Posterous theme by Cory Watilo
Haley A

Filed under: customs

3 Meses

     As of yesterday, I have now been in Brazil for three months.  I didn’t even realize until someone else mentioned it.  We had our mid-point meeting with our study abroad group, during which we discussed stereotypes, variations in study abroad experiences, and a very interesting “Cultural Adjustment Curve.”  The curve highlights the phases of “honeymoon,” “crisis,” “recovery,” and “adjustment;” all of which occur when you move to a new country and when you move home again.  The illustrated curve showed each event happening only once, while several of us remarked that, sometimes, we feel as if we go through each stage over the course of a single day.  I don’t know how many times I’ve entered into the “crisis” stage, or if I ever really did.  I can’t say I’ve had any crying fits of homesickness.  If anything, I’d say that I skipped the “honeymoon” phase and went directly to crisis. 

I was completely overwhelmed when I got here.  I think I was ok in the airport (although, as I recently told my parents, I’m not sure I’ll be able to leave, as no one took my customs form and the immigration agent merely glanced at my passport when I arrived) and on the bus to the hotel (with all of the American students).  The downhill slope must have started when I couldn’t figure out how to turn on the electricity in the room (now know that you have to leave your key in the slot by the door).  Then we embarked onto Avenida Paulista to find lunch.  Avenida Paulista could be equated to Madison Avenue in Manhattan, but here, everyone was speaking Portuguese.  I remember trying to fall asleep the first few nights I was in São Paulo while a soundtrack of Portuguese phrases and conjugations played in my head (it was kind of like… I’m imagining some scene from a movie where words are flying through the air and people are ducking… really, we might as well just call them lasers and compare this scene to Star Wars).  I was constantly asking myself who let me come here and if they did it as some sort of trick.

While I’m still not really sure who allowed me into this country (or if they don’t really know that I’m here) and if they thought I’d actually survive or not, I've lasted three months.  There was never a time where I thought to myself, “Wow, this is easy.”  Yes, I know how to get to PUC, and I pretty much understand the metro (there was one time where I got a little overconfident and got off at the wrong stop… I had been listening to music and not to the station announcement), but I still get lost just about every time I try to go somewhere new- even if it’s just for a couple of seconds.  I’m still not a pro at Portuguese; I sometimes use French words (which I haven’t used in 3 years), I sometimes second-guess myself when listening or speaking, BUT I’m a pro at ordering pão de queijo (which may actually be a bad thing).  I consider myself a real student, having taken three exams and written one paper since the start of the fall semester (remember, I’m in South America).  Honestly, my Portuguese is approximately 1000 times better than it was three months ago.  If I could communicate with people through writing all of the time, there would be no problems.  Alas, I am working on the speaking part. 

And then there are all of the little but amazing experiences I’ve had.  You know, those things that you’re only able to put into perspective later.  I went to Bahia for Carnaval, but I also got to experience it as if I were a Brazilian (because I was with Brazilians and only two or three Americans most of the time).  I went to the “real” Fountain of Youth on an island in the Bahia de Todos os Santos (yes, they will tell you that Ponce de Leon got it completely wrong).  Plus, it was just steps away from property where Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and, apparently, anybody who’s anybody own condos.  I’m not sure if this is because of its proximity to the Fountain of Youth (which has three spouts- for love, health, and I think the last was beauty) or not.  I was reminded of the warning we received about not adjusting the temperature setting of the shower after you’ve started the water when a large bolt of electricity shot out of the showerhead (I was not shocked, but I was startled).  I’ve eaten manioc (flour, whole root), chicken hearts, feijoada, carne seca, so many fruits that I don’t know the names of, carrot cake with chocolate icing (yeah, I like carrot cake now), pão de mel, tapioca that is nothing like the “fish eggs” we were showed as children, catupirty (regrettably), and I’m sure lots of other “Brazilian” things that I can’t think of right now.  I also bought my first Brazilian-authored book in Portuguese (which wasn’t required for a class).  It’s the basis of one of the top-grossing movies of the last year in Brazil. 

      Last but not least, I’m leaving for Rio de Janeiro in a few short hours.  Actually, I should probably finish packing and head out- like, now.  Hopefully, I will have lots of fun, new experiences to write about shortly (and maybe I’ll be more prompt about my next post… I guess we’ll see).