Cachoeira veu de noiva

Today we took our third trip outside of the city. Yay! I told you the weekends are dead until Sunday night when folks meet up in the plaza. That’s cuz everybody around here is either at a chacara (remember that word?) or one of the waterfalls. Today’s adventure comes from the second. We drove about 45 mins on dirt road through the floresta tropical (tropical forest, I guess) to get to the falls. The we in this story is Michol and I, Marilia, Priscilla, and her boyfriend, Elton. It costs about $5.80 to get in but all the cool functions are half-off with a student ID. We’ve been trying to get Brazilian ones but so far our U.S. ones have worked just fine.

 We went to Campelo to buy food because the food they sell there is pretty expensive. The line for meat was really long because today is a holiday (Tiradentes or Teethpuller). He led this revolutionary movement to try to free Brazil from Portugal and was killed. So we got our meat from a store off the street. Brazilian barbeque is literally the best meat I’ve ever tasted. We live in one of the boi grande (large cow) capitals so maybe the meat in my region just tastes better because of that. In any case, the meat/seasoning here is so tasty I literally chew the fat and suck the bones when I’m done for the flavor.

Carne is probably going to be my financial demise. There is a university barbeque cart on campus where you can get a plate of beans and manioc for a dollar. The kabobs are like $1.50 and they’re small but they’re so good. They could probably charge a lot more for them and I would still eat them. More sporadically, but I’d find a way. Now the falls. It is a water park made from natural water and amazingly beautiful. They say everyone jumps in the first time they visit. So we did. It was definitely scary not necessarily because of the height but because it is natural the rocks have moss and stuff. Thus, they are extremely slippery. But we jumped anyway. And survived,lol. Yay!

As we were going to buy popsicles and coconut water we heard this loud scream. It turned out to be a squawk. The restaurant has lots of parrots hanging from the ceiling. One of them started to move. I’m like is that a real bird?? Yep. I’m definitely from the Odyssey Fun World age and because he moved so robotic-like, I assumed he was mechanical. He was not.

So that was the surprise of the day. My mom’s class asked me to take a picture of a toucan. I’ll be on the lookout, but at least now I’ve got something to show :)

One without me in it

part of the park and the beautiful floresta tropical

don't you just love group shots where only one person is looking at the right camera?

Out

This post is simply titled "out" because it is a quick summary of the things I've done outside of my house. The first "out" event we had was at AABB. Edson (the president of the club) had a book release there. He's written a book of poetry and is apparently the president of some poetry association around here but I have to look into that one. In any case it was a nice introduction to Araguaina culture. People took turns all night reading selections from the book and at the end of the night (for us) his daughters sang. He looked so proud.

We had chambari which is a typical Tocantins dish. I'm told chambari is oxen ankle meat. The food was prepared in literally the largest pots I've ever seen in person. I wasn't there so I don't know, but I imagine they were similar to pots used to feed plantation quantities of slaves or maybe some communal village. We stood in line for food and I went to buy a lata (bottle) of guarana. Here, at restaurants they keep beer in rotation. Like before you even order they bring a huge beer to the table in a huge beer sleeve and start pourin glasses. Every six minutes or so the waiter comes and shakes the bottle. It's usually just as full as it was the last time yet he then brings another. If you don't drink it, they don't take it back. It just sits there and gets hot until you leave. Not gonna guess what they do with it after that.

After a night of book release fun

(note the bracelets. Made from golden grass. It doesn't grow everywhere here but artisans/vendors have suppliers where they go get it. The bracelets were welcome gifts for us. These are actually Michol's. Mine are bright colors which I love but hers matched my outfit)

Our second time out came in the form of Calourada. It's like a Welcome Back party at the school. I thought it was just a welcome to college party for the freshman since that's who asked us to come and calouro literally translates to freshman or first year but when we got their we were first spotted by our seniors. In fact we spent half the night talking with them. They all have Saturday 7:30 am class. Yikes. So they went home early. After they left we went to immerse ourselves in the crowd. It was good for both of us as I like to dance and Michol likes to watch live music. They had a Sertanejo band that sang as everyone paired off to dance forro. Sertanejo is like pop country music and from the tv commercials seems to be a male duet kinda thing. Forro, like Samba, is a popular Brazilian dance. As UFT is an outdoor university the party was in the parking lot. There were people working the gate i guess so randoms couldn't just walk in.

With two of our students

Though the party was far from over we left at about 1:30. It's pretty difficult to catch a taxi at night and they're more expensive in the evenings. Granted that's expensive by Araguaina terms. As I already explained services here are way cheaper than they could be. In fact the taxis don't even have meters. You just know how much it's supposed to cost to get you from one place to another. And we have a guy. Michol thinks he's the kingpin of the taxi industry here cuz whenever we need a taxi we call him and when he cant come he has guys. One of which seems to be his right hand because he's the most consistent fill-in. In one case I tried to ask one of the drivers for his own number and he simply referred me back to our kingpin man.

Now quickly Avenida Filidelfia. The street has all the cool bars and food on it. We've experimented with a couple of the pizza places on the street but have much more to explore. Another cool place to be is Neblinas. Picturesque landscape it looks like what you'd probably imagine if you thought of Brazil minus the beach of course. This is where everybody that doesn't pay to go to an academia (gym) goes to exercise. Included on this street is Labaredas. Its a joint dance hall and restaurant. Michol and I ate there for Good Friday. They had all types of tasty fish.

We went to the dance hall that Saturday. I thought it was for a Christian concert. It was not,lol. They charged to get in (which I didn't mind when I thought it was a live Christian concert,lol) and they played their music so loudly it was simply not enjoyable. Now Brazilians BLAST their music, graduation included, plus they advertise for stuff by hiring trucks wired with concert speakers to play through the streets. In their defense, I think that's a south of the U.S. American custom in general. I first encountered the loud speaker trucks living in Mexico. They scared the... well, you know out of me. I feel bad for the future of the people who drive those trucks. That was my explanatory way of saying, Michol and I decided we wouldn't be back. But it was good to go once and see. I'll let you know how more of our out experiences go as they come.

A Via Sacra

The Sacred Way. So, Good Friday is celebrated in Brazil and in the States with Passion of the Christ plays. Here though they seem to be on another level. I learned from my Catholic roommate and director that within every Catholic church are the 10 steps of Jesus' death and resurrection. Cool. So, the Catholic church here put on a play and everybody that was left in the city was there. It reminded me of going to watch 4th of July fireworks complete with vendors, balloons, glow sticks, etc. It started at 8pm. There was an hour of praise and worship and the play began at 9. It lasted about 2 hours.

What was different about this play for me was that it didn't just take place on stage. It moved throughout the football field sized space we were in and used the extras as human ropes to block people from bombarding the main characters. Super elaborate, the character of Jesus ascended into the air on a electric lift. They really "hung" the character from a cross next to two other men (I assume they had small footrests). A man playing Judas near Sao Paulo almost died after accidentally hanging himself for real but I hope he's ok now. In any case I feel like my pictures though dark could probably describe it better than I could so here you go...

The Narrator

Palm Sunday

On trial

Also, not that this has anything to do with anything but just thought I'd mention that I took a shirt out of my cabinet. It was all sticky and I couldn't figure out why. A cough drop melted under it.

If Hogwarts Had Graduation at Fashion Week

Now before I start this blog post I just want to say, don't be mad. In fact, you don't have to be mad because I was mad at myself for you. All evening. I tried really hard not to be though. Valeria invited Michol and I to UFT's graduation. It was the craziest (in a good way) graduation I've ever been to. I left my camera on the bed. Sigh.

For starters, there were students from four departments: History, Geography, Math, and Letters (my department). They reminded me of the four houses in the Harry Potter series. Their robes were black and wizard cape like and were lined with the colors of their departments (red, green, blue, and lilac). Each robe had a bow and sash with its corresponding color. They had three professional photo booths set up for the graduates and the entire ballroom was configured around a long runway with faculty heads on one end and graduates on the other. While waiting for the graduation to start we listened to club music and enjoyed the smoke machines and laser light show. When it was time to start the lasers did a countdown and then a curtain opened and there were all the graduates.

Each graduate had their name called and they danced/club pointed down to runway to receive their diplomas which were in the department color's cylinders so it looked like a traditional scroll. The best part,however, was that the lasers flashed their names the entire time they got their diplomas so you could never forget who was walking down. At many graduations I've attended they always want you to be quiet till the end because there are so many people, but here there were only maybe 60 or so graduates so not only was cheering allowed but it seemed like it was a contest to see whose family could cheer the loudest. During their long walk there and back people popped balloons, blew fog horns, broke confetti over the graduates heads, put babies on the runway to hand their mom flowers, terrorist fist gabbbed,lol. It was a real party. As it should be.

I was thinking to myself, I couldn't have had a graduation like that cuz I'd have thought I was Tyra Banks and acted a plum fool but they had fun and we did too. When they weren't banging U.S. songs in techno style the music was epic. I mean epic. Like back to the future walking toward your destiny kinda serious. But it is serious. Anybody who's ever graduated from anywhere knows the work that goes into that moment. Now there was still your share of boring speeches at the end but regardless this was hands down the most spirited graduation I've ever been to. I came home exhausted as it didn't start till 8:30 p.m. People ask me about my nightlife here. It's pretty much non-existent in large part because the party doesn't start till 1 a.m. and anyone who knows me knows I'm well sleep by then,lol.

Me after a night of graduation fun

(People also ask me often why I don't know what size I wear. It's cuz I've more or less worn the same size since middle school. I wore this dress to my freshman homecoming when I was 13.)

My Introduction Post, Part 2

First off, I mentioned that I would let you know how the towel/squeegee mopping combo went but never did. Well, it definitely makes the floor look better but I still end up on my hands and knees getting up what the broom missed. Cleaning now takes longer than it did before but I know its cleaner so it's okay.

I'm also taking this time to go back to the beginning as I realized I kinda started my blog in the middle of my experience here. Plus, I recognize that some people might not actually know what I'm doing here. On February 24th, I along with 30 other ETAs (English Teaching Assistants) took off for orientation in Sao Paulo.

The group plus the program heads

View from the hotel window

We spent four days getting to know each other, our program/program heads, and the city. Most importantly, we learned methods for teaching. We spent one of those days learning about the standardized language test students need to apply to U.S. schools. Not really gonna go into my feelings about the industry that is standardized testing but it was nice to be educated on the topic. I also became a Sao Paulo pizza connoisseur. By happenstance, I ended up eating pizza three of the four nights we spent in the city each with its own style and taste. The first pizza place I have to say was my favorite. Why??? Well, here pizza isn't eaten with the bare hand. Each setting is equipped with its own Michael Jackson glove. More realistically it's like a beauty supply glove for putting in perms but it was still very cool and very necessary. I picked up my slice before I knew what the glove was for or why everyone was wearing one and the waiter kindly showed me that it was under my plate, assuming the only reason I wouldn't be using it was because I couldn't find it. In any case it was one of the many enjoyable experiences I had with the group that weekend. This starts my second round of introductions. First up is...

Hilary. ETA from Milwaukee. My roommate from PDO (Stands for Pre-Departure Orientation. Held in Washington D.C. June of last year, PDO was our chance to meet each other and have some of our and mainly other people's questions answered about the program). Hilary graduated from UChicago and currently lives on the north side (excluding Brazil of course). We kept in contact over the gap and even spent NYE together. Glad to say I think we'll be in contact for decades.

Hilary, Jesse, and I

(Jesse is one of 3 program heads. A past Fulbrighter himself, he now works for the program. The others are Patricia and Luana. Patricia is the one in charge of everything and Luana is her assistant. Luana's very accomplished for our age and just in general and all three of them are the sweetest.

Elisa. Vice-director of the UFT Fulbright project, Elisa teaches English language courses and an internship class. Her husband Edson was instrumental in getting us our bikes and they're always down to help us out. She's very nice and a good example of a full-time career woman/full-time mother looks like.

Alessandra. Third of the three professors we work with until we start teaching in May for Elisangela (director of the indigenous student group on campus. She arranges trips to reservations and has invited us to tag along. Cool peoples and probably the fastest talking Brazilian I've met thus far). But this is Alessandra's description. So, Alessandra is definitely the funny one of the group. She loves her family very much and speaks of them often She's simply a nice person to be around.

Rosy. The first and realist friend I've made since our move to Araguaina. Rosy and I met during one of my many trips to the bank. (My card was shut off within an hour of my arrival to Brazil) She works there and has shown me life from where to get a milkshake to get a $7 manicure/$14 mani/pedi. She's taken me to my first chacara (like a forest preserve/ranch) for a company chuhascaria (barbeque) where I had my first chicken heart. I must say she made the transition here a lot more enjoyable.

And finally... the students. I maintain a professional distance from all but a handful of the students. For quick reference, Khalyl is a first year. He invited Michol and I to his house for lunch one day and we met his family. That was probably my first taste of real Brazilian hospitality. Lastly, Marilia and Priscilla are sisters who've spent time in the U.S. and speak great English. I went to their church for Easter evening service and a group of their friends from church came to dinner after.

(Khalyl, Rosy, Michol, and I at Michol's bday dinner)

So there you have it. Day 2 of my memory dump and some past reflections. Enjoy!

We Found the People!!!

A lot has happened since the last time I blogged so I’m gonna try to do a “memory dump” and write a new post everyday for a week. Think she can do it??? I hope so too,lol. Btw, don’t sweat the new names in this post. Tomorrow’s post will be Introductions, Part 2. So working in reverse chronological order…

Today, Sunday, April 15th. Araguaina closes down on Sundays. I mean desert town tumbleweed status. My friend Rosy introduced Michol and I to Petit Gatou (brownie sundae) at Giraffas (the only "fast food" you'll find in Araguaina other than the Subway on Avenida Filedelfia). It's a popular dessert here and was pretty tasty. We'd been to Giraffas once before. It's more expensive than Mcdonalds but the burgers are way bigger so it's worth the money. Plus, they have real sit down food. I put fast in quotes because the food like everything here takes a while. It's not a problem though because like I said in my cleaning post everything closes between 11:30 and 2 so people have time during the day to go home, eat with the family, shower, and change clothes. Because of this the concepts of doggie bags and to-go cups don't seem to exist here. I mean where are you going that you can't finish your food? Everything's closed.

We also went to a grocery store a little further away than the one (Campelo) we usually go to. We saw maybe five people along the way and it was a long walk. There are three Campelos here. Esmeralda’s daughter owns a (Christian) book store/ice cream shop in a Campelo further away. They took us once for lunch (each Campelo has a cafeteria) and I bought a “RAÇA” magazine. It’s like a combination of “Black Hair” and “Essence” complete with ten page spread of Whitney *moment of silence*

I said all that to say that as my title suggests we figured out where the people are. Today we went to AABB. It’s like a country club and Elisa’s husband, Edson, is the president. This is with two of their four children Nina and Lucas.

Although it rained and we didn’t actually swim it was nice to see families and children playing. Child number three Eduardo’s friend had a 10th birthday party so Michol and I went. I actually had a good time watching the boys play and talking with the adults there. Plus the food was yummy. The hot dogs were cut up in the bun with corn and fry babies (my name). I’m not sure what they’re actually called but it’s the crunchy stuff you put on green bean casserole. I took a pic but my internet is slow and im tired(I take lots of pictures of food though cuz I like to eat so I'm thinking I'll just make an ode to food on here one day). And guarana the classic softdrink. It tastes like ginger ale and comes from a fruit. The two major brands here Antartica and Kuat are made by Pepsi and Coke, respectively.

One of my students invited me to Catholic mass at the church in the plaza shown here to hear her choir sing.

They say when you’re moving to a new place you say yes to everything (within reason of course). So glad we did. I usually go to First Baptist which is on my street. Little did I know that a block down in the plaza there’s a feria. Food, fun (including a mechanical bull which I didn’t ride because I wore a skirt to mass but totally hope to see next Sunday when I’m wearing pants), stuff to buy, but most importantly PEOPLE!!!

In other news, a roach just ran across my bedroom floor. This is the second or third one I've seen since we've moved in (depending on if one and two were the same roach and I think they were) which isn't bad considering I was told to be prepared to see them everyday. It's just not everyday they're in your bedroom. Trust in the midst of writing this post waiting for these pictures to load, I'm acting as inspector gadget and I will be mopping my floor, cleaning my dresser first thing in the morning and maybe changing my sheets.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. Today's discovery definitely changes how my Sundays will be structured. Excited for the books to be read poolside, conversations to be had, and food to be eaten. Beijos.

"It's Been a Long Time, I Shouldn't Have Left You"

So, it’s been about a week and a half although it feels like forever, hints the Aaliyah (Timbaland) reference. Anyways, I’m SUPER excited and here’s why…

A bike. Yes. A bike. Meaning I have transporte. Meaning I am mobile. I rode my new bike for the first time today home from the bike shop. I realized I haven’t actually rode a bike years. It was different cuz Since it’s my transportation I had to ride it in the street and traffic (in my opinion) is much more dangerous in Iberoamerica. Michol on the other hand is a pro as she used a bike for transportation for like 2 years in the states. This is her bike.

Becoming mobile was definitely a process. After investigation we found that cheap bikes should cost about 250 reais ($145). Eventually, the husband of our co-director Elisa (whom you’ll hear about in “my introduction post, part 2”) took us to a shop. Michol explained everything she wanted and he built her a new bike for base rate 330 reais. He told me he could rebuild me a used bike and paint it for 150. Since I was expecting to pay 100 more than that I decided to “pimp” my new ride (yes, I know that’s a derogatory term, still…) So, I got rain guards, lights, and matching basket and bike lock for 220 reais ($127.60)

If you couldn’t tell I’m completely enamored with my bike. It wasn’t what I was expecting, but I think I heart it more. All in all today was a good day and it’s not over yet. I bought another antimofo machine. It sounds gangsterly cool,lol, but it really just means anti-mildew. People keep asking the temperature so… here, it’s hot. And rains. Everyday. Not for long but rains. Hot with 100% humidity. Wana know what that looks like??

This container traps moisture in the air and is an expense I gladly pay. Before I started buying them, I went to put on a sweater but it smelled bad and I hadn’t even worn it and my papers were lightly damp. Since the mildew thing things have been much better. We also learned a better way to clean the floors. We’ve been squeegeeing cuz that’s just what you do here but cleaning anything but the bathroom and laundry room is hard cuz only those rooms have drains. We had these cloths and we were on our hands and knees, but we went to the farm (later post) and saw this woman put the cloth on the squeegee and mop that way. We were like, oh. So next time I mop, I’ll let you know how that goes.
Welp, that’s all for now. Ttys.