Catch Up

I am failing at blogging, but once again it is pouring on the weekend, so my beach plans have been cancelled, so I will try to catch up on the past month or so. Sorry if this isn’t very organized.

So some bullet points on things that I’ve done with my program:
• Lectures on racism and human rights, culture, traditional healing, a Sistema Unica de Saúde (SUS- Brazil’s public health system),
• Visited a Candomblé Terreiro
• Went to a small village, Alecrim, for 4 days, lived with families, and learned about how SUS works in a rural community
• Visited a few hospital (for various reasons)
• Visited many HIV/AIDS facilities and organizations

So it’s been really busy. Everything has been very interesting, but at times it’s been a bit frustrating because we are in school from 9-4, which means that I have to leave my house at 8, and I don’t get back until 5. On top of that we have homework, which means it can be very difficult to do anything else, such as dance classes, capoeira, or meeting friends outside of the program. We also are in and out of the city, because we have many excursions, such as the one to Alecrim. I think that I thought that I would have a chance to be more settled, but I’ve come to accept that my experience isn’t really going to be about settling down in one place, but rather about experiencing lots of different things. Although I still have about 2 months left in the program, I will only be in Salvador for about 3 more weeks, because we have 2 trips and then we begin our ISPs, the Independent Study Projects, and I will probably go outside of the city for that.

But now, I’m going to try and look back on my time here:

Fica Vontade

Fica Vontade, basically means “make yourself at home” and has been the theme of my time in Brazil, especially while I was in Alecrim. Alecrim is a small rural community in the Recôncavo, a region of Bahia that surrounds the Bay of All Saints. The Recôncavo is the birthplace of the Samba, and Cachoeira, one of the largest cities there, is known as the heart of Afro-Brazilian culture. We went to Alecrim to experience life in a rural community and understand how the PSF, the primary care units of the Brazilian public health system, function. It was undoubtedly one of my best weeks in Brazil.
The week before had been particularly difficult for me. We were trying to finish our ISP proposals, which was not only stressful because we have to pick a topic, but also because it’s extremely difficult to research the necessary secondary sources because we don’t have consistent internet, and the libraries close soon after we get out of school. I was also stressing out because it was very difficult for me to do the things I had imagined- take dance classes, capoeira, meet people outside of my program. I think I was also at the 3 week points in any trip, when things are no longer brand new and exciting, but things aren’t comfortable or easy either.
So basically, I was not having such a great week, and then we got on a bus, drove 2 hours, and we were in this beautiful small community, with lots of green, fruit trees, and fresh air. I love Salvador, but it was so nice to get away from the concrete, street vendors and hustle and bustle. It was also really nice to be a part of a small community. This was the first time that SIT had stayed with host families in Alecrim, so it was a very new and special experience for everyone. For some of the people in the community, it was their first contact with people from the United States. The community went out of their way to make us feel at home, and my host mother said “Fica vontade” at least 20 times every hours.
While we were there we visited the PSFs, went to community events, such as a screening of documentary about the history of the region, talked with a traditional healer, and then the community had a Samba de Roda on our last night. Samba de Rosa is the type of Samba in Bahia, and it is often called the most authentic type. It was born in the Recôncavo, and it very linked with West African dance traditions. We all danced, ate the best Acaraje I’ve ever eaten (a traditional Bahian street food), and by the end of the 4 days I didn’t want to leave. It reminded me a lot of my experiences in La Isla, El Salvador, the community had the same strength and unity. We all cried while we were leaving, and I’m trying to figure out how to get myself back there.

Sickness and Health
Ok everyone, this section is not here to make you nervous, so please don’t worry. But my semi-illness has been a large part of my experience, so I wanted to relay it to you. I am learning about public health through visceral experience.
I’ve had a cough for 3 weeks now, and because of this cough I’ve been offered many many traditional remedies, in addition to various biomedical treatments. Nothing has cured it, but some things have helped. My favorites were probably the fresh black pepper that someone in Alecrim picked off of a tree for me. It definitely cleared my sinuses. Also, my host mother in Alecrim had to hear me cough all night, every night and she would wake up in the middle of the night to make me various remedies. The most common was basically a hot orange Julius- fresh squeezed orange juice, which was heated up and then combined with sugar and powdered milk. I never thought it would work, but it actually did. Once I got back to Salvador, I moved on to a “chazinho” (little tea) with garlic, onion, lime and some leaf/grass. It didn’t me from coughing, but I’m sure that it made me healthier somehow.
Last week we were going on house visits through a public health system program and I fainted. That was fun. We think it was probably because I’ve had some congestion in my ears that threw off my balance.
After this, my host mother decided that I no longer had a choice about the matter and that I was going to the doctor. I had kind of tried to avoid it because I didn’t think it was serious, but by this point I was so tired of coughing all through the night I was willing to do anything.
My host mother works at a public health clinic at UFBA, the federal university, so I got to have some very experiential learning about the public health care system. I got very fast and attentive care, and more medical attention that I think I’ve ever gotten. I got some radiogram of my heart (I don’t think that’s what it’s called) and an x-ray of my chest. So no one worry, we’ve ruled our TB and Pneumonia.
So now- after traditional remedies and a lot of SUS health care, I’m on antibiotics, cough syrup, and allergy medication, and at least one of them is working because I can actually sleep through the night without waking myself up coughing.

This Wednesday I'm going to Ilha de Mare, a rural island on the ocean!!!!

tchau amigos/as