well, i am back here in san francisco so my time in brazil has come to a close, finally. truncated but worth it. a third party accessed my bank account and it was locked, paypal was also locked. i loaned $300 to a friend without knowing he had a cocaine addiction and he never paid me back. my house was robbed, laptop and cables and chargers for phone and camera stolen, my cat died, i was poisoned as a joke, and my friend ivo ended up being caught by the police for stolen goods and ended up splitting town never to be seen again.
i learned how to cook some brazilian food, i learned that doing nothing all day is not an easy task for me. i learned to trust no one and be skeptical with people who say they are your friends. give personal information to no one. i learned to speak portuguese, that people, both good and bad, just want to be loved.
brazil was not what i had hoped... but that is the adventure.
tchau until the next trip.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
success
well, the living in brazil adventure has been completed. i am now back in sf, and brrrrr!!!!!
i lasted 7 months and i think i will be ready to live in another country as soon as i work a bit and save enough money to do so.
in summary, brazil is a beautiful land polluted by dishonest people. but not everyone is dishonest and lazy. there are few people who make up for the corruption of the country, and they give brazil the reputation of being a warm and generous country. people who have nothing will divide their food, their house, anything they can give you. the rest will tell you they are your friend and steal from you, do things that no friend would ever do.
brazil is a huge country with different dialects from state to state. the weather is hot and humid in the summer, cold and wet in the winter, it's tropical and rainy, pouring for a few hours then stopping to let the sun shine on.
there is a huge divide between the wealthy and poor, just like in the states. there is racism, just like in the states. the black people are looked down upon, and for this reason, they have been neglected the same opportunity to make a good life. most of the population in the favelas is black. there is also a prejudice against the poor. the rich don't even let them on their property....and unfortunately this is due to the poor being thieves.
rio de janeiro is somewhat of a facade. there is a beautiful quote on a website i have always turned to when i want to get emotional about brazil (www.hillerphoto.com/brazil/). stephen berkoff says, "Rio's biggest symbol is the figure of Christ that holds out his stiff, concrete arms to the world beneath him. Never was a symbol more meaningless. Never did his words mean so little to those below. Never in my life have I seen so little charity or compassion in any city where extreme wealth and unendurable poverty live side by side."
i think this quote sums up brazil perfectly.
if you want more, check out my yelp on brazil.
http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=G1DM_OyYFb32QylgvQGrGQ
i lasted 7 months and i think i will be ready to live in another country as soon as i work a bit and save enough money to do so.
in summary, brazil is a beautiful land polluted by dishonest people. but not everyone is dishonest and lazy. there are few people who make up for the corruption of the country, and they give brazil the reputation of being a warm and generous country. people who have nothing will divide their food, their house, anything they can give you. the rest will tell you they are your friend and steal from you, do things that no friend would ever do.
brazil is a huge country with different dialects from state to state. the weather is hot and humid in the summer, cold and wet in the winter, it's tropical and rainy, pouring for a few hours then stopping to let the sun shine on.
there is a huge divide between the wealthy and poor, just like in the states. there is racism, just like in the states. the black people are looked down upon, and for this reason, they have been neglected the same opportunity to make a good life. most of the population in the favelas is black. there is also a prejudice against the poor. the rich don't even let them on their property....and unfortunately this is due to the poor being thieves.
rio de janeiro is somewhat of a facade. there is a beautiful quote on a website i have always turned to when i want to get emotional about brazil (www.hillerphoto.com/brazil/). stephen berkoff says, "Rio's biggest symbol is the figure of Christ that holds out his stiff, concrete arms to the world beneath him. Never was a symbol more meaningless. Never did his words mean so little to those below. Never in my life have I seen so little charity or compassion in any city where extreme wealth and unendurable poverty live side by side."
i think this quote sums up brazil perfectly.
if you want more, check out my yelp on brazil.
http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=G1DM_OyYFb32QylgvQGrGQ
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
SHIT!!!!
i left my journal in curitiba. well, someone will know all my deep dark secrets. now i~m not sure WHAT to write.
tonight
did 120 in a convertible peugeot and ended up at a house so big i got lost. wasn~t my idea. what a glorious night!
rogerio and adoption
so i finally made it to rogerio's mom's house where i will be staying until my departure from rio. what happned was i waited at a bus stop for 6 hours because he told her the wrong time. no worries. yeah, i was just stranded in curitiba, a huge city in brazil with no way to access her or anyone i knew.
anyway-
she picked me up and i had the shittiest excuse for fast food i have ever had. went home and stayed up for a couple of hours talking with rogerio's mom, who is of course, dying of longing to see him. i tell her all the things he says and does, that he wakes up every morning singing, that he quit smoking, that he wakes up every morning at 6:30 to do lifeguard training, that he has so much respect for her becuase she raised her four kids in a hostel-like environment. he's grateful he is wise and has seen more in life than people his age, that he wants to be a good father because his wasn~t. he confided in me that he was adopted . he told me one night that only one other person knows and i, of course, was honored that he chose to tell me. he said he told me because he always admired how openly i admitted to being adopted to everyone. he is ashamed because everyone sayd he looks so much like his fater that he doesn~t want anyone to know. i told him it never entered my consciousness at any moment in my life to be ashamed about being adopted. he cried and told me he loves me like a brother (not a sister).
anyway-
she picked me up and i had the shittiest excuse for fast food i have ever had. went home and stayed up for a couple of hours talking with rogerio's mom, who is of course, dying of longing to see him. i tell her all the things he says and does, that he wakes up every morning singing, that he quit smoking, that he wakes up every morning at 6:30 to do lifeguard training, that he has so much respect for her becuase she raised her four kids in a hostel-like environment. he's grateful he is wise and has seen more in life than people his age, that he wants to be a good father because his wasn~t. he confided in me that he was adopted . he told me one night that only one other person knows and i, of course, was honored that he chose to tell me. he said he told me because he always admired how openly i admitted to being adopted to everyone. he is ashamed because everyone sayd he looks so much like his fater that he doesn~t want anyone to know. i told him it never entered my consciousness at any moment in my life to be ashamed about being adopted. he cried and told me he loves me like a brother (not a sister).
how you know you're south american
your jeans are either black or too tight
you love novelas
you are used to having one car per 5 people
sardines actually are considered fish
beans and rice are a staple meal
you bust out singing and dancing at any given moment
julio eglesias is a household name
you drink WHILE driving
a rock garden is a luxury
onions are vegetables
drinking at 9 a.m. is not an issue
ten kids? WHY NOT?
your family name is gomez, silva, jimenez, martinez, gonzoles or valenzuela
people in drag gettnig kicked and falling over on tv is funny
you love novelas
you are used to having one car per 5 people
sardines actually are considered fish
beans and rice are a staple meal
you bust out singing and dancing at any given moment
julio eglesias is a household name
you drink WHILE driving
a rock garden is a luxury
onions are vegetables
drinking at 9 a.m. is not an issue
ten kids? WHY NOT?
your family name is gomez, silva, jimenez, martinez, gonzoles or valenzuela
people in drag gettnig kicked and falling over on tv is funny
issues
after many issues, i am finally free and coming home. someone used my bank account and i was unable to access funds. . so for three weeks, i was without money. thankfully, i have friends who gave me a place to stay and food. my paypal account has also been "accessed by a third party" so i~m screwed. there was much drama over receiving transer funds that i won~t go into. all i can say is that i am really excited to be returning to the states, in hope for technology, quality, friends and familiarity.
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