Aventuras de Onibus no Brasil

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2009-08-18T18:52:00.000-07:00

Things we will miss

1. Grandma and the family

2. Friendliness – the vast majority of people are super nice

3. Beaches!!!!!!

4. Bus adventures (aka arm workout)

5. Sun-tanning (yay equator)

6. Cheap drinks, esp. chope, agua de coco, caipiroscas

7. Hammocks

8. Cheap seafood (including lobster), fried balls, churros

9. Traveling on a whim – “So uh, Salvador?” - “yea, ok”

10. Pretty bikinis and shoes

11. Centro– We started out thinking it was sketchy but now we LOVE it! Its crazy and full of stuff and you get the best deals if you bargain and just people watching there is a trip

12. Freedoms that come with “whatever, I’ll never see these people again”

13. Seeing each other every waking moment of every day – the boys better get ready for some double-dating

14. The music, most of it is fun and innovative and we’ll be hearing Beyoncé sing it in 5 years or so

15. Having a house maid – may sound awful, but its nice to have all cooking and cleaning done for us

16. Babies! People bring them everywhere and our research involves babies. (ok, this one is mostly Galina)

17. Drinking beer out of thermoses at home – how to drink in a Catholic household

18. Being the same height as the rest (guess who)

19. Our nightly soaps (esp. “Haji” from Caminho das Indias who may not look Indian but sure is a looker)

Things we won't miss

1. Little ants that are everywhere

2. The cat calls, the 180’s, the “that’s niiice”, the honking, the staring

3. Taking 2 hours to get anywhere (including the beach)

4. The crazy driving (Fortaleza drivers live to the tune of Ludacris’s “Move bitch”)

5. Sunburns (boo equator)

6. Caipiroscas (it’s a love/hate relationship)

7. Sloooooow to non-existent internet and therefore contact to the outside world

8. Not having a choice of meals – grandma fries everything and dinner is always soup

9. Going to sleep listening to our neighbor practicing percussion

10. Waking up to birds above her head (Galina), blenders and family bickering (Joana)

11. Forró music

12. Hannah Montana (our host sister is obsessed and as our host mom put it “no one deserves this”)

13. Brazilian time (between an hour and a month late)

14. The stark contrasts between middle class (our family and friends who own cars and can afford restaurants) and the lower class (frequently seen rummaging thru the middle class garbage)

15. The garbage – everywhere!

16. Being the only blonde within a 28475 block radius (guess who)

17. Risking our life every time we cross the street (see #4)

18. Mosquito bites

19. Cold showers (although we are used to it now and its better for sunburns)

Last week

2009-08-18T18:50:00.000-07:00

Our last week was full of typically Brazilian activities: dancing till 5am, sun tanning and futebol. Why are we leaving again? Oh yea, med school....

We went out on a fishing boat and didn´t drown

2009-08-04T16:20:00.001-07:00

Today we are still waiting for two experts to get back to us, so the research group meeting got postponed till Thursday. We took this time to go out to Cumbuco beach, about 35 km from the center. Naturally the beach was beautiful and a lot less developed than city beaches. While there, we took a jangada (fishing boat with a triangular sail) 1.5km out into the ocean, creaking and squeaking the whole time. Once out, where we got to go swimming in pretty big waves. The fishermen who owned our jangada explained that they fish 3 days and 4 nights out of the week and the rest of the time make money by taking beach-goers out on their boat.

We had to hold onto the rope while in the water so as not to lose the boat. Naturally, Joana went all the way to the far end of the rope, while the rest of the swimmers stayed closer.

Us next to our jangada. Galina’s life jacket was too big (well, ok, it was normal adult sized) and the fisherman had to basically wrap it around her instead of using the clasps.

Beach Parkie!

2009-08-04T16:10:00.000-07:00

Beach Park (pronounced beach parkie) is Fortaleza´s new water park, which has something for everyone, including twisty slides for Galina and a 41-meter drop called Insano (its in the Guinness records) for Joana. As always with our family, the outing to Beach Park last saturday required three cars to carry everyone and their friends. That morning we were also informed that the reason our tickets were so cheap (besides bringing a group the size of a small army) was because they were for Ceará residents only. That meant that Joana had to wear a hat and sun glasses (ironically, it was Galina’s blatantly un-Ceara-like UVA hat) and both of us had to keep from talking. We passed!!!!!

Joana with Insano in the background.

Afterwards, the group split up and we ended up going on the rides with Manu, while the adults did their own thing. We’ll spare you details of how fun the rides were, but it was AWESOME! After leaving Beach Park, we (of course) went to the tapioca restaurant, where we (of course) split a chocolate-filled tapioca.

Galina and Manu with twisty rides in the background.

That’s just how researchers roll in Brazil…

2009-08-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

Kai and David worked with the Brazil collaboration a few summers ago. Their take on our research?

David: similar to our "research experience" it seems to be at least 75% alcohol, fish, and suntanning
me: haha yes!
David: well, keep up the good work!

Vovo, Vovo!

2009-07-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

Last night, we went to a Ceara v. Ipatinga (from the state of Minas Gerais) futebol game. Ana Flavia’s dad took care of the tickets (5th row – yep, VIP!) and jerseys for everyone. Being that close to the field was really exciting and we got to see the stadium where the 2014 World Cup will be held. As expected, Brazilian fans are very serious about their soccer games – they have cheers, songs, choreographed routines, fireworks, torches and hand-held radios to listen to the commentary while watching the game. A gol is followed by lots of cheering (vo-vo, vovo!), singing and hugging of anyone within your reach.

Evidently, pre-gaming is a universal concept. No alcohol is sold in the stadium, so everyone drinks before the game outside, on the sidewalks.
The stadium. In the background, the banner on the side of the stadium states "Ceara Sporting Club - My reason for living."
Ceara’s mascot is vovo (grandfather). UVa’s cavalier could stab his opponents with a saber; Ceara’s vovo could…bore them to death with his stories? But seriously, he is a very endearing mascot, who cheered his team to a 2:0 victory.

The game ended around midnight and we went out to get pizza and 2 beers (one for every goal Ceara scored). When leaving the restaurant, we joked about how Americans sometime have pizza for breakfast. This is what we got for breakfast this morning:
Joke FAIL.

Goooooooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-07-28T10:57:00.000-07:00

Futebol game tonight. Ceara v. Minas Gerais.

Campeão da popularidade
Tua torcida hoje é toda cidade
É um grande povo a te estimular
É o Vovô Ceará vai ganhar.

Morro Branco

2009-07-27T16:53:00.001-07:00

We spent the weekend at Morro Branco – a ridiculously picturesque beach south of the city. The area is famous for its multi-colored sand dunes and artisans who turn the various shades of sand into art.

The dunes have a labyrinth where you can look at the sources of the colored sand. Our little sister was freaking out about the labyrinth, even though it only had 1 walkable path.

There is also a mineral water fountain, naturally called the “fountain of youth,” which comes out of a small hole in the dunes.

The "artistic" picture Morro Branco is just beautiful!

Lying in very warm puddles created by the waves on the beach promotes tanning

We also went swimming at night, it was fun, albeit cold
We love our grandma!!!

The one down side of the trip was that our family invited a friend along. Between the two of us we probably diagnosed her with every personality disorder we’ve ever learned from Dr Hobbs as well as a bad case of verbal diarrhea (the woman would not stop talking about how everything good in the world is basically related to her). This morning, she talked so much and so long about how much her patients at the dental clinic love her that she ended up being two hours late to see said patients. Professionalism fail.

Aside from the personality disorder dentist, we ended up having a fabulous weekend with the family and got a few colored-sand trinkets with inscriptions made in sand.

The whole family

PS – We may end up having to make our picasa pictures private since we’ve had people subscribe to them who we don’t know. If you find you don’t have access, email us.

Climbing the sand cliffs was a blast!

Fortal

2009-07-24T18:37:00.000-07:00

July 23 – 26 is Fortal, Ceara’s out of season Carnaval. We went to check it out on Thursday, the opening night. As you might expect, it was very crowded, very loud and very fun. The floats with performers basically moved in a big circle around an area where the audience was located, so everyone got to see every float twice. The music selection naturally included the ubiquitous samba and northeast-specific forro. The audience usually follows the floats, drinking and dancing the whole night. For R$220 to 500 (half that for USD), one could get a shirt and be allowed to follow the float directly on the street. A rope held by a bunch of people cordons them off. The part of the audience outside of that rope is called “pipoca” (popcorn), because they jump around the whole night. The rest of the audience stayed behind a fence, which amazingly held out. While standing on the fence offered a slightly better view of the show, it also offered the men a better view of us. We lasted about 30 seconds, before getting air kisses from 5 different directions and having people trying to grab at us from the other side.

Proudly representing the red, way-too-white-for-Brazil and blue
One of the Floats and its fans

After the floats were done circling, the bands took the center stage and the happily-buzzed audience danced the night away. The main show was Avioes – a forro band, which is not our favorite but still fun to dance to after a few beers. As with any Brazilian venue, the drunk men celebrated the beginning of Fortal by peeing on anything more-or-less stationary and propositioning the two gringas in the audience all kinds of things, which Sayonara found hysterical. One guy was so amazed at Joana’s hair color that he thought it would be fun to pull on it, while laughing and pointing. We got home around 4 AM and fell asleep to the morning songs of the roosters.

The next morning, we were up at 8.30 (painful) for the research group meeting, where it was decided to run the rephrased questions from the pilot by the faculty judges, which would mean another week of not doing interviews and actually having to work on the manuscript. Afterwards, as per usual, we headed to the beach for some non-fried food, caipirinhas and yet another attempt to lose the tan lines. As always, not without bus adventures, we got offered a job, right there on bus 32. A local language school wants to hire us to record some conversation tapes to go along with a beginner’s English language textbook. So don’t be surprised if someday you visit Fortaleza and everyone’s English sounds like ours (semi Russian or Portuguesey sounding, especially when they are mad).

Forro is my favorite… NOT!

2009-07-23T07:47:00.000-07:00

Have you heard Beyonce’s new stuff? James Blunt’s? Well we have too, except its all re-done in Portuguese and has a forro and/or samba beat. Beyonce with some samba beat may be ok (hay-hay-hay-halo), but James Blunt? Seriously?

(Brazilian James Blunt cover with forro beat)

We are working hard….on our tans

2009-07-23T07:12:00.000-07:00

What to do when there is nothing to do? Beach! Whenever we have a few days to ourselves (which is a lot of the time), we just head over to the beach and work hard on our tans. This is not to say that the project has stalled, but its definitely on Brazilian time, see earlier post. On the one hand, we would like to be doing more. On the other hand, we are not complaining spending most of our vacation lounging on Brazilian beaches and sipping chope and agua de coco. Occasionally, the barracas also host bands, so concerts on the beach are frequent.
Galina and Manu at the beach

At a concert in barraca America do Sol on Praia do Futuro

According to the calendar, we are well into dry season now, not that you would know it from all the rain we’ve been getting this week. Thanks to all the precipitation, we are actually working on our manuscript today. Research group meeting tomorrow at 9 AM, then back to the beach!

Naturally, all this busing to and from the beach has not been without adventures, the latest included having a bag stuck in the bus door, getting hit on by fellow bus passengers, having a bus drive off with one of us still on it, knocking on the bus door in the middle of traffic to get on the bus (it actually worked). Oh, not to forget, we witnessed a bus lose a back wheel (not a tire, a wheel) on a ramp. Busing here is many things, but its never boring!

We met baby Clara! (be jealous Kai and David)

2009-07-23T07:10:00.000-07:00

Our research supervisor, Monica, invited us to her house for a celebration of her baby’s 4-month birthday. Joana was happy to have a non-fried meal for a change. Galina was happy to hold the baby. Then we got a ride home in the rain. Turns out, Fortaleza is prepared for rain in the same way Charlottesville is prepared for snow. It may have been easier to canoe back.

Favelas

2009-07-18T14:40:00.000-07:00

This week we conducted the project’s pilot interviews in the favelas (shantytowns). Due to the high incidence if crime in these areas, the only things we could bring with us were pens and interview sheets. Until now, we thought we lived in a so-so neighborhood but now we know our current home is in a rather upscale area. The favelas are full of contrasts. Some of the houses look normal, while others do not have so much as a floor. Some households have TVs, DVD players, even computers but they don’t spend the few extra Reals on sodium hypochlorite to sanitize their drinking water. Joana and Robson (pronounced Hob-son) interviewed a young mother who was Galina’s age exactly (born 2/86) and had three kids, ages 1, 3, and 5. Although starting to have kids at 18 is not necessarily early by favela standards, it is still mind-blowing to see how different these women’s lives are from our own.

Joana and Manuela are clearly serious about their work
Obviously, Galina and Robson also take the project seriously

CEDEFAM, a satellite of UFC medical system in our favela, does some pre-natal and preventative care. One remarkable thing about it is the jardim medicinal (medicinal garden). Yes, they grow some of their own meds. medicinal garden at a university satellite location

Ironically, even without proper sanitation, the residents in Fortaleza’s favelas may actually get better preventative care than some of the communities in the US. The whole city is divided into areas, all of which have nursing posts where the residents can get immunizations and some health care for free. There are other community-based prevention programs, such as exercise classes for the elderly, which our grandma cannot stop raving about. And of course, there are social events, like dancing for the elderly (mental health?). So while the favelas have many problems, the kids’ immunizations are up-to-date. Meanwhile C’ville still has annual Pertussis outbreaks. Must be the price we pay for being the individualist-driven society… Why can’t we just put a little money (and enforcement) into preventative, community-based health care? Our system of health-department-employees-going-door-to-door-in-poor- neighborhoods-for-free-on-their-own-time is getting old.

On a side note, the favela kids get really excited about seeing foreign, white people in their neighborhood. Yay us!

You might be in a Catholic country when…

2009-07-17T06:06:00.000-07:00

…praying to N.S. Fatima solves your bank problems.
This excerpt from a conversation with Bank of America roughly sums up Galina’s recent bank issues:

G – … so they keep transferring me to Customer Service and then no one answers.
Bank – Oh, well that’s because Customer Service is not open on weekends anymore. You know, economy. Have you considered online banking?
G – I am at a bus station. In Brazil.
Bank – You know, it would be a lot easier if you were in the US.
G – …

When she found out, our grandma prayed for the bank issues to get resolved. On one hand, the bank actually fixed everything later that night. On the other hand, we were informed that the next thing grandma will be praying for is for us to get married so she could be at our weddings. Umm, thanks, grams.

Salvador da Bahia – City of All Saints (and Almost All Sins)

2009-07-14T13:08:00.000-07:00

It’s a good thing we love buses because Salvador was a whooping 22-hour (one way) bus ride away. We spent 4 days and 3 nights in Salvador, Brazil’s culture capital, famous for its Afro-Brazilan culture, powerful rhythms of the drum corps, mystical Candomblé, capoeira circles, and food with a heavy West-African influence.

Our super comfy back seats, strategically located next to the fridge with cold water

The highlights included…

… the historic city tour. Our guide, Josué, was hilarious! Not only did he take us to all the “traditional” tour places but also the tunnels that connect the churches in Pelourinho (some think they were used for smuggling, secret romantic encounters, and/or illegal slave trade but no one knows for sure). Our guide even had Joana stick her hand down a 300-year-old church toilet to take a picture of what was beneath it (surprise, it was trash).

Us in the heart of Pelourinho

…the Candomblé ceremony. Candomblé is a little-understood religion, rooted in Bahian culture, that was brought over by West African slaves. The candomblistas worship orixás, or powerful spirits, and if a person has the gift, he or she can become a medium for the spirit. Interestingly, there are female, male and bi-sexual orixás. The ceremonies can last for hours. First, the performers, all dressed in white, go around in a circle in a dance meant to invite the spirits. Afterwards, the dance becomes more heated and the bell is added to the three drums to conjure the spirits. Then one or a few of the candomblistas become “possessed” by the spirits, which manifests as shaking, writhing and shrieking. Many of the orixás became syncretized with catholic saints over time and as a result candomblistas often go to both a Catholic church and a Candomblé house (our Candomblé house actually had a Catholic altar above the orixá drawings).

Joana in the women's section, drawing of orixás and a catholic altar in the background

… island hopping in Baía de Todos os Santos (Bay of All Saints). The morning was not promising with intermittent torrential downpours, however the boat had a band and a bar, both guaranteed to brighten any day. When we got to the first island, Ilha dos Frades, it was still raining, so everyone decided to make the best of it and just load up on chope beer. With enough beer in them, some people (Galina included) actually went swimming and afterwards showered right on the beach (the shower was conveniently available right in the middle of the barraca). We also ended up buying matching bracelets from a vendor named Julio Cesar (because he was born on Bahia’s Independence Day – see the connection? We don’t either.) Galina got a bracelet for love and Joana’s was for happiness. By the time we left the first island, the weather was beautiful! The second island, Ilha de Itaparica, was much larger. On our island tour, we stopped by Fonte da Bica (fountain of youth), mineral water fountain from 1842, which had 3 faucets: love, health and money. Naturally, we drank from all 3. Just to annoy Joana, the guide told the story of a Portuguese man who visited the island and went to the fountain every day to pour the water down his pants, until someone (the guide claimed to have been himself) told him that although the fountains rejuvenates, it does not resuscitate. On the way back, the band played popular Brazilian tunes and the passengers, warmed by beer (and caipirinhas!), sang along. One of the band members ended up getting Galina to get up and dance with them, which proved to be a feat of balance, since the boat was rocking quite a bit. Thank you, vestibular system, for not failing Galina at the time of need (yes, we are in med school).

island #1, which only had 70 residents

on island #2, out local guide was really excited that Joana was Portuguese

At an old Dutch (or Portuguese) fort in Itaparica

The Fountain of Youth - Galina drinking from the "love" faucet, Joana from the "money", "health" is in the middle

Dancing/balancing on the boat, one of the band members looked a lot like Jamie Foxx

… samba dancing. Friday night, we went to one of many outdoor bars for some chope and live music. Later on, the street turned into a dance floor. After a few dances, we got invited to another venue for some samba dancing. We ended up being the only non-Brazilians there (finally, a non-touristy place) and had a blast learning to samba from Bahia’s best. Galina even got to dance with a dance teacher (or so he claimed) who actually turned out to be a wonderful instructor, said she was doing pretty good (for a white girl?) and gave her a necklace as a presente. Overall, it was a productive night – we greatly improved our samba and made some friends who walked us back to our hotel safely.

Samba starts on the streets of Pelourinho, then moves into the clubs

…the ribbons. Everywhere you go in Salvador, people will offer you different colored ribbons from Lembrança do Senhor do Bonfim da Bahia. You are supposed to tie the ribbon around your wrist in 3 knots, making a wish for every knot. Taking the ribbon off invites doom, so you just have to wait for it to fall off on its own. Joana cleverly picked a pink ribbon, which may not match any of her clothes but would certainly match a sunburn (thanks, equator!).

Pink is for love, purple is for health

… sad stuff. Salvador has many street dogs (Praça da Sé) and cats (everywhere else) that have to beg for food from tourists and go dumpster diving. Sadder still, is that walking back from samba at 3 AM, you can see little kids dumpster diving along with the homeless animals. The financial chasm between the tourists that seem to flood Pelourinho during the day and the kids who scavenge for their leftovers at night is truly staggering.

… the food. Bahian food is heavily influenced by its African origins and often cooked with dendê oil from West African palm. One of our favorites was the traditional moqueca – a delicious stew made with coconut milk, dendê oil, seafood and laced with malagueta pepper. Naturally, everything is served/cooked with farofa (manioc flour), which turns food yellow. In fact, yellow is now our favorite flavor. Acarajé, bean and shrimp fritters, were ubiquitous, huge, and incredibly filling.

The deliciousness that is fish moqueca (its yellow, of course)

… the music. The city is pulsating with rhythms of samba, reggae and just about any other type of music. Almost every bar and restaurant has live music by local performers, all of whom seem incredibly talented. How is it that a city like Salvador is overflowing with truly talented and original performers and then someone like Britney Spears makes it?

… Olodum. Olodum is the more famous of Salvador’s drum corps, they even did a video with Michael Jackson, which everyone in Pelourinho will happily remind you and even show you the exact streets and buildings where the taping took place (by the way did you hear he died?). We saw some of Olodum’s apprentices (some as young as 5) form a procession down the streets of Pelourinho. They were really good.

One of the drummers - they occasionally pick up the drums and throw them in the air (heavy metal drums, that is)

… capoeira. Capoeira, which was developed by the slaves as a means of self-defense against their masters, is said to have originated from a ritualistic Angolan dance. Capoeira was prohibited by slave owners and thus developed into a disguise of acrobatic dance. Now, capoeira circles are seen all over. The main instrument that accompanies the dance is the one-stringed berimbau, which Galina acquired for $5 at one of the music stores, along with a stick and a rock needed to play it. God help her neighbors.

Capoeira circle on the street

… last, but definitely not least, shopping! The art in Salvador is everywhere! Many artists just set up shop on the streets of Pelourinho, while others occupy little stores and galleries. We went to several venues and galleries before settling on a few amazing pieces.

The art is everywhere!!!

P.S. Every 3-4 hours, the bus would stop at rest stations, which had little stores and food vendors. At one of the stores, we encountered Marx’s Communist Manifesto, on no other than a love advice literature shelf, right behind Sex Without Doubts. For some people, its photo-shopped images of supermodels, for others it’s the picture of proletariat as “grave-diggers” of the bourgeoisie. Go figure.

Communist Manifesto - always a good read (right after Sex Without Doubts)

The bus also entertained us with some videos from the 80s, including classics like “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “Love hurts.” Along with the oldies, they threw in an occasional Britney and Backstreet Boys – are they considered oldies now, too? Are we that old?

As always, additional pics are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jperd114

Our 4th of July was better than yours!

2009-07-06T07:17:00.000-07:00

We spent 4th of July weekend in Canoa Quebrada, one of the most popular beach destinations in Ceará. The town itself, which dons a moon and crescent as its ubiquitous logo, was reminiscent of Charlottesville with a cute and colorful central mall, full of stores, bars and restaurants. In the evenings, many hippy-ish artisans line the rustically cobbled Broadway (the main strip), selling hand-made jewelry and other trinkets. Reggae is the music of choice. We ended up getting matching head bands to signify our commitment to each other ;) The artist actually finished the one of the headbands after Galina was already wearing it. Unfortunately the finishing touches included burning off the yarn ends, which were frighteningly close to Galina’s hair. In the end no hair was lost but a few fright-related gray hairs were gained.

Canoa Quebrada's logo carved onto the dune

Our matching headbands

We started July 4th with a buggy tour of Canoa Quebrada’s famous pink sand dunes (which are actually terra cotta-colored). Several times the buggy descended the dunes almost vertically, producing a roller-coaster-type tingling gut feeling. Along the way, we stopped at a rest stop of sorts, which offered activities such as swinging off the dune into the lake and sand boarding. When swinging onto the lake, the guy took it easy on us the first time around. However, the second time around, he let the rope go and let us make a bikini-top-losing splash into the water. The sand surfing (done sitting) was also a trip, complete with a swimsuit full of sand.

Decending the dune vertically, fullspeed

The lake plunge, look closely and you will see a person diving in

Joana went first on the swing

Galina is clearly happy to go the second time around

The splash (second one almost hurt)

Galina went first on the sand board

On the way back, we stopped at an Oasis located in the middle of the dunes, where we ordered some agua do coco and relaxed. Joana got served the biggest coconut we’ve ever seen. Many jokes were made about the size of the nut. Yes, we are 12.

After an adventurous morning we spent the afternoon relaxing on the beach. Our 4th of July meal consisted of $5 lobster (prepared traditionally with garlic and olive oil) and 60 cent beers. Yep, less than the price of your low-fat turkey hot dogs.

One of the funniest things this weekend was that everyone and their mother made it their business to point out that Galina looked Brazilian and Joana looked like a “gringa, gringa, gringa.” Must be Galina’s amazing Portuguese, oh wait…

"Gringa" on the walk way overlooking the beach

Our accommodations at Pousada Europa, albeit simple and with a very shaky staircase, had four unbeatable advantages: cats (which made Joana happy), a baby (which made Galina happy), amazing ocean view, and it cost $10/night per person. Who says you can’t have it all?

On a side note, the men of Canoa Quebrada had some of the most original pick up lines we’ve ever heard (your eyes bewitched me). Some were quite funny but kudos to Brazilians, at least they always opened with a compliment. Learn, American boys, learn.

P.S. Check out the rest of our Canoa Quebrada pics (and be jealous) here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jperd114

Literacy…

2009-07-02T06:22:00.000-07:00

… takes on a whole new meaning when it’s a child on a pile of trash reading a book. Brazil is known for a huge chasm separating the rich from poor (the richest 10% garner half the income in the county, while the lowest 10% get less than 1%). While lucky middle-class kids like Ana Flavia will grow up going to good (meaning private) schools ($200/mo) and having a maid in the house, the girl in the picture will grow up in a working-class family struggling to put food on the table and pay rent. President Lula, who grew up in poverty, has made some reforms to bring relief to the neediest families. Unfortunately, Lula’s administration did not do much to improve Brazil’s low public education standards, one of the reasons why so many poor remain trapped in poverty.
We saw this girl on our way back from UFC. She was rather amused by us and waved back as the trash cart rolled away down the street.

Observations

2009-07-02T06:10:00.001-07:00

What’s better than a hybrid? A few days ago, we passed a donkey-drawn cart, which was in the left lane of a major road.

Time. Brazilian time is magic. You are never late because no matter how late you show up, you are never the last one thru the door. It’s really ironic that the city bus slogan is On Time. They must have forgotten to tell the drivers, who always seem in a hurry but never on schedule.

Beer. It doesn’t get better than when its served ice cold (and we do mean frozen into ice, none of that cold-like-the-Rockies mumbo jumbo). It thaws while you eat dinner, preferably fresh garlic-fried shrimp at a seaside restaurant. $6 per person.

Fortaleza sunset – priceless, albeit 2 bus rides away.

NO MORE RED MEAT!!!!

2009-07-02T06:03:00.000-07:00

Sayonara eventually noticed that we didn’t like red meat and asked grandma not to cook it for us anymore. The family also assumed that we didn’t want pork because one could get gripe suina by eating it. On the one hand, Galina felt like she betrayed her public health convictions (especially as a newly-retired pan flu coordinator) by not correcting their misconception, on the other hand she did not feel like eating any more red meat. Sometimes you just have to compromise with your values.
We are eating carne verde (green meat=white meat) everyday now. Yes, they call it green and its always fried. Always.

6,400-dollar excel-sheet.

2009-07-02T05:59:00.000-07:00

Today we made an excel spreadsheet, which encompasses our whole project so far. It took us an hour. Our mentor allowed us a week to do it. We are peacing out to the beach in Canoa Quebrada until Monday.
Fingers crossed for starting work in the favelas next week.

White people problems

2009-06-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.atom.com/funny_videos/white_problems/
These guys have no idea. So…

1. The catcalls and honking is ubiquitous. On the one hand, it makes Galina all nostalgic for Uganda. On the other hand, its getting more difficult to pretend that they are saying “welcome to Fortaleza” every time.
2. Why didn’t anyone warn us that it’s likely that a white person could get a ridiculous sunburn on the equator if they don’t reapply their SPF 30 every hour? What do you mean common sense?
3. This morning we got freshly squeezed açai juice for breakfast. No amount of energetic value and slimming properties could make up for the fact that it looks like mud and tastes like olive brine.
4. The little ants are everywhere. It was unpleasant but tolerable when we’d have to spend the first 5 minutes of opening the laptop on killing the little ants that crawled out of it. But this morning we found some baked into the bread. Ant toast and acai brine is not exactly your dream breakfast.

5. Whenever we go anywhere with our host family, Wilson, our host mom’s boyfriend drives. We really like him, he is a sweet guy and is a police officer. But he is a crazy driver! Whenever we hit a pothole or he breaks in traffic, it feels like at least one of us is about to fly out of the window. Oh, and there are no seat belts.
6. The bus drivers are also intense. But on the upside we are getting a great upper body workout just trying to hold on every time we ride a bus.
7. Went to a samba party with our new girlfriends yesterday. The caipiroscas are very strong. Coctail=vodka+lime+sugar. No water, unless you count the water in the fruit. That is all.

São João

2009-06-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

Its São João festival! While there is a religious element to the festivities, it is also a time for huge parties! On Friday, we went to Ana Flavia’s São João celebration at her school where every class put on a dance performance. Apparently, in Brazil, São João is the time to wear pigtails, so that’s what we did… for the first time since we were old enough to realize how ridiculous we look with pigtails.

On Saturday, we went to Ceara’s equivalent of a fair. There were many dance quadrilhas that competed for the title with themed 30-minute performances. Our favorite was a dance routine that told the story about the end of slavery in Brazil. How many years will it take for the US to have dance teams performing similarly themed acts?

In her infinite wisdom, Galina wore a dress to the festival. Naturally, we arrived late and had to stand on the top of the bleachers. We quickly realized that male dancers preferentially crowded under our portion of the bleachers and a performer in a priest costume gave Galina a thumbs up. Thank God for hair clips that can also be used to pin a dress.

Ehhh Macarena!

2009-06-25T05:47:00.000-07:00

We must be completely immature because last night we had a ball at a 10-year-old’s High School Musical-themed birthday party. Birthday parties in Brazil are a BIG deal, everyone is invited and not going may be seen as an offense. The birthday girl was Ana Flavia’s classmate so naturally the whole family (sans grandma) went. It was the most lavish children’s birthday party we’ve ever attended. The Brazilian version of a kids venue has the downstairs area with video games, trampolines and such, and the upstairs has a sitting area for dinner and a dance floor (although the place has other rooms for yet more birthday parties but sans the dance floor).

Apparently we never outgrew 7th grade because the spherical-shaped appetizers and deserts were infinitely amusing (Fried balls? I’m all over that! – Anonymous). The desserts were also of a spherical shape… Joana was mature enough to liken some of the samples to certain body parts (OMG! It’s a butt!). Later on in the evening, we joined the mothers dancing to 70’s hits. A highlight was YMCA. And yes, we did the Macarena and had a ball doing it (although both of us were a bit rusty…).

G & J

Pictures...

2009-06-23T12:51:00.001-07:00

... can be found at

http://picasaweb.google.com/jperd114

Ever tried drinking guacamole?

2009-06-23T05:47:00.000-07:00

Monday.

One of the best things about Brazil is the cheapness and availability of tropical fruit. Every morning we have a bowl of fresh fruit and freshly squeezed juice from a varie

ty of fruits: some of which are staples (passionfruit, banana, pineapple and others that defy translation, such as graviola, cupuaçu and makashira. However, this morning we were presented with abocataba, which is basically blended avocado with just a smidge of milk, and some sugar. It was one of the strangest tasting drinks we’ve ever had (although

its thickness may be outside of the “drink” category). The day ended with some canjinca (corn powder, milk, cheese and cinnamon), which tasted surprisingly better than it looked (yellow and lumpy).

Our breakfast also consists of Brazilian coffee. Be warned that Brazilians like their coffee as strong as the devil, as hot as hell and as sweet as love (thanks to liquid sweetener that looks like eye drops).

Ônibus: our favorite mode of transportation (not for any hint of comfort, but adventure). Today we ventured out to Praia do Futuro, supposedly the best city beach (according to Lonely Planet). We spend the hold day working hard on our tans and drinking agua de côco (coconut juice), which is supposedly high in electrolytes and is valued for its hydrating properties. The bus rise there was rather painless and uneventful. However, the bus ride back was an adventure. The first bus was packed but there were only two women in the crowd: us. Clearly men are from Mars is a lie, they all come from Fortaleza’s east-facing coast. The second bus had more of an equal-opportunity crowd but it took forever to get to our stop in rush hour with no ventilation and no room to move. The third bus was uneventful compared to the first two, except we learned that some people have some magic IDs that allow them to ride for free and use the front/exit door as the entrance. So yea, we love busing!

J & G

10 am caipirinas? Of course!

2009-06-23T05:45:00.000-07:00

Sunday. Sayonara and a few of her friends took us to the beach at Barro Preto in Iguape, about an hour out of town. It was exactly what we imagined a Brazilian beach to be: white sand, warm water, beach-side restaurants in little huts serving fresh seafood and cheap caipirinhas (cachaça, sugar, lime and ice). Ironically, the Brazilians felt that the water was shivering-cold (its winter here), however in our opinion it was the warmest beach water ever and it was WAY warmer than our shower.

After having a 10 am breakfast of fresh crab and caipirinhas (yea, be jealous), we took a dune-jumping buggy out to a distant part of the beach, where the Bataque river flows into the Atlantic. We spent a few hours at the river and even caught little fish that were swimming upstream. Galina named her fish Piranha (we took a picture and let her go). Leticia, who is around 10, had all of the adults catching her the little fish and placing them in a plastic coke bottle. Joana delicately described this as fish murder. (Leticia did eventually let the fish go, although most of them died.) In the end, both of us left the river with the same thought: please, God, don’t let us have parasites.

Neither of us has ever eaten crab using the little wooden hammers before, so it was an adventure. The best part was when we were told to put some yellow stuff (manioc flour?) on the inside of the crab and eat it with the crab organs. Galina’s face on the picture roughly sums up that experience. Joana was too much of a wimp to even try.

In order to get to the beach, we had to walk thru the erotically themed barraca. Our guide, a self-described Ph.D. in sticks, was a trip with a knick for word play! While most of the “exhibits” were amusingly painted sticks and pieces of furniture, one in particular was disturbing. They had two space heaters side by side with plastic baby dolls and toy planes sticking out of it: the twin towers. Once the guide heard that we were American, he made a point of pointing it out as an entertaining piece. In our opinion the display was not in the best of taste, but the residents of Iguape must not have been affected by 9/11 to the same degree or maybe it was a very effective piece of propaganda, since it’s the only display we are still thinking about and writing about in our blog.

Tapioca! On the way back we stopped by the Tapioca Central. That’s when we found out what tapioca was (Brazilian take on the crepe) and that it can be eaten with anything from bacon to coconut. It was tasty!!!

J & G

Even the mannequins here have bigger boobs

2009-06-20T06:28:00.000-07:00

Day 3 in Brazil. Empowered with out new bus knowledge (enter and pay in the back, exit in the front, push the red button to exit), we ventured into a bigger and better mall. First, we had to take a bus up (down?) Av. Jose Bastos. Naturally the magic red stop button didn't work and by the time we figured out that we had to pull on a string, we passed our parada. We walked back 2 blocks and found the other bus stop on Rua 13 de Maio near the Rectory of Universidade Federal de Ceara (UFC). After waiting for bus 75 for at least 30 minutes, we were on our way. Once the bus crossed an overpass, we suddenly found ourselves in a new Fortaleza. This Fortaleza has tall building and stores bigger than a garage, hospitals and specialty clinics, and of course it had the biggest mall that Galina had ever seen (Mall of America is still bigger although not as pretty - J), complete with water fountains, tricked-out elevators and a food court on every floor (complete with diet coke aka coca cola litsch (sound it out)). So an average neighborhood (like ours) doesn´t have hot water and the favelas often don´t have proper sanitation, but a world-class mall is readily available to those who can afford it. Is there something wrong with this picture? Nontheless, walking into the mall, we instantly felt a lot better about spending the next 2 months in Fortaleza (yea, yea, we are snobby Americans and we like diet coke). We ended up making 2 valuable purchases: hot dresses and a Fortaleza street guide). Now we just need to go back to those huge shoe stores. The only down side of the mall was that even the mannequins had bigger boobs. We shouldn´t have to feel inferior to the mannequins, too!

This adventure included one other amusing detail: a man at a bus stop asking Joana for her cell number. It was the first time in history that an `I dont have one´ excuse was actually the truth.
Raj, he was quite a catch, he was wearing pants AND a shirt, he even provided his own paper (borrowed from a girl standing next to us on the bus stop).

G

Welcome to Brazil!

2009-06-20T06:09:00.000-07:00

This is day 4 in brazil. We miraculously made it here after having our Cville-Atlanta flight delayed by an hour and were literally the last ones to sprint onto our Fortaleza flight. Imagine our surprise when not only did we make it to Fortaleza without further adventures but our luggage was waiting for us by the time we got out of customs.

Brazil where we are staying is very residential and NOT AT ALL white beaches and cute poolside restaurants. Stupid google images are a lie! Our host family is awesome and we have an amazing new adopted grandmother. She keeps feeding us, hugs us when we leave and gets upset with us for walking outside after dark. In 2 days we had 3 meals that consisted of red meat. Joana and I both do not eat red meat or pork but we felt it would be impolite to turn it down. Sorry, cow.

We took a bus out to the center on Thursday, which was crowded and sketch. I guess our idea of Brazil was a nice beach with cute waiters bringing you caipirinhas, instead we walked past the center and encountered a sketchy half-naked (seemingly homeless) man who told us leave because the area is full of thieves. So we went back to the center. Overall we saw the beach from a distance but still don't know how to get there without walking thru the sketchy areas. Kai and David have been helpful, tho and I think we'll try to figure it out again next monday. Until then our host family has big plans for us, shopping on saturday and beach on sunday.

Our mentor, Monica, asked us to sit thru a 2-day class on the research methods that we are using in this research. Obviously, its all in Portuguese so you can guess how much I´m getting out of it. But from what I can gather from reading the power point (Portuguese looks a lot like Spanish in writing), its pretty common sense. At the end of the second day, we got certificates recognizing our successful completion of the class. I am planning to frame it as a reminder of the class I understood the least in all my 17 years of school.

G