Week 2 in Brazil: Protests

Some of the protest signs we saw in Joinville...

LAGARTO VIVE!

lutou contra o fascismo nas ruas,
contra o racismo
contra a homofobia
contra a alienação religiosa
contra a corrupção estatal
contra,  o capitalismo maquiavélico
contra, o especismo praticado aos animais
morreu em pé. vivieu e lutou
pela liberdade humana e animal
da tirania e do poder opressor de
poucos sobre muitos.
estará vivo em nossas mentes.
batendo forte em nossos corações e
presente em nossos punhos erguidos.
"nem todo irmão é companheiro,
mas todo companheiro será sempre um grande irmão".

Inglês: I used the help of google for parts of this so any corrections would be appreciated ;)

LIZARD LIVE!

fought against fascism in the streets,
against racism
against homophobia
against religious alienation
against state corruption
against the Machiavellian capitalism
against speciesism practiced on animals
died standing. vivieu and fought
by animal and human freedom
of tyranny and oppressive power
few over the many.
will be alive in our minds.
  pounding in our hearts and
This raised our fists.
"every brother is not mate,
but every companion will always be a big brother. "

Journal From July 1st

Originally posted on my Travel Art Blog in August 2014

Esperar - To Hope: Quando as Coisas Não Funcionam

People in brazil have a strangely beautiful and amazing ability to wait patiently and maintain relaxed when things não funcionam.

 

I talked to a man on a bus about this. I pondered "eu não entendo como pesoas em brazil tem muitos patience. É muito interesante pra mim."

 

I'm pretty sure this man ended up missing his flight because the bus didn't come on time. Yet...

We calmly talked about brazillian patience, lack of function, and a myriad of other topics for over an hour (em Português, I might add). 

 

Em los estados unidos pesoas....grrrr (meu mao português at work here...)..." In the US we want our money back if we stand, waiting, almost two hours for food.

 

But, I suppose it is rare that we would ever wait that long in the first place. We refuse to pay and walk out long before the 30 minute marker. 

 

If something goes wrong we get angry and try to get the priority service we paid for. After all we either earned or deserve it.  

 

At the end of out conversation, I think this man and I came to the conclusion that Brazilians are used to things não está funcionando so there is "no problem" and a backup plan will come along so that eventually things will work out even if they don't work... But Brasileiros sabem that eventually it all works out and not staying relaxed doesn't help.

 

If you wait through, it will all work out, even if it doesn't function properly or work. 

Se você tem patience, todas as coisas vão funcionar, mesma que ele não funciona direito.

 

 

I will end this post with a message I sent my husband while I was waiting for a delayed airplane with some Spanish-speaking imagrants coming to Pasco to work...

 

"well a cool fact...Portuguese and Spanish both use the verb esperar. It means "to hope" but is used for "to wait" as well. So you are literally hoping for something or someone. I like it. I think it shows insight into the hopeful mentality and patience Latin Americans have...anyways back to hoping :) love you"

Originally posted August 19 on my Travel Art Blog.

How Emersed Was I?

I knew that I was pretty well immersed in Indian culture after returning from India. Though it is difficult to immerse yourself in a country/language when you are not there I am pretty sure that I succeeded.

I did not quite realize how much Indian culture I had been around for the past year. It is pretty cool being here in Brazil. Interestingly, I am looking at many things not only from an American perspective but also an Indian perspective.

One of the biggest shocks about being here is that I am around mostly English. The first week here I had to use Portuñol everyday. But the 2nd through the 5th weaks here I am using English because we are teaching English and I am mostly with Americans.

Though annoying, the English is not a bad thing as it is a part of the program. And I don't think it would bother me as much had I not been so surrounded by Indian culture and the Hindi language for the last year. It is a bit shocking to me (and it may be the closest thing to culture shock I have ever experienced) to be around this much English in another country. I was thinking about it the other day and it feels like I am around more English now I had been over the past year. I also know this will change very soon and I'm not sure I will be ready as I will be living with a family that doesn't speak English for three weeks...I am very excited

So the answer my original question how immersed in Indian culture was I? Let's take a look.

Weekends
Saturday 5-6 hours cricket
Sunday dance practice (maybe 10-20 weeks out of the year) 2-4 hours
Dinner/Day Trip/Cooking 2-5 hours

Tuesdays/Thursdays 2 - hours (I thaught a Yoga class, Indian Culture/Hindi class and later a Global Studies class)

Monday/Wednesday 1-4 hours listening to music and Pimsleur while painting

Movies at night 0-2 hours

Bible reading - 1 - 3 hour

Total 13-21 hours/week

That was a lot of Hindi and Indian culture...and I loved every minute of it!