Florianópolis

The street where my house is


Its actually quite steep...


Floripa


I've been in Floripa for over a week now. I'm pleased to say so far that I haven't come across any of the negative preconceptions about this place. On my second night here I went to a bus stop and asked the two guys waiting when the next bus was due. They soon worked out I was a foreigner and we struck up a good conversation.

I like this city, the buildings and streets have a bit more of a European feel to them. Its just a pity that it is rather cold at the moment. The house I'm staying at is quite big. Its good all the basic necessities: Running water, electricity and wireless Internet access. Even has hot water as a bonus! The house has one lady in her 50s by the name of Anna and her two adult children - a son and daughter, although her son is currently overseas and I haven't met him yet. The only negative about this house is I don't have much interaction with the people, they're often out and so that part of the homestay (getting to know other people and living with a "family") isn't as good as it could be, but overall things are going well.

I visited a church on Thursday night and met some people and to invited to a weekend getaway on the south of the island. So I went on that which proved to be a great opportunity to worship God, meet lots of new people, go to the beach (just for a look as its cold at the moment), play some soccer have a barbecue (Brazilian style) and just hang out with some new people.

I'm meant to be doing one one one Portuguese lessons here, but for the first week one of the teachers was sick and I ended up being in a small group. I ended up doing six hours a day. This week I'm doing one on one classes for three hours a day. I've also enquired into the possibility of doing some volunteer work - so I've arranged to go to an orphanage tomorrow and see if I can assist there.

Things are going well here so far!



BBQ at weekend away


Some of the guys I went away with on my first full weekend in Floripa

Goodbye to Palmas, on to Floripa, and the World Cup

Farewell dinner with friends I've made in Palmas


This may not look that speical - but its the very centre of Brazil.


Well I spent four and a half weeks in Palmas - two more than I initially planned.

As I write, I'm at Palmas airport about to travel to Florianópolis (Floripa). I'm flying via, Brasilia, then Sao Paulo so its going to take 7 or 8 hours. Floripa is an island (connected by a bridge to the mainland) to the south of Brazil. It's meant to be really good for surfing and similar water sports that I could have done in Sydney but never did. However, as I understand it the weather is also somewhat similar to that of Sydney - meaning its pretty cold right now...

A few things I've been told about the south of Brazil:

- There's a lot of people of Europeans decent - Portugual, Italy, German (apparently a few post WW2 nazis made there way these parts too)
- People look a lot fairer (blond hair, blue eyes)
- The women are particularly beautiful
- The people aren't as open and friendly as in the north of Brazil
- The people are richer
- Its mean to be a great spot visit

Anyway, I'll try and put aside all these preconceptions (good and bad) and make the most of my time.

I've enrolled in another portuguese school for three hours each morning for four weeks. I'm also hoping to do some volunteer work while in Floripa. This is something I'm hoping my Portuguese is now good enough for me to be able to add some value with. We will see.

I'm now going to go back a few days and talk about Brazil's match of the World Cup. It was on a Tuesday commencing at about 3:30. I was invited to a house where a barbecue was taking place to watch the game. Most of the people there had jobs, but everyone had left work early for the game. It seems like the whole country stopped for it. The fans were pretty intense!

It was Brazil against North Korea and I somehow managed to wear red. I thought I better take my shirt off for most of the game, which was just as well as everyone was covered in shaving cream on the two occasions that Brazil scored. After the game not everyone seemed to be happy with the 2-1 victory. If only Australia's soccer team had such disappointing victories…




As I was wearing red they decided I was on N. Korea's side. I believe the Spanish basketball team got in trouble for this sort of pic a couple of years back



After the Brazil N. Korea game

Pronounciation could do with some work

Lunch time






At the start of the day


I've made some new friends here in Palmas which has been really good. Been playing basketball about once a week too.

It was a holiday here recently, so I went on a trip about an hour out of town with a group of about 12 people - friends that I've made through my friend Angela and the church I've been going to here. We found a good spot to have a picnic (Brazillian barbecue) which was really good. There was some great views and a nice lake for to go for a swim.

On the way back in the car, I asked one of the girls if she had any brothers. She asked me if she told me would I remember. I thought this was a bit of a strange response and said that I would. Then before I knew what was happening she started rattling off her email address. The word for "siblings" in Portuguese "irmãos". Which (the way I said it) sounds like email. Oh well, I was planning on asking her for her email address anyway...

Anyway, its my last week here in Palmas. I'm off to Florianópolis (Floripa) - which is in the south of Brazil - this Saturday. I don't know anyone there yet, but I've enrolled in yet another Portuguese school there who have organised a homestay for me. I plan to be there for at least four weeks.

Palmas

My friend Angela (another Braziiian friend I met in Sydney) lives in Palmas - about a one hour flight from Brasilia. She invited me here, so I've been here for a couple of weeks. He brother Fred owns a language school with his wife Patricia so I've been getting Portuguese lessons at a good rate.

I'm staying with friends of there's. A young married couple my age (yes Ricky that does count as young here) Daniel and Aline. Daniel is a blackbelt in judo and Aline is a judge, so I figure I had better not get up to any mischief here! I wondered if it was unusual for a judge to be so young, but apparently not in this area. Palmas is only 21 years old as such there don't seem to be many old people here.

The people I'm with (Daniel and Aline as well as Fred, his wife Patricia and Angela) speak more English than most people I've been with in Brazil and seem to be quite well off. I think the two go hand in hand to some extent as the people I'm with are business owners and/or professionals.

Again everyone here has been very hospitable. My daily routine has been to get picked up for school in the morning, have class for about two hours. The methodology is somewhat different to when I was in Maceio. There's more translation then I'd like, but its all about talking not analyzing the language as much as in Maceio, so thats been good for me. Also, I'm the only Portuguese student here - the school has about 400 students but most of them are Brazilians studying English - as such I get lots of practise. I go to lunch with Angela to Fred and Patricia's place, then after lunch I get picked up by one of the guys who works here and ride on the back of his motorbike back to school where I hang around for a couple of hours. People here seem to like talking to me which is fun and I get to use the Internet to catch up on stuff. I then have another Portuguese class at 5pm for about an hour.

I've now been in Brazil for ten weeks - the longest I've ever been away from Australia. After eight weeks here, I've found I can have basic conversations with people - if they're patient with me. But listening in on someone else's conversation still seems way beyond me. I made a friend who's into basketball like me. He said he like's Dwayne Wade but thinks he's a bit of a hog. He thinks Lebron is good but "armarelo" (yellow), which I take it to mean he thinks he's scared to take the big shots. So I was glad I was able to have this conversation in Portuguese. I got to play basketball for the first time since leaving Australia too which was good fun!

Anyway, its been a while since I posted a blog and I thought I should let my worldwide followers know what I've been up to :) I should be going camping tomorrow with some friends which sounds like fun. Hopefully I can stand the heat - its about as hot as Maceio, although at least its not as humid so I don't sweat so much.

Brasilia part 2

View from Priscilla's uncles' house


Backyard soccer action


Priscilla's family and me


For the 2nd half of my stay in Brasilia I stayed at my friend Priscilla's place. I know her from when she spent a year in Sydney. I has also met her sister Polly last year in Rio de Janeiro. It was really nice to see them again. Priscilla and her whole family were extremely nice. Her parents don't speak any English which was good practise for me! Her mum used to be a Portuguese teach and helped me out with some things. Her dad seems quite funny, but spoke at "full speed" with me so I often couldn't quite work out what he was saying.

On my first day with their family I went with them to Priscilla and Polly's uncle's house for a barbecue. I joined them for some soccer. It may have been backyard soccer (3 on 3 or 2 on 2), but they took it pretty seriously - the women and children were confined to the sidelines to cheer us on. Although they did get to join in volleyball later on… I had some nice chocolate type food there. I'm not exactly sure what it was but when translated the name is "boy's foot"…

Polly's boyfriend speaks English very well - he's an English teacher. I went along to a couple of his classes and spoke to his students. Some of them had never spoken to a "gringo" (someone from outside Brazil) before, so this was kinda fun.

I had a really good time in Brasilia. I got to just about finish the Rosetta Stone Portuguese software course I was doing. I got to meet some new people as well as catch up with old friends. Both the families I stayed with were extremely hospitable.

But now I'm in Palmas (about a one hour flight from Brasilia)- I'm a bit behind in my blogs as I've been here for a week. Another friend (Angela) has organised things for me to stay here for a few weeks, I'm studying more Portuguese here and getting to meet lots of new people. More on that next time…

Taboo

I'd like to announce that this blog now has ten official followers! Of course that's just a small representation of the thousands of you readers out there that do read my blog but aren't "official" followers.

Trying to communicate in a language you aren't fluent in can be a bit like playing the game Taboo. You can't say the specific word you want to say, so it helps to be creative and something close to what you're actually trying to say. I like Taboo. Just like with Taboo it doesn't just come down only to the creativity of the person speaking, but the people trying to work out what you're trying to say have to realise that you can't say the actual word you want and and need to be a bit creative in guessing what you're actually trying to say - some people are better at this than others...

At the language school I was at in Maceio one American guy complained that being able to only communicate with people in Portuguese meant it was like his whole personality was suppressed. All these things he wanted to communicate but couldn't.

Fortunately in my case I have a fairly simple sense of humour, so my jokes are already making it through! I was told by Priscilla's family (who I'm with at the moment) that unlike most gringos (people outside Brazil) I'm very funny. I guess its a good thing that I'm leaving soon - before they realise I've only got a handful of jokes I just reuse :)

Brasília

Davi and his mum Cintia

Nara, Aaron, Priscila

Livia's dad

Me outside fancy looking cathedral

My friend Livia (in Sydney) has been kind enough to organise for me to stay at her family's place while I'm here in Brasília. They are really nice. Her dad is very friendly and seems quite funny from what I can make out. Her mom is a fantastic cook. She makes some great meals - especially for lunch - which seems to be the main meal of the day here. Her brother Célio isn't working at the moment due to a futebol (soccer) injury and has been kind enough to show me around the city during the week. Likewise her sister Priscila gave me a tour when I first arrived and has introduced me to some of her friends. Priscila seems to have a good knack for picking up when I'm pretending to understand what someone is saying but don't really get it… Priscila's friend Nara also lives with the family and likewise has been very friendly.

The family doesn't speak English which has forced me to practise what Portuguese I've learnt so far. They do know a few English words, but more than not I feel that those words are ones I already know in Portuguese - a first for me!

One can't really expect a family to take a stranger into their home and treat them so extremely well. But they have done just that. Something I feel blessed for and am very grateful for. In fact on my second day here, they took me on a two hour drive to another city called Goiânia where Livia's other sister lives with her husband and two year old son Davi - when I first met him he was quick two inform me that his age is dois (two) :) We stayed there overnight.

I initially planned to be with this family for my whole 17 day stay in Brasilia. But there has been a slight changed of plans whereby Livia's parents had go back to Goiânia this week. So I'm staying with the family of another friend - Priscilla (different from the Priscila with one "l" mentioned above). Her family is just as nice and generous - more on that next time.

Its been nice to have warm showers nice I arrived in Brasília - especially as the weather is a little cooler here. Actually I really like the weather here. Its warm enough during the day that I can walk around in shorts and a tshirt - without breaking into a sweat. In the evening there's generally a gentle breeze. Brasília is a nice city. Perhaps a bit like Canberra in that it was built to be the capital (Rio used to be the capital). Brasilia was built in 1960. It has some quite impressive buildings. It all seems quite well designed, the roads are nice and wide with multiple lanes which minimises traffic jams - quite refreshing having been to Rio and Sao Paulo!

With over two million people, Brasília was the largest city (by population) in the world at the close of the 20th century that didn't exist at the beginning of the century. lt is the only city in the world built in the 20th century to be awarded (in 1987) the status of Historical and Cultural Heritage. I was warned before I came here that its not a great touristy place. Being inland there's no beaches - although there is an artificial lake which is very nice. While it may not be the best place for tourism, I think overall the city is quite impressive and strikes mean as being a good sort of place to live.

Here I've even observed cars stop at pedestrian crossings without the pedestrian having to take a "step of faith" onto the road first - all quite civilised really. I don't believe I've previously observed this sort of behaviour outside of Australia!