I am in Florianópolis agora mesmo... as we speak or read or type or whatever.
I am living in a house that is straight out of a Pottery Barn catalogue.
There are:
A lake in the front yard.
An Atlantic ocean in the back yard.
Two very large grassy yards.
Two very large German Shepard watch dogs.
Alright. Thats all for now. More later. Tchauzinho....
Monday, December 28, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
First Impressions and a little context
I wanted to give you all my first impression comparisons of Sao Paulo with Lima.
Sao Paulo is clean and orderly. This city has a lot of money. You can drink water from the faucet. People obey the traffic lights. The sky is sunny. Im not getting suffocated by pollution. When we drive through the city, there are nice, new shiny cars. The buses are also shiny and new. People are not honking their horns all the time.
In Lima, the opposite of all of the above is generally true, depending on where you are.
Also, one really special thing about Lima is that you can pretty much get all of your products and documents as knock-offs or pirated goods or fake copies. Easily. without looking very far.
For example(s):
-You always need to check your bills and your coins because there is a very probable chance that it will be fake. Ive gotten fake money before. They do a pretty impressive job though.
-There is a street in the center of Lima called Azangarro where they replicate pretty much anythinng you want done- graduation certificates, identification cards, official letters, whatever. I already have plans of what documents I want fabricated.
- There is a place called La Cachina, like organized buildings, filled with stolen and second-hand goods: clothes, camping and hiking gear, cell-phones, laptops, iPods, shoes, everything. Ive been there. I bought a backpack.
As of right now, it seems like the easy access to a market like the one in Lima is just not as available or as necessary for a lot of the residents here. Because these people have money. But, when I make my final assessment of the black market situation, Ill let you all know.
Now for the context.
Im staying at my friend Mariah's dad's and stepmom's house in Sao Paulo. Mariah goes to school in Madison and was in Lima studying at La Catolica with me. Mariah's dad is a Brazilian who has lived in Sao Paulo for the last 20 some years. Next Monday we are going to Florianópolis to stay on the beach with the family of Mariah´s stepmom for a little more than a week. After that I will be venturing up to Bahia to spend the rest of my time here until I head back to Peru.
Also, when I come back, I hope to have a very very impressive collection of Brazilian music from Mariah's dad, who has one of my favorite music collections Ive ever seen.
Sao Paulo is clean and orderly. This city has a lot of money. You can drink water from the faucet. People obey the traffic lights. The sky is sunny. Im not getting suffocated by pollution. When we drive through the city, there are nice, new shiny cars. The buses are also shiny and new. People are not honking their horns all the time.
In Lima, the opposite of all of the above is generally true, depending on where you are.
Also, one really special thing about Lima is that you can pretty much get all of your products and documents as knock-offs or pirated goods or fake copies. Easily. without looking very far.
For example(s):
-You always need to check your bills and your coins because there is a very probable chance that it will be fake. Ive gotten fake money before. They do a pretty impressive job though.
-There is a street in the center of Lima called Azangarro where they replicate pretty much anythinng you want done- graduation certificates, identification cards, official letters, whatever. I already have plans of what documents I want fabricated.
- There is a place called La Cachina, like organized buildings, filled with stolen and second-hand goods: clothes, camping and hiking gear, cell-phones, laptops, iPods, shoes, everything. Ive been there. I bought a backpack.
As of right now, it seems like the easy access to a market like the one in Lima is just not as available or as necessary for a lot of the residents here. Because these people have money. But, when I make my final assessment of the black market situation, Ill let you all know.
Now for the context.
Im staying at my friend Mariah's dad's and stepmom's house in Sao Paulo. Mariah goes to school in Madison and was in Lima studying at La Catolica with me. Mariah's dad is a Brazilian who has lived in Sao Paulo for the last 20 some years. Next Monday we are going to Florianópolis to stay on the beach with the family of Mariah´s stepmom for a little more than a week. After that I will be venturing up to Bahia to spend the rest of my time here until I head back to Peru.
Also, when I come back, I hope to have a very very impressive collection of Brazilian music from Mariah's dad, who has one of my favorite music collections Ive ever seen.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
"Llora llora cagon, llora llora cagon...
...llora concha tu madre que nunca vas a salir campeon."
Those are the rather inappropriate words to one of my favorite songs we got to sing in la trinchera norte (the section where all the sketch-ball uber intense fans of La U sit) last Sunday during the championship game.
Here's the website: www.trincheranorte.com
And guess what? La U won. we won! But you know what? Somebody said to me the other day (a Brazilian), said he didn't like Peruvian soccer that much because the play so crazy and disorganized. And after seeing this last game, I would really have to agree. I felt like they were just running around the field playing some sloppy sloppy soccer. But it was cool. And I had a lot of fun. And I learned in what contexts it's appropriate to use the insult "concha tu madre"
Speaking of which, I have another story.
This morning, I went to Miraflores to say goodbye to my friend Nina who is traveling and will be gone by the time I leave for Brazil. So, there she- tall and blonde and very fair skinned- and I-very gringa- were walking down the street to go and get some breakfast. And it was apparently a bad day in terms of unwanted Peruvian attention because, by the time we had walked to and almost back from breakfast, at least 4 guys and had made some type of stupid comment. Well, I was really tired (as in I hadny slept very much) and I says to Nina:
"The next guy that says something, I'm gonna walk up to him, and I'm gonna kill him, I swear to God."
Well Nina didn't believe me, but sure enough, 2 minutes later, one of the dudes in a combi a cobrador, says something like "wowwwww........." as we walked past. And, although I didn't kill him, I gave him the finger. And then when he was like, "Oh yeah, me gusta." And so I was like, "huevon!" which is another insult. and then when he kept on with his nonsense, I screamed at him "concha tu madre!" which is, as I said, a rather strong and offensive insult, and with that, everyone who was there on the street turned their heads and looked at me, and the combi drove away, and I continued walking in the other direction. And that was it.
Thankfully, I am in Sao Paulo right now. Brazil. And here, there are black people and white people and morenos and blonde people with dark brown eyes and dark haired people with light green eyes. Which means, I dont immediately look like a gringa. And therefore, I dont feel like a mutant while Im here. Which is one of the most wonderful feelings I have felt in a long time. And people dont pay attention to me at all... it is fabulous. And so is the sun here.
In a week, I will be going to the beach in the South for a week. to Florinapolis. I believe it will be magical. Even more magical than Sao Paulo.
Those are the rather inappropriate words to one of my favorite songs we got to sing in la trinchera norte (the section where all the sketch-ball uber intense fans of La U sit) last Sunday during the championship game.
Here's the website: www.trincheranorte.com
And guess what? La U won. we won! But you know what? Somebody said to me the other day (a Brazilian), said he didn't like Peruvian soccer that much because the play so crazy and disorganized. And after seeing this last game, I would really have to agree. I felt like they were just running around the field playing some sloppy sloppy soccer. But it was cool. And I had a lot of fun. And I learned in what contexts it's appropriate to use the insult "concha tu madre"
Speaking of which, I have another story.
This morning, I went to Miraflores to say goodbye to my friend Nina who is traveling and will be gone by the time I leave for Brazil. So, there she- tall and blonde and very fair skinned- and I-very gringa- were walking down the street to go and get some breakfast. And it was apparently a bad day in terms of unwanted Peruvian attention because, by the time we had walked to and almost back from breakfast, at least 4 guys and had made some type of stupid comment. Well, I was really tired (as in I hadny slept very much) and I says to Nina:
"The next guy that says something, I'm gonna walk up to him, and I'm gonna kill him, I swear to God."
Well Nina didn't believe me, but sure enough, 2 minutes later, one of the dudes in a combi a cobrador, says something like "wowwwww........." as we walked past. And, although I didn't kill him, I gave him the finger. And then when he was like, "Oh yeah, me gusta." And so I was like, "huevon!" which is another insult. and then when he kept on with his nonsense, I screamed at him "concha tu madre!" which is, as I said, a rather strong and offensive insult, and with that, everyone who was there on the street turned their heads and looked at me, and the combi drove away, and I continued walking in the other direction. And that was it.
Thankfully, I am in Sao Paulo right now. Brazil. And here, there are black people and white people and morenos and blonde people with dark brown eyes and dark haired people with light green eyes. Which means, I dont immediately look like a gringa. And therefore, I dont feel like a mutant while Im here. Which is one of the most wonderful feelings I have felt in a long time. And people dont pay attention to me at all... it is fabulous. And so is the sun here.
In a week, I will be going to the beach in the South for a week. to Florinapolis. I believe it will be magical. Even more magical than Sao Paulo.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Y dale U!
I'm back with some real stories.
1.
Yesterday I went to my first soccer game ever! And you know which one it was? It was el clasico. It's like the last game of the Peruvian playoffs in soccer. And you wanna know which teams made it? Lima's two biggest teams: La U (Universitario) and Alianza. I belong to La U. Well, me and Coco (a guy, that I am kind of seeing... Coco is the nickname for Jorge) went together. The game was in a barrio (neighborhood) called La Victoria, which happens to be a little (a lot) on the sketchy side. Usually, I'm definitely down for going to those places when I'm with Peruvians but this time, I thought to myself: "What am I doing here? I am going to be the onnnnnly gringa in the whole place." And in the section we sat in, I'm pretty sure I was. It was what you would imagine the student section would be where everyone is standing up and most of the people are young and rambunctious.... Except here, everybody tends to be a little more... a little less affluent than the nice white kids you find at Madison football games. And I'm pretty sure the vast majority aren't in college.
But you know what? Nobody, nobody, nobody said a thing to me. Nobody did anything. Because I was with a Peruvian obviously, but it's crazy because when I'm by myself, even in the fancy smancy places like miraflores, guys are always making stupid-ass comments and whistling at me.
Well anyways, the game was great! I got to sing really fun, vulgar songs hating on the other team. And cheer and eat peanuts and stuff. And I got to marvel at the 14,000 officers from the national police force that showed up to take part in the festivities. Yep. 14,500, to be more precise. They decided to come hang out with their riot gear, horses, ak-47s, cars, and tanks because the violence during games like this in the past has been a little out of hand. There were police EVERYWHERE. and they were serious. They did not take any shit from anyone. But everybody was safe and sound at the end of the day- even the gringas! And you know who won? La Uuuuuuuu!
Afterwards me and Coco and his two friends went to Barranco where we bought some rum and coke and had a celebratory drink or 3. And, since you cant really officially drink in public in Barranco, every time the serenazgo (local police of the district) walked past, one of the guys hid the bottle of rum under is jacket. But on 5th time he walked past, he asked to try a sip of our drinks, and when we were found out, one of our friends pulled out the bottle of rum and invited the officer to a celebratory drink for the victory of La U! And I was like "Ok, let's go." And so we left. And that was it. And then I went home. Safe and happy and a real soccer fan.
2.
The day before that, my friend Mathias (who goes to Madison and just finished studying in Chile) stopped by Lima for about 22 hours. It was great! Me and my friend Nina took him all around Lima to everything authentically Peruvian: drink beers while walking around in public, drink Pisco sours in this fancy smancy hotel, ride the combi a WHOLE bunch, eat chifa (Peru's standardized menu of chinese food available everywhere and anywhere), go to Trapiche and drink super strong fruity drinks from the jungle, and dance to cumbia and salsa and reggaeton, and that's it. The next morning, we ate Chicharron (which is some sort of pork product, the social equivalent of what Bacon is for Americans). And then we said goodbye.
One additional fun fact about that story goes like this:
While we were buying Peru's sweetest, most delicious dark beers in a corner store, I ran into a Peruvian that I had met a week back at a Capoeira workshop. The thing is, this Peruvian was only there at the workshop to accompany a blonde, very gringa looking girl (who was actually from Denmark). Well, at that workshop, when I saw him, the first thing I thought was: "Man!That is a brichero if I have ever seen one!" And at the end of the workshop when I struck up a little conversation with the dude, he was like, "So, why don't you give me your number?" And I was like.... "Uhhh.... no."
Anyways, so here we are at the corner store, a week later, and I see this dude and I think to myself, "Oh man! I can't believe I ran into this guy again." And we were talking and he was like, "I'll be down there selling my artesania... you an your friends should come and talk to me." And I agreed and then we parted ways. Well, we went down there (by the ocean, at like 10pm) and I didn't see him.
But we (me mathias and Nina) stopped on a bridge to drink our beers. Little did I know that at the very second the guy from the corner store would approach us, a big band of 20 teenagers were going to come walking by us gringos without any warning. And so, the moral of the story is, this Brichero that I had met a week earlier, that I ran into at a corner store, effectively saved our asses from getting into quite a messy situation in which we would have been f-ed. He was a Peruvian, brichero angel, probably sent from Maria, madre de Dios, que siempre me acompana.
My semester's over. I'm getting my act together. and I leave for Brazil in 10 days. Things are good. And I feel fine. And the next soccer game of the championship is this Sunday.... Dale U!!!
1.
Yesterday I went to my first soccer game ever! And you know which one it was? It was el clasico. It's like the last game of the Peruvian playoffs in soccer. And you wanna know which teams made it? Lima's two biggest teams: La U (Universitario) and Alianza. I belong to La U. Well, me and Coco (a guy, that I am kind of seeing... Coco is the nickname for Jorge) went together. The game was in a barrio (neighborhood) called La Victoria, which happens to be a little (a lot) on the sketchy side. Usually, I'm definitely down for going to those places when I'm with Peruvians but this time, I thought to myself: "What am I doing here? I am going to be the onnnnnly gringa in the whole place." And in the section we sat in, I'm pretty sure I was. It was what you would imagine the student section would be where everyone is standing up and most of the people are young and rambunctious.... Except here, everybody tends to be a little more... a little less affluent than the nice white kids you find at Madison football games. And I'm pretty sure the vast majority aren't in college.
But you know what? Nobody, nobody, nobody said a thing to me. Nobody did anything. Because I was with a Peruvian obviously, but it's crazy because when I'm by myself, even in the fancy smancy places like miraflores, guys are always making stupid-ass comments and whistling at me.
Well anyways, the game was great! I got to sing really fun, vulgar songs hating on the other team. And cheer and eat peanuts and stuff. And I got to marvel at the 14,000 officers from the national police force that showed up to take part in the festivities. Yep. 14,500, to be more precise. They decided to come hang out with their riot gear, horses, ak-47s, cars, and tanks because the violence during games like this in the past has been a little out of hand. There were police EVERYWHERE. and they were serious. They did not take any shit from anyone. But everybody was safe and sound at the end of the day- even the gringas! And you know who won? La Uuuuuuuu!
Afterwards me and Coco and his two friends went to Barranco where we bought some rum and coke and had a celebratory drink or 3. And, since you cant really officially drink in public in Barranco, every time the serenazgo (local police of the district) walked past, one of the guys hid the bottle of rum under is jacket. But on 5th time he walked past, he asked to try a sip of our drinks, and when we were found out, one of our friends pulled out the bottle of rum and invited the officer to a celebratory drink for the victory of La U! And I was like "Ok, let's go." And so we left. And that was it. And then I went home. Safe and happy and a real soccer fan.
2.
The day before that, my friend Mathias (who goes to Madison and just finished studying in Chile) stopped by Lima for about 22 hours. It was great! Me and my friend Nina took him all around Lima to everything authentically Peruvian: drink beers while walking around in public, drink Pisco sours in this fancy smancy hotel, ride the combi a WHOLE bunch, eat chifa (Peru's standardized menu of chinese food available everywhere and anywhere), go to Trapiche and drink super strong fruity drinks from the jungle, and dance to cumbia and salsa and reggaeton, and that's it. The next morning, we ate Chicharron (which is some sort of pork product, the social equivalent of what Bacon is for Americans). And then we said goodbye.
One additional fun fact about that story goes like this:
While we were buying Peru's sweetest, most delicious dark beers in a corner store, I ran into a Peruvian that I had met a week back at a Capoeira workshop. The thing is, this Peruvian was only there at the workshop to accompany a blonde, very gringa looking girl (who was actually from Denmark). Well, at that workshop, when I saw him, the first thing I thought was: "Man!That is a brichero if I have ever seen one!" And at the end of the workshop when I struck up a little conversation with the dude, he was like, "So, why don't you give me your number?" And I was like.... "Uhhh.... no."
Anyways, so here we are at the corner store, a week later, and I see this dude and I think to myself, "Oh man! I can't believe I ran into this guy again." And we were talking and he was like, "I'll be down there selling my artesania... you an your friends should come and talk to me." And I agreed and then we parted ways. Well, we went down there (by the ocean, at like 10pm) and I didn't see him.
But we (me mathias and Nina) stopped on a bridge to drink our beers. Little did I know that at the very second the guy from the corner store would approach us, a big band of 20 teenagers were going to come walking by us gringos without any warning. And so, the moral of the story is, this Brichero that I had met a week earlier, that I ran into at a corner store, effectively saved our asses from getting into quite a messy situation in which we would have been f-ed. He was a Peruvian, brichero angel, probably sent from Maria, madre de Dios, que siempre me acompana.
My semester's over. I'm getting my act together. and I leave for Brazil in 10 days. Things are good. And I feel fine. And the next soccer game of the championship is this Sunday.... Dale U!!!
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