Friday, April 21, 2006
Boyando... Sempre Boyando!
Chocolates last Wednesday. Chocolates last Thursday. --Intermission-- Chocolates on Sunday. Chocolates this Monday. Chcolates this Tuesday. Chocolates this Wednesday. Chocolate pizzas Thursday. More chocolates yesterday. Meu Deus! I think I have enough chocolates for a while ;)
During Easter(Páscoa) last week I went to Ubatuba again but to a different beach this time called Praia Enseada. There were about 17 of us and we stayed at a very nice townhouse-style house, which also had a large pool and BBQ area in the courtyard. It was such a relaxing time for me, and the whole 4-days weekend included going to the beach, lounging by the pool, playing card games, singing and playing guitars, climbing the seawall, and kayaking in the sea.
Re: Kayaking
I tried kayaking for the first time on Sunday and ended up being rescued by a boat! Nmm... it´s kind of a funny story, but in a nutshell, the whole time I noticed no matter how I paddled, my kayak wasn't moving straight and instead it was zig-zagging across the sea. Later on I decided to go for a swim while waiting for Juliana and Gabriel, so I jumped off my kayak. What I didn´t realize was that when I began to drift away from the kayak, I couldn´t swim back to it while wearing the lifejacket and hanging on to the paddle. The harder I tried to swim, the farther the current took me away from my kayak. So... I started boiar...
Once Juliana and Gabriel came to 'rescue me,' Gabriel noticed that my kayak was actually broken and filled with water. *Eer... kayaks aren't supposed to be filled with water?!* So we had to wave down a boat (socorro!) and the man in the boat took me and my crappy kayak ashore.
Re: Culture
Some of my observations about Brazilians:
1. If possible, try to avoid using English with Brazilians early in the mornings. Communication this way is not as effective when their brain hasn´t begun to function at 'full' ;)
2. Time... the Brazilians' concept of time usually means meeting an hour after the stated time.
3. The guys seem to enjoy putting up make-up and dressing like women--all for the sake of having fun. They are totally crazy! All of them!!
4. They certainly love music and dance here. Whenever there is music playing, someone is bound to be grooving and swaying to the rhythm of the music such as Pagode, Forró, Funk, MPB, Bossa Nova. Axé, etc. They also listen to a lot of American music and know how to sing every word in the songs.
5. Soccer. What can I say about soccer other than that it'll be totally crazy and wild when the World Cup begins!!
Re: Work
I´m starting to feel my motivation at work dwindling 'cuz I'm discovering that there aren't really specific job tasks which make me feel productive. The things I'm very happy to see are that some of the kids who were really shy to speak to me in English in the beginning are now speaking non-stop :) The kids are also teaching me how to dance Brazilian Funk, a type of music here in Brazil very different from the funk you think you may know. There are also choreographies to funk songs, and they're quite funny. The book is on the table! The table!
Here are some of the slangs and expressions I learned: (the spelling may be incorrect)
-boyando, castelando, viajando --> Nmm these 3 words, particularly boyando, from 'boiyar' meaning 'to float' describes how I´m like most of time. Boyando is used for someone who doesn´t understand anything. I.e. how I'm like when ppl spoke only in Portuguese!
-incalhardo/-a --> Someone who is very single!! This actually describes when a ship or whale gets stuck on the beach of an island in the middle of the ocean, and it is used for someone who´s single and is not likely to get a bf or gf.
-bicha --> Gay guy.
-burro (pronounced: boo hoo) --> Donkey; Used to describe somebody who does things without thinking or is an idiot.
-C.D.F. --> In English it's traslanted to Iron Ass. It's used for people who are very smart or very nerdy. They're called c.d.f. 'cuz since they study and sit all day, their bums must be made of ferro.
-faca (pronounced: fa ka) --> Knife; this is not a slang nor an expression. But it's funny to say yah?
Ahhh there are so many other things to update but unfortunately my internet at home totally sucks. I'm not even able to access blogger from the home computer. Right now I'm sitting in Rafael's dorm room in ITA to blog. Today a bunch of us went to the airport to pick-up the new trainee, Carlos from Columbia. I think later on today we'll have a churrasco and then a party in CTA for him.
Labels: Door #1: The Brazil Experience
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
2 Weeks and then Some
Dirty boys in Ubatuba--Heinrich (Germany; Henrique), Davi (VPF in @ITA)
Julio (Ju's pai), Juliana, Ju's GrandmaFinally! Some time to blog and update :)
Re: Food
Brazilians are proud of their cuisine!! They also eat rice with beans at least once a day. Some things I appreciate eating in Brasil include chicken hearts and cow stomachs. Mm Mmm! But of course there are other dishes which I haven´t had a chance to try yet or wasn´t aware of. The problem with not knowing how to speak the language is that you never know what you are ordering or what you are eating. I was invited to a churrasco, a Brazilian BBQ where people just eat, drink and dance for hours, but it was cancelled :´(
Re: Work
Before I started work at Colégio Engenheiro Juarez Wanderley, I went in for a meeting at Instituto Embraer de Educação e Pesquisa. The institute is a division of Embraer, Brazil´s largest aircraft manufacturing company, and it plans and invests in all of the company´s social projects including the colégio. They had really high security at the institute, and the place was very formal. We had to go through many personnels before we meet with the director, who explained the objectives and progresses of the colégio to us.
My job is A LOT more different than I expected because I actually work in a high school. My first initial thought about working with teenagers is YIKES! But as it turns out, I absolutely love working with the students at the school as they are such great students and I have a lot of fun hanging out with them!! We have lots in common ;) My job tasks vary and currently the job is super flexible. Some things I do include conversing with students, translating materials to English, facilitating various workshops in culture, politics, and economics, helping students in their school´s sustainable alternatives project and participating in school events such as Capoeira, Afro-Brazilian martial arts dance, and other student performances :)
Work has been keeping me very busy during the weekdays. I´m at the school 9 hours a day and travelling to and from the school is almost another hour. Very tiring!
Re: Travels
The places I have travelled to outside of São José dos Campos include:
-Ubatuba. It is a place with many beautiful beaches. We went there 2 weekends ago for @ITA´s TREMN conference.
-Taubaté. It is near where I work and I went there to go to a nightclub called Unica. I was told by many students that it is a `farm´because it is very small compared to São José.
-São Paulo city. The city is the biggest city of all in Brazil, larger than Rio de Janeiro. I went on Sunday with Juliana and met her father and grandmother. First we went to a market which was held every Sunday near Liberdade, the Asian district of São Paulo. with many Japanese and Chinese shops and restaurants. For lunch we went to a Japanese restaurant (yum!!) then afterwards we went to Parque do Ibirapuera. It is a large park with many museums and attractions.
Re: Pictures
I think I have taken about 10 pictures since I have arrived :( I am just too lazy to take out the camera and snap away. But good news is that I can always (yah right) get pictures taken by other people, and the bad news is that the computer I use at my place totally sucks and doesn´t have a USB drive. Hmm... I will try to somehow upload some pictures.
ISSO!
Labels: Door #1: The Brazil Experience
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