Officially a month into the trip.

Going to the Federal Police station last Monday to obtain our ids for foreigners marked the end of our first month here in Brazil.

Recently, someone asked me what are some of the biggest differences between here and the United States and I thought this would be a good thing to discuss after spending a month in this country. As I said to the individual that asked the question, one of the biggest differences is the popularity of religion here. I realize that a large portion of the US population is also very religious but for me, growing up in a town that is liberal and not very religious and then moving to a university whose student body is also not very religious, this presents a large difference between life here and in the United States. For instance, when people ask me what religion I am, a question that I sadly dont even know the answer to, I have usually been responding "protestant". I usually respond this way fearing that the truth, that Im actually closer to atheists, would be offensive and spark a discussion that I would not be able to provide the answers to in my limited Portuguese.

Another big difference: Eating rice and beans with every meal. I feel that most people already know this about Latin America but nonetheless it is a difference worth noting. Lucky for me, I really enjoy rice and beans so this difference has proven to be very easy to adjust to.....talk to me in four months when i have eaten rice and beans every day for the past four months and this sentiment could be different.

Third big difference: Walking everywhere! The act of walking everywhere is not a Brazilian thing and is more a function of living in a city where getting from point "a" to point "b" can often be faster by foot then by car or bus. The other three students in the ACM exchange program and I have also been walking to the university several days a week, something that the Brazilian students think is nuts because its about an hour away when walking. This decision to walk to the university originally was a result of a desire to explore the streets of the city and to get some fresh air and though these things still continue to influence this decision, part of the reason we continue walk is the irregularity of the bus schedule. Some days it can actually be just as quick to walk, as it is to take the bus, especially if the first bus is completely full which happens on occasion. Luckily, everyone else is putting up with the same irregular bus schedule and understand when you show up late.

Along with these bigger differences, there are many smaller ones as well: The Brazilian equivalent of soap operas are very popular, the delivery services here are all done on motorcycle (they call them "moto boys"), there is delivery beer, most college students live with their family while going to college, the Federal universities are free, there are still occasionally horses in the busy streets of the city, 40 degrees Fahrenheit is considered "really" cold, and obvious things like no skiing or football games on Sunday mornings.

Though the cultural differences between more sensitive topics like religion can sometimes be difficult, on a whole these changes between life here and in the US are very exciting. I even think that some of the cultural habits here may follow me back to the states like eating lots of cheesy bread (bread balls filled with cheese).

Until next time,

Garrett

Brazilians Passion for Soccer

When you first meet a Brazilian, one of the first questions they ask you is "what soccer team are you a fan of?" And the past three weeks since being here I had no answer. Upon learning this, all the Brazilians than attempt to convince you that their team is the best and that you shouldn’t listen to people who are fans of other teams. After going to a soccer game this past Sunday at Maracana Stadium in Rio, we were converted into fans of Fluminense, a club from Rio. (mostly because they beat the other team 3-0 and they are currently in first place) A friend from the university named Lucio drove us to Rio for the day which is about a 2 hour drive from our city of Juiz de Fora. Being a Sunday afternoon, I expected that the stadium would have a number of fans present but nothing that exciting.....I was wrong. By the time the game started there were 58,000 people in the stadium! Practically the entire game the fans are chanting the various cheers for Fluminese and everyone is on their feet the entire time. It was TRULY a Brazilian experience. In a country that is predominantly catholic I think that soccer is secretly the number one religion.

The same kid, Lucio, that took us to the soccer match had invited me a few days earlier to go mountain biking. I was not sure what to expect and half assumed that it would be a mellow ride but we ended riding 60 kilometers and had to finish the last 20 in the dark. After spending nearly three straight weeks within the city limits of Juiz de Fora it felt amazing to escape it. The ride passed through various farms and down through a lush valley before dropping us out on the highway 20k from town.

The next day, Lucio invited me to go play soccer at a field about 20 minutes outside the city. The field was down in this valley off the main highway in farm land similar to what we had passed through on our bike ride the day before. The field that most Brazilians play on is a lot smaller than the a normal sized field and is usually played with 6 players on each side. There also are really no leagues that people play in (besides the Professional league), instead people just meet up with friends several times a week to play pick up matches. This was my second time playing since being down here and its been great to play soccer more consistently again since I stopped playing soccer in high school.

Tomorrow will mark the end of our second week of classes. With a limited understanding of Portuguese, I have still been able to understand about 60% of the material that the professors are lecturing about it. It also helps that many of the words are similar to Spanish, and a few, especially in science classes, are very similar to English. For example, the word for "reptile" in Portuguese is "reptil". What the professor says about these "reptils" is a little more difficult to understand.

I have ecology in a few hours so I will end here because we are going to grab lunch at the university cafeteria which is about 90 cents per meal (rice, beans, salad, a meat dish, and fruit) A great deal!

Classes Begin....sort of

Ive successfully moved into my new house and spent a week with my new family. I have an aunt named Marlene and a grandma named Cesa. It took me a while to learn how to say their names and they’re still learning how to say mine....i even wrote out a breakdown of how it sounds phonetically. This new housing arrangement was set up by the roommate of Cameron, one of the other students on the program. The two women that I am living with are the aunt and grandma of Cameron's roommate named Felipe.

So far the host family experience has been great! The language barrier is relatively large because they do NOT speak any English and my Portuguese is still not very good....though it continues to improve every week. Every morning i wake up, I have coffee and breakfast with family and if i wake up late they leave my cup and plate out on the table. Ive offered to help with dishes or cooking in exchange for their hospitality but I have had no luck with them accepting this offer. The new house is located right next to the center of downtown. The location is great but has put me about a forty five minute walk away from the university. As a result I will likely take the bus to class a few days a week. Three days out of the week, Carolyn (another student from Colorado College) and I are fortunate to have a ride with one of our professors, Carol. She lives right across the street from me and has offered to carpool to class. Carol, was the same person who helped all of us find classes that suited our interests and introduced us to professors in our field. She has been a great resource this first week of class and orientation and I’m sure she will continue to be in the weeks to come.

I will hopefully be able to post some photos on the next post. I have been unable to post photos at this point because my backpack was stolen which had my camera and ipod inside. I had left the backpack inside Felipe's car while we were inside the indepedencia shopping mall and we came outside to find the rear window broken and my backpack gone. First lesson of the trip and a good lesson for any big city anywhere in the world: DONT leave valuables in the car! Luckily there were no important documents inside like my passport or visa. These would have been far more difficult to replace and possibly just as expensive.

The theft of my backpack aside, the majority of the experiences so far have been positive. We began classes this week but apparently the first week is not important and the majority of students do not show up to class until the second week. My first class yesterday, ecology and the preservation of the environment had a total of five students present out of a thirty person class. My classes this semester are as follows:
Ecology and the preservation of the environment
Introduction to environmental science
Portuguese for Foreigners
Water quality and rights
Ecology of populations and communities

We were all signed up for a soccer class as well but we found out that it is soccer theory and not actually playing so we dropped it.


Until next time!