Halloween In Rio de Janeiro

It's Halloween in Rio de Janeiro, but not really Halloween, no little kids running around with undersized costumes and make up ringing your doorbell in hopes of getting the good candy, not the cheap hard candy or carmel covered apples--the Snickers or the Baby Ruth's. There are no horror films in the background, nor the smell of pumkin spiced tea.

With this being said, I am still bound to have a good day. I am sitting in my apartment in Rio de Janeiro drinking English breakfast tea out of a mug that reads "I'd Rather Be Drinking Champagne" and watching Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang, at least a little murder to darken my afternoon. I've been in Rio for the past two months trying to finish up my MBA in Management, still have about 4 months to go. Lots of things have happened: 1.) the movie I helped translate English subtitles O Gigante do Papelao has won two best picture awards abroad, 2.) I've started taking classes in Barra, which is about one hour from where I live, 3.) I'm starting to help as a photo assistant periodically, mainly with lighting and keeping an eye on the photographer's equipment, 4.) my Portuguese is getting better, 5.) I'm learning how to dance ballroom forro and samba finally, 5.) I've been practing guitar and piano, learning how to read music--still not very good, 6.) just hanging out and trying to enjoy life.

Coincidentally, Brazil's election for President and State Governors is today on Halloween, so everyone is out compulsorily voting. It's not like in the US where you have the choice to vote, they can vote null, but have to show up at the ballots or have a convincing discuse why they could not vote in the election, like in the hospital or traveling abroad. My opinion, the Lula backed Dilma Rousseffi will become the first woman president of Brazil, not sure if that's a good or bad thing...

Leather Boots Kickin' Around Nebraska

It's interesting how when most people travel they look for the familiar and stick to it--I am the same--currently I am in a small town in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, population about 179,000ish, small. I feel like such a lame hypocrite as I complain about how Wal-Mart is the devil of America, while I ask my front desk attendant where the Starbucks is in town. The familiarity of the soft guitar melodies being strummed with someone quietly accompanying vocally is something that I don't like to lack in my life. She responded that there was no Starbucks--my GPS had lied to me. There had been one and it went out of business. Apparently sitting and sipping on a hot cafe Americano isn't the thing to do in Scottsbluff, NE, I thought.

This land of fast food franchises in America has spread like a malignant disease--as I drive down the main food drive, 27th St.; I am thinking to myself, how do they eat this shit every day? Apparently they don't love food here, but their waists don't reflect that much. For lunch I made my way to Taco del Oro--a little locally owned taco shop--and ordered a soft taco that my very Anglo-Saxon mom could've made with much ease, but what made me happy was that it was a local joint doing such a great business. So many times in these little towns the major franchises take precedence over the locally owned businesses--where typically the ingredients are fresher and much better for you. This forunately got my spirits up a little higher than they were previously. I'm not sure about anyone else out there, but I judge a place always by the food, music, and its people--the same goes for restaurants. You can tell a lot about a person by what they eat, the type of things they put into their bodies and where they frequent. I digress.

Getting back to the point, the familiarity of a cafe provides the comfort and type of atsmosphere that makes me feel pleased in any location throughout the world. It's interesting how I am sitting in Scottsbluff writing this post and by the looks of this place I could be anywhere in the world. I should be trying out the steak houses, but I am drawn to familiarity, what I like. 

By the way, I did find an incredible restaurant called "Paradise" that reads from the road "Paradise Tanning, Carwash, German, Cocktail, Diner"--amazing right! Marketing completely confusing when you drive by, but I was bound and determined to find good food here and did. So basically, I could go tanning, wash my car, eat a good meal and then have a cocktail all in one place, astonishing!

Inspiration

LINCOLN, Nebraska--I'm on the road again... Last night, I went to see "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson and got inspired to finish my book. I love the way he wrote without worrying if the public would find the explicit sex scenes too much to digest. It's been about a month since I last touched my attempted book; however, the last scene I had finished writing before writer's block ensued was a very explicit sex scene in the bathroom of a restaurant. I had toyed with the idea of taking it out, thinking that it was too heavy for the book, but after seeing "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and starting the second book of the trilogy, "The Girl Who Played With Fire," I decided to leave it happily. =)

From Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro to Kansas City

I'm back home, in Kansas City, for the summer to work and to spend a little time with my family before heading back to Brazil to finish up my degree. It's difficult to be home after having such an incredible journey in Brazil and Argentina without missing my life in South America and my lifestyle while living there. I realized I was really back in the States when I went to Mimi's Cafe and tried to order freshly squeezed orange juice to no avail. Apparently the "freshly squeezed" orange juice there was from a box. Hum... However, on a very positive note, my shower has just the right pressure and temperature, not sculding hot and then freezing cold leaving only 5 secs to tactfully catch the perfect temperature for a shower. It's nice to see my family and eat my mom's homemade lasagna again.

Buenos Aires two weeks before coming home was delightful and merits its own post. So, I will wait to give the details of my trip for a later time.

A funny story that happened right as I was leaving for Buenos Aires at the airport. The customs officer noticed that I hadn't registered my student visa with the federal police in Brazil. Of course, I was completely surprised and confused because I didn't know that I had to do that, as I am the only foreigner in my program and my coordinator hadn't mentioned it. With luck, he let me pass and I spent my entire trip in Argentina worried about getting back into the country. I thought I would turn into Tom Hanks and live in the airport for a week until I sorted out my visa. When I got to the airport again to enter Brazil, I walked up to the customs officer with the biggest smile on my face and hoping to God that she wouldn't say anything about my visa not being registered. She fiddled with my passport for a few minutes and couldn't find my information in the system. Then asked me if it was my first student visa, to which I responded, "no, I also studied at PUC." That pleased her, and she stamped my passport and told me to have a good night, not really finding my visa in the system or caring to bother with it since this was my second visa. Yeah! I entered with no problem ready to go the the federal police to pay the maxium fine of r$800 for not registering my visa within 30 days of entering the country that next day.

The next day at the federal police, of course at the airport really far from my apartment, I had the pleasure of running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get everything sorted out. The first lady that "helped" me didn't want to even give me the time of day. When I arrived after waiting in line for two hours, she said, "You have nothing done," handed me list and walked away with me still sitting at her desk for lunch. Great customer service. Fortunately, there was a really nice attendant next to her and she helped me out with everything that I needed to do in order to register my visa. Long-story-short, two days of the federal police and a mountain of paperwork later, I didn't have to pay the r$800 because when I entered the country in September, no one had stamped my passport, so they couldn't legally make me pay a fine when my date of entrance was just 2 days old from my Argentina trip. I'm sooooo happy I went to Argentina and that I didn't have to pay that ridiculous fine. Thank you customs officer that forgot to stamp my passport!

Em fim, estou com saudades do Brasil!

Buenos Aires, Here I Come!

Today is a glorious day.  I went to the travel agency and finalized my trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina. This is a dream come true for me. While at university I studied Spanish and Japanese in tandem and got the opportunity to visit Japan, but never to visit a Spanish speaking country. Let me make myself clear, an offical Spanish speaking country, as everywhere in the US now is bilingual for Spanish speakers. Not only is Argentina a Spanish speaking country, it is the Paris of South America without the expense of the Euro--fabulous!

Now, the task at hand is the come up with a plan of what spots to visit and what foods to try. I usually judge a country and culture by its food, music, and people, so I am guessing that Argentina will be a new love of mine. The next task will be: remembering Spanish. Yes, I live in Brazil. No, they don't speak Spanish here--it's Portuguese, just for clarification purposes. You're welcome all Brazilians that are tired to death of explaining that the official language of Brazil is Portuguese, not Spanish. With that being said, Spanish and Portuguese are very similar and if you speak one of them, it will be easier for you to learn the other: Latin roots. My Spanish used to be decent, but now after living in Brazil for so long, I have acquired a Brazilian accent when I attempt to speak Spanish. This should be interesting for all parties involved, as I will be mixing Portuguese and Spanish unwittly. Da licenca, eu me gustaria comprar isto!  I can only imagine...

I've even purchased a tango show at Senor Tango! So incredibly excited. I took free tango classes at uni taught by one of the Spanish teachers and came to the conclusion that I am a horrible ballroom dancer for the following reason: I hate to be led. I'll fight it every time. This intuition makes me the worst tango partner in the world; however, I love watching it. It is so passionate and sexy, I can't get enough. Argentina, here I come!

If anyone has any suggestions, please leave a comment... :)

Sex Shop Survey

As many know, I am in Brazil doing my MBA and part of my MBA is a final project. The project is: a viable business plan that includes all aspects of our chosen business in vivid detail. We had many ideas bouncing around the table from, an after-hours hair salon, pet daycare, indoor snowboarding, a gay bar, and many more out-of-the-box business ideas; however, the victor for my group was, drum roll please......... an ONLINE SEX SHOP!

Yes, that was our selection. In all of our research, we couldn't find a decent Brazilian online sex shop that wasn't completely tacky or a pain to navagate. We are purposing an online sex shop that is easily navigable, visually inviting, competatively priced (for the Brazilian market), auxiliary services, quality products, and paradimigmatic customer service. To impart this, we had to spend one Saturday visiting local sex shops in the area and interviewing the owners and workers to find out the nitty gritty about our new endeavour. What we concluded was: An online sex shop is a lucrative opportunity in the industry of sex--sex sells!

My group is still in the early stages of the project and we need your help to fill out a consumer survey reguarding erotic purchases and online buying habits. Please, if you speak Portuguese take this survey and give us your feedback or suggestions for this venture. The link is: SEX SHOP SURVEY.  The survey is completely anonymous and will take only two minutes of your day.

Thanks for the support and yes, I am in the pic above. The little read shorts are quite flattering on my, right?! Just joking! I'm in the pink and white. Off to Corporate Finance class!

Oh Japan, I miss you!

I keep running into Japanese people here in Rio--which should be no surprise since Brazil has the largest Japanese immigrant population outside of Japan itself. The largest cluster is in Sao Paulo and the state of Parana, but there are still some in Rio de Janeiro also. According to Wikipedia, there are over 1.5 million Japanese decent Brazilians  living in Brazil. A century ago the Japanese and Brazilian governments signed a treaty enabling Japanese to migrate to Brazil and occupy coffee plantation jobs. I find it incredibly interesting how the Japanese have assimilated into Brazilian society so well, because the cultures couldn't be anymore different.

For about five years of my life Japan was one of the most influencial countries in my life. My family hosted three Japanese exchange students, I studied Japanese at university and got an Asian Studies minor, visited my foreign exchange sisters in Kyoto, Tokyo, and Okinawa one summer, and went on to studying in Japan for one memorable semester in Osaka. But as life happens, I have lost touch in Japanese culture. Many of my friends in the past were Japanese, but over time people get busy and form new lives and connections. I started studying Portuguese and moved to Brazil to do an exchange program at PUC Rio, after that began working for the government, then now I'm back in Brazil doing my MBA, the inevitable changes of life. But with new life, you can't forget your past and the fabulous experiences you had. The moral to this rambling is: I have started studying Japanese again and realized that I really miss Japanese culture and that I am a hybrid. I am an American that has spent over a decade influenced by cultures outside of my own heavily and that makes me a hybrid that cannot only survive with one culture, one set of beliefs, and one culture of customs. This is impossible for anyone that has lived interculturally for long enough, we become culturally confused, but it's a good confusion.

Today I am a guest columnist at the blog: The Art Reference. I decided to write about one of my favorite fashion trends in Japan while I was there, Visual Kei. I remember daily being visually bombarded with crazy outfit pairings of high heals with baggy cut up jeans, a rainbow of colors, mismatched accompaniments, Baby Lolitas, Ganagurus, dread locks, EnRish phrases on T-shirts, and everything in between. When I went back to the United States, I was so bored with the fashion there in comparision to Japanese fashion. If someone reading this post has never been to Japan, I highly, highly recommend visiting.

Please check out my article on Japanese rock's influence on Japanese fashion: Visual Kei.  次回まで...