3/8

Well, I have to say that this experience has been great for me. About half a year ago, I had no idea that right now I would be making a blog entry in Brazil. This experience has really opened my eyes to a different side of Brazil that I didn’t get to know while on my mission. I don’t regret a second of it, and I know that from the photos you can tell that this is true.

You might also think from the photos that all we did was have fun and visit tourist places, but for me at least, I believe that this experience has strengthened my communication skills and has increased my appreciation for Brazilians. I hope that I can appreciate my own country a little more now, knowing the luxuries that I take for granted don’t even exist in other places. Thank you for accompanying me on this wonderful journey, and I hope that it has been of some benefit to you!

I will spend the next week in Bahia, Brazil where I will revisit some places that I passed by on my mission. I hope that I can apply what I have learned here and make the most of the time I still have!!!

Thanks for reading!!!

2/8

The last full day of the official study abroad program. What a great conclusion to an awesome experience! Today we went to O Encontro dos 2 rios, or “the encounter of the two rivers”. It’s where the Amazon ALMOST starts when two rivers converge. Something that’s interesting is that when these two rivers meet up, they don’t mix for several miles because of differences in density, temperature, and speed. It was an impressive sight to see.

This is a picture from yesterday. It's still cool!!

After this, we traveled to a floating restaurant where we ate food AND  fed monkeys!! I hope that the monkeys haven’t become completely dependent on the food from the restaurant, but in truth I doubt that this place will be going anywhere even though it floats.

We went on a hike in the jungle close to the resort. Our guide showed us how the natives caught and trapped animals. They’re definitely a lot more in tune with nature than we are!

We finished off the day with dinner and a goodbye party. It’s awesome that everything ended on such a good note!

Thanks for reading!!

1/8

Wow! Our trip has almost come to an end! I can’t believe how fast time passes! Today, like every other day these past two months, was awesome! We set out once again on the Rio Negro to go for a little swim…WITH DOLPHINS!!!!

Talk about a once in a lifetime experience! It was honestly one of most surreal experiences I’ve ever had. I’ve never been a huge fan of animals, especially ones which are my size or larger. However it was interesting to see how tame the dolphins were. One even nibbled on my foot as I was treading water. I was screaming like a little baby as they brushed past me under the water… for like 3 minutes and then I had to go back to get a noodle to float on or I would have died!

After this we visited a Rubber Museum where a little over 50 years ago people were basically enslaved and forced to make rubber for food, without the option of leaving or receiving pay. Hundreds, if not thousands of rubber workers died in those conditions. It made me really think about how lucky I was to be from the United States and have the privilege of not having to worry about that kind’ve thing.

Right now, I’m outside on the resort grounds, trying to not get eaten alive by mosquitos. They seem to attracted initially to my computer screen and then subsequently to my succulent flesh. Another great day!!

Thanks for Reading!

31/7

Today, the completely unexpected happened, well kinda. We went on the Amazon River, okay well actually it was the Rio Negro(Black River) and crossed it to the other side to the resort where we will be staying. We have a guide named Washington who is from Guiana.

Today after we got unpacked we set out on the Rio Negro. Our objective: catch piranhas! We split up into 3 boats and our boat ended up having the most success by catching more than 30 fish. I only caught one but it was still fun!

After this, we set off on the hunt of caiman, a small crocodile. I wasn’t expecting anything when our guide got down on his belly on the boat and reached out and grabbed a live caiman! We all got to hold it and take pictures with it.

What a great introduction to Manaus and the Rio Negro!

Thanks for Reading !

30/7

Today, we left Fortaleza and arrived at our final destination: Manaus. Immediately after we got off the plane, I got the familiar feeling of being back in San Antonio, Texas. It was sunny, hot, and humid. I’m thankful for the time that I spent in Texas because I feel like it prepared me for Manaus.  Today, although we didn’t do a lot in particular, we DID visit the opera theatre very close to the Go Inn, our hotel. After a lovely tour where we learned a little of the history of the theatre, we found out that there would be Korean performers singing jazz music. It turned out to be opera, but I enjoyed it immensely! I feel like now I really have come to appreciate vibrato after hearing it live. Hearing a recording is one thing, but hearing it in real life is another.

They sang in Italian, Mandarin, German, and some other languages that I couldn’t recognize. I’m really glad that I ended up going. I feel like this study abroad experience has taught me that although sometimes I don’t want to go to things, it usually ends up being worth it.

Thanks for Reading!!

28/7

Well, I woke up a little later today because several people from our group went to see Batman last night and we didn’t get home until about 3 in the morning. Totally worth it in my opinion. Today, here in Fortaleza, we split up into smaller groups and went to visit a couple historical and modern sites here. I went with Jonny, Michelle, and Sara. Mercado Central, Catedral Metropolitana de Fortaleza, Teatro Sao Jose, e Centro Dragao do Mar de Arte e Cultura (The Dragon Center of Art and Culture of the Sea) were the places that we visited.

 I really liked the Cathedral because of Roman Gothic design, and how much it was illuminated. It gave off a different feeling then the cathedrals which I saw in Recife. I learned that  it was built in the 1930’s, which probably explains the difference between it and a lot of the other Brazilian Cathedrals I have seen.

Some of the stained glass art which we saw at the Cathedral. Michelle taught me that blue is
the most expensive color to make, so these guys had some money...

The Mercado Central(Central Market) is probably one of the coolest "malls" I have been to.

It gave off a really urbanized feeling and I really appreciated the structure.

That doesn't mean I bought anything though.

A picture of me having a philosophical discussion with a Brazilian Poet
whose name I failed to memorize/ take a picture of.

I enjoyed everything, but definitely what attracted me the most were the structures of the Central Market and the Cathedral. It is interesting to see how building styles change with the times, and I wonder where we'll be  in about 100 years. Will stadiums be different? Will they look at our public libraries and compare it to their own? We can only speculate now, but we can see how history has gone through different phases.

Hopefully, our "phase" will be looked on as a good, prosperous time in history. That's how I view my stay in Brazil.

Thanks for reading!!

26/7

We set off from the hotel at 7:30 and made our way to the docks of Salvador. When I found out that we were taking boats to island a ways away, I got a little nervous. The last time I was on a boat was when I was in middle school in the San Fransisco bay, where I basically barfed my living guts out. It was quite a memorable experience. Anyway, this time was completely different for me! I didn’t throw up, I think because the waves were smaller and also because the boat was bigger. It was interesting to see that quite a few people lived on the island, and that a lot of the tourism business were family-owned by the locals. The best thing was just relaxing and I think that my opinion of going to the beach has changed because of this experience.

25/7

Today I got on a bus, with no idea where I was going, but it turned out to be a great day. We visited a couple beaches which were way fun, but probably the highlight of the day was going to the turtle zoo called Projeto Tamar, or “The Tamar Project”. There were turtles of all types there and also manta rays and some fish. I enjoyed taking in every second of it and even for a second regretted on not following through on my wish as an 8 year old to get a turtle.

Something that really struck me was the value of having zoos. I discussed this with Doug, pointing out that sometimes it must be miserable to be penned up in a cage or a pool. Doug agreed, but pointed out that by doing so, the animals life was put into a lot less jeopardy than in the wild. He also pointed out that it helps us appreciate more these types of animals by being in closer contact with them. I guess I’ll have to think of that next time I’m about to dump a bunch of toxic sludge into a river or ocean.

Thanks for reading!!

24/7

Today was quite an experience!! I stayed in Salvador for three months and today I saw so many things that I never even knew existed! First, we went to the Lighthouse called Farol da Barra, which was really cool because we actually got to go all the way up to the top of the tower. The view (and breeze) was incredible! After this, our study group broke up into small squads. My squad (Shawndeen, John, Brady, Cristina, and Doug) decided to walk to the Pelourinho. I don’t think that any of us had any idea how far it was, but it turned out being a lot of fun! This is because we stopped once in a while, along with other things.

As we were walking, the first thing that we came across was the Art Museum of the state of Bahia. It was free!!... so I ended up donating some change anyway. We saw paintings, pottery, furniture, and a lot of other things. As our journey continued on, we came passed by the cathedral of Sao Sebastiao (Saint. Sebastion) which was the first cathedral I have seen in Brazil with a Greco- Roman style. It’s my favorite up until now.

The Pelourinho was an exciting spot! We went to the Mercado Modelo where you can haggle prices a little bit. After that, we met up with everyone to watch a catholic mass with an influence of Candomblea, which is a popular religion here in Bahia. It made for an exciting blend!

23/7

Today we basically packed our things, got to the airport, and went to Salvador, Brazil. We are now in the area where I served my mission about a year and a half ago. Although, I’m happy to be here now, I’m really thankful for the time we spent in Recife. It opened up my eyes to the Brazilian culture, and gave me a new perspective. I have learned to value more the impact that art can have. During our experiences with the CCJ, we used many forms of art to build friendships and get our foot in the doors of places. I can’t wait to see what the rest of this wonderful trip will bring, but I appreciate everything that Recife had to offer  myself and our small study group. 

7/20

So today unfortunately was the last day of class. Even though history has never been my subject of interest, the classes at ABA given by Professor Fitzgibbon have really opened up my eyes a lot and made me appreciate Brazil's past and how it affects the present. I am able to make connections with the things we learn in class when I witness and am immersed in Brazilian Culture.

I was sick, and so I didn't go to class, but it turned out that the majority of the class was used to learn a new dance for us North Americans to teach the Brazilians later in a church dance. I thought that I would get away with just mirroring the other students until at the dance when, I learned just how hard the dance would be to learn! That didn't go over so well, but I still tried.

Dancing is one of those things that I feel makes up the Brazilian culture and seems to come much more easily to them than to us Americans. Sometimes I wonder if it's just a mental thing...but no I'm pretty sure it's not. I tried to dance forro tonight with a Brazilian who was patient enough to help me out.

There's a certain dance where you just take one step to the right, and one step to the left. Simple enough, right?
It's just that by the way the Brazilians so gracefully danced, I thought they were actually taking a couple steps each time. So you can imagine how that looked when I tried to do it. No? Just think white boy stomping all over the place and that should be an adequate image.

Thanks for reading!!!

19/7

Today was the day that made me rethink my opinion on beaches to say the least. We went to a place called Porto de Galinhas, or the Port of the Chickens. This port was used for slave trade after slavery in Brazil was declared illegal. The slave traders used the code name Chickens for Slaves to keep their activities out of suspicion from the government. This beach has been voted best Brazilian Beach for several times in a row. I can see why now.

Upon arriving there, we took little sail boats out from the beach to the reef, where the water was extremely clear and it was easy to see the marine life in the water. We got to feed the fish and it was a really neat experience.

A rare sighting of some of the indigenous species at Porto de
Galinhas. Later in the day, we found out that the one on the
right was a lobster, due to the redness of his skin with exposure
to the sun.

The coolest part of the day was that as we were sailing on the boat, the boatman stopped and told us we could jump into the ocean and swim with the fishes!! It was the coolest thing I've ever done at the beach! I just wish I knew how to hold my breath longer, then I probably could have gotten more out of it! Today was well worth the sunburn I received/earned!

Thanks for reading!

18/7

Today once again we went to Old Recife, but I didn't expect us to visit the places which we did there. We were honored to be able to visit a restored synagogue which is now used as a Museum. It told a little of the history of the building, how it had been later used by Catholics as a religious building and lost its true identity for over three hundred years. The people knew that there was a synagogue on the street but didn't know the exact location until they found the nikvah, or source of water for a purification bath.
Another interesting thing is that Jews keep track of the years with the creation of the earth, and not BC and AD like a lot of other people. So, if I heard the guide right, the current year is 5725.

Another place that we also visited was the Capela Dourada, or "Golden Chapel" which was a very ornate Catholic church. There is a gold coat which covers the chapel, hence where it got its name. This chapel uses the Baroque Style, which, within the decorations and details uses things such as native Brazilian fruits.

17/7

Today we visited a fort in Natal called Fortaleza dos Reis Magos or Fort Wise Kings. It was used as a signal station for airplanes during World War II. Another cool thing is that when the Dutch attacked it a long time ago in  1633, there was a siege for 4 days, and then surrender when its Portuguese commander was killed. Sometimes I have a hard time fathoming how such a little building covering such a large piece of land can accomplish its task. I also noted that the doorways were a lot smaller back in that time period. Okay, not that they were smaller back then, they're the same size that they are right now. What I meant is that I guess as the human race has developed, we have gradually become taller.

Too bad I wasn't there to fend off the Dutch!!

Actually, the Dutch did a lot of things to help advance the Northeastern society of Brazil, especially Recife!! When you a brown or black-skinned person with green or blue eyes, it's safe to assume that that's because of the Dutch!!!

16/7

Today was the day in which I got the most sun in a long time. I guess that's not really saying much in and of itself, but it was a lot in my opinion. We went to a beach called Ginipapu and tried unsuccessfully to body surf but succeeded in jumping around aimlessly in the waves and getting gradually taken down the coastline.

Another really awesome thing that we did was go dune buggying in the sand dunes at this beach. We concluded the day by playing soccer on the beach and then going to a pizzaria where waiters come around and offer you various types of pizza. Quite the day!!

Thanks for reading!!

15/7

Today we went to church in Joao Pessoa. Marcos, the bus driver actually decided to come with us! It was a great honor to have him there. Anyway, afterwards before leaving the city, we visited a couple places, including a really cool Cathedral where we took a tour and learned about its history. A really neat location is the monument for most eastern part of the continent where we took the picture below. It was a lot of fun!

After this we got on the bus with Marcos and went to Natal, another city in Rio Grand do Norte. The trip was a little over two hours, but it passed by really fast! Once we arrived in Natal, Vanessa told us that our room reservations had been given away, and we ALL believed her! Then she was like, “April Fools!”, which was a great relief because a lot of us were pretty dang tired. So right now we’re in air conditioned rooms, with windows out looking the beach which is less than 100 yards away. I’ve never been a beach person, but I’ve been having a great time just playing soccer and whatnot. Stay in tune to see how sunburned I get!!

Thanks for reading!!

12/7

Today, Vanessa let us take a break to get our energy back. In my opinion it was needed. Not just for my physical body, but also to be able to take in all that we had seen on the Sertao. They were mostly simple people, but they seemed to have their values set straight. I wonder how many other encounters they will have with foreigners in their lifetime. I hope that we left a good impression.

I feel now like I'm truly growing a respect for the North-easterners of Brasil, especially the Sertanejos. Ivan(on the right) his father Jose and his brother Paulo all seemed to be so optimistic and humble. They respect the environment and the harsh conditions which it offers, and don't exploit the few resources which are around. It's important that, no matter what your circumstances, you give it your all. I think that these guys are a great example of this!

Thanks for reading!!

11/7

 It was the last day in the Sertao for us, but you could definitely say that we took advantage of it. We entered into the back country and visited a group of teenagers who used resources from the Sertao to make products in order to finance the building of a Catholic church for the Sertanejos. I bought two bracelets, after conferring with some girls to make sure that they were manly colors. After this, we went even farther into the back country where we met a man named Fabio who took us up to some cliff caves with drawings from men thousands of years ago. 

 

After this we basically got on the bus and started our trek back home. Going to the Sertao taught me a lot about persistence, resourcefulness, and being happy with what you have. My respect for the Sertanejo is immeasurable, and I hope that, given my circumstances, I can emulate the attitude of these people when I return to the US where opportunity is ample and I don't have to worry about things like having enough water.

Thanks for reading!!!

10/7

WE got into the bus today having no idea where we were going, only knowing that we were going to visit a family which lived on the Sertao. Upon arriving, we met Ivan and Paulo, two brothers who ran the farm along with their 60+ year old father Jose(Portuguese for Joseph ;)  I observed Jose for just a couple minutes(how he moved, his attitude) and could literally see the menino(young boy) he was about 50 years ago. It was really interesting to see people who had been given so little be so happy and optimistic about their circumstances. The Sertao right now is going through one of the worst droughts within the last 30 years. When we asked Ivan about the drought, he said that concentrate on their work and use what they have to upkeep the farm. He told that sometimes they don’t even know that they’re in a drought because they’ve learned to adapt to it by using water sparingly and being resourceful. We visited another family which primarily made rapadura, or blocks of sugar. We got to eat a lot of fruit which they grew. Both families were  extremely happy and we learned a lot from them. What a great day in the Sertao!!!

9/7

Standard Brazilian – Mormon Time, that’s two times as worse!!!! – Vanessa

We spent the majority of the day in a van going to Afogados, a city in the interior of Pernambuco. We brought with us the rain, or so we thought, but by the time we got there it was just a couple of overcasting clouds. The place where we stayed was a relatively small town, which reminded me a lot of some of the areas where I served on my mission, but the environment was significantly more barren than in Bahia. After arriving and getting settled into the hotel, we met a man named Mario who  was a representative from the organization called Diaconia which we are working  with. What marked me the most about Mario was how passionate he was about Diaconia’s cause. Mario had come himself from humble conditions, but with the help of this organization, he risen to the task and had improved his quality of life.

Another day, another wall painted

Today was the final day of painting the CCJ. It took a little longer than we initially expected, because we were initially expecting to go again on Saturday. I won’t lie. Today I don’t feel like I worked as hard as I did on the other days that we have been here. Something that hit me today was the fact of how many people we meet for very short periods of time in our lives, never to see them again. Grade School, College, Work… how many people have you really kept in touch with? The vast majority you’ll probably never see again. That’s why it’s so important to establish a good first impression with people.

Plans and Goals

Today was a great day for several reasons:
*I got my presentation on Celso Furtado, a brazilian economist, over with.
*We got home a lot earlier than usual.
*We got to play soccer with the Brazilians at church.

Look at the cool blending of the Brazilian and American flag here!

The best thing was discussing in class what we've learned so far because of our internship. I think what it has taught me more than anything is that not everybody has the same habits, preferences, drive, and expectations as you. It depends a lot on the person's culture. Brazilians for the most part tend to be a little more relaxed than Americans are. This has taken some adapting for us, but I really feel that it's been a great experience.

Happy Independence Day!

Quote of the Day: "This movie is going to be awesome!" - Jordan
"Why?" - Michele
"BECAUSE THERE'S FIGHTING!!" - Jordan

Today was interesting in the fact that we got to celebrate an American holiday in Brazil. And not just any holiday, like labor day or something, but independence day! We spent a couple hours at a party with the same students from yesterday, and we got to teach them a couple games and dances such as the "Cha Cha Slide". They loved that one because it's simple and easy to follow.

Cristina, Tawnya, and I inconspicuously blending in to our Brazilian surroundings.
Whose camera am I holding? I didn't even bring my own.. 

After this we went to the Catamaran, a sea port, where we took a one hour boat tour and went under a bunch of bridges and passed by a couple of historical sites. A great chance to see the cultural side of Recife! We plan on going to the CCJ tomorrow to finish up our paint job. We'll see if that happens because it's rumored that there's going to be a bus strike. That always makes things a lot funner.

American School of Recife

Today we visited the American School of Recife. It was interesting to visit a place in Recife Brazil where English is the predominate language! The classrooms looked a lot like american class rooms. What was better even was the group of students accompanying us! They're from all over Brazil. All of them had been selected for this group for being proficient in English! Some of them learned English through taking a class, and others learned through listening to music or even watching movies!

It's really amazing what a human being is capable of doing even with limited resources!
Afterwards we taught the kids how to play American games like football and baseball! I never realized how hard it is to explain a sport that someone is unfamiliar with.

Later, I went with about half of the group to the CCJ to continue the painting. It was a productive day!!

thanks for reading!!!

Painting...no graffiti this time

Quote of the Day: Mitch "Hey guys, I'm not sure I should be the one applying paint dye to the new white paint in order to match the color of our previous paint batch" (Mitch is colorblind)

-This was not a direct quote but I was really trying to sum it up in one sentence. I apologize if it's a run-on/hard to follow/not funny sentence.

Wow, I can see my uneven work even from this picture...that's not a good sign

Today we went to the CCJ again and did what probably the most physically productive day of this internship experience. YES, THOSE ARE THE SAME CLOTHES I WORE ON SATURDAY! I'm not going to get paint on two sets of clothing...Should have applied this logic to my shoes as well... anyway

We arrived at the CCJ at about 9:30, ready to work. We were lucky because although they did not have all of the supplies, there was a construction materials warehouse nearby. Josh and I carried a 22kg carton of acrylic paint back, realized we got the wrong thing, returned it, and then brought back a 32kg carton of stucco. That might not sound like a lot, but a kg is 2.2 pounds....

This is a VERY candid shot of people who obviously had no idea that someone was taking a picture. Those were the
cartons of paint which we carried. This picture does not do them justice. They are heavy.
The picture does to justice to show the desafio "dezza few"   ( it mean's "challenge" in portuguese)
presented by one of the walls we had to paint.

Well, it was a lot for me

I felt like this was a chance to prove to the Brazilians that we Americans have good work ethic. I don't know if the fact that we were singing backstreet boys and Disney songs half the time conveyed that message, but we were able to clean, prep, and get two coats of paint on two of the rooms within the CCJ complex. I love painting because you get to see the product of your work very quickly.

We will be returning to finish the job.

Lazy Sunday

Quote of the Day: (While playing Apples to Apples, several cards were selected to describe the word "calm")
Josh (the Judge): "All these cards stink! ... Balerinas?..Mudslides?...Bagpipes?....I think I'm gonna go with glaciers"
Morgan: "DON'T PICK GLACIERS!!! THEY KILLED THE TITANIC!!!"

Ok, so there's an explanation for this photo.... I was like, "Hey Guys!! Let's look like we're going through an intense part
of the game!" Apparently only I went through with the plan. Maybe Josh too, or maybe he just didn't care, lost in his lemon juice drink.

This was basically the day in a nutshell. We also went to church and got to rest a lot. We'll be going to the CCJ tomorrow, so I'm going to log out now. Not because I'm going to sleep, but because I have nothing else to say.

Thanks for reading!!

Graffiti

6/30 Today in the morning we went to CCJ to assist in painting some walls of some of the houses in the surrounding neighborhood. It was an experience that reminded me a lot of when I was a missionary. The living conditions of these people were very poor. Most of them don't have running water in their houses. Their sewer is a gutter which usually goes down the sidewalks in front of the house. It's important to watch your step.

Carbonel e Mosca, two of the guys from CCJ that helped us out a lot today

Just like on the mission, the people were very receptive in general. I'm not sure how many walls we painted, but it was quite a few. It was one of those experiences which made me more grateful for the material possessions which I have.

I heard one guy muttering as he passed us by while we were painting. "Look at these Americans here to see people going hungry." And in truth, though it hurt, it was partially true. I had no response for this statement. I still don't. Hopefully I can take advantage of this internship to serve others and let them know that I, as an American, have more to me than a dollar sign.

Dia Nao sei o que ("...")

Quote of the day:
Josh: "It's been a couple days since I've read the material that we're going over in class today."
Me: "What if Vanessa asks you a question today regarding this material?"
Josh: "Then I'll just remember really hard"

Probably the most entertaining day of my life and also the most educational. We talked about globalization, how it will come about, and what will happen if it does. My teacher Vanessa brought up a question:
"Is globalization a good thing?"

I was thinking "of course!".

The rest of the class: "It depends" ...

Glad that I didn't say that out loud. I would have had to JUSTIFY it, and then I would've looked like an idiot: "Because everyone wants McDonalds and CocaCola on their front step!!"

A danca de Forro!!!

That's not my funniest joke, but the point is that those two companies are the two biggest symbols of globalization in the world. The risk with globalization is that you risk losing a country's identity and culture by trying to make it more universal with other nations.

I STILL  think that overall, it's a good thing, but I'm more than willing to hear counter-arguments to change my weak-willed stance on this subject.

The most important and productive item of business today was going to CCJ and getting a really cultural experience!

Doug and I playing a hand game with the children. Doug is like 6'6 and I'm not that much shorter *cough*
so we both had to bend over a lot...

We arrived at the school to find several dozen kids playing around. There was that first, awkward couple of minutes as the barrier of language, age, and racial differences took hold and set fear in our hearts. But this quickly gave way to the benefits of being there. We played games, watched forro, I even participated in the barraca do beijo(Kissing booth). Each person that participated got to take a candy off the table in front of me. It was interesting to note that the after the candy jar ran out, almost nobody came towards the kissing booth.

Confrontation with a menina(girl) who was clearly wanting to participate in the kissing booth for candy.
One of my last participants if not the last.... (she holding everything that was remaining in the candy
basket at that time).

In other words, it was a great day.

Thanks for reading!!

Legal vandalism!!!

Quote of the day: Professor Fitzgibbon: "Okay class, what we'll be doing at the internship today is finishing coloring in those drawings that we made earlier."
Brady: "Best Internship Ever!!"

Today was a GREAT DAY IN ALL ASPECTS OF THOSE TWO WORDS("Great Day"!! )!! Class at ABA was interesting. We learned today about the Sertanejos, who live in the deserts of northeastern Brazil. For them, there is nothing that they can take for granted. In the Sertao, the region where they live, droughts are frequent, the environment is unfriendly, and it is a day-to-day struggle to stay alive. I think about this and then compare it to my bloated, spoiled self where my only struggle is to stay awake on the bus ride home and digest food when I eat too much... ya it's a hard life.

Cristina took this picture. I won't like I wish that she had taken it just a little farther away so that you couldn't
see the drawn-in pencil marks to help guide some of us " slightly less-talented, significantly less-coordinated,
motor-skill lacking" type. Just for the record, THIS TIME while in action, I didn't spray my own hands/shirt/face
....ON ACCIDENT.

I now have a tremendous respect for the Sertanejos, who, despite poor circumstances and little external help, keep going no matter how hard it is. At this time in history, the Brazilian Government viewed these mulattoes as an inferior rest and applied that theory that if it didn't support these people, the race would end up dying off. Unfortunately for these short-sighted bigots, this didn't happen. The Sertanejos have persisted and made a name for themselves in the history of Brazil, which is celebrated in numerous ways, such as music. These people, in my opinion, are unsung heroes who helped pave the way for the success Brazil is experiencing today, just as the early settlers did in North America. Hopefully one day they'll receive a little more credit.

YES, I KNOW THAT MY HANDS NO LONGER HAVE PAINT ON THEM, BUT IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD
IDEA AT THE TIME, OK? LOOK! TAWNYA IS DOING IT TOO! (Sticks tongue out in infantile manner)

After this we went to the CCJ and met with Carbonel!!! It turned out that we got to "vandalise" the interior of the classroom by putting up "graffiti" as they call it in Brazil. It truly was a great experience! This was a great experience involving teamwork, leadership, and vision- which was greatly enhanced by large amounts of aerosol inhalation... Please take note of the distant, hazy look in most of our eyes.... Existentialism... no I don't know if that is the correct term.

Hypothetical Question: In a zombie apocalypse, would you be able to drink the water made from an air conditioner?(You know how they "drip" right?) If the answer is yes, then all you need is an infinite power supply!...and an air conditioner. Please keep this in mind when buying your next house.

O onibus glorioso The marvelous bus!....

Quote of the day: "Does this look as red as it feels?" -Jordan, referring to his skin after lying out for a couple hours in the sun on the beach.

            Well today was something else!! It's interesting that when we get out of the house late in the morning to catch the bus, we actually get to ABA even quicker!

           Also, I'm noticing that as time goes on with the trip, people seem to be taking less and less pictures, but I'm sure that my beautiful face will still show up here and there. :)

This photo was NOT taken today but it's still kinda cool....not that a photo's
"coolness" should be judged by its age.

           We talked a lot about how some of the holidays in Brazil came to be. One thing interesting is that Carnaval started to celebrate the end of the union between Spain and Portugal. Something fun that would happen in this festa(party) was the "laranjada" (ladan jada(if you say it quickly)), or "oranged", where rich people would throw oranges at each other. The poor people, who couldn't afford to throw away food, found something else to throw.....yes that is it. Wow, you SO totally know what I'm talking about and I didn't have to say anything huh? Great(or normal) minds think alike ;)

            I didn't realize the influence of the Jesuits was so strong here in Brazil! No wonder they have so many days off from school, with all these saints to commemorate! What was interesting to learn about it how some of the Jesuits really cared for the native Indians in Brazil! We all know about the Inquisition and some of their brutal acts realized against people they deemed as "pagans", but we don't know a lot about the positive effects of it.... I don't know that many either, but one thing I learned was that the Inquisition helped to end "Antropofagia" , or cannibalistic practices still used by some of the newly converted natives.

          After class, we went to the CCJ and met up with Carbonel. At the end of this week we're gonna get to dance more forro!!! I'm pretty much the master of the dance "dois pra la, dois pra ca"(two steps here, two steps there). Anything other than this I'm a little hazy on.

This is a more current picture of me and the group in front of the CCJ. Don't recognize me? I'm the handsome, tan one
with a blue shirt squatting in the front row....

Today we had FHE, which was fun as well. I walked home about 3 miles with Doug and got to practice my espanol!!!

Thanks for reading!!

O meu dedo!! (Oh my Gosh!)

I woke up this morning with a feeling like I didn’t really want to do anything. The day before our teacher had informed us that we’d be visiting the temple today. In order to get to the temple, we’d have to catch two buses… oh man I was not looking forward to that. In addition to this, I volunteered myself to be the navigator for the group of people to the temple. As I stood in the bathroom, brushing my teeth and preparing my responses to the group for when we got off at the wrong spot/ got on the wrong bus, it crossed my mind that I could just say I was sick and stay home that day…. It wouldn’t be hard. I’d done it for school before…. But in the end I went with everyone else.

Surprisingly, we got to the temple without any confusion! (Actually it was because another guy, Doug, in the group had thought ahead and looked up the directions)

Upon arriving at the temple grounds, my feelings of self pity evaporated. I saw other members who had come hundreds of miles in large buses just to visit the temple, and I thought about how close a temple is from my home in the US. I really have nothing to complain about.

As I watched the some of these members walking around the temple garden, I recognized one of the members from one of the wards in my mission! What a cool surprise! I talked with her a little bit and she told me that there was a large group of church members from my mission here visiting the temple today. They had been there for a couple days and were preparing to drive a couple hundred miles later that night to return to Bahia.

The rest of the visitors were still inside the temple. Could some of the people who I saw get baptized on my mission be here? I got really excited.

As we entered the temple, I saw a man sitting on a couch reading the scriptures. As he took his hand off his face, I realized that it was Marcelo!! I had taught Marcelo on my mission and had seen him get married and then baptized! His wife Neia was there as well! It was their first time visiting the temple!

A little over 1.5 years ago. Do I look fat in this picture? All the Brazilians tell me that I've lost weight since then.

What are the chances of that? Well, if I didn’t believe in God, they would be very slim I think. The rest of the day passed by in a breeze. I honestly don’t remember a whole lot about the rest of the day. The Jones held a party at night and some of the study abroad group came! That was awesome.

I shoulda looked in a mirror before taking these pictures, but at least it's a candid shot!!!

I’m just really thankful that I didn’t let my laziness get the best of me and that my teacher Vanessa was inspired to take us to the temple on this day.

My life is GOOD!!

Thanks for reading!

Dia 4 Eu sou da Bahia (I'm from the Bahia)

Probably one of the most memorable videos I've ever seen was today. We watched a BYU-student-made film called "I'm from the Bahia". It was a documentary on the lives of some of the artists in the Bahia. The Bahia was were I spent two years as a missionary. This experience gave me the opportunity to really get in touch with the "Baianos" or Bahian people. I never really had a chance to talk with the artisans in Bahia and this video gave me a new perspective.

Baianos are often known through-out Brazil as being lazy, passive, and primarily black. After being there for 2 years, I can tell you that the last two are true. Contrary to popular belief, most  Bahians are hard workers. The problem is that they are simple, and in the eyes of the world this automatically gains them certain other derogatory attributes.

O castelo The Castle

We visited a Ricardo and Francisco Brennan 's castle, which is now a museum full of armor, nude paintings, paintings, knives, and guns. Art and Weapons, to be concise! It was interesting to see what was used in wars   which happened centuries ago.
 I also started thinking that this would be a cool place to be if the zombie apocalypse started. Then I started thinking about the fact that there are many exits(and entries), and I have no idea what type of food storage the castle has. Anyway, it would be an iffy situation but at least I would go down fighting! This mentality helped me to find out that today there are two other members of my study abroad group, Sara and John, who watch the walking dead!!

It was a good day!

Dia 3 O Malandro

We left on our house a little later than we were supposed to, but somehow we got off about 10 minutes earlier than usual! What nice luck!

In class, we talked about how the term Jeitinho came about. In 1930, when Getulio Vargas was the president of brazil, he made a great effort to urbanize the country and take away Brazil's image as a primarily agricultural country. With this, many people from small villages came to the cities, only to find that there was no work. These backlanders, or "malandros"had to pull strings in order to sustain themselves and their families. These acts were called Malandragens "Maul anne dra hangs". Now this as known as pulling the jeitinho. It's interesting to see how things have evolved.

Afterwards, we went to Olinda, a place which is colorful with history!! We saw several old churches and a really cool statue of Princess Isabela. According to the Portuguese, "First comes God, then the saints, then Princess Isabella". She was a huge advocate slave liberation, who in 1888 helped facilitate the legislation which led to the slaves being freed. Pretty cool!

The bus ride home was another reminder of how grateful I am to live close to work/school. One luxury that most of us have in the United States is that we have personal transportation, and even the public buses which I have ridden on are nicer, and A LOT less crowded than the ones in Brazil. 

I'm trying to think of a funny story to tell but I'm pretty tired. Sorry if you were expecting one. Thanks for reading, and please don't get discouraged.