Saturday, December 13, 2003

finishing up the semester

Well, the most painful part of this semester is finally over. I finished my ISP (independent project), wrote a 30-page single-spaced paper (it took me 50 hours over 3 ½ days), and survived my 40-minute presentation (just barely…) — all within this past week. By the time it was over, I had so much stress (and self-doubt) running through my veins that I treated myself to a full-body massage at the Projeto Quarta Varas (see entry from early October). There, the massage therapy "salon" is an outdoor circular hut made of bamboo that sits right off the beach; so while you're getting the massage you can hear the waves and wind... SO nice and SO what I needed! now I feel like a new person.

Too bad the stress is not quite over. I still have to write an 8-to-10-page paper (in an elaborate response to Eduardo Galeano’s Open Veins of Latin America) by Tuesday and I still don’t know how or what about.

Plus, I also need to do all the last minute soaking in… of the culture, the beach, the warm weather (tonight it’s 27° C, or ~85° F ?), time with my host family, time with the other students in the group, the language, and the Brazilian crafts, music, clothes, night, and people. I’m SO ready to be done with the academic semester and to see my family again, but I’m also not ready to leave Brazil. Oh, what saudades! (which means everything from longing for something, to feeling like something’s missing, to being sentimental about something that soon won’t be there anymore, etc.)

The last 2 ½ weeks of my stay in Salvador were great but far too short. When I wasn’t doing field research (i.e. interviewing folks, observing them in their environments, reading material, etc.), I hung out with either my host cousin or an awesome girl I met from New York, Inasia. I also went to an Olodum concert/show (they’re a famous “afro-bloco” group, a hip hop show, and a “roda de samba” (samba music jam circle), among a few others… Overall, Salvador was great! I loved it there. The people are so beautiful and loving… I was sad to leave.

Now that the semester is (nearly) over, I will fly home next Friday night, spend Christmas with my family in CT, drive back to NC with my sibs, and start school on January 7 (already!!!). Crazy, no?

So if you ever want to know what’s going on with me or if you just want to drop me a line, email me. hopedeifell@hotmail.com

i'll try to share more details and memories later. right now i've gotta worry about that paper and my final days in Brazil.

Until then, take care and spread the love!

P.S. Once I have the chance to edit and fine tune my paper, i'll create a link of it and attach it to the blog.

Thursday, December 04, 2003

National Black Consciousness Day

Thursday, 20 November

To make a long story short, I decided not to explain Brazilian racial relations (here), mainly because it’s so complex and deeply rooted that I wouldn’t be able to lay it all out for you in just a few words… but also because I had trouble coming up with an explanation that would suffice… All in all, my experiences have given me new way of seeing the world, period.

Around 3 p.m., 200+ people congregated on the street in front of Ilê Aiyê’s home in the Liberdade neighborhood, where this world famous Afro-Brazilian “bloco” prepared its lines of drummers to lead the crowd on the 5-km walk (“caminhada”) from there to Pelourinho, the center of Salvador’s historical district. Samba-like music and announcements related to black consciousness blasted from speakers the size of the truck that carried them. Mobile venders were ready with their wheelbarrows balancing coolers which overflowed with 50-cent cans of beers or bottles of water. Around 4 o’clock, fireworks went off to signal the start of the march.
With every step we took and every corner we turned, more and more people joined the march… until it was virtually impossible to move freely. Walking to either the beat of the drum or to the beat of the music broadcasted by loud-speaker, we moved rather slowly at first—practically stepping on each others feet, weaving around the venders, the news reporters and the drumming “blocos,” trying not to lose each other (I walked with two colleagues, our program’s co-director, and her parents), etc. Overall, I felt like a fish swimming in a huge flowing river of beautiful dark waters.

After 2 hours of walking only 3 km, some of us went down to the lower city of Salvador to take a bus to get to our destination faster—Pelourinho. There, we (along with at least a thousand people) wondered through the streets, listened to some (free) conscious Brazilian hip hop and reggae music (on the main square), watched the “caminhada” (that we were in) arrive, and hung out with our friends there.

… Since then…
I’ve been real busy with my project—interviewing, reading, writing, etc…
I’ve enjoyed spending time with my family and friends…
And I plan to write more later when I have time… (in another 2 weeks, right before coming home! – Dec. 20!!)

Friday, November 21, 2003

semester in Brazil: phase two

Once again, it’s taken me forever to get this together... or, rather, it’s been forever since I’ve been able to sit down at a computer and summarize everything… And, in order to keep this brief, I might just list sights, sounds, feelings and places, with or without explanation.

First a synopsis of the synopsis:
The past 2 ½ weeks have been jam-packed full of interesting occurrences, visits, travels, colors, music, people, and lessons… We traveled to the coast of Bahia (a state between Fortaleza and Rio de Janeiro), visited the historical town of Cachoeira for 4 days, and then went to Salvador… Basically, we hung out in Salvador, getting to know the city, its people, the sites, some of the culture and history, etc., as a group for 10 days, and then everyone went on their own to do independent field research projects. Ten of us (incl. me) stayed in Bahia to do our research.
The focus of my research will be the voices and life experiences of 5 young Afro-Brazilian women activists/“militantes” (at CEAFRO, a center of education and citizen development for African-oriented peoples). I want to investigate why they became activists, what and who inspires/influences/drives them to be activists, what obstacles they face(d), and how these compelling voices can empower other young Afro-Brazilian women to take action amid the Brazil’s myth of racial democracy and overt gender placement… Right now, this project is really scary because I have very little guidance, no theoretical framework, and no clue as to how to ask the right questions or do what I’m supposed to do (let alone how to bring it altogether)!… So, that’s what I’m up to, from now until December 6… but now let me attempt to paint for you a picture of the past few weeks.

Bahia: Cachoeira
Bright, solid colors in various shades—yellow, red, blue, beige, white—painted on store and house fronts with Colonial/Portuguese architecture: little metal-caged veranda windows and tall wooden front doors. Cobble-stone streets, churches every 200 yards… Population = 56,000 and 95-99% African descent… Mouth of a river; entrance to the interior. 6 hours by boat or 2 hours by bus (we did both) across the bay from Salvador. A historical port where most African slaves forcefully came before being bought and sold by fazenda (or plantation) owners… Three hundred years after Brazil’s “discovery” (1500), many Africans living in Cachoeira began to organize and lead slave revolts in Salvador. Still today Cachoeira is considered an important center of African heritage and spring for collective action.

Cachoeira is also known for its spiritual richness in Candomblé (an African-based religious tradition) and Catholic syncretism. For example, many Africans practiced their rituals and religious ceremonies behind the façade of Catholicism, bowing down to white saints but worshipping their African deities, in order to protect their spirituality and cultural well-being. On the other hand, many African women managed to pass their true African religious traditions down through the generations and preserve them in their terreiros (or Candomblé worship spaces). We visited two in Cachoeira and one in Salvador. There, fringed white tissue paper hangs from the ceiling, and dried palm frons decorate the corners of the room and the line the doors and windows of the room, and members wear beaded jewelry, white dresses and head wraps… Truthfully, there is no way I can capture everything about this complex religious tradition, its people, its influence on and cultural importance for Afro-Brazilians, or its spiritual exchange… So, I’ll just leave it at that.

Lastly, while in Cachoeira, we stayed in the house of the Sisterhood of Our Lady of Good Death (a well-known example of Catholic syncretism), ate (very well) there, and held our “lectures” there… Even though we didn’t get to meet any of the sisters or witness any of their ceremonies, we enjoyed our time there and, by the time we left, felt like we knew them. Basically, the Sisterhood of Good Death is composed of around 30 older Afro-Brazilian women (average age, 70) who are Candomblé members that worship the death and ascendance of the Virgin Mary… It’s a lot more complex than that, but that’s the best summary I can come up with.

Bahia: Salvador
After 4 days in Cachoeira, we went on a 6-hour boat ride, east, across the bay to the state’s capital, Salvador—the most visited (most exploited) city by tourists in Brazil… at least that’s what I’ve been told and what seems apparent. Regardless, I must confess that tourists have every reason to come. Salvador is beautiful, and its people are generally very friendly, animated, and positive. Like Cachoeira, Salvador’s historic cobble-stone streets are lined with brightly colored Colonial architecture. The whole city doesn’t enjoy this aesthetic richness however. The rest of the city reflects a truer Brazilian reality—poorer infrastructure, lack of finances, absence of institutional support, evidence of survival, diversity of wealth,… You get the picture, no?

During these 10 days together as a group in Salvador, we basically did the following:
-Rented an apartment and hung out a bunch in the Barra neighborhood;
-Enjoyed our most interesting lectures of the semester at CEAFRO (African dance, socio-economic issues of black women, religious intolerance, health, gender and race/ethnicity, the anthropology of solidarity, etc.);
-Attended a public religious ceremony at a well-known Candomblé house—Ilê Axé Opô Afonjá;
-Got to know the historical district, Pelourinho, inside and out… quite the tourist-trap; and
-Visited Project Bahia Street (an org. that helps young girls recognize/value their black identity and works to reinforce their public school education), the Steve Biko Cultural Institute (which does virtually the same thing but for teenagers and other young adults), and Ilê Ayê (a world renown Afro-Brazilian Carnaval “bloco”/group/school based out of the Liberdade neighborhood).

Since the others left to do their independent projects, I moved into my host family’s house, went to the beach with them, did some research, stressed out over the lack of theoretical framework in project…, and attended a reggae festival (Diamba, Tribo de Jah, Adao Negro, Alpha Blondy, Edson Gomes, and Sine Calmon). All in all it’s been great!

What’s my host family like? Afro-Brazilian. Middle-class. Eva, a 40-something mother that’s a spunky hair-dresser and super down-to-earth. Cleono, a 40-something father that works in advertising. Danilo, an 11-year-old brother with whom I share a small bedroom. And Elaine, a 27-year-old cousin that used to work for them but now just lives there and works for a neighboring family. After our first night together, Elaine and I quickly became good friends.

Well, finally, I guess that’s it for now… Today (now, yesterday) is the Day of Black Consciousness, and with 90% of the population Afro-Brazilian, you’d think the entire city of Salvador would take it to the streets! Well, more on this means later… For now I’ve gotta run a join the 3rd annual Black Consciousness march from Liberdade to Pelourinho.

Tuesday, October 28, 2003

beginning independent research

Two weeks ago, our program sent us (in pairs, mostly) out of Fortaleza to do mini-research projects in one week’s time. Lydia (student from Univ. of Vermont) and I were sent to a Christian Children´s Fund Project/school in Russas (pop. 57,000), 150 km south east of Fortaleza and about 50 km inland. (The CCF does some really amazing things, and it's one of the best organized humanitarian/educational/health-based foundations in Brazil!)

The setting?... Rural. High daytime temperatures (95-100 degrees F). Very dry climate. Cool, breezy nights (80-85) with EVERY star in sight. Gorgeous sunsets. Wide-open skies. Red dusty roads. Very few cars; mostly bikes and motos . Some mud houses, some brick. Some painted, some not. All with ceramic-tiled roofs and open ceilings. Thousands of scattered palm trees (used to make wax). Some small-scale agriculture: corn; onions; and orange, acerola, graviola and banana trees. A couple independent ceramic-roof-tile manufacturing co-ops. What used to be the largest dry river bed in the Northeast. (Rain is their main source of water.) A new highway being built straight through the area--for better and for worse. Literate population = 75% men, 85% women.

The Project/school is located about 9 km outside of town and serves nearly 450 students (ages 3 to 16) from the surrounding rural community. Our hosts fixed up an old office space in the school for us to stay; so, you can imagine the students’ frustrated curiosity in wanting to sneak a peak at us or watch our every move. Unfortunately, if we wanted privacy, we’d have to lock ourselves in, latch the shutter-windows, and suffer the heat. Nevertheless, we only did this when we want to do work or nap. Other than that, we’d hang with the kids (most of whom have CCF sponsors) during their breaks, visit their classrooms (or other parts of the community), and play ping-pong with some of them after school but before the bus came—at sunset (5:30)—to take them home… Good times.

For my research project there, I looked at the community service work that 43 women did for the Project. As animardores comunitários (community leaders/“animators”), they each visit 10 families (enlisted with the CCF), check on their living situations (from housing to health and child development), “orient” the family around improving these situations, “accompany” their learning, and report everything (esp. the “red flags”) to the CCF (for the Project to take steps in helping their situations)… I was particularly interested in looking specifically at the women animadores that work outside the home, maintain their homes and families (a socially-constructed gender role, ingrained in every part of Latin American culture, that involves doing every household chore by hand and from scratch), AND manage to volunteer.
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Last week, I spent most of the time writing up this mini-research project and finishing the write-up about Canindé (the religious movement I mentioned in my previous entry). I rewarded myself by going out with friends and going to the beach with my host-siblings. Now, I’m supposed to be doing independent research for my ISP (research project). I’ve finally narrowed it down to a specific topic, but I still need major help in figuring out how to conduct the research (i.e. what questions to ask, etc.) and how to pull it together (i.e. the writing). The topic/ “problem” asks, What are the internal (personal experiences) and external (societal and cultural influences) forces that drive and empower young Afro-Brazilian women activists (specifically 3 to 5 of them, ages 15 to 25)? What obstacles have they overcome to be vocally strong women? How can/do they serve as an inspiration for other young Afro-Brazilian women?

On Thursday, we fly to the state of Bahia (to Cachoeira and then to Salvador), and we’ll be together as a group for 2 weeks before we’re released into the wild to do our independent research projects (ISPs)—for only 3 weeks! Some will return to Fortaleza, but half (including me) will stay in Salvador to do ISPs. On 7 Dec., everyone returns to Fortaleza to turn in and present the ISP projects… I’m already dreading that part.

So, that’s it, I guess, for now. Don’t forget to send me quick email (hopedeifell@hotmail.com) to let me know you’re alive and interested in hearing more…

Monday, October 13, 2003

a diversity of cultural experience

Movimento Sem Terra—MST:
The last weekend of September we took a 2-hour bus ride into the interior of Ceará to visit a settlement (Ze Lourenço) and an encampment (Paz Lenin II) of the Landless Workers Movement (MST). The MST organizes the Brazilian landless and/or homeless to occupy unproductive land (belonging to large landowners) until they achieve ownership—a semi-dangerous but legal process which takes a painstaking 2 years of squatting or camping out before the government recognizes them, evaluates the land, and forces the sell of the land to the MST. We visited an encampment, where landless workers had been for only 2 months, but we stayed in a settlement, where landless workers achieved land, built houses, began producing cajú (cashew), and had been living since 1998.

In the settlement, 71 families live a simple life—bathing with a cup and a few douses of water (no running water), cooking over wood-burning stoves, living in clay houses with limited electricity, studying in one school-house, etc… The encampment, however, was a different story. Among sixty families (30 children), there was no house, no school, no potable water, and no electricity—only white rice to eat (the day we went), a small “lake” nearby for bathing, and wooden poles, black plastic, and other random scraps for shelter. Seeing what these people go through to obtain land was both moving and disturbing… Moving to see their courage, strength, desire and determination to fight for land. Disturbing to see and understand their living conditions, the bureaucratic loopholes they have to go through, the unequal distribution of land, the high number of landless, the malnutrition, and the children, among others. The entire weekend was a real eye-opener to the reality that these landless live, the work the MST does, and Brazil’s need for agrarian (and social) reform.

Projecto das Quatras Varas:
On September 30 we went to a community located within a poorer neighborhood (Cristo Rendentor) of Fortaleza. This community, called Quatras Varas, hosted us for lunch and for our end-of-the-month reflection/discussion. What I found interesting about this community is its “community healing” project—the herbal healing, the massage therapy, the community kitchen, the alternative education, the theater group, the arts and crafts to sell, and (most of all) the group therapy, or “community” sessions. I would have never thought to find a community such as Quatras Varas in this part of Fortaleza, let alone in Brazil. I was impressed by their finding a true sense of “community” and by the model of “community healing” that they managed to construct by their own efforts. (I'd thought about doing my independent research project on this community but ended up deciding not to... more will come on what i've decided to do, as soon as i have a clearer idea on what it is exactly.)

Umbanda: Oxum’s night:
After our group discussion in Quatras Varas, our Portuguese class went to an Umbanda celebration/service. Second to Candomblé, Umbanda is the Orisha tradition (or worship of African deities) with Catholic syncretism most common in Brazil. (I don’t know enough to attempt an explanation, so I will leave that up to you.)

Each orisha has its color, music, element and purpose… The night we went was Oxum’s night… The women participating (the filhas do santo) wore various, big, fat, red, and white/silver dresses; the men (the filhos do santo) wore red shirts and white pants. Neither wore shoes… To begin the ceremony, a pai do santo “blessed” the room and its people with an incense burner, exactly like that of the Catholic church, and prayed to the Crucifix at the head of the room, asking God, the Father, for a blessing.

While passive worshippers sat or stood to one side of the room, these women and men danced (in their own places), sang (in Portuguese) to the various African drum beats, and periodically approaching the mães do santo for a “blessing” (from what I could tell) for nearly 1 hour before they took a smoke break. (Don’t ask me why, but smoking tobacco and, later on, drinking beer has something to do with relating to spirits of the middle passage). Next, 3 women—wearing red garbs, a bronze crown and breastplate, and no shoes, and representing Oxum—entered the room in what seemed like a trance. For 15 minutes or so, they blindly shuffled around the room waving their bronze “swords,” one in each hand, between the two lines of dancers. Without opening their eyes, they never once bumped into each other. Whenever the music stopped, they stopped and, at times, yelled out… Eventually, they made their exit, and the filhos continued dancing and singing.

In the hour and a half before the end of the ceremony, there were 2 other “smoke breaks,” more singing, dancing, spiritual “possessions”, “blessings” by the mães do santo, “counseling” by other spiritual leaders (beer in hand), and so much more that I wasn’t able to observe or interpret… Overall, it was a very powerful and interesting cultural experience, to say the least.

Festival de São Francisco in Canindé:
October 5-7, we went (as field researchers) to a spiritual festival in Canindé (2 hours into the interior of Ceará). This religious movement attracts people from all over the Northeast (and beyond), many of whom come to “pay their promise (for being healed)” to or receive a blessing from São Francisco (Saint Francis of Assisi). Some people come to witness this spiritual spectacle, others to sell their merchandise, and still others to plea for alms. In just that one weekend, according to the Globo news, there were nearly 700,000 visitors in Canindé, a town of only 25,000 inhabitants.

So many poor, distraught, sickened, disabled, injured, hopeless, desperate, and spiritual folks come to Canindé looking for a miracle that a “House of Miracles” was built to accommodate all their photos, symbolic body parts, cut hair, old clothes, and other representative objects to be blessed. Someone from our group mentioned that the appearance and feel of the place reminded her somewhat of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, except that people chose to bring their things to this place for spiritual cleansing.

One theory as to why so many poor people come to places like Canindé for spiritual revival is because the government lacks social institutions, like education, health systems, and other socio-economic assistance programs. Where the government doesn’t provide (which is the case for a majority of Brazilians), God does—thus, a religious festival for Saint Francis, a saint with a heart for the poor.

Lastly, I must mention the crazy contrasts between the wealth of the church and the poverty of the majority of “festival go-ers” and between the religious and the non-religious activities.
Visible from miles away, the town’s basilica lit up like a Christmas tree, or more like a Vegas casino. Surrounding this pristine church—its steeple, archways, stain-glass windows, bright lights, and evangelist-like stage in front (for outdoor Masses and contemporary worship)—sat hundreds of sick, tired, and desperate people who walked, biked, bussed, rode (truck beds), and did everything in their power to come from the far reaches of the Northeast for the church’s blessing… Is there a balance? Should there be?

While church Masses, personal confessions, and material blessings (i.e. water, merchandise to sell, and replicas of spiritual needs) took place on one side of town, people rode carnival amusement rides, drank beer, gambled, and bought without reserve in the markets on the other side of town. What does this say about the religious significance of Canindé? About the Brazilian culture? About Catholicism? About the people that come to Canindé?

So many questions left in my mind about each of these experiences… no time to flush them out or satisfy my curiosity. I must move on to my other preoccupations, like my independent research project (ISP), a mini-research project (all this next week), other journal writings and term papers, my final days with my host family and others in the group before I go to Salvador for the rest of the semester (for class and for my ISP), and my own “me” time (nearly never).

Wednesday, October 08, 2003

daily schedule

over the past couple weeks, we´ve had some pretty amazing experiences, e.g. visiting an MST settlement/encampment, an Umbanda celebration, a religious movement/pilgrimage to Canindé in the name of St. Francis of Assisi, and a grassroots "community healing" place, among others...
but right now, i don't have the time nor the words to recapture everything here...
i will update again later this week with some of those details...

as for now, here's a small window of my daily reality:
-up between 7 and 7:30 (nearly every morning!)
(everyone gets up early here... i think it´s because of the hot weather and the early morning sunrise.)
-a cold shower in the morning and again at night when i come home
(2-3 showers/day is normal, and hot showers are non-existant in northern brazil. they don´t really need them b/c it´s too hot and humid.)
-breakfast: grilled cheese, tapioca-bread wrap with butter, or just bread or crackers with a type of cream cheese (requeijão); coffee (only the instant kind at my house); and natural fresh fruit juices--guava, pineapple, graviola (english, ?), cantalope w/ orange, mango, passion fruit, avocado (which is only served sweet here), papaya, strawberry, and banana, among many others (which don´t have translation, that i know of).
-30 minute bus ride to school (or actually to the Brazil-US Institute)
-advanced portuguese class (9-12) -- we talk about everything from social issues to other cultural experiences (with the program or on our own); we went to an Umbanda celebration (i.e. an afro-brazilian religion mixed with catholicism); we made lunch for our teacher one day (tacos and fondue); last night, we went out to a club to see live music and to taste a bit of the "culture"; and we have fun while working on our practical portuguese.
-lunch: somewhere near school with others from the program... many places are "food by the kilo;" others have "grilled" food, pizza, sandwiches, etc.
-in the afternoons (3-6), we either have field research class or independent research time (which i haven´t been very constructive with since i lack self-disipline and focus)...
-sun sets at 6 (which i don´t think will ever change since we´re nearly on the equator)
-home by 7 (usually)... i take a shower, hang with one sister who´s almost always home, eat something small for dinner, work on some homework, piddle,... you know the drill.
-asleep by 12:30 (on average)
(i usually stay up doing homework, but i´ve been able to go out a couple times over the past month.)

that's it for now. sorry i haven't been updating this lately... it's just so much happens so fast, and i don't find the time to reflect for my own purposes... i only have time for school work, barely...

Monday, September 22, 2003

settling in (somewhat): host “family” & first week of class

Time is flying by! And I’m beginning to wish that I’d taken off next semester to just hang out here, relax, travel, and enjoy my stay in Brazil! It’s not that I’m not enjoying myself now (because I am!), it’s just that we have so much work to do that I hardly have time to relax… it feels like I have something (reading, writing, researching—tons of it!!) hanging over my head constantly… and I’m so slow, so easily distracted, so impatient with all of it, and so unfocused… plus, the heat, the humidity, and the high number of (carpenter?) ants and other little bichos (animals) crawling about my room freely (which is apparently a cultural norm here in the northeast) don’t help my lack of concentration and focus.

to make matters worse, we’re supposed to be diving right into the research for our independent projects (ISP’s), and I still don’t really have a clue what I want to do… you’d think I’d know after having spent so much time traveling in and studying brazil, but that doesn’t mean that I have a clear idea of what specific thing I want to research in depth and turn into a 30-to-50-page term paper… yikes! I need to get on the ball! (so, forgive me now for not keeping in touch with each of you individually and for not updating this more regularly or with greater detail.)

Briefly (and to recap), my host “family” includes a brother (Marcelo, 29) and a sister (Ana Paula, 23), who study all the day and work into the evenings, and another sister (Aurélia, 24), who isn’t studying nor working for the time being. Their parents live nearly 200 km south of Fortaleza in a city called Quixadá. (We went there last weekend for a short visit… The town is beautiful, historic, not over-developed, surround by rocky outcroppings, a bit touristy due to its hang-gliding and famous catholic sanctuary, and home to nearly 40, 000 inhabitants, but it’s also VERY hot and dry.)

Our apartment in Fortaleza is very simple but sufficient. I have my own bed room, but we share a bathroom and I have to keep my clothes in my sister’s room because my room has no place to store clothes. I sleep in a bed, but each room (including the living room) is equipped with at least 3 or 4 hooks to hang hammocks… The apartment complex (of 300 apts.) is right next to a squeaky train track and not far from the airport. So you can imagine the noise… What else (here) worth mentioning?... Open, screen-less, pane-less windows with shutters. Wood and ceramic tiled floors. Florescent lamps (no soft watt lights of any kind)…

One more thing worth mentioning about our homestays is that they are spread across the board in terms of socio-economic class. Many of us are living in very poor neighborhoods, and a few others are living in upper class (or at least upper middle-class) apartments or houses. I’m right in between the two extremes—in what my host mother called simple “student housing.”… I’m not 100% sure about SIT’s motive for randomly placing us into different housing situations, except that it’s supposed to give us different perspectives of life here. While this is somewhat true, it doesn’t change the fact that each of us is living only one reality… I don’t know. I have a lot of mixed feelings about the whole program, and one day I’ll tell you more about it…

Lastly, our first week of class went well. Our advanced Portuguese classes are fun, because our teacher (Eneide) likes to have fun, joke around, and talk about real issues (not just grammar, pronunciation, and literature). I am one of 5 in the class, but only 3 of us have a good handle on the language… The only major issue I have with this program concerning the Portuguese is that it’s not all in Portuguese. Since nine tenths of the group barely knows novice Portuguese and since we have SO much reading and writing to do in English, I can already tell that my Portuguese is suffering, or at least it’s not advancing as fast as I’d hoped… Nevertheless, I’m still learning a lot.

Our program’s theme class (Culture, Development, and Social Justice) has been interesting. So far we’ve had someone come speak to us about Native Brazilian Identity and the New Indigenous Movement and about Brazil’s economic and political battleground and Lula’s campaign and presidency. Lectures/discussions are conducted in Portuguese and translated… The Field Study Seminar also began, but we only managed to get through introductions. A Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology and Philosophy (Eduardo Olivera) leads the class, approves our independent projects (ISP’s), helps guide our research, walks the journey with us (as he would say), and takes us on “field-research trips.” Overall, I’m excited about the hands-on learning; I detest the amount of reading for the theme class and for our ISP’s; I fear the quantity, quality, and velocity of writing that’s required of us for all of the above; and I’m a bit worried that I won’t figure our what to do for my ISP in time… That’s it, for now.

irmoes.JPG
My host "family" in Quixadá (behind us is a reservoir that slaves built)

Tuesday, September 16, 2003

Pacotí: a mountain-top experience

in a few words, Pacotí was beautiful, and our experience as a group there was indescribable... now, we're more united and ready for what challenges lie ahead.
friday, after a 2-hour bus drive up into the mountains, we arrived to a "site" (similar to aida's sítio--see previous entires) or a simple house located on a small parcel land (owned by a rich landowner). this gracious family of 5 (not to mention all their neighbors and cousins coming and going) hosted and cooked for all 26 of us (21 students plus 5 leaders) for the entire weekend! we brought our own food, but it was still tricky for them to manage all our meals, let alone for them to find enough space for everyone to hang their hammocks... apparently, they´re used to it, because SIT sends their students there every semester. regardless, their generousity, love and care to host us was an amazing example of brazilian hospitality!

saturday, we split up into two groups: one went into the "city" (pop. 3000) of Pacotí, and the other stayed at the "site" to get to know the rural life of Pacotí (i.e. the life of the farmers and their landowner). in the afternoon, we compared our experiences and revisited our position as outsiders and people of privilege (i.e. we come and go, but what can we take from these experiences?)... debates/discussions such as these are exactly why i´m here--to be challenged and to discover the reality of another culture by being aware/conscious of my place in the world... to find peace within myself and justice in the world... for "peace is the fruit of justice."

saturday evening, we went to Guaramingaba (another mountain town) to a annual theater festival... i didn't make it into the theater show (because they sold out before i got a ticket), but i enjoyed people-watching, hanging out with a few fellow students, drinking a cold draft beer (my first since florianópolis), and breathing in the cool mountainous air...

sunday was our "mountain-top" experience as a group. we went on a hike to a remote chapel about 5 km further into the mountains, past the banana farms and down a long dirt road. just like the coast, the mountains are scattered with palm trees of all kinds--something very unusual for a mountain girl, like me. (there are as many as 12 different species of palm trees!) once we got to the chapel, we sat in silence--listening to the wind and the stillness of the moment. (it was a wonderful relief from the constant chatter i hear from everyone in the group.) after that, we shared our fears of the semester and of ourselves, our emotions, our pardons, and our hugs. it was a wonderful bonding experience, and i feel like many of us were able to let go of the things that might have been holding us back... plus, i really liked that we essentially broke the ice by sharing embraces... i love hugs, and i really began to miss them... you know me.

anyway, after that, we headed back to the sítio, packed up, and went back to the heat, humidity, and grime of fortaleza... oh joy... yesterday, we walked around fortaleza with our portuguese professors, and today, we started our portuguese classes and program's seminars... that's it for now, but feel free to email me or write me a snail mail letter... hint, hint. love you guys! and miss you terribly!

Hope Deifell
c/o William Calhoun
Caixa Postal 52867
Agencia Aldeota
Fortaleza - CE - Brasil
60150-970

Friday, September 12, 2003

Photographer José Albano and the first night with our familes

wednesday, we toured fortaleza with world-renown photographer José Albano. we visited a cemetery, a cultural center, a beach where fishermen began and continue to maintain their livelihood despite the tourism that's built up around them, the only vista that over looks the city (fortaleza is very flat), and a few other random spots... afterward we joined Zé at his communal house for a late lunch, a walk through some of the enormous sand dunes that line the coast here, and a slide show of some interesting spots in Ceará (the state of fortaleza)... i must mention that Zé quite a character and a very unique brazilian. he's a vegetarian; he frequents Rainbow Gatherings (annual US and Internat'l hippy gatherings); he serves on the Associação Brasileira de Comunidades Alternativas; and he built his home from mud and used glass bottles (of every shape and color) as conduits for natural light... we were really fortunate to have the opportunity to know him and spend the entire day with him.

thursday, we met our families! everyone was very anxious to meet their families, but my anxiety didn't surmount to much because my familiy didn't come to meet me... actually, they were misinformed and didn't realize that they were supposed to come... truthfully, better me than anyone else, because at least i know the language, i understand the culture, and i've been in situations far worse...

about them and my living situation: i have 2 sisters (ages 23 and 24) and 1 brother (29)--of portuguese descent--who are living in fortaleza just for school. their other sister and brother are married, have kids (2 each), and live elsewhere. their parents live 2 hours outside the city. (the mother is visiting right now, and we'll go visit them next weekend.)... our apartment is VERY simple and lower middle-class, and it's about a half hour from downtown and from the institute where we have classes. (i've noticed that the northeast is SIGNIFICANTLY poorer than the south of brazil.) overall, i've enjoyed getting to know them, but i'm a little upset that we're going to be so busy (with homework and with other programs) that i won't get to spend a lot of time with them... at least, with my advanced portuguese, i can already get to know them pretty well...

tonight, we (as a group) head up to Pacotí, which is in the mountains southwest of fortaleza... i'll let you know how it goes. it should be interesting because we're all going to stay in one house together--everyone sleeping in hammocks... até logo.

Tuesday, September 09, 2003

School for International Training: Orientation

so much to tell, so little time and words to capture it all.

fortaleza is very warm (~hot at mid-day) and humid. i can feel the salt in the air and a constant breeze from the ocean. (it reminds me of S. California) from where we are (a little enclosed hostel/retreat space in beach park--just south of fortaleza), the wind blowing through the palm trees sounds similar to a heavy summer rainstorm--a delightful sound to fall asleep to... speaking of which, i've had the unusual pleasure of sleeping Northeastern-Brazil-style--in a hammock, diagonally in order to maintain a straight back. can you imagine? i don't think i could have either... until now.

so, my semester has finally begun! i'm one of 21 socially-conscious, friendly, respectful, interesting, american gringos, and i think i'm ready for what will be a very challenging, analytical, and culturally rich experience for each of us... the events of the past few days attest to that: a capoeira performance; a "drop-off" in fortaleza*; getting to know each other within the group; maintaining my own interpersonal relationship skills; stepping back (w/ the portuguese and my experiences in brazil) to give others the chance to step forward; paying attention to the cultural differences that seem second-nature to me already; and keeping up with the loads of reading required for this course. oh joy, the challenges that await me.

*for the "drop-off" today, our program dropped us of at a bus terminal, from where we had to find our assigned destination somewhere within fortaleza. my partner, Leon, and i had an interesting time because the address of our destination (Delegacia da Criança e do Adolescente--Juvenal Court) was wrong... we made it nevertheless, and it ended up being a good reality check and a good way to get to know the city... anyway, that's all the news for now (or at least all i can muster up right now, for i'm tired, i need to go to bed, and tomorrow is going to be a long day)... boa noite para voces (tão longe de mim)!

Friday, September 05, 2003

passeio no cerrado de Minas Gerais

last night, i went bowling with aida, her boyfriend, her sister, and 4 cousins... i did remarkably well considering i haven´t played since i broke my wrist in january (snowboarding, for those of you who didn´t know)... the only notable differences about bowling here are that you can drink while playing and that the bowling alley is smaller and more closed in.

today, rather than going to ouro preto, aida and i went to her "sítio" (or really small and simple fazenda/ranch) in baldim, near serra do cipó (north of belo horizonte)... the trip took 1 1/2 hours to get there--half of it winding down a long, red-dirt road through the arid interior of the state Minas Gerais. the landscape reminded me of something between eastern africa and new mexico (from what i can imagine)... their house there is very simple: no electricity; running water pumped up from the small stream below; a gas-powered fridge(!); a wood-burning stove to heat bath water; free-range geese and chicken; and fruits of all kinds--orange, lime, key lime, banana, avocado, pineapple, goiaba (guava), amora, urucum, jaboticaba, pitanga, mangueira (mango), cajuzeiro (cashew), pequi, mexirica (tangerine), figo (fig)... it was so nice to get away from the city and from the air and noise pollution of Progress. it was a pity to leave (after only 4 hours), but we had to get back before too late... tomorrow, i fly out at 7 for brasília (where i have a 4-hour layover), and i arrive in fortaleza at 1:45 to meet up with the rest of the SIT study abroad group... truthfully, i´m eager to start the program, but i´m not looking forward to being among a group of english-speaking gringos, again... that´ll probably change, though... i´m optimistic... até logo. beijos a todos!

Wednesday, September 03, 2003

Jogo de Futebol no Minerão

time has flown by! as it will continue to fly by.

yesterday, i was supposed to eat lunch with my second family, but my "sister" of this family went into labor... later on, i stopped by the clinic to the new baby boy and to say goodbye to the fam... so, instead of eating with them, alberto and i went to an excellent seafood place in Praia de Jurerê and had a creamy shrimp dish over rice and fried potato rounds. so good!... that afternoon and evening, i met up with the former maid of my first host family--vera; we had coffee with the mother of an old exchange student--maria carmen; and we went by 4 different places to say goodbye to all the galera ("folks") that i met through alberto--bidigui, gionni, rodrigo, camila, and oscar... after 4 hours of sleep, we hurried off to the airport.

it was so sad to leave florianópolis, again, but at least this time, i know i´ll return again soon... the hardest part was saying goodbye to my good friend (and tourist guide), alberto. thank you, bbto. ;)

just after arriving to belo horizonte, aida and her cousin, laura, took me to my first brazilian jogo de futebol (soccer game)--Atletico v. Flumenense! crazy, but relatively calm (compared to bigger, more important games)... considering the exchange rate, tickets were only $0.80 and beers were only $0.50... for those of you in asheville, this sure beats Thirsty Thursday, doesn´t it?!... plus, since soccer runs through the blood of most every brazilian, the entire experience was spectacular!... well, that´s all for now, gente... tomorrow we´re planning to go to ouro preto--a place famous for its old gold mines... falou, gente.

Monday, September 01, 2003

Passeio pro Sul da Ilha "Trip to the South of the Island"

today, alberto and i went down to Lagoinha do Leste, one of my favorite little, secluded spots in floripa. it takes about 2 1/2 hours to go and return, but the vistas/views are spectacular! it has the most perfect mixture of mountains, sea, nature, sky, sand... i loved going back there. it brought back so many memorias.

yesterday, we didn´t do much (typical of sundays here), but alberto´s parents are worth mentioning here. his father is so happy, sweet, kind, and friendly. his mother is the same, but she is also very hospitable and generous--her soup was great! i´ve really enjoyed getting to know them...
tomorrow, i´m going to eat lunch with my second family, and then we´re going to meet up with alberto´s friends for a "goodbye" night for me... then, wednesday, i fly to belo horizonte to hang out with my friend, aida... até logo, gente!

Saturday, August 30, 2003

winter in Floripa

daí gente ("well, people"), the winter here got me. tuesday morning (after a night out at a boite ("night club") called O Santo where they play popular american hip hop music on monday nights), i woke up with swollen glands, aching shoulders, and a headache. (no, it wasn´t a hangover--i don´t drink as much as it sounded like in my last entry.) i spent almost the whole day sleeping, except for when we went over to a friend of alberto´s (luiz felipe) for lunch.

finally, wednesday morning, i felt much better, thanks to my mother´s cold and flu tablets and zinc/vitamin C cough drops... wednesday, i had lunch with my second host family (the Menegaz family) and visited with them. when i arrived, they said i hadn´t changed a bit--neither had they, except that my host sister is expecting a little boy. my mãe, my pai, my irmã (sister) and two of their friends were there. (my irmão (brother) and another irmã weren´t able to come--the former is studying english in australia, the latter was working.)... it was great to catch up with them, to see my old house, and to be able to communicate so well with them. neither of us could believe it had already been 6 years that i´d been gone!... over all, the visit was great! it felt so natural to be there... i´m planning to hang out with them again on monday or tuesday.

thursday, i had lunch with my first host family (the Schlemper family) and visited with them, too. they also thought i hadn´t changed, only that i´d lost weight. (while i was an exchanged student, i´d gained about 10-15 pounds... with all the bread, fried snacks (coxinhas, pasteis, etc.), pasta, beer, etc., i don´t know how brazilian women stay so thin.)... it was also very very good to spend time with them again. the whole family (minus one irmã) came to eat lunch with me! it was great to see everyone, and it felt so natural to be back in their house again. besides a few little additions to the family, everyone is the same. from the moment i arrived, my mãe showered me with care and hugs. she was and stilll is such a warm, loving mother... again, over all, the visit with them was great! i met up with them again this afternoon to hang out, to drink fresh fruit juices at Café Cancun, to pass by one irmã´s house, and to eat dinner at another irmã´s house... monday evening, we´re planning to meet at Golden Café for a coffee and snack and to say our goodbyes.

friday, we met up with some friends of alberto´s (camila and oscar) and went to Praia do Santinho (one of my favorite beaches)... of course, it was too cold to swim, but it was very beautiful nonetheless... (later i´ll attach photos.)

besides all this, i´ve either been just enjoying or amused by the brazilian life--the night, the late mornings, the main meal at mid-day, the little quirks that you can only encounter in brazil (see previous entries), the food, the openness, the novelas (literally "soap operas"), the mobile advertizing (cars w/ loud speakers), the people-watching, the hunter and the prey of brazilian night culture, the consumerism of the wealthy, the cleanliness, the random smells of sewage, ... i´ll try to write more details later. i must get going... beleza, gente. beijos a todos!

Monday, August 25, 2003

Florianópolis

it is soooooo crazy to be back in Floripa again. so far it´s been all i´d hoped. my good friend, alberto, picked me up at the airport saturday morning (the 23rd), and ever since then, we´ve been all over. it´s fun to revisit all my old stomping grounds. in fact, in only two days, we´ve already been by Praça XV, Felipe Schmidt, Centro, Café Matisse (at the Centro Integrado de Cultura), a Univerisidade Federal (where i took a "Portuguese class for strangers/foreigners"), Praia dos Ingeles, Praia da Joaquinha, Praia Mole Barra da Lagoa, Lagoa do Conceição, and Praia de Jurerê Internacional (where alberto used to work in a really nice hotel--Hotel Jurerê Beach Village)... i haven´t gone to visit my old host families, yet, but i will some time this week...

like i said, it´s been so crazy, so surreal to be back here... after 6 years, a lot has changed here (more stores, more highways, more people, etc.), but it feels like just yesterday that i sat on the beach sipping on a caipirinha (sugar rum w/ lime, ice, and sugar) or a "chopp" (beer)... or just yesterday that i passed through Praça XV and hung out with the venders there... or just yesterday that i walked to school (Colégio Catarinense) or passed by the shopping mall on the Beiramar or chilled out on the beach with exchange-student or brazilian friends...

what else? well, first, it´s been really awesome to hang out with alberto again. he was one of my best friends when i lived here before, and it doesn´t feel like a single day has passed since we saw each other last... except of course that we´ve both "grown up" quite a bit... the first night i arrived to "Floripa", we went to alberto´s old workplace. while sipping on quite a few cafezinhos ("little coffees"), i met a few other crazy brazilians--camila, matheus, marcelo, fernando, luiz felipe, steffano, and oscar--and i got the royal tour of this grand hotel... afterwards, alberto and i went to camila and oscar´s place for a bit, and from there, we went to café matisse to have a few beers and listen to some live music... i introduced alberto to a "black and tan" (xingu with bavaria)-- i don´t think he´d ever had one, and he probably thought i was crazy... in fact, he just confessed to me that he´s already sure that i´m crazy... lastly, i must say that i had a really good time meeting alberto´s friends--especially camila. we got along really well, and it took us no time to get to know each other. she´s not like any other brazilian woman that i´ve met, meaning she and i think a lot alike with regards to socially-constructed gender roles, music, etc... she´s supercool.

since we stayed out until the typical brazilian hour--5, almost 6, in the morning--we didn´t wake up until 1 the next day. the first thing we did after waking up was drink a beer on the beach (Praia dos Ingeles). later on, we went to a "goodbye" dinner of one of alberto´s friends, magnus. we had calamari, shrimp, fried oysters, french fries, guaraná, and, of course, beer. afterwards, we went back to magnus´s house for some dessert, beer, and a little private guitar concerto, thanks to another luis felipe--magnus´s sister´s boyfriend. finally, alberto and i went back to his place at Praia dos Ingeles to crash.

today, we woke up late (again), and went into town. we walked around centro... what nostalgia. again, after 6 years, it´s a little strange, but it feels like i was here just yesterday. i love it! on our way back to the car, we stopped for an "exotic" fruit juice and snack. i had açai with guaraná; alberto had pineapple with spearmint. i highly suggest either one, but especially açai--which is an energetic purple fruit from the northeast. anyway, i think that´s it for now. i´ll write again later.

Saturday, August 23, 2003

impressions

brazil is quite an experience--the division of classes, of labor, and of socailly-constructed gender roles; the sexual explicitness and public displays of affection; the value of security (i.e., the fenced-in supermarkets, the guarded apartments and schools, the gated housing); the random fireworks; the barking dogs; the formally-dressed, small-waisted women and the casually-dressed, glaring macho men; the cleaniness (people are paid to clean most public places) and the filth (in the slums, in the cities "streams," in the air); the little trash cans in the bathroom for your toilet paper (their sewage system can't take it); all the buses and little cars (no SUVs!); excellent restaurant service without the expectation of tips... the list goes on.

today sarah and i took the tourist bus around town and stopped at the Jardim Botanico (botanical garden), the Parque Tingue (a city park), the Memorial Ucraniano (a ukranian memorial), the Torre Merces (a vista of the city--at sunset), and downtown curitiba. after returning home, we ate dinner with the fam and went out to a bar/birthday party... that's it for now. off to floripa tomorrow.

Thursday, August 21, 2003

Curitiba

from yesterday (the 20th) until saturday (the 23rd), i'm hanging out with my friend sarah (from UNC-CH) who's doing a study abroad to curitiba. (curitiba is in southern brazil, only 5 hours from florianopolis, where i did my exchange year as a senior in high school.)

curitiba is supposedly known for it's cleanliness and environmental-consciousness, but i haven't seen any proof yet... today, i went with sarah to her class of brazilian geography (9:30-12), and i was surprised to understand most of the "lecture." by "lecture" i mean that the entire classroom experience felt like high school. maybe that's because the students were fresh out of high school.

brazil's educational system is completely different than that of the US: students chose a major in high school, take a big test (the vestibular) at the end of high school in their major, and enter the university (depending on if they can afford to take the test, on the grade they make on it, and on where they place in the ranks of the major). generally, once they enter uni, their curriculum is set for them, and they remain with the same group of students thoroughout their uni career... makes me appreciate our educational system that much more.

anyway, after class we came home for lunch (the main meal of the day), and we went into centro. yesterday, we came into centro but only to change money and cruz the town a bit. today, we went to the Passeo Publico, which is a type of urban zoo and public park. there were birds from all over brazil and even some from africa. there were also some monkeys, snakes, rodents, turtles, and iguanas. after that we walked through the historic district (european-esque with cobble stone-streets), browsed the venders, found a buy-sell-trade CD-book-vinyl shop (which was pretty cool), and finally headed back to her house.

tomorrow, we'll probably take the "tourist bus" around to all the other sites of curitiba, and then we might go out to a birthday party of one of sarah's classmate tomorrow night. who knows? saturday morning, i'm off to florianopolis to see my old stomping grounds, and my old host families and friends! i can't wait!

Wednesday, August 20, 2003

arrived

i'm here! i arrived today, safe and sound, but i'm very exhausted... so i will have to write again later.

one thing is for sure, being back in brazil is so surreal. the street smells (both sweet and rotten), the class-division, the kamikaze cars, the venders, the beggars, the bus exhaust, the pushy pedestrians... the list goes on... but i cannot. i'm tired and running on 4 hours of plane-sleep. entao, boa noite, gente. ate logo. ta bom?

Monday, August 18, 2003

off to Brazil

i know (for some of you), it seems like it's been forever... so, i say, better late than never. hello from hope, again... so, now... have you ever wondered what hope's up to these days? (i wonder the same thing myself.)

well, she's off to brazil on tuesday for a semester study abroad. then, she'll graduate from UNC-CH in may (finally)... in the meantime, she'd really love to hear from you (for real!), one way or another. (email might be few and far between for the next few weeks/months, but the good, old-fashion snail-mail is always fun...)
espero sua reposta. ate aquel dia, se cuida. ta?
em paz,
hope

you can contact me ('til october) at:
Hope Deifell
c/o William Calhoun
Caixa Postal 52867
Agencia Aldeota
Fortaleza - CE - Brasil
60150-970

Tel:011-55-85-476-9099