what's been on my schedule the past couple weeks:

Guitar lessons: Thonni, one of the Baha'i youth in São Paulo lent me his guitar and offerred to give me lessons for the remaining time I'm here. For real, it just made my remaining month so much more exciting, hehe. I love guitar!! We get together an hour before his study circles on tuesday evenings. Now we're working on putting some prayers to music to be able to present at the next 19 day Feast.

Visit to Brazilian Public Schools: On May 17, for Brazilian Culture class, the topic of the week was public education in Brasil, so we went to visit a couple Public Municipal Schools. One school, C.E.U (Centros Escolares Unificados) is practically a camp: it's meant to maximize the time kids spend at school. It's got pools, a theatre, computer lab, areas to play sports, etc. It's free for students within a determined radius around the school and open to the surrounding community. The only thing is that building a school like this is really expensive, so there only exist 22 in Brazil.

After that we went to Amorim Lima, that uses a different method of teaching: there are no walls between classes. It is a little more modest than C.E.U., but the quality of education is supposedly better. Even with 20 gringos entering the classrooms, the students maintined focus on what they were working on. Impressive.

Of course there are tons of public schools that are falling apart or leave much to desire in the academic scene, but I thought it was a great idea to see an example of two models that DO function within the country.

Interesting fact of the day: Percentage of college age students enrolled in universities in the US = 73%. Brasil = 15%. Why the huge gap?

Carybé exposition: Friday I went with one of my classmates to check out the newest exhibition at the Museu Afro Brasil in Parque Ibirapuera: "O universo mítico de Hector Julio Paride Bernabó, o baiano Carybé" ("the Mythic Universe of Hector Julio Paride Bernabó, the bahian, Carybé". Carybé is a famous artist, born in Argentina as Hector Bernabó, and lived in Bahia for the later half of his life, nicknamed Carybé. He used all types of mediums and vibrant colors to portray brazilian history and everyday life in Bahia. He was also a collectioner and illustrated MANY books with brazilian themes.

Lunch on Paulista: after the museum i headed to Av. Paulista to meet up with Danielle, Darien, and Brittney to have lunch at this place called Bella Paulista...probably ate the best X-salada (cheeseburger) i've tasted in Brasil.

Pizza Rodizio and Salsa!!: a block away from my apartment there's this little Pizza Rodizio place that i've been eyeing since i got here ($6 dollars for all-you-can-eat pizza is not too shabby!). So Miranda, Darien, Lua and I hit it up for dinner Friday night (May 19). I adored it and the waiter was funny. Then we burned off the calories at Conexion Caribe! Seriously....if i ever come back, i would soooo work there. I love Conexión because it's a small place, same crowd, and people truly go there to dance salsa (and they can dance REALLY well). Of course there are the occasional guys that wanna rub up on girls and have make-out sessions in public, but they're easy to push off. Friday we were there for a good 4 hours. Having a passion for salsa allows me to say that there are some people that make the dance experience just magical. Chayanne in the ending scene of "Dance With Me" is one of them, and Samuel is another (i'm speaking strictly salsa here). You can take any girl in the club, dancer or not, and he's there with his eyes closed and a huge smile on his face, as if the music transports him to some paradise. And when i see people put that kind of heart into dance, it makes me happy.

Deepening: the youth committee launched it's first deepening series this past weekend on Sunday (May 21). We're starting with the book "Some Answered Questions" by Abdu'l-Baha, "Respostas a algumas perguntas" in portuguese. The book is a result of talks between Abdu'l-Baha and Laura Clifford Barney between 1904 and 1906 while He was confined in the city of 'Akka by the Turkish government. The book is divided into 5 parts and delves into many issues we ponder about and question. The first 2 chapters we studied on Sunday had to do with Nature and the existence of God. It provoked great discussion among the 12 of us at the Baha'i Center.

Interview with a Holocaust survivor: Monday (May 22) I had the great pleasure of interviewing a woman who survived the ghettos of Poland during the time of the Holocaust. She gave a vivid account of her life as a child fleeing from ghetto to ghetto before her family finally sought refuge in the tropics of Brazil. The purpose of the interview was to support my research paper, but aside from that, it was an important experience for me coming from a Jewish background. It took about 10 hours to transcribe...no joke. In the end she gave a message to my generation (this is a translation):

Accept differences, defend all minorities, don't wait for an attack, as happened during the Holocaust...It's like a cigarette: put an end to any verbal manifestation. Put it out - or else, it becomes a fire that we can't control. Homosexuals, gypsies, jews, nordestinos, blacks: it doesn't matter. We are all the same. The only path to peace for future generations is tolerance. Don't discriminate and always be alert.

Declaration of the Bab: Monday night, after the enterview, I headed over to the Baha'i Center to commemorate the Declaration of the Báb. The Báb was the Forerunner of Baha'u'llah, prophet Founder of the Baha'i Faith. His mission was to prepare the world for the comming of Baha'u'llah and declared it on the evening of 22 May, 1844. The Báb was later imprisoned and executed for his beliefs. There was a beautiful devotional presentation that is worth watching even just to hear the music...i was moved. Then there was a delicious persian feast awaiting us...polo and tadeek and bademjan, oh my! Good spirit in the air, great company, amazing food.

Ruhi book 1, Esfias, "Sessão da Noite" and Salsa: Saturday was just full of activities. Miranda and I joined a study circle for book 1 in portuguese (not that it's offered in any other language in Brazil, hehe). After that we walked to a little Arabic joint down the street with Marcos and Jaqueline to grab a bite to eat. Esfias - i don't know exactly how to describe them, but they're delicious. They come aberto or fechado ("open" or "closed"). The "open" esfias look like mini pizzas, but they're not pizza. You can get them with meat, cheese, greens, etc. The closed esfias are those same "mini-pizzas" folded into a triangle...with the "meat, cheese, greans, etc" stuffed inside. They're really good with limes and garlic sauce. Esfias are great because they not only taste good, but they're cheap too. Maybe about $0.75 each for an esfia a little bigger than your palm. This particular place has won over my heart. They have esfias doces, which are basically dessert esfias, filled with BRIGADEIRO!! complete extasy, I'm telling you.

After that we headed back to the Baha'i Center for our first movie night, another activity launched by the youth committee this month. We're planning to have a monthly showing of a film (with soda and popcorn). A fun way to provoke discussion about different topics amongst the youth. This month we viewed "Quem Somos Nós?", the american film titled: "What the Bleep Do We Know?". All i can say is: Wow. I probably have to watch that movie a thousand more times to understand it. It's one of those really-make-you-think-in-a-profound-kind-of-way sort of movie. I really liked it, but definitely need to watch it again.

Then a bunch of us headed to McCafé (it's like a Starbucks by McDonalds) for some tea/cookies/coffee, etc., followed by some more salsa at Conexión.

Research and Papers: Now it's down to work. I've been spending a lot of time lately on reports and final papers. Due dates are around the corner and I don't want to spend my last couple weeks here suffering the consequences of procrastination.


other pictures....

Everything's pretty much back to normal here in São Paulo. There was a lot of commotion the past couple of days, but much if it was due to people's paranoia (which is understandable considering the circumstances). The tricky part is trying not to blow things out of proportion without pretending like it was nothing...either way, it breaks our routine, but life hasn't come to a stop because of it. We've been told various things by people here...anywhere from don't worry, everything's cool to we're in a civil war. The general consensus is that there's no need to walk around with fear but continue to take precautions.

Okay, that's it for now...just wanted to leave the family units with some peace of mind :o)

15 de maio: uncertainty leads to panic in São Paulo

I have to admit, yesterday was a little scary. The panic and uncertainty that spread throughout São Paulo was enough to make anyone a little worried.

Shortly after my first post about recent incidents, I received an email from the Council (here’s my rough translation):

Dear students,
You have probably been following through newspapers and television reports news about the violence that has been taking place in the city and state of São Paulo. We will have the opportunity to discuss this issue in Culture class on Wednesday. At the moment, we are concerned about the question of your safety.

CIEE in the United States and probably your universities and your parents are also following with preocupation the events. They are worried about your security. We suggest calling your parents or close family to assure them that you are doing okay and are in regions that are safe.

We also ask that you call us to tell us how you are.

I would like to remind you of some recomendations, that i know you already know, but it’s worth repeating:
The violence has occurred in the periferia, in places that we know you don’t frequent normally. We ask that you avoid those areas and avoid leaving home except if you’re sure that everything’s okay in your region. Talk to you host families and follow their recommendations.

At PUC, classes are still going on. Whatever alteration, we will comunicate to everyone.
Some banks were attacked, as of now, also out of the area of where we are. But we advise that you aviod using these establishments in the next couple days. If you need to use an ATM, do it inside of PUC.

For any doubts or information, we are here for you, during the entire day here at the office, and after hours, at our homes and cells.

We will be in constant contact, should anything change,

Hugs,
Ana Luiza e Maurício.

Council em São Paulo

So I continued with my plans for the day: head over to USP, do some research at the library, meet up with Jefferson and Bruno and have dinner at the bandejão. While I’m on the bus, i get a call from Mauricio saying that because the situation has escalated, the Council is asking all CIEE students to stay at home that afternoon. PUC was already closing early and if you aren’t home already, head that way now. I was almost at USP, so i decided to go there anyway to see if i could find Jefferson. We had scheduled to meet up that afternoon. I get to the library and as soon as i spot Jefferson in the corner with his books, a lady walks in and informs all students that the library is closing due to the circumstances. Many Professors who live far and rely on buses for transportation were liberated so they would be able to get home, so classes were also canceled. There were rumors of bomb threats at various universities and malls, but i don’t know what’s true or not. It occured to me that there was a police headquarters on campus, right next to that graphic crime museum that Jefferson took me to one time. With the email from the Council, then the phone call, then campuses closing down, it was enough to leave me uncomfortable. I kept hearing "o que é isso, meu?" Nobody knew exactly what was going on.

As Jefferson and I descended to the lobby of FFLCH of social sciences, we spotted Bruno and a couple other friends of his. Bruno lives in Vila Madalena, the same neighborhood as me, and one of his friends offered all of us a ride to the area. Not only was everyone rushing to get home, but at the entrance of USP, there were police checking cars. It took us half an hour just to get off campus! And almost another hour just to get to my neighborhood...a drive that should’ve taken 15-20 minutes MAX. That’s the worst traffic i’ve ever seen. The fact that I was with Jefferson and Bruno made me feel better. Everyone in the car was talking about the situation, how they’d never seen anything like this before, and we even made fun of one of the radio news broadcasters. He had one of those dramatic voices: "panico tomou conta da cidade! Faculdades fecharam! Estudantes que tinham trabalhos pra entregar e provas pra fazer agora não podem! Todo mundo está correndo pra casa! As linhas telefonicas estão loitadas! Tem gente ligando cada cinco a cinco minutos!".("panic has taken over the city! Schools and universities have closed! students can’t turn in their papers and take tests that were to take place today! everyone is running to the safety of their homes! The telephone lines are jammed! People are calling their loved ones every five minutes!") gente, da risada, hehe.

But for real, the entire city practically shut down. The prefeitura had ordered all schools and stores to close. A metro station was attacked, so various stops in the centro were shut down too and many buses stopped running early. The streets were pretty chaotic in terms of people trying to get home. Imagine this kind of thing happening in a city like New York. The guys in the car were comparing it to 9/11...a similar kind of panic/uncertainty was probably in the air.

Anyway, i finally got home around 5:30 and found my host mom praying in the dark. She refused to turn on the TV or listen to the radio before everyone was safe at home. "não adiante ficando preocupado e aumentando o medo com tudo que a mídia está dizendo". She said she tried to call me, but couldnt get through. And i had no credits on my cell to call home. I went to my room and turned on the radio to the lowest audible volume. I caught the end of an interview with the comandante of the military police. He criticised all the histeria saying that "hoje é o dia mais tranquilo, desde sexta-feira". My host mom later said he was lying to try to calm everyone down. The city refused federal help claiming they had the situation under control. The reason i started getting nervous in the first place was because i realized that even though this war is between the bandits and the police, the bandits look like everyday people...so if there’s open fire between the two groups, any civilian could be accidently targeted. On the radio they were talking about putting police on the buses, but i think that’s a stupid idea...all you need is for one of the gang members to get on board and bam, shooting party in an enclosed area with lots of innocent bystanders.

The rest of the evening was uneventful. I worked out in our ghetto apartment gym, ate dinner, watched Belissima (a novela) with my host famiily and then stayed up watching a movie (Bulletproof Monk) with my host sister
Helicopter images of Av. Paulista and other main roads showed na empty ghost-town São Paulo. This is probably the first and last time in history that Av. Paulista will have no cars in sight.

If you think about the incidents of the past few days, perhaps the gang achieved one of their aims: making life inconvenient for the fake middle-class world that many people live in. They definitely managed to break the routine of thousands of citizens yesterday. Whether it will have any long term effect, I don’t know. But what’s clear to me is that these guys are revolting against social injustices they’ve sufferred. For sure, 15 de maio will go down in history.

This morning I got up to watch the news to see if there were any developments. My host mom said classes were cancelled so i went back to bed. In general though, things were getting back to normalcy, from what i saw in the news. A couple hours later i got up and called Mauricio to see what the latest was and he confirmed that CIEE classes and morning classes at PUC were cancelled, but PUC was opening after 12PM and would have evening classes. The news said buses and metros were all fully functioning so I ventured out late afternoon to use the computer lab on campus and report to you the latest...

Gang attacks in São Paulo

Okay people, here's the scoop:

PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital), is a criminal gang founded in 1993. They're known for drug trafficking, arms trafficking, bank roberies, the whole shabang.

Last thursday, 765 inmates were transfered to another penitenciary with the intention of preventing an organized uprise (that was set to take place this past weekend in many prisons within the city). Among those transfered were leaders of the PCC. This is what the authorities do in order to break up ties between prisoners and gang members outside prison.

Since this weekend, the gang attacked various banks around the area (zona sul, zona oeste, and grande são paulo), aproximately 61 buses have been burned (most bus companies have stopped routes going to those areas in fear of more attacks), and more than 60 are dead as of this morning. Not only are there attacks on police stations, but there have been uprisings and rebellions in various penitenciaries and jails.

Apparently, these violent actions are in response to the decision made by the state government to isolate the leaders of the PCC, i.e. the transfer of those inmates.

I know most of you in the states are probably hearing about gang attacks with machine-guns, grenades, bombs, hostages, etc. and although that's all true in part, all mayhem has not broken lose here in São Paulo (well, i'm pretty sure the police think otherwise since they're the ones under attack).

I want to draw your attention to the fact that most of those reported dead are police officers. The target of this gang is primarily the police and anyone associated with them (civil and military police, penitenciary agents, metropolitan guards, etc). Of course there always exists the possibility of civilians getting entangled in this kind of stuff, but members of the PCC are not on the streets everywhere firing anyone in sight. They are much more organized and have an aim at what they're doing.

In a BBC article, i read: "If the state is being attacked, what can happen with every normal citizen. That's what everybody thinks." But i disagree. Around here, you tend to trust the ladrão more than the police. I'm sure it's not a news flash for anyone that the police of Brasil are among the most corrupt in the world, so I wouldn't be surprised if there's more behind this whole thing than just a "violent response" to the transfer of PCC inmates.

i was talking to one of my friends in class this morning about the situation and she told me about a recent attack on Rocinha, the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro, where the police there closed the entrance and opened fire in the favela claiming that there was a theif inside. Imagine all the people who aren't involved in drug trafficking that get entangled in all this. In anycase, in the end it was found out that all the commotion was really about arms trafficking that the police were in on with the favelados. My friend told me stories about how police pulled over one of her friends, threw drugs in the car and then arrested them for being in possession of drugs. And then she mentioned another incident in a jail that was running out of space, so the police started a rebellion and then did a mass killing in an attempt to "break up the uprising". Because my friend has been witness to the corruption of the police, perhaps that explains her negative attitude towards them. Maybe she's exaggerating, maybe she's not. Anyway, the point is, both sides have their story and there is usually more to it than what we see in the news.

Introspecção

Que este rasquinho seja uma lembrança da grande importância do meu tempo aqui...

Sexta à noite, eu fiquei acordada na cama pensando em como vão ser meus últimos dias aqui em São Paulo e os primeiros dias lá nos EU. Pensei, “nossa! Vai ser super legal passar o dia c/Paul e encontrar c/todo mundo em Fridays!” Não vejo a hora de voltar, reunir c/meus queridos lá e começar uma nova etapa na minha vida – cumprindo o último ano na faculdade, aplicando pra escolas de pós-graduação, aprendendo dirigir, procurando um lugar pra morar, etc. Mas na verdade, esta animação foi seguido de uma grande tristeza. Pq tenho um grande medo de voltar pros EU e resumir vivendo sedentáriamente no sentido espiritual.A tristeza vem das saudades que já estão surgindo no meu coração. Ainda não fui embora e já estou sentindo a falta daqui. Sem dúvida, os momentos mais felizes do meu tempo no Brasil tem sido no ambiente da comunidade baha’i. O amor que eles mostraram pra mim, as amizades que fiz, as diversas atividades que organizamos/participamos, quer espirituais quer sociais, as respostas que achei, etc. Não consigo imaginar sentindo tão parte de uma comunidade como sinto aqui.

Sábado, depois da reposição do livro cinco, eu fiquei batendo papo com Maria de Lourdes e cheguei à grande consciência q este sentimento de posse realmente depende no próprio indivíduo e não nas características da comunidade onde ele mora. Os últimos anos têm sido anos de estagnação pra mim, com respeito à Causa. Quase não conheço as comunidades de Nashville e Montgomery County e sempre pus a culpa no meio: a sede fica tão longe, meus estudos ou trabalho não permite tempo, não sinto parte, etc. Qq coisa justificaria minha inatividade. E agora tô me dando conta de q tudo isso dependa no grau de participação na vida comunitária...nossa, q revelação, hein? Bom, fico c/muito q pensar e pouco tempo pra aproveitar! vou atravessar aquele ponte quando eu chegar aí

Academic Scene

I've received many comments on the lack of books in any of my pictures, or talk of real studies in any of my posts...so here, let me ease your mind and assure you that I am indeed here principally to study. However, needless to say, most of the learning has taken place outside of the classroom. The official learning experience began the minute I stepped foot into BWI airport and has been evolving ever since.

This is what my schedule looks like:

Monday
8AM - 12PM: Contemporary Latin America (Social Movements & Revolutions)

Tuesday
12:30PM - 2:30PM: Portuguese

Wednesday
2PM - 5PM: Brazilian Culture: Issues and Realities

Thursday
12:30PM - 2:30PM: Portuguese
7:30 PM - 11PM: History of the U.S.

Each week there is a TON of reading to do for each classs. And we are expected to be able to discuss in detail what was read, defend or criticise the author, etc. As american students, attention usually gets brought to us to present the "american perspective" and give our opinions...this has presented a problem for me since I've avoided developing opinions on lots of things until now. For my two classes at PUC, after each unit, we are required to write a paper synthesizing everything that was covered, using the texts and lectures as references...if you don't keep up with the reading, this can be a BIG challenge when it comes to the night before the report is due (and the computer at home is slow running and it happens to be thunderstorming heavily outside and the electricity suddenly cuts off and you lose all your work...NOT FUN. But then, it's Brazil, and in situations as these you repeat "tudo vai dar certo" almost religiously until you yourself believe that "everything's gonna be alright", and with a stress-free attitude, everything ends up working out out in the end).

Things have started getting really busy one the academic scene especially since i realized that i have less then 2 months to finish all the work that's left to do.

The assignment for the Contemporary Latin America class is actually a magazine - to be worked on individually or in a group. I joined up with two girls in my class and today we did some informal planning during our intervalo/coffee break (the 20 minute break we get to divide up the 4 hours of class). The magazine is going to have an artistic/cultural theme to it with various articles, photos, poems, etc. I'm looking forward to the final product. Plus, it's seems like a lot more fun then writting a research paper.

In my Portuguese class, we've had a lot of mini writting assignments, grammar exercises, and our first exam last week.

Brazilian Culture is by far one of my favorite classes. I'm convinced that Prof. Lourival knows everything...or close to it. You can ask him any question about anything related to history, anthropology, sociology, and he will produce an answer right there that will leave you astounded. It's like for a second you understand the world. But only for a second. Because then you get back to reality and try to fit things into the grand scheme of things you've ever learned in life and how this new understanding should affect the way you live from that point on....and then life gets confusing again. For his class, we have weekly reading assignments on various topics of Brazilian culture (religion, brazilian soap operas, economics, politics, poverty, violence, etc.) and have to write a paragraph summary on what we've read.

At the end of class we have to turn in a 10-15 page final paper on a topic of our choice. After much thought and changing topics, I think I've finally pinned something down. I've decided on a research studying European-Jewish immigrants that fled to Brazil during the Holocaust and the formation of a Latin-American identity within the context of Judaism.

The interest sprouted from the fact that my mom's parents fled Germany during World War II; my grandfather was actually among the many that planned escapes from concentration camps. They fled to Santiago, Chile, and that's where my mom and aunt were born and raised. I also recently found out that on my dad's side there are contacts in Cuba and I think Argentina. So I am a mixed product: born and raised in the United States to a chilean mother of German descent and an american father with relatives in Latin America, raised Jewish, converted to Baha'i...and in the end, next to being a human citizen of the world, I identify with the latino culture. Oh life is fun, hehe.

Living in a country of contrasts...

One of my good friends will be working this summer in Kenya and recently asked me how I’m dealing with the contrasts of Brazil. I thought it was a good theme for a post. Whenever you’re in a “country of contrasts”, it’s normal to feel that your contributions are insignificant and to feel guilty for having privileges that you do (e.g. traveling within the continent if you have the opportunity)...so how do we deal? I wrote to my friend saying that feeling guilty and not taking advantage of the opportunity to travel along the coast if she has the chance is not going to solve the problem of poverty...i encouraged "have a blast, learn all you can, and then use that as inspiration to figure out how you want to contribute to society."

I'm gonna re-post a story that's on one of my first blog posts because it's something i often think about. A while back at a Baha’i fireside, one of the ladies shared a dream she had...I remember it to this day because it has really helped me put some perspective to the social issues we face:

there was some kind of reservoir and lots of people were drowning in it. People ran to the side of the water and attempted to pull out individuals one by one. Sometimes they were successful, sometimes they themselves fell in. And this lady noticed Abdu’l-Baha sitting on a hill nearby overlooking all this. She got angry because she didn’t understand why He wasn’t doing anything about it. People were dying and He was just sitting there. She approached Him and saw He had paper and pen in hand. And upon questioning, He told her that He was figuring out a way to drain the reservoir. Can you imagine how many more people will be saved? Though individual efforts are noble and courageous and will save precious lives, they will not ultimately solve the problem of people drowning in the reservoir.

So the challenge we have when we come across societies that are marked by contrasts is to try to figure out how to drain the reservoir...in the end, much more people will be saved. When it comes to our everyday lives, I think moderation is key. We shouldn't give up all our possessions just to help a cause, but at the same time, we shoudn't go overboard with unnecessary material things. Find the balance. That's the philosophy I'm trying to stick by.

José and I have had many a discussion on the differences that exist between the United States and “los países de nosotros”, and of course, poverty always comes up. If you compare poverty that exists in other parts of the world, the poor in the US have it good...

Anyway, it’s a topic of long discussion...I’d be interested to hear your comments on the issue.