The Land of Mountains, Waterfalls, and Hopefully samba!

Sunday May 15th

Hello World,
Today I arrived in Rio de Contas after a 12 hour bus ride from Salvador. I’m here to do my ISP (Independent Study Project), and I’ll be researching self-esteem, body image, and cultural/ethnic identity in women who samba.
My advisor/orientador, Gledson (who is awesome!) met me at the bus stop and took me to his house where I am living with him, his brother, and his mother. I have a very cute room with a bunk bed, and the shower is hot! This is the 7th place I’ve stayed in Brazil, and the 4th “homestay.” I’m getting very used to being a nomad, and more and more comfortable living in other people’s homes. I would really like to cook my own food here, because I don’t know how much more white, processed carbs, salt, and meat my body can take, but I don’t want to be rude. So I have to see if that’s possible. (And if I can even find whole grains in this city).

Gledson had to go to a neighboring town today to help another researcher, and is coming back tomorrow night. I seem to have a problem with keeping my advisors in the same city (I also have an academic advisor, an anthropologist in Salvador, but she was out of town and I couldn’t meet with her before I left for Rio de Contas. I was pretty bummed out because I was looking forward to her help with my methodology and literature, but I will survive).
But Gledson not being her actually hasn’t been a problem, it’s been good because I have today and tomorrow to get oriented and organized. Today I went on a walk around town and took pictures (you can see them here). I feel so lucky to be here. The town is beautiful, the weather feels like spring/autumn in NC (I can’t decide which), I am surrounded by mountains and rivers with waterfalls.

It is like a 180 from Salvador
• Instead of pagode music blasting out of speaker jacked with cars, it’s bossa nova-y romantic music.
• The streets are mostly empty except for a few churrascurias and some old men playing dominoes (I’m going to get in on those games soon!).
• I haven’t been cat-called once! Let’s just linger on that one for a while…. It’s pretty incredible.
• Today I went to a waterfall and went swimming at the foot of a mountain (my camera was out of battery, but I will return and take pictures)
• The weather is crisp and clean, instead of balmy and steamy. Right now I’m wearing pants, two shirts, a sweatshirt, and sock, and I’m still a little cold (girls in Salvador, can you imagine that?!?)
• Instead of constantly being told to be careful because people are going to steal my stuff, I’ve been told again and again how safe Rio de Contas is, how there is very little crime, and I don’t need to be afraid. I will of course continue to be smart, but it’s nice to be able to relax.

I really do love Salvador, but it’s nice to have a change, and see a very different side of Bahia.

My life feels a little bit like a dream.

Tomorrow I’m planning on going to the archives to do library research before Gledson gets back, and probably some more picture taking and exploring.

I think this time here is going to be very good for me on a lot of levels. I will get to relax, enjoy nature, and pursue a research interest that I’m very excited about. I could have never imagined that this is where I would be, but I feel like it’s the right place.

Tchau for now!

Independence

I've arrived in Rio de Contas to begin my ISP (Independent Research Project). I have a few days to relax, because my advisor is busy until Tuesday, so I'm getting acclimated, which isn't hard because it's absolutely beautiful (The new photo on my blog is of one of the rivers here). I'll upload photos to this album
About to go to a waterfall!!!!

Should be sleeping...

I should be asleep right now because it’s 12:30, which is far past my normal Brazilian be time (I’m usually asleep my 10), but I was so tired at 8, and I had a paper to write and I needed to clean my room and pack, that I drank 2 cups of coffee and green tea, so now, even though I’m done with everything, I can’t sleep.

I thought I would take this opportunity to write a blog entry, since I haven’t in a while, and I have a lot on my mind. As always, this will be a scattered smattering of my current thoughts. I’ve given up on focused, eloquent blog posts. It’s just not my style, and I’ve accepted that about myself.

So I am more than 2 months into my time in Brazil. I’ve finished my “normal” classes and lectures (as normal as visiting lecturers on everything from racism to indigenous health practices to public health system organization and excursions to hospitals, maternity centers, islands and villages go). Then I was in Santo Antônio de Jesus, a mid-sized city in the Recôncavo, where I worked at CRAS Quilombola, and social services center. That’s where I was teaching dance (see “The Roy”).

I came back to my wonderful host family in Federação and I was greeted by my host brother and sister-in-law who I was surprised to see, because they don’t live in my neighborhood, and I only met them about 2 weeks ago when I was on family vacation during Semana Santa. They were there for a birthday party on the street, which I went to, and then they spent the night to celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday. I know you might think the way to spend Mother’s Day is to have brunch and flowers, maybe some chocolate, but you would be wrong. The way you spend mothers day is getting dressed up, going to the front patio of your neighbors house and drinking lots of Skol (Brazilian beer) and dancing to Pagodé music (here are some examples- one of the most popular) that is blaring from a huge speaker that is jacked onto a car. (This car is almost always parked outside of my house playing music). So next year, if you want to try something new to honor the woman who gave you life, you know what my suggestion is.

This week is dedicated to preparing for our ISPs (Independent Research Project). We’ve been working on proposing and organizing these projects the entire semester. I am going to Rio de Contas to research body image, self-esteem, and ethnic/cultural identity in afro-Brazilian women. Rio de Contas is in the Chapada district of Bahia, which is a national park, and the diamond and gold area. It is a 12 hour bus ride from Salvador, which will leave at 9pm, and I will arrive in the morning.

Choosing this location was definitely a personal challenge, because it is not in my personality to go with the unknown. I thought I would go to the Recôncavo, which is known as the heart of afro-Brazilian culture. It is the birthplace of the Samba, and has a very active Candomblé tradition. If you want to study samba, it is the place to go. About a month ago, when I was pretty set on doing my research there, my academic director told me that she had talked to one of her contacts in Rio de Contas, and he told her that for women there, samba is very strong and active. I deliberated, and eventually decided that I should take this risk because it’s a chance to see a completely different part of Brazil, and my advisor has more contacts, so it will be easier for my to get situated.

Apparently it is one of the most beautiful parts of Brazil, full of mountains and waterfalls. I’ll try to take lots of pictures. Also, The city of Rio de Contas was established for gold mining, and is historically a white Portuguese city, but before the city was founded there were already 3 quilombos on the outskirts. I will be living in Rio de Contas and doing research there and in the 3 quilombos.

So as I prepare for this trip (I leave this weekend), I’ve finally had time to reflect on my time here. Until now, we’ve been going non-stop. With classes all day, excursions to various locations, I’ve been on the run and we haven’t done very much processing, so its just been in the past few weeks that everything I’ve learned has started to sink and I’ve been able to synthesize and reflect.

I’m realizing how much of a verbal/communicative learner I am. I’m sure that doesn’t surprise you since we all know how much I love to talk, but I’ve realized that the reason I’ve felt very intellectually disconnected is because I haven’t been having discussions about how what I’m doing/hearing/seeing in lectures and excursions connects to reading and knowledge and history. While I know that I should be doing that on my own, and I am to some extent, I realize that the majority of that happens through conversation for me. I definitely normally have that in class back home, but probably even more than class, at home I’m lucky to have friends with whom there is not a disconnect between our social and intellectual selves, and we are constantly processing and challenging each other. It’s interesting to realize how much I depend on that form of learning, and while I’m here I need to challenge myself to do that processing individually. Probably a good exercise.

Another realization, which I knew about myself, but now am even more conscious of, is how much I am impacted by the people I am with. This is connected to the above statement, but I’m realizing that who I am with on a regular basis impacts not only on my mood, but what I am thinking about, how I process information and what I do. I’m sure this is true for all people, and I sound like Captain Obvious stating it, but as I’ve been reflecting on my experience I realize that there are parts of me that I don’t really feel like are expressed in Brazil. It’s not that I’m actively trying to hide them, but because the people I’m around don’t bring them out in me.

I don’t know how I feel about how much I am impacted by those around me. I think that I wish I was more steady and strong in myself, but then again, I guess this trait is part of me “being myself.” I think what I’m frustrated with is not the fact that I am impacted by other, because that is only natural, but the fact that sometimes I actively change my plans or don’t pursue what I want to do, not because anyone is stopping me, but because no one is encouraging me. I want to be more assertive and active in making sure that I reach the goals I set, whether or not they are the goals of others.

For this reason I’m really excited that I will be the only SIT student in Rio de Contas. I think it will be an important time for me to flex my independence. I won’t be able to ask other what I should do, what I should wear (if you’ve ever lived with me you know I have a hard time with this one), or to use as an excuse for not doing something. It’s going to be all on me, and at the end of the day, my project will reflect how I took advantage of that experience.

OK, sorry that this is so long. Hope it was at least somewhat enjoyable.

Rain in Salvador

When it rains in Salvador, you can see it coming.
Looking out my window in my room in Federação I see a dark cloud over the buildings, and under it a wall that makes everything hazy.
As soon as I say, “I think it’s going to rain,” it’s already started and the misty haze is pouring down.
It spatters on pavement, and tin roofs, and gutters and the wind blows it through my window onto my feet.
It’s my favorite sound in Brazil

Roy!

Written May 4th:

Yesterday I taught a group of about 20 8-12 year olds the Roy. If you don’t know what the Roy is, it is a hip-hop song and dance that I had the privilege to learn from the 2009 SCFP Freedom Fellows when I was an intern in the Mississippi Delta.

It seems fitting that I am bringing my SCFP experience to this portion of my time in Brazil. I am in Santo Antônio de Jesus, a mid-size city in the Recôncavo region of Bahia. This is the rich agricultural area around the Bay of All Saints which is the heart of afro-Brazilian culture. It is the birthplace of the samba-de-roda, the original samba from which all forms grew.

So, if Blues is the U.S. what Samba is to Brazil (which I think it sort of is), basically, I’m in the Delta of Brazil. And it reminds me of it in many ways. It is an incredibly important region of Brazil historically, especially in terms of black culture. The small to mid-sized cities are a good distance apart, separated by kilometers of either agricultural fields of cow fields. While there is definitely more hills than the Delta (and palm, mango, cacua, goiba, caju, and tamarind trees) it still has a similar feeling. The towns are most set up around a main praça where everyone comes at night to hang out and eat acaraje (a traditional bahian street food), egg burgers from trucks, or corn on a cob from a vendor with a rolling cart.

This is my second week here. We are here for two weeks doing semi-internships at different organizations. Most people are at health clinics, but because two of us are interested in performance we are working at CRAS Quilombola, a Reference Center for Social Action, which provides social services for a poor neighborhood.

We are helping them start a dance group, which means that everyday we have a dance/performance class with whoever shows up, usually atleast 2 ro 3 kids or adolescents. Today we had over 20 kids, because they usually have a program at the center, so they all came to our class. It was quite a handful, but super exciting.

Goiaba (Guava)

So Brazil smells like fruit. I've decided that Brazil is the fruit capital of the world. There is greater variety and quantity of fruit than I've ever had.

The other day I ate goiaba (guava) in 4 different forms:
1) fresh guava
2) guava juice
3) guava acai (a smoothie liek thing with acai and guava topped with granola)
4) goiabada (guava paste)

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