The U.S. and Brazil both show foreign films.
Difference:
In Brazil, when you watch a foreign film whose characters aren´t English-speaking, it really tests your Portuguese....
On Wednesday, I went to the movies with Angela (USA) and Greg (USA) and we saw ´´A Vida Dos Outros´´ (The Lives of Others), a German film. In the U.S., that film would be in German with English subtitles, but since I´m not in the U.S., it was in German with Portuguese subtitles. Since, when you watch a movie whose language is different from your own, you come to rely on the subtitles, but after awhile, I forgot the subtitles were in Portuguese. Though there were many vocabulary words I had not yet come across, the beauty of film and second language acquisition provides that you can use the context of the film to help you understand the words themselves. All of that aside, though, that theater had *great* air conditioning. And our movie snacks (chocolate cookies with a coconut milk center -- a la oreos) were delicious.
Similarity:
The U.S. and Brazil both have stores.
Difference:
In Brazil, you *can´t* return things.
A few days ago, I passed by a store near the beach. I bought a dress. I wasn´t sure what I thought about it, and the woman who worked there knew it, so I asked her if it would be possible to return it..like, if, say, I brought it home, decided I didn´t want it, and wanted to bring it back. When I asked her, I used the word ´´devolver´´ (to return). She told me that yes, it would be possible to ´´trocar´´ (to change, exchange). My understanding was that since she had said yes, there would be no problem. However, when I went back the following day to return it, a different salesperson informed me that no one anywhere in Brazil returns anything -- it´s just not the custom. It´s possible to ´´trocar´´ but not to ´´devolver´´ -- and several Portuguese words that all of my teachers have taught me but have also told me never to say that they have taught me came rushing to mind, but I just said ok thanks and left.
Similarity:
The U.S. and Brazil both offer classes for aerobic activities.
Difference:
In Brazil, it is possible to get free capoeira lessons under government buildings and then a protest circle forms around you, thereby forcing the lesson to end after about 45 minutes.
Thursday, I went to Pelourinho with a few people to check out some museums. Afterwards, I went to meet up with my new capoeira friends to maybe get some drumming in for the day. A few of them were late in getting to the praça, however, so everyone was just hanging around. Since they weren´t really doing anything, one of them told me he was going to teach me capoeira (since I had kept saying that I don´t do capoeira, that I´m simply incapable, as I´m no gymnast whatsoever) and he brought me to a nearby praça (where there are fewer bystanders) to teach me. But because it started to rain, we had to seek shelter elsewhere, so we went underneath this goverment building (which is elevated, so we were still above ground), where a whole bunch of other people had also sought shelter. A paved floor and lots of space meant that the lesson could continue...the only problem? It was raining outside, and lots of people were around...but, in the interest of ´´who the hell cares,´´ the lesson continued for a good half hour or 45 minutes or so....until a group of protestors came in and formed a circle around us and chanting whatever it was that they wanted from the government. It was kind of funny, though, because a big part of capoeira is the roda , the circle that forms around the two people who are participating, and their circle had nothing to do with capoeira. I never did get to play the drums that day, but I´ll save that for another day.
Similarity:
The U.S. and Brazil both have dance clubs.
Difference:
In Brazil, a lot of them are outdoor arena types that you go to with your teacher-friends.
Thursday night, a bunch of us went to the Museu de Ritmo for another ´´show´´ (read: a bunch of music groups playing until the early morming hours where everyone participates and you don´t just watch...aka dance party). I think I could get used to this.
Similarity:
The U.S. and Brazil both have trees and fruits.
Difference:
Brazil is the only place where I have witnessed a mango falling from a tree only 10 yards or so away. (It makes a <
I was walking to school Friday morning and, well, see above. It fell in the street and didn´t hit any cars (or me).
Similarity:
People in the U.S. and Brazil wear clothes for fashion and/or for comfort.
Difference:
In Brazil, people wear clothes (or lack thereof) also because of logistics -- it´s just *too* hot to wear fabric.
After dance class on Friday, I met up with Jamilly (a teacher at my school) and she took me to one of her favorite stores to go shopping for Carnaval clothes. We spent two hours in that store and since she knows all the people who work there (she´s been going there for years), they kept bringing things out of the back for me to try on (they make a lot of clothes in the store) and they kind of made me their project. It was fun! And I walked out of the store feeling (and maybe looking?) just a little bit more Brazilian. I wonder if it (and I?) will fly in the U.S.
Similarity:
People in the U.S. and Brazil sometimes look to have a low-key, early night.
Difference:
In Brazil, that´s just not possible.
Friday night, a bunch of people went out in honor of the last night of a few kids at the school. We went out to dinner and then weren´t sure what to do, so we went walking along this street by the beach. While we were walking, we encountered a street party, where they were playing all kinds of music (mostly percussion-based, as usual), and a lot of the people (guys, mostly) had boys´ underwear (not boxer-type) on their heads. Still not sure what the point of the party was, and one group of people was walking with a donkey, and even the donkey had a pair of undies on his head. After we walked with the masses for several blocks, jamming to the beats, we grabbed a cab to another neighborhood in the city and ended up at this club until the early hours of the morning. Then, when we left the club, the five of us (by this time our group had split up since at the street party we all got separated and we lost the other half) went around the corner to get ´´cachorrãos´´ -- BIG hot dogs (cachorro = dog, cachorrão = big dog!) with lots of toppings. Made for a great 3am snack.
Similarity:
People in the U.S. and Brazil take road trips, which can be lots of fun.
Difference:
In Brazil, it doesn´t seem weird to provide the road trip music with your teacher.
After getting home around 4 on Saturday morning, I had time for a couple hours of shut-eye, as I had to wake up early to get ready for a road trip out of the city, to Praia do Forte, a beach north of Salvador. I ended up going with Greg (USA), Salvador (USA), Jamilly (Brazil -- teacher), and Tatiana (Brazil -- teacher), and we took Jamilly´s car there. We got there around 10am and spent the whole day there. We had moqueca for lunch, saw turtles (they have a project going on there having to do with sea turtles -- so cute!), got ice cream, and spent the whole rest of the day relaxing on the beach and swimming. Praia do Forte itself is about an hour and 20 minutes or so away from Salvador, but Tatiana and I provided the musical entertainment for the car ride, so the time passed pretty quickly (I wonder if it passed as quickly for the other passengers in our car!). As of now (that is, unless someone else joins), I will be the only student in my class next week, since Friday was the last day of class for both Arina (Romania) and Sabina (Switzerland). That means, I have class with my partner-in-crime next week..how fun is that?
Today (Sunday), it´s a beautiful day out (go figure), so there´s a world of possibilities of things to do....so, while the internet cafe is one option, when you´re in a place such as this, it cannot always be top of the list. So, desculpe (sorry), but for now, the time has come to say tchau (ciao).
-----
abraços,
missy :)
http://andsmilestogobeforeisleep.blogspot.com
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