Is it really over again/already?

I am at the Caracas airport waiting for my flight to go home. I cannot believe it. This trip has been absolutely stupendously astronomically dynamic and amazing and incredible and at times quite terrible.

Honestly, I don't even know how to write this entry. To summarize everything would be useless because it is impossible, when words only limit us. What I can say is that every difficulty, every problem, every bump in the road, has only served me. Problems in life are like that. I was watching 13 Going on 30 in the posada last night and the girl´s mother in the movie said that she had no regrets in life because if she didn't make the wrong choice sometime she would never learn how to make things right. I feel that way about my travels and my life. Yes Venezuela is dangerous. Yes, I put myself in situations that others would never dream of. But I do not live my life with regrets, because any obstacle only makes me stronger and more capable of dealing with adversity. To leave at a moment of hardship would be a disservice to me because I would not have learned how to deal with the difficulty.

I am happy to be returning home. I miss everyone and everything. But this trip has a special place in my heart, because all I've seen, and all I've done, are now a part of me, and a part of my life.

Until my next travels...

Anthony

VENE VENE VENEZUELA

After 16 hours on a bus I ended up on the border of Brazil and Venezuela, in a city called Santa Helena. The city is famous for its treks to Mount Roraima and other tepuis (see above photo.) Tepuis are flat topped mountains. The treks take lie 6 days or so of hiking and travessing through the woods to eventually get to the base of the mountain and climb to the top. I opted out of doing it because of the time constraint, but I did get to take a tour of the Gran Sabana, a place famous for its indigenous peoples and beautiful tepuis. After my day there, I took an overnight bus to Ciudad Bolivar, the jumping off point for trips to the Salto Angel, or in English, Angel Falls, which is the tallest waterfall in the world. The overnight bus was... an experience in itself. The bus was super comfortable, nice and cold, which is quite conducive to sleep, however the bus was stopped 4 different times by military checkpoints. Hugo Chavez (the president of Venezuela, if you don´t know who he is please google him) has military personnel on all the roads stopping people for their ID cards and passports. Sometimes they make everyone get off the buses to show their bags and then are able to continue once they´re cleared. We were lucky, I suppose, in that we didn´t have to show anything but our passports. Some people say that the checkpoints are to check for drugs, I think that it´s more of a psychological power game, so that the people in the country know that the state has a lot of control.

Venezuela is an ineresting place, from what I´ve seen. Because of the large amounts of petroleum, the streets are filled with cars. There´s a lot of traffic, everywhere. Even in this small dumpy city. The city is kind of historical, so the streets are cobblestone and narrow, yet big ass cars clog the streets and don´t yield to pedestrians. They eat arepas here, which are basically pitas made of corn, stuffed with meat, cheese, or anything you want, really. They´re delicious. Also, randomly, there are a lot of places that sell "fresas con crema" or strawberries and cream. It´s delicious, but random. Also, the name Bolivar is everywhere. The name of the city, the name of the state, the name of the currency, there is a street name Calle Bolivar, there´s a huge statue of Simon Bolivar, there´s a Plaza Bolivar... it´s a little much.

SALTO EL SAPO

Salto Angel was incredible, as was Salto El Sapo, a smaller waterfall near Salto Angel. I got to Canaima, the small indigenous city that exists near the fall where all the lodges are, on Friday, and immediately dropped off my things at the lodge and went to Salto El Sapo by canoe. The guide told us that everything we had would get completely mojado (wet) so we had to make sure we put our cameras inside of plastic bags. We get into the boat, there was a group of about 10 of us, and glide through this beautiful lake, with water the color of tea, due to the high level of plant matter in the water. The rushing waterfalls were in the backdrop, as was the thick mist that they left behind. The air was chilly and humid, but with the excitement I didn´t feel cold. I wasn´t exactly sure what we would be doing, but whatever it was, I was ready. We docked the canoe and started walking, the guide pointing out different species of plants and their uses. We stopped by this spherical brown thing that looked like the ant´s home that I saw in the Amazon. The guide asked what we though it was and I said "una casa de hormigas¨ , or a house for ants. He said that it was, actually "una casa de termitas" or a house for termites. And then he ate a handful of the crawly creatures. He passed them around, I actually had already eaten termites when I was in Belize, but decided to go for it again. It tasted like herbs. The guide said that they´re an excellent source of protein and not harmful to our bodies.

A little bit later, after trekking over thick roots and wet rocks, we arrived at the Salto El Sapo. It was LOUD, thunderingly so. The water rushed down, and there was a little path behind it. I stripped down to my scivvies and started going through, leaving my camera and clothes behind. The water wasn´t that powerful at first, but once I got about midway, tons of water were falling on top of my entire body. I couldn´t breathe through my nose because I would be inhaling water, and I could barely open my eyes because of the force of the water. Three Italians from my group were in front of me and stopped because they couldn´t see. But I couldn´t breathe. I had to get out. I grabbed the rope and used my sense of touch to get out. The other end was paradise. A beautiful rainbow cascaded across the waterfall, and me and the Italians took a picture in front of the falls from a rock. The way back was easier, and the adrenaline rush wasn´t bad either.

SALTO ANGEL

The next day we left early for a 4 hour boat ride to the camp near the Angel Falls. The rain was pouring down on top of us and the river was tumultuous. Water splashed into the boat and the ponchos we were wearing did no justice. When we finally got to the camp, which was some hammocks under a roof, we ate and fell asleep, as it was completely completely dark. No light from the stars or moon, because of the clouds. At one point, I woke up in the middle of the night after the candles were out, and it was the same amount of light with my eyes open or closed. Scary, a little. We got up with the sun and trekked for about an hour through more roots and wet rocks, small streams, and mossy trees with birds singing in their branches. Getting to the viewpoint was absolutely stunning. We were lucky because it was a clear day, so we got to see the top of the Angel Falls. The mist and wind enveloped our group and we all stood in awe, watching the water fall from the peak, which is about 1 km tall. I sat on a rock and closed my eyes just feeling the mist cool my face and the wet rock beneath me. I listened to the rush of the water falls from the peak to the river, and then from the river down a smaller waterfall. When I opened my eyes after those minutes, the stunning waterfall was all I saw. It´s energy and greatness really struck me. Its power. Something that mankind could never create. After taking a few pictures and truly feeling grateful of my experience, we started the trek back down the mountain. I have this inclination to like being alone in nature, or at least with people I like. I was in a group with practically strangers, so I ran ahead to be able to experience the hike in a more profound way. I got to the bottom of the mountain and waited by the river, and then took a dip. Absolutely amazing.

Going back was hard, especially because going back to Ciudad Bolivar meant getting back into a scary 5-seater Cessna, but I did it nonetheless. And here I am, about to go to some crazy caves.

Peace and love

Anthony

Amazon Rainforest: Conquered

I'm back in Manaus, after about 10 days of Amazonian madness. My little problem that I wrote about in the previous entry was resolved, luckily. I showed up at the terminal, frantic, only to be met with the typical, laid back mentality of the north of Brazil. No one seemed to care. I boarded the boat, even though I had no hammock, just my giant travelers backpack. The port was totally empty. There was only one person on the boat, a woman who was in a wheelchair. I asked an employee if there was a hammock that I could borrow on the boat, he smiled, almost laughed, and then told me to ask the manager who apparently was sleeping. I left to get some food for my trip, leaving the backpack with the lady in the wheelchair (she seemed trustworthy enough). All of the hammock stores in the streets were closed, still. It was still only 6 AM. I got my food and when I got back to the boat, the manager had woken up. He told me that there were no hammocks on the boat, but there was still time to buy one. How? I asked. If we`re leaving at seven, how is it possible? The stores don`t open until eight! He laughed, we`re not leaving until ten! You have plenty of time.

And this is the story in Brazil. People are constantly giving false information.

The boat ride was beautiful. Sleeping in the hammock was fine, the nights were beautiful, with stars and stars and a bright almost moon, one night. On the banks of the River Solimoes, were tiny communities who lived in houses on stilts, because of the seasonal flooding of the river that happens. In this region, people travel principally by boat. The school buses are school boats. The gas stations for the boats are also afloat. I made some magnificently happy friends, who were great company. One night we all sat in our hammocks singing songs, me American songs, them Brazilian songs. One woman invited me to her house in Tefe, and I accepted, as I had no other plans. When we got to Tefe, which is the jumping off point to the Amazonian Reserve Mamiraua, we got to her house and it was locked. Her son had the key, and he was away for the weekend in this tiny village of 400 people. After visiting with her mother, brother, and daughter, we went to Caiambe for 2 days. When we got back I went to the Reserve.

The pousada (bed and breakfast) inside the reserve floats above the water, and is made of a beautiful wood. All day and night long, you hear the loud, healthy calls of all different types of birds, the Reserve alone has 950 different varieties. Some other things I learned about the Amazon:

- Its 7 million km2 , which is about the size of Europe
- 1/5 of all river water comes from the Amazon
- the Amazon has 60000 types of plants, 324 types of mammals, 300 types of reptiles, and 1500 types of fish.

I saw some animals, including sloths, howler monkeys, a huge cobra, lots of caimans, pirarucu (rare fish), and some jaguar pawprints.

My room in the pousada luckily came with a mosquito net, because the creatures in the Amazon are brutal. They own the Amazon. They buzz all around you all the time, and not just 1 type of mosquito, a few different types. God are they ugly. I visited a community that benefits from the Reserve, and I thought it was interesting. They live 100% sustainably. If the world ends in 2012, they`ll be fine : ) .

All in all the trip was awesome.!

dilemma

Since I wrote last, I've toured the capital, gone to a 3day electronic music festival where the trance music never stopped in the middle of a national park, gone on hikes to waterfalls, and spoken nothing but Portuguese. I'm currently in Manaus, which is the gateway to the Amazon. From here I have to take a 36-hour boat roat along the Rio Negro westward, deep into the Rainforest, to go to one of the best ecotourism spots in the world, the Mamiraua Reserve.

The dilemma is that on these boats you need to have your own hammock and rope to tie it up with, because that´s how you sleep. There's no beds, no chairs, just hammocks that you need to bring and tie up to the posts in the boat. My dumb ass didn't read the part of the guidebook where it said to bring a hammock and I didn't think to ask. Now its about 5 AM, none of the stores are open, and my boat leaves at 7. I don't know when the stores open or even where they are. I know there's some by the boat station so in a few minutes I'm gonna hang out outside one of the stores and wait until they open. The only drawback is I have everything with me-- my huge backpack, and everything in it, so it's ridiculously heavy.

This may sound crazy, but this type of adventure and problem solving is what makes us more equipped to deal with things in our day to day lives. Imagine this fucked up situation! I know it'll all work out. You'll hear about how this turned out once I get back from the AMAZON!!! AHHHHHHH!!!

No Rio de novo (In Rio again)

Being here now feels like I´ve never left but at the same time that I´ve grown up so much since I´ve gone back to the United States and come back here. On my way to the apartment that I´m staying at, the one on Rua Farme de Amoeido that I lived in when I lived in Rio before, I took note of all the things I was noticing again, that I had forgotten about before in the city. This is my list:

-palm trees
-kombis (cheap van taxis)
-beauty of the lush green mountains in the background
-the small cars
-the dilapidated infrastructure of the poor neighborhoods called favelas
-strong revolutionary messages written in graffiti

Leaving as a college student and coming back as an adult has a lot to do with the switch in perspective for me. Now, I feel more independent because I'm not tied to PUC-Rio, the university I studied at. I know only one other gringo here, so this whole time I've only been speaking portuguese, unless I'm talking to Eve. Relearning the language has been interesting-- I've forgotten a lot of words, but slowly they are coming back to me. Every day that I'm here it gets easier and easier. Luckily Eve's portuguese is really good, so if I need a word,, she's there to help me out. I find it easier to remember the word though if I look it up myself in a dictionary. I tried speaking Spanish to a hippie colombiano on the praia (beach) and it was really hard. I started in Spanish and ended every sentence in Portuguese. The languages are very similar so you have to pay a lot of attention to every word you, at least at first. It'll be easier speaking Spanish once I'm in a Spanish speaking country in a few weeks.

Otherwise, I'm loving being in this country, the people are so happy and friendly and warm, not to mention gorgeous. I've been eating salgados every day and I ate at a churrascaria on Thursday after I went to my friend's graduation ceremony. I can see how people get targeted here for crime, and luckily I think I'm blending a little better this time than I did last time.

I'm leaving for the capital tomorrow, but tonight it's all live samba at this nightclub called Melt.

Beijos!!

Anthony

No Promises

When it comes to blogging habitually, it becomes a pain the ass. Taking time out of a travel experience to record what's being done can be a daunting task for me, but I know that it needs to be done in order to have the memories last. In light of this, I entitled this entry "No Promises" because even though I'm leaving to go back to South America in a few hours and would love to blog about everything I do there, I'm not making any promises :-) .

So yes, I am leaving at 3:00 PM, eastern standard time, to go back to Rio de Janeiro. I have a short layover in Houston, and will arrive in Rio at 8:10 AM. SWEEEET! I have an agenda planned that shall unfold as the blog does.

Some highlights:

-Catching up with old friends,
-the Amazon,
-a crazy hippie electronic music festival in a national park,
-an indigenous flower festival in Medellin, Colombia
-the Angel Falls

But, like I said, no promises :-).

I love you all, and don't be afraid to show some encouragement! I know a lot of you read my blogs and never leave comments. Don't be a silent stalker.

A

SEATTLE!! days 1 and 2

OK, so I know this was supposed to be my "Brazil" blog but I am traveling and actually inspired to blog so why wouldn't I report on the enchanting city of Seattle?

My flight out here on Sunday night was pretty smooth, no serious problems, and actually landed 40 minutes ahead of schedule due to the winds working in our favor. Now many people have been asking me, "Why Seattle?", and the answer was that I was visiting a dear friend of mine and Seattle has been a place that I've been wanting to visit for a while. Something about the flannel reputation, coffee culture, and mysterious weather that intrigued me. Plus, since Ashley moved out here she has told me nothing but the best about it.

So after getting getting off the plane at the Seattle/Tacoma Airport on Sunday, I anxiously walked toward the door of the airport to get to feel the temperature of the night air. Upon walking outside, the air felt quite moist and cool, but nowhere near the blistery temperatures that I left behind in New York. I was looking at around 50 degrees and cloudy skies. My thick wool sweater and light khaki jacket with scarf was enough to keep me warm. Gideon, Ashley's fiance, picked me up from the airport, and brought me through the city to their apartment in a duplex house in the trendy neighborhood called "Capitol Hill." The hills in this neighborhood are extremely steep and one thing about all of Seattle's neighborhoods is that they are extremely lush and green due to the high amount of moisture in the air and the mild temperatures. We went to visit Ashley at the coffee shop she works at, and waited there until she finished closing up. The coffee shop, Roy Street Coffee, is owned by Starbucks and has a very local coffee shop feel, with every coffee made to order, really friendly employees, wine, beer, and an area for indie film bookings (that Ashley actually is in charge of.) I had a vanilla rooibos tea, which was sweet and fabulous, and a tomato soup, with some type of fluffy pastry with black olives inside. Delicious. I also had a glass of Malbec while I was there and was pleasantly surprised.

On Monday morning, Ashley and I woke up, went to a vegetarian breakfast at Cafe Flora (I got biscuits and vegetarian gravy, Ashley got this fluffy omelette with amazingly fresh garden tomatoes and carmelized onions with cheesy grits) and then mosied through a beautiful arboretum with different colored bushes of budding flowers. The air was still quite moist and foggy, and the whole city had an eery vibe. The air was so wet that I actually felt moisture gathering in my nose and I had to keep sniffling. The arboretum had a rich aroma of earth, and due to the moisture many of the trees had a thick, healthy layer of moss growing on their trunks. I picked one of the flowers from a bush and put it in my front pocket because I was in such awe of the fact that flowers were blooming in the middle of February.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the city, I did a little thrifting in the Capitol Hill area and bought a cute shirt and sweater and then had a coffee from this spot called Vivace . After, we went to this market with goods from all over Seattle, mostly local, home grown items, only to be found in Seattle. The market was set up right on the water, with the back drop of the Olympia Mountains and the Sound. There were street musicians, some of which were actually pretty talented, fruit stands, chocolate sellers, clothing, anything, really. The vendors were friendly and courteous seemed to genuinely be interested in the customers. I liked that :-). After indulging in tasteful goodies (READ: macaroni and cheese made with with homemade cheese, OMFG) we went to a gay bar by the house called Madison Pub and enjoyed some Slim Chance beers, which are from a brewery just outside Seattle. It was a light beer, but with a good flavor. The bar was pretty empty when we walked in even though it was Happy Hour, at least in New York it was.

We came back to the house tired and drunk, after a long day of sightseeing, and Gideon made the most delicious meatloaf and quimoa. I was very happy :-). We had some beers, chatted for a while and passed out early. And here I am on day 3, itching to get outside and enjoy the beautiful day.

Anthony

Rio Haikus

I wrote some haikus about Rio...

1
At Posto Nove
Sipping my caipirinha
Drunky before noon


2
Hiding my iPod
Trying to look Brazilian
Eyes behind my head

3
Que loucura*
Under the arcs of Lapa
Kissing cute strangers

*- loucura- craziness

4
Waking up at night
From the sounds of fired guns
More forgotten deaths

5
Rob me in the street
If you'll be able to eat
My money is yours

6
Jesus hovers there
On top of Corcovado
Watching every move

7
Beautiful people
Ridiculous beach bodies
Every shade of brown

8
Going home so soon
Back to that place I knew once
Only physically

a couple of first times

This week I knocked two things off the list that I made for things that I have to do in Brazil before I leave-- going to Maracanã and taking the chá from a Santo Daime church.

The Maracana game was actually really cool and exciting... I'll post pictures soon, but there was just so much energy and people screaming. The game was Brazil versus Colombia-- it was one of those qualifying games for the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. Sarah and Eve and I got to the game a little early thinking that we wouldnt be able to get in otherwise, but it ended up being super early. In spite of this, there was still hundreds-- no, thousands-- of people outside of the stadium, drinking, smoking, fighting, everything you could imagine at a really crazy sporting event. They sold a lot of cachorro quente, hot dogs with all kinds of things on them (peas, eggs, beats... etc). Inside Maracanã, the cachorros weren't quente, they had been made hours before.c The guys who came around to sell food sold Biscoito Globos, these really popular Brazilian snacks made out of flour water and either a little sugar or salt. They also sold popcorn, ice pops, and beer. 

Everyone had Brazil shirts on and was screaming hilariously vulgar palavrões to Colombia. There was a song that they were singing that said "Voce vai tomar no cu" over and over again. Ten bucks for an American who can find out the meaning of that. hhah. It was just hilarious. They gave out these little plastic Brazil flags for everyone so the crowd was just a bunch of green wavey things. Rlet ight before the game started they out a bunch of balloons all by the goal posts. The crown really liked that.

There were no goals that game (what luck!) but it was definitely an awesome Brazilian experience. We went home on the bus with a bunch of crazy futebol fans...

Beijos--

Anthony

a consideration

Like the United States, Brasil has a really mixed population, with people with many different skin colors, hair types, etc. There's a sizeable Japanese-Brazilian population, so people with Asian roots can be "Brazilian", and same thing with people with blonde hair and blue eyes because of the sizeable German immigration that took place in this country for many years. The key to spotting a gringo, however, has to do to an extent (of course!) with your God-given physical characteristics, but a lot of it has to do with how you dress and how you carry yourself. For this reason, I'm considering changing my style of dress to be able to fit in more here. Of course I'm not gonna go crazy and throw away all my skinny jeans and cute t-shirts, but I've decided to take to wearing looser jeans and plainer (BOOOOOOO!!!) t-shirts.

So, what prompted this consideration? Last week Sarah got us all tickets to see these three Brazilian reggae/rap bands Natiruts, O Rappa, and Marcelo D2 in concert. So, logically, we met up in my house to have a few drinks before the show. While everyone was waiting, I ran into the shower, got clean, ran to my closet to pick out clothes that I thought would be appropriate for a reggae show in the States. I picked out this really cool green and red cottony linen shirt with wooden buttons that I bought in Africa, a brown bead necklace, and black jeans. I'm chillin', thinking everyone is gonna be dressed like me, or similarly. No.

I get to the show to find out that the crowd is dressed in the same homogenous fashion as the rest of carioca society-- t-shirts with outdated American logos, ill fitting jeans, havaianas, bermudas (board shorts), etc... And all around me I hear "gringo" every ten steps I make. "Olha esse gringo" and "Gringo aiiii"-- just a lot of people pointing out the fact that I'm a gringo and that I'm not from here.

My point here isn't that I'm ashamed of being a gringo, it's a reality that I have to face. My point is that dressing here how I would like to dress makes me more of an outsider than I already am because of my nationality. And although doing this goes against everything we learn in my country, regarding individuality and self-expression, I feel it would be in my best interest for the remainder of my time here to just try to fit in more.

The thing is that being a gringo here just doesn't mean that you're a foreigner. It means that Brazilians think you're rich and stupid. If you can speak Portuguese, you're OK, but if not, it could be really easy to get taken advantage of. A beer for a Brazilian may cost R$2, but for a gringo who doesn't speak Portuguese, it can be double that. Being a gringo here is pretty much a liability, and that's why I've made this consideration.

Check out the photos from when my Mommy was hereee!!


photos

Beijosss--
Anthony

new home, new life

I've started what I've considered to be the second phase of my Brazil experience. I've moved out of the old lady's apartment in Leblon into an apartment in Ipanema with a Brazilian lesbian and another New Yorker that I adore named Eve. My neighbors are three other Brazilian girls that are awesome also. It's actually a funny story about how I came to find this new place; I was out at Lapa one night, a drunken mess, and I met this really cute, funny Brazilian girl who was trying to speak English with me. So naturally, we got to talking, and I told her that I was looking for a new place to live because living with the Senhora wasn't cutting it for me anymore and it was kind of expensive. She told me that she had a friend who was looking for roommates in the same building that she lived in and that I should go check it out. I went to check it out and when I did, I decided that this would be a good move to make. And since I liked Anna Maria (the girl from Lapa) and her roommates, and I would be paying substantially less than I was before, it would be well worth it to make the move, especially to such a famous street-- Farme de Amoeido (also known as the "Gay Street" of Rio Janeiro). So I did. And it's funny that it's called the Gay Street because the other day when I was leaving the beach and walking down Farme I ran into Carson Kressley, the guy who was made famous on that Bravo TV show, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. A little starstruck, I walked by him and screamed, "I love you Carson!"and he responded, smiling, "Thank you!"... hahahahah, funny, right?

The gays aren't the only things that are making my street fruity though. (hahahahaha did you like my pun??) We have on the corner of Farme de Amoeido and Visconde de Pirajá a Beach Sucos, which sells these little snacks called salgados (explained in another entry) but also juices of every type, made from fruits that they don't have anywhere else in the world except for Brazil. I've made it my business to try a different fruit every time I go by there. This here is a seriguela, one of my favorite Brazilian fruits. It's kind of sweet and tangy. Definitely has a little kick to it. Another one that I tried that I didn't like too much, called cupuaçu, was kind of strange because it really wasn't sweet at all, just really sour. I had to add sugar to it, and after I did that it was fairly more tolerable.

These two aren't so common even here, but they definitely have some common fruits here that we don't have in the States such as goiaba and maracujá (my favorite fruit everrrrr!!!, seen below). Oh my God, and the tangerinas here are so delicious. They're just so sweet and juicy and amazing.

Que gostoso!!

Beijos--

Anthony

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

update o rama

Life in Rio is going to be expected, I guess. Nothing too amazing going on in life right now to be quite honest with you. I'm still really familiarizing myself with this city and the people in it. Trying to understand this culture more and more every day. It's funny how learning a language works. Some days I think I've learned so much up to this point, and then other days I feel like I know absolutely nothing and I should know a lot more for the time I've spent here already. The situation is this. I have a lot of friends that are non-Brazilian, and if they're not Brazilian, chances are they speak English, and for this reason, I haven't been speaking enough Portuguese. But honestly, it's not easy. Imagine sitting in class all day-- 5 hours a day or more-- listening to lectures in a language you really only started learned 6 weeks ago? It takes such a toll on my mind at the end of the day I can't speak any language... instead I just smile and nod. OK, I'm being a little dramatic, but it really is super difficult. Honestly though, the Portuguese I know so far has been pretty rewarding.

The Brazilian people I've met here, the friends I've made, seem to be amazingly loyal, fun people. They're constantly calling me and texting me and messaging me letting me know about plans that they've made or plans they want to make and I absolutely love it. Of course I have conversations with them and we laugh and do stuff, but I want to be able to communicate with them even more. That's why I really am trying to spend some time each day learning vocabulary and asking questions and just putting myself out there.

In other news, I'm starting to plan some trips throughout Brazil for the next few months I'm here.Definitely want to go to the South of Brazil (Florionapolis, Blumenau, and Porto Alegre) and Sao Paulo, and the Northeast.

Classes are in full swing. Hoorah. Not.

Love-
Anthony

classes commence

As exciting as classes should be in a new country-- they're not. I like my classes, don't get me wrong, but having to spend time in a classroom when the sun is shining and the beaches are so close to school is just a tease. Miami-itis, anyone? Anyways, I'm taking Antropologia da Arte, Intro a Economia, Educacao e Sociedade, Portugues IV, Musculacao (gym), and maybe a couple of others that I haven't decided on yet. I was thinking of also taking a new language, like French or Hebrew, but we'll see about that. I also want to join some clubs to do some volunteer work so I'm going to look into that as soon as possible.

Classes are pretty much the same here as they are in the states-- except all of mine are in Portuguese. I had the option to take some in English but I honestly didn't see the point. When the time comes to start handing papers in that's going to be fun.

Something different here that I like is that students don't spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks. They have these little kiosks that make copies of the readings we have to do and we just pay something like R$.10 per page. It's pretty amazing.

In other news life is fine...

Tudo joia,
Anthony

Vacation's all I ever wanted, vacation happy to get away

In light of the ending of the month-long intensive Portuguese class I took in Rio, Sarah, Lauren and I decided to take a little vacation before the actual semester starts. At first we were planning on going to a tropical little island called Ilha Grande, but changed our plans at the last minute to go to Itatiaia National Park... this beautiful place in the western part of the state of Rio de Janeiro. We took 2 buses to get there and 5 hours later we arrived. The first night was hard because we were hiking through the forest at night time looking for a cool pousada (bed and breakfast-type thing) to stay at. We did find one, but it happened to be a little bit outside of our budgets so we kept on looking. Luckily, the women at that pousada pointed us towards a cheaper one a little bit outside the national park.

The next day we woke up early and went exploring through the forest. Itatiaia is known for its beautiful cachoeiras, or waterfalls, so we made it our priority to see them. The nearest cachoeira was about 8 kilometers into the park, and we decided to take the bus-- but that didn't quite work out because we missed the only one. So, we decided the only thing we could do-- walk all the way through the forest on foot. After about an hour we decided that this idea may have been a little ridiculous because we still weren't in the park after all that walking. So we went to Plan B-- hitchhiking up the mountain. Within minutes of devising this fabulous idea a pick-up truck with plenty of room in the back picked us up and drove us up the mountain to the place where the bus would have dropped us off. Pretty lucky, huh?

After that we enjoyed the beautiful flora and fauna of the tropical park and had a pretty amazing day. When Sarah posts pictures I'll put them on here but it was pretty amazing.

After spendig the day in the park we decided to move on to a place that I read about in my guidebook called Maromba. I read that it was a hippie hangout with cheap lodging so I knew this had to be a pretty cool place. The bus ride there was absolutely terrifying because of the fact that we were hugging the sides of mountains for almost two hours on a gigantic bus in the pitch black.

On the bus we met some pretty cool dudes who showed us to a really cheap pousada and chilled with us in Maromba. The day after we arrived we ended doing some more hiking and enjoying being outside in the mountains. Maromba literally ended up being on road with about 30 buildings in the middle of the forest with artists and musicians living there. Really, really cool. At night people took out their instruments and played guitar and stuff... some people had wooden flutes that they were playing.

All in all, it was an amazing weekend that I needed before school starts, errrr.... tomorrow :( .

Robbery is reality... very juicy.

Rio is a place of opposites and contradictions and for this reason it's easy for people to be disillusioned about reality. I live in Leblon, one of the richest neighborhoods in all of Brazil, and it's a pretty safe place. No crime, during the day at least, and beautiful apartment buildings and shops and banyon trees, and dogs with bows and shoes. Everything you would expect from a rich first world city. However, in the same city, about 10 miles away, is Santa Teresa. Santa Teresa used to be really slummy and crappy, but over the past few years, it began to be revitalized, and now is home to artists, students, and musicians-- very bohemian. After finding out about this awesome sounding place, I knew I had to go. So on Sunday, I dragged a bunch of people with me up the mountain to Santa Teresa. Since I was coming from the beach, I had my sunga, or speedo bathing suit that everyone in Brasil wears, under my jeans, a cool shirt on, and a bag with my camera, phone, and keys in it. I also had bought this really cool hippie bag for R$4 that was with me.

On the way into Santa Teresa, we had to ride this cart that drove above the city that let us see breathtaking views of the city, and since it was just about dusk, the sky had a beautiful blue color with the sparkling lights of the city all around us. On this bodinho ride, we met 3 brasilieras and 1 American girl, who was visiting her friends that she was with. After talking for a little bit, we all decided to go eat feijoada at this place in Santa Teresa called Bar do Mineiro, which was on a pretty well-lit block right near a police station. After eating we were ready to hit the bars, so we left the restaurant and decided to walk. Before we even got to the end of the block a black car stopped next to us 3 men with guns got out and started waving their weapons at us. At this point I gladly handed over my bag, but one of my friends, Mary from Miami, tried to run, but one of the guys put a gun to her and said something like "I will shoot you." Needless to say, she gave up her bag, as did the others, and we all ran to the police station one block away. Some of us were crying about their material possessions, but I could only think about how happy I was to be alive. People in Latin America get shot all the time for LESS. For no reason. I wasn't ready to lose my life for a stupid camera and cell phone.

After the incident the cop did nothing except for send a squad car to drive us home, but it never came. So one of our other friends paid for our cab.

I tried to understand this mugging from a sociological perspective, and doing that makes it easier to accept and understand. These people who robbed my things are victims also. Obviously I'm not happy about what happened and I don't think that I deserved to have my shit stolen and held at gun point, but these people are victims of a different type of violence-- structural violence. These gangsters from the favelas have no access to resources, or education. They're stuck in a system that completely excludes them. They're poor, their parents were poor, and their children will be poor. These strong forces of racism and classism in Latin America (and pretty much everywhere else in the world for that matter) are what drives these people to do what they do. They can't get caught by the police, because if the police follow them into the favela they will all get shot with the loads of armory and weapons that are kept there. Also, these robberies happen to rich North Americans all the time, so what vested interest do the police have in what happens to my fucking camera? They don't care and to be honest, they have no reason to. These criminals aren't thinking about how bad they feel that some rich* boy from the states doesn't have a camera, maybe they're thinking that this is the only way they can support their families due to a faulty public education system and the fact that people in this country and even the states find hiring darker people less desirable.

I don't know if I would have been killed if I fought over the bag, but it wasn't worth it to me and I know I made the right decision.

But don't worry, I'm fine!!! I'm fine!!! I promise. I went today to get a new phone but I have to go back tomorrow to pick it up. I dont't have the camera, and I don't think I'm gonna get one because they're soooo expensive and I've already had 3. But hey, c'est la vie. If you'd like to make a donation to the Anthony's Stolen Camera fun, feel free!!

Anthony

generalities

Classes have begun. Whoooo hoooooo! There are five levels that international students can be placed in, and I was placed in the third level, after having only taken a single portuguese class. I am excted about being placed higher than normal, but the other people in my class are pretty good at portuguese and I feel kind of like the weakest one. Everyone else has taken at least a year of Portuguese or is a fluent Spanish speaker, which are really similar languages However, I feel my self improving more and more every day. I wouldn't go as far to say that I'm 100% fluent, but I can definitely get by and accomplish daily tasks.

Life has been pretty ridiculous. Everyone drives really small cars here, which is good for the environment, but can be pretty dangerous sometimes. The other day I was walking to school, which is 15 minutes away from my house in Leblon, and a car was coming down the street and made a quick left turn without stopping at all. I suppose he didn't see the other car that happened to be coming through the intersection but the two cars crashed, and one of the cars actually flipped completely upside down BEFORE MY EYES. All this before 8 AM. Not normal. Not normal at all. The guy in the flipped car said something in Portuguese about his back but luckily both drivers were alive. I was so stunned I could not stop walking nor my hands from shaking on the way to class.

Aside from that crazy experience, I've just been hanging out with some amazing people, to name a few names, a PhD student from Miami named Mary, a Portuguese-American girl from Boston area named Monica, some New Yorkers Laura and Stacey, some other cool gay guy Martin from England, two cool dudes from Massachusetts Bryce and Felippe, Ramon from Mexico, and Heidi from Germany and this crazy girl from Cali that I adore named Sarah. I spend my weekends on the beautiful Ipanema beach at posto nove, or Post 9, which is the coolest place on Ipanema beach.

Another thing that is amazing about Rio are these salgados, which are basically pieces of heaven in food form. Since being in Rio I've renounced my vegetarianism and picked up an addiction to this amazing snacks. Imagine this: cheap sandwiches with every possible combination of meat and cheese packed together and fried. Put a little bit of ketchup or pimienta and call it a day because these babies are what's up!

The living situation is still chill, the guy that lived there when I moved in has moved out since I last updated, so it's been just me and Dora. She helps me with Portuguese and included in my rent is café da manhã, or breakfast, so every morning she basically just rattles away in Portuguese whatever may be on her mind. Haha, she's cute though. I'm in the process of the looking for another place, but unless I find something cheaper, Rua Bartolomeu Mitre, 380/404 may be my address for the next 5 months.

I'm happy here. The views are breathtaking and the people are amazing. I miss home, but not enough to want to go back just yet.

Tchauzinhos,

Antônio

Eu sou cariocaaaaa

carioca- a person native to Rio de Janeiro; characteristics include supreme friendliness, outgoing personality, hospitality, and fun.

I can only describe my first two days in Rio as really intense. When I arrived on Tuesday at 5 PM to the international airport here, GIG, there was no person there to pick me up wearing a "International Programs" t-shirt. So, my only option was to take a R$ 80 cab ride (the currency here is the real and it´s about .65 USD for 1 real). I arrived at my new home in Leblon, a ritzy neighborhood that's not touristy at all and is pretty residential. Luckily, it's also like a 10-minute walk to school, so I'm pretty content there. Dora, my host mom, is an elderly woman who is actually really friendly and nice. She's so cute... she even walked me to school on my first day, haha. It was like kindergarten all over again. Going to the campus was kind of tough on the first day, not knowing a single person and never being in the city before. Luckily I quickly made friends with a whole bunch of really cool people, so I'm happy about that. At night we went to A Garota de Ipanema (The Girl from Ipanema) for caipirinhias, the most famous Brazilian drink, which consists of Brazilian rum, limes, and sugar. The restaurant was actually really touristy, but we decided to go there because it was an easy meeting spot for everyone to go to. No one really has cell phones yet, so communication here is kind of difficult. Once we all get settled and have cell phones, things will be definitely easier.

I haven't had a chance to meet many Brazilians yet, but once I can speak Portuguese better I definitely intend on putting myself out there and getting into some of these PUC-Rio social circles. Ãlthough I really love the company of the Americans and Europeans I've met so far, I'm really interested in cultural immersion. Learning what it's actually like to be a Brazilian.

Classes don't start until Monday, but I already feel like I'm learning Portuguese. Dora, my host mom, only speaks to me in Portuguese, and that's definitely helping to boost my comprehension.

OK, I have to go register with the local police now... strange, I know.

Anthony

So long USA

I'm sitting in the airport right now waiting on my flight that was technically should have taken off 5 minutes ago. Unfortunately for me, my flight is 2 hours and 45 minutes delayed so I'll be waiting around for another 2 hours or so.

Saying goodbye to my family was really hard for me this time around. When I said goodbye to my parents and sister, tears were actually streaming down my face. Even when I left for Semester at Sea I didn't cry the way I did today. I guess it's because I had my friends Sam and Jon traveling by my side. This time around, I'm going to be all alone in a foreign country with only a single acquaintance living there. But he doesn't even live in or near Rio, so it doesn't exactly do me much help.

If you're wondering what I'm feeling right now-- it's fear. I'm scared shitless. But I'm also really... wondrous. I can't stop wondering what my life is going to be like for the next 5.5 months of my life. And I've spent the last 3 days trying to talk myself out of these emotions. I've tried to suppress them. When people have asked me about how I've been feeling, I really just was acting non-chalant. I didn't focus on the details, kind of just said the words to those who asked without internalizing what it all meant. The truth of the matter is I'm going to a place where I know not a single person and I don't know how to deal with that.

I have to believe that when I get there I'm going to be fine. I mean, I did CIRCUMNAVIGATE THE GLOBE. And I do draw strength from that experience. But this will change and grow me in a way unlike any other.

One of the life lessons that I've learned in my limited 20 years is that the harder the challenge, the more intense the growth. The harder something is for us, the better the person we will become at the end of it all. So I'm going to remember that and enjoy my pre-trip nerves, because once I'm there, I'll probably laugh at myself about them.

Wish me Boa Viagem--
Anthony

LINK TO NEW BLOG

OK you guys--

I'm linking you to the new blog . Read that and comment. I'm going to be updating that one also (the same stuff) but I thought you guys may want to see my fancy college blog!!!

Anthony