Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Panis et Circences

It's been a relatively long time since I last blogged (still less than a week, but relatively, a long time) so as you can imagine, a lot has happened since. Given that the week afternoons/nights have mostly consisted of homework, practicing (damn placement audition!), Archer, and running, I'll skip to Friday's events. But first, a diversion!

Some of my favorite words in Portuguese:

Pique-nique: picnic. This word showcases the fact that almost no word in the language ends with a hard consonant. Instead, an 'ee' sound gets added. This usually applies to English words adopted into the language. Other examples include internet (pronounced internetchy), milkshake (pronounced milky-shakey), Facebook (pronounced facey-bookey), and Brad Pitt (pronounced Bradgey Pitchy).

X-burguer: cheeseburger. The letter x is pronounced 'sheece' in Portuguese, so I'll let you conclude why this is the way it is. Sometimes, they just write cheeseburger.

nocautear: to knock someone out in a fight.

Some of my new favorite albums: 

Napalm Dream by Tenement
Os Mutantes by Os Mutantes
The Smiths by The Smiths

Some albums that I've been listening to quite a bit, even if they're not so new on my radar:

The World Won't End by The Pernice Brothers
Autumn of the Seraphs by Pinback
Pinkerton by Weezer
Fear of Music by The Talking Heads

Even though that has nothing to do with Brazil (except for Os Mutantes), it's a big part of my trip, so I felt it necessary to share. So on Friday....


My language class went with the advanced class to Centro, which is an historic neighborhood north of Copacabana. This trip offered a few new experiences.  For one, I rode the metrô for the first time. Composed essentially of two subway lines, the system/facilities seemed very clean and efficient, and in the three times I've used it, I haven't had to wait more than 1 minute for a train to come. Another aspect I appreciated was finally getting into a quintessentially urban part of the city. Don't get me wrong; Copacabana is certainly a very indicative part of the city, but it seems almost like a ritzy tourist community. There are no business centers, no cultural outlets, with few exceptions. Almost everything is storefronts or high-rise apartments. Centro is home to many of the old colonial buildings, abundant with museums, and a definite business center in a city not so focused on business.

Our group got coffee and sweets at a very famous confeitaria (Colombo) and visited an amazing old library. If you have ever seen Beauty and the Beast, think of that library, and you will have a good idea. We also looked at the oldest Catholic church in the city and hung around Praza 15, which is a big outdoor space with a big statue and it overlooks part of the harbor of Rio. Adjacent is the old imperial palace, where Dom Pedro and Dom Pedro II (the two kings of Brazil from the 19th century) lived.  I felt much more connected with the city after visiting this area.  We also had feijoada for lunch! This is a big bean stew with all sorts of meat bits (some more appealing than others) that is served with rice, farofa (a popular grain), pork skins, and kale. As the national dish of Brazil, it is quotidian on weekends at most restaurants, and tastes pretty delicious. After lunch, a couple of friends and I split from the group and toured the Naval Museum, which was free. It was interesting, but I feel no need to describe it to you. Suffice it to say that it was informative, nautical, and very patriotic.

After coming back to Copa from Centro, I went to a friend's house to watch a Portuguese romantic comedy called Se Eu Fosse Você (If I Were You). Although we had Portuguese subtitles on, I was very proud that I could understand the whole thing. That night, my friends and I had a fun time conversing and hanging out at a bar overlooking the ocean.  It has been very fun getting to know the other students in this program. I hope to maintain our friendship after the program ends.

Saturday held a few new, fun experiences as well, even though it started with an incredible bummer. My group agreed to meet outside a metrô station, and I thought I knew where it was. After walking a few streets, I started to second guess my sense of direction. I really should have google mapped the street, because as it turns out, I turned around and walked in the opposite direction one street too early! In fact, if I had been on the ball and looked farther down the street, I could have seen my friends waiting for me. Instead, I walked about half a mile in the other direction before doubling back yet again. Eventually, I found my friends (actually, they found me) and we set off about an hour late. This instance highlighted two important things about this trip.

1. We take cellphones for granted. Without anyone having a cellphone, my friends and I have had to be much more detailed in making plans, either in person or on facebook. Wi-fi is hard to come by, so plans are hard to change if an unforeseen obstacle arises (like me being a bonehead).

2. Just because I think I know this neighborhood, I should remember that I've only been here for a little more than two weeks, and I can still get lost. Speaking of which, to the best of my knowledge, I've now been out of Madison for the longest amount of continuous time in my life. It isn't a lot, but I can definitely tell, and I do miss those 77 square miles.

Aaaaaaaaaand we're back. My friends and I took the metrô to Santa Teresa, an older, more upscale, tourist-friendly neighborhood near Centro. After enjoying some delicious Apfelstrudel at a German-themed restaurant, we walked around the hilly neighborhood. This place was amazing! So many incredible vistas, lavish houses mounted high off the sidewalks/streets, and some of the most vivid, captivating street art I have ever laid eyes on. My friend John would probably love it, but I'm sure he's having the time of his life in Italy as I type.

That night, a bigger group met up at a bar in the hip Leblon area of town. After a few caipirinhas, we headed to Lapa for some salsa dancing. Out of my three initial goals (see blog post 1), I was the least confident about getting better at dancing, but the opportunities have actually been abundant! In fact, a few fellow students in the program, Celia and Elsa, helped me learn some basic salsa moves, and I had a lot of fun. When I return, I hope to try my luck at some salsa/samba dances, because when you know a little about what you're doing it can be very entertaining! Plus, I love the music, and I feel that to fully understand it, you need to know how to both dance and play it.

More on samba dancing for the next post, in which I visit the Samba Escola de Salgueiro for some feijoada! Thanks for reading!

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