdays I attend Drama classes. And then there is always the random things with school or rotary that I do during the week. Today for example...after school my friend Dominika from Slovakia came to my house for lunch, at then at 2 o'clock we went to the nursing home campus and played Bingo with some very old Brazilian Ladies.

Soul
Last Friday night my first host mother Lucy put on a Arabian food themed party for Rotary. In addition the the excellent food and company, Lucy and her sister Suzy (in who's house this was taking place) hired a two man band to keep the party entertained all night. I noticed quickly the bands talent and admired the singers correct pronunciation of English. At some point in the night..I was pressured into singing along with the band. After an improv. "Blowing in the Wind"and "Don't Cry for me Agentina" the two man band invited me to sing along with them in a gig they were having the next night in the shopping mall. I accepted. So, Saturday night with out practice or rehearsal I sang about 10 songs...half of which I had never previously performed. What turned out wasnt my best...but it was enough to impress the musicians and provoke them to further invite me to more gigs and offer to do a rehearsal with me sometime during the weak. I am excited about this and very humbled.

Jungle
On May 3rd I will be flying to the Amazons. Ill fly into the capital, Manaus. There I will do some site seeing and museum tours. Then for four days I will be floating down the Rio Negra in a medium sized boat making stops at some indian villages. At night I will be sleeping in a hammock and be wearing bug repelent instead of skin. After the boat there will be some more village and city sight seeing and then on My 13 I will fly back to Sao Paulo.

Brazil 101
-Only about 20 years ago in Piracicaba sport and leisure clubs were openly denying membership to blacks.
-Families exchange large chocolate eggs for easter.
-Automatic cars have only become socially acceptable in the past decade. Before this they were percieved as handicap cars
-it is common to encouter not only handicapped parking, but also old people parking

Themes and Dreams

Not Just Any Bus Ride

I took a feild trip yesterday to see Cirque de Soleil. My classmates and I boarded the Omnibus at 7 in the morning (the regular hour for school to start) and drove to Sâo Paulo. The bus ride itself was an experience. I have been on a travel bus a few times in my life...through out my travels though London, parts of France and Italy and a couple of times in the states.....and in all of these experiences...they were about the same... There exists the people who sleep, the people who listen to music...the couples..the window lookers...the person with motion sickness...the complainers...the gossipers..those who talk too loud.. Usually there are catagories that all get filled in. On this bus trip the middle isle was filled with people standing...because they wanted to stand and there was no one to tell them they were not allowed. Lots of pictures were taken...lots of music was sung...the bus was loud, no one complained, and the intercamistas were the only ones who attempted to sleep or look out the window. On the way back, there was a moment when the entire bus was chanting for me to sing. Haahaha..they love music. And towards the end I stood in the isle as well..temporarily pushing aside my thoughts of survival statistics and Brazilian driving.

Inbetween

The bus arrived early in São Paulo. There, at some popular performing area, our bus, along with an estimated 20 more....parked and waited about two football feilds away from an enormous blue and yellow circus tent covered with national flags. After about an hour wait and lecture on rules (which included no cameras) our bus was released and we entered the the tent. Before the show started there was a rush for food....in which I stood in line for a good hour to recieve a sandwich that I had paid for as part of my admission ticket. Unfortunatly, by the time I got close to the front of the line...they ran out of food. Hahaha...it was my first experience of being denied food here. My friend Andrea (Columbia) was gracious enough to share with me some of her hamburger...which we ate quickly and then entered the theater. Again we waited...

The show was recorded and will be shown this Saturday on Brazil National television..so we had to wait for the cameras to get set up. Then the host of the show came out and told us about fake applause...and eventually the ball got rolling.

Four famous Brazilian singers from each realm of genre (rap, rock, folkclassic, and country), one after the other, began the show...each of them singing two of their popular peices. The crowed was wild in the prescence of the famous. All of the music I recongized, but really only one of the names I knew. Maria Gadu was the third person to perform, a young famous singer(classic, folk) with a very layed back style and a powerful voice. Jealous...

Send in the Clowns

The show began with the ending. Since everything was being filmed for TV...they filmed the end first. Is that how it is always done* Soon the clowns came in. First there was a comedy act...in which four students were pulled from the audience to participate in a silent film directed by a very forward clown. Next there was a man in a wheel, followed by four people dangling from rope, followed by four little Chinese girls jugling wooden spools and doing flips. All the acts accompanied by erie, yet awesome music. I adore Cirque de Soleil. Their theme ^Impossible is Only a Word^ I thought to be a bit weak..for such an off-the-wall show...but if you say it with a French accent...and it seems almost worthy.

After the Show

After the show, when we arrived back in Piracicaba, I walked with some of my classmates to a mid-central quare...where a small sandwich stand exists. There we ordered hotdog sandwiches (two hot dogs cut open and places in a grilled bread..with white cheese, corn, tomato, and chicken.). They were huge, cheap, and very tasty... I felt like I was in college...sitting with a group of my classmates....at night, school the next day...no parents...some of them casually drinking skol. I loved the moment....and now writing about it I miss my friends back home and wish they could have been there.

Brazil 101

-There are levels of rice. Grade 1 is the best because it is the best looking. The less pretty the rice is, the higher the grade and lower the price.

-Brazilians say the hardest part about living abroad is the food. They begin to miss their everyday rice and beans

-There are two national holidays were it is custom for men to dress up as women. But aleast one of these days the women dress as men too.