It's June...?

Wow! It's already June. The last month has flown by, and a windy, humid cold has started to settle in. Coming from Michigan, I thought maybe I would be able to handle it. I was wrong!

The weather fluctuates between cold and freezing, which is intensified by our non-insulated house with no inside heating. We finally got heaters, but because of the lack of insulation, the rooms don't really stay warm unless the heater is on, meaning we live in a house that stays between 55-65 degree Fahrenheit. The rain also makes it colder. The colder it is, the harder it is to dry clothes and everything else.

Jake and Catherine both didn't believe that it got cold here. Jake didn't bring a winter coat, even though I told him it would be freezing, if not drop below, during the month of July (since the seasons are reversed). So, Catherine and I have been on multiple expeditions to find warm clothes. For some reason, it is harder than it seems. We've made our way to the mall in Pelotas, and walked around Porto Alegre.

Other than that, work has been great! My students are amazing, and they seem to be enjoying the conversational class and are motivated to learn English.

Additionally, I have started to take Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) classes, as well. I am thinking of even starting a research project looking into Deaf culture here in Brazil.

Jake has also made a new friend. The friend does not really speak English, and Jake has only been learning Portuguese for about a month. Yet, somehow, the two are constantly talking about something or another. The met on a Thursday night, went running together on Saturday, and then had an impromptu churrasco. By the end of next month Jake will be speaking Portuguese and his friend will be speaking English at this rate.

Work Hard, Play Hard

After a week of classes, working, and little time for a social life, we finally were going to have time to relax and hang out with friends. Friday was one of our friend’s birthday, so after some chimarrão and work, we headed over to our old living accommodations, the hotel, to say happy birthday and celebrate. It turned into amazing pizza (the second day in a row, because I made homemade pizza the night before), and Happy Birthday being sung in three languages, five different ways. After, we headed to the store to buy ingredients for sobremesas (desserts).

Catherine and I had been craving desserts all week, so I decided that chocolate fondue with fruit was in order. However, this is not exactly what came out. Instead, as some friends met us at our house, I made chocolate and coconut covered bananas to eat with our vihno tinto. Chocolate and wine, the best combination ever. In addition, we played some music and ended up dancing bachata, which I had been missing a lot.

Chocolate and coconut covered bananas.

The next day was spent relaxing before heading out to celebrate our friend’s birthday again. We went to watch several bands play forro, and had a blast! However, as Catherine and I were tired we decided to head home. About an hour later, Catherine received a phone call and life got crazy.

Catherine comes to my room and explains we had 7 guests on their way over. We frantically starting counting beds and figuring out where everyone was going to sleep. By the time everyone arrived, we were all set to go, only to find out half decided to head home and there were only 4 guests.

Sunday was relaxing once again, and I decided I needed to read. We felt bad that we were unable to see our friend that had just returned from break (a week into the semester), but due to timing, we hung out at home, and I stayed up till 7am Monday morning reading. Obviously, that hadn’t been the plan. So, Monday was a little more difficult to work than I had anticipated. But, I started and finished two books. So, maybe it was worth it…

By the time we made it to campus, it was lunch time. We ran into our friend and ended up following him to the mechanical engineering office. (Yes, most of our friends are studying mechanical engineering.) Surprisingly, the office was fun. We hung out and I ended up seeing Wesley’s project, a go-kart that he is building. Also, he made sure that I received one of the best gifts from his mom! After being made fun of for putting hot sauce on everything in Maceió (and apparently more in one sitting than anyone they know), she made me my own bottle of hot sauce! We have to wait to try it, but I cannot wait!

See all the peppers? So excited!

At the end of the day, I was exhausted, and passed out for a while before having the strength to go home. When we arrived home at 10:30ish, we decided it was a good time for bauru. Earlier in the week, we found an amazing bauru place at the beginning of our road. Let’s just say, if we don’t watch it, we are going to get fat quickly. 

Bauru Number Two!

Finally Home!

The day after I returned to Rio Grande, Catherine and I moved into an amazing house in Cassino (a suburb of Rio Grande). Although it is a little far from campus, we could not be happier with our living situation! The house is set up so that there is a small house connected to a large house by a patio. The owners, a Brazilian woman and her Taiwanese husband, live in the small house. Catherine and I have a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house, with each bedroom having at least one queen bed and one twin bed. However, we are not planning on filling any of the twin beds. They are being left for guests, of which we have had plenty. The best part, besides the owners, is the restaurant kitchen off of the patio…

Our first guests were our ETA-brethren from Pelotas. The day after we moved in, on Saturday, they came to visit and stayed overnight. We also had a churrasco that was amazing! The owner’s son-in-law cooked the meat, and it was amazing.

The Rio Grande and Pelotas ETA's getting ready to eat stir-fry
that the owner of the house made for us. She is amazing!

Everyone eating at the churrasco. We even had veggies!

We even had an amazing bartender for the event!

I might have even tried chicken heart, with chopsticks, of course.

As Monday rolled around, Catherine and I finally started to realize we were going to have to start working. We began planning our classes, and started to get excited about what we could do with our classes. I might have even turned into a workaholic for a little while; anxious to work, antsy when I wasn’t, and working late into the night once or twice. Being far from our friends didn’t really help.

Since we moved, it has become a 30min at least trek to see our friends that live on campus. Our friends are great. So, sometimes it really sucks being that far away, or having to leave early to make sure we get home safely. The one night we were on campus late, we walked to the bus stop around 10pm and, while waiting for the next bus, decided it was easier and safer to stay the night at our friend’s house. However, when our other friend returns, this won’t work because there won’t be enough places to sleep for everyone. 

Yet, the good far outweighs the bad. The owner of the house is amazing. She is constantly making food and bringing it over, or asking us to join her and her family for meals. Most of the time she makes this salad she makes that is light on lettuce and includes apples and mangos. I have always hated fruit and veggies together in a salad, but this is amazing. Additionally, I finally have a hot shower, and feel at home. And, anything we could need is usually available in the restaurant kitchen for us to use!

Wait...What?

“Hi! What is your name?” A boy, about 9 years old, asked as Luan and I waited at the bus stop. Luan and I were on our way to Cassino to look at some potential houses, and we were discussing the prospects in English. After telling the boy our name, and finding out his was Wesley (I tried really hard not to laugh at this because I was thinking of our friend Wesley), the boy asked me for an autograph (which I though Luan was joking about), and if Luan would take him to the US.

“But, you are her husband,” the boy responded, as he gave Luan a strange look.

“No, we are just friends,” Luan laughed.

“But, you are in love with her. I can see it in your eyes,” was the response we received. Luan was laughing so hard that he couldn’t translate the comment. At the same moment the mother turned and yelled something about respecting others at her son. Of course, the next question we got involved me knowing origami. What a strange question and funny kid!

After getting on the bus and being told to follow him, Luan and I took our time paying the fare and sitting down. Still laughing, Luan explained some of the comments the boy had made, saying, “See, you are kind of like a famous person here.” And, apparently, I needed to give the boy an autograph. I ended up writing always follow your dreams on a piece of paper and handed it to him as we got off the bus.

Seeing the houses was another story. The first place we saw was amazing, minus the location. It used to be a variety of business before being turned into a house. And, we would have access to everything, including the restaurant kitchen and all the appliances inside (you should have seen my face when I saw it), a fire/stone pizza oven, a churrasqueira, a bar area, and then everything in our respective house. The lady was amazing and told us, even if we didn’t rent the house, we should go over there and have a churrasco. Her husband spoke Chinese, and she is teaching him Portuguese (she doesn’t speak Chinese by the way). It was an amazing experience! The second house was horrible, and I never want to go back. However, today ended with a plethora of stories that I am sure I will never forget!

On a serious note:

Today the ETA's were sent an email about remembering to be safe. In the last month, several crimes involving ETA's in Brasil had occurred. Hearing about this made me realize that anything is possible, and realize how grateful I am to have the friends I have here, and the life that has been given to me in this southern city. My friends always walk Catherine and me home at night, take bus rides with us early morning or late at night, help us find housing, etc., just to make sure we are safe. We are picked up all over town and sometimes I take for granted the kindness and generosity we are shown. Moreover, I hope that all the ETA's that have been victims of crimes in Brasil are doing better!

Skeeters

Catherine might be a lean, mean, skeeter-killin’ machine, but I am a skeeter magnet. In the last week, I have received over 18 bug bites from the knee down on BOTH legs. That is more than 36 bites on just my calves and feet! The itching, with cortisone cream, became unbearable in the last 24 hours. So, today I went to the pharmacy and the pharmacist handed me magic in a bottle! The cream I have now stops the itching for quite some time and makes life bearable!

In other news, Catherine and I are almost brasilieras. Today we accomplished a list of necessary requirements for life to function normally here. First, after our excitement of eating beans and rice wore off (we hadn’t had beans in a while, and we honestly missed them), we headed into town to register with the federal police. Although waiting for our turn took a while, the process was relatively quick. We were fingerprinted with the newest technology yet: ink was rolled onto a metal plate, which was used to ink our fingertips for the documents. Now, in about 4 months, we can go get our Brazilian IDs (we are only here for 9 months, and 1 has already passed). Next we headed to a different yellow federal building to get CPFs. A CPF is like the Brazilian social security number, driver’s license number, and tax ID all rolled into one number. Pretty much, if you want to buy anything in Brasil, you need a CPF. So, once this was taken care of, Catherine and I headed to the main shopping street to buy an individual internet modem that plugs into our laptops. For the first time in Brasil, Catherine and I have unlimited access to all the internet we want, wherever we want, including Facebook. However, this means we actually have to work now that we can access whatever we need. 

This is one for the Books!

I don´t know what life would be like here if we didn´t have the friends that we have. Imagine going to bed at 2:30 in the morning and having to be up at 5:15 that same day. It isn’t a pretty sight. Well, that is exactly what happened. My husband is arriving in Brazil today, so we had to take the 5 hour long bus to meet him at the airport. Since he arrives at 2:45pm, the only available bus this morning was at 7am.

Last night at our friends’ house, we realized there really weren’t a lot of options in terms of getting to the bus terminal downtown. Luan had his computer up and was looking up the schedule as 10 other people were “discussing” what busses went in the morning and what schedule it was on because it is a holiday weekend, etc. Finally, it was determined that we had to catch the bus that left Cassino at 6am and went downtown. (We live on campus in the back. You have to walk to the front of campus to get student housing, which is in front of campus. Then you have to walk to the end of the road to get to the bus stop that takes you to nearby areas/cities. To walk this length takes about 25-30 minutes.) And, Wesley volunteered to take us to the bus terminal downtown. Why? I have no clue.

So at 5:45am, Catherine and I headed out to the bus stop. Once we were near the front of campus, Wesley and Luan met us to take us downtown. We were informed that they had gone to bed at 4am. How they were up two hours later is beyond me! But, they were so great about everything, even carrying our bags! I don’t think paying their bus fare downtown shows enough gratitude. 

Wesley, Me, Catherine and Luan
We are waiting for the 7am bus downtown

Culture Shock Wave Model

It doesn’t matter who you are, where you are going, or the length of stay, but when you travel abroad for more than a month, you are told that life will follow a culture shock wave model. First will be the honeymoon stage: everything will be exciting and new, and it will seem like you are on top of the world. Then, at some point, you will reach a low. Life will seem difficult, for whatever reason(s). Lastly, life will even out. You will accept where you are and know what life really holds. However, this isn’t true.

According to Catherine, culture shock comes in waves daily. You might wake up happy, something might happen that brings you down and then something else brings you back up. I haven’t experienced culture shock in either of these ways, though. Instead, as I was exhausted yesterday, I began to feel down. For those of you that know me, you understand that not speaking is impossible for me. So, speaking minimally for several hours meant something was off, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.

As I sat on a bus toward downtown to buy bus tickets for tomorrow’s trip to Porto Alegre, I realized that more than anything I missed Antigua, Guatemala. I missed walking down the street and having a panadería and café on every block. I missed the food found in Guatemala. And more than anything else, I missed being able to communicate competently with others. So, my first culture shock wave came not because I missed the U.S., but because I missed Guatemala. Although I know my battle with this culture shock wave isn´t over yet, I know my Portuguese is improving from nothing to something, and that I have great friends to help me work through the tough times!

Luan helping me work through tough times!

No Sleep for You

I have realized that going to bed early is a foreign concept now. Catherine and I have gotten no more than 6 hours of sleep each night for the past week. We aren’t sure how this happens, but it does. Last night, Catherine and I made a deal to go to bed by midnight. Instead, we went to Cassino for a pre-Carnaval celebration and were out past 2am. We might have looked a little like tourists taking pictures of the town, but the lights and decorations were quite unique.

Decorations for Carnaval!

The King Chicken!!

I also saw my first penguin!!!!

See? There are penguins near the beach in Brazil!

Since it was the first time we had been to Cassino, we made our way to the beach (even though it was already dark out). The beach in Cassino is the longest beach in Brazil. And at night, you can see the star shining brightly and just enjoy the sound of the ocean hitting the shore. I could have stayed there all night. (But a bonfire would have been nice.) However, the time at the beach was cut short by a phone call to meet another friend downtown: the Carnaval festivities had begun.

We also found out it is legal to walk down the street with open alcohol containers. There was even a store selling beers through a metal gate.

Once we got home, Catherine reminded me of the deal me made. Once again we failed!

Cell Phones!

Today, Luan randomly showed up at 11am and asked if we wanted to go to the University Restaurant. Catherine and I had just finished doing our laundry, and weren’t exactly ready to go out in public, but we ended up having a great time. (See a picture of our laundry facilities on Catherine’s blog, here.) On our way out we ran into a handful of the guys we met at the barbeque. It made us feel like we were finally making friends.

After Catherine was finally ready to go out into the world, we headed over to our office to spend time on the internet. The only issue we had was that precious Facebook was blocked. We looked into what we wanted to do for Carnaval next week and we didn’t actually figure anything out. So much for being productive on the internet.

Rossana ended up finishing work early today, so she took us into town to finally get cell phones. It was like Christmas as a child. We were so excited that we didn’t put them down for some time. We divvied up the list of numbers we had to let them know we had phones. These are our new phones. At least we know they won’t be stolen!  

The phones are only identifiable by the theme of the phone and the background picture.

 On our way back to campus, Rossana stopped to get us food. (She is way too kind!) We stayed in the car as she ordered us food. When we were getting out of the car to go into the hostel, she noticed there was a note for us:

 

Bauru Box Reads: “We hope you Catherine Rylee! This Rosannas Friend”

It is considered a traditional food from Rio Grande do Sul, but is similar to a hamburger with an over hard egg. We didn't know what to expect. But once again, the food was amazing!

A burnt Catherine eating the bauru.

Food! Lots of Food!

I GOT INTO GRAD SCHOOL! My lovely husband decided the best way to tell me was to post a picture of the school mascot on my Facebook wall; nothing else.

Saturday night Catherine and I decided to venture downtown. It was just starting to get dark, but we thought maybe we could find a modem. Although almost everything was closed, we were able to find an internet café. This was the first time we had been on Facebook since arriving in Rio Grande Thursday night. Of course the first thing my husband sends me on Facebook is, “Have you seen your wall?” As I was about to scream, the lovely Ms. Catherine gave me that “don’t you dare” look. I stifled the urge and carried on.

In addition to the excitement of getting into grad school, I had a handful of friend requests. Earlier in the day, Catherine and I went to a churrasco (the Brazilian barbeque graduation party). It was a group of mechanical engineering students, so Catherine and I were 2 of the 5 girls in a group of 20ish people. When our friend arrived to take us to the party, he was 30 minutes late. As we got into the car, he asked, “Have you gotten used to the Brazilian way of telling time yet?” Which means, if someone says 11, the person will show up around 11:30. Then, when we arrived, we said hi to everyone. This consisted of starting at one side of the room (since the 15+ guys and 1 girl were sitting in a circle), and kissing each person on the cheek with a greeting of “tudo bem?” until we had greeted each person. It was a very long, but personal process. However, we weren’t introduced to everybody. Instead, we gradually met them as the day went on. Similar to making our way around while greeting everyone, every time one type of meat was done cooking and cut into small pieces, someone walked around in front of each person offering food. There must have been at least 4 different kinds of meat, all of which were amazing. (Kudos to the cook!) I was surprised how many people at the churrasco spoke at least rudimentary English. I felt so bad that I couldn’t speak Portuguese with them. But, everyone was so nice about it!

By the end of the day, we had made a handful of new friends! One of the friends, Luan, came by Sunday to hang out with us. Due to the weather, we didn’t make it to the beachs of Cassino. Instead, we walked to the nearnest supermarket to buy food for lunch. Catherine and I watched as four guys worked together to make lunch. It was quite an expereince! They made panquecas, which consisted of ground chicken rolled in a crepe-like thing, topped with a tomato sauce. Here is a picture!

as panquecas

See the part without cheese? Since I am allergic to dairy, one of the guys made a special batter without milk just for me. I felt so bad about my dietary restriction, but he was so nice about making a section specifically for me.

I think Catherine and I have started to see the humor of many of the people here. One of the cooks told us, if it tasted good, he made it. And, if it tasted bad, the other guy made it. Then we were asked which one made it. Catherine ended up serving the food and she kept giving me more! I guess the first guy made it because it tasted amazing!

First Day, No Internet

We are still having issues connecting to the internet. I have been able to get notifications from Facebook and email on my phone, but I can’t respond to anything. These issues ended with the Dean giving Catherine and me university computers that would connect to the internet. However, Facebook seems to be blocked in ILA (the language department in which we are working). This might seem trivial, but when the only way to communicate with other ETAs and students with whom we are supposed to be meeting, not having Facebook is a big deal. In addition, we don’t have access to internet in our hostel. So, Catherine and I found a way to entertain ourselves tonight: take words/objects around the kitchen and look them up in the Portuguese-English dictionary.

As for the rest of the day, it was fairly eventful. We sat in on/helped proctor a TOEFL test at 8am. It was interesting to see a standardized test taken in another country. We also met two of the four other faculty members in the department. I have noticed that my Portuguese has gotten better. This means that I can understand a lot more than I did a week ago, but my speaking abilities are still fairly low. However, we talked to a handful of new people today. Three guys were biochemical engineering students. Two of whom spoke English fairly well. Catherine did a great job of promoting the NucLi classes, though.

We also met a student who is studying to become a teacher. She helped us with questions we had about nearby areas, phones, laundry, etc. She also explained why so many people we saw were wearing rings. If there is a silver band on the ring finger of the right hand, the person is in a serious relationship. If there is a gold band on the same finger, the person is engaged. Lastly, if there is a gold band on the ring finger of the left hand, the person is married.

Rossana, Catherine, another professor and I then had lunch at a restaurant called Bamboo. This was Catherine and my first trip off of campus. The other professor then drove us around the downtown area and dropped us off near the shopping street. (This street is full of stores and cars are not allowed to drive on it. It is also several blocks long.) During this trip, we tried to buy phones and a USB modem to get internet for our computers. However, without a CPF, we were unable to do so. We think a passport will work, so hopefully tomorrow we will have unlimited access to internet.

The last piece of business today involved Catherine, Rossana and I meeting to discuss the game plan moving forward. We met in the office the university provided for Ingles sem Fronteras, which will be Catherine and my office. The meeting lasted two hours and we were rapidly going through all of the points we needed to discuss. After being told normally meetings aren’t very productive by American standards, we were very surprised how much we talked about/accomplished. We have the next month to plan classes, projects, workshops, etc. I also may be helping with a phonetics class and an applied linguistics class; both of which I am very excited to see.

As the day comes to an end, it is important to describe one of the hardest parts to which to adapt: the showers. This morning I took a shower in Catherine’s room because I needed to borrow body wash. So, tonight I decided I would take a shower in my own bathroom. BIG MISTAKE! Firstly, the long plastic tube hanging down from the shower head shoots out water (see accompanying pictures of the room). I figured that out after I put it over the side of the shower and it went all over the bathroom floor. Secondly, the shower door is not on the track and fell on me. Lastly, the water was fairly cold. I have decided from now on to take a shower in Catherine’s room. We have also decided that it is about time to look for a new place to live. We found out that Cassino is a beach town that people leave in the winter. Therefore, we are hopeful that we can find a furnished place to live that would work perfectly with our time frame. We shall see…

My Room

The bathroom: (See the water hose thing?)