Friday, December 29, 2006

Boy meets city


I finally arrived in Sao Paulo yesterday (I say ¨finally¨ because it seems like I´ve been thinking/talking about this trip for over two years.). My flight out of Detroit was delayed two hours, which left me with less than 30 minutes to catch my plane in Atlanta. Talk about pressure. I did not want to spend the night in the airport. I made it on board with 10 minutes to spare.

The flight from Atlanta to Sao Paulo takes nine hours - that´s about three times longer than I´ve ever spent on one plane. My long legs were not looking forward to it. I survived (that may be a theme for these first few weeks) a night of awkward positions, however, and the plane touched down in Sao Paulo at 8:30 AM local time.

After an hour and a half wait to recieve my little slip of paper from the foreign police (It is a very important little slip of paper I guess.), I made it to baggage claim only to discover that my bags were not nearly as savvy at navigating an international airport on a tight deadline as I am. I wasn´t too surprised, but few things are as discouraging as the realization that you are in a foreign land without fresh underwear.

I met up with Paulo and Fabio around 11 AM (They had been waiting at the aiport since 7:30!), and we spent the next hour figuring out where we go to report lost luggage. Eventually, we found the proper hole in the wall. They said my bags would be delivered to me the next day. They better be.

From the airport we drove to the apartment I´ll be living in beginning in mid-January. For the first three weeks, I´m living in a different apartment. Paulo pointed out where my university was from the highway, but all I could see was the stone barricade. Still, it seems very close to the new apartment. The new place is located at the corner of Rua Natingui and Rua Vupabussu (try pronouncing that correctly) and has a really nice gym with a swimming pool, hot tub and even a racquetball court. I think I could get used to this.

Driving around Sao Paulo, I observed that stop lights are more like suggestions than anything else and the people on small motorcycles (called ¨motos¨) are crazy. They weave in and out of traffic, they drive in-between cars. Unbelievable.

The roads are in bad shape in some places, but overall pretty good. We stopped at an Etna´s last night to buy stuff for the new place. It was the largest furnishing store I´ve ever seen. Everyting seemed a little on the expensive side, but not extremely so. To estimate how much things cost in dollars I just divide the price by two. The exchange rate from reals to dollars is something like 2.14.

It is surprising to turn on the radio and hear the same freakin´ songs played in America - although Kelly Clarkson sounds great no matter where you are living. Even the Brazilian singers mix english into their songs.

I think I´ll be eating out quite a bit because Paulo and Fabio keep absolutely nothing in their refrigerator. Yesterday, we ate at a mall food court for lunch and a Chipotle-type place, Black Dog, for dinner - that is if Chipotle served hot dogs with corn, tomatoes, cheese and mashed potatoes on top instead of burritos. It was actually pretty good.

Our New Year´s plans have changed due to another outbreak of organized gang violence in Rio de Janeiro. I think we´ll be staying in Sao Paulo instead. So much for beautiful beaches and the Black-eyed Peas.

The clothes that I arrived in are just disgusting at this point, so I am eagerly awaiting my luggage. Right now if I look out my bedroom window, I see buildings and more buildings well into the horizon. I don´t see any favelas from here though.

On a final note, I have to share this one incident that took place yesterday morning while waiting in line for the foreign police.

I was standing behind this elderly couple from some place in Europe I think, and I offered the man some Dentyne Ice chewing gum. He accepted, but he struggled with puncturing the foil and extracting the piece. His two attempts ended with the white squares falling to the floor. I picked both of them up and offered to open the packaging myself and give him a fresh piece, but he insisted on taking one that had fallen on the floor. So I opened my palm saying, ¨OK, whatever.¨ and he took one and put it in his mouth.

Should I be disgusted because he just put something in his mouth that was lying on an airport floor? Or should I be grateful that he didn´t waste any more of my chewing gum? I´m sure I´ll be able to decide once I put on a fresh pair of underwear.

Post update: My luggage arrived the next night. (sigh of relief)

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

A pre-trip interview


First things first, why Brazil?

I don't get out enough. Seriously.

For most people Indiana is the state they have to drive through to get to wherever they are going. For me, it is the place I call home. Having never lived anywhere else, I think this is the right stage in my life for a change of scenery, a chance to see things differently. Brazil will surely offer another perspective on life and my home state.

South America seems like a wild place. People seem to think a little less and live a little more - which is the total opposite of my personality. This way of life will hopefully hit me like a cold splash of water in the morning. Wake up!

Besides, it's summer there, the beaches are hot and there's a bikini-clad brasiliera down there that would love for me to be on her volleyball team.

Yeah, but couldn't you just get a summer internship in Slippery Rock, PA or something?

I suppose, but I want to be an outsider for a change. I want to be the ambassador, the foreigner, the funny-looking guy (although in a totally attractive way). These are things you can only experience in another country.

What do they speak down there, Brazilianese or something?

Actually, they speak portuguese, which I studied my first 4 semesters at IU. I'm not saying I'm fluent - heck, I'm not even semi-fluent. If you could equate fluency in a langauage to chiseling a wooden figurine, my wooden figurine would resemble an amorphous block of wood today. I'm going to have it rough at first.

Does living in a city of 11,000,000 intimidate you?

That is a large number, isn't it? I've never lived in a city, so right now it does seem a little intimidating - especially since Sao Paulo is the third-largest city in the world. I'll bet it will be completely different from the small town lifestyle of home. Not even college will have prepared me for this. But luckily, I'm not alone.

I'll be living with meu amigo, Paulo. He knows the ropes. He'll make sure my shoes are tied when I'm going out, and that I don't signal to anyone that I'm OK (a very offensive gesture in Brazil). I've got help.

What are you going to be doing down there anyway?

Well, I'll be a full-time student at the Universidade de Sao Paulo Catolica studying Portuguese and Brazilian culture - hopefully something journalism-related, too. From what Paulo tells me, it's a very prestigious university. I guess I should feel privileged to be attending such a good school, but today I'm more concerned with conjugating verbs correctly.

Aren't you going to miss things from home while you're gone?

Probably. Hopefully.

I already wrote a little about that in the Indiana Daily Student, but I won't really know what I am going to miss until the moment arrives. That's one thing I'm looking forward to: developing an appreciation (or aversion) for the way we do things here in the United States. It really is a perspective you can only develop outside of your native country.

Are these contrived Q & A sessions going to be a regular staple of this blog?

Probably not. There's a chance it may lead to some kind of multiple personality disorder or something. Besides, it's kinda creepy.

Any last thoughts?

I'm going to reference my favorite Estonian, Indrek Park, here. He once told me, "I think everyone should travel the world when they are young. It gives you ideas for your own life."

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Got Milk?


Welcome to Tall Glass of Milk, the blog that aspires to provide content as good to the mind as milk is to the body. (It's also managed by a 6' 5'' white guy, me.) The primary reason for starting this blog is that I will be traveling to Sao Paulo, Brazil in exactly 11 days to sudy at Sao Paulo University next semester.

Growing up in Indiana my entire life, I'm sure I will encounter many new and interesting things while abroad. That's where this blog comes into play. In this space, I hope to document my experiences in Brazil, the things I find amusing, the things I find confusing, the things I can't even begin to imagine today.

If you feel so moved, let me know what you think about my musings. I'd love feedback.