Trabalho, Aula de Português e Natal?

Portuguese Words of the Day:
- Futebol = football (soccer)
- Batata = potato
- Chave = key
- Doaçao = donation
- Cadera = chair

Oi gente! Tudo bem? For this post, I am going to write it in all Portuguese (without the aid of conjuga-me.net or Google Traductor). This is mainly for myself to see how my Portuguese is, and when I reflect back on the trip, I want to be able to see how far I've come. This "test" for myself is because I wrote an email to a friend in Portuguese a week ago, and I've already realized that my writing is better now than it was a week ago.

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Esta semana eu fiz um vídeo para o Instituto Amar dos cursos que tem. O Instituto tem cursos de cabeleireiro, de manicure/pedicure, de economia doméstica, e de camareiro. Com os cursos, a gente terá nova oportunidade de buscar o trabalho. Depois eu vou fazer um vídeo do Dia da Feijoada.

A terça e quarta-feira eu e Fatima, a menina de Perú quem também trabalha no Instituto Amar, pegamos o Ônibus para ao aula de português. Tentamos de falar português, mas no sabemos se estamos falando português o espanhol. Acho que aprendo mais português no trabalho e falar com ela que no aula de português. Mas é bom ir a classe porque posso aprender a gramática e conversar com outros trainees.

A quarta-feira tevemos uma proba de português. Não queria ir, mas a terça-feira, nosso professor, Rafael, diz que tiveira dolces típica do Brasil. Por isso, fui a classe. Também vimos ao partido de Espanha e Portugal do Eurocopa durante a proba. Queria que Espanha ganhe, mas todo mundo queria que Portugal ganhe. A proba não foi tan difícil, só as conjugações dos verbos. Tinhamos que conjugar todos os verbos em qualquer forma.

Este postagem se chama "Trabalho, Aula de Português...y natal?" porque hoje parece como o Natal. Quando estava no convey com Josmar e Fatima para coletar doações, estávamos falando das tradições do Brasil durante os meses do verão e o Natal. Depois, um miembro de AIESEC me enviou um mensaje e escreviu que eu tinha uma coisa no CL de Soraya (VP de OGX em AIESEC DC). Por isso, fui a Univille. Também fui para Univille para ver o partido de Italia e Alemanha em Cold Beer e comer um X-salada com Guaraná. Estava muito feliz quando vi a alguns Skittles, Snickers, e uma cartez de AIESEC DC. Depois, cuando chegue a casa, vi a caixa que meus pães me enviaram. Agora tenho uma loja de dolces en meu quarto!

Apparently Mas, the girl from Thailand in Portuguese class, took a photo of us watching the game and captured the spinning wheel of death as the live stream was buffering.

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Phew! That was much harder than I thought it would be. Usually, when I write anything in Portuguese, I have google traductor and conjuga-me.net open to verify that I am correctly conjugating verbs, especially when it comes to the past tenses. I am positive that there are errors, and it definitely will be interesting to look this over in the future.

Tchau for now!

Que Frio Em Curitiba !

Portuguese Words of the Day
Marancujá = Passionfruit
Caixa = cashier/ATM
Mãos = Hands
Presunto = ham
Molhado = wet

Last weekend, I went to Curitiba with five other trainees--Daniel and Natalia from Colombia, Fatima and Luz from Perú, and Ruhy from the USA. Curitiba is the capital city of the state of Paraná, the state above Santa Catarina (and fun fact, the state where Michel Teló is from). We left Joinville Friday night after work from the Rodoviária, a word that took me way too much practice to be able to say, on the 8:35 bus to Curitiba. We arrived in Curitiba close to 11pm and took a taxi to the hostel.

Let me say that the taxi ride was one of the most horrific rides in ever. It was late at night, and the taxi driver had no idea where to go. The hostel was located on Rua Nilo Peçanha (Pecanha and Peçanha make all the difference in the world as well), and the cab driver kept on passing the street and circling around the same street. To make matters worse, none of us spoke very fluent Portuguese. I kept on telling him that "você tem que dar a volta. Isto não é a rua." I don't think he understood us, and we didn't understand his mumbling. And as he made ever single circle around the same street, it was evident that he was getting more and more frustrated at us. After an unnecessarily long time and way more money than it should have cost, we found the hostel and met up with our friends.

On Saturday, we spent the day doing touristy things around Curitiba. We first went to Museu Oscar Niemeyer. The museum is famous for being shaped as an eye. We went through every single exhibit. By the time we made it to the top of the eye, I was slightly disappointed that there wasn't a café located there (brincadeira!). Overall, it was a really interesting museum--having all sorts of artwork. We then took the "Ônibus Turístico" to a park and a Theatre located within nature and took plenty of photos there. Unfortunately, I did not bring my giant camera with me, so the photos that I post here are borrowed from Natalia and Director Daniel.

The Tourist bus that we took was a double decker bus that went around the entire city of Curitiba. It woud have been really nice on the top floor, except for the fact that it was 11 degrees and windy. Therefore, everybody was freezing, and I even caught a cold from sitting up there for so long. Everybody was bundled up in jackets, gloves, and even hats in the form of lions. On the bus, we also met a couple from the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area who were in Curitiba for a concert. The Portuguese that they spoke was much easier to understand than the Portuguese in Santa Catarina since they spoke much slower and relaxed.

My favorite part of the day was going to "Santa Felicidade," which is the Italian part of the city. It is one of the centers for good culinary eats. There were Italian restaurants, and the most famous attraction of the area was the winery. It is one of the largest selections of wine, cheese, and chocolate (seriously, what other foods do you need?). There was also a man dressed in mariachi clothes, singing "Ai Se Tu Pego" in Spanish.

On Saturday night, we returned to the hostel and met one man from Buenos Aires, Argentina by the name of Juan Paulo. He was travelling alone, since he wanted to move to São Paulo. He spoke English, Portuguese, and Spanish with a typical Argentine accent. With the Peruvians and the Colombians, we mainly speak in Spanish, so I think my Spanish improved over the weekend. However, Juan Paulo's Spanish was so difficult to understand. But since he was alone, we invited him to go to the balada de funk with us. I once thought that I liked funk music, but I don't. I'm not sure how I feel about funk music being so popular in Rio de Janeiro, a place where we are planning on visiting (details to be planned out and discussed soon).

On Sunday, we continued our touristic travels of the city. Sunday was a beautiful day, and a (heavy) jacket was not required, except for on the bus. There was a fair in the center of the town, selling local and handmade crafts. After a brief time there, we took the touristic bus to another park and the botanical gardin.

The most memorable event of that evening was almost missing our buses back to Joinville. We went to famous park called Parque Tangüi. By the time we arrived, it was around 6pm and getting dark. So we walked around a bit and decided to head back by the Tourist Bus to grab our items from the hostel. As we were heading to the bus stop, there was already a bus leaving, but we didn't worry too much after it passed since there was supposed to be another bus within the next twenty minutes. However, we waited for almost 40 minutes, and there was still no bus. Finally, a young couple with a child in a stroller came up to us and started asking where we were fun. As soon as Daniel said that he's from Colombia, the bus pulled up, and hit the man with the rearview mirror. Since (I think) the man was under some sort of influence, he was extremely angry and started kicking the bus and yelling at the driver. We were all worried that the driver would just leave, which would have been a big problem as that was the last tourist bus of the day. Finally, after five minutes, the man's wife calmed him down and the driver opened the door. After that experience, I don't think I've ever been so happy to make it back to a hostel.

However, that does not conclude the bus dramas of the night. We arrived to the Curitiba bus terminal at 20:45, and there was a bus to Joinville that was leaving at 20:50. However, it was impossible to make that bus since we took two cabs and still needed to purchase tickets. There was a bus that left at 21:15, so we figured that wouldn't be a problem, until we learned that the 21:15 to Joinville was full. With no other choice, we waited until the 22:10 bus. For some reason, nobody was paying attention to the time and they just didn't announce our bus. Or, rather they did announce our bus, just to tell us it was leaving. It was 22:11 when they announced it and the bus had left. Luckily there was a bus that left at 22:35 that would stop in Joinville, and we took that bus home.

By the time I arrived home, it was almost 1:30, and I still had to work the next morning. I woke up the next morning sick at 7:15, showered, and dragged myself to work, where I finished my video for the Instituto Amar regarding the courses that it offers, which can be found here.

And today is already quinta-feira, which means that it is almost the weekend again! According to weather forecasts, the weather is supposed to be beautiful this weekend--25 degrees and sunny. Hopefully they are right. This weekend, I am going to another feijoada to benefit an organization.

Dia da Festa

17 de junho de 2012
Joinville, SC, Brasil

Portuguese Words of the Day
- Chapéu = hat
- Tesoura = Scissors
- Agulha = needle
- Toalha = towel
- Lixo = trash
- Tirar uma foto = to take a photo

On Friday night, we had a farewell get together for one of our friends that was leaving to study in France. A group of five of us (Christophe, Kevin, Othman, Leandro, and myself) went to Mango, a Mexican restaurant in the center of the city. There was a mariachi band there that sang all sorts of songs--from Juanes' La Camisa Negra to Michel Teló's Ai Se Eu Te Pego. Later, one of the members of the mariachi band came to talk to us, and he was from Mexico. I wish that I could have stayed longer, but I had to be up at 6:15 on Saturday morning to meet my co-worker Cris at 7:00 to prepare for Instituto Amar's Dia da Feijoada.

Feijoada

Feijoada is a typical dish consisting of beans and meat. When we arrived at the Institute, there were already a number of volunteers there cooking and setting up. Apparently Josmar, one of the employees of the Institute, stayed there last night. For the day, I was the official photographer, and I took hundreds of photos of the event. There are photos of the preparation, the interviews, the food, dancing, and legitimately everything else in between.



There are more photos from Feijoada on the Institute's Facebook page, found here.

Most of the team from Instituto Amar, plus Marco Tebaldi
and the Tebaldi's daughter

In taking photos, I was also able to walk around and talk to the attendees. It is always slightly intimidating to talk to people for the first time, and much more in a language you are just learning. But after four weeks in Brazil, my Portuguese has improved immensely. I kept on telling everybody that I spoke to that when I arrived in Brazil, the only phrases that I knew were "oi" and "obrigada," and they didn't really believe me and told me that "você fala muito bom português," which made me really happy. It's great how welcoming that Brazilian people are because in the U.S., if you speak with an accent, people look at you funny.

The event itself was supposed to last from 11h-14h, but nobody showed up until 12h, very typical of any party. When I left the Institute at 16h, there were still guests there. In attendance at the event were the president of Instituto Amar's husband, Marco Tebaldi, who was the former mayor, and is now running for mayor in the October election. I don't think I've ever taken that many photos in one day.

Ariane and Jussara Preparing Food for Festa Junina

After Feijoada, I walked across the street to Giovani, the vice-president of AIESEC Joinville's incoming exchange's, house for a general meeting of AIESEC and Festa Juninia. First, the meeting was to discuss and update everybody on AIESEC Joinville's progress over the past month. There are so many AIESEC traditions that I don't know about. Then, it moved to Festa Junina, the June Party. The June party is a party in June (or July) that (according to Wikipedia) celebrates the inactivity of Saint John the Baptist. To most other Brasilians, it means a party where you dress up in country plaid and eat and dance a lot.


During the party, there was a jail, "correiro," a caipira wedding, and Jeca awards. The jail was that you could arrest somebody for one real, and the money raised would be used towards starting an educational project. The idea of the mail was that you could send mail (anonymous or with your name to anybody there. The Jeca awards were the best dressed awards.

Food from Festa Junina

Bus Rides with My 100 Best Friends

Semana de 11 de junho-15 de junho de 2012
Escrito o 16 de junho de 2012

Portuguese Words of the Day:
- Trabalho = work
- Gravidez = pregnant
- Cunho = stamp
- Caqui = persimmon
- Menina = girl

This week at work was the nothing out of the ordinary. My daily schedule here goes as the following:

Wake up at 07:30
Leave for work at 08:00
Work from 08:30-15:00, with breaks for cafezinho and lunch
Take the bus to Univille/home/center around 15:15
*On Tuesday's and Wednesday's I have a Portuguese class at Univille

At work, I am doing marketing and coming up with fundraising ideas for Instituto Amar. My current project is creating a video highlighting the classes that Instituto Amar offers. Instituto Amar has manicure classes on Monday afternoons, hair styling and how to be a waiter on Tuesday mornings, home economics on Wednesday afternoons, and another manicure class on Thursday mornings. These classes are free to people who sign up; upon completion of the course, the participants will receive a certificate stating that they have experience in that area.

On Wednesday, I went with my co-worker Fabricia to teach a class on home economics in a poorer neighborhood within the city. The drive from the Institute to that neighborhood took over half an hour, and at one point I thought we had left Joinville. But we made it there, and Fabricia explained to the ten participants, mainly middle-aged women, about how the Institute can help them improve their lives and find a job. Though the place that we went to is "muito longe" from the Institute,  I really enjoyed going there, and will return there on Monday afternoons with Fabricia.

Near the end of the week, we were preparing for "Dia da Feijoada." Feijoada is a typical Brazilian dish consisting of beans and meat. We were expecting about 500 people to attend the event, and so on Friday, the Institute was filled with boxes of plates, utensils, and everything else in between. More details to come in my next post about the weekend's Dia do Feijoada and Festa Junina (June Festival).

The reason why this post is titled is "Bus Rides with My 100 Best Friends" is because after work, I take the bus everyday after work to either Univille, home, or somewhere in between. The buses to Univille isn't so bad since I usually walk to center to take the "Tupy-Norte" to North Station, and then "Bom Retiro" to campus. Since those are more popular buses, they come more frequently (except when you're in a rush. Then it feels like they don't ever come). However, the "Canto do Rio-Circular" bus that I have to take from North Station never comes. Well, it does, but since it is going towards the outer parts of the city to more residential areas, it mainly comes during rush hour.

On Wednesday, I went directly home after work, and there actually were one hundred people on the bus. I was the last person to get on, and the doors shut as I walked in and my bag was stuck (so embarrassing!). The boys that were sitting on the seats by the door had yell for the driver to open the door. But since they were in the very back, the bus driver did not hear them, and I was awkwardly standing over the trash can with my bag stuck in the door. Finally, the other passengers in the front heard the boys yelling and asked for the driver to open the door. However, the doors on the bus open inward, and though I was able to get my bag out I was awkwardly squished between the door, the trashcan, and another woman. It was not a pleasant bus ride to say the least. I really do love living here, but it is so far away from everything. I received a ride from a friend one day, and he made the joke that I live essentially in Curitiba I live so far away from the city center and work. I honestly am considering moving to somewhere that is closer to work.

Holiday Weekend

Portuguese Words of the Day
- Praia = beach
- Perto = close
- Caneta = pen
- Bolo = cake
- Arroz = rice

(L-R) Priscila, Christophe, Armando, Andrea, Ruhy, me, Kevin in Florianópolis

This weekend was a four-day holiday weekend. The holiday (which we are still unsure of what the actual holiday was) itself was Thursday, and then the Institute was closed on Friday. With four days off, a group of seven of us "pegamos uma carona" Wednesday night for a weekend trip to Florianópolis, the capital of the Santa Catarina state. Florianópolis is more commonly known as Floripa, which is a perfect since there are numerous beaches on the island and is kind of like the Florida of Santa Catarina. In total, there were seven of us--three from the States, two from Brazil, one from France, and from Italy, and we stayed at our friend Armando's beach house, about a two minute walk from the beautiful Atlantic.

On Thursday, we stayed around the neighborhood and went to the beach. For the first time, I really felt like I was actually in Brazil and not in the rainy Joinville. Of course, Thursday happened to be the coldest day of all and there was not another soul on the beach, except for one man who was trudging through the water with only a towel wrapped around his body. But it was great to be at the beach and touch the surprisingly warm water. I may be a little bias as any water that isn't the numbingly cold water of New England is warm.

On Friday, we took the Onibus from Armando's house to the city center. On the way there, there is a mosaic of colorful houses built on the mountains. Then you enter the city center, and there are skyscapers and everything is located close together. The buildings in the center are also colorful, and there are little stands on the side of the road that sell all sorts of wares. After walking around the center, we walked down the path by the waterfront to watch the sunset. That path is perfect for running, and there are little "exercise playgrounds" on the side. Armando says that for physical education class, he used to run down that road. I wish we had those in the U.S.

For dinner, we went to the mall and disproved the stereotype that Americans only eat McDonald's all day and night. Of course, dessert is the most important meal, and with the Italian's help, we bought a nice bottle of wine and chocolate. So great. One thing I've realized that with AIESEC and travelling with such a diverse group is that everybody makes fun of the other's about cultural stereotypes, but we all laugh it off. It's kind of fun being Asian, since you are associated with things related to efficiency and common sense, instead of never showering or only listening to that wannabe music they call hip-hop. After dinner and walking around the city, we were ready for mil sete.

By Saturday, everybody was a bit tired, and we all slept like none other. The original plan was to wake up at 8h to take a ship to the other Coast, which is supposed to be the most beautiful place in Floripa. Instead, we all slept, except for the Frenchman, who somehow was up and ready to go by 10h. We made a visit to the grocery store to get food for the barbecue at night.

The barbecue on Saturday night was fantastic (also because the boys did all of the work). They started a fire in the yard to heat the chicken wings, sausage, and onions on coals. After that, we went to the beach and relaxed...now that I am writing this post, I realized that we did a lot of relaxing, but it was much needed.

On Sunday, Armando's family came and prepared a traditional Brazilian barbecue. In addition to the sausages, chicken, beef, and every type of meat in between, there was also some salad, vegetables, and cake. We were also able to experience real Brazilian hospitality. I offered to help Armando's mother to prepare the food, and she said absolutely not. Then there was no way that she would let any of us clean up the kitchen nor the house, which was not quite as clean after the four days as it was when we arrived on Wednesday. To thank them for their hospitality, we bought them a small gift. Then Armando's father said that he couldn't accept it since he feels like the family didn't do enough to help us.

As we were about to take our 20:30 bus, it started to rain, and we knew that it was time to leave the beautiful "awesome" island paradise and return Joinville. We said our goodbyes at the rodoviária (bus terminal) and boarded the bus bound for Joinville/Curitiba. Surprisingly, the bus was extremely comfortable, and if flights were like that, then flying coach wouldn't be so bad. As we arrived to Joinville, it was of course raining, and we went home.

FLOOD!

Portuguese Words of the Day
- muita muita chuva = A LOT of rain
- psicologa = psychologist
- manga = mango
- mochila = backpack
- cachorro = dog

Today I discovered what rain means in Joinville. It has been pouring buckets all day. I was planning on walking from work to the center to catch the bus, but the rain was (and still is) strong enough to take a shower in it. So instead, I waited for Josmar and the convey to return and had a ride to the center. In the meantime, I there was a class on how to give manicures at the Institute, and now my nails are beautifully painted. It is also probably a good thing that I didn´t walk to the center since the area around the center was very flooded. The surrounding areas were not as flooded.

Apparently I need to get a larger umbrella.

Rain in the center of Joinville today - photo taken by  Leandro Schmitz

Update on Tuesday, the 5th of June at 22:50: it finally stopped raining. Thank goodness, or I would need to invest in a boat, or at least a canoe. Apparently this isn't the most flooded it has been here. However, this can be said: #thatmomentwhenyourealizehalfofyourclothesarestillwetandyouneedthemtopackforatrip.

Longest hash tag I've ever used that probably does not make sense? Perhaps. But it very accurately defines my current sentiments. Pack for Florianopolis for the four day holiday weekend! Tchau!

First Full Week in Joinville

Portuguese Words of the Day:
- Renda = income
- Amanhã = tomorrow
- Alcançar = to achieve
- Pipa = kite
- Maça = apple

It has been awhile since my last post. I also apologize for any typos as I am writing on an iPod. But this week has been an interesting week. The first disaster of the week was that my computer completely stopped working. I have been borrowing a friend´s computer and working off my iPod as well. I am very happy that I have computer access, but it is still difficult as I am working in marketing at Instituto AMAR. Hopefully it will be resolved soon.

My first full day at Instituto AMAR went much better than last Friday. I learned more about how the organization operates. The main goals are to improve the lives of those in need of assistance, especially in Barrio Morro de Meio, the poorest neighborhood in the city, through direct food donations and classes for long-term economic prosperity. Then on Monday, I took three buses alone from Instituto AMAR to the University. I was so nervous, but it really wasn't that hard. You just ride the bus until the terminal and transfer there. Of course, waiting for the bus was not any fun, and it took over an hour to make it to the university, about a fifteen minute drive by car.  

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I went to work and then to the university after for Portuguese classes. It's helpful in that you go over words and phrases that are useful. I also learned that if you see a spider in Brazil, kill it. Combined with living and working in an environment where only Portuguese is spoken, I really hope to come go back to the US with some sort of fluency in Portuguese.

On Thursday morning, I had the opportunity to ride in the convey to get donations from bakeries and grocery stores around town to deliver to Barrio Morro de Meio, something that the Institute does every Thursday. We stopped at about 18 bakeries around the city, and I was able to see most of the city. Everybody says that the city is relatively small, but it really isn´t that small when you take every road. The infrastructure of Joinville is varied in terms of the roads. Most of the roads are paved with asphalt, and there are a number that are made with stones. There are also some dirt roads, including the ones leading up to the neighborhood (I will post pictures once my computer is working).

As we were driving to the neighborhood, you could tell that the conditions were getting worse and worse. I did some research about the neighborhood after, and there are only 3 paved roads in the entire neighborhood. We pulled up to a woman´s house, and she, along with four children began unpacking the food from the van. While we were leaving the neighborhood, the children playing on the road all gave us thumbs up as they ran towards the woman´s house.

The weekend was much more festive than the rest of the week. On Saturday night, I attended (crashed may be a better word, since I wasn´t actually invited until the day before) to a wedding of a friend of Camilo at a Chapel (I find it strange and pretty cool that I´ve now been to more weddings overseas than in the USA, but anyway). It was a beautiful wedding that felt kind of like prom. The women were all dressed in evening gowns and sparkles. I also felt even shorter than normal as all of the already tall Brazilian women strapped on their five inch heels for the night. The ceremony started at 8pm at the Chapel. Though the Father spoke in Portuguese, it was pretty easy to understand him and the proceedings and what he said was pretty similar to the ones in the States.

After the Father pronounced Camila and Cassiano as husband and wife, the party moved to the Joinville Tennis Clube. The reception hall was beautifully decorated in flowers and candles. Once the bride and groom arrived around 11pm, we started dinner. The absolutely amazing dinner was a buffet that featured grilled salmon, stuffed shells, beef filet with a balsalmic reduction, salad, and rice. And there were even more varieties in desserts. Of course, in a Brazilian wedding, there was dancing. The bride and groom began with a dance to Michael Jackson from a live band, and everybody joined in. The band was amazing. The lead singer looked a bit like Jack Black and had a wide range of vocals. The songs that he sang varied from Waka Waka to I Will Survive to Party Rock Anthem. In addition, there were little shows going on. At one point, one man juggled fire and I participated in the most ridiculous congo line in which all of the guests participated in and featured a never-ending tunnel.

Today (Sunday), we went to Daniel´s parents´ house in Curitiba for a traditional Brazilian lunch. There was a potato salad with egg, haipim, homeraised chicken, salad, and rice. Tudo foi muito bom. After lunch, Daniel´s brothers and cousins went outside to play in their large yard. The two kites (pipas), a soccer ball, a tennis ball were enough entertainment for hours until there was an awkward whistle from a car passing by, and we all went inside. Around mid afternoon, Daniel´s mother made a delicious ´bolo´and coffee. Overall it was a relaxing and happy Sunday afternoon.

Until the next post, have a great night/days!