It’s almost impossible to feel homesick…

I came down with a severe cold this week. Typical. I figured a month was too long to have gone since my last cold, and I knew it was only a matter of time. I swear—my immune system is not at all reliable!

I’m pretty sure it was the constant change in temperature. If you’re outside in Belém, you’re either wet from the rain, which is never cold, or wet from your sweat. Once you're inside, the air conditioner (everywhere it seems) is on blast and a sweater is sometimes necessary.

Unfortunately, I had to miss a couple labs with my students because I just felt awful. I spoke to a few of them before going home, and they explained that people here always getting colds from the changes in weather. They were so kind and forgiving even though they had shown up extra early to see me before their regular classes. I felt badly.

Because I’m sick so often, I have a routine at home to get better. I have my usual visit to my pharmacy, grab my regular meds, down some OJ, rest, and I’m good to go in a couple days. My recovery is a lot faster if my mom is there to nurse me back to health with some good ol’ TLC. Unfortunately, I have none of that here. I could barely find orange juice anywhere. Weird, since there is every other kind of juice imaginable!

Thankfully, I have met some truly wonderful people, and they make it difficult to feel homesick. This evening, the same professor who invited me to her son’s graduation party brought me medication for my cold. In addition to the penicillin, expectorant, and anti-inflammatory meds, she brought me tangerines, apples, and HOMEMADE SOUP!!!!

It was pretty late, and she had just finished teaching her evening class. Despite all of this, she went out of her way to make sure I felt better. I was so touched. It was a gesture I could only imagine my mother making, and I’ve only known Rosana for a couple weeks. She’s amazing! I still miss my mom, and home a bit, but I know I’ll be just fine!

It was a funny coincidence to have received this letter. Last week, Rosana's students practiced writing letters to someone needing medical advice or help. One of her students decided to write to me. No worries Paula, I don't have dengue--it's just a cold! Haha!!

Classes are in session!!

My learning labs are officially in session, and my students are coming in to see me for help with their English writing skills and listening comprehension. Their English levels vary significantly. I have students who speak almost perfect English, and they sound like native speakers. I also have students who are just learning English for the first time. It’s lots of fun and really interesting when I have to teach English in Portuguese. My students help me with my Portuguese and I help them with their English!

Actually, I started taking Portuguese classes last week. I’m in an intermediate course with Jeff, Sam, and Emma at the university where I teach. Jeff and Sam are international exchange students from the United States.

They are taking mechanical engineering courses at UFPA until the end of the semester in July. Emma is from New York and has lived in Belém for about a year now. She is also an English professor at another school in Belém. She is married and her husband is from Pará. She is brushing up on her Portuguese even though it is already perfect—she’s got that nasal sound, down pat!

I am super stoked about my Capoeira classes that also started last week. I’ve been pretty busy, but I’m having a blast!!

The first day, we were introduced to the various instruments that are played during the “lutas,” or fights. These instruments include the pandeiro (tamborine), atabaque (Afro-Brazilian hand drum), the reco-reco (güiro), the chocalho (similar to maracas), and probably the most important, the berimbau (a single stringed percussion piece from Brazil that is somewhat like a music bow without the arrow). I learned how to play the berimbau—I’m pretty amazing… amazingly bad!! Hahaha!!

I met a girl from Colombia in class. Her name is Lily, and she is a beast in the circle. She sure knows her Capoeira! We’re the only foreigners, and it’s so nice to have someone with whom I can speak a more familiar language. Although, when I speak Portuguese, my students will stop me occasionally to let me know that I’m actually speaking Spanish. I mix the two all the time, and I get caught speaking Portunhol!

My partner for our first practice was Jhuno. He’s the most awesome little kid and such a great teacher—the kid is talented! He was in a handstand for sometime and jumped up into a back flip. I could barely do a cartwheel. He was really patient and walked me through the steps slowly. Just a couple more practices before I can take on Jean Claude Van Dam in the sequel to Only the Strong!!

Check out my instructor-he's singing while he fights...crazy!

On Friday, my students invited me to breakfast at Poema, one of the most beautiful places on our campus. I was in complete awe when I saw it. I could not believe this was still the university. Seeing all the trees, the wet sand, and the small creatures that would come up from the ground made it feel like we had walked straight into the jungle.

We had breakfast on the dock overlooking the river.

There was a cool breeze as we sat and enjoyed the bread, sandwiches, and juice that my students brought. It was such a great time!

Small fishing boats passed us by and one came right underneath the dock.

Most of the fishermen live along the river with their families. One of my students explained that it is very common for boats to come up to people near the water and ask for food or clothes.

My students offered some of our food and brought it down to them. I was so impressed by their kind gesture.

They even offered food to another student who joined us to practice his English. A mother came by with her daughter to sit and watch the river. My students gave her food too, and she didn’t even ask! I feel that people here are generally very compassionate even to absolute strangers.

We walked around a bit after breakfast to take pictures. My students are crazy about pictures!! They take more than I do, and I take a lot! They made me laugh so much, and I had such a good time even though it was really hot and we were all pretty sweaty by the end.

Robbed... of the pomp and circumstance!

HNIM!! (Hell no, it's Monday!) My host professor, Walkyria, introduced me to her favorite saying for bloody Mondays. This week, was the first wretched Monday in a while, but it got better pretty quickly--thank God!

(This is the view from my window.) I was kindly awakened by the construction workers that are building our kitchen and laundry room downtstairs. The constant banging from their hammer against the concrete walls at 7am on Monday morning was worse than a Chinese water torture, but I got over it. These men work construction all day, in the heat, humidity, rain, and in flip flops or sometimes barefoot! I really had nothing to complain about.

However, on Monday, I was robbed! Hahaha! That sounds so dramatic and scary, but it wasn’t at all. Ever since my arrival to Brazil, I had been warned that it might happen. We even had someone from the state department come in during our Fulbright orientation to discuss strategies for staying safe, mostly from thieves.

After being in Belém for a month now, I continue to hear, “Don’t go out at night!” “Carry your belongings in front of you.” “Give up anything they ask for, or they'll shoot!” My students even taught me what the robbers will say if they approach me: “Perdeu tudo!” “Perdeu! Perdeu!” (“You lost it all!” and “You lost it!” You lost it!”—hand it over, basically.)

So...I had packed my backpack with a change of clothes to attend the graduation ceremony in the evening. I was running a few minutes late, and I wanted to catch the first bus to UFPA. When I got to the bus stop, I rushed the line of people boarding to secure a seat. I knew that my bag should always be in front of me, and I kept it on my back, but it was only for a second—a second too long.

Once I reached the top of the steps, standing next to the driver, I switched my bag over to have it in front of me. At that point, it had already been opened and I noticed it emptier than before. The bus was jammed packed, so I had to close it quickly and hold on for dear life. After the bus cleared out, I opened my bag to find that the dress I had packed for the graduation had been taken. I was really confused and pretty irritated at first. I mean, what the heck could you want with a dress?! I guess if you’re hungry and poor, anything can help. I’m just glad it wasn’t a dangerous situation and nothing valuable was stolen. I’m also glad it happened because I’m more cautious when taking the bus.

As for the dress, I was able to make it home to change in time for the ceremony. It’s a good thing most events rarely start on time. The graduation was scheduled to begin at 5pm, we made it back by 5:30pm, and the ceremony did not begin until almost 6:30pm.

The professors had reserved seating in the front, and again, I felt like a VIP!

I sat and waited for the Pomp and Circumstance, but it never played. The song the graduates entered to was unfamiliar, but very nice. Once the ceremony started, the graduates were escorted to their seats by a family member. Photographers and family members crowded the aisle to get pictures—one would have thought that celebrities had entered the room!

Some graduates sat with their fathers, mothers, spouses, and one graduate was accompanied by her young daughter. This person also had the honor of going up on stage with the graduate to receive their degree.

The caps and gowns were quite interesting. Some of the caps had a fuzzy, white trim on top and all of the gowns had a lavender belt tied at the waist. The color was representative of the school from which they graduated. All the graduates received their degree in foreign language studies.

During the ceremony, some of the graduates delivered a speech thanking their families, friends, and teachers. A couple professors were also honored and presented with gifts. The professors also had a chance to address their students before they graduated. Finally, the graduates stood and took a stance similar to that of the Nazi salute—a little strange at first—with extended arms and their hands straight ahead while they recited an oath with the director of the school.

Their degrees were conferred, and the graduates tossed up their caps in rejoice!

I’m glad I was able to go. It’s celebrations like these that gives one a better look into the traditions and culture of nation. It was also a great end to a rough start of my day :)

Samba and snakes!

Last weekend, I had the chance to see a samba band, live. The first week here, Lindsey stayed with a host family, and she made friends with their daughter, Mariella. Mariella introduced us to her friends, and we all went out to see MONOBLOCO!! They are an awesome samba group from Rio de Janeiro.

We were pretty excited after exchanging our tickets for VIP passes.

We were up front with the other party animals dancing the night away!

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, people here don’t go out until very late at night. We arrived around 11pm, and we were one of the first to arrive.

A local band was on stage, but the venue seemed pretty empty. People didn’t begin to arrive until almost midnight.

The band that opened for Monobloco was Seu Chico, a Chico Buarque cover band made up of young guys from Recife. Their songs are pop versions of Chico Buarque’s music who is one of Brazil’s more famous musicians.

He is an artist who is politically active through his music and literary works. I wish I had seen Mr. Buarque in concert rather than Seu Chico—the crowd died down a bit when they went on. Not my favorite, but they were fun to watch.

When Monobloco finally went on at 2am, the people went wild!! It was so exciting to be up front and center for the craze! The band was insane! I am obsessed with drummers, and I love everything percussion, so seeing this band was amazing!!

It was like being at a Carnaval party all over again. The band mixed up the samba with some forró, carimbó, funky, and other popular Brazilian music.

They went on for some time, and the crowd jumped, danced, and partied the night away! It was such a good time, and it didn’t end until almost 5:00 in morning! Check them out--I recorded some of their performance :)

On Sunday, my students invited us out to the Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi. This place is called a museum, but it’s more like a zoo with exotic animals and plants from the Amazon region. From the outside, you would never guess that such creatures live inside.

The museum is located near the middle of the city and is surrounded by a fence with a very pretty building at the corner. You can see the large trees peaking over the walls, but it looks more like a historic building or a barrack of some sort. Because it is called a museum, I thought we would be visiting an indoor building with artifacts and exhibits. I was close...there were exhibits, but it was all outdoors, and the scene was more like that of Jurassic Park! It was really cool!

Some of the animals were roaming freely, and they would come close enough to snap their picture. Most of these creatures were rodent-like and a little scary, so I didn’t dare touch. I can’t even begin to describe some of the animals we saw. They were very different to say the least, so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Some of the animals were a little too close for comfort. The Jacaré (neither an alligator nor a crocodile but similar to both) lay just below the bridge that visitors had to cross to reach the other exhibits. This bridge had wood panels that were separated about 2 inches apart and a child’s hand could have easily fit through the cracks. Maybe I’m just paranoid, but the Jacaré’s head was right there—a foot from snatching a limb! This is the view of his head between the panels...scary!

I thought I was camera crazy, but my students are maniacs about taking pictures. I loved every minute of it!

It was interesting to me that many of them have lived in Belém their entire lives, but had either never visited the museum or hadn’t been for more than ten years! This place is just too cool to go that long without visiting or to have never been at all!

The plants and trees were another sight to see! Some of the trees were just enormous and signs had to be put up to warn of falling fruits.

There was a beautiful pond covered in lily pads, and my students stopped to take pics for Orkut (their Facebook). They say, if you’re not on Orkut, you don’t exist. It’s actually more popular than The Facebook.

I had to include the following in my blog because it is a recurring theme—women in high heels and fancy clothing for every occasion and me, feeling underdressed all the time. Haha! Many women dress so well here. It is very common in Brazilian culture for woman to dress up even if it’s just to go out for a leisurely walk, to the grocery store, or to the zoo with the children.

I am impressed by their ability to keep up with the rough terrain of the city sidewalks, the sandy walkways and the wild rapids after the rainfall in their stilettos! Of course, not everyone can or does, but many can and do!

As for the snakes, we didn’t see any—thank goodness! And, the aquarium was empty, but we will be back I’m sure!

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go!!

I started my workweek last Monday, and nothing about it seemed at all like work. Even the drive onto campus feels like a leisurely ride along the river. The university is set along the water, and my professor makes it a point of driving in the same way (even if it is out of her way) just to see the water. It’s gorgeous.

On Tuesday, another group of students at Lindsey’s university, UEPA, threw us a second welcome party.

They brought in a bunch of traditional foods and sweets. We had lots of brigadeiros (small balls of chocolate rolled in chocolate sprinkles) and pão de queijo, which seems to be a staple in most households. They also brought in juices made from native fruits of Pará like Maracujá (passion fruit), and Cupaçu—my favorite. Its taste is similar to mango juice, but I don’t think we have an English equivalent.

A large part of my job while I’m here is to work with the English language professors in their classrooms. This week, I began by observing a couple classes, and eventually, I will be collaborating with the professors on lesson plans. All of the students I am working with are working towards becoming English teachers, so my focus is not limited to the language learning but also centered on pedagogical practices.

I observed two classes last week both of which were my host professor’s. On Thursday, she had a guest professor from Missouri University present a lesson on poetry. A film crew was with him to document his lecture for a documentary on his teaching.

Professor James Bogan began lecturing at the Federal University of Pará in 1985 as a Fulbright Fellow himself. He taught my host professor when she was an undergrad at UFPA, and they have remained close friends since then. Professor Bogan taught art history and film. He is also very passionate about poetry and Belém and has spent three years of his life in Belém over a series of visits following his Fulbright commitment. He has published many articles, written books of poetry, made many films, and is in the process of finishing his book Bound to Belém. He promised me a copy so that I could give it a hard read before it’s sent to press!

Professor Bogan’s presentation was phenomenal to say the least. He is such an extraordinary individual and truly down-to-earth. I knew this the moment he took a swig from his flask just before the students entered! He also joked that his best professors while in Belém were Professors Skol and Cerpa, names of the Belém's most common beers. It was a great privilege to have sat in on one of his classes.

Some of my time at UFPA has been spent in the Master’s building close to the language and communication building. It is adjacent to the psychology school where spider monkeys are kept to observe their behaviors. They make the office I work in a little smelly and pretty noisy but a lot more interesting! The last time I was there (using the internet because mine was down as usual), I got to see some research in action. The monkey had to put the Legos together in order to create a tool to fetch a treat in the center of the cardboard. I was amazed and watched this little guy successfully retrieve his food over and over again.

On Friday, I was officially introduced to the students I would be working with via two informal presentations. I was a little embarrassed because the announcement for the “Open House to Meet, Candice Dagnino, the English Teaching Assistant from America” was placed throughout the school. I was a little nervous at first, but I was good again once I got to talk with my students.

They are absolutely awesome (and I’m not just saying this because I know some of them are reading this)! A lot of them are already wonderful English speakers. They had great questions and were really interested in my experiences in Belém thus far—I directed them to my blog. (Shameless plug, I know! Haha! However, this can totally work as a teaching tool too!) Some of my students arranged to have breakfast with me at the end of this week. They seem pretty excited to show me around and to come to my learning labs.

On a completely random note, Iron Maiden is performing in Belém April 1^st. I was hoping this was an April Fool’s joke, but it’s not at all. Everyone is seriously stoked about the concert. Even our 40-something year old landlord (not the Iron Maiden type at all) is excited and stood in line for hours with the rest of Belém to get his tickets! Not my cup of chá, but I may go to the concert just because of the hype! But really, aren’t these guys a little old to be performing heavy metal?! Just sayin’…