fuck you globalization.

Being an American abroad in a place that has a high salinity of globalization kind of sucks sometimes. We travel the world to see new lands, experience new cultures, speak new languages, hear new musics, etc. and what happens? We end up being exposed to ridiculous amounts of American culture-- music, stores, language, food, television. And the worst part is, the Brazilians don't seem to mind at all.

If you turn on the TV, no matter what time of day, you're bound to find at very least one American television show that's dubbed. Subtitles are used, but are less common. Here they love "As Visões da Raven", or "That's So Raven", dubbed Bugs Bunny cartoons and the like, among others. They also have MTV here, which I find myself watching, and it's similar to the States because they dont't play very much music. I find the MTV here to be more activist/politically focused than the one we have in the States. They also have "Mix TV" in which music videos are played all day long. Maybe one in fifteen videos are Brasilian videos. The rest are American, usually with one or two European artists thrown in randomly.

In order to hear Brazilian music at most clubs here, you have to go on a specific day of the week. If not, you'll be doomed to old American pop or House, which I can deal with, but certainly not for hours on end. It's a shame too, because I really love Brazilian music. MPB (música popular brasileira), samba, funk... all this stuff is amazing. That's why I'm here! It just sucks that I actually have to seek it out.

Want McDonald's? They have that too. And they just opened a Burger King. The kids love "Mackie Donalds".. haha that's how they pronounce it. In the States, I'd say more people hate McDonald's than love it by far. And I don't hate McDonald's here for the sheer fact that it's American. I just hate it because it's the worst part of American culture. It represents everything that's wrong with America. The gluttony. Hyper-consumerism. It's a big corporation that pays its workers nothing, but has a bullshit philanthropy to try to promote a positive image. If they really gave a shit about humanity, why not sell healthy food and pay your workers the right amount? I've refused to step into a McDonald's since I've been here (oh wait, I met a Brasilian friend in one ONCE but didn't buy anything) so I don't know how much things cost, but from what I hear, Big Macs are like R$8 or 9 (like US$5). Um. Gross. And people here are buying it. And "loving it." Oh, and get this! I was walking by a McDonald's and in big letters I see "30 de agosto-- Dia de Comer Big Mac! ( August 30-- Big Mac Eating Day)" and then in tiny, tiny letters, "Day to help kids with cancer"... so small that I could barely even see it. If the cancer was what they were really trying to prevent, wouldn't that be the main part of the ad?

The readings in one of my classes are exclusively in English. Yeah of course, it makes my life easier, but the Brazilian students who can't read English very well are basically fucked. In order to succeed in their class in their very own country that's verbally taught in their own language, they have to speak English. For someone who's trying to learn Portuguese, the language of a different culture, it hinders my opportunity to learn the new language.

The strength of American culture for me, a curious American, is a problem, but for the Brazilians I've spoken with, young and old, is not a problem at all. They like that they can listen to Usher, eat Big Macs, while watching That's So Raven, and reading the texts for their classes in English. Go figure.

Anthony