20 Firsts From Brazil

So life in Brazil has been full of firsts for me. There is the obvious ‘first time in Brazil’ and ‘first time studying abroad’ but there’s but a lot more firsts and I thought they’d make a good blog post. I was actually talking to a friend I met in Santarem who is an English Teaching Assistant Fulbright Scholar about firsts and decided it was worth blogging about, which brings me to the first first(?).

1)     Having no shame approaching strangers – I am not necessarily someone who usually avoids asking for help or approaching random strangers for different reasons but here in Brazil I have lost any reservations I once had. I ask people on the street where things are all of the time (many times more than once in a trip).

2)    Paying for a hotel room myself.

3)   Hailing a cab.

4)   Seeing the stars from south of the equator.

5)  Getting to see a PINK DOLPHIN (yes they exist, look it up).

6)  Going to an internet café.

7)   Drinking powdered milk.

8)   Eating heart.

9)   Seeing a hydroelectric dam.

10)  Sleeping in a hammock.

11)    Travelling by boat.

12)  Spending the night on a boat.

13) Working in manioc (cassava) fields.

14)  Going on a trip completely solo.

15) Travelling by bus only to get stuck in the mud and have a GIANT tractor pull us out (this happened this week).

16) Seeing a monkey eating a banana.

17)  Swimming in the Amazon.

18)  Hiking in the Rain Forest.

19)  Getting a cleansing/healing herb bath after swimming in an Igarape (these awesome cold little pond things).

And lastly, spending an extended period away from my family; not a great first, but a first all the same.

Well there’s 20 firsts from my trip!

Headed home in two weeks!

Sarah

Things I've Learned

Well, it looks like I’m going to make for lost time on the whole blog thing. I was talking to someone back home on facebook and in my conversation I realized there were some things that have happened on this trip that I wasn’t expecting and I think I shall share them.

First of all, I never expected to learn so much from the other American students in my group. There are 20 other students from my group that come from places scattered across the United States and a couple other countries. They have different majors, different religions, different sexual orientations, and different political views. They come from different family structures, different cities, and different regions. And most of all, they all have very different opinions. There were several issues that up to this point, I’ve been able to skirt by and not really have an opinion on or have a pretty weak one and the only people that have really ever challenged my beliefs and values have been professors and maybe that crazy, liberal kid in one of my classes and even they are usually Southerners (which trust me, makes a difference). So basically, I have had many of my beliefs, opinions, and values put through the ringer on this trip. Some of them have come out the other end stronger, and some of them I’m still working on. To top it all off, I’m on a trip that brings up other sets of issues and complete foreign ideas on things that I have to digest as well (however, I was expecting this part).

          So the second thing that happened that I wasn’t really expecting is that I’ve realized what I can and can’t live without for long periods of time. I will share with you my lists.

Things I Miss A LOT:

1.      Good communication with/seeing my family and very best friends. (This time has also shown me who those very best friends are.)

2.      Texas Food (Barbeque, Ranch Dressing, Tex Mex, Non-powdered Milk, Good Cheese, and what I wouldn’t do for a good casserole right now.)

3.    Speaking English at Home (I didn’t realize how much it was affecting me to not be able to come home and rant/debrief about a day and relax; it’s much harder to come home and still be in Portuguese class)

4.       Church (I say this word loosely. I miss worshipping, praying, and talking with people who I love to love Jesus with.)

5.       Math/Science Classes (Warning: I am a nerd. But really, I miss classes that have concrete answers and that make sense. I never quite feel like I accomplish anything in these social science classes.)

6.       Driving. (Period.)

Things That I Don’t Really Miss:

1.      A Watch/Clock. (Half the time I have no idea what time it is and it’s okay and that is wonderful to me.)

2.      My College Freedom. (Living with a host family with a six year old, I have to make sure and communicate a lot and I can’t get home too late and my (host) mom worries about me anyways. It really bugs some people because they feel like they’re back in high school again but honestly, I kind of like it. I like that someone is constantly caring enough about me to worry and that wants me to spend time with them at home. I think it’s nice)

3.    Clubs/Extra-Curricular Activities. (It has been so nice just to BE with people instead of DOING so much).

4.       The Weather. (That’s because it’s pretty much a Texas Summer here all the time.)

5.       Traffic. (The one good thing about not driving, it not having traffic. I just sit on a bus and let them deal with it.)

On My Own

So I  started my Independent Study Project (ISP). It was a difficult road to get started but now I finally am. Last night I got to the airport around 10:30 to catch my midnight flight to Santarem.

Waiting to board, I noticed there seemed to be people around that looked very American, then one girl started speaking English. I guess it's because I haven't seen other Americans in 3 months, but I decided to go introduce myself. I found out that they were a group of grad students from the business school at George Washington and they are working with Projeto Saude e Alegria (Project Health & Happiness), the SAME people I'm working with! It is a small, small world. One of the guys basically started asking me about food or language things to know and while I couldn't think of much on the spot, I started thinking later about all the helpful things I know and realize that I really have learned a lot about Brazil, the language, the people, and the culture. It was a pretty exciting moment.

Well, after a R$50/ $25 USD cab ride to my hotel, I slept well with air-conditioning (major win) and now am using their wi-fi. But, I'm about to head into the office, so I'll keep this one short.

Tchau,

Sarah

A Well Needed Update

So, I have been pretty terrible at keeping up with this blog. However, I thought I’d give an update now for anyone still reading.

The program I’m doing is titled Amazon Resource Management and Human Ecology. Here is the basic picture I had in my head before I left: A small group of student gallivanting through the jungle, hiking and meeting indigenous groups and maybe even some people trying to tear down the rainforest for wood or whatever.

Reality Check. First of all, just a random fact: the Amazon is NOT a jungle. For some reason, rainforest and jungle have always been synonymous in my head. This is false. The rainforest is a forest and while there is a lot of exotic life, it is still a forest, not a jungle. Secondly, most of our time here has been spent in cities and small towns. We’ve done a lot of talking to people and organizations and most of them do not live in the rainforest because, well, it’s rather hard to live in the rainforest. Also, the city we are based in is a pretty developed city. While it’s still impossible to find American peanut butter and the streets are filled with trash and stray dogs, it’s a pretty developed city. During our time here, my friends and I have often taken trips to the mall, which usually involve good food, Cairu (which is only some of the best ice cream ever, best two flavors are Lime Torte and Kinder Egg yum!), and sometimes a movie.

Random travel tip: If you’re ever in a foreign country and you’re a little homesick, go see a movie in English. They usually exist with the language of the country in subtitles and the dark room and people speaking English will feel just like home.

Back to what I was saying… The other thing that was not what I expected is kind of different. See, I didn’t know much about Brazil or the Amazon and the problems surrounding it. I mean most people really don’t. Brazil is such a mysterious place. Most people just think supermodels, beaches and jungle. In reality, Brazil is a developing country with problems only made worse with the burden and luxury of one of the biggest reservoir of rainforest and fresh water in the world. Here are just a few of the problems that specifically interest me.

As the world pushed Brazil to preserve their rainforest, because the Amazon is “the lung of the world” and what not, the conservation units soon made it illegal for indigenous groups AND other local communities to live places where their families had lived for hundreds of years. So, then indigenous people were given special rights and they could keep living there. However, there are these people groups that were formed by runaway African slaves, people trying to make a living during the rubber boom and military government push to exploit the Amazon, and some random indigenous mixing. These people make up something like a million or so people and they live off the forest and from the river. While the indigenous became protected from losing land due to conservation unit, these people have not gained that protection. Problem.

Another interesting issue is the hydroelectric dams. We got to visit the 4^th largest hydroelectric dam in the world in Tucurui. Now, the engineer inside of me will be the first person to say it is INCREDIBLE; not only the sight, but the physics, engineering, and pure manpower behind it. It is AWESOME. However, when Tucuri was built and some land was flooded and due to a lack of surveying and an “error in calculations” thousands of people were displaced, their lives completely upheaved with nowhere to go. And since companies have more power and control than the government in many cases, the company dealt with it themselves and dealt with it rather poorly. However, even with this issue, the dam at Tucurui provides like a quarter or Brazil’s power and all the power for an Aluminum plant that is like the second largest supplier of Aluminum in the world. So the problem of a few thousand displaced people gets overlooked.

These problems are not easily solved, especially in a country that is still struggling to have adequate infrastructure. If you think the roads in Texas are bad, you should drive in Northern Brazil. Sheesh.

Well, that’s just a little bit about what I’ve actually been learning while I’ve been “playing in the rainforest".

Well, I'm off to start my Independent Study Project on water for rural communities in Satarem tomorrow!!!

Tchau!!!

Sarah

just living.

Blogging is super hard on this trip because I have very limited access to internet so when I finally go to blog, it's so overwhelming. I will try to give the highlights though.

My homestay family is pretty awesome. I have a mom and a little brother and they're really starting to feel like family. The other day my mom did my laundry so I could play soccer with my brother because he's missed me while we were on a trip.

The trip was three days in Sao Francisco do Para learning about forests and farming near the forest (Chop-and-drop instead of slash-and-burn). Basically, it's better for the soil, the forests, and the crops and these farmers are learning how to do it better and better with the help of an organization. It was pretty cool.

I've been learning a lot of Portuguese in class and at home.

Saturday I went to the market and the mall and bought a hammock!!! (or rede in portuguese) It's pretty sweet!

I've walked and taken buses around the city which is a little scary but pretty awesome. 

I'm learning so much here. I do miss people at home which is kind of hard sometimes, but all in all it's good. 

This next three weeks should be REALLY awesome! I'm going to Manaus and Santarem and will be on a boat for like 10 days and at a rural homestay for 3 or 4 days. 

On another note, my friend Stacey is in Chile this semester and she wrote a blog post that echos a lot of what I'm feeling here and she actually took the time to eloquently write it out. So if you want to check it out, go for it! http://staceywillis.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/a-life-not-wasted/

I guess that is all for now. I am currently uploading photos to a flickr but it is taking a LONG time but when they finally are up they will be here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahguinn/

Boa tarde!!!

a whirlwind.

So, this will be my first update since being here and that is because it´s the first real chance I´ve had to update. I guess the best thing to do is to give you some highlights from each day. This might be long...

Days 1 and 2 were travel. I met up with Grace, another girl from in my program in the Brasilia airport. She had been on the plane from Miami to Brasilia and I hadn´t realized it. That plane was delayed over an hour because of a leaking bathroom.... so we missed our next flight to Belem. After some fun times trying to figure out food, flights, and phones; we eventually made it to Belem and met up with our contact who took us to the hotel where we got some food, sleep, and AIR-CONDINTIONING!!!

Days 3 and 4 - We got to know each other and had some orientation sessions. We went out to the field behind the hotel where Gustavo, our program director, talked to us about learning to guess measurements because of what you know already. At some point we had some lovely Portugese classes where learned to speak and dance a little. We also went to a ´´pizzeria´´ where we ate fish, chicken, steak, and french fries. lol. I can´t really remember what day things happened but they happened one of the two.

Day 5 - This was drop-off day. The drop-off is SIT tradition of sorts. They take each student to an area, give them a task to do, and come back three hours later. I was dropped in a small town called Apeu and was told to find out the meaning of the town name and what the people did for a living. After having little success talking to a few people, I was finally taken to the town library. The librarian was SOOO helpful and super sweet. While she knew barely any English at all, we were able to communicate through dictionaries and hand motions. No one knew the meaning of Apeu, but after digging through some history books, we found it was named after a plant that´s about the equivelant of a lily-pad. And apparently the people there were mostly teachers, public servants, and vendors.

Day 6 - Today was AWESOME!!! We went to the mangroves and the beach. About 2 hours by van and an hour by boat got us to the mangroves. This is a place where salt water meets fresh water. The roots come out of the ground about 1-2 feet high and when you step you sink to your knees in sticky mud that is hard to get out of. The mangroves are really awesome and apparently Curaçu (where we went) holds some of the larest area of mangroves in the world. After we rinsed off, we walked about 2-3 miles in white sand beaches and arrived at a small hut of a fisherman. We ate the fish he had caught from the day and then swam in the ocean. We then had class on the beach learning about susatinable development efforts (and what that really means) and the lives of conservationists and local fisherman in the area. When the tide was high enough to fill a river,m we took a boat ride back to the vans and went home from there.

This whole day felt like I was in a documentary or something. Unreal does not even begin to describe it.

Day 7 - Today we got to sleep in and then we attended lectures about safety and culture in Belem. We then received out letters and pictures for our homestay assignments. I didn´t feel too well so it wasn´t a day I was super invested in.

Day 8 - Today we got up early and drove into Belem from our hotel. We went to the SIT office where we listened to a local police company and local doctor talk about health and safety in Brazil. Then we went to the mall! It was a lot of fun!!! We got food, ate ice cream,and shopped around. I got to try acai which tastes kind of like bananas.

Later we went to building where our homestay families met us and we had some snacks and talked with them. That night was the first night we stayed with our homestay families. My homestay family is a mom (Leila) and her son (Leonan or Leo). They are super sweet but speak NO english what so ever so I´m having to learn Portguese fast to even communicate with them which is good but a little exhausting.

Day 9 - This was out first day of class at the SIT office. We had three hours of Portuguese class and got the equivalent of 4-6 weeks of a college language class. That afternoon class was cancelled which is apparently common here and so I spent some time at my house. I´m still not sure what happened that night but I think my Leila´s mom was in the hospital so Adela came over to hang out with me. (Adela is another girl in the program who lives half a block away and our ´moms´are good friends.)

Day 10 - Today I got to sleep in. Leila told me too. :) Then we (Adela, Leila, Leo, and I) went to the Pharmacy so I could buy a cell phone (difficult task). We also stopped by the supermercado (supermarket) to look around and for Leila to get some groceries. That night (last night), Leo came in with cards for va pescar (go fish) and 8 maluco (crazy eights). I couldn´t remember how to play crazy eights so I made up a version of war where eights were special and taught him go fish as well. This was hard to do in Portuguese but I learned a lot doing it!

Day 11 - And now today. I woke up andhad some cous cous with coconut milk and sugar which was delicious but really rich and a little odd. Then Leila, Leo, and I went to the zoo where I actually saw a MONKEY EATING A BANANA!!!!!!!!!!!! I also saw a bunch of turtles, a toucan and a great big blue macaw. It was pretty awesome. I think Adela and I are going to go back so I can take some pictures. It only cost about $1.50 to get in. I´ve been a little homesick today but it´s not too bad. I think Adela and I are going to go across the street to get some dinner now.

I love you all!!!

Boa noite!!!
Sarah

getting ready.

The process of getting ready for something is an interesting one. As my dad says, it's a 'hurry up and wait' kind of thing. Last Spring was when I started preparing. It was all very far off as I decided where I wanted to go and what program I wanted to do. As I applied and then got my acceptance letter, it didn't seem real. Since then, it's been a whirlwind of getting ready. Funny Christmas list items, scholarship applications, a yellow fever shot, and a forever long visa process have all been a part of that. The worst part of all of it (even worse than the shot) is having to tell people good-bye. I realize it's not that long, but it's still hard.


It's really a weird feeling finally being so close to leaving. You would think that all this preparation would be a lead in but honestly I'm still shocked that I'm about to be on another continent. 


Another weird thing is deciding which parts of your life are important enough to make the trip. Today I packed up a giant backpack full of jeans, dress, flip flops, advil, and contact solution as well as a smaller bag with knitting stuff, sudoku puzzles, chapstick, my journal, and my bible. I still need to shop a little to get things super potent bug spray, kaleidoscopes (apparently kids just love them), and peanut butter (according to my friend Scott, peanut butter there just isn't the same and therefore bringing it will make you the coolest kid on campus).


To switch gears a little, here's a little about my program. While I don't know too much about it, I do know some. :) The name of the program is Amazon Resource Management and Human Ecology and it is with the School for International Training (SIT). Sound spiffy already huh? I will be learning Portuguese and staying with a host family, both things I'm super excited about. Here's a little blurb from the website about the program:

The program office is based in the city of Belém, in the Amazon River Estuary. Belém is one of the two large urban centers of Amazonia, hosting a large number of research institutes, universities, NGOs, government agencies, and other entities involved in and with Amazonian issues.

The  program involves excursions to many different areas of the region. Those excursions include travels to Zona Bragantina, Manaus, Santarém, Trombetas, Ilha do Marajó, Southern Pará, and other locations to understand how environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural issues come together in different ways throughout Amazonia.

Students often see the ten-day boat trip down the Amazon and tributaries as one of the highlights of the program.

Apparently on the boat ride, we sleep on hammocks on the boat. crazy. 

Basically, I'm keeping an open mind and I am way excited about what's to come

.

Well, that's about it. So with the little Portuguese I know

Até logo!