Sociedade Benefeitora Jaguare

After giving a presentation to the Rotary Club of Sao Paulo Jaguare I had the privilege of visiting a school the club is associated with. The school is located next to a poor community and serves the children who live there. In 2008 1,117 students attended the school but certainly much more would have liked to. The school currently has over 300 names on a waiting list. The opportunity to study at the school is highly sought after because 100% of students obtain jobs when they leave the school at typically age 17.

While the younger students study traditional subjects, older students receive technical training. The school offers a program in Mechanics that teaches the students how to create and read technical drawings. It also has a small shop with machines where the students actually practice using machinery. Another track offers classes focused in business skills such as typing, the use of Microsoft office, business administration and computer programming. Students are also able to select from electives such as dance and Capoeira.

The school provides additional important education the children do not necessarily get at home. For example, the children are taught the importance of eating vegetables and maintain a garden at the school. In the cafeteria, where the children are provided with free meals, I saw a sign reminding them to throw their trash in a garbage can. Throwing trash in a garbage can is not as much a part of Brazilian culture as it is American. For health reasons, it is important that the school teach the children the importance of putting garbage in a trash can and not in the street. A dentist volunteers at the school twice a week providing the students with dental care.

Keeping the school running is the effort of numerous groups and individuals. The Benefeitora Jaguare (a group of donors) provides a large portion of the funds needed. Other funds come from the government, the Rotary Club of Sao Paulo Jaguare, businesses, and individuals. However, the school has various projects to improve the school that require funding and, as mentioned before, a waiting list of children who want the opportunity to learn. Projects requiring funding include additional machines for the mechanics program, additional covering for uncovered parts of the school (it rains frequently in the summer), and a makeover of the auditorium’s roof. The auditorium, which is utilized for various classes and activities often at the same time, has a metal roof. During Sao Pualo’s hot summer months temperatures get very high inside and when it rains the noise is extremely loud.

I am hoping to begin volunteering at the school soon. It is a great opportunity to get to know children and young people here in Brazil . It is also a great way to work towards the goal of my scholarship and provide exposure to the American culture that this group of young people might not otherwise get.

Rotary Club of Jaguare

I gave my first presentation in Portuguese this week to the Rotary Club of Sao Paulo Jaguare. The picture to the left includes members of the club. To the far right is Mario, a Rotarian who continue to help me A LOT. Next to him is the President of the club, Wagner. The picture on the right is of myself with my councelor, Mara.

“Complicado”

A word used here frequently is “complicado.” As an American experiencing life in South America this word really hits home. It is an adjective used to describe something “complicated” or “difficult”. My life here is “complicado” that’s for sure. First of all I have the language barrier going against me. If it wasn’t for years of studying Spanish and Portuguese and Brazilian’s “carinhoso” nature I don’t know how I would make it through the day.

I will provide an example of obtaining texts for my homework. Here in Brazil students do not use one fat textbook per class like we do in the U.S. In several of my classes the professors use several books that are not cheap. Many of them happen to be American and are not nearly as expensive to purchase in the U.S. But, since I am on a different continent that is not really working in my favor right now. To save money, most students do not buy the books. The library has some but you can imagine that once a text is assigned that book tends to disappear from shelf. My experience in Chile has really helped me to adjust here. The idea of obtaining a packet from somewhere outside of the classroom for every homework assignment did not blow my mind.

What did surprise me is that in my school the copy center does not copy books. In Chile and at other schools here, teachers leave material in the copy center and students buy a copy at the copy center. In Chile, the main problem was actually catching the copy center open. Here somehow getting my hands on at least five different texts a week can be overwhelming. Sometimes I check the book out from the library; sometimes it is not in the library and the teacher leaves material in the copy center, sometimes students organize making copies off campus. Again, I am grateful that other students are willing to help me out when they see the lost look on my face.

Every day includes a battle with my desire to complete things in the most efficient way possible. I experienced this inner conflict in Chile as well but as an American I find it to be one of the most challenging things to adapt to. At the end of the day I try to remind myself that for a person living in Sao Paulo, who doesn’t know the transportation system, or many of the processes and is still learning the language, I accomplished a lot. Even if all I really did was go to school and get one other thing done in the afternoon.

Brazilians themselves are often frustrated that things are “complicado.” When I told the owner of my hotel that I still had not found an apartment after being here for a month he replied “e complicado.” He told me that people from worse places should come to Sao Paulo; not people from better places. He has mentioned to me before that he does not like Sao Paulo.

Brazilians are "carinhosos"

Brazilians describe themselves as “carinhosos” (warm/loving) and I very much agree; even here in Sao Pualo where the big city culture is very prevalent. Since I arrived in Sao Paulo, my experience has been that, in general, people are very helpful. Contrary to what people in Rio said about “Paulistas” (people from Sao Paulo). There is a very strong rivalry between the two cities. At school students help me to obtain texts for class and even let me use their internet password so that I can actually use the internet! The willingness to help has also been very important when I get lost, which is not an unusual occurrence. Now this is obviously less helpful when the person has no idea what they are talking about or enjoys the idea of sending the poor foreigner in the wrong direction. But I am not alone when it comes to getting lost in Sao Paulo. ALL THE TIME, as I walk through the streets, I see someone asking for directions.

One of the gestures that I have noticed different from the US that demonstrate the “carinhoso” character of Brazilians includes physical touch. For example, people here hold hands more. I notice this often when people are at a table they hold hands here more than we do in the US. For example, it is not strange for a father to hold his teenage sons hand or a pair of friends. Another gesture I find more common here is sharing food. People always offer to share their food with me: fellow students offer me part of a sandwich they brought, a woman in the waiting room in the hospital that I did not even know offered me some of her snack.

An Afternoon in a Public Hospital

As mentioned previously, my personal health struggle with my knee does lead to experiences here in Brazil that I might not have otherwise. Last week that experience happened to be an afternoon in a public hospital. I am trying to get treatment here in Sao Paulo to continue my recovery from knee surgery. I have found that actually obtaining the treatment is really taking awhile. A doctor was recommended to me here but once I got to his office he would not do anything without an X-ray and an MRI. I have a very basic international health insurance plan for Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars which does not cover expenses for my knee. Luckily, a Rotarian offered to take me to a public hospital where I could get the tests done for free.

I was told that this hospital was not the “worst” of public hospitals here in Sao Paulo. Being from the desert, I found outside of the hospital pretty and calming because of the beautiful Brazilian foliage. The first thing I noticed upon entering the hospital was a stretcher entering in front of me pushed over a small ledge into the hospital (a small ramp would surely be more comfortable for the person on the stretcher). There was an obvious triage type of area but overall the hospital was not well organized. Additional signage and processes were needed. My inner supply chain nerd was screaming. At the same time, my stomach dropped as I looked around at the facility and the unhappy patients.

I had an “appointment” and was promptly led into the exam area about 3 hours after the appointment…probably not really that bad. The MRI experience was fairly similar to that of the US with additional wait time and marked up equipment. After the MRI we tried to determine the process to get the X-ray done. There was a line of people standing, sitting in wheel chairs, and lying in stretchers outside the X-ray exam room. I get uncomfortable standing in line and I was better off than some of the people standing inline. Anyway, it was apparent that I wanted to be in that line but what the heck was the process? Wondering around the floor I noticed the stains on the walls and missing chunks of vinyl floor. After asking a security guard, then a receptionist we eventually ended up in another reception area where I gave my Brazilian health card. I was told to wait and I would be called.

Since I didn’t understand really what was going on I was very alert. At some point some one announced something that I didn’t understand and a mass of people got up and began to walk down the hall. I assumed we were all making a mad dash for the comfy line. Once everyone got there someone began to shout out names to create the line. At the end, he asked if everyone else was accompanying someone….my name was not announced….back to the reception area as people who had checked in before me took their place in line.

Eventually, by being the squeaky wheel, I skipped to the head of the line and was taken into the X-ray exam room by a guy in a t-shirt. He did not provide any heavy protective vest for me to wear and I would bet anything the table is not cleaned between patients. Yes, the emergency patients are X-rayed in the same room. It was certainly the fastest X-ray I have ever experienced once I actually got in the exam room. The Xray was provided about 15 minutes later but the MRI will not be ready for about 3 weeks.

A Glimpse of Brazilian Culture

Unfortunately since I am still recovering from knee surgery, I have been limited as to the amount of activity I can do here in Rio; however, that limitation has also given me the opportunity to observe Brazilian culture within someones home. Since the woman with whom I am staying often has visitors, I have had the opportunity to meet people of various backgrounds including a lawyer, professor, composer, and police officer.

An important aspect of Brazilian culture is called "jeitinho," which means way or manner. Brazilian jeitinho is essentially how Brazilians get things done. For reasons such as bureaucracy or lack of money it is often more difficult to complete a task here in Brazil. In Brazil, who you know is more important than what you know. Having a friend who can move you to the front of the line so that you do not have to wait five hours is an example of jeitinho. And Brazil does have LONG lines. I have even seen lines coming out of buildings when people return from lunch and need to take the elevator to their office.

I am benefiting from jeitinho because of the very kind woman, Dona Cellcy, with whom I am staying. For example, in order to submit paperwork to the police concerning my student visa, I had to go the the airport, a 30 minute taxi ride away. She called in a favor from a friend of hers to have a woman who provides a car service pick me up and drive me to the airport. The only thing she charged was the cost of parking. Before she arrived Dona Cellcy told me that I was "a friend of her niece." Now as I mentioned, EVERYTHING takes longer here. I, of course, found out that there are several additional things I need to do and then return to the police station 30 minutes away. That may not be the end of the process either.

Dona Cellcy is 70 years old but has quite a bit of energy. She always seems to be cooking, cleaning, or entertaining a visit from one of her many friends. It is apparent that Dona Cellcy often does things for her friends and vice versa. For example, when her friends visit they might fix something in the apartment or bring something for her. It is interesting to see how jeitinho supports older people here in Brazil. Dona Cellcy lives alone and her children are in other cities so these visits are very important.

I have also seen the formality, originating from slavery, that remains in the country. One of the doormen at the apartment building often comes to our apartment. Cellcy provides him with meals and he does small tasks like washing the dishes or taking out the trash. The interesting thing is that he rarely enters into the common area of the apartment. There are two entrances to the apartment, one to the family room and another into the kitchen. When the doorman comes, Dona Cellcy usually tosses him her keys, he unlocks the gate himself, and then enters through the kitchen. He eats at a small table in the kitchen, not the formal dining table, and leaves through the kitchen door. This separation of the worker is not uncommon here.

Something that I find extremely interesting as someone studying the language is the recent changes that were made to the official Portuguese language. At the beginning of this year, changes were made to create consistancy in the Portuguese language across the globe. For example, the ü was eliminated and now is just u. In Portugal they did not use the ü but in Brazil they did. Accent marks were eliminated from a large number of words. Think about the impacts of changing a language overnight on teachers or someone has been spelling a word a certain way for 30 years. Think about the impact on school books.

First week in Rio

Today I completed my first week of classes here in Brazil.

I live in a neighborhood called Flemengo with a woman who rents out three rooms in her apartment. The apartment is on the 12th floor and I can see Cristobal Redentor, the statue of Jesus, from my window...when it isn´t cloudy. The other two rooms are rented by other students of the language school. Right now a girl from Venezuela and a girl from France are also staying there. Living with students from other parts of the world gives me the opportunity to practice speaking Portuguese, as well as, learn about other countries. I especially enjoyed speaking to my friend from Venezuela about politics.

I was rather nervous about the route to school the first day because I knew to take a certain bus until a certain church and then turn right when I got to the street the school is on. Since I arrived on Sunday and it is better to avoid downtown on the weekends, I did not practice going to school. Fortunately, the girl from Venezuela went to school with me so we could figure it out together. To return home from school I usually take the metro. Learning how to get around town is always one of the more challenging aspects of moving to a new city, especially when directions are delivered in a foreign language.

I have had the opportunity to try numerous Brazilian foods already. When I arrived on Sunday, I had Mandioca (yucca) fried like potatoes. It looks just like french fries but is less soggy. Fresh fruit juice is also very common here in Brazil. I enjoy that it is often made without added sugar. Yesterday I bought acai. I have seen it in the health stores in the US but here in Brazil it is better. I think they put quite a bit of sugar in it. A common way to eat it is with granola and banana.

I usually have lunch with other students at what is similar to a buffet; however, here the weight of your food determines the amount of money you pay. Its not the all you can eat American style. They are very common in Brazil.

Although the continuous use of another language is exhausting and can be frustrating, I am enjoying the challenge.