It's a crazy time here at UP CLOSE Bolivia! Projects are evolving rapidly, volunteers are swiftly coming and going, and travel and adventure are always in the air.
It's beautiful here. We live in shared volunteer houses overlooking a campground, where interesting travelers from around the world are always coming and going.
...Unless they're waiting for a stove. When they're waiting for a stove, they never seem to leave...
Below the campground is a raging river, and the mountains are abundant all around us.
On any given morning, a few select people rise early to go to the children's center or the zoo. The children's center consists of either helping in the kitchen (60+ kids eating 2 meals and 2 snacks each day, and dishwashers aren't exactly common in Bolivia! That kitchen sure keeps a person busy) or helping in one of the classrooms. The kids are a joy and shout "HOLA TIA!!" all the way across the center even before they've met you. And the tias are some of the friendliest and funniest people I've ever met!
We are currently building a greenhouse in the zoo out of empty pop bottles. After clearing away the raging weeds in the old greenhouse, we began to wash and chop off the bottoms of the bottles. It's a long, intense project and seems to be moving very slowly, but it's undeniable that progress is being made! We also get to wear these funky zoo outfits, which come in limited sizes so I always somehow end up with XXL. The zoo is a really nice project though, because it allows us time to really bond as volunteers. The only strategy necessary for the zoo - try and avoid thinking about the fact that the lions have to eat... Poor donkeys!!
The volunteers who don't have morning activities generally have planning of some kind in that time period. So nobody's snoozing the day away! (I may have accidentally done that once when the battery of the device with my alarm died in the middle of the night...oops!)
I'm part of the English teaching team, and I LOVE IT!! We currently have two different sets of classes going - Well, the second one starts tomorrow! We will be doing a six week class for teens and tweens in their school.
We have been doing an evening class for the mother's club so far, and the people who attend are extremely fun and easygoing. Even when we fail miserably to express our point in Spanish, or say something terribly wrong, they laugh and communicate to each other what we intended to say, and it's great. Planning can be a challenge though, as the students range in age by about 50 years and range in English experience from never spoken a word to studied several years in school. They are always open to having fun though! We did a mock restaurant yesterday, and I brought legitimate food in... for some of the items. For example, a cookie was a real cookie, but pasta with sauce was an uncooked noodle with a drop of soy sauce. Hmmm....
And then there's everybody's favorite project - the albergue! "Albergue" means "shelter" in Spanish, and in this case it's a temporary home for children of all ages who have been rescued from some traumatic situation, be it trafficking or abuse or unsatisfactory care. We go for two hours three times a week and do activities with the 6 to 17-year-olds. On Tuesdays we do a project of some kind with the girls, Thursdays with the boys, and on Wednesdays we all go outside and have a big sports day! (Wednesdays are the BEST!) And these people aren't amateurs when it comes to sports. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm not playing in the World Cup, because that's what it feels like! Today we were playing futból 12 vs. 2, and the team with 2 was absolutely kicking butt! It was unbelievable. And, simply stated, every single person there is absolutely incredible and funny and sweet and wonderful in every way imaginable.
On weekends we have Fundación Porvenir, which is horse therapy for children with special needs. We play with the kids while they're not riding the horses, and they have SO MUCH ENERGY! I don't understand how anyone can have that much energy so early in the morning on a weekend, but somehow they manage it. We play on the little playground with them, or in whatever other creative way they come up with.
Many of us have elected to take Spanish lessons on top of our volunteer work, which take place down in the campground about 4 hours per week. Our teacher is SO nice and easily caters to every possible Spanish level. In the mere eight hours I've had so far, I've learned several varieties of past and future tense, many other technical details I had previously overlooked, and expanded my vocabulary immensely. It's so great!
There are currently 12 volunteers here and we come from 5 different countries - New Zealand, Germany, Holland, UK, and USA. We come from all different backgrounds and walks of life, but we're all here with one purpose: to create positive change in Bolivia while Bolivia creates positive change in us.
In the evenings we can often be found at the restaurant down the street that serves a complete delicious meal for just 10bs (about USD$1.50), at a café in San Miguel, bonding over a movie, or simply chatting and enjoying each other's company. We also have frequent barbeques, and the other day I bought supplies for s'mores and all the Americans gave a lesson to everybody else on how to make them.
People from other countries: (while staring skeptically) "Well, this is underwhelming..."
Americans: "Wait until it's in your mouth!!!"
However, Everybody ended up wanting some more s'mores (ha, get it? Hehe.)
Many people here, myself included, are recovering from a little bug caused by eating unsafe food, so not much weekend travel has occurred for me yet, but I'm excited for the weekends to come!
Also unfortunate is that half of the volunteers currently here are leaving this weekend! It's a sad coincidence that everyone is leaving at once, but I suppose we'll have to carry on.
So that's daily life here as seen through a window of words! Although i wish everyone could look out my actual bedroom window here - the view is absolutely stellar!
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Monday, April 4, 2016
La Paz: First Impressions
I absolutely love it here. People are super friendly, greeting me always with a "buenas tardes, Señorita!" And the beauty in every direction at all times is absolutely breathtaking.
Now I want you to cement into your brain that I love it here, because it's 100% true, but the next few paragraphs may not support that statement.
The very first day I was here, I was asked to walk out to the main road to meet the person doing my orientation. Upon arrival to said road, I spotted a man shamelessly taking a leak in the street. And there were cars going by and everything. He then returned to the group of men he was with, sitting only about 8 feet from the spot he'd just relieved himself. What!?
A little down the street, I saw a stray dog tearing apart a dirty diaper and devouring the poop. Sorry if that's graphic, but better to read about it than see it in person...
And today, I found a random pair of dentures laying on the side of the road.
Congratulations, you have made it through the disgusting portion of this blog entry! No more grossness, I promise!
As we volunteers don't have vehicles and all have different schedules, we utilize public transportation. There are taxis, but they are expensive and not always completely safe. Minibuses are the preferred option. They are like giant vans that you just flag down and climb in. There is always such a wide variety of people onboard - men going to work, women with their children, families returning from the grocery store, kids going to school. There is no minibus "type."
I'm a giant. Even the Bolivian men are all shorter than me. It is for this reason that I occasionally run into problems in the minibus, because I'm either too giant to crouch enough to look out the window and figure out where we are, or there is an air freshener that hangs above the heads of most people but directly in mine. I sure hope I don't need to buy any clothes while I'm here, because I'll be out of luck!
It is very safe here, and even the people who aren't safe generally don't try to do anything violent to a person, they just take money and possessions. I'm already feeling comfortable going places on my own - although I'm very aware that I'm not invincible! (By human standards, anyway.)
You know those photos of traditional Bolivian women that are seen whenever images of Bolivia come about? With the big skirts, blanket shawls, and top hats? Well, I always thought they were just photos of a few select people who happened to be dressed that way. But it's totally reality - there are SO MANY women dressed like that everywhere!! It's incredible.
The elevation here in Jupapina is 10,187 feet, but the airport is at a whopping 13,615 feet. Yes, there is over 3000 feet worth of elevation changes just within the city itself. Some people experience altitude sickness when they first arrive, or at least difficulty breathing due to the thin air. I personally have not noticed any difference at all while dormant, but the second I do anything even the slightest bit athletic (like walking up a small flight of stairs, for instance), I get completely out of breath, heart beating out of my chest, and it takes several minutes to recover.
I'm going to end here, despite there being so much more to say. I'll just add one more thing before I go: I met a family staying at the campground here who is from California and DROVE here to Bolivia. They have been on a road trip for 3 1/2 years now. And they legitimately have a California license plate on their van.
That is all.
¡Buenas Noches!
Now I want you to cement into your brain that I love it here, because it's 100% true, but the next few paragraphs may not support that statement.
The very first day I was here, I was asked to walk out to the main road to meet the person doing my orientation. Upon arrival to said road, I spotted a man shamelessly taking a leak in the street. And there were cars going by and everything. He then returned to the group of men he was with, sitting only about 8 feet from the spot he'd just relieved himself. What!?
A little down the street, I saw a stray dog tearing apart a dirty diaper and devouring the poop. Sorry if that's graphic, but better to read about it than see it in person...
And today, I found a random pair of dentures laying on the side of the road.
Congratulations, you have made it through the disgusting portion of this blog entry! No more grossness, I promise!
As we volunteers don't have vehicles and all have different schedules, we utilize public transportation. There are taxis, but they are expensive and not always completely safe. Minibuses are the preferred option. They are like giant vans that you just flag down and climb in. There is always such a wide variety of people onboard - men going to work, women with their children, families returning from the grocery store, kids going to school. There is no minibus "type."
I'm a giant. Even the Bolivian men are all shorter than me. It is for this reason that I occasionally run into problems in the minibus, because I'm either too giant to crouch enough to look out the window and figure out where we are, or there is an air freshener that hangs above the heads of most people but directly in mine. I sure hope I don't need to buy any clothes while I'm here, because I'll be out of luck!
It is very safe here, and even the people who aren't safe generally don't try to do anything violent to a person, they just take money and possessions. I'm already feeling comfortable going places on my own - although I'm very aware that I'm not invincible! (By human standards, anyway.)
You know those photos of traditional Bolivian women that are seen whenever images of Bolivia come about? With the big skirts, blanket shawls, and top hats? Well, I always thought they were just photos of a few select people who happened to be dressed that way. But it's totally reality - there are SO MANY women dressed like that everywhere!! It's incredible.
The elevation here in Jupapina is 10,187 feet, but the airport is at a whopping 13,615 feet. Yes, there is over 3000 feet worth of elevation changes just within the city itself. Some people experience altitude sickness when they first arrive, or at least difficulty breathing due to the thin air. I personally have not noticed any difference at all while dormant, but the second I do anything even the slightest bit athletic (like walking up a small flight of stairs, for instance), I get completely out of breath, heart beating out of my chest, and it takes several minutes to recover.
I'm going to end here, despite there being so much more to say. I'll just add one more thing before I go: I met a family staying at the campground here who is from California and DROVE here to Bolivia. They have been on a road trip for 3 1/2 years now. And they legitimately have a California license plate on their van.
That is all.
¡Buenas Noches!
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Salvador!
I wrote this blog last week on paper, but I didn't get a chance to transfer it to an electronic device until now. So, let's take a quick time travel back to last weekend when we went to Salvador, Brazil!
We were all SO EXCITED to go! As it is about 25 hours driving from Campinas to Salvador, we flew. The kids we're thrilled about the idea of flying, and it was extremely entertaining to watch their reactions to the take off.
Upon arrival, I was informed that it is necessary to always drive with the windows closed and doors locked for safety, so that was a little shocking! I was also struck by the amount of graffiti covering every wall – never before had I seen so much graffiti in one place.
We stayed in a hotel right near Farol de Itapuã (farol = lighthouse). The hotel was great, with an awesome breakfast complete with a multitude of fruits, cakes, breads, and juices – and one day, I even had a quesadilla-style tapioca with condensed milk and corn. Best breakfast EVER!!! One of the people who worked at the hotel spoke English, so I asked him how he learned. Turns out, he spent a year as an exchange student in DENMARK! And he can even say rødgrød med fløde!!!!!!! I've never been so starstruck.
Salvador is known for its partying. Apparently most cities in Brazil celebrate carnival for four days – well, in Salvador, they celebrate for eleven. This culture of partying was very evident in the amount I saw people drinking, and how empty everyplace was in the mornings (literally nobody on the beach… Methinks everybody was out too late partying!)
We went to many beaches over the course of our time there. The water was warm like a bathtub (not surprising considering the intense heat in Salvador – it hits like a brick and sucks out all the energy a person once possessed.) There were always waves of a pretty decent size. People were surfing where we were swimming, and we took to the sport of attempted amateur bodyboarding – which is honestly the funnest thing I can imagine. I don't recall the last time I was so giddy with glee, and there is a small possibility that I shed a few tears when it didn't look like we would go back. (But we did!) :D
I am so in love with the ocean.
Its majesty is so great, it is home to so many creatures, it has so much strength and power over everything on earth. It is vast; unending it seems. And God is present in every inch. I am awestruck.
We went to Projeto Tamar, a marine wildlife conservation project with a special focus on sea turtles. We got to see critically endangered sharks, many exotic fish, and of course the turtles! The best part came at the end of the day when we saw the newly hatched turtles emerge from where they had been laid, and then journey into the ocean!
The trek from the nest to the ocean is the most dangerous time of the turtles life, and after seeing the release I understand why! If there is a sandcastle, the turtle gets stuck. There is a hole, the turtle gets stuck. And the waves are so intense that many turtles get flipped over by them, and they will quickly be buried in the sand by the proceeding waves. Additionally, the turtles are programmed to head towards the light emitted over the ocean by either the sun or the moon. However, if a human-made light source is greater than that of the sun or moon, the turtles will head towards that instead, leading them into great danger and minimizing their possibility of ever returning to the ocean.
Salvador is interesting in that everyone and everything lives together. There are vast preserved natural areas right next to apartment buildings. There are favelas (the poorest and usually most dangerous areas in Brazil) right next to huge, fancy, rich houses and apartments that have personal gondolas to the beach. There are no boundaries.
One day we went to Pelourinho, which is where Brazil ultimately began. The cobblestone streets are bumpy and windy, and there is literally a church on every corner. Apparently they used to have a different church for each day of the year - all Catholic, I might add.
When we arrived, it was a little scary as there were many men pointing to parking spaces and attempting to convince people that they were in fact the real parking people, and it was difficult to tell who was legit and who just wanted to rob us upon exiting the vehicle. We had to make sure nothing was sticking out of our bags or pockets; there were people approaching from all directions trying to sell us things. I will fully admit to being terrified. However, the old town was very beautiful and worth it. It was quiet (because again, it was morning), bursting with tourists and street drummers as well. In the summer, they have tons of drummers who come together for huge concerts. Michael Jackson even recorded a music video with the drummers there in Pelouronho (for his song "They Don't Care About Us").
We spent a great deal of time visiting with André's family and friends. They were all so wonderful! And it was interesting to see how home lives differ between Campinas and Salvador.
Then, all too soon, the time came to return to Campinas. I saw the southern star out the plane window while over the ocean, which was pretty exciting because it's nearly impossible to see it from lower elevations, especially with the city lights. At that moment though, I could see galaxies. I've never seen such a pitch black, unobstructed sky in my life. A great end to a great trip!
We were all SO EXCITED to go! As it is about 25 hours driving from Campinas to Salvador, we flew. The kids we're thrilled about the idea of flying, and it was extremely entertaining to watch their reactions to the take off.
Upon arrival, I was informed that it is necessary to always drive with the windows closed and doors locked for safety, so that was a little shocking! I was also struck by the amount of graffiti covering every wall – never before had I seen so much graffiti in one place.
We stayed in a hotel right near Farol de Itapuã (farol = lighthouse). The hotel was great, with an awesome breakfast complete with a multitude of fruits, cakes, breads, and juices – and one day, I even had a quesadilla-style tapioca with condensed milk and corn. Best breakfast EVER!!! One of the people who worked at the hotel spoke English, so I asked him how he learned. Turns out, he spent a year as an exchange student in DENMARK! And he can even say rødgrød med fløde!!!!!!! I've never been so starstruck.
Salvador is known for its partying. Apparently most cities in Brazil celebrate carnival for four days – well, in Salvador, they celebrate for eleven. This culture of partying was very evident in the amount I saw people drinking, and how empty everyplace was in the mornings (literally nobody on the beach… Methinks everybody was out too late partying!)
We went to many beaches over the course of our time there. The water was warm like a bathtub (not surprising considering the intense heat in Salvador – it hits like a brick and sucks out all the energy a person once possessed.) There were always waves of a pretty decent size. People were surfing where we were swimming, and we took to the sport of attempted amateur bodyboarding – which is honestly the funnest thing I can imagine. I don't recall the last time I was so giddy with glee, and there is a small possibility that I shed a few tears when it didn't look like we would go back. (But we did!) :D
I am so in love with the ocean.
Its majesty is so great, it is home to so many creatures, it has so much strength and power over everything on earth. It is vast; unending it seems. And God is present in every inch. I am awestruck.
We went to Projeto Tamar, a marine wildlife conservation project with a special focus on sea turtles. We got to see critically endangered sharks, many exotic fish, and of course the turtles! The best part came at the end of the day when we saw the newly hatched turtles emerge from where they had been laid, and then journey into the ocean!
The trek from the nest to the ocean is the most dangerous time of the turtles life, and after seeing the release I understand why! If there is a sandcastle, the turtle gets stuck. There is a hole, the turtle gets stuck. And the waves are so intense that many turtles get flipped over by them, and they will quickly be buried in the sand by the proceeding waves. Additionally, the turtles are programmed to head towards the light emitted over the ocean by either the sun or the moon. However, if a human-made light source is greater than that of the sun or moon, the turtles will head towards that instead, leading them into great danger and minimizing their possibility of ever returning to the ocean.
Salvador is interesting in that everyone and everything lives together. There are vast preserved natural areas right next to apartment buildings. There are favelas (the poorest and usually most dangerous areas in Brazil) right next to huge, fancy, rich houses and apartments that have personal gondolas to the beach. There are no boundaries.
One day we went to Pelourinho, which is where Brazil ultimately began. The cobblestone streets are bumpy and windy, and there is literally a church on every corner. Apparently they used to have a different church for each day of the year - all Catholic, I might add.
When we arrived, it was a little scary as there were many men pointing to parking spaces and attempting to convince people that they were in fact the real parking people, and it was difficult to tell who was legit and who just wanted to rob us upon exiting the vehicle. We had to make sure nothing was sticking out of our bags or pockets; there were people approaching from all directions trying to sell us things. I will fully admit to being terrified. However, the old town was very beautiful and worth it. It was quiet (because again, it was morning), bursting with tourists and street drummers as well. In the summer, they have tons of drummers who come together for huge concerts. Michael Jackson even recorded a music video with the drummers there in Pelouronho (for his song "They Don't Care About Us").
We spent a great deal of time visiting with André's family and friends. They were all so wonderful! And it was interesting to see how home lives differ between Campinas and Salvador.
Then, all too soon, the time came to return to Campinas. I saw the southern star out the plane window while over the ocean, which was pretty exciting because it's nearly impossible to see it from lower elevations, especially with the city lights. At that moment though, I could see galaxies. I've never seen such a pitch black, unobstructed sky in my life. A great end to a great trip!
Saturday, April 2, 2016
From Campinas to La Paz is 1435 Miles
Today is the day I voyage from Brazil to Bolivia! As something new, I'm going to write an ongoing blog throughout the day. By the time this is published, the day will be in the rearview mirror and everything will be known. But as of now, it's all questionable! Will I make my short connection? Will my taxi be there when I arrive? Will I be kidnapped and killed? Stay tuned!
11:02am - The day began early at 7am with an unwelcome alarm after a whopping 3 1/2 hours of sleep. I ate a delicious breakfast with Carol and André, and played with the kids who were heartwarmingly opposed to my departure.
Oh no! Lost track of time, we're running late! I nicknamed Carol the "wolf driver" as we sped to the bus. Luckily, the bus was late too so we made it just in time!
The bus went directly from Campinas to the airport terminal, and it was very nice. However, if you've ever thought using the restroom onboard an airplane or train was difficult, try using it in the back of a bus while driving on the bumpy and hilly roads of Brazil! Luckily, I didn't fall in.
After embarrassingly going to the check-in desk of the wrong airline, I made it to the right place! I'm currently standing in an indefinite line, waiting for the invisible airline workers (who aren't actually invisible, but haven't shown up yet) to check in my baggage.
12:18pm - I made it to the gate! 2 hours early - the perfect amount of time to explore the airport and [hopefully] not get lost!
Not going to lie, the last hour has been pretty rough.
After the not-invisible workers finally arrived, I went to check my luggage. They promptly weighed my carry-on bag (one of my great fears as I'm about 2kg over the 7kg weight limit. Luckily, they didn't say anything!) Next they asked for the address of the place I'm staying, which totally threw me off because I've never before been asked to produce such documentation at the check-in desk.
After what felt like 15 minutes but was probably closer to 3, I determined that the email which contained the address was sent on Jan. 13th, but my email app only went back to Jan. 28th. I would have to exit the vicinity and call my parents, thus requiring me to get in the very back of the now football-field-sized line.
Epiphany - they probably want the address so they can issue me a visa... But I already have my visa! BINGO. Documents copied, boarding pass in hand, off to find the gate.
Next I went through about 3 different security checks, in one of which I accidentally went through the Brazilian-citizens-only line and it took several failed passport scan attempts as well as a woman talking to me in a few different languages before I figured this out. I may have also accidentally gotten on the elevator to the VIP lounge, pressed the button a few times, determined the elevator was broken and exited, and then realized I was already in the floor I wanted to go to.
Oh my gosh, I'm a wreck.
3:46pm - I'm currently on the plane headed to Cochabamba. We're scheduled to land at 4:15, but the plane is showing no sign of decent. I have no idea why.
After my last entry, I went in search of the wide variety of cuisine usually available in airports. I didn't find it. What I did find was a Starbucks, a baguette place, and a couple vending machines. Guess it's pão de queijo (cheese bread) and a blueberry muffin for lunch today!
While waiting in line at Starbucks, a man asked me if I spoke English. He was from Iran (what is it with running into Iranian people in the airport!?) living in Italy, just passing through GRU on a layover. He was very interesting to talk to. And I felt pretty macho about being able to help him communicate with the worker who only spoke Portuguese - it was refreshing after being the ONLY person who didn't speak perfect Portuguese for so long.
Then it was time to board the plane. And that, folks, is when the transition from Portuguese to Spanish officially took place.
And I'm flunking.
The flight attendant greeted me with the standard: "Hola, ¿cómo estás?" The answer to this question has been natural instinct for me since 7th grade. Yet I responded with the Portuguese "muito bem," realized my mistake, took a few seconds, sputtered a few random Spanish words, and continued on defeated.
I didn't know it was possible to have a conversation and have no idea what language it's in, but it happened. I couldn't tell what language the man sitting next to me was speaking (THAT'S how similar Spanish and Portuguese are) so I was being careful to only use words that are the same in both languages. I finally discovered that he is Bolivian, but he's been in Brazil so he knows a decent amount of Portuguese. He's the perfect person to speak to, because I can try to speak Spanish but he will still understand when I accidentally say a Portuguese word. There's some intense "Portañol" (as the ladies at NAS called it) going on right here!
4:10 now and still no sign of decent. Hmmm this is getting curious... Well, at least I'm on the same exact plane for the next leg of the flight, so it can't exactly leave without me! Although I remain unsure about whether I'm supposed to exit the plane or not. I read someplace that they make everybody get off, go through customs, full on exit the airport, then reenter from the outside (all in the 1hr 20min layover). But the woman working for the airline full on admitted that she had no idea what I'd do upon arrival to Cochabamba. So that's frightening. I guess I'll have to wait and follow the crowd!
4:52pm local time (5:52pm according to time schedule of last update) - So I figured out why the plane wasn't descending on time.... Because the flight arrival times are always written in local time, but my phone clock still had Brazil time. That explains it! So we actually arrived rather early.
I can't even express how beautiful Cochabamba was flying in. It's a stormy day, and the clouds and the mountains seemed to dance together, becoming one.
We landed and exited through the REAR of the plane onto the tarmac. This totally threw me off as I don't recall ever exiting a plane from the rear, so I jumped up and went and was about halfway to the door of the airport when I realized I had forgotten my suitcase in the overhead compartment. Oh the walk of shame as I reentered the now empty plane and grabbed my suitcase!
There was a long line at "migración," but it was super quick. I still can't get over going to a country and not even having to speak to the customs official, or present baggage in any capacity.
I began to stalk the people in front of me, as I knew they were going to La Paz as well and I honestly had no idea where to go. To my surprise, they spoke English too, so that was a bonus! I honestly don't think I ever would've figured out where to go or what to do without them, as our flight wasn't listed on the board yet. After it showed up, we went through security again and I'm now sitting at the gate with a whole hour to spare! And I was scared about not making my connection....
By the way, I went through security with two full bottles of water, and they said OH THAT'S FINE! So here I am sitting at the gate with my waters in hand. Talk about culture shock!!!
10:14pm - I MADE IT!!!!! AND I'M NOT EVEN DEAD OR KIDNAPPED!!!
The flight from Cochabamba to La Paz only lasted 35 minutes, but it was 35 minutes of some of the most incredible sights I've ever seen. We flew right next to some thunderheads and it seriously felt like I was on a train in Heaven. And the snow-capped mountains peeking through the clouds all the time - I took so many photos, but they don't come close to capturing what it was truly like.
We landed in La Paz, which is nothing like I expected it to be (but that's good, because how boring if everything is exactly the way it's expected!) We went through a final document check, and they also double checked to make sure that each person picked up the correct luggage.
I walked through a door and was so surprised to almost run into my name, as the taxi driver was holding a sign. We headed towards the taxi and he said he'd pull it up while I waited at the door. SCARY MOMENT, I looked away and then saw a cab pulling up and I thought it was him. So I started heading towards it and almost got in. Luckily the right one pulled up just then, and I realized my mistake! It made me very insecure though - what if this wasn't the right one either!? Taxis can be very dangerous here...
Then we were immersed in the crazy city traffic, followed by 3000ft worth of elevation drops in the next half hour. And then I was left at the door of UP CLOSE, where a multitude of very friendly and welcoming people greeted me. And the rest of the night has been spent talking to them!
I'm so excited to wake up tomorrow and see where I am! I see the silhouette of the mountains behind the house, but I really have no idea what sights surround me.
My battery is completely dead - The battery of my mental and physical functions, that is. Methinks it's bedtime! Goodnight(: Thanks for following my journey today! <3
11:02am - The day began early at 7am with an unwelcome alarm after a whopping 3 1/2 hours of sleep. I ate a delicious breakfast with Carol and André, and played with the kids who were heartwarmingly opposed to my departure.
Oh no! Lost track of time, we're running late! I nicknamed Carol the "wolf driver" as we sped to the bus. Luckily, the bus was late too so we made it just in time!
The bus went directly from Campinas to the airport terminal, and it was very nice. However, if you've ever thought using the restroom onboard an airplane or train was difficult, try using it in the back of a bus while driving on the bumpy and hilly roads of Brazil! Luckily, I didn't fall in.
After embarrassingly going to the check-in desk of the wrong airline, I made it to the right place! I'm currently standing in an indefinite line, waiting for the invisible airline workers (who aren't actually invisible, but haven't shown up yet) to check in my baggage.
12:18pm - I made it to the gate! 2 hours early - the perfect amount of time to explore the airport and [hopefully] not get lost!
Not going to lie, the last hour has been pretty rough.
After the not-invisible workers finally arrived, I went to check my luggage. They promptly weighed my carry-on bag (one of my great fears as I'm about 2kg over the 7kg weight limit. Luckily, they didn't say anything!) Next they asked for the address of the place I'm staying, which totally threw me off because I've never before been asked to produce such documentation at the check-in desk.
After what felt like 15 minutes but was probably closer to 3, I determined that the email which contained the address was sent on Jan. 13th, but my email app only went back to Jan. 28th. I would have to exit the vicinity and call my parents, thus requiring me to get in the very back of the now football-field-sized line.
Epiphany - they probably want the address so they can issue me a visa... But I already have my visa! BINGO. Documents copied, boarding pass in hand, off to find the gate.
Next I went through about 3 different security checks, in one of which I accidentally went through the Brazilian-citizens-only line and it took several failed passport scan attempts as well as a woman talking to me in a few different languages before I figured this out. I may have also accidentally gotten on the elevator to the VIP lounge, pressed the button a few times, determined the elevator was broken and exited, and then realized I was already in the floor I wanted to go to.
Oh my gosh, I'm a wreck.
3:46pm - I'm currently on the plane headed to Cochabamba. We're scheduled to land at 4:15, but the plane is showing no sign of decent. I have no idea why.
After my last entry, I went in search of the wide variety of cuisine usually available in airports. I didn't find it. What I did find was a Starbucks, a baguette place, and a couple vending machines. Guess it's pão de queijo (cheese bread) and a blueberry muffin for lunch today!
While waiting in line at Starbucks, a man asked me if I spoke English. He was from Iran (what is it with running into Iranian people in the airport!?) living in Italy, just passing through GRU on a layover. He was very interesting to talk to. And I felt pretty macho about being able to help him communicate with the worker who only spoke Portuguese - it was refreshing after being the ONLY person who didn't speak perfect Portuguese for so long.
Then it was time to board the plane. And that, folks, is when the transition from Portuguese to Spanish officially took place.
And I'm flunking.
The flight attendant greeted me with the standard: "Hola, ¿cómo estás?" The answer to this question has been natural instinct for me since 7th grade. Yet I responded with the Portuguese "muito bem," realized my mistake, took a few seconds, sputtered a few random Spanish words, and continued on defeated.
I didn't know it was possible to have a conversation and have no idea what language it's in, but it happened. I couldn't tell what language the man sitting next to me was speaking (THAT'S how similar Spanish and Portuguese are) so I was being careful to only use words that are the same in both languages. I finally discovered that he is Bolivian, but he's been in Brazil so he knows a decent amount of Portuguese. He's the perfect person to speak to, because I can try to speak Spanish but he will still understand when I accidentally say a Portuguese word. There's some intense "Portañol" (as the ladies at NAS called it) going on right here!
4:10 now and still no sign of decent. Hmmm this is getting curious... Well, at least I'm on the same exact plane for the next leg of the flight, so it can't exactly leave without me! Although I remain unsure about whether I'm supposed to exit the plane or not. I read someplace that they make everybody get off, go through customs, full on exit the airport, then reenter from the outside (all in the 1hr 20min layover). But the woman working for the airline full on admitted that she had no idea what I'd do upon arrival to Cochabamba. So that's frightening. I guess I'll have to wait and follow the crowd!
4:52pm local time (5:52pm according to time schedule of last update) - So I figured out why the plane wasn't descending on time.... Because the flight arrival times are always written in local time, but my phone clock still had Brazil time. That explains it! So we actually arrived rather early.
I can't even express how beautiful Cochabamba was flying in. It's a stormy day, and the clouds and the mountains seemed to dance together, becoming one.
We landed and exited through the REAR of the plane onto the tarmac. This totally threw me off as I don't recall ever exiting a plane from the rear, so I jumped up and went and was about halfway to the door of the airport when I realized I had forgotten my suitcase in the overhead compartment. Oh the walk of shame as I reentered the now empty plane and grabbed my suitcase!
There was a long line at "migración," but it was super quick. I still can't get over going to a country and not even having to speak to the customs official, or present baggage in any capacity.
I began to stalk the people in front of me, as I knew they were going to La Paz as well and I honestly had no idea where to go. To my surprise, they spoke English too, so that was a bonus! I honestly don't think I ever would've figured out where to go or what to do without them, as our flight wasn't listed on the board yet. After it showed up, we went through security again and I'm now sitting at the gate with a whole hour to spare! And I was scared about not making my connection....
By the way, I went through security with two full bottles of water, and they said OH THAT'S FINE! So here I am sitting at the gate with my waters in hand. Talk about culture shock!!!
10:14pm - I MADE IT!!!!! AND I'M NOT EVEN DEAD OR KIDNAPPED!!!
The flight from Cochabamba to La Paz only lasted 35 minutes, but it was 35 minutes of some of the most incredible sights I've ever seen. We flew right next to some thunderheads and it seriously felt like I was on a train in Heaven. And the snow-capped mountains peeking through the clouds all the time - I took so many photos, but they don't come close to capturing what it was truly like.
We landed in La Paz, which is nothing like I expected it to be (but that's good, because how boring if everything is exactly the way it's expected!) We went through a final document check, and they also double checked to make sure that each person picked up the correct luggage.
I walked through a door and was so surprised to almost run into my name, as the taxi driver was holding a sign. We headed towards the taxi and he said he'd pull it up while I waited at the door. SCARY MOMENT, I looked away and then saw a cab pulling up and I thought it was him. So I started heading towards it and almost got in. Luckily the right one pulled up just then, and I realized my mistake! It made me very insecure though - what if this wasn't the right one either!? Taxis can be very dangerous here...
Then we were immersed in the crazy city traffic, followed by 3000ft worth of elevation drops in the next half hour. And then I was left at the door of UP CLOSE, where a multitude of very friendly and welcoming people greeted me. And the rest of the night has been spent talking to them!
I'm so excited to wake up tomorrow and see where I am! I see the silhouette of the mountains behind the house, but I really have no idea what sights surround me.
My battery is completely dead - The battery of my mental and physical functions, that is. Methinks it's bedtime! Goodnight(: Thanks for following my journey today! <3
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
My Daily Life in Brazil
I have had many people ask me what my daily life consists of here, so I thought I would share a little bit about that. Granted, I'm a bit tardy as I have less than one week remaining before I head to Bolivia, but I'll write about it anyway!
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I wake up early and go with Carol to drop the kids off at preschool (a really cool preschool by the way, where everything is outside, the kids learn fully through play, and they even have a random tortoise who wanders around the school). She then drops me off at NAS, where I spend 3-4 hours interacting with the awesome kids.
NAS is an incredible organization. They provide a safe place for kids aged 5-13 to come before or after school while their parents generally work. Every day consists of different activities - sometimes it's origami, sometimes it's capoeira (a Brazilian martial art), sometimes it's reading in the library, and sometimes it's free play outside (during which time the soccer balls emerge, the swing set becomes overcrowded, and several varieties of tag are brought to the forefront).
At first it was difficult for me there, as the kids at NAS were very curious about this strange new person and would bombard me with questions in Portuguese, and I really couldn't understand and it was very awkward. However, since then, the kids have figured out how to communicate with me (plus also my Portuguese has improved immensely, but mostly they have figured things out). The most common form of communication involves taking me to the place and demonstrating what they want me to do. Also common are drawings. The most popular of all, however, are the games that require little to no language at all. Like the high five game that goes "up high, on the side, on the other side, down low, TOO SLOW!" Except everybody is getting way too fast... There's also a game where people will tell me to look at the giant 3-headed butterfly (or something equally bizarre) then tap me on the shoulder when I look and tell me, "Foi uma fantasma!" (It was a ghost!)
I can't even express how much I love each and every kid there. It's incredible. I don't know how I'm ever going to be able to say goodbye.
Tuesday and Thursday mornings are reserved for rest, studying Portuguese, communication with my family, and often organizing photos or chipping away at blog entries.
Around 12:30pm, everybody returns to the house. Lunch (which is the biggest meal of the day) is served both at the kids' preschool and at NAS, but anybody who hasn't eaten does so upon return to the house. The kids bathe, and Isabela prepares for her nap.
After 2pm, everything varies. Sometimes there are swimming lessons, sometimes I wander a new safe area while someone has an appointment, sometimes we go grocery shopping, frequently we go on miscellaneous adventures, and sometimes the afternoon is simply spent at the house playing.
I didn't actually notice this until I read it somewhere, but dinner is generally later in Brazil because the lunch is bigger. (I didn't notice because my family at home generally eats on the later side - I recall once eating LUNCH at 9pm). In the USA, I'd estimate that the average dinnertime is between 5 and 7. Here, I'd say it's between 7 and 9 (judging not just from the one family, but from what I've observed as a whole).
Nights consist of Carol's incredibly creative games outside, random dancing with the kids, and a few tv episodes. Very popular here is Tom and Jerry, Mr. Bean the cartoon, and Masha e o Urso (Masha and the Bear - a Russian kids' show).
Alas, it's time for bed. Snore snore!
Weekends are my favorite, as they involve many miscellaneous adventures! One weekend we went to Ubatuba (a GORGEOUS coastal town), one weekend we went to an awesome lake, some weekends we went to kids' parties of various varieties, and most recently we spent an extended weekend in Salvador! More about that later.
So that's life here! It's pretty awesome. The people make it that way(: (and I mean, the warm weather doesn't hurt anything either...)
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I wake up early and go with Carol to drop the kids off at preschool (a really cool preschool by the way, where everything is outside, the kids learn fully through play, and they even have a random tortoise who wanders around the school). She then drops me off at NAS, where I spend 3-4 hours interacting with the awesome kids.
NAS is an incredible organization. They provide a safe place for kids aged 5-13 to come before or after school while their parents generally work. Every day consists of different activities - sometimes it's origami, sometimes it's capoeira (a Brazilian martial art), sometimes it's reading in the library, and sometimes it's free play outside (during which time the soccer balls emerge, the swing set becomes overcrowded, and several varieties of tag are brought to the forefront).
At first it was difficult for me there, as the kids at NAS were very curious about this strange new person and would bombard me with questions in Portuguese, and I really couldn't understand and it was very awkward. However, since then, the kids have figured out how to communicate with me (plus also my Portuguese has improved immensely, but mostly they have figured things out). The most common form of communication involves taking me to the place and demonstrating what they want me to do. Also common are drawings. The most popular of all, however, are the games that require little to no language at all. Like the high five game that goes "up high, on the side, on the other side, down low, TOO SLOW!" Except everybody is getting way too fast... There's also a game where people will tell me to look at the giant 3-headed butterfly (or something equally bizarre) then tap me on the shoulder when I look and tell me, "Foi uma fantasma!" (It was a ghost!)
I can't even express how much I love each and every kid there. It's incredible. I don't know how I'm ever going to be able to say goodbye.
Tuesday and Thursday mornings are reserved for rest, studying Portuguese, communication with my family, and often organizing photos or chipping away at blog entries.
Around 12:30pm, everybody returns to the house. Lunch (which is the biggest meal of the day) is served both at the kids' preschool and at NAS, but anybody who hasn't eaten does so upon return to the house. The kids bathe, and Isabela prepares for her nap.
After 2pm, everything varies. Sometimes there are swimming lessons, sometimes I wander a new safe area while someone has an appointment, sometimes we go grocery shopping, frequently we go on miscellaneous adventures, and sometimes the afternoon is simply spent at the house playing.
I didn't actually notice this until I read it somewhere, but dinner is generally later in Brazil because the lunch is bigger. (I didn't notice because my family at home generally eats on the later side - I recall once eating LUNCH at 9pm). In the USA, I'd estimate that the average dinnertime is between 5 and 7. Here, I'd say it's between 7 and 9 (judging not just from the one family, but from what I've observed as a whole).
Nights consist of Carol's incredibly creative games outside, random dancing with the kids, and a few tv episodes. Very popular here is Tom and Jerry, Mr. Bean the cartoon, and Masha e o Urso (Masha and the Bear - a Russian kids' show).
Alas, it's time for bed. Snore snore!
Weekends are my favorite, as they involve many miscellaneous adventures! One weekend we went to Ubatuba (a GORGEOUS coastal town), one weekend we went to an awesome lake, some weekends we went to kids' parties of various varieties, and most recently we spent an extended weekend in Salvador! More about that later.
So that's life here! It's pretty awesome. The people make it that way(: (and I mean, the warm weather doesn't hurt anything either...)
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Food - The Brazilian Way
I'll tell you a secret: I'm a food junkie. Especially when it comes to fruit and sweets, I lose all control.
I've come to the right place.
The produce department at the grocery store here is easily double or triple the size of the average Michigan one, bursting with unfamiliar fruits and vegetables, or unfamiliar varieties of familiar ones (did you know there are several different varieties of avocado and broccoli?) Brazilians also know how to do sweets the right way, making them not mildly sweet but fully, richly delicious.
I have tried such a great number of interesting new foods that I could probably write a blog entry every single day solely about the cuisine encountered. It's THAT good. However, for the sake of not filling this website with pages upon pages of banana descriptions (by the way, even average bananas are SO flavorful here), I'll spill all the beans here.
Speaking of beans, they're absolutely the staple of a typical Brazil diet, along with rice. Almost every meal includes these two foods in some capacity. Brazilians know how to cook these to be delicious.
I'll break it down into some food categories for easy navigating! Hope you have some food handy, because you will likely be hungry by the end of this.
BY THE WAY: this blog is very long, I'm sorry. I just couldn't keep anything out. Please skip around as desired, but know that the beverages, fruit, and corn categories probably contain the most unique information.
Beverages
Juice. It is THE beverage. At the house, we make fresh juice 2 or 3 times a day. At restaurants, at food stands, at parties, juice is usually the only option available, and there are some weird ones! Cashew juice, strawberry juice, mango juice. Watermelon juice is my favorite, and I recall asking throughout my childhood why watermelon juice wasn't widely popular when watermelons are so juicy. The question hasn't dissipated here. It's divine. Passion fruit-mango juice is incredibly refreshing, and we had orange-apple-lime juice the other day which I feel should become queen of the universe.
Pop is available here, but not widely popular.
Also, something I find odd is that meals are eaten without beverages. The thought is that the liquid takes up room where the food could have been, so people will feel full prematurely. Immediately after the meal, the juice is served.
Here's a quick recipe to make juice in a regular blender! (That's how they do it here.)
1. Take away undesired peels, rinds, or shells. Seeds can stay.
2. Put the fruit in the blender, and add water until it's almost covered.
3. Blend until liquefied.
4. Pour it through a strainer into a pitcher. The tiny strainers with the handle and metal mesh work best.
5. Add sugar (because the water takes away some of the natural sweetness).
6. Enjoy!
Fruits
I've tried so many new fruits; my absolute favorite is called caqui (persimmon in English, but I didn't know that so to me it will always be caqui!) It looks like a tomato, but it's very sweet and slimy and very fun to eat. Another very delicious fruit is called pinha - cherimoya in English (why do we have so many long, complicated names for these foreign fruits??) Despite it's ginormous seeds, it is dreamy, though I fail to find the words necessary to describe its taste.
Passion fruit and goiaba (guava) are also fruits that are very popular here that are a bit more difficult to encounter in my end on the world.
Oranges are green, but they taste very similar to the orange ones. And oddly enough, they are still called oranges despite their greenness.
There is great confusion when speaking about lemons and limes, as there is only one word for them in Portuguese - limão (pronounced lee-moan, more or less). Unfortunately, the fruit that is called simply limão happens to be what we call a lime. Regular lemons are called Sicilian limes. And what they call lemon juice, I call limeade. All conversations I have tried to have about either of these fruits has resulted in mass confusion.
It has been surprising how many things I dislike in the USA that are delicious here! For example, pineapple. I can force it down, though it's never my favorite. Here though - oh my goodness!!! A civil war broke out in the house over the last piece, and there was a very good reason for that war! It's beyond delicious. There are little saws on the leaves of the pineapples, which I don't recall in the USA, so maybe they're a different variety. (But then again, I've never bought a pineapple in the USA, so I may be very wrong about this).
Fruits can be dangerous, too! There may not be flying snakes here (contrary to André's persuasions), but there are attacker fruits. I. Am. Now. Terrified. Of. Cashews. Cashews grow attached to a giant fruit. Each individual nut is attached to it's own fruit the size of a small apple (no wonder cashews are so expensive!) The fruit is popular for juice here, and we bought some to try. Naturally, I had to get the cashew out of the shell, so I took a knife and started sawing away. A white oil emerged, covering my hands. Turns out this oil is related to poison ivy, and 4 weeks later, it continues to be a very bad experience. And I never did get to the cashew...
Veggies
Vegetables are pretty similar to those in the USA. The only huge difference I can note is that there are several varieties of a few vegetables I didn't know had several varieties. Like cucumbers and zucchini. Sure, I knew of salad cucumbers vs. pickle cucumbers (or maybe those are the same?) Here, they come in every possible shade of green.
Broccoli also has several varieties. And there is a very spicy lettuce variety called rucola (arugula in English) that takes me by surprise whenever I accidentally encounter it in a salad.
Squash is also popular, and is used in a variety of delicious desserts!
Corn
Yes, corn gets its own subtitle.
I always knew and loved corn on the cob and corn muffins, but here they take corn to a whole new level.
Like corn juice. Seriously the most delicious beverage that has ever touched my lips. It is creamy, made with milk, and oh so sweet. We even made our own the other day, and it was so easy and good!
Corn popsicles are heavenly. Pamonha is delicious (cheese covered in this warm cakey corn stuff). And corn cookies are now my preference to the traditional flour-made ones.
I never would have expected corn stuff to be good, but I found myself craving it every second of every day after I tried it.
Dairy
Milk tastes different here. It is sweeter and has a totally different flare to it. As milk containers differ around the world, I'll also mention that it comes in small bottles or cartons, and is not kept in the refrigerator until after it is opened.
Cheddar cheese is very difficult to find here, and is very expensive when it is encountered. Several types of parmesan and mozzarella are easily found here. And grilled string cheese is a thing!
There is one type of cheese that comes in big half-moon chunks and is "the" cheese. I don't know if it has a widely known name, and the only thing I can compare it to is Mexican cheese. White liquid cheese is also common, and a delicious addition to tomato sauces and goiaba desserts.
Bread
Fresh potato bread is the best!! And their form of cinnamon raisin bread is far softer than ours. Warm egg and cheese between the raisin bread is simply the best! We also bought fresh French-style bread to eat with our cheese fondue on International Women's Day, and there is nothing like it.
An interesting sidenote is that I have not yet encountered a toaster here. I should probably ask about that.
Cheese bread, a traditional Brazilian favorite, consists of bread in the shape of a ball filled with cheese. And pastels, which technically aren't bread but I don't know what they would be considered, are cheese-filled thin pastries that are deep fried. They are even awesomer when paired with the corn juice.
Meat
Meat is an integral part of the Brazilian diet, and it looks to be very tender and delicious all the time. Octopus was included in a seafood dish the other day, but other than that it's pretty standard. I'm a vegetarian though, so I don't really have the authority to comment!
Sweets
Nothing else matters. Skip the rest of the blog. Read here.
My sweet tooth has tripled in size, and any self-control I had before coming here has flown out the window.
Mostly due to the widespread use of condensed milk. It had its own layer in the birthday cake. It is the staple ingredient in the peanut candy we had. It is in donuts. And... Guys, I'm in love.
Ice cream is always self-serve, so a person can try as many types as they want to each visit. The only problem with this, as I've discovered, is that they all melt together and it becomes difficult to distinguish one from another. Truffle ice cream is my favorite, with corn ice cream making a close second. There is also papaya, blackberry, passion fruit, coconut, and several varieties of chocolate and vanilla.
Fried bananas, tapioca cakes, churros with doce de leite, carolinas... The deliciousness never stops.
P.S. McFlurries here are the same as Mexican ones, which I once ate while walking through a thunderstorm and didn't even care if I got struck by lightning.
I've come to the right place.
The produce department at the grocery store here is easily double or triple the size of the average Michigan one, bursting with unfamiliar fruits and vegetables, or unfamiliar varieties of familiar ones (did you know there are several different varieties of avocado and broccoli?) Brazilians also know how to do sweets the right way, making them not mildly sweet but fully, richly delicious.
I have tried such a great number of interesting new foods that I could probably write a blog entry every single day solely about the cuisine encountered. It's THAT good. However, for the sake of not filling this website with pages upon pages of banana descriptions (by the way, even average bananas are SO flavorful here), I'll spill all the beans here.
Speaking of beans, they're absolutely the staple of a typical Brazil diet, along with rice. Almost every meal includes these two foods in some capacity. Brazilians know how to cook these to be delicious.
I'll break it down into some food categories for easy navigating! Hope you have some food handy, because you will likely be hungry by the end of this.
BY THE WAY: this blog is very long, I'm sorry. I just couldn't keep anything out. Please skip around as desired, but know that the beverages, fruit, and corn categories probably contain the most unique information.
Beverages
Juice. It is THE beverage. At the house, we make fresh juice 2 or 3 times a day. At restaurants, at food stands, at parties, juice is usually the only option available, and there are some weird ones! Cashew juice, strawberry juice, mango juice. Watermelon juice is my favorite, and I recall asking throughout my childhood why watermelon juice wasn't widely popular when watermelons are so juicy. The question hasn't dissipated here. It's divine. Passion fruit-mango juice is incredibly refreshing, and we had orange-apple-lime juice the other day which I feel should become queen of the universe.
Pop is available here, but not widely popular.
Also, something I find odd is that meals are eaten without beverages. The thought is that the liquid takes up room where the food could have been, so people will feel full prematurely. Immediately after the meal, the juice is served.
Here's a quick recipe to make juice in a regular blender! (That's how they do it here.)
1. Take away undesired peels, rinds, or shells. Seeds can stay.
2. Put the fruit in the blender, and add water until it's almost covered.
3. Blend until liquefied.
4. Pour it through a strainer into a pitcher. The tiny strainers with the handle and metal mesh work best.
5. Add sugar (because the water takes away some of the natural sweetness).
6. Enjoy!
Fruits
I've tried so many new fruits; my absolute favorite is called caqui (persimmon in English, but I didn't know that so to me it will always be caqui!) It looks like a tomato, but it's very sweet and slimy and very fun to eat. Another very delicious fruit is called pinha - cherimoya in English (why do we have so many long, complicated names for these foreign fruits??) Despite it's ginormous seeds, it is dreamy, though I fail to find the words necessary to describe its taste.
Passion fruit and goiaba (guava) are also fruits that are very popular here that are a bit more difficult to encounter in my end on the world.
Oranges are green, but they taste very similar to the orange ones. And oddly enough, they are still called oranges despite their greenness.
There is great confusion when speaking about lemons and limes, as there is only one word for them in Portuguese - limão (pronounced lee-moan, more or less). Unfortunately, the fruit that is called simply limão happens to be what we call a lime. Regular lemons are called Sicilian limes. And what they call lemon juice, I call limeade. All conversations I have tried to have about either of these fruits has resulted in mass confusion.
It has been surprising how many things I dislike in the USA that are delicious here! For example, pineapple. I can force it down, though it's never my favorite. Here though - oh my goodness!!! A civil war broke out in the house over the last piece, and there was a very good reason for that war! It's beyond delicious. There are little saws on the leaves of the pineapples, which I don't recall in the USA, so maybe they're a different variety. (But then again, I've never bought a pineapple in the USA, so I may be very wrong about this).
Fruits can be dangerous, too! There may not be flying snakes here (contrary to André's persuasions), but there are attacker fruits. I. Am. Now. Terrified. Of. Cashews. Cashews grow attached to a giant fruit. Each individual nut is attached to it's own fruit the size of a small apple (no wonder cashews are so expensive!) The fruit is popular for juice here, and we bought some to try. Naturally, I had to get the cashew out of the shell, so I took a knife and started sawing away. A white oil emerged, covering my hands. Turns out this oil is related to poison ivy, and 4 weeks later, it continues to be a very bad experience. And I never did get to the cashew...
Veggies
Vegetables are pretty similar to those in the USA. The only huge difference I can note is that there are several varieties of a few vegetables I didn't know had several varieties. Like cucumbers and zucchini. Sure, I knew of salad cucumbers vs. pickle cucumbers (or maybe those are the same?) Here, they come in every possible shade of green.
Broccoli also has several varieties. And there is a very spicy lettuce variety called rucola (arugula in English) that takes me by surprise whenever I accidentally encounter it in a salad.
Squash is also popular, and is used in a variety of delicious desserts!
Corn
Yes, corn gets its own subtitle.
I always knew and loved corn on the cob and corn muffins, but here they take corn to a whole new level.
Like corn juice. Seriously the most delicious beverage that has ever touched my lips. It is creamy, made with milk, and oh so sweet. We even made our own the other day, and it was so easy and good!
Corn popsicles are heavenly. Pamonha is delicious (cheese covered in this warm cakey corn stuff). And corn cookies are now my preference to the traditional flour-made ones.
I never would have expected corn stuff to be good, but I found myself craving it every second of every day after I tried it.
Dairy
Milk tastes different here. It is sweeter and has a totally different flare to it. As milk containers differ around the world, I'll also mention that it comes in small bottles or cartons, and is not kept in the refrigerator until after it is opened.
Cheddar cheese is very difficult to find here, and is very expensive when it is encountered. Several types of parmesan and mozzarella are easily found here. And grilled string cheese is a thing!
There is one type of cheese that comes in big half-moon chunks and is "the" cheese. I don't know if it has a widely known name, and the only thing I can compare it to is Mexican cheese. White liquid cheese is also common, and a delicious addition to tomato sauces and goiaba desserts.
Bread
Fresh potato bread is the best!! And their form of cinnamon raisin bread is far softer than ours. Warm egg and cheese between the raisin bread is simply the best! We also bought fresh French-style bread to eat with our cheese fondue on International Women's Day, and there is nothing like it.
An interesting sidenote is that I have not yet encountered a toaster here. I should probably ask about that.
Cheese bread, a traditional Brazilian favorite, consists of bread in the shape of a ball filled with cheese. And pastels, which technically aren't bread but I don't know what they would be considered, are cheese-filled thin pastries that are deep fried. They are even awesomer when paired with the corn juice.
Meat
Meat is an integral part of the Brazilian diet, and it looks to be very tender and delicious all the time. Octopus was included in a seafood dish the other day, but other than that it's pretty standard. I'm a vegetarian though, so I don't really have the authority to comment!
Sweets
Nothing else matters. Skip the rest of the blog. Read here.
My sweet tooth has tripled in size, and any self-control I had before coming here has flown out the window.
Mostly due to the widespread use of condensed milk. It had its own layer in the birthday cake. It is the staple ingredient in the peanut candy we had. It is in donuts. And... Guys, I'm in love.
Ice cream is always self-serve, so a person can try as many types as they want to each visit. The only problem with this, as I've discovered, is that they all melt together and it becomes difficult to distinguish one from another. Truffle ice cream is my favorite, with corn ice cream making a close second. There is also papaya, blackberry, passion fruit, coconut, and several varieties of chocolate and vanilla.
Fried bananas, tapioca cakes, churros with doce de leite, carolinas... The deliciousness never stops.
P.S. McFlurries here are the same as Mexican ones, which I once ate while walking through a thunderstorm and didn't even care if I got struck by lightning.
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
To be an American Abroad
I'm famous.
And I don't say that in some self-centered way. I mean I have legitimately had people hiding their faces and freaking out as if they just met their favorite celebrity.
It's pretty bizarre, actually.
Before I started traveling to different countries, I thought every country produced all their own music, movies, and TV shows. I believed this because I had not known of any media that was popular in the USA that wasn't created in the USA, so I figured every other country was the same way. False. The USA is absolutely the media capitol of the world, and almost everybody watches and listens to American media that may or may not be translated (or have voice overs) in their language. Disney channel with the actors' and actresses' mouths moving to English but with strange voices speaking Portuguese? It's odd indeed.
Unfortunately, I'm a pretty terrible person to be representing the USA in a foreign country, because I'm not up on the media at all.
Excited children: WE KNOW AMERICAN MUSIC!!! *starts singing songs I don't know*
Guys, I listen to Spanish reggae.....
Excited children: WE KNOW AMERICAN MOVIES TOO!!!! *starts listing movies I've never heard of*
Guys, I watched Tarzan for the first time ever here with you, in Portuguese, yesterday.....
And then of course everyone is disappointed. I'm sorry!
And then there was the guy who was SO excited to meet me and after several hours he finally came over to talk to me, and his question was this: Do Americans drink tea like the British? Haha I love it.
And I don't say that in some self-centered way. I mean I have legitimately had people hiding their faces and freaking out as if they just met their favorite celebrity.
It's pretty bizarre, actually.
Before I started traveling to different countries, I thought every country produced all their own music, movies, and TV shows. I believed this because I had not known of any media that was popular in the USA that wasn't created in the USA, so I figured every other country was the same way. False. The USA is absolutely the media capitol of the world, and almost everybody watches and listens to American media that may or may not be translated (or have voice overs) in their language. Disney channel with the actors' and actresses' mouths moving to English but with strange voices speaking Portuguese? It's odd indeed.
Unfortunately, I'm a pretty terrible person to be representing the USA in a foreign country, because I'm not up on the media at all.
Excited children: WE KNOW AMERICAN MUSIC!!! *starts singing songs I don't know*
Guys, I listen to Spanish reggae.....
Excited children: WE KNOW AMERICAN MOVIES TOO!!!! *starts listing movies I've never heard of*
Guys, I watched Tarzan for the first time ever here with you, in Portuguese, yesterday.....
And then of course everyone is disappointed. I'm sorry!
And then there was the guy who was SO excited to meet me and after several hours he finally came over to talk to me, and his question was this: Do Americans drink tea like the British? Haha I love it.
Monday, March 7, 2016
Eu Não Falo Português (I do not speak Portuguese)
How to pretend to speak Portuguese:
1. Translate desired phrase into Portuguese as much as possible
2. If a word is unknown in Portuguese, say the Spanish word and hope it's close enough to be understood (9 times out of 10 it is)
3. If a word is unknown in both Portuguese and Spanish, either say it in English or leave it out completely
4. Speak slowly and in an accent that is supposed to be Brazilian but is in reality more like Kermit the Frog
5. Add charades
Like I said, I don't speak Portuguese. But surprisingly, this method works 99% of the time.
Although the other day I needed to convey that one of the kids was pooping, but I didn't know the word for it so I was stuck with charades. That was something I certainly never expected to check off my bucket list! Haha.
I've never been in a place where I needed a language so much. In Mexico, we had translators with us at all times. In Denmark, I encountered a grand total of one person who didn't speak English. Here in Brazil though, I've only met a total of 7 people who can speak English, so it's kind of necessary to know it to talk with anyone outside of that.
I've started volunteering at a place where NOBODY speaks English. There are tons of kids there, and they are all super curious and will bombard me with questions. Sometimes I understand and can answer, but sometimes I simply don't know a word that is vital to the question, so I can't. It's interesting to see how different people respond to this. Some people laugh and hug me; some people just give up and go do something else; some people speak louder and louder because that's probably why I can't understand; some people repeat the question 15 times even after I have expressed in multiple ways that I don't have the necessary knowledge to answer; some people get this very disappointed look and just stare at me while my heart breaks.
I've discovered that there is nothing in this world that physically hurts my brain more than spending 3 hours having multiple kids talk to me rapidly and in a foreign language at the same time. My brain just fries. It would be a challenge even if they were speaking English, but in Portuguese I don't stand a chance!
There are many people, though, who are willing to slow down their speech and act out their words to converse with me. I am SO appreciative of these people! It's so much better than remaining strangers!
Something that really surprised me about Portuguese is that things are said very differently than in English, so a direct translation often makes no sense. Somebody asked me a question the other day and I understood every single word individually, but the question still made no sense to me at all. I never imagined that could happen! For example, "everybody" is said as "todo mundo," which directly translates to "all world." I guess this is logical, but it would be bizarre to say in English "all the world danced" referring to the 20 people at the party...
Questions are hard, because I have to make sure I understand completely so as to not give any drastically false information (after accidentally telling somebody the other day that I have kids, I'm a bit more wary!) Statements are easier though, because I can generally grasp the main idea, then use the tone to decide in what manner I should respond.
It's definitely a journey, and I'm so appreciative that the people I encounter here are happy that I'm trying, rather than frustrated by my mistakes (although I'm sure they're frustrated on the inside!)
I hope you are all having wonderful days! And if you have time, start learning a foreign language, it'll be very worth it someday!
Tchau Todo Mundo(:
1. Translate desired phrase into Portuguese as much as possible
2. If a word is unknown in Portuguese, say the Spanish word and hope it's close enough to be understood (9 times out of 10 it is)
3. If a word is unknown in both Portuguese and Spanish, either say it in English or leave it out completely
4. Speak slowly and in an accent that is supposed to be Brazilian but is in reality more like Kermit the Frog
5. Add charades
Like I said, I don't speak Portuguese. But surprisingly, this method works 99% of the time.
Although the other day I needed to convey that one of the kids was pooping, but I didn't know the word for it so I was stuck with charades. That was something I certainly never expected to check off my bucket list! Haha.
I've never been in a place where I needed a language so much. In Mexico, we had translators with us at all times. In Denmark, I encountered a grand total of one person who didn't speak English. Here in Brazil though, I've only met a total of 7 people who can speak English, so it's kind of necessary to know it to talk with anyone outside of that.
I've started volunteering at a place where NOBODY speaks English. There are tons of kids there, and they are all super curious and will bombard me with questions. Sometimes I understand and can answer, but sometimes I simply don't know a word that is vital to the question, so I can't. It's interesting to see how different people respond to this. Some people laugh and hug me; some people just give up and go do something else; some people speak louder and louder because that's probably why I can't understand; some people repeat the question 15 times even after I have expressed in multiple ways that I don't have the necessary knowledge to answer; some people get this very disappointed look and just stare at me while my heart breaks.
I've discovered that there is nothing in this world that physically hurts my brain more than spending 3 hours having multiple kids talk to me rapidly and in a foreign language at the same time. My brain just fries. It would be a challenge even if they were speaking English, but in Portuguese I don't stand a chance!
There are many people, though, who are willing to slow down their speech and act out their words to converse with me. I am SO appreciative of these people! It's so much better than remaining strangers!
Something that really surprised me about Portuguese is that things are said very differently than in English, so a direct translation often makes no sense. Somebody asked me a question the other day and I understood every single word individually, but the question still made no sense to me at all. I never imagined that could happen! For example, "everybody" is said as "todo mundo," which directly translates to "all world." I guess this is logical, but it would be bizarre to say in English "all the world danced" referring to the 20 people at the party...
Questions are hard, because I have to make sure I understand completely so as to not give any drastically false information (after accidentally telling somebody the other day that I have kids, I'm a bit more wary!) Statements are easier though, because I can generally grasp the main idea, then use the tone to decide in what manner I should respond.
It's definitely a journey, and I'm so appreciative that the people I encounter here are happy that I'm trying, rather than frustrated by my mistakes (although I'm sure they're frustrated on the inside!)
I hope you are all having wonderful days! And if you have time, start learning a foreign language, it'll be very worth it someday!
Tchau Todo Mundo(:
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Pools, Cows, and Other Adventures
Yesterday consisted of watching older men swimming in their underwear and being put in prison by a witch.
Just another normal day...
OK, maybe not. I should explain. After a morning of independently studying Portuguese, I went with Carol to watch Luca's swimming lesson. There were so many cute little kids already swimming better than I could ever dream to, and it looked like such fun. Afterwards, Carol gave Luca a shower while I went back to the viewing area so as to not overcrowd the locker room. I was by myself sitting there watching the pool, when all of a sudden these men came and got in the pool. And male swimsuits in Brazil are the equivalent of underwear, by the way. So that was an experience.
And later, Isabela (almost 3) told me that I was a princess and she was an evil witch, and she promptly imprisoned me. There were only 4 unlocked doors leading to the room, so there was no hope of escape!
We also spent a significant amount of time throwing flip flops at a bush and trying to get them stuck, which is actually a ton of fun. Unfortunately, Luca got his stuck on top of the carport, so I tried to knock it down with my flip flop, which went over the beam and landed....well, I wish I knew where. We haven't actually found it yet.
I'm fairly certain a cow was giving birth outside my window last night. There was some intense mooing going on. And every once in a while, a chicken gave a screech so loud and sudden that my body left the bed for a minute, and my heart would have won gold if there was an Olympic category for heart speed.
I closed the window because I didn't want to win gold, but I forgot about that this morning and promptly slammed my face into the glass. Luckily, it now has a nice nose print so that shouldn't be happening again anytime soon.
I took a walk around the neighborhood this morning. It is beautiful. Due to safety concerns, most of the subdivisions are gated with someone manning the gate at all times and a special card required for entry. The rest of the subdivision is surrounded by a tall wall, topped with barbed wire and security cameras. This makes them incredibly safe.
This afternoon we visited a community center that hosts a before/after school program (most kids here only attend school for half the day until they reach high school). The center reminded me very much of the centers we volunteered at in Washington D C. The kids are ages 5-12, and I'll be volunteering there starting Monday. Everybody there is SO nice, but I'm a bit nervous because not a single person there speaks English!!
I'm currently sitting in a beauty parlor and Carol is getting a massage that consists of having the hair on her head pulled. Apparently it's very painful, but it really relaxes the muscles.
There is a thunderstorm going on outside, but I wish there was a stronger word for it. I've never experienced thunderstorms as intense as the ones here. The skies just open and it's like there are faucets coming from every inch of cloud. The streets become river-like in a matter of minutes, and the thunder is absolutely ear-piercing.
Well, that's the news from Brazil. Hope everything is going wonderfully wherever you may be!
Just another normal day...
OK, maybe not. I should explain. After a morning of independently studying Portuguese, I went with Carol to watch Luca's swimming lesson. There were so many cute little kids already swimming better than I could ever dream to, and it looked like such fun. Afterwards, Carol gave Luca a shower while I went back to the viewing area so as to not overcrowd the locker room. I was by myself sitting there watching the pool, when all of a sudden these men came and got in the pool. And male swimsuits in Brazil are the equivalent of underwear, by the way. So that was an experience.
And later, Isabela (almost 3) told me that I was a princess and she was an evil witch, and she promptly imprisoned me. There were only 4 unlocked doors leading to the room, so there was no hope of escape!
We also spent a significant amount of time throwing flip flops at a bush and trying to get them stuck, which is actually a ton of fun. Unfortunately, Luca got his stuck on top of the carport, so I tried to knock it down with my flip flop, which went over the beam and landed....well, I wish I knew where. We haven't actually found it yet.
I'm fairly certain a cow was giving birth outside my window last night. There was some intense mooing going on. And every once in a while, a chicken gave a screech so loud and sudden that my body left the bed for a minute, and my heart would have won gold if there was an Olympic category for heart speed.
I closed the window because I didn't want to win gold, but I forgot about that this morning and promptly slammed my face into the glass. Luckily, it now has a nice nose print so that shouldn't be happening again anytime soon.
I took a walk around the neighborhood this morning. It is beautiful. Due to safety concerns, most of the subdivisions are gated with someone manning the gate at all times and a special card required for entry. The rest of the subdivision is surrounded by a tall wall, topped with barbed wire and security cameras. This makes them incredibly safe.
This afternoon we visited a community center that hosts a before/after school program (most kids here only attend school for half the day until they reach high school). The center reminded me very much of the centers we volunteered at in Washington D C. The kids are ages 5-12, and I'll be volunteering there starting Monday. Everybody there is SO nice, but I'm a bit nervous because not a single person there speaks English!!
I'm currently sitting in a beauty parlor and Carol is getting a massage that consists of having the hair on her head pulled. Apparently it's very painful, but it really relaxes the muscles.
There is a thunderstorm going on outside, but I wish there was a stronger word for it. I've never experienced thunderstorms as intense as the ones here. The skies just open and it's like there are faucets coming from every inch of cloud. The streets become river-like in a matter of minutes, and the thunder is absolutely ear-piercing.
Well, that's the news from Brazil. Hope everything is going wonderfully wherever you may be!
Monday, February 22, 2016
Brazil Beginnings
What an adventure this life is! I can't sing God's praises enough for allowing my fingerprint to be left all over the world. Little, insignificant me. Incredible.
Today alone, I have....
- had a 5 year old translating for me
- eaten the BEST BANANA of my life
- found a pastry delicious enough to name a kid after
It all started Friday as I went to the airport, a little late, after seeing my awesome little (and big!!!) cousins. What an awesome farewell(:
Luckily all the lines were short, and I made it through in no time. I didn't even have to be searched by the TSA this time! Hooray for not using explosive lotion!!
I had a direct, 10 hour flight from Detroit to São Paulo, and it was also my first red eye flight where the seat next to me wasn't conveniently empty. Turns out, it's super uncomfortable to sleep sitting up, especially when a strange person is sitting only inches away! In case you were wondering...
I arrived at GRU an hour early and made it through customs without talking to a single person, something that I imagine to be impossible in the USA. Then we had an impromptu game of hide and seek, as Carol went to a different terminal and it took us a while to figure that out! I also was attempting to explain to a security guard in Portuguese that I was looking for a person at the bank, and I didn't actually have any reason to go there if she wasn't there. Harder than it sounds!
I also met an Iranian family at this time, and they were very interesting to talk to. I only mention this because I never expected to converse with people from the middle east while in South America. I guess the world really is small(:
After Carol found me, we drove back to their house. It's a beautiful country. It took me a little bit to figure out who spoke English and who spoke only Portuguese - even within the airport this was a struggle. It has also taken me a little time to adjust to the culture, as it's a bizarre thing to jump into a family in an unfamiliar place. But everyone I meet is so beyond friendly(: I love them all!!!
The kids are SO MUCH FUN, but they are definitely still in the process of getting used to having a strange person in the house. I'm also discovering that it's difficult to play make-believe in two different languages...
We went to a fruitaria today, and there were so many fruits I've never heard of before. We got a bunch to try, and I'm STOKED! And the fresh juice is amazing.
And it is raining. And raining. So very much.
This of course is only a shadow of all that has occurred here so far, and the adventure will continue!
Boa noite(:
Today alone, I have....
- had a 5 year old translating for me
- eaten the BEST BANANA of my life
- found a pastry delicious enough to name a kid after
It all started Friday as I went to the airport, a little late, after seeing my awesome little (and big!!!) cousins. What an awesome farewell(:
Luckily all the lines were short, and I made it through in no time. I didn't even have to be searched by the TSA this time! Hooray for not using explosive lotion!!
I had a direct, 10 hour flight from Detroit to São Paulo, and it was also my first red eye flight where the seat next to me wasn't conveniently empty. Turns out, it's super uncomfortable to sleep sitting up, especially when a strange person is sitting only inches away! In case you were wondering...
I arrived at GRU an hour early and made it through customs without talking to a single person, something that I imagine to be impossible in the USA. Then we had an impromptu game of hide and seek, as Carol went to a different terminal and it took us a while to figure that out! I also was attempting to explain to a security guard in Portuguese that I was looking for a person at the bank, and I didn't actually have any reason to go there if she wasn't there. Harder than it sounds!
I also met an Iranian family at this time, and they were very interesting to talk to. I only mention this because I never expected to converse with people from the middle east while in South America. I guess the world really is small(:
After Carol found me, we drove back to their house. It's a beautiful country. It took me a little bit to figure out who spoke English and who spoke only Portuguese - even within the airport this was a struggle. It has also taken me a little time to adjust to the culture, as it's a bizarre thing to jump into a family in an unfamiliar place. But everyone I meet is so beyond friendly(: I love them all!!!
The kids are SO MUCH FUN, but they are definitely still in the process of getting used to having a strange person in the house. I'm also discovering that it's difficult to play make-believe in two different languages...
We went to a fruitaria today, and there were so many fruits I've never heard of before. We got a bunch to try, and I'm STOKED! And the fresh juice is amazing.
And it is raining. And raining. So very much.
This of course is only a shadow of all that has occurred here so far, and the adventure will continue!
Boa noite(:
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Red Tape
I have done a decent amount of traveling in my life thus far - family trips all around the United States, a mission trip to Mexico, a youth exchange to Denmark. So I figured going to South America would be a piece of cake.
But I realized something, and I realized it fast: I have never before been faced with the task of taking care of all the nitty gritty details of traveling. My parents would book the hotels and rental cars and all that good stuff for our family trips. My church took care of all the Mexico technicalities, like travel insurance and currency exchange, and the Lions Club took care of all that for Denmark.
So here I was, thinking it would be a piece of cake to hop on a plane and head for South America. WRONG!
First of all, there was the whole issue of the visas. I can't even begin to express how much I now despise visas! Both Brazil and Bolivia require USA citizens to have a tourist visa for entry. I was completing my Brazilian visa application during finals week, and it made my exams seem easy!
The applications themselves weren't necessarily hard, it was the documents that were required to accompany them that posed the difficulty. Here are the items that were required for both visas:
- A passport
- A passport sized photo, with very specific requirements for background color, lighting, direction of head, amount of hair touching face - even the facial expression has to be correct (no smiling allowed... but also no frowning allowed)
- A bank statement that proves you have enough $$ to sustain yourself - even if you're staying with a family and don't realistically need nearly as much as they require
- A signed letter of invitation from the host family, including very specific information such as family address, national ID numbers, jobs, etc.
- A copy of flight itinerary proving you will not be staying more than 90 days. This sounds simple enough, but when one of the tickets must be booked entirely in Spanish, and then the bank gets all suspicious and shuts down the debit card that is being used for the purchase (because I mean what American flies on Bolivian Airlines), it becomes a little more challenging.
- A money order for $160, and it has to be the through the USPS. No checks allowed.
And that $160? That's for Americans specifically, and it's only because that's how much we charge outsiders to obtain a visa to visit here. And it looks like almost everyone is required to get a visa to come to the USA!
Here is the price chart located on the Brazilian Consulate's website for Brazilian Tourist visa fees:
Below this on the website are several more charts for all the different types of visas that simply say
USA: <insert high cost>
All other countries: <insert significantly lower cost>
Definitely feeling the love here.
And actually, as far as Bolivia goes, we are one of the only western countries that is required to obtain a visa. Lowell Silverman, in his blog entitled "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (If I Must)," wrote the following:
"If you are a citizen of Canada, Mexico, Australia, Japan, most countries in Western Europe, Turkey, most of South America, and several other countries, congratulations! Bolivia likes your country. You don’t need a visa to enter Bolivia. Check your country’s specific documentation requirements like passport or ID for entry. Alas, poor Americans. Not only do US citizens need a Bolivian visa (unless they’re of Bolivian origin, apparently), but the requirements appear to be the most stringent of any country in the world."
(His complete blog can be found at https://lowellsilverman.wordpress.com/2015/06/02/obtaining-a-bolivian-tourist-visa/)
The other difficulty I had with the visas was that I couldn't get through to the Bolivian Consulate to ask my questions (I think they only have one or two phone lines, so they're almost always busy), and since I couldn't get in contact with them, I grew very nervous to send my passport to them. What if it didn't get back in time? What would I do?
So I made an unexpected trip to New York City. Luckily, I was in Connecticut anyway so it wasn't too much of an inconvenience, but I did manage to get sufficiently lost around Grand Central Station. The consulate was absolutely the nicest office I've ever been in, and the woman at the desk was one of the nicest people I have ever encountered in my life.
I had also made an unplanned trip to Chicago with my parents to go to the Brazilian consulate. This was very different from the Bolivian consulate experience. People were lined up outside the door before the consulate even opened! (Between Carnaval and the Olympics this year, they're experiencing a LOT of tourism!) And everything was extremely formal at the consulate, compared to the casual atmosphere at the Bolivian consulate. Everybody was very friendly, though!
And then on top of all the visas, I had to get specific immunizations with international certificates for reentry into Brazil after going to Bolivia (Yellow Fever), so that involved calling all the health departments in the thumb area and beyond.
And then there was the currency exchange, which is through my bank and wonderfully fast, but they didn't have as much Bolivian currency on hand as I needed, so that poses a problem.
And then there's insurance, and trying to get a new phone before I leave so I will have communication in case I get lost or kidnapped. I just wasn't expecting all of these technical details! It's overwhelming.
But it will be totally worth it!!
But I realized something, and I realized it fast: I have never before been faced with the task of taking care of all the nitty gritty details of traveling. My parents would book the hotels and rental cars and all that good stuff for our family trips. My church took care of all the Mexico technicalities, like travel insurance and currency exchange, and the Lions Club took care of all that for Denmark.
So here I was, thinking it would be a piece of cake to hop on a plane and head for South America. WRONG!
First of all, there was the whole issue of the visas. I can't even begin to express how much I now despise visas! Both Brazil and Bolivia require USA citizens to have a tourist visa for entry. I was completing my Brazilian visa application during finals week, and it made my exams seem easy!
The applications themselves weren't necessarily hard, it was the documents that were required to accompany them that posed the difficulty. Here are the items that were required for both visas:
- A passport
- A passport sized photo, with very specific requirements for background color, lighting, direction of head, amount of hair touching face - even the facial expression has to be correct (no smiling allowed... but also no frowning allowed)
- A bank statement that proves you have enough $$ to sustain yourself - even if you're staying with a family and don't realistically need nearly as much as they require
- A signed letter of invitation from the host family, including very specific information such as family address, national ID numbers, jobs, etc.
- A copy of flight itinerary proving you will not be staying more than 90 days. This sounds simple enough, but when one of the tickets must be booked entirely in Spanish, and then the bank gets all suspicious and shuts down the debit card that is being used for the purchase (because I mean what American flies on Bolivian Airlines), it becomes a little more challenging.
- A money order for $160, and it has to be the through the USPS. No checks allowed.
And that $160? That's for Americans specifically, and it's only because that's how much we charge outsiders to obtain a visa to visit here. And it looks like almost everyone is required to get a visa to come to the USA!
Here is the price chart located on the Brazilian Consulate's website for Brazilian Tourist visa fees:
Below this on the website are several more charts for all the different types of visas that simply say
USA: <insert high cost>
All other countries: <insert significantly lower cost>
Definitely feeling the love here.
And actually, as far as Bolivia goes, we are one of the only western countries that is required to obtain a visa. Lowell Silverman, in his blog entitled "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (If I Must)," wrote the following:
"If you are a citizen of Canada, Mexico, Australia, Japan, most countries in Western Europe, Turkey, most of South America, and several other countries, congratulations! Bolivia likes your country. You don’t need a visa to enter Bolivia. Check your country’s specific documentation requirements like passport or ID for entry. Alas, poor Americans. Not only do US citizens need a Bolivian visa (unless they’re of Bolivian origin, apparently), but the requirements appear to be the most stringent of any country in the world."
(His complete blog can be found at https://lowellsilverman.wordpress.com/2015/06/02/obtaining-a-bolivian-tourist-visa/)
The other difficulty I had with the visas was that I couldn't get through to the Bolivian Consulate to ask my questions (I think they only have one or two phone lines, so they're almost always busy), and since I couldn't get in contact with them, I grew very nervous to send my passport to them. What if it didn't get back in time? What would I do?
So I made an unexpected trip to New York City. Luckily, I was in Connecticut anyway so it wasn't too much of an inconvenience, but I did manage to get sufficiently lost around Grand Central Station. The consulate was absolutely the nicest office I've ever been in, and the woman at the desk was one of the nicest people I have ever encountered in my life.
I had also made an unplanned trip to Chicago with my parents to go to the Brazilian consulate. This was very different from the Bolivian consulate experience. People were lined up outside the door before the consulate even opened! (Between Carnaval and the Olympics this year, they're experiencing a LOT of tourism!) And everything was extremely formal at the consulate, compared to the casual atmosphere at the Bolivian consulate. Everybody was very friendly, though!
And then on top of all the visas, I had to get specific immunizations with international certificates for reentry into Brazil after going to Bolivia (Yellow Fever), so that involved calling all the health departments in the thumb area and beyond.
And then there was the currency exchange, which is through my bank and wonderfully fast, but they didn't have as much Bolivian currency on hand as I needed, so that poses a problem.
And then there's insurance, and trying to get a new phone before I leave so I will have communication in case I get lost or kidnapped. I just wasn't expecting all of these technical details! It's overwhelming.
But it will be totally worth it!!
Monday, January 11, 2016
Washington D.C. Urban Intensive
Wow, what a week it has been! It feels like a month, solely as a result of the incredible amount this week has held.
I spent this week participating in the college age Urban Intensive hosted by Center for Student Missions (CSM), which is an incredible organization by the way. I had actually been really debating about whether I should do this program, as I had originally signed up for Denver but it was cancelled due to lack of people. Then one night, God took me for a drive (i.e. I got the intense feeling that I should turn left instead of right, and God showed me all the wonders of downtown Port Huron until I decided I was passionate about urban environments. Definitely felt God's presence big time!) Then I got home and discovered a bunch of paychecks I had forgotten to cash, so it was paid for. Thanks, God!
We stayed in the basement of a church, showers complete with a "sound portal" to the street so all the bustle could be heard. (I don't know if you've ever listened to the conversations of strange drunk men while you were showering, but it is an interesting experience indeed! Hahah.)
Here's a brief overview of each day! I have far too many stories to fit here, but I'd love to share the excess ones personally if you're ever interested!
SUNDAY 1/3
- up at 4am to catch my flight
- lotion set off the airport security alarms, so I had to go through a whole long process involving full luggage searches and a pat down (another adventure in living, I suppose!)
- arrived in D.C. and promptly took the wrong suitcase off the round.. I felt like Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother as I meekly put it back
- went adventuring through the city for 5 hours! (I probably should have brushed up on my knowledge of D.C. before going, as I immediately sent my dad a photo of the national library asking if it was the White House...) P.S. The Washington Monument is super huge in real life, so although it appears to be only a couple blocks from the Capitol Building, it is in fact a mile away and one should not attempt to walk there and back in 20 minutes...
-CSM introductions and dinner at yummy Thai restaurant
MONDAY 1/4
- presentations and articles about poverty and the corruption present in the main D.C. homeless shelter
- prayer tour of the city
- kicked out of the car on a random street corner with nothing more than $2 each for dinner and a key to the church. Facing a far more mild form of the poverty others face daily, we were surprised to discover how difficult it was to find a restroom that could be used without making a purchase, and the lack of food variety available for less than $12 total for the meal (for 6 people).
- walked past a man in the park.. He was completely surrounded with bags and covered in blankets, sitting upright, shivering uncontrollably.
TUESDAY 1/5
- another informative presentation about child poverty nationwide
- community food giveaway at Children of Mine - awesome to talk to all the friendly people as we gave them food
- returned to Children of Mine to be a part of the after school program. Homework, reading, dinner, and a place to safely hang out. The love poured out on the children there is indescribable!
- dinner at Vietnamese restaurant with the best jack berry smoothies in the universe. Also learned how to say "thank you" in Vietnamese!
WEDNESDAY 1/6
- meeting at Bread for the World (an amazing organization fighting both domestic and international hunger by targeting the root causes of it) to learn about our congressional meetings Friday
- visit to Orr Elementary where I was spent time with a 2nd grade class. The kids were SO outgoing and friendly! I unintentionally created chaos as all the kids were fighting to sit next to me (and I did nothing to make them like me, they were just that welcoming!) At one point, I had 6 girls petting my head obsessing over the softness of my hair hahah (that area of town is rather segregated, so they don't encounter many people with hair that's not black)
- one girl in that class particularly struck my heart. She was extremely behind in math and had no interest in doing it, but she was incredibly intelligent! I asked her if she gets help with her homework, and she told me that she has 9 siblings and only sees her dad on Wednesdays, so she has to spend all her time at home helping her mom with her younger siblings. The only time she can do homework is in the car on the way to school, but she can't even focus because her siblings are screaming. This is a child who is so incredibly smart, but she is getting left behind due to her family life, which is totally out of her control. This makes me sad.
THURSDAY 1/7
- heard from the people who started a super diverse community church in the area. They offered great insight into urban ministry
- headed to Anacostia, one of the more dangerous regions of D.C. Even the grocery store had several security guards at the door
- headed to Brighter Day Ministries in Anacostia and helped with the after school program. The kids were SO CUTE and I had fun break dancing with some of the little ones. I think I spent the majority of the afternoon as a tiger.
- as I was pretending to be a horse, the kids who were trying to ride said horse suddenly froze, staring at my head. Then one murmured, "You have gum in your hair." So that was an adventure.
FRIDAY 1/8
- Bread for the World for further instruction on our congressional meetings
- we were set loose in D.C. to go to our appointments with staff of our representative and senators! I met with people from Candice Miller's office, and stopped by my senators' offices in attempt to get meetings. We were discussing some specific terms we wanted in an upcoming bill relating to American child hunger. (I'm not going to go into anymore detail about these meetings, but they were SUPER COOL and I would be totally thrilled to tell you all about them sometime!)
-aimlessly wandered through the Senate buildings, then went to the Capitol and Botanical Garden with one of the girls in my group, running through each as they were closing
- debrief at Bread for the World
- dinner at Busboys & Poets, complete with the penguin joke :D
- touristy night... White House, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial... and gelato!
SATURDAY 1/9
- breakfast, devotions together, and prayer over each other
- goodbyes. It was SO SAD to leave, because all of us grew so close over the week! There were 4 of us participating, plus 2 leaders...and each and every one of them is an absolutely incredible, fun, godly, inspiring woman!
- to the train! And that was a whole new adventure in itself..
For some reason, it wouldn't let me post photos from my tablet, so here is a link to a photo album that corresponds with this post. https://goo.gl/photos/Hj7k12DEurUGL81A8
I spent this week participating in the college age Urban Intensive hosted by Center for Student Missions (CSM), which is an incredible organization by the way. I had actually been really debating about whether I should do this program, as I had originally signed up for Denver but it was cancelled due to lack of people. Then one night, God took me for a drive (i.e. I got the intense feeling that I should turn left instead of right, and God showed me all the wonders of downtown Port Huron until I decided I was passionate about urban environments. Definitely felt God's presence big time!) Then I got home and discovered a bunch of paychecks I had forgotten to cash, so it was paid for. Thanks, God!
We stayed in the basement of a church, showers complete with a "sound portal" to the street so all the bustle could be heard. (I don't know if you've ever listened to the conversations of strange drunk men while you were showering, but it is an interesting experience indeed! Hahah.)
Here's a brief overview of each day! I have far too many stories to fit here, but I'd love to share the excess ones personally if you're ever interested!
SUNDAY 1/3
- up at 4am to catch my flight
- lotion set off the airport security alarms, so I had to go through a whole long process involving full luggage searches and a pat down (another adventure in living, I suppose!)
- arrived in D.C. and promptly took the wrong suitcase off the round.. I felt like Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother as I meekly put it back
- went adventuring through the city for 5 hours! (I probably should have brushed up on my knowledge of D.C. before going, as I immediately sent my dad a photo of the national library asking if it was the White House...) P.S. The Washington Monument is super huge in real life, so although it appears to be only a couple blocks from the Capitol Building, it is in fact a mile away and one should not attempt to walk there and back in 20 minutes...
-CSM introductions and dinner at yummy Thai restaurant
MONDAY 1/4
- presentations and articles about poverty and the corruption present in the main D.C. homeless shelter
- prayer tour of the city
- kicked out of the car on a random street corner with nothing more than $2 each for dinner and a key to the church. Facing a far more mild form of the poverty others face daily, we were surprised to discover how difficult it was to find a restroom that could be used without making a purchase, and the lack of food variety available for less than $12 total for the meal (for 6 people).
- walked past a man in the park.. He was completely surrounded with bags and covered in blankets, sitting upright, shivering uncontrollably.
TUESDAY 1/5
- another informative presentation about child poverty nationwide
- community food giveaway at Children of Mine - awesome to talk to all the friendly people as we gave them food
- returned to Children of Mine to be a part of the after school program. Homework, reading, dinner, and a place to safely hang out. The love poured out on the children there is indescribable!
- dinner at Vietnamese restaurant with the best jack berry smoothies in the universe. Also learned how to say "thank you" in Vietnamese!
WEDNESDAY 1/6
- meeting at Bread for the World (an amazing organization fighting both domestic and international hunger by targeting the root causes of it) to learn about our congressional meetings Friday
- visit to Orr Elementary where I was spent time with a 2nd grade class. The kids were SO outgoing and friendly! I unintentionally created chaos as all the kids were fighting to sit next to me (and I did nothing to make them like me, they were just that welcoming!) At one point, I had 6 girls petting my head obsessing over the softness of my hair hahah (that area of town is rather segregated, so they don't encounter many people with hair that's not black)
- one girl in that class particularly struck my heart. She was extremely behind in math and had no interest in doing it, but she was incredibly intelligent! I asked her if she gets help with her homework, and she told me that she has 9 siblings and only sees her dad on Wednesdays, so she has to spend all her time at home helping her mom with her younger siblings. The only time she can do homework is in the car on the way to school, but she can't even focus because her siblings are screaming. This is a child who is so incredibly smart, but she is getting left behind due to her family life, which is totally out of her control. This makes me sad.
THURSDAY 1/7
- heard from the people who started a super diverse community church in the area. They offered great insight into urban ministry
- headed to Anacostia, one of the more dangerous regions of D.C. Even the grocery store had several security guards at the door
- headed to Brighter Day Ministries in Anacostia and helped with the after school program. The kids were SO CUTE and I had fun break dancing with some of the little ones. I think I spent the majority of the afternoon as a tiger.
- as I was pretending to be a horse, the kids who were trying to ride said horse suddenly froze, staring at my head. Then one murmured, "You have gum in your hair." So that was an adventure.
FRIDAY 1/8
- Bread for the World for further instruction on our congressional meetings
- we were set loose in D.C. to go to our appointments with staff of our representative and senators! I met with people from Candice Miller's office, and stopped by my senators' offices in attempt to get meetings. We were discussing some specific terms we wanted in an upcoming bill relating to American child hunger. (I'm not going to go into anymore detail about these meetings, but they were SUPER COOL and I would be totally thrilled to tell you all about them sometime!)
-aimlessly wandered through the Senate buildings, then went to the Capitol and Botanical Garden with one of the girls in my group, running through each as they were closing
- debrief at Bread for the World
- dinner at Busboys & Poets, complete with the penguin joke :D
- touristy night... White House, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial... and gelato!
SATURDAY 1/9
- breakfast, devotions together, and prayer over each other
- goodbyes. It was SO SAD to leave, because all of us grew so close over the week! There were 4 of us participating, plus 2 leaders...and each and every one of them is an absolutely incredible, fun, godly, inspiring woman!
- to the train! And that was a whole new adventure in itself..
For some reason, it wouldn't let me post photos from my tablet, so here is a link to a photo album that corresponds with this post. https://goo.gl/photos/Hj7k12DEurUGL81A8
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Camp Excerpt...
So I just found this blog that I started to write at the camp in Denmark but never finished! Camp was so much fun and so busy that I never quite found the time to write blog entries there. But I thought I would post this partial blog now! Written on July 28th. And yes, the ending is rather abrupt, but something happened and I was called away!
Even as I am sitting here writing these words, I have no idea what this blog entry is going to be about. I was just asleep on the bus a few minutes ago when suddenly an orange was dropped into my lap and I jolted awake to find several of my fellow campers standing around me watching and laughing. Hmmmm...not quite sure what to think about that one. So now, as I'm far too tired to read a book or do anything else (and I don't dare go back to sleep), I decided to stare at this lit up screen and write a blog entry.
Even as I am sitting here writing these words, I have no idea what this blog entry is going to be about. I was just asleep on the bus a few minutes ago when suddenly an orange was dropped into my lap and I jolted awake to find several of my fellow campers standing around me watching and laughing. Hmmmm...not quite sure what to think about that one. So now, as I'm far too tired to read a book or do anything else (and I don't dare go back to sleep), I decided to stare at this lit up screen and write a blog entry.
So... I guess I'll write about camp!
This is no ordinary camp. There are 28 of us here and we represent 19 different countries.
The flies outnumber us at least 4:1 (there is a pig farm not far from the camp) and while sitting here in the
The end!
The end!
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