Saturday Night Club

My first night club in Brasil and we had a great time.  A school that I work for had their 1^st Anniversary party and we were their guests.  The charge at the front door on a regular night is between R$25-$60 and then drinks.  We had an open bar until 2am.  The night clubs here really get going at about 12:30am and the people go home around 6am.  Brazilians party late and for a long time.  Rodrigo and I had such a good time we stayed out until 2:30am and then went home and watched Parks and Recreation.  We danced a little, and it had been so long since we had moved our bodies it seems.  I noticed that no one was really dancing; they just stood on the dance floor, texted, talked, laughed and moved ever so slightly.  The people that I met were really nice and everyone was having a great time. 

I watched the people enjoying themselves, it was just like being at home and the music was great.  Music here in Brasil is just like the 90’s in America.  The cover songs played were from the 90’s and the sound of Brazilian music mimics the era as well.  Not too hard not too soft and lots of good old American Rock n Roll.  Once they played the Spin-doctors and my friend Addisun who is 21 said “my parents used to play this all of the time when I was 3 or 4” Scratch… Um…I used to listen to this music and I started to count backwards about 15-17 years.  What a delight it was to hear all of those songs again as I remembered school dances.  It was like going to Alaska in 98’ because the music there was about 10years behind from the lower 48 as well.  It took me back replaying those memories and even better, I knew almost every song.  So, anyway it was a perfect night with a perfect ending which was Rodrigo and I sitting on the couch watching TV and laughing.  Now we are headed to pick up the kids and have a Churrasco with the family… as today is Dia dos Pais  (father’s day in Brasil). 

American Wthdrawl

Truth is when my thoughts travel, all I think about is enjoying myself at the pool in Las Vegas sipping on a Bloody Mary and Shopping for the kids. I am having major American withdrawals right now.   I am sure this is part of my process but right now things are pretty intense.  I am constantly dissecting the effects of living abroad and how the culture is affecting me.  I am asking questions that are untangling webs of old thoughts and then tangling me up in new thoughts and sometimes ones that I am not ready to face.  For instance, the world…I see and understand the global empire that is happening everywhere in the world.  I am not too sure Americans are aware of the rest of the world.  The Multi-National Companies are business as usual in most countries, sometimes I think it was me who was small minded.  This connection to the world doesn’t let me escape.  
I ache at times to go back to my home, full of comfortable things and comfortable ideas of how life should be.  The truth is… we were lucky because a catalog lifestyle doesn’t exist in most other places especially for the majority of people.  You want to think everyone is living the dream because you perceive yourself to be, but it is just not true.   We want to think we are culturally aware because America is a melting pot but we are starting to have little tolerance for foreigners and around the world, people are learning 1-2 other languages to be a part of Global business.  Americans are good people, they are honest, they are innovative & they work hard, they want a better life for their children and they respect one another; this I believe is our greatest gift to humanity and our biggest accomplishment.

I always talk about being united and now I know why… Remember when I said that only in America can we see our differences?  Well, what I know now is that globally all Americans are the same; we are only a country full of American Generalizations.  We see ourselves as individuals but really in comparing culture, we handle crisis the same way, love our families the same way, love our god the same way… what I am saying is that I just fought against Conservatives/Tea Party people for 5 days for entertainment and because I believe in my cause however in a fight or at a friend’s wedding you are my brothers & sisters.  On a grand scale…these little tit for tat things mean absolutely nothing because if America fails or falls we fail or fall together; details and finger pointing aside, no one else is going to care.  Or as my sister always says so comfortably "what ever happens is going to happen and fighting about it isn't going to change anything", I guess I still feel like I can change the world, and this is becoming a heavy burdon.  As individual as each one of us perceives ourselves to be, globally we are one... Americans; like organs in the same body relying on each other to survive.   

Self-Help

I am going crazy these days…. Again.  I can't get enough focus  to write as I am spending a lot of time listening to self help books when I have a moment to think  or not to think.  Living in a Foreign country really wakes a person up, right now I am asking how do I cope and more improtantly... what really matters?

Wherever you go… there you are...

 I have tons to say but all of my new thoughts are going to take hours to put on paper and tonight I want to listen to American Politics.  So, I will just tell you what a typical day is like for me here in Brasil?  

Monday through Friday….

I wake up at 5:30, it takes me about 20 minutes to get dressed as I take a shower the night before.  I then go down stairs and make my coffee and sit by the computer for 30 minutes… I prepare my day, goof around on the internet, listen to politics, or create my conversation classes.  Sometimes I think this is the best part of my day.   

I then set off for class at 6:20… When I get to the school, I am greeted by Adilson.  He is a car watcher who has had a really hard life.  I don’t give him money all of the time, because I park there 2 times during the day.  He has slurred speech as I am thinking that he also has a disease like Muscular Sclerosis and a probable alcoholic.   He tries to talk in English though I can’t really make out what he is saying.   Sometimes I get frustrated with him following me around, but I have issues with beggars I guess.  I'm American...I like to give money away but I do not like being asked for it everyday… makes sense right? 

Sometimes he parks people really close to me so that he will have to help me move my car and so that I will give him some change.  I have been thinking lately that driving the extra ¾ circle might be the best option for me to avoid dealing with him every morning.  Many times when I arrive he opens my back door because it has a seal that is broken and looks ajar.  He also always taps on my glass as I am driving off too as he tries to help me out of a space that is completely free of cars at either end.   I know he wants to provide a service to me, but I just dont see the value in the service that he is offering thats all.

Ok, then I tech my 2 classes usually and then head home to find Gabi waiting for me.  Sometimes she will slide open the front window and yell outside or I will see her riding her tricycle towards the gates.   Today she was riding holding a bag in her hand full of random things and her babies.  She is so funny. 

Then I go inside and have my breakfast.  This time I make coffee with milk and sugar along with that I eat a piece of bread with a cheese spread and sit to check my email.  Soon, I am up washing and hanging clothes to dry and cleaning the dishes.  I will take a shower and get Gabi ready to walk to pick up Ben from school at 11:15 am. 

When we get to Ben, we are usually late because Gabi walks very SL O W.  Ben runs out and then he runs to the Tree beside the school to climb for a minute or two.  When I can convince the kids to carry on we head for home.  Usually I give them each 5 centavos so that they can choose a piece a gum from the corner market when we get home.  When we are home, Ben plays a game on the Computer and Gabi…well usually creates a mess.  She likes to wash her bike, to get into anything dangerous, put her hands in the grill, wash the refrigerator, ride her bike through water, and her favorite washing the dishes while I start to make lunch.  Sometimes I just put her in the shower downstairs so that she can mess around while I make dinner.  I give her a sponge and soap and let her go at it.   

We then have a huge lunch and take a nap.  Brazilian lunch is the biggest meal of the day.  We may go to the park when we wake up if there is time.  Then the kids go to the babysitter and Rodrigo and I go to work till about 8:30, dinner and then kids sleep. 

So, then I do my blog usually and listen to American Politics.  You see there is plenty of time to focus on the things that I love from here.  It sounds like a dream living in a Tropical country but wherever you go… there you are.  Don’t get me wrong, everything is so so different but life is the same and so is the life in a foreign country, I just have different conversations.  The hardest thing for me to comprehend was that was I am not on Vacation in a foreign country… I live here.   So, that is that and now I wait for the wonderful summer and frequent trips to the ocean.  This is when it gets tropical again for my family.