Notes on Brazil

Here is a list I have compiled for someone wanting a (gringa's) insider look at some Brazilian culture. A lot of the music I haven't listened to yet, and I tried to link as much as I could. Enjoy!

ART/DESIGN
Roberto de Vicq - designer who made Bembo Zoo
Gui Borchert - works for R/GA in NYC, Nike's Design by Nature, eyepunch.com
Gianguido Bonfanti - artist and illustrator
Ivan Cardoso - photographer, filmographer we saw an exhibit on him at the MAM
Favela Paintings Project - bringing art and culture to the favelas
Bananaplac - new eco-material made from banana fibers that kids @ESDI developed

SAYINGS
segura esse abacaxi - to solve a problem (lit. peel the pineapple)
deus é brasiliero - lit. god is brazilian, which is why brazil is so beautiful
depende da chuva - depends on the rain
está viajando na maionesa - someone who is not quite with it (lit. traveling in mayonnaise)
café com leite - someone who has everything easy

LITERATURE
João Guimarães Rosa Grande Sertão Veredas (The Devil to Pay in the Backlands in English)

MOVIES
Tropa de Elite(not yet released in English), Cidade de Deus (City of God in English),
Mutum, Quase Dois Irmãos, Ônibus 174 (Bus 174 in English)


MUSIC
brazilian electronic - Fernanda Porto
axé (music from the north of brazil) - Ivete Sangalo, Jamil, Banda Eva
ritmo bahía (african influence) - Babadonovo
pop rock - Skank, Charlie Brown Junior, Jotaquest
sertanejo (similar to country music in the states) - Bruno e Marrone
mpb (música popular brasileira) - Marisa Monte, Dejavam, Ana Carolina, Caetano Veloso, Tribalistas, Gilberto Gil, Elis Regina, Céu
bossa nova - Jorge Ben, Tom Jobim

BEAUTIFUL PLACES AROUND RIO
Ipanema, Ilha Grande, Búzios, Cabo Frio (Praia de Forte), Prainha (just south of Rio), Parque do Flamengo : ), Lapa, Jardim Botánico, Santa Teresa

Final week of school @ESDI

Last Friday was our last day of school at ESDI. It feels good to be done, but of course there were a few disappointments/frustrations with how things ended. Our final screenprinting project that Krista and I were really excited for and took extra time to complete, was never finished because our professor kept not showing up. So I have the proposed design and the fabric, but nothing else. Magazine class was frustrating too because the other students in my group did not have their part of the work done for our presentation. I had to present my own work to the professor separately. And my presentation for interactive design went smoothly except that no one clapped at the end of it except our professor. Okayyyyy?

South America. I guess that's all you can say. Caraca.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Aqui o Natal é diferente. Christmas is different here, or so says the slogan of the local grocery store, Zona Sul. I would say that about sums it up. Ooh, here, squirrels are a Christmas animal, and mushrooms are a key to your nativity scene. What I don't understand is why Santa is wearing a full red fur suit and mittens in the sweltering heat. It's all backwards. One thing, people don't really have chimneys here; don't worry, Santa will get into your living room somehow. I have seen these little Santa-on-a-ladder ornaments hanging out of apartment windows. As far as Christmas decorations go, I was expecting some kind of native-looking Santa wearing a speedo and hauling around a bag full of pineapples and coconuts, but the Brazilian Santa is still the same fat white guy. What a shame. So much for cultural diversity.

The best thing I did this week was go to the birthday party/churrasco/cookout of my doorman, Jarbas. We went to the area where he lived, which isn't so safe, but it was worth it to meet his family and friends. We drank Itaipeva beer, ate lots of meat with farofa and just had a great time practicing our Portuguese. It was also nice to be around a family again. One of the many things I miss! Lindsey, here's your shoutout: you have the best updates on life in Ohio out of everyone. Okay, time to finish some homework and then it's samba night in Santa Teresa! Ate logo.

Plastic Bags and such

Okay the first thing a gringo needs to learn before coming to Brazil is this phrase:

Eu nao preciso de saco.
I don´t need a plastic bag.

As Krista says, "it´s not a question of paper or plastic, it´s paper AND plastic." Literally you order a juice to go and you get a cup with five plastic bags around it. The thing is more sealed than a cholera outbreak. This is the case everywhere. I started unwrapping the bags at the store because I don´t want to waste so much plastic. Whatever happened to the Amazon deforestation issue?

Thanksgiving was great! All the newcomers realized how awesome a giant meal with the people that are close to you is. Good work at the Turkey Shoot-off John. PSsss. Josh, you are the fave to win charades at sibs weekend, so don´t worry.

It´s time to start thinking about travel plans after school is out in three weeks! So close but so far....Right now we are looking at Bahia in the north but we might just stay around Rio after all. It would be nice to stay with Brazilian friends/the roomies for Christmas.

Today I saw 5 monkeys at the Pao de Acucar mountain! So cute. I´ve been waiting to see them just swinging around. Finally.

Pressure

Ay. I am starting to feel the pressure! Only 3 weeks left after this one. Time to start cramming in all the beach/suco/lapa/islandhopping I can before I go back to Ohio to become white and pasty. Too bad I have homework. Arg.

We are planning a Thanksgiving Dinner for tomorrow with the roommates and a few Brazilian friends. I don´t know if we can find a turkey so we might be eating goose or something weird like that. Anyway, it will be a good "holiday" - we still have school, rats - with friends/myfamilyinbrazil, just like it should be.

To all my family in Dayton: Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Eat some pumpkin pie for me!
John, I am rooting for you to win the Annual Smith Family Turkey Shoot-off Pool Tournament. Beat those uncles!!!!

Here is a photo for all of you to enjoy. I grabbed it from Krista´s flickr!

Boa tarde!

Oi! Hello. Last night the roommates and I were talking about all the never-ending kids songs we used to annoy people with. This is the song that never ends....haha. 99 bottles of beer on the wall. There is a version in German about ants and bees. Anyway, this is the kind of conversation we have been having in our apartment since we are going on 2 days of non-stop rain. I have cabin fever! Yesterday I made pancakes to pass the time (banana-nutella and apple-cinnamon). I needed baking powder for my mom´s recipe (nice and fluffy ones) but you should have heard me trying to explain what it is in Portuguese. First of all, no one eats pancakes here (que, panqueca?) and according to our Brazilian resource, no one uses baking powder. Since this was my first time baking anything here, I hadn´t realized that there is no baking aisle full of powders and sodas and creams. So I am not really sure where all these desserts on every corner are coming from... Anyway, eventually I looked on the ingredients list for a cake mix box and found bicarbonato de sódio (aka baking powder). The employee at the grocery store said they indeed did have bicarbonato de sódio, and handed me a can of fermento. Once I got home I realized with the help of my German roommate that fermento is a mix of yeast, baking powder, and other little secret ingredients. I decided not to throw that into the pancake batter. So, while they didn´t taste or fluff up exactly like Mom´s, it was nice to have some warm comfort food on a rainy day.

Updates for the week:
-Saw Cristo Redentor (giant stone Jesus statue overlooking the city)
-Ate a traditional Brazilian meal (Churrasco misto: pork, beef, chicken with rice, fries, veggies, and farofa)
-Fought with a cab driver trying to rip me off (you know your coming along a little in Portuguese when you can argue with someone)

Thanks for keeping up with my blog, everyone. Anne, I know you are my number one fan, so you get an extra special prize from Brazil. Also, this is a shout-out to Mrs. Reeder, I had so much fun with your daughters this past week!

Last night Sebaastian found out that he is a godfather/uncle. His sister had a baby girl and she is named Floor(flower in Dutch)! If any of the Van Hecke crew reads this, congratulations!

Impressions of Buenos Aires

1.Everyone is "Che." Your brother, your sister, a friend, a stranger. Portenos (people of the port of Buenos Aires) use it as a term of endearment referring to Che Guevara, who may be more important than Jesus there.

2.The chocolate is delicious.

3.Cafe culture is revered. <---aka i love it there! cafes are few and far between in Rio.

4.There is a serious coinage shortage crisis. If you do not have the exact "monedas," the cashier will give you a look of death and a giant sigh or will just round off your change, meaning you sometimes lose out. My heart palpitated every time I waited in line to pay. Ay! Alicia and I got in the habit of picking up 5 centavo peso coins off the street when we were lucky enough to find them. We would then jump for joy. Do the currency conversion of five peso cents, people. It´s pathetic.

5."Dale" can effectively be used to replace any word or phrase your heart desires. Okay, goodbye, hello, my throat hurts, your voice is killing me, etc. They can all be effectively communicated by DALE if the right inflection is used. DALE, DAle, Daaaale, dale, and so on. Why doesn´t English have a word like that?

It was good to be back home. I was a little surprised how much I missed my roommate family and all the crazy madness that is Brasil!

Update on Rio since I have returned:
-Saw Niteroi with Frank Barral who studied at OSU for his master degree in industrial design.
-My roommate Seba survived a near death experience with some kidney stones. We had to take him to the hospital. It was scary.
-Whined today because it´s been raining here all day. Pooh.
-Realised that time zones make my brain want to explode. Before the switch, Rio was one hour ahead of Ohio, now it is 3 hours. I finally figured out why. Took me a while, so I won´t spoil it for you. I am not a physics major, people. Give me break.
-Finally, thinking about all of Centerville/OSU that is mourning the death of Brian. You will stay in my thoughts and prayers.


Until next time...

Guest Post! -- by mi porteña favorita

Since Leesh has been so amazing in showing me around her city of Buenos Aires, I decided to give her a little bit of free rein in my post. She is one of the most intelligent and loving people I know. Here you go...

FIRST OF ALL HI TO THE MCINTIRE FAMILY! I MISS STOPPING BY THE HOUSE TO HUGS AND HELLO'S. YOU MUST BE SO PROUD OF SARAH PLANNING HER TRIP TO BUENOS AIRES. THAT'S WHY I'M SO GRATEFUL OF WHAT SHE HAS SACRIFICED TO COME VISIT ME. IT'S HARD TO EXPLAIN THE CITIES WE LIVE IN, BUT THEY ARE EXCITING, CHALLENGING, BEAUTIFUL, FRUSTRATING AND JUST PLAIN SCARY AT TIMES. OF WHAT I'VE SEEN IN HER (SARAH), SHE'S GRACEFULLY CONQUERING LIFE IN RIO AS WELL AS IN BUENOS AIRES.

MY HOST MOM, NUNZIA, IS ABSOLUTELY IN LOVE WITH HER. SHE SQUEEZES US ORANGE JUICE EVERY MORNING, REMAKES OUR BEDS, STUFFS US WITH DINNER, CHECKS ON US IN THE MORNING, IN ADDITION TO BRINGING HER SPUNKY PERSONALITY INTO EVERY CONVERSATION.

I CAN NOT EXPLAIN THE GREAT DELIGHT I FEEL HAVING SOMEONE HERE WHO KNOWS ME AS WELL AS SHE DOES, SOMEONE TO SHARE MY ADVENTURES WITH, SOMEONE WHO IS TRULY INTERESTED IN WHAT LIFE IS LIKE FOR ME HERE. DURING THE DAY WE DON'T SEEM TO ACCOMPLISH MUCH, BUT IT IS FILLED WITH SILLINESS AND LAUGHTER ALL THE SAME. WE'VE WALKED AROUND THE CITY, WEN'T OUT FOR ICE CREAM, LUSTED OVER LATIN AMERICAN MUSIC MEN (WHICH MEANS WE WENT CD SHOPPING: AHHH, JUANES...), SPENT A NIGHT OUT AT A TANGO BAR EQUIPPED WITH STRAY CATS, CANDLES AND SOME LATINOS, AND A NIGHT IN STUDYING.

I AM EXCITED TO HAVE HER SHOW ME AROUND RIO THIS DECEMBER. I AM REALLY IN AWE OF HOW RIO HAS TRANSFORMED SARAH INTO SUCH AN ADULT: EVEN MORE BEAUTIFUL, TALENTED, ARTISTIC, INDEPENDENT AND COURAGEOUS. SHE'S ALSO PRETTY HUMBLE, AND I'M BRAGGING ABOUT HER I KNOW, BUT I'M FORCING HER TO POST THIS ANYWAY.

TAKE CARE ALL OF YOU, THANKS FOR READING, WE'LL SEE YOU SOON!

Bienvenida a Argentina!

Hola de Buenos Aires. (Jenn, queria que poderia estar aqui con nosotros!) I had forgotten my love affair with Spanish. I love it! It's Castilian Spanish here, though. I am so out of practice though, but it's coming back quickly.

Okay here's a quick recap. After some problems with my flight (it was over an hour late and the Brazilian airline Gol literally changed the departure gate 4 different times so all of us trying to make it to BA were running around the airport) I finally arrived. Lee was there to pick me up at the airport. I'm still so excited to be here! The first day we walked a lot around the city and then met with some of her friends (two were from Brazil and speak fluent Spanish). We ate ice cream and drank mate tea. Different from mate (ma-chee) in Brazil, it's a communal way of drinking tea. The Brazilians loved when I made mistakes in the language too, because I bring a lot of Portuguese forms and words into my Spanish.

So far I've seen the Pink House (equivalent to the white house), the Plaza de Mayo, the cathedral, the Plaza de la Republica, and a really strange awardwinning Argentine film Encarnacion that I thought was horribly boring. Also Alicia brought me to her internship with the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, the organization that fights for the justice and memory of the "disappeared" victims of the military dictatorship in the seventies and eighties. It was so cool because we met with a survivor of one of the military detainment camps. He was disappeared for 53 days and tortured and then officially detained for a few years or so. His story was very emotional and it was so awesome to connect with someone that lived through an event that I had studied in school. Here is a link explaining the organization:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothers_of_the_Plaza_de_Mayo

I'm so proud of my Alicia, studying and fighting for human rights in South America!

Our Fridge Is Smelly - This is my whiny post.

I am still alive. Contrary to rumors you may have heard (Anne!) It's been crazy here for a while of course. I battled a day and a half of a high fever - 103.6!, a mugging (in front of my apartment- it sucks because I lost my camera but with the stories I hear I'm just glad to be okay) and almost having our gas shut off (the gas man was in our apartment and only left because I had just paid the outstanding bill from march - when we werent there? - whew. Oh and also now our fridge is broken. It smells bad. I took my food out. Oh yeah...I also got pooped on a second time. Not as bad as the first time, just a smidge on my shirt. But still! Seriously. Pigeons were on notice. They are definitely dead to me now. Anyway so the Brazilian saying that getting pooped on by a bird is good luck is definitely not true, because hours later I was mugged. Ha! I disproved your theory, Brazilians. I know I can laugh about it all now, but at the time I was pretty upset. Not only about my camera but about the safety and poverty issues here. There is just such a great divide between rich and poor here but they are all intermingling constantly in the streets and on the beaches. Our coordinator Rodolfo told us to expect this. I pass several homeless children sometimes just on my way to and from school. You know to expect crime and poverty but its different when its literally on your doorstep. I havent been in a complete bubble all my life (Columbus campus isnt that great either, people.) but its still a little shocking.

Anyway despite some minor setbacks I am alive and kicking and not worse for the wear. Tomorrow I fly out to meet my friend Alicia in Buenos Aires. She is studying there too. Check out her blog in my links. She would be proud to know I practiced my Spanish last night with my two new friends from Peru, their names are Carrrrrlos and Niiiiko. They just arrived two days ago and live only a block away. They are here to practice kickboxing. So my next post will be in Spanish for all of you.

Look for a woman with a blue shirt, then a bookstore called Saliva.

Directions. They are never quite what you expect in this country. If a Brazilian tells you it is near it may be far. And everyone has a different idea of how you should go. No one really tells you the names of the streets and usually not the business so you just know you are looking for some kind of place that sells this maybe in this nearby area? So much for clear communication.

Well it makes for a good adventure usually.

Yesterday, Krista and I decided to be spontaneous. We woke up really early, packed swimsuits and sunscreen and flagged a bus near our house to take us to a bus station up north where we haven't been yet. After winding through some favelas(?!) we arrived at the Rodoviário Rio Novo and purchased tickets for another bus to Búzios. It is a beach town about 3 hours away from the city where all the rich and famous that live in Ipanema go on the weekends to escape to their amazing oceanfront mansions. Once we arrived we were bombarded with English speakers trying to pull us onto their boat tours. Eventually we were persuaded. Our boat was really cheap and it took us around to all the beaches and anchored so we could jump off and swim. We met a lot of nice people on the boat, especially this couple from Argentina. The views there are lovely, the weather was perfect and I am declaring it as my favorite day in Brazil so far. It was just so fun to try to navegate our way through all the bus stations, etc. only speaking in our broken Portuguese. Did I mention we almost missed our bus because we didn't know about the time change -- wish I had a video of us running through that bus station when we realized our bus was leaving in 5 minutes. Good times.

Friday was Children's day. No one had school and businesses were closed. What does Children's day sound like, you wonder? Like screaming children and a hundred squeaky toys all going off constantly from all angles while you try to lay on the beach. Ha. But it was better for me later when a friend of mine threw a housewarming/children's day party at her new apartment. This one girl kept telling me in portuguese, this party is soooo cosmopolitan, there are people speaking english and spanish and portuguese here, from all over the world. Whoa. Today is also a holiday. I'm not really sure for what, I just know we don't have school. Oh, Brazil.

A Seafood Affair

Outra vez estou aqui! Hello hello. I have been a little bit vacant. Only because I am keeping myself busy with school and new Brazilian friends. This week I have been working on my magazine design and interactive projects.

Rio was hosting an international film festival, so on Wednesday we went to this movie Paisagem Industrialabout a Canadian photographer Ed Burtynsky. I have seen some of his pictures before, but this documentary followed his journeys around the world as he takes these amazing photographs of industrial landscapes. The film was good, but the whole event was just so Brazilian. We went with a guy from school named Alex. The movie was in the Caixa center, which is bank and movie theater, etc. Well, there were people protesting in front of the center, because there is a bank strike going on and Caixa is the government's bank. Anway, the film starts an hour late and halfway through it stops because the portuguese subtitles stopped working. Everyone in the theater started yelling and people stormed out. After about 20 minutes, they worked out the issue and we finished the film. You really never know what to expect in South America.

What else? Oh I have discovered my new favorite place in Rio, it's called Koni, and it's in Ipanema. A fast-food Japanese restaurant that serves sushi in cones. I may or may not be addicted. Basically I can't eat enough seafood here. So fresh and delicious! I'm considering opening one in Columbus when I get back. Also in Ipanema with Koni is a bookstore that we tracked down, Livraria Traveissa. Definitely the best Krista and I have found so far. We love browsing all the books and listening to all the Brazilian music.

I'm really feeling happy and comfortable here. Our neighborhood in Flamengo feels like home and the business owners say hello and our porters always chat and laugh at us doing stupid things all the time. I have a good sense of direction, so I don't feel lost 100% of the time. And while Portuguese is still difficult we always manage to communicate. Sigh of relief.

Right now I am so excited because I have the internet on my laptop. I finally worked up the nerve to take it out of the apartment and around the corner to the internet cafe. I'm a little paranoid about it. This is life in Rio.

Where does the time go?

Oh my, the time is flying by. Already I am a third of the way into my trip! It makes me realize that I still have a lot that I want to do. Still planning trips to Sao Paolo, Iguacu, Ilha Grande, Parati, Buzios, and Buenos Aires (aper-let me know). Thanks also for the birthday cards, it´s good to know you people back home haven´t forgotten me.

Surprisingly, the weather here these last few days has been less than sublime. All chilly and rainy. Supposedly normal, so say the Brazilians. The forecast for the next week doesn´t look that great either. HEY RIO, I ONLY PACKED ONE SWEATSHIRT! What am I supposed to do with all these spaghetti-strap tank tops I meticulously chose to fit in my suitcase. ARRRGH.

Family dinner with the roomies was last night, Jens Um (the German) made us all goulash with these dough ball things that I forget the name of. Delicious! Some of you that know me best may not believe this, but I have become hooked on soymilk. I know, I know, normally I am a die-hard 2%er. But under these conditions of cardboard box flash-pasteurized pseudo milk, I had to find another way. And it was soy.

Rio Rio Rio -- the good the bad the ugly

Okay, Mom, you may not want to read this post. The other evening while on a walk back from the park near our house, Parque do Flamengo, Krista and I happened upon a crowd in the middle of the street. Very eerie because no one was talking, especially in Rio because the noise is insane here always. Being the curious little gringas we are, we walk up to the middle to see what everyone is peering at. Three dead bodies, wrapped in body bags, laying in respective pools of blood. On the street. There was one police officer there, and a newspaper crew. I never figured out whether it was gang related or just an armed robbery or what. I didnt want to be the loud obnoxious American in that moment. I know murders happen every day in every country, just usually not right near the grocery store I walk to everyday right by my apartment. Anyway, it´s a good reminder that I need to be more aware of myself and my surroundings. I thought it was important to talk about and also to remind everyone that this is the exception, all the brazilians i talked to about it have never seen anything like that.

On a lighter note, I have a hammock in my room now. Woo hoo I have always wanted one. I´m jazzed. This weekend we have plans to go to Ilha Grande, a natural bioreserve island not too far away, for my birthday. 22 years old. Feels weird. Also, Krista and I are joining this gym called UPPER near our house, it´s very elegant and you get in by scanning your fingerprint. Very fun and James Bondish. I´m loving the exchange rate right now.

The Culture of the Dirty Foot

Hello again. It's been a busy weekend again. Friday the gang went to Lapa with some of the kids from school and saw Nouvelle Vague at this cool venue called the CircoPoador. Very fun. During one of the songs some guy climbed onstage and started samba-ing with the girls. Nice. Saturday was back to Lapa again, this time we started out at one of the little street bars. Here is where the dirty foot comes into play. Apparently, so my Brazilian friend tells me, this kind of bar, where the beer is cheap and the tables and chairs are of the stackable kind so as to fill the streets at night, these kind of places are called pesujo bars, meaning little dive bars or whole-in-the-wall places. But pesujo literally translates as dirty foot, pe-sujo. Very fitting, judging by the blackened condition of my foot by the end of the night. Muaha.

Let's see, what else have I been up to. Krista and I bought a Brazilian cell phone. Woo hoo! Finally coerced after we had our social life explode in our faces. Very exciting, it's prepay but you can buy the cards at any magazine stand, which are literally every 15 feet on the sidewalk anywhere in the city.

Hmmm. My roommates and I are starting a Tuesday night family dinner. Krista and I are cooking. Ha. We considered just getting some Big Macs and Fries and setting them on plates just to make our haute couture cuisine-ily inclined euro roommates mad. Nah we'll spare them.

Krista and I are noticing a lot more prejudice towards the foreigners. We've encountered a few instances where store owners were unwilling to serve us or speak to us because we are from os estados unidos. While rare, it is something to think about, being on the other side of the divide. On the whole, everyone is really excited to speak to us and hear all about our exciting lives in this great exotic land of Oooohhioooo. Most people ask if it's like California. Ha. Sometimes I let them live the lie.

One other thing that is crazy here is the amount of impoverished kids running about. They range from about 5 years old to 16, and they roam in terrifying packs trying to wrangle change where they can, in exchange for some gum or mints. They are very aggressive, a lot of them look like they are high, and they seem to be the biggest threat on the beaches. They sleep on the streets, even near my apartment. I used to like watching the Genie the Wild Child specials on the Discovery Channel, it's kind of like that. Rio has its own breed of urban feral children. Like an LOTF adaptation in NYC on heroin with Portuguese subtitles. Something along those lines.

Post-pigeon Cleanup

Boa tarde. Today is a new day without pigeon poop on my head. Hooray.

We spent the day at the Federal Police to get our visas approved for our stay in Brasil. It was a morning and afternoon of confusion and waiting in lines. All taken care of now, though. Whew!

The bus from the airport (where the Federal Police are) dropped us off near our school so Krista and I came back to check our email and I met with my group that I am doing a project with this semester in my editorial design class.

Finally here are some photos of my school ESDI, escola superior de desenho industrial.

Pombos

I got pooped on today by a pigeon on my way to classes. Pooped on. Direct hit: hair, shirt, pants, bag. Really loving Rio right now.

September 7: Brazilian Independence Day

Oi, tudos! I know it´s been a few days. I have been keeping busy trying to figure out what classes I want to take. So far on my schedule is screenprinting, an interactive design class, an editorial design class with lot of theory, and photography. Soon I will find a portuguese tutor as well. So I will have a lot to do soon.

The other students at ESDI are very nice and love when we try to speak portuguese. I´m learning a lot as far as understanding when people speak to me. The trouble is when I try to speak because the accent here is so strange. It is very nasal and there are actually two dialects here, the "brazilian" dialect which I know the best and learned before I came and the "carioca" accent, which about half the people in Rio speak. It´s strange to learn how to say every word two different ways and apply it in each situation. I get by in any case.

Well, on Thursday night some students took us gringos out to Lapa, where everyone goes at night to party. We had been there once before but since it was the eve before the Brazilian independence day, it was a lot more rowdy than usual. The next day we went to Ipanema beach where there were about 10 people per kanga (towel-like things they use at the beach, beach towels are for tourists). It had such a festival atmosphere with spontaneous singing and music playing and such. Getting home was a mess because there was a military parade and a peace demonstration on the street near our apartment. So a few miles by bus took us about 90 minutes. And today of course we took the surf bus to a new beach, this one was called Barra de Tijuca. It was beautiful there but not like my favorite beach Prainha.

Next week in school I will be printing on my tshirts in screenprinting class with my professor Milton. I will update everyone with photos of how they turned out.

Okay. Here´s what I learned this week:
1. Bon de ver - "it was good to see you"
2. I have been taking the internet for granted.
3. No matter how well I think I´m blending in, everyone still knows I´m a tourist
4. I was most definitely born in England (so people keep telling me).
5. Chinese food here isn´t quite the same as in America = ramen noodles and onions?
6. Brazilians don´t know what napkins are. For some reason they keep handing me tissue paper with my food. I guess they are trying to curb the deforestation of the Amazon or something.

Cool stuff I ate this week:
1. agua de coco - coconut water, they give it to you fresh from the coconut everywhere
2. acaí com granula - Amazon berry smoothie with granola on top
3. salgado - fried bread with ham and cheese inside
4. caipirinha com maracujá - drink made with sugar cane liquor and passion fruit

Homework?

Boa noite, tudos! Hello again from the marvelous city. Today is the first day I have done homework. All of us in the apartment are taking a screenprinting class and our first tshirt designs are due tomorrow. It´s really neat to see the graphic styles of each design roommate. So much inspiration. : ) An update will follow with pictures of our designs.

Anyway...the last few days we have just spent hanging around with the new girl from Germany, Karolina. She has traveled all around Central and South America so she knows alot about being in a foreign country. Her specialty is product design, so I don´t know how many classes we will be in together at ESDI.

It really seems like Brazil is my new (temporary) home because the shop owners around the neighborhood know us well by now and always wave and greet us when we pass by. We have a porter at the entryway of our apartment and he tries to teach us something new in portuguese every time that we pass through. Communicating with home is a little harder than I imagined just because Skype isn´t always working on the internet cafes around my house. Technology and Brazil don´t mix well.

My new favorite beach is this one we found called Prainha. It means "little beach" in portuguese. It took about an hour to get there on the surf bus which we take from right by our house. The beach is very picturesque and while it´s small it is also surrounded by tiny little mountains on both sides and a park behind it. But anyway the surf was crazy with waves coming in the bay from all directions, and three of us (Jens Um, Sebastiaan, and me) did some hiking to get a great view of my beach. Also, Jens Dois bought a surfboard so hopefully I can catch a wave eventually. First I´m going to bodyboard. Baby steps.

What else. Oh yeah. Our grocery store finally discovered that you can put plastic wrap on the meat and it lasts longer and doesn´t make the store smell of rotting flesh. Go SENDAS!

Mosquitos are horrible. Laundry is expensive. Chocolate is expensive. Jewelry is cheap. I bought some new Brazilian shoes. Exciting. Okay I´m rambling now so I will go back and play with my "flatmates."

missing my OSU family! tchau!

ps. check out my friend alicia´s blog. she is in argentina right now. muito legal!
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=184793128

Fotografía

this is sebastiaan. very funny cool guy. he is from antwerp and made some fabulous spaghetti sauce to go with the meatballs krista and i made.

the amazing view from our apartment!
if you look out kristas window you can see the cristo redentor statue of jesus all lit up at night.

the jenses from schwabisch gmund, germany, on ipanema beach. jens dois is on the left, jens um on the right. they are both hilarious.
sorry about the spelling, boys.

krista definitely not being a tourist.
this is a few blocks from the apartment. the location is perfect, we are in a cute little residential part of the city and the residents are getting used to the gringos running around all the time being confused.

First Day of School @ ESDI

What can I say...yesterday we went to ESDI and took a tour of the campus. It took about 5 minutes. The design part of UERJ (the larger university in Rio that ESDI belongs to) is separated from the main campus. And it is small. VERY small.

We came back today to attend some classes so we can finalize our schedule only to find that two were canceled, and the one that was not we went to 2 hours late. Around here time does not matter so much. Very hard to get used to.

Still, it was good to get a feel for the school environment and we talked to some students too. The second year students we met took us to lunch at a pay-by-the-kilo buffet restaurant, which we estrangeiros love because we can see what we will be eating. Also, there is a school cat named Diana and she and her kittens roam around the campus freely.

If you think that maybe my writing does not sound quite right, you are right. My English is getting worse by the second, thanks to the German and the Belgian influence. Portuguese is improving slowly though. Oh, also the keyboards here are different and for some reason they do not have an apostrophe key so I guess I will stop writing contractions.

Overall though, I am really starting to adapt to the carioca life.

I will leave you with some small bits of wisdom I have learned.
1. Potato chips are called a pack of crisps in Britainglish.
2. Traffic signals are suggestions.
3. Bikinis=Thongs

Samba and Phunk

So far we have been to a samba club and then last night to a phunk club. Samba was really fun and pretty easy to catch on to. Our Brazilian friends Leticia, Alicia and Maite took us to the samba club and taught us how to dance. It is really different here going out at night because no one is at the club until after midnight, and when we left at 5 in the morning it was still going strong. The phunk club was funny, they remade a lot of bad American rap songs with some trumpet and assorted other noises and that was apparently phunk. Guys here are really cheesy with horrible lines. Basically two minutes after you meet them they start talking about how you are destined to be together and something about the stars and marriage and the beach and they are so in love with you they will die if they can´t get your phone number. Interesting approach, brasileiros.

We are having such a great time hanging out with our roommate family, last night we made spaghetti and meatballs from scratch. I´m learning a lot about German and Dutch culture, which is fun. I am slowly getting used to the city, I think yesterday Krista told me I woke up without bags under my eyes, so maybe now I´m relaxing a little bit more.

Hmmm. Oh, Krista and I are going to learn how to surf. We´ll start with bodyboards and then work our way to surfing from there. We know a couple people who surf here already, and there is a surf bus you can take that stops at all the best surf beaches.

Yesterday there was some kind of party at the McDonalds near our apartment. There was a DJ and people were dancing...we´re not really sure. I guess that people get really excited to eat Big Macs here.

Okay enough ramblings for today. Até logo. See you later.

Deus é brasiliero.

My roommates woke me up this morning at 8 screaming that the sun is shining. Ha, we are really excited because Tuesday and Wednesday the it was overcast. So today we are going to Ipanema beach to hang around.

Yesterday Krista and I went to the supermarket to buy some cleaning supplies for the apartment. We asked an employee for a mop (in portuguese of course, no one around here speaks English that we´ve talked to) and she takes us to this aisle full of squeegies(spelling?).
We were confused because there were no mops so we just went home. Anyway, later we hung out with a Brazilian friend of our roommates who speaks English and he said they don´t use mops. They squeegie their floor like we do our windshields. He said he had only seen an American mop on television. Funny.

I´m having a little trouble with Skype because the computers in the internet cafes are usually really slow or don´t have the program and won´t let me download it. I will keep looking. Once school starts on Monday it shouldn´t be a problem.

Oh yeah and we have another roommate from Antwerp. He just arrived last night and no one even knew he was coming. So we are really crowded right now but he is getting his own apartment soon.

I´ve met a few Spanish speakers so it is really fun to talk to them instead of struggling with my Portuguese. Anyway Portuguese is coming along slowly, I am the best of all the roommates, but that isn´t saying much.

There is a saying here Deus é brasiliero. It means that God is Brazilian, which is why he gave Brazil such beautiful places.

Alright well I miss you all! Love you Mom and Dad!

Estou aqui!

Hey all! I arrived safely after a 9.5 hour flight from Atlanta. Things were great the first day, we had our Brazilian friend Maite pick us up from the airport and then her boyfriend from Germany who is here visiting (who studied at OSU as well) took us around. We met our roommates, two German designers, both named Jens. So now I am learning a little German along with my portuguese. Our apartament is sort of crazy right now, because there is a student from Belgium and one from the Netherlands who are squatting there until they fly home later this week.

Anyway...it is so beautiful here, we spent the afternoon on Ipanema beach and hung around with the Jenses. My favorite part of this place so far is that you can buy everything you need right on the beach. And it is really pretty cheap too.

One more thing, we went to the supermarket yesterday and I realized they don´t have fresh milk. They keep it warm in these cardboard box packages (ew). So my roommates know how sad I am. I guess I will have to find a new favorite drink.

Tchau!

g-l-a-m-o-r-o-u-s

i am now in possession of a certified passport. i may also look like a serial killer in the photo.

hello everyone!

well, this is my first post, and i'm not in rio yet. but i thought it would be a good idea to get this thing up and running before i leave. i thought i could also tell you about some ways to keep in touch among other things.

first, everyone can email me at my school account (mcintire.261@osu.edu) or you can call me over the internet using skype. it is free to download and easy to work, i put the link over to the left. my user name is sarah_sarah_bo_bara.

as for updates on the passport/visa process...i received my birth certificate in the mail with the news that my passport is on its way! hooray! so now i just have to maneuver the brazilian consulate to get my visa. apparently its a huge process and i need a background check and proof of financial viability and such (dad?) but once i get it to the embassy in DC it should only take about four days to process.

i'm just crossing my fingers.