Volunteer in Mission to Brazil

14 May 2007

What's going on

Irony of the week
I had occasionally heard what sounded like someone throwing pebbles at my bedroom window before, but last week in the middle of the night, it kept happening over and over, to the point where I got up and looked out from the balcony to see if somebody was outside. The thing I couldn't understand was that most of the window is covered by a grate, and the sound was something hitting the glass, not the metal grate. I couldn't imagine that somebody had sufficient aim to consistently hit that little part of the window that isn't covered by the grate. Only after 10-15 minutes of consternation did I realize that I had stuffed the curtains into the upper part of the window to secure them, and perhaps something on the top part of the curtain that was hanging out the window was making the noise. Sure enough, it turned out to be little curtain hooks I'd never noticed before that were sewn into the curtain. I got some scissors and cut all of the hooks off, put the top part of the curtain out the horizontal window and shut it and tried to go back to sleep. On one hand, I was proud of myself for figuring out what was making the noise, and on the other hand, I was aggravated by having been awakened in the middle of the night, and embarassed at the extent of my paranoia.

For the first time in my life this past week, I saw someone walking a pet bird. The owner was walking along holding his birdcage and singing something that sounded like "lassie" plus various obscure vowel sounds--I'm guessing that was his way of singing in English...

There is a common saying in Brazil that I thought I'd share: "If you run, the beast will get you and if you stay put, it will eat you."

I never understood the appeal of duty free shops in the airport because they all seemed to have equal or higher prices than the regular stores in the U.S. Then my perfume ran out and I went to see if a perfume store carried it, and they do, at double the cost (more than US$100). Perfume must be in the category of goods to which they add a 100% import tax.

The street that runs in front of my metro station has been closed for a while now while they are slowly doing some major construction. The pedestrian route through the area is constantly changing and not very convenient or safe, although it is always clearly marked. The route this week is like a beginner's obstacle course for mountain biking, with various bumps thrown in and a few thin pieces of plywood on top of some thin logs that is supposed to serve as a pedestrian brige over the ditch. One thing about which I am curious is the cultural differences that result in following or breaking rules. All kinds of people and children walk right through the middle of the construction site (i.e. next to the bulldozer) even though the pedestrian route is clearly marked. The workers have used orange netting and stakes around most of the perimeter of the site, but in some areas, they use black and yellow "don't cross this line" tape. I noticed the other day that the tape had been broken in many different places and retied. I'm guessing that's where people cut through (figuratively and literally). It's not that people are in a hurry...I noticed the same thing with people jaywalking across busy intersections. They aren't in a hurry to get anywhere; it's just that there's something that drives them to risk their lives and put their body in front of oncoming traffic. That being said, I have to admit that I've jaywalked, too, but never when cars are close by.

It seems that most people rarely do what they say they are going to do when they say they are going to do it. It's annoying if you're counting on them, but on the flip side, that's what contributes to the extreme social flexibility here and the more laid-back atmosphere that is healthier for living, I think.

I was on a bus Saturday afternoon and realized--you know you're in trouble when the pedestrians are going faster than your vehicle. There was a big traffic jam (it took about 45 minutes to go less than 2 miles) and I was waiting to see if it was caused by an accident or construction. It turned out to be neither; it was the traffic backed up from people trying to get into the mall parking lot to buy a present for Mother's Day.

It's ironic that the beauty standard for a particular place is often the opposite of people's natural features. Here where most people have naturally curly or wavy hair, the height of fashion is straightened hair. It's such a popular procedure to blow dry hair completely straight that in the salons they have these interesting moveable contraptions to hold the blowdryers.

Nicknames are so common here that it's not uncommon when people don't know each other's real names. Several nicknames are based on physical characteristics, but meant in a non-offensive way, for example "fatso" if you're overweight, "big black guy" if you're tall and Black, "little Black girl" if you're a black woman, etc. I have been called "little ant" on a number of occasion because of my sweet tooth.

I'm trying to get back to equilibrium so I can see the glass as half-full again rather than half-empty. I did see a free movie on Friday, and on Saturday, my Canadian friend called me and said they had an extra ticket to a concert if I wanted to go. I quickly researched how to get there, and thankfully, my neighborhood bus went through the area where the restaurant was. It turned out to be a belly dancing performance with live music, which was quite entertaining. I took a taxi home rather than risk waiting an hour for the bus to show up, and it turned out the driver was a Baptist minister. He was talking to me for 15-20 minutes after we got to my apartment building. When he asked me if I was going to stay here, I told him that I'm in a period of discernment. He said something very wise and helpful, but I can't remember what it was...

And finally, I thought I'd end with this image, which is what I see on Sunday mornings when I'm waiting for the metro. I realized one day that some of the shadows are sharply focused and others quite blurry. That made me think about life in general--how somethings are clear and settled and other things are blurry and unknown, but you never have it all perfectly in focus at the same time.

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