Bom dia friends and family,
I still haven't figured out how to get the i accented when I spell Portuguese words, but I have figured out some other things about Portuguese, which makes me happy. I don't feel quite ready for artistic and effortless water ballet in this update- putting the technological things and the language things together right now, but I will put on my water wings and splash around gracelessly.
We have been here a week, and are by no means experts on Brasil, but I can tell you that Luis, our friend and one of our hosts said it well when he told us that "Brasil for foreigners is not for beginners." In order to get paid, one has to open a bank account. In order to open a bank account, one has to register with the Federal Police, and to get a CPF. The Federal police are on strike. So are the banks. In order to get a cell phone, you have to have a CPF. We may get one in 6 weeks... after we register with the police. Oh, and for security, we need to notify the guarda of our comings and goings. But we don't have a local cell phone, because we don't have a CPF... We have a wonderful woman, Cristina, who speaks English and Brazilian Bureaucracy (a language not easily understood) and has escorted us here and there, and seems well versed in ways to get around the system as well. Invaluable. Yesterday we took a trip downtown to the police, who said they were open, only to find that they were open to issue passports, but not to register foreigners. Enough.
I thought I would write about a few impressions this week, and I have chosen footwear and flowers.
Brasil is known for soccer, of course, but has gone unrecognized in an athletic activity of balance, grace and danger, more actively participated in by the female half of the population- sky high shoes.
Each day I put on my comfortable, sensible, New Hampshire style (oxymoron?) shoes and trek around on foot or bike. As mulheres (Women) here either go with flip flops (a national shoe), sneakers, or they climb into something with 3" under the ball of the foot and 7" under the heel. And they walk! On Saturday night, we went with Ziper Na Boca, the chorus I have joined, on a bus to a chorus festival in another city. The women all arrived in pretty normal shoes, but most of them climbed into this athletic wear, often with help, for the performance. And danced.
Vivian, the director, is a short woman with lots of energy and expression in her movement. She was helped into the stratosphere by a gentleman of the chorus, and then became a tall woman who was a bit land locked. Quite tall actually. She did not fall coming down the stairs, nor did anyone else, so I figured that might be a perfect score for the landing, but I do think Vivian lost points for trying risky things while directing. Some of the other women did more, with the shuffle and stepping to the rhythm. I confess, I had a knot in my stomach, just like my days on the swim team, watching our divers compete, and usually miss the end of the board.
Oh, the festival. It was really fun. Two groups were ready for the... shower, and some were excellent. I'm happy to say that Ziper Na Boca is a good group, musically, and choreographically. There was one group that had us laughing the whole time, and we didn't even understand the words! They staged their songs in a cafe with a large, animated proprietress who stole the show. There were other groups who sang some Beatles- always amusing, and makes me wonder about our groups singing in other than English. One phrase that stuck was, "You are my des-chiny..." You see, 'ti' here is pronounced, "chee". And of course, no th sounds.
After the festival, Lee and I unlocked our bikes, and rode home through the empty streets of Barao (can't figure out the tilde) Geraldo at midnight on a Saturday night. It was weird. We arrived home safely, and were relieved.
Flowers. As you probably know, Brasil has lots of biodiversity. Birds, mammals, insects, plants, and people. Racially, no one here is a majority. Ethnically, Brasil has drawn immigrants from the same places as the US, and many stories are similar, but we think newer.
On Saturday afternoon, we had our first rented car (another story...) and on this trip, I am happy to report that we had NO trouble getting to a nearby town, Holambra, using our navigator. We went to see the annual flower festival there, in a town settled by Dutch Catholics after World War II. Of course they did flowers, right?
This event was like the Eastern States Exposition! Of flowers. When you first walked in, there were two oddities created by these plant nutty people: one was a blue orchid (actually a few of them), and another was a rainbow rose. Each petal was a different color. Looked odd to my tastes, but impressive none-the-less, like sand art in a bottle perhaps. Each grain carefully placed, but in the end, the effect is underwhelming. To me.
There were: Brasileiros eating all the things you eat at these fairs, and probably groaning about it later that night; a "rain of petals"; a "parade of the flowers"; concerts and more. I got such a chuckle though, and tried to take some discreet pictures, of the olive skinned people in the Dutch costumes. Not quite iconic. There were many young people doing Dutch dances, in these costumes too, and the boys were all having a good time!
We checked out the little museum there, and it turns out that these folks arrived there, a deserted farm, after World War II, and created a community. HOL from Holland, AM from America, and Bra from Brasil. They chose Brasil because it was a Catholic country, and it was a big deal when they finally got their own priest. There were photos of many of the original families, and many looked like our families, taken in the 60's. Mom, Dad and a lot of kids. It's a hoot to see stuff you have grown up with in a museum, like a typewriter, or a meat grinder. We also saw camcorders more modern than ours in a museum yesterday. That's going a little too far, don't you think?
Well, that's enough for now. If you got this far, good for you. I'll try to keep it short in the future, but, "... in the beginning...there was a flood..." Is that how it goes?
Love to all
Abraço
Betsy and Lee (check out that c!)
Bom dia friends and family,
I still haven't figured out how to get the i accented when I spell Portuguese words, but I have figured out some other things about Portuguese, which makes me happy. I don't feel quite ready for artistic and effortless water ballet in this update- putting the technological things and the language things together right now, but I will put on my water wings and splash around gracelessly.
We have been here a week, and are by no means experts on Brasil, but I can tell you that Luis, our friend and one of our hosts said it well when he told us that "Brasil for foreigners is not for beginners." In order to get paid, one has to open a
bank account. In order to open a bank account, one has to register with the Federal Police, and to get a CPF. The Federal police are on strike. So
are the banks. In order to get a cell phone, you have to have a CPF. We may get one in 6 weeks... after we register with the police. Oh, and for security, we need to notify the guarda of our comings and goings. But we don't have a local cell phone, because we don't have a CPF... We have a wonderful woman, Cristina, who speaks English and Brazilian Bureaucracy (a language not easily understood) and has escorted us here and there, and seems well versed in ways to get around the system as well. Invaluable. Yesterday we took a trip downtown to the police, who said they were open, only to find that they were open to issue passports, but not to register foreigners. Enough.
I thought I would write about a few impressions this week, and I have chosen footwear and flowers.
Brasil is known for soccer, of course, but has gone unrecognized in an athletic activity of balance, grace and danger, more actively participated in by the female half of the population- sky high shoes.
Each day I put on my comfortable, sensible, New Hampshire style (oxymoron?) shoes and trek around on foot or bike. As mulheres (Women) here either go with flip flops (a national shoe), sneakers, or they climb into something with 3" under the ball of the foot and 7" under the heel. And they walk! On Saturday night, we went with Ziper Na Boca, the chorus I have
joined, on a bus to a chorus festival in another city. The women all arrived in pretty normal shoes, but most of them climbed into this athletic wear, often with help, for the performance. And danced.
Vivian, the director, is a short woman with lots of energy and expression in her movement. She was helped into the stratosphere by a gentleman of the chorus, and then became a tall woman who was a bit land locked. Quite tall actually. She did not
I still haven't figured out how to get the i accented when I spell Portuguese words, but I have figured out some other things about Portuguese, which makes me happy. I don't feel quite ready for artistic and effortless water ballet in this update- putting the technological things and the language things together right now, but I will put on my water wings and splash around gracelessly.
We have been here a week, and are by no means experts on Brasil, but I can tell you that Luis, our friend and one of our hosts said it well when he told us that "Brasil for foreigners is not for beginners." In order to get paid, one has to open a
bank account. In order to open a bank account, one has to register with the Federal Police, and to get a CPF. The Federal police are on strike. So
are the banks. In order to get a cell phone, you have to have a CPF. We may get one in 6 weeks... after we register with the police. Oh, and for security, we need to notify the guarda of our comings and goings. But we don't have a local cell phone, because we don't have a CPF... We have a wonderful woman, Cristina, who speaks English and Brazilian Bureaucracy (a language not easily understood) and has escorted us here and there, and seems well versed in ways to get around the system as well. Invaluable. Yesterday we took a trip downtown to the police, who said they were open, only to find that they were open to issue passports, but not to register foreigners. Enough.
I thought I would write about a few impressions this week, and I have chosen footwear and flowers.
Brasil is known for soccer, of course, but has gone unrecognized in an athletic activity of balance, grace and danger, more actively participated in by the female half of the population- sky high shoes.
Each day I put on my comfortable, sensible, New Hampshire style (oxymoron?) shoes and trek around on foot or bike. As mulheres (Women) here either go with flip flops (a national shoe), sneakers, or they climb into something with 3" under the ball of the foot and 7" under the heel. And they walk! On Saturday night, we went with Ziper Na Boca, the chorus I have
joined, on a bus to a chorus festival in another city. The women all arrived in pretty normal shoes, but most of them climbed into this athletic wear, often with help, for the performance. And danced.
Vivian, the director, is a short woman with lots of energy and expression in her movement. She was helped into the stratosphere by a gentleman of the chorus, and then became a tall woman who was a bit land locked. Quite tall actually. She did not
