Greeting from Brazil.
Hey guys, sorry I haven't been keeping this updated. Where I have been for nearly the past week actually didn't allow me to get on the blogger website so I was unable to access this until today. So here is a semi-quick update of what has happened since arriving in Brazil (Some of you are on my email list so the beginning of this might be a bit repetative, but keep reading, there's lots of new fun information!)
AHHH I made it to Brazil! Everything went smoothly and safely. It is absolutely beautiful here. Looking out the plane window as I landed all I could see were tropical trees and winding rivers and as we got closer, colorful houses lined the streets. It is such a cool city. When I arrived, Padre Chicão was there to greet me and he presented me with a really awesome hat (I will post a picture later) it has a crocodile (Jacare) on it and says Amazonas, Brasil. Lol. I definitely need to sport that soon! He took me on a tour of the city. Manaus is a city of over 2 million people. (HUGE!) And the poverty is present everywhere you go in the city. Driving through the city I was able to see a lot of favelas (this is a term usually used for the slums of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo but it is a similar situation here). "Houses" are stacked next to each other and are crumbling, the people mainly stay out in the street and it is clear that poverty is everywhere in this city. There are a few sections of nicer houses, which are owned by people in the rubber industry. The amazon has a lot of "rubber trees" and those who harvested them got rich quickly, but the industry since then has since crashed.
Anyways, after taking a tour around the city I got to the Inspetoria (the house for the salesians) and I took a quick nap, before heading out to the city with padre chicao again. We walked around the main plaza then grabbed....pizza. haha. I know you may be like "what?!?!?...pizza??" and at first i didn't want pizza as my first real meal in Brazil...but the pizza was definitely different than any pizza I have had back home. It had a very thin crust and was topped with Tuna, onions and olives. haha. It was actually DELICIOUS. Seriously. I kind of felt like a kid though, because Pe. Chicão got a beer...and he ordered me... juice. lol. But the juice was CRAZY. It was Graviola Juice (no idea what that is...some fruit...but it isn't in the dictionary, so I can't translate it.) It was really refreshing haha. We finished dinner a little after 10:30, (it seems customary to sit for a while over a meal and chit chat) and headed back to the inspetoria where I instantly passed out...well after attempting to pray a rosary. But after travelling for 24 hours straight, then constantly being on the go with Pe. chicao, sleep was needed.
Tuesday morning, I got up grabbed coffee (good and strong...way to go Brazil!) and headed out to the Salesian Professional School with the Provincial of the salesians. They teach things like automechanics, refigeration, auto repair, etc there. There was a tornado last week that ran through the school and did a lot of damage, so we were assessing and just checking out what all needed repairs. (School is currently not in session). We also went we an Indiginous Priest, who comes from a tribe in the Amazon. He was a blast, we just sat in the back of the car and laughed basically the whole time. The culture here is very warm....just like the temperature. ha! Everyone is always smiling and welcoming and hugging me, and we just laugh that I don't understand what is going on most of the time. Most of the Salesians don't speak any English so we play charades and i attempt to form sentences. I think I will be able to pick up the language fairly well within a matter of months though.
It is summer here in Brazil, so it is hot and Oh my Goodness...HUMID. It feels like you walk into a sauna when you step outside. It's going to take some getting used to, but I enjoy it thus far. haha. Here is a pic of my backyard in manaus.
In Manaus, I had a bathroom with a shower for cooling off. Granted... it was tiny... I could sit on the toilet and shower at the same time (its a closet) but I really really liked it!!!! After I was done showering I had to "sweep" all the water into a drain because it all just collected around the toilet, on the toilet and floods the floor. hahaha. But it is so good. Also there is a bit of an ant problem, so I drowned them when i shower too. :-) Porto Velho is a completely different situation, keep reading to find out about my situation here. haha.
I am very very very happy here. I can't say it enough. It feels so right to be with these people, in this place. I am already in love with this country and its culture and I can't wait to learn more about them.
Wednesday I went to the west part of Manaus, to a section of the city known as Zumbi. There is a Salesian formation house there, and a site for a future oratory. We entered to the complex to meet the novitiates. They were all extremely friendly and managed to talk a little with me (despite my poor Portuguese) before we started a game of Futebol (Soccer). There is a reason that Brazil is ranked first the world. HOLY MOLEY, these guys were doing tricks, shooting like I have never seen and I could barely keep track of the ball much less keep up with them. (Remember these guys are becoming priests…they aren’t exactly the most athletic guys around…haha). I quickly got out of playing by letting another guy take my spot and I just watched awhile. A Priest came to my rescue and told me it was time to leave, back to the city center where I was staying. I am not going to tell the entire story of Zumbi here, but know that Zumbi is a place unlike I have ever seen before, with lots of poverty. In Portuguese, they use the phrase “realidade diferente” it means “different reality” and they use it to describe various forms of life. I think it is really fitting because the people here experience a completely different reality than people in the U.S., Europe, or even other third world countries. We all have our own realities that we exist in, often without acknowledging other realities around us. Talking to Pe. Chicao, he noted that even Porto Velho is a very different reality than Manaus, one that I will get to know.
Despite the sadness that came with seeing Zumbi, Wendesday was actually a really beautiful day. I took my first bus ride to the center of the city with another volunteer (Sabrina from Italy). Riding in any automobile is an adventure in Manaus. Haha. There aren’t any sort of dividing lines to create lanes, so people take it upon themselves to figure out how many cars can fit and where they can fit on a street. There aren’t really any speed limits, at least any that are followed. People are constantly walking in the streets, amongst the cars and they have no fear whatsoever when it comes to finding room to walk for themselves. Drivers are really good about honking here. Basically if you think you might get hit honk and people will pay attention and watch out for you. There is no signaling or sometimes even stoplights…the people direct traffic themselves by honking at each other. It is really fascinating actually. At intersections..you just wait until someone gets enough guts to start going then all the cars will go with them, and after awhile someone from the intersecting street will pull out and stop traffic so the other line of cars can go. It is a busy busy city. Wednesday, we were stuck in traffic for a bit on a hill, and a taxi rolled back into another car…what did the other car do? Honk of course. The taxi pulled up stuck his hand out the window, waved and gave a thumbs up as if he were asking if the other person’s car was ok. The person responded with a thumbs up and they continued on their way. Haha.
In Manaus, we went down to the port, so Sabrina could buy her ticket to Manicore where she volunteers. She is going by boat! Haha. She got a speedy boat ticket, so it is only going to take her 24 hours to get to her city. She says it is an absolutely beautiful trip and wouldn’t travel any other way. She recommended that when I come back to Manaus from Porto Velho that I go by boat. The trip for me is in a smaller boat… and it takes three days. Haha. And, if I am lucky I get a hammock to sleep in on the boat, outside. Sounds like fun to me, and when Joe C. gets here (Another Salesian Lay Missioner from America) I am coming back to Manaus to greet him, so that is the plan.
Brazil is home to a crazy amount of fruits that I have NEVER heard of before. So naturally I want to try all of them. Some of them are delicious, some … are … well interesting. At the market downtown Sabrina and I decided to get this all natural fruit drink that had Acai, Guarana, and some other fruit in it that I had never heard of. It was literally just smashed up hunks of fruit and ice. It was almost edible because of how fruity it was. I can’t say it was delicious though, it definitely tasted…healthy. Haha. Guarana is huge here, they have everything guarana… which is a positive, because it gives a lot of energy and I like the taste of it. However, the food in general is to die for here. Seriously… it is so good. We have fresh stuff everyday. Yesterday we had the typical fish with it’s head on it still…haha… but man it was DELICIOUS, and we always have rice and beans, but it is accompanied by some form of delicious meat. It is all non-greasy, healthy and very flavorful.
Side note.. the people here are so amazingly religious. The church is packed daily for mass. People stand up and sing and wave their arms and cry and pray and ahh it is so amazing. We had the feast of St. Joseph here yesterday and I have never seen a church so packed. This church is HUGE… hundreds of people can fit in it, and it was standing room only, trust me, I know because I was one of the many standing. Not only that, but there were people standing outside the doors of the church because it was so full; outside in the 90 degree 95% humidity weather, to attend mass. Incredible. And that was only ONE of the five services that was there yesterday ha! The 7 o’clock service they had to hold outside in a field because not everyone would fit in or around the church, unless they were out in the middle of the street. Ha! How awesome is that!?!
I also had my first contact with kids at a Salesian school on Wednesday. It was soo much fun. All of them are loud, expressive and very welcoming. I got tons of hugs, and after hugging it is very common to stand and talk for a while just holding each others arms or hands. “Guys stick with the arms or shoulders.” Brazilians are definitely a fun-loving outgoing people. Which is perfect, because I like to think I am too. They are always laughing or smiling and aren’t really shy around people. It’s great.
Thursday was my last day in Manaus, it was a pretty relaxed day and I spent most of it hanging out with Sabrina and the Priests in Manaus, studying portuguese and having really good conversations with Sabrina. We walked around the city a little more and I grabbed a guarana soda and we just kind of chilled. Padre Jefferson came and got me around 10pm and we headed for the airport for our flight to Porto Velho. It was a pretty quick flight, just over an hour and we landed around 1:30am. We didn't get out of the airport until 2am and didn't get home until 2:30... when I had to make up my room, so it was sleepable and I crashed. hauhau. I was hoping to get some good sleep but I woke up around 7am to the sounds of happy kids running around, playing soccer and filling the centro do menor (where I now live). I had just over 3 hours of sleep and my brain was not functioning in this new place. hauhau, and definitely not functioning in Portuguese. But what is the first thing I'm asked to do? Walk around to the different classrooms and introduce myself... in my Portuguese. Gah! So here I am, half zombie like, no clue whats going on and attempting to talk with adolescents in Portuguese. haha, good thing these kids are so great and like to laugh even more than I do. I got to meet a few banditos *a term used by Padre Jefferson that I will be using for all my favorite kids...pronounced like banjeetu* and we hit it off pretty well which is great. During all the breaks the kids had i ran upstairs to my room and slept. But the point of this, is that the kids are great, and very welcoming.
So my home in Porto Velho... I am living with 6 religious (5 priests and 1 brother), all Salesians. I am living in the Professional School/Oratory known as Dom Bosco Centro Do Menor. It is actually a really nice facility for the most part. (I even have air conditioning in my room!)The kids that come here come to learn a trade of some sort. There are ceramics, art, tapestry, some sort of mechanics program (although at least part of it was discontinued, because one kid chopped of his fingers last year?!) and computer stuff (informatics...is that a word?) I will get back to you on the number of students that come here, there are hundreds, I just don't remember exactly how many, so I don't want to post a number and mislead you. The salesians also run a Colegio (a high school) located not far from the oratory. I visited today, and it was really nice. As far as I know, school isn't in session right now, but resumes in January. I am still trying to understand all of the work that the Salesians do here. There is a lot! There are two other sites (Sitio do Menor and Sitio ... some portuguese word haha) they are places kids can go and just hang out, play games, sing, dance, whatever. They are both really cool and really rural. No paved road there.. .no no. Just palm trees guide the way. haha. But most of the roads here are paved. (ok I'm rambling.. sorry)
I still don't know exactly what my work is going to entail. I think we are getting me used to being around the kids, learning portuguese, etc, before my real work is going to start. I know I am going to be workign with activities for the kids, and hope to be teaching/tutoring English at the Colegio.Vamos ver (we'll see) Remember this is only my second day here...let's not rush into anything ok.
I had my first Portuguese class yesterday. It was bizarre, it was taught by a linguistics professor and he totally just gave me a bunch of linguistic information about Portugues. (Syntax, Morphology, phonemes, where certain words are derived from, etc...) It was good, but not what I was expecting, I think I will have to learn the language from just talking with the kids. However, I am definitely holding my own. It's been good not having anyone who speaks English around me here. I am having conversations, ableit slow and often with mistakes, but I am able to communicate effectively of a large portion of the time, and am understanding more and more.
okay i am going to leave it at that for now. Sorry for the lack of pics, more will come I just feel strange, considering a just arrived wandering around and taking pics, especially of people. Know that I am happy and healthy.
As of now I only have access to internet on the weekends from Father Jefferson's office, but the situation is supposed to change. However, if you don't hear for me until the weekends...that is why.
Much love from Porto Velho,
and Deus te abençoe!
João
