One Month in Brazil

  Santa Cruz do Sul, Brazil
Sunday, July 6, 2008

Santa Cruz do Sul http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Cruz_do_Sul favorites:

Favorite fact: Out of the 10 hottest supermodels in the world, 7 are Brazilian.
Favorite Beer: Brahma Maltzbeir (see photo)
Favorite TV Show or Movie: AFavorita & Beleza Pura
Best Free Stuff/Thing to do: Parque de Gruta
Best Restaurant: Centanarro (churascara)
Favorite Food: Churrasco http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churrasco
Favorite Sweets: Churros http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churro
Best Tourist Site: São João Batista Cathedral in Centro (supposedly the largest in South America.)
Best Night Club: (so far): Lux luv

One Month and Counting: So it has been over a month since I came to Brazil. I've gained a lot by being here. I've experienced many differences of which I enjoy, but just as many similarities as well. The food is really good and I eat a lot of it. I think I weigh more now than I ever have in my life. I've gained 10 pounds since I've been here. Did I mention that the food is really good?

Really, really bad picture of a night out

I've really enjoyed my time and am thrilled with the idea that the fun is just beginning. And yes, I do not have a return date. I originally said 6 months due to financial planning, but things can easily change, so I fall back to my old rule that I will be here until 1) I get bored. 2) I get broke. or 3) they kick me out. Hell, if I can figure out the logistics, I may never stop traveling, really! Who knows? I can't imagine what next week will be let alone 6 months from now, so anything is possible.

The Portuguese language, is kicking my &$$. LOL ... seriously! I was very foolish to think that I could acquire the basics of a language in a couple of months. Each day I acquire a little more ability to hear and speak. I have 2.5 to 3 hours of Portuguese lessons a day. I live, eat, and breath the language and I embrace it totally; true immersion in both location and in spirit. Believe it or not, Brazilian TV helps a lot, especially with Portuguese closed-caption on. My two favorite shows thus far are "AFAVORITA" and "Pura Beleza". Words of the people, I call them. They are telanovelas (Brazilian soap operas). Fun, fun, fun! They would be my favorites, right. I only understand about ½ of what everyone is saying, which makes it even more entertaining to watch. It's a riot.

There is so much to a language that can't be learned with books and tapes, especially Portuguese. Even Portuguese speakers like to remind me that most Portuguese speakers don't speak Portuguese correctly. Some words translate to English, some words don't. Some Portuguese words have 3 or 4 different meanings in English and some English words can have up to 30 in Portuguese (see the word "got") ... which essentially makes direct translation useless a lot of times. Ideas, concepts, word-usage, are grouped together differently. I have to think differently about how I communicate ideas. I'm finding that it's better to spend less time with the books and more time just listening and then later repeating what I've heard before; even though when translated to English, might not make any sense at all. I know in Portuguese it means exactly what I want to communicate. Just say it and know that the intricacies of its meaning will come with time. I learned this little lesson while playing with a 2 year old and realized that she had a better grasp of the language than I did with all my words. So I paid attention.

So if you couldn't tell ... I'm lovin every minute of it. It ain't good unless it hurts a little, right. [jump]

If there is one thing I could pin as the defining difference of American and Brazil it would be the words "I" and "my" (America) and "we" and "our" (Brazil). "I" and "my" are words full of power, self determination, pride, yet can be self-centered and sometimes isolating. My country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing ... We are a country of individuals who value individual accomplishments, and an individuals things, resources, and/or direction. In Brazil, I and my, seems to be replaced by We and our. "We" and "our" are very different words with very different priorities, potencies, direction, strengths and weaknesses. Nossa (Our Lady), a gente (a slang term used instead of "nos" or "we" which translated to English means ... (the people ...). Just imagine instead of saying "we" you always were replacing it with "the people" ... People (as a whole) here in the South of Brazil, not only appear less alone on the outside, but also seem less alone on the inside. Now there is stuff, but this is so anywhere you go and of course, any place, person, or thing will always be colored by the view of the viewer. That being said, there's an inner stability, ease, and relaxation in the people that is beautiful and yet strange to observe, because it wasn't a thing that was acquired (with self-help, self-improvement, self-education, force of will, etc. ... all these wonderful American concepts of the all-powerful I or self). It is as if the journey to this sense of place was very short trip. Just as it is hard for me to understand the short distance everyone here traveled to this sense of centeredness within themselves I'm sure it might be equally as difficult to understand the very long distance that I (lol ... "I") have traveled and am still traveling to discover some of this sense of place within myself. To have spent a life wondering, how something so simple can be so hard and then to suddenly arrive into a place where it's all simple again. Where the people engage 'people' above things, careers, and ideals. Where time is a commodity that's "supposed" to be shared with others, not with things. Now, I'm sure some people here wish things weren't so cut and dry sometimes, but I for one find it all refreshing. In the states, I was beginning to think that the way I grew up and the way I believed loving and being loved should be was either wrong or outdated. I saw requirements, inconsistencies of heart, commitment, or conviction, transitory interests and passions; shared by (not all) but more than plenty of the people around me. Love and friendship as a commodity that can be enjoyed and exchanged like a new cell phone. It is a relief to come to South Brazil and see enduring rooted passion and commitment alive, strong; based on the adoration for the ones you love. Sincere interest and intrigue not based on benefit/loss ratios or advantageous/disadvantageous situations. That caring for someone can mean all that I want it to mean for myself and for others. That people can and do love affectionately and passionately others into their old age. Committed passion grown over time. In my family I see it. I grew up in it, but in my usual daily life in NC, I found it lacking in the generation to come, and more often than not, in the world around me. And here, watching so many people love each other so deeply and easily is such a joy. It's a part of and seems supported by the culture ... and thank God for that.

The toughest personal challenge for me in Brazil is to not DO anything, but simply enjoy myself. No future, no past. If you know me, you know this goes against my general nature. It helps to be in a place where I have no past, and I can't imagine the future and to know deep inside that's the way it should be. Honestly, I've had so many possible futures in my life that right now I'm not very interested in creating another one. No future, no past, just right now, this moment!

So, blah, blah, blah (enough of the inner (boring) melodrama and on to "the travels") ... In the future I will try to keep the self-absorbed monologues to a minimum.