I haven't done too much this week, so I debated writing this post or not, but I will be gone for the next week and a half and then my life really gets moving, so I figured I'd fill you all in now. This was one of our first full weeks of classes. Every morning I get up at 6:30 or 6:45, (yes..you are reading the right blog, Michelle Palm has been doing this) and take the bus to school for my three hour Portuguese class. Then we break for lunch and either have the afternoon free or have an afternoon lecture. Either way, I usually eat lunch somewhere around school and stay for at least part of the afternoon to use the internet or hang out with friends. Then, I take the bus home with a friend, which conveniently drops us off just a block from Cairu, our favorite ice cream shop, and we generally stop for ice cream. Then I walk the couple of blocks to my house, take a shower cause I'm sweaty as all hell and do homework until dinner. It is a pretty relaxed schedule.
This weekend we went out for drinks at this really pretty restaurant that had a deck on the river and then made our way to a building that houses a bunch of restaurants and gift shops and such right on the water. They also have a micro-brewery, where we tried some very interesting/good beers. The most interesting was made with a fruit called Bacuri. It tasted more like a strange tea than it did beer. An experience. Also this weekend my Portuguese class presented information on American Universities to my professor's class of Brazilians learning English. That was pretty cool. It was interesting to see that they were just as nervous to speak to us in English as we were to speak in Portuguese. But they were impressed by how far we had come in the short two months we've been here. Most of them have been studying for upwards of ten years! Today I finally went out on a run, which was difficult because all the parks were crowded with vendors and people and it was super hot, even early, but it was nice. I even walked up the nine flights of stairs to my apartment afterwards! (Which was a mistake..ouch!)
Tomorrow we are leaving for the South of Pará (aka, the state we live in). We're getting in a couple vans and driving hours and hours to see the "dark side" or not so pleasant environmental things that are happening in Brazil. Tuesday we will be going to one of the largest hydroelectric dams in the world. I'm planning on doing my ISP (independent study project) on this dam site and a couple others, but I will talk about that in a bit. Wednesday we are on a ranch, learning about everything they do there, such as grazing cattle and growing crops. Then we see a site where a MST group was massacred. MST stands for the Landless Workers' Movement, or really in Portuguese, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra. I don't know a whole lot about them, but we are doing a homestay at a different location with them. (A MST site that is very secure and actually now owns the land, don't worry). The next day we are doing something that I can't quite remember, but then we are driving home on Wednesday, ALL day. Not as bad as the drive from MN to CO, but we'll still have 8 hours in the vans.
After this trip, we have a couple days and then we start our ISPs! It is a little frightening, since I'm not quite sure on all the details of my project, but I think I'll work it out this week as I learn more information. My current plan is to study the government's policy surrounding the displacement of people, especially from the hydroelectric dams. 90% of Brazil's power comes from hydroelectric dams, so I'm interested to see where the rights of people, especially Amerindians and Indigenous, come in to play. I'm not sure where I'll be living during this time, but probably in Belém for at least part of the time. I'd like to go tour two of the dams in the state and talk to the people in the land that will be displaced if proposed dams go through ideally, which means trips around the state. How fun!
I think that is all for now. I don't have any cool pictures to post, even if I was able to post them! I'll be gone this Monday, the 25th, and will return to Belém on the 3rd of November. It is so strange that we keep going on trips and returning to a new month! I can't believe it is already almost November! Where has the time gone?!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Has it been almost a whole month?
I have been avoiding putting a new blog up. In the past three or four weeks, so much has happened that my mind can't seem to wrap itself around where to start or what to say, but I'll try. I'll lay it out simple.
Late on Monday the 20th of September, we all convened at the airport and started out on our journey that would turn out to be my favorite three weeks of this trip (thus far). We arrived, bleary-eyed in Manaus in the early hours of Tuesday and promptly drove to our hotel and slept. Then we had, whatever was left of the morning after waking up, to wander around Manaus and take in the sites. Immediately we were all impressed. Manaus is more touristic, but in that, it is cleaner, feels safer, has more things to see and do, than Belém. Not that we don't like Belém, but...we don't really. Then we all got together and left for the Instituto de Permacultura da Amazônia, aka, the coolest place ever. We ate a delicious lunch and then had a lecture about the philosophy behind permaculture and a tour of the institute. [For those of you who are not sure what permaculture is, it is a cycle or system that mimics a natural environment that is not dependent on additives. For example...mixing plants and animals that help each other grow (ie. fertilizer from animals, feeding animals corn, etc.) versus like..growing potatoes. Its a sustainable system of reduce, reuse, recycle basically.] Anyhow, I loved it. It was super cool. I wish I could do my Independent Study Project there. Then I'm sure we just went back and chilled and ate food and explored. That is what we generally do with our free time.
The next day we had a lecture from an NGO called Fundação Vitória Amazônica-FVA. They have produced management plans for the National Parks here (which are a bit of a mess) and work with the local people to help them understand their land rights and make profit and whatnot. They were very cool. Its always good to know that there are actually groups out there making progress for the little guy. After lunch and whatnot, we left for a lecture from the Projeto Dinâmica Biológica de Fragmentos Florestais which is at the National Institute for Amazonian Research. Basically, this group did a lot of research on the effects of having fragmented forests and the differences between small and large plots of fragmented land. I'm not sure if I mentioned before, but the majority of our lectures are in Portuguese, with our academic advisor or someone else translating for us, but this lecture was in English and sooo great. Haha. It is extremely exhausting trying to listen to a lecture in Portuguese and get any sense of it when you only speak a little of the language. Oh! Today is also the first day I tried avacado juice. I ordered it on accident, but it was delicious. In Brazil, they use avocados as fruit, ie. sweet with sugar and milk and such, not as a vegetable as we generally use them. Very interesting.
Thursday, the following day, we got into the vans knowing that we were visiting Presidente Figueiredo, but not having a clue what it was or what we were doing there (a common theme for us on this trip). Turns out, it is basically just this park this man owns that has these GREAT waterfalls and lake/river/whatnot and we ended up just spending the majority of the day lounging around, swimming, playing in the falls, exploring. We kept looking at each other and saying, "Damn..too bad we're in school today". Then we had a lecture on EcoTourism and then went back to our hotel in Manaus. It was our last night so we relaxed with some beer and enjoyed the company of each other. Also, none of us really knew what to think of the fact that we were about to get on a boat for the next however many days, but when we woke up the next morning, that is precisely what we did. We got on the boat.
The first two days were spent totally on the boat. This isn't the Titanic we're talking about. Our boat, Barao do Mar, had an upper deck that was just that..a deck. By day, we lined the railings with chairs to sit, read, whatever, but the middle section was where we hung up our redes (hammocks) for the night (and the tons and tons of naps we took). Then there was a little sun deck, which was used constantly for tanning or star gazing. Below, in the middle sort of level, there was a small kitchen and two bathrooms, and then the lowest level had more space for hammocks, the engine and the lines where we hung our river-washed clothes. The first week or so, maybe like five days, were spent mostly on the boat. We tanned, ate, napped, snacked, sat, read, talked and chilled for the majority of those five days. Pretty tough life, huh? We actually did learn things in that week. We stopped at a Quilombo, which is a community that started from runaway slaves and has continued. It was a cool experience to see how simply they live and to see their agriculture practices and learn about the issues they have with the government. We also toured a Bauxite mine called Mineração Rio do Norte, which challenged all of us a little I think. This group would deforest to mine and then try to reforest everything. It was full of good intentions, but it still felt super wrong or the organization seemed so fake (like the Dharma Initiative for those who know Lost) or something else. It just felt weird. Then, we had one more day on the boat before we were to be dropped off at our rural homestays.
The idea of being dropped of in a community of rural Brazilians that didn't speak any English, had no running water, no electricity, for four days, was a little bit terrifying. Check that, VERY terrifying. We had been having so much fun on the boat and had been getting so close, that the idea of getting dropped off and left was not so appealing. Luckily, we were getting dropped off in groups of four and I loved the three guys that got put in my group. Earlyish Wednesday morning, we hopped into a speedboat with our backpacks in tow, and drove to a beach where we were paired off with a "parent" and led away into the community. It was nothing like the first time we met our host families, with a big party and hors d'oeuvres. We simply got there, were thrusted toward a member of our new family and then the adventure began. At this point, you couldn't really be terrified anymore, cause it was happening and you just had to make it as fun as possible, so our incredible nervousness turned into excitement. My "mom" was named Joceiti and was 22 with three kids (of 7, 5 and 4). She showed me where to put my stuff and then had me help her wash clothes down in the lake. Washing your clothes in Brazil is so different than in the United States and not only in rural places or on the boat (which is done with river water and scrubbing by hand). At home in Belém we have a washer, but it is different than mine in the US and "delicates" are washed by hand and everything is hung up to dry. This makes your clothes a) stretched out, b) dry/stiff/not soft, c) seem not super clean still..or..maybe I've just gotten them so dirty. ANYWAYS, I have digressed. After helping Joceiti, I ate some lunch or snack or something and passed out in my hammock for a good three or four hour nap. Real cultural immersion, huh? After my nap we had snack, in which, one of my favorite memories, I was joined at the table by three naked, sopping wet, squirrely little boys, who stuffed their mouths absolutely full of crackers, with only enough space to drink a little guarana soda. As they stuffed their faces, they just stared at me from across the table, wide-eyed in wonder. Over the next couple of hours I found two of the other students and explored the community (and beach) with them, meeting their families and watching the men play soccer in the evening. The next two days we spent meeting almost every single community member and talking to them about their familial relations, sitting/swimming at the beach and enjoying the simple life. The second night I brought out the frisbee I had brought as a present to play with the guys. Some kids sat around to watch, but were very suspicious of it. We tried "missing" and having it land near them, we tried throwing it directly to them, but they would not touch the frisbee or even try to throw it. It took one of the adults (the "dad" of one of the students) throwing it back to us to get the kids involved and when they started, there was no stopping them. We played for what seemed like hours and hours. Another favorite memory of this night was when I went to grab my stuff and I stood up and was completely surrounded by children asking what my name was. From then on, "Michelle(y)!!" was screamed throughout the community and I had about thirty instant friends. We taught them the name and promised to play the next evening. The night didn't end there because we were bombarded by kids cuddling and poking and tickling until we departed ways. But wait, as I tried to gather my things to take a shower about ten kids showed up at my doorway laughing and chatting. There was no escape! That night, the community had a really cool question/answer session for us in one of the school buildings. They expressed how incredibly thankful they were to have us come and learn about them and how we were welcome back anytime. Having us there gave them a sense of pride about their community, something they didn't have before.
The next (and final) full day in Capiranga was an interesting one. My family was going into the nearest town, which was a lengthy boat-ride away, and would be gone all day, which meant someone else was going to feed me lunch. They told me who I was supposed to eat with, but never told me where he lived or when or anything, so I packed some stuff, assuming I'd be out of the house the entire day and went to hang out with the guys. We ate oranges, (which are green here) and ate this interesting thing we called "purple snot". There is a plant here, manioch, that Brazilians use for just about everything under the sun, and apparently had something to do with this hot, purple, jelly-like, interesting tasting thing that we were fed. Then instead of napping, which we couldn't do thanks to our new friends that constantly were poking and tickling us, Cory and I pondered our lunch situations. He had no idea where his host dad was and I didn't know where this person was that was supposed to feed me. Turns out he was right next door, but this began one of the most awkward experiences I have come to face yet. The man, whose name I can't remember, maybe Edinilson, found me eventually and said something about eating. I couldn't figure out if he meant to eat then and he didn't really motion me to come with him, so we sorta stared at each other and I kept talking to Cory/playing with the kids. When I finally figured out that he wanted me to go to his house, I left Cory to starve and followed him to their kitchen, which continued the awkwardness. They told me they were worried cause they didn't know where I was and then watched me eat. He asked something about my friend having food and I didn't know what he was saying and then finally I said in Portuguese, "Uhh..my friend doesn't have food?". He went and got Cory and sat him in the kitchen and then didn't really say anything and Cory couldn't figure out if he was keeping me company or eating. It was such a mess. But in the end, we both got fed and were happy to leave there as soon as possible (although we asked if we could help clean, to which Edinilson's wife said yes..but then didn't let us do anything). Then we hung out more and played more frisbee with the kids, who were at this point, excellent at frisbee and enjoyed our last night in our community. The next morning we got up, followed by kids and our families to the beach, and were picked up by our directors.
The next day we did another "mini ISP" in Juruti Velho, the closest town to our communities, where we split up into groups with a topic in mind, (ours was education) and created a mini research project on it. It was election day so people were out and about. It was interesting, but we were all exhausted and hot. Doing interviews, however, really helped our Portuguese skills grow, which was pleasant. That night and part of the next day, were spent back on the boat. We stopped in Santarém to hang out and then traveled to a place called Monte Alegre. We drove in the back of pickup trucks down dirt roads to these really cool wall/cave paintings. It was such a fun day to hike and explore and relax. We boated(?) back to Santarém in the morning, where we were supposed to talk to Cargill about soy (the same Cargill that my dad works for), but they ended up ditching out on us. Instead we got to walk around the town and relax a little bit. Later, the day was spent listening to a priest give us his extreme position about soy expansion and Cargill and then with the Projeto Saúde & Alegria (Health and Happiness Project). That was an extremely cool NGO that traveled around with a hospital boat and educated and treated river communities. It was so cool hearing about what they do. How refreshing. The next day we visited the Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment, where we went up in one of those huge staircases that goes above the forest canopy. It was really really cool. We stayed at the LBA site and then left early the next morning to learn about sustainable logging. During our excursion we watched two trees get felled, which was an experience I don't think I'll forget anytime soon. The noise and feeling that came with it sounded/felt so unnatural and weren't something I'd like to feel often. It is hard to describe because as it happened and these huge trees ripped through the forest, we all just stared, mouths open, wide-eyed. The rest of that afternoon was spent in Santarém until we left at 5:00am to return to Belém. We were incredibly sad to leave the boat and our crazy, amazing adventure, but it had to end sometime I guess.
We got back just in time for Círio, the biggest holiday in Northern Brazil. Yes, even bigger than Christmas. The night before, my friend Amanda and I were attempting to get to her apartment to watch the beginning of the procession from her apartment window, but instead found ourselves in the middle of it, right next to the image of Our Lady of Nazareth, which everyone tries to see. Quite the experience. We were never quite sure what was going on, but it was pretty great. [I just read on wikipedia that Círio is the biggest religious event in the Western Hemisphere. Cooool.] The next day, instead of sticking around for the rest of Círio, Amanda and I went to a beach with her family. It was super fun and very different than any beaches in the United States. People drive onto the beach, blast music from their cars and sit in chairs rather than on towels. In fact, we were laughed at for even thinking about bringing our towels. Motorcycles, ATVs, ice-cream and coconut men with push carts and scantily-clad Brazilians littered the beach. What an experience. I only got a little burned, but really, let me tell you...I am very tan.
What else? I am back in Belém, doing the sorta-school thing (ie. Portuguese class in the morning and the rare, but occasional lecture in the afternoon). The rainy season is starting, so it DOWNPOURS at least once a day. I went to my family's country home in Santa Barbara. And..I guess that is it. We are all trying to figure out what to do for our Independent Study Projects that are just around the corner. I'm a little stumped about mine, but I'll figure it out eventually. At the moment I am thinking about doing something on people displaced by the two dams in our area. We shall see.
I'm still working on the picture thing, so hold tight! I hope I didn't leave anything out, but if I did...oh well. I'll keep this more updated, I swear!
Late on Monday the 20th of September, we all convened at the airport and started out on our journey that would turn out to be my favorite three weeks of this trip (thus far). We arrived, bleary-eyed in Manaus in the early hours of Tuesday and promptly drove to our hotel and slept. Then we had, whatever was left of the morning after waking up, to wander around Manaus and take in the sites. Immediately we were all impressed. Manaus is more touristic, but in that, it is cleaner, feels safer, has more things to see and do, than Belém. Not that we don't like Belém, but...we don't really. Then we all got together and left for the Instituto de Permacultura da Amazônia, aka, the coolest place ever. We ate a delicious lunch and then had a lecture about the philosophy behind permaculture and a tour of the institute. [For those of you who are not sure what permaculture is, it is a cycle or system that mimics a natural environment that is not dependent on additives. For example...mixing plants and animals that help each other grow (ie. fertilizer from animals, feeding animals corn, etc.) versus like..growing potatoes. Its a sustainable system of reduce, reuse, recycle basically.] Anyhow, I loved it. It was super cool. I wish I could do my Independent Study Project there. Then I'm sure we just went back and chilled and ate food and explored. That is what we generally do with our free time.
The next day we had a lecture from an NGO called Fundação Vitória Amazônica-FVA. They have produced management plans for the National Parks here (which are a bit of a mess) and work with the local people to help them understand their land rights and make profit and whatnot. They were very cool. Its always good to know that there are actually groups out there making progress for the little guy. After lunch and whatnot, we left for a lecture from the Projeto Dinâmica Biológica de Fragmentos Florestais which is at the National Institute for Amazonian Research. Basically, this group did a lot of research on the effects of having fragmented forests and the differences between small and large plots of fragmented land. I'm not sure if I mentioned before, but the majority of our lectures are in Portuguese, with our academic advisor or someone else translating for us, but this lecture was in English and sooo great. Haha. It is extremely exhausting trying to listen to a lecture in Portuguese and get any sense of it when you only speak a little of the language. Oh! Today is also the first day I tried avacado juice. I ordered it on accident, but it was delicious. In Brazil, they use avocados as fruit, ie. sweet with sugar and milk and such, not as a vegetable as we generally use them. Very interesting.
Thursday, the following day, we got into the vans knowing that we were visiting Presidente Figueiredo, but not having a clue what it was or what we were doing there (a common theme for us on this trip). Turns out, it is basically just this park this man owns that has these GREAT waterfalls and lake/river/whatnot and we ended up just spending the majority of the day lounging around, swimming, playing in the falls, exploring. We kept looking at each other and saying, "Damn..too bad we're in school today". Then we had a lecture on EcoTourism and then went back to our hotel in Manaus. It was our last night so we relaxed with some beer and enjoyed the company of each other. Also, none of us really knew what to think of the fact that we were about to get on a boat for the next however many days, but when we woke up the next morning, that is precisely what we did. We got on the boat.
The first two days were spent totally on the boat. This isn't the Titanic we're talking about. Our boat, Barao do Mar, had an upper deck that was just that..a deck. By day, we lined the railings with chairs to sit, read, whatever, but the middle section was where we hung up our redes (hammocks) for the night (and the tons and tons of naps we took). Then there was a little sun deck, which was used constantly for tanning or star gazing. Below, in the middle sort of level, there was a small kitchen and two bathrooms, and then the lowest level had more space for hammocks, the engine and the lines where we hung our river-washed clothes. The first week or so, maybe like five days, were spent mostly on the boat. We tanned, ate, napped, snacked, sat, read, talked and chilled for the majority of those five days. Pretty tough life, huh? We actually did learn things in that week. We stopped at a Quilombo, which is a community that started from runaway slaves and has continued. It was a cool experience to see how simply they live and to see their agriculture practices and learn about the issues they have with the government. We also toured a Bauxite mine called Mineração Rio do Norte, which challenged all of us a little I think. This group would deforest to mine and then try to reforest everything. It was full of good intentions, but it still felt super wrong or the organization seemed so fake (like the Dharma Initiative for those who know Lost) or something else. It just felt weird. Then, we had one more day on the boat before we were to be dropped off at our rural homestays.
The idea of being dropped of in a community of rural Brazilians that didn't speak any English, had no running water, no electricity, for four days, was a little bit terrifying. Check that, VERY terrifying. We had been having so much fun on the boat and had been getting so close, that the idea of getting dropped off and left was not so appealing. Luckily, we were getting dropped off in groups of four and I loved the three guys that got put in my group. Earlyish Wednesday morning, we hopped into a speedboat with our backpacks in tow, and drove to a beach where we were paired off with a "parent" and led away into the community. It was nothing like the first time we met our host families, with a big party and hors d'oeuvres. We simply got there, were thrusted toward a member of our new family and then the adventure began. At this point, you couldn't really be terrified anymore, cause it was happening and you just had to make it as fun as possible, so our incredible nervousness turned into excitement. My "mom" was named Joceiti and was 22 with three kids (of 7, 5 and 4). She showed me where to put my stuff and then had me help her wash clothes down in the lake. Washing your clothes in Brazil is so different than in the United States and not only in rural places or on the boat (which is done with river water and scrubbing by hand). At home in Belém we have a washer, but it is different than mine in the US and "delicates" are washed by hand and everything is hung up to dry. This makes your clothes a) stretched out, b) dry/stiff/not soft, c) seem not super clean still..or..maybe I've just gotten them so dirty. ANYWAYS, I have digressed. After helping Joceiti, I ate some lunch or snack or something and passed out in my hammock for a good three or four hour nap. Real cultural immersion, huh? After my nap we had snack, in which, one of my favorite memories, I was joined at the table by three naked, sopping wet, squirrely little boys, who stuffed their mouths absolutely full of crackers, with only enough space to drink a little guarana soda. As they stuffed their faces, they just stared at me from across the table, wide-eyed in wonder. Over the next couple of hours I found two of the other students and explored the community (and beach) with them, meeting their families and watching the men play soccer in the evening. The next two days we spent meeting almost every single community member and talking to them about their familial relations, sitting/swimming at the beach and enjoying the simple life. The second night I brought out the frisbee I had brought as a present to play with the guys. Some kids sat around to watch, but were very suspicious of it. We tried "missing" and having it land near them, we tried throwing it directly to them, but they would not touch the frisbee or even try to throw it. It took one of the adults (the "dad" of one of the students) throwing it back to us to get the kids involved and when they started, there was no stopping them. We played for what seemed like hours and hours. Another favorite memory of this night was when I went to grab my stuff and I stood up and was completely surrounded by children asking what my name was. From then on, "Michelle(y)!!" was screamed throughout the community and I had about thirty instant friends. We taught them the name and promised to play the next evening. The night didn't end there because we were bombarded by kids cuddling and poking and tickling until we departed ways. But wait, as I tried to gather my things to take a shower about ten kids showed up at my doorway laughing and chatting. There was no escape! That night, the community had a really cool question/answer session for us in one of the school buildings. They expressed how incredibly thankful they were to have us come and learn about them and how we were welcome back anytime. Having us there gave them a sense of pride about their community, something they didn't have before.
The next (and final) full day in Capiranga was an interesting one. My family was going into the nearest town, which was a lengthy boat-ride away, and would be gone all day, which meant someone else was going to feed me lunch. They told me who I was supposed to eat with, but never told me where he lived or when or anything, so I packed some stuff, assuming I'd be out of the house the entire day and went to hang out with the guys. We ate oranges, (which are green here) and ate this interesting thing we called "purple snot". There is a plant here, manioch, that Brazilians use for just about everything under the sun, and apparently had something to do with this hot, purple, jelly-like, interesting tasting thing that we were fed. Then instead of napping, which we couldn't do thanks to our new friends that constantly were poking and tickling us, Cory and I pondered our lunch situations. He had no idea where his host dad was and I didn't know where this person was that was supposed to feed me. Turns out he was right next door, but this began one of the most awkward experiences I have come to face yet. The man, whose name I can't remember, maybe Edinilson, found me eventually and said something about eating. I couldn't figure out if he meant to eat then and he didn't really motion me to come with him, so we sorta stared at each other and I kept talking to Cory/playing with the kids. When I finally figured out that he wanted me to go to his house, I left Cory to starve and followed him to their kitchen, which continued the awkwardness. They told me they were worried cause they didn't know where I was and then watched me eat. He asked something about my friend having food and I didn't know what he was saying and then finally I said in Portuguese, "Uhh..my friend doesn't have food?". He went and got Cory and sat him in the kitchen and then didn't really say anything and Cory couldn't figure out if he was keeping me company or eating. It was such a mess. But in the end, we both got fed and were happy to leave there as soon as possible (although we asked if we could help clean, to which Edinilson's wife said yes..but then didn't let us do anything). Then we hung out more and played more frisbee with the kids, who were at this point, excellent at frisbee and enjoyed our last night in our community. The next morning we got up, followed by kids and our families to the beach, and were picked up by our directors.
The next day we did another "mini ISP" in Juruti Velho, the closest town to our communities, where we split up into groups with a topic in mind, (ours was education) and created a mini research project on it. It was election day so people were out and about. It was interesting, but we were all exhausted and hot. Doing interviews, however, really helped our Portuguese skills grow, which was pleasant. That night and part of the next day, were spent back on the boat. We stopped in Santarém to hang out and then traveled to a place called Monte Alegre. We drove in the back of pickup trucks down dirt roads to these really cool wall/cave paintings. It was such a fun day to hike and explore and relax. We boated(?) back to Santarém in the morning, where we were supposed to talk to Cargill about soy (the same Cargill that my dad works for), but they ended up ditching out on us. Instead we got to walk around the town and relax a little bit. Later, the day was spent listening to a priest give us his extreme position about soy expansion and Cargill and then with the Projeto Saúde & Alegria (Health and Happiness Project). That was an extremely cool NGO that traveled around with a hospital boat and educated and treated river communities. It was so cool hearing about what they do. How refreshing. The next day we visited the Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment, where we went up in one of those huge staircases that goes above the forest canopy. It was really really cool. We stayed at the LBA site and then left early the next morning to learn about sustainable logging. During our excursion we watched two trees get felled, which was an experience I don't think I'll forget anytime soon. The noise and feeling that came with it sounded/felt so unnatural and weren't something I'd like to feel often. It is hard to describe because as it happened and these huge trees ripped through the forest, we all just stared, mouths open, wide-eyed. The rest of that afternoon was spent in Santarém until we left at 5:00am to return to Belém. We were incredibly sad to leave the boat and our crazy, amazing adventure, but it had to end sometime I guess.
We got back just in time for Círio, the biggest holiday in Northern Brazil. Yes, even bigger than Christmas. The night before, my friend Amanda and I were attempting to get to her apartment to watch the beginning of the procession from her apartment window, but instead found ourselves in the middle of it, right next to the image of Our Lady of Nazareth, which everyone tries to see. Quite the experience. We were never quite sure what was going on, but it was pretty great. [I just read on wikipedia that Círio is the biggest religious event in the Western Hemisphere. Cooool.] The next day, instead of sticking around for the rest of Círio, Amanda and I went to a beach with her family. It was super fun and very different than any beaches in the United States. People drive onto the beach, blast music from their cars and sit in chairs rather than on towels. In fact, we were laughed at for even thinking about bringing our towels. Motorcycles, ATVs, ice-cream and coconut men with push carts and scantily-clad Brazilians littered the beach. What an experience. I only got a little burned, but really, let me tell you...I am very tan.
What else? I am back in Belém, doing the sorta-school thing (ie. Portuguese class in the morning and the rare, but occasional lecture in the afternoon). The rainy season is starting, so it DOWNPOURS at least once a day. I went to my family's country home in Santa Barbara. And..I guess that is it. We are all trying to figure out what to do for our Independent Study Projects that are just around the corner. I'm a little stumped about mine, but I'll figure it out eventually. At the moment I am thinking about doing something on people displaced by the two dams in our area. We shall see.
I'm still working on the picture thing, so hold tight! I hope I didn't leave anything out, but if I did...oh well. I'll keep this more updated, I swear!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Brasil Brasil Brasil!
It has been more than a week since my last post! Where to begin? I have done so much in the past week, that this post probably won’t do it justice. We do SO MUCH here every day that it seems like I have been here a month and a half, but it has only been about three weeks. Time flies when you’re having fun, (or have extremely long days like…wake up at 6:30 and go to bed at midnight).
But really, where to begin this post? Maybe the overarching thought in my mind, that this program is really hard physically, mentally (intellectually?) and emotionally. I literally go to bed every night completely exhausted and it doesn’t really matter if I was in the forest all day or at school for classes. Either way I can barely keep my eyes open past eleven, (or 23:00). Trying to understand Portuguese (and then even thinking about responding) is quite taxing, as is remembering which bus stop I need to get on and off at. Little tasks that I can do in my sleep at home are greatly amplified here. Also, I miss the ease of home and Gustavus and my family and friends. But amid all those little stresses, having fun here is also exhausting. We have been wandering around school and the mall and market nearby fairly often. So much walking and taking in of new sights and smells have been so fun, but has made me so excited for the comfort of my bed every night.
What have I been doing lately? Well…I’ve been in Portuguese classes many/most of the days since my last post, which I wish I could say have been helping, but, I am still pretty terrible at Portuguese. With my French/Spanish background, I can get the conjugations and understand the sentence structures and such, but pronunciation and understanding people is next to impossible! Portuguese sounds like a mix of Spanish, German and Italian and people speak it VERY fast and leave off endings and abbreviate whatever they please and mush all their words together. For a beginner, that is not super helpful, but slowly I’m able to understand more and more. My family is much happier now that I’ve learned some and we can converse a little easier (though it is still pretty rough). I have my first prova (test) tomorrow, so we’ll see how much I’ve actually learned. When I’m not in class I’ve been hanging out at my house or meeting up with friends and exploring. One night last weekend, my friend Christa’s host brother Ygor took us out to a pretty casual bar to meet and talk with a couple of his friends. It was fun to sit and chat (in broken English) about Brazilian life and American life and perceptions and politics over some drinks (specifically Caipirinhas, the national drink of Brazil). Christa and I were dressed up and looking good..but mostly because Brazilian women wear heels EVERYWHERE and we didn’t want to stick out too badly. OH, we also went to the market called Ver-o-Peso for a “Portuguese Challenge” and were taught Capoeira (a dance/fight that descended from the African slaves that were brought to Brazil. They invented it so that it looked like they were just dancing, but really were training to revolt). We looked pretty ridiculous due to the fact that we were all dancing/fighting on a random public sidewalk next to the birth site of Belém, but I think everyone had fun.
Last Wednesday, the 15th, through the 17th, we were in an area called São Francisco do Pará, about three hours from Belém. There, we were out in the field looking at primary forests and learning about the ramifications of slash and burn agriculture. The next day was spent back out into the forest, where we broke off into groups to do mini independent study projects. My group, which was soo fantastic and fun, was out looking at gaps in the forest, (where trees have fallen and let in light from the canopy. They drastically change the area below.). We were to come up with a question of sorts and try to figure out how to measure or answer our question. Team Gap, as we liked to call ourselves, ended up walking more than any other group, but had so much fun exploring and singing and laughing. We might not have so much fun when we actually have to write the paper but…we’ll see when that time comes. The third day we met with a group that is looking at alternatives to slash and burn, primarily the process of chop and mulch. It ends up being way better for regrowth and reduces emissions and a whole bunch of great stuff. We spent the day looking at different fields where chop and mulch had been implemented and talked to the farmers who had made the switch, which was super interesting. Then we drove home. Although we complained through much of it (our group is quite good at complaining about things: bugs, humidity, hunger, heat), it was a really good trip.
This weekend I met up with some friends and bought some supplies that I realized I was lacking for our next trip (on Monday!). We also got Cairu. I have not talked about Cairu yet, but it is pretty much the only thing we can talk about. Cairu is this amazing ice cream shop that has a million flavors of ice cream. Our goal is to get through all the flavors (or at least try them, since some of the flavors include cheese and corn). Cairu brings us all such joy and I will actually miss it immensely when I go home. Today I went out with my host sister, Paula, and her boyfriend for breakfast (café-de-manhña) and then we went out and walked around the Praca de Republica, where there were little tents and shops set up all around it, selling random trinkets and food and souvenirs. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry, packing, studying and skyping, for tomorrow evening, we leave again! We are flying to Manaus, a city in Northeast Brazil, where we will (at some point) get on a boat and float down the river for ten days. We’ll also be staying with a rural, non-English speaking host family (frightening) and exploring the forest. We will be out of Belém for a total of nineteen days (so sorry, no post during that time), which will bring me into October!
I’ve been having such a good time with everyone here, even despite a few homesick spells. I’m WAY nervous about living with a new family for a couple days and being FORCED to use my Portuguese to live, but I’m sure I’ll survive this too. This post got a little long, but I thought a good update was in order.
Also. I want to update pictures..but it is ACTUALLY taking forever. I will figure it out later.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Belém!
Last night we met our homestay families at a little function that SIT put on. We were all so so nervous driving to the location, all chattering about the butterflies in our stomachs. When we got there, many families were already there, while others, like myself, had to wait in even MORE anticipation. Finally part of my family came for me: Paula and Paulo, the daughter of my host parents and her husband. What I expected to be the usual awkward first meet and greet was even MORE awkward due to my terrible Portuguese skills and their lacking English ones. We got a couple phrases and facts about ourselves out before we decided to head on home. At first I didn’t understand who these people were. Yes, my host family, duh, but I didn’t understand their place in the family. I guess I assumed they were my parents, but knew they weren’t. It was a very strange feeling. When I got to their apartment, I met my actual host father, Paulo, and was shown around. It’s a very nice place. I have my own room with a very nice view of part of Belém and share a bathroom. I’ve never lived in an apartment, so it is a change. After staying up for HOURS trying to get some conversation going with our failing Portuguese/English, my host brother, Alexandre, came home who speaks almost perfect English (Thank God!). That was such a relief. Really. We chatted for a while and then talked a little about riding the bus (eek!) to school the next day. FINALLY I took a shower, (they take 2 or 3 a day here due to the heat and humidity) and got to bed where I slept like a rock.
This morning went on without a hitch. We found the bus, got off at the right stop and got to school on time. Really, by school I mean we got to the office of SIT where we have our Portuguese and Seminar classes. When we arrived she asked, with the help of my Portuguese professor Luanna, if I could get myself home. Tentatively, I said “Oh yeah..I’ll figure it out,” which then made me nervous the rest of the day. Brazilians eat their largest meal at lunch and most people generally go home to eat it with their families. Since I was scared to ride the bus and didn’t really want to go home to spend the day, possibly alone, at the apartment, a group of us adventured around the office and found a restaurant to eat at. After satiating ourselves with rice, noodles, chicken, fish, ham and beer, we went back to the office, hung out and did homework. A group went to the police station today to register with them, which ended up taking HOURS. I’ll have to do that tomorrow, ugh. I successfully managed to convince one of the guys who takes the same bus as me to leave at the same time so we could figure it out together. Buses in Belém aren’t very convenient. There are no bus schedules, no obvious bus stops and their streets are named few and far between. I thought I knew maybe where I had initially gotten on the bus, but I didn’t really. Luckily one of the women at the office printed a map off for me and labeled my apartment. Without that, OH MAN I would not be here to type this probably. The bus ride that took me 20 minutes to get to school took at least an hour to get back home. I may find a different route tomorrow. But alas, I arrived home to an empty house, took the time to put all my clothes away, take a shower and write up this post. I should for SURE practice my Portuguese tonight and look at our schedule. Alexandre (my host brother), told me we have wireless and told me the password, but I can’t quite figure it out. What a pain, but oh so fortunate that I even have internet.
Even though today was FULL of nervousness, I am enjoying myself and look forward to more experiences in the next couple of months. Everyone in the group gets along so well and have been making this so awesome. We even all get sad when we are done with class and have to separate from one another for the evening. This weekend is “free time” with my family, but I am SOO nervous for that. While I know they have a “country house” they like to go to, the mother isn’t home so I’m not sure what they’ll end up doing. I’d really like to explore Belém with the group, but I know I should definitely try to do some activities with the family so we can build a good relationship. Oy veh. I’ll figure it out.
PS: For years I have complained when people have called me “Michelley” but here, that’s how it sounds when Brazilians say my name, haha. It is taking some getting used to, but all you out there that have always wanted to call me that obnoxious name…I might now respond to you. (Although, it doesn’t sound obnoxious when Brazilians say it..)
PPS: Courtney...my host dad sounds almost EXACTLY like Grandpa…if Grandpa knew Portuguese. It is a comforting sound, even though I don’t understand him. :]
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Internet!
I've been here a full week and finally my mac has been removed from my backpack. The first full week we stayed out in the country at a farm, just orientating ourselves to Portuguese and the way of life and adventuring. First off, the rainforest is AWESOME and in a week, I've only gotten like..six mosquito bites, how about that? [This has to be quick because we're running late for a meeting, whoops]. Second, its REALLY hot here. Like, incredibly warm and humid. I have probably never sweat so much. It is astonishing. Third, the people in my group are AMAZING. What awesome people. FOURTH, I got VERY sunburned..our proximity to the equator really takes a toll. Fifth, I'm meeting my host family tonight and I am very nervous due to my lack of Portuguese knowledge and sixth, I hate lists like this so I'll probably stop. Next time I get a chance I'll write a better post, but I'm having a great time, seeing amazing things and experiencing so much. I miss you all! Hope you're having fun with school and work and chores while I'm chilling in Brazil. :]
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Whoaa.
This time next week I will be in Brazil. Say WHAT? Here I am, sitting on my couch in the AC, watching bad TV and chatting away with friends and in one week from today I will be in a new country, toting around bags, meeting new people, hearing a new language, potentially in total chaos. While that is somewhat mind-boggling, it also doesn't seem quite real, so as of yet, I'm not really concerned. And that is totally apparent by the state of my room/packing/portuguese fluency (or lack-there-of).
Anyways, as more of a introduction/first post as this was meant to be, I will discuss what I'm doing this semester a little bit. On September 1st, I will be starting my travels to my eventual destination of Belém, Brazil. For all you folks that aren't experts at the geography of Brazil, Belém is at the mouth of the Amazon in the state of Pará, (it happens to be the capital of the state), which is in the Northeastern region of the country. In said city/state/country, I will be doing SIT's study abroad program entitled "Amazon Resource Management and Human Ecology". Perfect for the budding little environmentalist I am. Throughout the first couple months, I will be staying with a family in Belém, going on excursions down the river, taking intensive Portuguese classes and others more environmentally inclined, touring areas impacted by society and major industries (think deforestation, dams, mining) and staying with two other families/groups of people. The month of November is primarily devoted to an independent study project of my choosing. This could take me really anywhere in the Amazon and cover any environmental or social issue that peaks my interest. During that month I will be doing tons of research and writing a terribly long paper and then the group comes together again in December and present our findings. I can describe the semester in so few words, I feel like it is going to fly by in an instant!
I feel soo lucky to be able to have this experience and I hope to be able to share it with all of you as often as possible. The possibilities of internet may be few and far between, (especially while out on the river), but I'll update as often as possible!
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