Something in the air
Before I forget, I wanted to say that I'm going to try to write regular weekly updates on Monday nights, so you can check here on Tuesdays for new postings.
That flu that I had was no joke. I stayed at home for almost the entire week, only venturing out to São Gabriel on Friday for half a day. I don't have a temperature or congestion anymore, but I'm still exhausted most of the time and am having a difficult time eating (normally eating is not a problem for me...).
One of the hard things about getting over being sick is that now seems to be the season for burning leaves, etc. It's pretty common to find people here burning trash, but now there seem to be fires burning everyday for most of the day, no matter what neighborhood I go to.
I'm slowly beginning to learn the names of our 100+ students at the two different projects. Both projects have undergone a lot of administrative turmoil recently as they had a budgetary crisis, couldn't pay the staff for months and had to shut down briefly. Now a majority of the teachers and staff at both projects are volunteers, and the projects have the same number of children participating with a fraction of the staff they previously had. I truly admire those who are giving so much of themselves to keep the projects going.
I don't know if my appearance or mannerisms have changed since the last time I was here (I suddenly look or act more Brazilian?), but I've definitely noticed more strangers asking me for directions, etc. then when I was here last year.
People here are very creative in adapting to various situations. For example, the mail service here is not known for its reliability, and express mail courier services are prohibitively expensive, so people generally use a network of personal couriers to get things from one part of the country to another. It's not unusual for Person A to call their friend, Person B, who they know is going to São Paulo, to ask them to carry something to Person C, who might either pick the package up at the bus station or might come by Person B's house/hotel to pick it up. This courier service is also used for shorter distances, like between downtown and Liberdade.
Chris and I spend a significant amount of time debunking myths about the U.S. People here see a lot of American television and movies and draw from them alot of assumptions about American society. It's interesting because almost everybody I've met has either a relative or friend working illegally in the U.S., but there are still so many misconceptions about how perfect life in the U.S. is. I realized a big difference between the Brazilian and American economies is that here in Brazil, you might be able to get a job and survive without a college degree, but you would never be able to save money, get ahead, etc. In the U.S., although it is certainly not easy, it is more feasible to work menial jobs and still save money, buy a house, send your kids to college, etc. It's weird that a huge group of people can collectively have such a low self-esteem, but I guess if you believe the international propaganda that a country's success is measured by the strength of its economy, you might feel sub-standard based on the Brazilian economy. I'm always trying to point out to people the strength of the families, friendships and culture here--very important but often overlooked qualities.
That flu that I had was no joke. I stayed at home for almost the entire week, only venturing out to São Gabriel on Friday for half a day. I don't have a temperature or congestion anymore, but I'm still exhausted most of the time and am having a difficult time eating (normally eating is not a problem for me...).
One of the hard things about getting over being sick is that now seems to be the season for burning leaves, etc. It's pretty common to find people here burning trash, but now there seem to be fires burning everyday for most of the day, no matter what neighborhood I go to.
I'm slowly beginning to learn the names of our 100+ students at the two different projects. Both projects have undergone a lot of administrative turmoil recently as they had a budgetary crisis, couldn't pay the staff for months and had to shut down briefly. Now a majority of the teachers and staff at both projects are volunteers, and the projects have the same number of children participating with a fraction of the staff they previously had. I truly admire those who are giving so much of themselves to keep the projects going.
I don't know if my appearance or mannerisms have changed since the last time I was here (I suddenly look or act more Brazilian?), but I've definitely noticed more strangers asking me for directions, etc. then when I was here last year.
People here are very creative in adapting to various situations. For example, the mail service here is not known for its reliability, and express mail courier services are prohibitively expensive, so people generally use a network of personal couriers to get things from one part of the country to another. It's not unusual for Person A to call their friend, Person B, who they know is going to São Paulo, to ask them to carry something to Person C, who might either pick the package up at the bus station or might come by Person B's house/hotel to pick it up. This courier service is also used for shorter distances, like between downtown and Liberdade.
Chris and I spend a significant amount of time debunking myths about the U.S. People here see a lot of American television and movies and draw from them alot of assumptions about American society. It's interesting because almost everybody I've met has either a relative or friend working illegally in the U.S., but there are still so many misconceptions about how perfect life in the U.S. is. I realized a big difference between the Brazilian and American economies is that here in Brazil, you might be able to get a job and survive without a college degree, but you would never be able to save money, get ahead, etc. In the U.S., although it is certainly not easy, it is more feasible to work menial jobs and still save money, buy a house, send your kids to college, etc. It's weird that a huge group of people can collectively have such a low self-esteem, but I guess if you believe the international propaganda that a country's success is measured by the strength of its economy, you might feel sub-standard based on the Brazilian economy. I'm always trying to point out to people the strength of the families, friendships and culture here--very important but often overlooked qualities.
posted by Christine Piggee at
5:36 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home