Daily Life in Brazil<--LONG POST!

Oi Gente!

So I have no huge adventures to recount, but I have started daily life and a routine here in Brazil, so in this entry, I will describe, my new, normal, every day life here in Rio!

This post is going to have various bits of information, factoids, thoughts etc, so be excited!

First, I finished my second week of classes, so here I am going to give a little recap of them all.
Monday and Wednesday I only have one class: Education and Society. This class is quite good so far. The teacher likes to do a lot of discussion and so far the people in my class have had quite insightful opinions. This class basically looks at education in Brazil, which is extremely interesting because Brazil doesn’t have a good public education system, therefore people who can afford it go to private schools, which increases the extreme rift between the rich and poor in Brazil. I think this class will be really interesting and insightful overall. (Random note: There is a group of kids in this class who are extremely friendly to me, and I think its because they are still relatively new to university life and studying with foreigners, so I think they are mostly fascinated by me. They keep telling me if I need any help to ask them. I’m sure I will soon.)
On Tuesday and Thursday I have 3 classes.
My first is Brazilian Culture. This class is really interesting and actually pretty fun because the teacher is funny and young and the class is semi-rowdy. This class looks at various Brazilian history and social and anthropological texts to see how Brazilian culture was formed. This class is semi-rowdy with boys that like to crack jokes etc. One of my favorite ‘jokes’ needs background info. The first day of class there were about 9 foreign students in the class. The next class it was just one other foreign student and I. The biggest loud mouth in the class, Francisco exclaims in Portuguese, “Where did all of the tourists go?! Ah I know, to play capoeira and futebol (soccer)!” The next class Francisco was out and when he came back the class after that he said, “Sorry, I was playing futebol and capoeira with the tourists”. Ok…so its not that funny but those are the kind of sarcastic-ish remarks that are made. However, me and the other foreign student in the class, have gained the respect of the other students, seeing as we haven’t left to play futebol or capoeira, and have therefore made some nice friends in the class who help us out. Also, this class is a tad difficult and at times hard to understand every detail. I went through three classes thinking this thing called “Canudos” that my teacher was discussing was a man who had been the President of Brazil (or at least a candidate). At one point I just wanted to make sure I understood correctly, so I asked my teacher, and he laughed at me (good heartedly) and made me aware that Canudos was a city in Bahia, and not a person…so I was a bit off. But I’m learning…
My second class is The Evolution of Taste and Fashion. I call this my guilty pleasure class. It has nothing to do with Brazil, but is a topic I have always been interested in. The teacher is extremely knowledgeable in the history of fashion around the world and is a clothes designer for the big channel in Brazil, Globo, which does most of the novelas, etc. This class is all girls except one boy. Half of the class is design students, and the other half is psychology or law students. When we went around the class saying why we had joined the class, all the psych and law students said that their heads were too full of hard information and they needed a fun class. And, they all said, “I’ve always loved fashion, and would love to model (or do theatre or acting)”! Haha guess everyone wants a guilty pleasure class like me.
My last class is Portuguese V. This class may be the most diverse class I ever take. The class is made up of: me, 5 other Americans, an Australian, a Peruvian, a French Canadian, a French person, a Cuban, an Argentinean who studies in France, and two Norwegians. The class is very good and really tries to solidify the grammatical rules into our heads while also working extensively with comprehension and complex thought/speaking processes. It’s a good class and I have met some nice friends in it.

Some notes about overall class culture in Brazil (its kind of shocking so hold on tight!)
Cell Phones: So, most of the students aren’t rude enough to answer their cell phones in class. But it doesn’t mean they don’t answer their cell phones. People constantly have their phone ring and they will walk outside of the classroom and talk on the phone until their call is over. People will also leave the classroom if they see their girlfriend/boyfriend outside to go make out with them! Right in front of the classroom window! It’s pretty funny and 100% accepted. A friend of mine told me that in one of her classes, there is a couple that makes out in class, but I have yet to see this for myself. But, the most noticeable thing about class culture in Brazil is the lateness. People come in from 5-45 minutes late. 75% Class Attendance is required in Brazil, but there is no penalty for tardiness. The only class I have where people come on time is, Portuguese, where no one is Brazilian and therefore everyone is punctual. Often, teachers come 5-20 minutes late as well. I have not yet been able to come to class late, and whenever I come on time, people always comment how I am early. IM NOT EARLY! IM ON TIME! I have however, managed to stop coming to class early, which is good.

I have no class on Fridays, which is excellent!

Now to discuss other Brazilian things!

JUICE!!!! Brazil has the most amazing juices ever. On almost every street there is at least one Juice (suco) stand/ little store. These suco stands have about 25-50 types of fruit depending on where you go, and you can decide what fruits you want to mix and then they make your suco fresh from the fruits. My two favorite mixtures so far are orange w/ pineapple and strawberry w/ tangerine. I need to start being more adventurous and trying some of the fruits from different parts of Brazil that I don’t yet know. Everyone here drinks sucos and its SOOO good! Mmmmm!

BEACH CULTURE!
It is said that people from Sao Paulo called Cariocas (people from Rio) lazy because they are always at the beach, and never working. I certainly don’t think Cariocas are lazy or don’t work, but it does seem like they are always at the beach. No matter what time of day at what beach, there are people, swimming, eating, hanging out, and tanning. On Monday and Wednesdays I usually go to the beach after class, which ends at 11, and it’s so nice because it’s not too crowded, but not empty and its nice to just relax and hang out. I could get very used to going to the beach every day.

LAST PIECE OF BIG NEWS!!! I JOINED A GYM! And it is AMAZING! There is a word here used a lot called “chique”. It means ‘chic’ and is pronounced sheeky. My gym is the epitome of chique! But its so amazing and I go ALL the time because I love it so much and I don’t get bored working out there. My gym is called ProForma and has three floors. The first level is the cardio room, the bag check, the bathrooms/showers, the yoga room, and the ROCK CLIMBING WALL (I have yet to try this, but will)! The cardio room currently has 8 TVs at the front of the room, where you can plug your headphones into your cardio machine (my preference is the elliptical) and you can watch one of the shows on the 8 TVs. If there is not a show on you like, you can have one of the people working there change it, and find a show you like. BUT, at the end of august, they are putting a TV on EVERY Cardio machine, so you can watch whatever you want!! I’m so excited! There are also 2-4 people walking around who check your heart rate every 20 minutes! It’s so funny when they check it because then they say “Muito Bom” “very good” but its not like I am choosing my heart rate! Nonetheless, it’s nice that they check it. The second floor is the weight room and has more machines then I have seen in my entire life. Every three weeks you meet with a professor and he goes over your weight room work out routine and the number of reps and weight of each machine etc. Then, each time you go back during each three-week period, you go over to a computer, and print out your plan on a little piece of paper. (All of that is included in the price of the gym). AND! Best part of the weight room! There is a DJ! I’m not sure if there is one there all the time, but I think from 5 or 6 pm on, there is a guy spinning records and you can request songs and what not! Then, the third floor has the other classrooms. There is a running class classroom, a spinning class classroom and two other classrooms. So far I have a taken a muscle class called Local and a dance class where I danced a Brazilian dance called forró. I like the classes because they are fun and a change of pace, but I like the elliptical and weight room more, because I think I get a much better workout. ALSO my gym has free Internet, so I get to check my email at the gym as well. The gym also has a little café called Fit Café, with drinks and snacks, but I haven’t tried any yet. Sorry for babbling so much about my gym but I was just shocked when I found out how many chique things there were in it, like the TVs, heart rate checkers, and dj in the weight room.

I think everyone is now completely updated on everything!
YAY! Hope everyone is well!

ps. last night we went bar hopping in ipanema. went to one bar called banana jack where they ahve banana flavored beer! crazy. also we went to a bar called shenanigans, an irish pub which was very fun and lively. they have a quiz night which I want to go back and see!

tchauu