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!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
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!
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!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, October 15, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
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.
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.
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