Adventures of a Gringa

Adventures in Angra

On Sunday, Eli and I went to Angra with over sixty other people to attend his little sister's festa de quinze anos (fifteenth birthday party).

Normally, Brazilian girls have a big party when they turn fifteen (like a sweet sixteen a year earlier), when they wear fancy gowns and do a formal waltz, amongst other things. But Eli's sister decided to have a small celebration instead of the regular festivities so she can go to New York in December. I'm hoping her parents manage to save the money to send her, because I know how much she'll love it.

Even though the party was supposed to be smaller and less formal than the regular festa, I couldn't believe how many people she invited, and how many of those people she didn't really know. It was more like a wedding guest list than a teenage girl's birthday party list: she invited just a few friends, all of her extended family, and a whole complicated network of acquaintances: her boyfriend, her boyfriend's parents, her boyfriend's brother and sister, her boyfriend's brother's girlfriend, her friends' parents and siblings, her cousin's boyfriend, her cousin's boyfriend's brother, her other cousin's girlfriend, her brother's girlfriend, her brother's girlfriend's parents, her brother's girlfriend's uncle, her brother's girlfriend's brother, her brother's girlfriend's brother's girlfriend....need I continue?

We took a van from Rio to Angra, and I started to feel a little dizzy toward the end of the trip in the stuffy van on the crazy curves en route to the port. We all loaded onto the boat, which drove in circles for an hour until Eli's sister's friends showed up. I was seething by the time they got there, since there was a seven or eight year-old kid with ADD who kept pummeling me for no apparent reason, and I was ready to push him overboard. But we got going, and things got better.

They served snacks and drinks en route to the first stop, one of the beautiful lagoons where all the boats stop. Most people got out and swam, but the water was too cold for me (go figure). Then we stopped at a beach with a great little restaurant, where we ate lunch, and then went to the last beach connected to a few other beaches. Eli and I hiked around and hung out with the other guests, and then we all got back on the boat to go home.

We were a half hour from the port when they cut the motors so people could give speeches and we could have cake. But therein lies the problem in having a party on a boat: it rocks. A lot.

So as the microphone was passed from Eli's dad to Eli's sisters' friends, to Eli's cousin, to Eli himself, the boat started to sway. I started to feel seasick; not the traditional nausea, like the kind that comes from contracting an amoeba, or realizing something is terribly wrong, or food poisoning. It's a severely unnatural feeling, when your body realizes that it is doing something that it shouldn't be. I tried to focus on the horizon, but I started to feel awful. Eli gave a little speech, calling his sister his xodó, so she started to cry, and then all of the women started to cry. I tried to concentrate on crying. Then we all ate cake and brigadeiro and listened to Eli's reggaeton CD (we must have been the only tour boat in the country playing reggaeton).

As we drew closer to the port, I was still feeling awful, and when I got off the boat, I started to feel worse. My stomach was still swaying, like one of those pirate ship amusement park rides, while the rest of my body was now inert. I buried my head in my hands, and soon there was a small circle of worried faces peering down at me.  "Drink something," Eli's mom said. "Have some seltzer," Eli's cousin advised. Another cousin piped up, "Keep your head straight up instead of crouching, and keep your hand under your nose." With that, Eli's aunt plopped down next to me, fastened her palm to my forehead, and pulled my head back, except at a 20 degree angle, backwards. My neck started to hurt, and I was incredibly uncomfortable. I squirmed a little, but didn't want to say anything to offend her. She held me like that for a minute or two, and when she let go, my seasickness was almost completely gone.

On the ride home, under a blanket of stars, I came to two conclusions. The first was that I was no longer impressed by the incredible beauty of this place; I recognize it, but I'm not really affected by it. I've started to take it for granted. I've become a local in that sense, but it's not really a pleasant feeling. The second thing was that for better or for worse, Eli's family really has become my second family. And though some of them get on my nerves sometimes, I'm grateful to have them as my Brazilian family. They've got my back--or rather, my neck.

24

I turn 24 today and I have never been less excited for a birthday.

It's an awkward number and an awkward age, in between college and being a real adult, between being young and beginning to feel old. It's not one of those ages I really feel like celebrating.

But celebrate I have. Eliseu's birthday was on Saturday (he turned 27, making me feel less old), and we spent the day at his parents, where we had a huge party at the military base club, eating massive amounts of barbecued meat, rice, and creamed corn, listening to Eliseu's decidedly un-Brazilian Ipod playlist hooked up to a stereo, and playing soccer and volleyball.

For some reason I really got into playing soccer, which was a terrible idea since I played barefoot and my right ankle was completely swollen by the end of the day. But I loved playing, which I haven't done since I was a kid. We arrived at around 12 and left at around 8, only because it was getting dark and there wasn't any lighting. There was so much meat leftover that we had another barbecue in his parents' backyard the next day.

On Sunday night, Eli and I went out with his brother and a bunch of our friends to our new favorite Asian rodizio place, where we stuffed ourselves silly and had a great time. A bunch of us went out after to an open air bar, and then we all headed home, tipsy, full, and slightly penniless...but happy.

Today I will be working and perhaps volunteering (since I have no idea what is going on with the school's holiday schedule), so it's really just like any other day. I have very high hopes for the next year of my life, but only time will tell.

the ultimate Brazilian Sunday

Today Eli and I got up at 7am, walked over to Eli's uncle's house, and got a ride with him and some family members and family friends to Eli's dad's birthday barbecue.

Things I did not expect to see on the way:
--literally dozens of small hot air balloons all over the sky. Apparently this is a big weekend tradition, and not just for the Festas Juninas. (Apparently I'm not up early enough on weekends to notice this). People set off balloons using homemade constructions, light a fire under them, and attach a flag or sign to them to honor something, like a birthday or a soccer team, and sometimes even follow the balloon on its trajectory. Most times they just let them float away, although sometimes they fall and set things on fire. Yay for hot air balloons.
--hundreds upon hundreds of cars ready for export just sitting in neat little lines at the Port
--people going to work
--Niteroi is beautiful! I guess I didn't give it a chance since I hadn't seen a lot of it. We passed the famous Niermeyer-designed museum and no I haven't been there yet and yes I will go at some point because it's stunningly beautiful. Then I saw that Niteroi has a little mini Ipanema, with really cute beaches and fancy restaurants and cute cafes on the boardwalk. Who knew?

So we met Eli's parents and siblings, and many friends and extended family members at a fortress in Niteroi. It has two gorgeous beaches only accessible to military men and their families. And for good reason--they were some of the most beautiful beaches I've seen in Rio, with sweeping views of the Rio "skyline."

We went to the more commercial one which has barbecue pits so we could have a day-long meal. For lunch and basically all day we had steak, sausage, chicken, rice, farofa, and "vinagrete" which is basically chopped tomatoes and onions. I asked Eli why they don't eat beans with all of this. "Porque tem nada a ver," he said. It's not related/it has nothing to do with that. Oh Brazilians.

We hung out with the fam, played on the beach, and then the boys got down to the important thing: sports. Poor Eli's dad spent most of the day at the barbecue pit. We played American football until a lifeguard made us move, and then the boys got a huge group to play soccer. I got sunburned and hung out with Eli's sister and the girlfriends (Eli's bro's and cousin's) and it was just loads of fun. I fell asleep for awhile, and in the meantime most people left the beach to go watch the big soccer game today (Flamengo vs. Botafogo). Then the sun went down and it was absolutely stunning. We even saw the fireworks all the way from Maracana.

Instead of cake, we had cuscuz, that rice pudding-like concoction. Some of the party members were missing for this part since ...guess. Oh yes, they had found a TV to watch the game on. All the men were somewhat tipsy by the end, and Eli's male family members always call me Raquelzinha when they've had a bit to drink.

Then, sandy and exhausted, we hopped in the van Eli's uncle owns and watched Rio's lights appear one by one as we crossed the bay back to the city.

I have nothing bad to say about today. Just the fact that it's nearly over.

Hang Gliding Video!

I suggest turning off the sound...it's me and the instructor making silly chit chat.

Hang Gliding: A Religious Experience

So today Eliseu and I had a great day together for my 23rd. I got up late, got a quick lunch, went over to hang out at the hostel, and then we got picked up by a guy in a Range Rover who took us to Sao Conrado. We saw a guy with a bike get arrested and taken away in a police car on the way, in Copa. Speaking of the Police they are playing at Maracana Stadium tonight with an expected 80,000 people to turn out. Everyone's been asking me if I was going to go; no offense Sting but you guys are so...last decade. They're staying at Copa Palace which has some crazy security right now, obviously. It's 230am, yes sir, so they've finished already. Here they are.

So then. We got to Sao Conrado and met the flight instructor, who soon took us in his SUV up up up into the gorgeous forest, Floresta da Tijuca, up and up and up on bumpy windy roads, until we got to the jumping spot. We got in line behind the other paragliders, and the instructor got me in my gear, showed me how to jump, and we practiced take-off. I'd like to point out he didn't figure out I was American until half-way through the training!! But then, we noticed no one was taking off, because we were literally sitting in a huge cloud. So, we waited. We watched the monkeys. We waited some more. Listened to some funny stories from the instructor guys. Waited and waited. And so it seemed we weren't going to be able to go today, because of this freakin cloud. By the way, the air up there is so clean and fresh and oxygeny it is so delicious so I didn't mind except the anticipation was killing me a little.

But suddenly--after literally about an hour of waiting--someone yelled "I can see the beach!" and all the instructors scattered and everyone started hooking up to the gliders and suddenly my heart started to explode because I realized oh ok this is going to happen. The instructor hooked me in and we were first in line literally about 60 seconds after the scattering. He told me just to run and not stop even when we hit the air and not to grab the poles. And so we did. I got a little tangled in the cables because we'd taken off so hastily and scraped the hell out of my arm, but other than that it was a completely religious experience. I think the whole flight lasted probably less than 15 minutes but it felt like 2 seconds because it was so incredible. I was worried we wouldn't be able to see anything, but after about a second of breaking through the cloud, all of the sudden, we were flying above Rio.

Flying.

Over the forests and the ocean and the ugly condos and the biggest favela in Latin America and the cars and the traffic and the violence and life as we know it. It was all there below, and all you could hear was the wind.

I was a bit of a picture fiend even though the instructor was taking pictures from a camera attached to one side of the glider, which is why I want to do it again so I can just fly. It's so exciting the first time you feel compelled to capture it somehow.

The instructor and I chatted a bit--he does up to 9 flights a day! He seems pretty thrilled by this, and apparently is a champion hang glider. He was great and made everything easier and smoother.

So I was in heaven flying over the turquoise ocean, watching the setting sun illuminate the city with this amazing, indescribable golden light, and then all the sudden we were going ridiculously fast over the sand and with a tiny swoosh, we landed. I was so sad.

Afterwards, the instructor gave me a DVD from video he had filmed of before, during and after the flight and a CD of the pictures he took. Will get them up somehow tomorrow. He was trying hard to impress Eliseu, who is now supervisor of the whole hostel and is responsible for getting these guys business. So that was cool. Then we got our ride home (another perk of the experience) and then went to our favorite churrascaria, Estrela do Sul, where we stuffed ourselves full of meat and salad bar goodness and I downed an entire baby-sized bottle of wine (you know the "half" ones) and it was just a glorious 23rd birthday. By then though I was kind of really drunk and so we came home and watched a movie and ate cake. We partied all night last night and Eli worked all day, and I was practically falling asleep so we decided not to go out. Though next weekend we definitely have to go back to Mangueira so I can record it!!

Anyway. Here are two pictures from the day. The rest you can see in my new album.

Pre flight

Rio from above: Rocinha, the Lagoon, Sugarloaf, and Serra (mountains)

Today I got to thinking about past birthdays (and much to my horror could NOT for the life of me remember what I did for it freshman year of college). I thought about how last year I spent my birthday in my college's main theater, dancing in the Nutcracker, and how the year before I spent it with all my gringo and Dominican friends at our favorite club in Santo Domingo. And then the year before that is classified. But anyway.

I realized two things. The first thing is that I have reached a point where I am becoming a Carioca -- as much as a gringa can. I've mostly conquered the language, I get around the city with ease, I'm comfortable, I'm mostly used to things as they are, and I've just adapted to the way of life here. I may not be completely 100% satisfied with everything but I have certainly reached that point of adaptation, which is usually the point when I have to leave to go home. But I'm still here.

The second thing is that living abroad is a give and take experience. Though you change, inevitably, because the place and the people and the experiences leave an indelible imprint on your being, you also change things around you, if you're lucky. You too, leave a little bit of yourself in a place, be it making a good friend or doing a community service project or teaching or whatever it may be. You always leave a part of yourself in a place, and usually a little bit of your heart, as cliche as that may sound. Last night dancing at the Latin club I realized that no matter where I go and no matter what places I discover the DR will always have a huge place in my soul. And the music, for that matter, since I don't get that big a kick out of dancing to regular samba. And I miss Spanish, I really do, and last night I was chatting with an Argentine and a Spaniard and it was really good to a) practice and b) assure myself I haven't completely forgotten how to speak without completely mixing Portuguese in. I think that I've made an imprint here so far, but I'm not sure exactly what imprint Brazil has had on me, quite yet.

happy birthday to me!

Today is my birthday and I'm 23. It's not a particularly landmark birthday but it has been fun so far!

Yesterday me and Eli went out with a bunch of people to Lapa and I convinced them to go to the salsa club and of course I had a blast and I think everyone else did too, even Eli, who was dancing up a storm. It was great, except for the fact that I've come to the conclusion something is really wrong with my eyes because I have to keep throwing out my contacts--last night I had to throw one out while we were out because it was so bad. Hence I will probably have to have another fun experience with the Brazilian medical system this week.

Today I have a date for my birthday present, so I have to go make sure that's happening!