American Oasis

I woke up today and realized that I had forgotten to my homework for my Portuguese class. One of my assignments was to write about my past weekend in Pedra Azul. I really got interested in this and wrote a lot because I found that it was a pretty good way for me to learn new verbs and some new words. My writing in Portuguese is very similar to my speech, like a child. When I first arrived here, I felt very ignorant when speaking because I didn't even know how to formally say what my name was or where I'm from. Now, my Portuguese is improving, but I still sound very ignorant, however now I'm O.K. with that. I have learned that it is better to speak than to seem closed and unfriendly. Also, now Portuguese is a lot more fun for me because I have learned some basics in my UFES Portuguese class. Now that I have my foot on the first step of this language ladder, my learning is beginning to "snowball." Don't get me wrong, I still have conversations that are very difficult, but I am able to decipher things much more quickly now. I think this is due to my learning of the basics. One thing that I have learned through this experience is when entering a new culture with a new language, try to get the basics down before your departure. I knew that I should have been studying more Portuguese before I left, but I honestly had almost no time (or the little time I did have I was spending it with my friends before I left). I have no one to blame for this lack of preparedness but myself. However, I have had the opportunity to speak to several students here at my university and every single study abroad student had to go through some kind of intensive culture and language training when they first arrived or before their departure. For example, the PITT students I met last weekend at Pedra Azul had to go through 6 weeks of 5 hour per day intensive Portuguese training in Rio de Janiero before they came to UFES for classes. I've still only had 4 weeks of formal Portuguese training to date! ( I didn't have UFES Portuguese classes for my first 3 weeks). Another example is the Peace Corps. I was talking with my Laurel's parents (served in Peace Corps Bahrain) and they said that they went through six weeks of intense language and culture training (it seems that six weeks is the optimum amount of training). Please don't misinterpret me. I am not complaining about Amizade (even though they did tell me that I didn't need to do prior Portuguese training, and any that I did do would just be bonus). I am merely stating my opinion that next time I enter a program like this I am going to ensure that I go through language training prior to departure or ASAP when I arrive. I know that this would have made a huge difference in my experience at the beginning of this trip.

That being said, because of my lack of language and communication, this trip has stretched me in completely new directions. I now understand much more non-verbal communication and I am able to communicate more with just my hands and "acting out." Also, even though it was really tough, I kinda liked it because it was almost like I could completely tune out even when people were talking around me. You can't really do that with your native language and I am now starting to do that less with Portuguese.

Anyways, I'll get off my soapbox now. After I did my Portuguese homework, I got on the bus to go to Banco Verde. Banco Verde is the recycling plant I volunteered at last week and it is located in a section of town that I am very unfamiliar with. I was already running late so I just got on the first bus I saw to terminal Ibes when I arrived at terminal Vila Velha. This was a mistake. I knew it was as soon I started going over the third bridge into Vitoria. I will save you the details of everywhere this bus went, but I was stuck on it for about 1 hour. This trip would have usually taken 20 minutes. I called Nicole and we agreed that I would just meet her at UFES since going to Banco Verde would be useless since I could probably only stay for about 30 minutes. By the time I arrived at UFES, I was hungry and hot. I scoured the surrounding area for a place to eat and do homework but all I could find is a McDonalds.... I have this thing about eating American food while in foreign countries. I think it takes away from the cultural experience, so I never do it. However, as soon as I stepped into this AC, clean, American Oasis; I couldn't help myself. I ordered a McUnica Bacon (or something like that) and it was awesome. Directly after finishing my meal, I got a slight stomach ache. Probably due to the fact that I haven't eaten anything this fatty or enriched. I stayed in this American embassy for another 3 hours and got quite a little bit of homework done (AC really helps you concentrate, surprisingly).

Once again, the first intensive Portuguese lesson was very beneficial and the second one was very slow. After the class, we rode the bus with other students from Italy (Oliver and Juicy?, sounds like "Juicy"). We communicate in broken Portuguese and every now and then Oliver says something in English. He made a comment about the buses that I had never thought of before. The bus has a turnstile in the front where a worker takes your money. It is very tight and hard to get through with a backpack on. He made the comment that this would never work in Italy or the US because it discriminates against obese people. He's right, there is no way you could get through this if you were intermediate overweight. Come to think about it, I don't know if I've ever really seen a fat person on the bus here. The seats are so close together that even I inconvenience people just with my shoulders. Brazil is certainly not a place that is accommodating to the overweight and very different from my home state in this respect.