Things you can count on...

Throughout my travels here in Brazil, I have learned that there are some things about this culture that occur as sure as the sun rising in the East. One, their coffee is strong, delicious, and you will find it anywhere, anytime. Two, beans and rice are served at lunch, and it is de-lish-ous. Three, the second someone finds out you are American, you will be asked your opinion on The Man, O Presidente, Mr. George W. Bush.

As some of you may know, Latin Americans are unafraid to bring up the subject of politics, domestic or foreign. And everyone wants to know what you think about Bush. They already have their opinion, and quite possibly have talked about the subject more amongst themselves than you have in the States. I think maybe they are trying to find someone who likes him. I am pretty sure most American travelers who like Bush (anyone?) have learned to say the opposite, simply to avoid having to defend such a position. I have met one Latin American who said he respects Bush because he doesn't tolerate dictators. He then had about 5 family members heckling him and giving him their own opinions. Politics is interesting in Latin America with such turbulent and colored histories. Someone told me the other day Brazil has 27 political parties. 27! I think it sucks to have to choose between two, but 27!? That might be worse. In any event, politics is a hot subject down here, but at the end of the discussion, Latin Americans know how to be family or friends despite differences of opinion. So if any of you are planning on traveling at all in Lating America, study up on the language, bring a camera, and be prepared to share your opinion on the man in the big white house.

Homeward Bound - A journey of epic proportions

So the blog has a new name. Why? Because it seemed fitting to change it now that my life has taken a completely new direction (plus who didn't love that movie?). As I posted in an earlier blog, I originally came down to Brazil to live, to learn, and to visit my girlfriend. I had plans to go to Costa Rica and spend a couple more months studying Spanish. Two countries, 5 months, go home. Adventurous I suppose. Worthy of the South American Adventure title. But that has all changed now.

I guess it began with my international dating relationship coming to an end. I won’t go into details, just that it didn’t work out, I think we did what was best, I’m sad to have lost it, but happy with where I am, and that it’s a little weird mentioning this on a blog. However, since I have received so many emails inquiring about us, I felt I should mention it here to get everyone on the same page. That said, I have now shifted my plans somewhat…how much? See below:

What you are looking at is the rough itinerary of my travel plans over the next several months. From the glaciers of Patagonia to the coast of Chile, ascending to the dizzying heights of the Andes, plunging into the tropical rain forest on the Equator, all before being sandwiched between two coasts within arms reach in Central America, with some friendly volcanoes for company. From Curitiba, Brasil to the South of South America, all the way back home. The craziest part? To the best of my abilities, no planes. Bus, car, boat, horse, feet, what have you, but minimize the flying unless absolutely necessary. (Like from Ecuador to Panama because getting kidnapped in Colombia just doesn't sound fun.) I will be trekkin’ it, hikin’ it, bussin’ it, and lovin’ it back home. 18 countries, who knows how many months, go home. Epic.

Day to day in the elevator

The elevator. What a wonderful blend of practical efficiency, facilitated laziness, and an invasion of private space. Where else can one's personal comfort zone be so acceptably violated than on a sardine packed elevator? So you wouldn't ever want to stand within 50 ft of that beer gutted individual wearing an "I get more women than Captain Kirk" tank top and having enough body hair to make a wig, yet puzzlingly lacks any on top of his head? Well, now your face is pressed up precariously close to an armpit that can claim more biological diversity than a tropical rain forest, while the already crowded elevator keeps filling up. Beautiful.

There is no short of elevator anecdotes. We all know the one about the silent but deadly outing of some mystery gasser while in a crowded elevator, or the deceptively cute kid turned hellion (or a giant elf from Santa's workshop enjoying his first trip to New York City) who gleefully starts pushing all 85 buttons on your way up to the 80th floor. During my stay here in Brazil, I have had a few interesting experiences myself, and while I wouldn't say most of my elevator adventures in Brazil are as interesting as the above stories, they are somewhat entertaining. Here are a few of the adventures I have had:

Conversations I don't understand...

Brazil has a lot of European descended citizens. The young and well off are also influenced a great deal in American style clothing. So while I don't perfectly blend in all the time, I also don't always stand out either. Besides, since I am living with some Brazilian friends, it is odd to find foreigners in a residential building. As a result, a lot of people assume I am a native Portuguese speaker. This makes for some interesting, one sided conversations where I smile, nod, try to imitate the tone of the conversation with my facial expressions and reactions, and then get off on my floor not having a clue about what we just talked about. Sometimes I think I pull it off. Sometimes I just get blank stares. I think that's when they asked a question I was supposed to respond to. Oh well. Just smile and nod boys, smile and nod.

Getting yelled at by old ladies...

So I am getting a little better at understanding Portuguese. But I have to be paying attention to do so. I can't just interpret what people randomly say around me like I can in English. I have to actively focus on what they are saying. So one day I am talking with a friend on our way into the elevator. In the lobby, 20 feet from the elevator, is a doorman for some extra security, to make sure nobody gets in that isn't supposed to. On the day in question, there were a couple people hanging out in the lobby when we came in, so there is already some side conversations going on in Portuguese. Apparently this elderly woman had walked in a little after us, and wanted to get on the elevator, and had called for us to hold it.

Let me digress for a moment. The elevators in this building aren't like typical elevators in the US. They do have one inner door and one outer door, but the outer door is a hinged door, similar to those we have on houses. When the elevator is not on a floor, that floor's door is locked from being open, and the door must shut for the elevator to work. So same basic idea, just different operating system. Ok, back to the story.

As I said, the woman had apparently called for us to hold the door. But as I mentioned earlier, I have to concentrate to understand what people are saying to me, and I was already talking to my friend and there were other conversations going on in the Lobby as well. How did I know she wasn't saying hello, or asking the doorman a question? Anyway, we entered the elevator, and let the outer door swing shut behind us. She caught it just before it closed, and with fire in her eyes said, "Eu falei segure a porta!" Yeah! Now you know how I felt! I'm telling you, Portuguese is like a foreign language. My friend and I muttered "disulpe" (sorry), and traded a glance, while the woman pushed the button to her floor without taking her eyes off of us. I knew women had a way with looks that can stop a man dead in his tracks, but I found out that the older they get, the more time they have to perfect it. Finally she turned around slowly turned as the elevator started up. Talk about an awkward elevator ride. At least I only live on the fourth floor. As we exited, I thought I felt my back beginning to get hotter, but luckily the door shut before it burst into flames.

Just because it's there, doesn't mean it works...

Correctly at least. It functions. But maybe it stops half a foot beneath the floor level...or half a foot above. Or maybe it has trouble getting started. Don't worry, it just needs to build up tension before jerking up and nearly buckling your knees. Usually that means you are going to have a kidney shaking stop too, so be prepared. And if the sign says the max load is 10 people or a weight of 700 kg (1500 lbs), don't believe it, a let 9 people in. Only let in 4. Or better yet, 3. Otherwise you will sit on the elevator for a minimum of 10 minutes in the same spot, while it just keeps getting hotter and hotter, until you finally start going up at about a cm per second. Then, you will pause again, and be able to see the bottom crack of the door through your eye level window in the elevator. Finally you begin the slow climb up for the next 3 ft, where the elevator will suddenly shutter to a violent stop on floor 1, although it thinks it is on floor 6. Exit immediately, and take the stairs. (this is a slightly unfair assessment, as I might possibly be slightly exaggerating to a minor degree about some things, but not others...and because most buildings have quite nice elevators. If you are up for an adventure though, a good general rule is the older the building, the crazier the elevator.)

São Paulo

I grew up with trees. Lots and lots of trees. In mountains. Purple ones, like in that song about America. And a big lake too. Really big. And cold. Ridiculously cold. And these annoying squirrels that wake you up way to early and just get fat eating camper's food. But they aren't really important, just annoying. So you can imagine how I felt to be in the biggest city in the southern hemisphere. It has a whopping 11 million people. I don't even know if we have that many trees where I live. Maybe. We do have a lot of trees. Anyway, that many people makes for one heckuva traffic jam.

Now I've been to big cities before. Just this year I journeyed to Mexico City (2nd biggest city in the world) with Campus Crusade for a missions trip and traveled all over it. And I've visited San Francisco, LA, Chicago, Denver, etc. in the States. Regardless, whenever I am in cities like this, I can't help but be amazed at how lost I feel. And Brazilian cities in general bring a whole new feeling too. Unlike LA/Orange County/one-big-city-metropolis-suburb-thing-I-can't-define, which I is massive, Brazil doesn't spread out as much. Due to safety reasons, people prefer to live in apartments. But São Paulo is huge and full of lots and lots of tall buildings. All the apartment buildins make a small city's skyline (like Curitiba's) looks massive compared to other skylines in the states. Just look at New York's skyline and then São Paulo's skyline:




























As you can see, São Paulo skyline is endless. And this makes for one dense packing of people. But the paulistas (people who live in São Paulo) love it. They wouldn't dream of living anywhere else. I don't mind the visit, but I couldn't pull off living there. It definitely has a lot going on though, and is considered the cultural center for Brazil.

I traveled there with a guy I met in Curitiba, Sipsem, a Bolivian born American, and we got to see a Louisiana "Bourbon Street" blues concert. It was pretty sweet. One of my favorite things was to go to a Brazilian Samba club. Live music and lots of Brazilians dancing. Talk about moves. Something in the water down here makes those peoples hips and legs rubber. And I know what you are all wondering, and know I didn't, because I didn't want to break anything. Hope you are all well. Here are some pictures of the trip:

Joke of the Day - The funny (sad?) truth...

- What do you a call a guy that speaks three languages?

--Trilingual

- What do you call a guy that speaks two languages?

-- Bilingual

- And what about one language?

-- AMERICAN!!!!

The Brazilian BBQ

The Brazilian barbeque, otherwise known as churrasco (shoo-haws-ko), is an amazing thing. While they do make it at family gatherings and what not like us, they also have what they call churrascarias, which are basically an all-you-can-eat barbeque buffet, complimented by another buffet of salads, pastas, etc. While you get up to serve yourself from the salad/pasta buffet, the meat comes to on large spikes fresh out of the fire via numerous servers. They have steak, and pork and chicken and sausage and lots of stuff that I don't know what it is but it tastes good so I eat it anyway. And they have chicken hearts. Grilled chicken hearts. They are kind of bland tasting I think, not really worth the effort, but some people love 'em. And those boys with the meat just keep coming and coming and coming. They don't stop. They would feed you until you explode if they could. That might be the most important skill in this atmosphere, is being able to say no. I know of a few of these Churrascarias in the States, but you pay a whopping $75 for it. Here, it costs around 25 brazilian reales, or about 13 US dollars. Brilliant!

Brazilian Soccer Games

So a while back I was invited to go to a professional Brazilian soccer game. Here in Curitiba there are three professional teams, and we went to see the Atletico club play, although we went in rooting for the visiting team, the Corinthians. Let me tell you, Brazilians love their soccer.

Last time I was down here was for the World Cup. I couldn't go see a professional game live because soccer, along with everything else, stops since no one cares about anything else but the Cup. Everyone in some manner sports the Brazilian colors, and people even get sent home from their jobs - and yes sent, not just requested and your boss understands because he is Brazilian too, but actually sent - so you better get any shopping, eating, or other errands done a good 2 hours before the start of any game. If Brazil wins, party in the streets until the sun comes up. If they lose...well, you weren't allowed to even mention that, and it's a wonder that whenever Brazil doesn't win the Cup, their country doesn't go into some sort of recession.

So anyway, now I had the chance to see a professional league game live, and I jumped on it. What a thrill! Some of the aspects are very similar to American sports events. Fans dressed up, chanting and cheering, things for sale on the streets on the way in. The stadium is full of energy with crazed fans using only the most proper of the Portuguese language. (I learned a few words there that I don't think I'm allowed to repeat) But the event was also wildly different as well. In every stadium there is a specific section for the visitors, mostly because they would die if it wasn't that way. This just adds to the excitement though, because Brazilians have very well organized, choreographed chants. Some are simply moving the hands back and forth. On another everyone ducks down low while one individual shouts some words, then everyone jumps up and goes crazy shouting the response, which repeats. Another is when one row joins shoulders and moves side to side in the opposite direction of the rows directly above and below it. The effects of these chants is amazing to see, especially when it is an entire section, as well as to be a part of. All in all it was an awesome experience. It is an amazing part of the Brazilian culture, and the fact that I love soccer just made it that much better to experience. The game was good too: it ended in a 2-2 tie. Not so good for the actual fans, but for a spectator just wanting an exciting game, it was awesome! The only bummer: no pictures because it would have been dangerous to bring my camera.

Brazilian Weddings

Whoooo wee, do Brazilians know how to party. If any of you get a chance to go to one of these, go! Just make sure you spend the whole day before sleeping! Don't worry about the day after, you will sleep no matter what! At this wedding, the groom was an American and the bride Brazilian, although the American had spent some time down in Brazil and is perfectly fluent in Portuguese. In this wedding I was a padrinho, or groomsmen. Here is a summary of the night:

7:30 pm - Arrive early for the wedding which starts at 8:00 according to the invitation. Get the flower pinned on, meet the other people, tell them I don't speak a lot of Portuguese, try to talk anyway, etc., etc....

8:00 - Practically no guests have arrived. No worries, we are in Brazil. 8:00 is the time you tell people it starts so that it hopefully starts by 8:30...

8:45 pm - Wedding starts. Ceremony is relatively short, lengthened by the translation from Portuguese to English. Beautiful and all that mushy stuff.

9:15 pm - Dinner reception starts right next door to the room for the ceremony. Buffet style, lots of Brazilian food that was delicious.

10:15 pm - Docinhos. By far one of Brazil's greatest inventions. Basically these are little candy truffles that are typically ordered for important birthday parties and weddings. Specific types are chosen, although the staple one is called brigadeiro. The are hundreds of them, and once someone starts the process, it is a free for all. There was a cake too, but no one really cares. It's all about the docinhos.

10:45 pm- Let the dancing begin. Brazilians love to dance. From the traditional Samba, to the country forro (the double r is pronounced like an h...fo-ho), to just good (and bad) American classics like the Beatles Twist and Shout (or the YMCA).

12:00 am - Still dancing...need a water break.

2:00 am - Another water break...


4:00 am - Good God my legs are going to fall off...

5:00 am - We say goodbye to the family, friends, and people still dancing on the dance floor and head for home.

5:30 am - My nice soft, warm, wonderful zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Other Random Pictures

Another shot of Curitiba:
















At the Modern Art Museum:















Careful, modern art can be dangerous:































A little beach town called Guaratuba:




































































The Christ of Guaratuba (Rio de Janeiro has the world famous one):

Curitiba - Home of the Big Orange Bus

Curitiba is the largest city in southern Brazil, with about 3.5 million people, and the capital of the state of Paraná. There is probably lots of interesting information you can look up on wikipedia about the city, but what it probably won't tell you about is it's vast, complex system of busses. Lots and lots of busses. Red ones, yellow ones, small ones, tall ones, short ones, long ones, and big, bright, orange ones. It would make Dr. Seuss proud. With no metro system, this is the city's solution. While there are lots of busses that take you lots of different places, the only one worth mentioning is the Big Orange Bus. It has its own lanes to drive in (perfect during rush hour), and stops at these giant tubular bus stops. This monstrosity of a bus is made up of three sections and has four doors to enter/exit, has its own driving lanes, a top speed of 40 mph, and corners like it is nobodies business. And did I mention it is big? and orange? And if you can't get enought of the bus from just riding it around the city, they sell toy replicas the length of my arm that you can play with at home. (Bus stops sold seperately...no joke)

Other than that, Curitiba is a relatively interesting city, although not really a tourist attraction. There are some cool buildings and places to see, but the best part so far has been just experienceing Brazilian culture first hand. I hope all you reading this (anybody?) are great. God bless!

More Pictures of the city:

View from the apartment I'm living in:













































Other Parts of the City:







































My hosts, Tody (toad-jee) and Taty (ta-chee), funny guys:

Intro/Background

For those that I didn't talk to before I left, or haven't been talking to, here is some background.

After graduating from college and realizing that the life I had been working for since kindergarten had finally arrived at my doorstep, I decided the best course of action was to run away to a distant land, otherwise known as Brazil. Why Brazil? Well, for one, it is far away from the States, which is where that whole future, life thing is waiting. Two, the food is amazing. Three, I like to eat. Four, just because it's Brazil. (Unimportant sidenote- I also have a girlfriend here)

I arrived at the beggining of July, and am living in the city of Curitba, a city of about 1.5 million in the Southern Brazilian state of Paraná. And I get to use sweet accents like that because Brazilian keyboards are way cooler than ours. Reason five for coming to Brazil. I have thus far been involved in various adventures, including portugese classes, a brazilian wedding, a brazilian soccer match and more. Those details in later posts.

While I am writing the blog to make it a little easier to manage communication and updates on the trip, I would love to talk to any of you who want to email me. Otherwise, much love from across the equator.