Um dia longo...

Grant, a student from Niagara College, arrived on Monday. Since our other roommate from France doesn't arrive until August 7^th, we thought we might as well make use of the spare room we have. I’ve heard horror stories about living with boys but so far so good. He cleans after himself, he takes showers, and he likes to cook. He’s also really good at making sushi. I’ve only eaten sushi twice in my life and I didn't LOVE it but let me just say, sushi might be added to my list of top 25 foods...might.

Hhhhmm sushi

Yesterday was probably the worst day we've had here in Fortaleza. When we got our Brazilian visas, we were told to go the Policia Federal within 30 days of our arrival to get our visa stamped. What we thought was going to be a quick errand turned into the longest day. Ok, bureaucracies vary in efficiency all over the world, I get it. But this by far has made my top 5 worst bureaucratic experiences, definitely beating out my past experiences with Ottawa’s MTO (Ministry of Transportation).

Although we were at the Policia Federal since 6:30am, we didn't get out until 4:30pm. The only good thing that came out of the day was meeting Florian, a German who has lived in France, UK and is currently travelling Latin America. We filled our day exchanging stories of our travels and random cartoons we watch. This traumatizing day at the Policia Federal left Amber, Florian, and I tired, hungry, and frustrated over the whole process. But it’s over now and I don’t have to do this again, hopefully. Since Amber and I are working on a package for the future interns to get around Fortaleza with ease, yesterday’s experience will definitely be included in the package.

Amber, Florian, and I reunited a few days after our ordeal at the Policia Federal
Photo taken by Grant

We got bored waiting at the Policia Federal, so we started playing futebol with coins.
We giggled like little girls while people stared...
...yes we went mad

Our days are still occupied with learning Portuguese but the holidays are coming to an end. I’m excited for next week to finally start doing work for Mulheres Mil.

Foto da Semana 4

This is what happens when a pescetarian and a meatlover live in the same home,
we cook together but eat separate delicious dishes.

Adoro conhecer novas pessoas

This week was pretty quiet. We’ve had Portuguese classes in the mornings only with Professor Vitor because Professora Erilan is on vacation this week. On Wednesday afternoon, Amber and I made our official bucket list of things we want to do in the next 6 months. Although it has only been a few days since, we are still adding things to it. It mainly consists of trips we want to take, different food we want to eat, and trying new things, like surfing. I’m happy I have a partner who’s as adventurous as I am in trying new things. After we went to go watch the sunset which was beautiful. Soon we'll watch the sunrise...soon.

I enjoy the work it takes to get to the good stuff

Another highlight of this week was meeting up with the members of couchsurfing Fortaleza. Ever since we landed I've been wanting to go to a gathering, but we always end up forgetting. Like last week, I had RSVPed to go but we got distracted by cheap crab Thursdays. (I know, I’m a sucker for food) On a weekly basis, the group meets up at a bar to drink, eat, talk, and laugh. They are mix of Brazilians and foreigners who are living in Fortaleza for work, travel, or schooling. Ok I love meeting new people and I’ll admit this isn’t the first time I’ve met a group of strangers from online (NO I don’t mean online dating hahaha).

Just some of the members of CS Fortaleza

For instance, one of my New Years resolutions was to perfect my knowledge of Spanish. So I created a meetup.com account, joined a Spanish speaking group, and began attending their gatherings at Bridgehead Coffehouse. Of course the first time I was nervous and I had even contemplated leaving the coffeehouse before any of the members noticed me. But I stayed and conversated with these strangers who had the common interest to improve their spoken Spanish. We exchanged stories of life experiences, family, and friends over a cup of coffee or tea.

Couchsurfing.org is similar in terms of bringing strangers together to discuss their traveling adventures thus far. We met alot of interesting people, specifically Brisa and Barbara who came over Friday and gave us some Brazilian music. They even took us to Fortal, Fortaleza’s off-season carnaval, with them on Saturday. At the moment, I don’t want to talk too much about Fortal, I’m saving it for my Culture section....but here's a sneak peak:

Amber and I in our new and improved abadas

Foto da Semana 3

 

We were about to do laundry, then we realized the machine is in Portuguese...Bring out the bilingual dictionary!

Estou falando Portunhol

I was looking forward to finally sleeping in this Saturday but my dream was crushed when my phone started ringing at 7:40am. It’s one of our Braziliero amigos calling to see what our plans are for the day. I’m still half asleep so I’m having trouble turning on my Portuguese translation switch. Remembering I speak Spanish, he passes the phone to his Spanish speaking friend. While I can understand everything he’s saying, I’m having trouble responding in Spanish. All my responses are in Portunhol (mix of Portuguese and Spanish). Then it hits me, my Spanish, which I have cultivated for the last 9 months, is being quickly suffocated out of me by Portuguese. This realization has been haunting me all morning. I had initially applied for Peru when I interviewed for this job hoping to get a chance to improve my Spanish in a Spanish-speaking country, but my interviewers thought Brazil would be a better location to harness my skills. As Amber keeps reminding me, “Everything happens for a reason.” She had also initially applied and interviewed for Argentina hoping to improve her Spanish, but clearly there are greater plans in store for us in Brazil.

“When life gives you lemons, exchange them for limes and make a delicious Caipirinha!” 

                -Vera Nnensa, just now

It’s only been a week since we started learning Portuguese but I feel I’ve picked up a lot. Since the Mulheres Mil program is located on a college campus, our teachers are people around our age willing to take the time to teach us basic Portuguese in exchange for English. Professora Erilan and Professor Vitor have been helping us with not only improving our Portuguese, but also advising us on basic day-to-day activities. For instance, you can’t get a sim card unless you have a Brazilian ID, obrigada Profesora Erilan.

Professora Erilan

Professor Vitor

Since we are on a college campus, we have managed to also make some friends. As a foreigner coming into a country where I don’t know anyone, making friends can be a complicated matter. As I stated in a previous blog, foreigners are easy targets, therefore Amber and I are careful about who we let into our lives.

Marujinho, tastes like a yogurty condensed milk ice cream.
I'll definitely smuggle a box to Canada, thanks Victor.

But on a positive note, we've met some really nice people who have gone out of their way to help us Canadians lost in the world of lambada (rsrsrsrs = hahahaha/lol). Like Victor, not to be confused with Professor Vitor, who practically held our hands and took the bus with us on Monday to show us the bus route (taxiing to work everyday ain’t cheap at all). Then there’s Vanderlania, who, despite our language barrier, has shown us around campus and introduced us to more people. We also met Eveline and Tanara, who are students that are doing an exchange to Canada this fall. They’re just as excited as we were when we found out we were going to Brazil.  Most of our friends don’t speak English, so we're forced to speak {broken} Portuguese to practice. It's a learning experience and I'm loving every minute of it, even if it takes 10 minutes to get my point across. Slowly but surely, Amber and I are establishing a social life and making friendships that will, hopefully, continue when we return to Canada.

Praia do Futuro

In terms of plans for this weekend, we were invited by Victor to go to Praia do Futuro with his friends tomorrow. Apparently its the most beautiful beach in town, so that should be fun. Also the holidays have officially started this weekend so there’s no Mulheres Mil work for us just yet. Amber and I are looking into other side activities (other volunteer work or traveling within the region) we could do to keep us busy during slow periods.

Foto da Semana 2

I love the image on the bathroom stall, I couldn't resist. Taken at "At Home Hostel & Pub"

Encontrei um apartamento

The 3 coins that determined who gets the master bedroom, I won  ^_^

I woke up this morning a little more relaxed than usual. For the first time since we landed, I didn’t wake up thinking about looking for a place to stay. I didn’t rush to my laptop to check whether I had received any emails from possible landlords. This is my first time being on my own, so this is the first time I have ever had to worry about such things. We found an apartment just in time. Although we’ve been here for a little more than a week, 9 days to be exact, I have been living out of my suitcases for almost a month (I left Ottawa on June 12^th). It’s not fun living out of a damn suitcase! I didn't realize how much I’d miss having drawers and a closet. But here I am, in a fully furnished 3 bedroom apartment owned by a German who’s lived here for 20yrs and is married to a Braziliera. In a month, our roommate Kevin will be arriving from France and our home will be complete. 

Regis, a great cook

During our first few days in Fortaleza, we stayed at the Maredomus Hotel. However, after reviewing our finances, we knew we needed to downgrade. On Monday we moved to At Home Hostel & Pub, which had only been open for about 15 days. The paint on the walls was fresh, the furniture was new, and the staff was very friendly. It’s owned and operated by Marquinhos and Regis (M&R), who were very accommodating to our needs. With the help of their supportive family and friends, M&R have been able to build the hostel themselves, which I believe, will be very successful in the coming years. These guys helped us with the bus system (but we still ended up getting lost), called taxis for us (though they drop us off at the wrong places), and recommending cheap places to eat (although we don’t know how to order food in Portuguese YET). We promised we’d come back this afternoon to watch the futebol match between Brazil vs. Paraguay.

Marquinhos and his lovely family

*Speaking of futebol, Amber and I have created a bucket list of things we want to do in the coming months. One of which will be to watch all of Brazil’s futbol games. J

But back to the topic at hand, we will most likely continue to keep in touch with these guys who are genuinely friendly people. If anyone is looking for a hostel in Fortaleza, I recommend "At Home Hostel & Pub" (I know, shameless advertising lol) Other than finally finding a great apartment, meeting the women who are currently in Mulheres Mil program was another highlight of my week.

These women had worked with the previous interns, Sean and Kristina. They were very welcoming and some had even asked for our emails, which we gave out. I wonder what they will email me about. Amber and I sat in on their class on Cooperatives. However, as I listened to the lesson, I found myself getting  very agitated. While Amber wrote in her journal, I sat there finding it hard to focus. I eventually left the class early because I was getting frustrated over the fact that I couldn't understand. Ok fine, I can't expect to start understanding Portuguese within a week but I don't like not knowing. As I stated in my previous blog, I really can't wait to start taking Portuguese lessons next week.

So time for me to get ready to watch this futebol match, thank God I don't need to know Portuguese to follow the game. :)

Hit the ground running

Today was our first day of work at the IFCE. We hadn’t seen Sarah since she dropped off at the hotel last Thursday but we had kept her updated on our apartment situation. While in Canada, I had already set up a meeting to see an apartment in the Miereles bairro (neighbourhood). The apartment is huge and about a 10min walk from the beach. While Amber liked it, something about it didn’t sit right with me. Perhaps it was the fact that the apartment is located on the 4^th floor and there are no elevators. Then the real estate agent said something along the lines of:

"The neighbourhood isn't dangerous but I recommend that you don't walk around the area at night. They might pull out a knife and take your things, but they won’t really stab you. Other than that, it's a safe area"

The irony of this statement made me laugh, but in all seriousness, NO THANKS to that apartment.

On a few occasions, Amber and I had been warned to be careful when walking. During our Sunday morning walk, there was an area we were about to walk through when the local police stopped us. He mentioned the words “bolsa” and “perigo/perigoso” (purse and danger/dangerous), then continued to make the gun symbol with his hand...o_O...we stayed on the main tourist route.

Such situations make me realize how safe Canada can be, specifically Ottawa since it is where I grew up. This is not to imply that there is no crime in Canada and that people don’t get robbed. But in the last 5 days, people have continuously warned us to be careful when walking around because people are watching. We are not oblivious, we know people are always watching, the men of this city do not even try to hide the fact that they are watching us. From the constant catcall/whistling sounds to the occasional sentences they mumble when we walk by. As one man put it, who shall remain nameless, “they are simply appreciating your beauty.” So at this point we are getting used to ignoring the sounds and stares. 


Amber and I walk everywhere we go and we do indeed stand out. Both of us are relatively tall in comparison to most women here. Amber with her long fiery red hair and strong European features (keep in mind she is half Iroquois). Then there is me with my distinct African features. However, I've been told I look like I could be from the Brazilian state of Bahia, where most of the people there have strong African features. The people of Fortaleza are mainly a mixed people of European, Aboriginal, and African descent. During the car ride from the airport, Sarah had said because everyone is mixed with something, race is not an issue. Then what gives us away? Perhaps its the way we walk or the clothes we wear that makes us look like foreigners. Or maybe its the lost bewildered look we give when people talk to us in Portuguese. Foreigners are known to be easy targets for thievery here, as in any country, so we need to work on blending in. Jos, the Director of International Development at Niagara College, had jokingly suggested that Amber dye her hair darker to blend in more. Although she rejected that idea, she may one day wake up to find her hair darkened. :)

But enough about that, this morning we went to the Mulheres Mil office on the IFCE campus. We taxied our first day because we didn’t want to be late trying to figure out the bus system. However, the driver dropped us off at the wrong campus so we were about 10mins late (never a good impression for any job). Luckily, they were very understanding of our situation. Sarah thoroughly explained the Mulheres Mil program to us. The program in Fortaleza provides women living in the bairro Pirambu (Pirambu neighbourhood) the opportunity to study at the IFCE college. In order to graduate, these women have to complete 480 hours of classes. The classes they must attend include some of following subjects: Portuguese, mathematics, computers, Spanish, English, entrepreneurship, environmental science, and sexual health. At the end, the women are required to complete 80hrs of co-op in a hotel. The Mulheres Mil program is now expanding to become a nationally implemented program.


However, Amber and I have come at the end of the semester and the July holidays are about to begin. Thankfully, for the next three weeks we will be taking Portuguese classes with four French students. I'm really excited for these classes because I desperately need a Portuguese foundation to expand upon. At this point, I've been using my knowledge of mainly Spanish and sometimes French to communicate with Brazilians. The day after we landed, Amber and I quickly purchased English-Portuguese dictionaries that we use everyday. Simple tasks, such as ordering food at restaurants, have become arduous. But slowly, we are picking up words and phrases that are useful. 


The rest of this week will be filled with work and apartment hunting, wish us luck...

Photo of the Week 1

This was taken on our way to a wine tour, a break from training,  just 2 weeks before departure to our different host countries. (sorry for those who weren't in this picture) 

Brazil, I'm here

At the airport I meet my partner in crime, Amber, and the other interns Kristy, Theresa, and Veronica (but we’ll just call her Vilma not to confuse anyone). For the next 6 months, Kristy and Theresa will be working in Manaus, Brazil while Vilma will continue on to Argentina. I had spent the last 2 weeks training with them at Niagara College and now we are off to our assigned posts.

We would be flying from Toronto to Detroit, Detroit to Sao Paulo. During the 10hr flight, they played Jane Eyre and Life As We Know It (Juntos Pelo Acaso)...in Portuguese. While I slept through the first movie, I stayed up watching the second movie. I found the Portuguese dubs to be hilariously amusing. Despite my lack of knowledge of the Portuguese language, I was still able to follow and pick up on random expressions they would repeat: "tudo bom, querida, ta bom!" Watching Portuguese shows every day will help to better improve my knowledge of the language...I can’t wait to watch Brazil’s world famous Telenovelas!

In Sao Paulo's Guarulhos airport, our group of five split-up and went our separate ways. Now it’s just me and Amber on the last leg of our journey. Assuming I would enjoy the last 4 hours in the air sleeping, about 30mins after take-off I was awoken by the plane’s tires rolling against the ground. We have landed, but not in Fortaleza. We have returned to Guarulhos airport. Since their intercom announcements have been in Portuguese, which I plan on learning, Amber and I are left confused over what has happened. From what I can gather from the girl sitting beside me, a little girl got sick and was being escorted off the plane. We are already 2 hours delayed from take off.

...Correction: We are now 4hrs late for take-off >_>...

What was supposed to be a 3.5hr flight turned into 7.5hrs of sitting in the same plane, that wasn’t even in the air for most of the time. However, I did try to be productive with my extended time spent on the plane. Sitting beside me was Beatrice from Sau Paulo (I remember her name because it’s what I named my first car, oh how I miss that car). This 16 year old paulistanos became our Portuguese teacher. With her broken English, she taught us phrases that would come in handy and slang. I’m sure she’ll go back to school and talk about the funny Canadian girls she met on the plane.

Useful Portuguese phrases

After 24hrs of traveling, we finally land at the airport in Fortaleza around 5pm. Exhausted and hungry, our host, Sarah, warmly welcomes us and drives us to our hotel. Finally, a bed, a nice warm bed. Brazil, I’m here...