Home at Rua Frandique Coutinho
Ah I haven’t blogged in awhile. There have been so many things coming at me at once. I can’t believe three full weeks have passed already since I began the program. I feel caught between the feeling that everything is going by so fast and the feeling that I’ve already done and learned so much. I left the USA 9 days ago to fly to São Paulo, Brazil.
My two weeks in New Orleans were absolutely phenomenal. The introduction to the program, the people, and the analytical lens to observing life will take me a long way. I have a lot of thoughts and speculations about NOLA that I’d definitely like to write about sometime soon.
For the last week and a half, I’ve been swamped with classes, guest lectures, site visits and neighborhood days. I am exploring a variety of different aspects of the city through historical, social, cultural and political lenses. I’ve let my mind become a sponge—simply soaking up all the knowledge I can possibly absorb.
From what I’ve picked up in the limited time that I’ve been here, São Paulo is a mind-boggling place. Every time I think of its size and complexity, I get a slight shiver. The actual city population is about 11 million people and the general metropolis area has about 18-20 million people—making it one of the biggest metropolitan regions in the world. In the last 100 years, there has been a 40,000% growth rate!
The weight that the sheer number of people places on the infrastructure here is terrifying. Since the population grew so fast, the city is always playing a game of catch up when it comes to roads and public transportation. Although the train system here is pretty good, there are so many people that there are lines outside the station for people to get in. Trains come about every minute but people literally break arms and legs to get in. Believe me, I almost did.
My host family is AMAZING. I am thoroughly surprised at how I’ve been accepted here. It only costs of my host mom, my host sister, and my host sister’s boyfriend who is around often. This is the first time they’ve hosted students—and they’re doing a great job so far. Our host mom wakes up early to make us a solid breakfast.
She cuts us a fruit salad and makes us fresh squeezed orange juice (which we’ve told her not too) amongst an assortment of other things. Brazilians also don’t typically eat dinner until much later. It’s 9:10pm right now and I still haven’t really seen the site of dinner so far. But the food is always great so I am not even worried one bit.
Our host mom does not speak English-- which was extremely tough at first. However, it’s remarkable how much humans can communicate without speaking the same language. We communicate through point, laughing, music and dance. I’m sharing a room with another student on my program. We’ve both been trying to learn as much Portuguese so we can to communicate as best as possible with her. Google translate is also clutch.
But yet, even though we don’t speak the same language or have the same culture, I feel extremely loved. Since our family is much smaller, there’s so much love to go around. Evanir (mom), Natalia (sister), Joey (roomie) and I have developed a bond that I know will go much farther then the month that we’re here for. I’m really lucky that I was placed in this living situation. During the day I’m critically analyzing urban issues and my personal position within the system of society, but by night, I’m immersing myself in the company of humble people who are teaching me how to simply enjoy life.
Looking forward to continue dancing samba and learning about the world. Glad that I still have a few more weeks in the country!
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