Work Stuff

Bom dia,

On this blog I tend to talk more about my life outside of work than my work-life so I wanted to spend a post to talk more about what I have been doing lately in work so you all have a better idea of what I am actually doing here in Brazil.

First, the city hall.

So as I mentioned in the past, I work for the Secretariat of International Relations for the City of Belo Horizonte.  My role here is a bit confusing but let's just say I am a self-proclaimed "International Ambassador" from the United States for the Improve Your English Program.  Yup, that works. 

I have many hats, so let me touch upon some of the things I have been doing.

Translation 

It is not uncommon for me to receive a confidential document or public form and have to translate it from English to Portuguese or from Portuguese back into English.  I won't go too into detail because of confidentiality concerns but a lot of these tasks involve the food security sector of the city and its relations to other cities abroad, especially Windhoek, Namibia - a major sister-city for us.  I personally found that I enjoy translating documents because it constantly keeps my English and my Portuguese sharp and I am always learning new words and terms from translating by hand.  Because of this co-op, I would definitely consider a job (or coop) that involves translation in the future.  

Speeches 

I work under the specific umbrella of the "Improve Your English" program of the secretariat.  This is a program designed to increase the internationalization of Belo Horizonte by encouraging the spread of English through exchange, awareness, diversification, and formation.  As part of the "awareness" branch of the project, I frequently give speeches at local public schools to children in various age groups about the importance of learning a foreign language (especially English) and I talk about my specific journey with language learning and tell them more about what the United States is like.  This ties in with my love for more social interactions when I work (rather than always sitting behind a desk) and my public speaking (in Portuguese especially) has improved a lot.

Interpreting

A few weeks ago my supervisor and I were orienting a professor of education from the University of Northern Colorado to the public school system and food security programs of Belo Horizonte.  We also showed him some of the cultural wonders of the region.  The professor did not speak Portuguese so I helped often with interpreting the explanations of program workers and tour guides throughout his stay in Brazil.

Phone Calls and Spreadsheets

This is where the basic office skills come in.  On one of my first weeks here at the job, I needed to make over 100 phone calls to municipal schools in the region.  At this point I was terrified of speaking on the phone in Portuguese, but after so many calls, you get used to it.  I have also had to make tons, and tons, and tons of spreadsheets.  And Powerpoint Presentations.  And Word Documents.  Let's just say I've become even more proficient in Microsoft Office than I was when I arrived.

Other

I really do not know if I can fit everything I do into a few nice, little categories because I do so many different things at my job.  I have also been contacting organizations and universities abroad to forge partnerships with the city of Belo Horizonte (such as the United States Embassy) and writing e-mails explaining our program to potential donors.  Interestingly enough, I am now writing a research report on the education system in Brazil which might actually be published.  Oh and it's in Portuguese.

ICBEU?

So yes, like I mentioned earlier, I have two jobs.  I also work at an English school and I hold conversation classes in English a few times a week and also talk about North American culture.  Not only do I really enjoy talking to the many different students who come each day, but I am learning how to view English from the perspective of a second-language speaker and deconstructing the language I learned so innately as a child.  I have had to constantly brainstorm interesting topics to talk about at each class and devise activities and readings for everyone to participate in.  I honestly love teaching others English and I hope to do more work like this in the future.  The students in my class are amazing people (we are all like a giant family at this point) and I always look forward to going back to the school.

Just to show you the character of them, one student, my friend Daniel, took me to a soccer game at a local stadium the weekend of his birthday because he wanted to show me the local pasttime.  Another student, Rosie, baked me some Brazilian bonbons and bought my mom an artesenal gift when she arrived in Belo Horizonte the other week.

I really love both of my positions here in Belo Horizonte and I hope I clarified to you all a little more about what I do!

Inhotim

Hello again everyone,

My mom has unfortunately left Brazil last Friday but there are still some adventures we had that I would like to update you on.

Last week on one of my off days, I had the privilege of showing my mom Inhotim.  Inhotim is this innovative semi-outdoor park and museum.  Let me try my best at explaining it to you because I do not really believe there is anywhere else like it in the world.

My mother and I took an Uber about an hour and a half out of Belo and ended up in the small community of Brumadinho.  Once you first enter, it seems like any other small town in Brazil's countryside.  However, after passing through the residential community, we ended up in a well-kept resort-like neighborhood which houses Inhotim.

We were left at the parking lot by our Uber driver and we stepped quite literally into a tropical jungle oasis.  As we walked along the stone path into the forest, I spotted a sign pointing to the reception - our destination.

We went to the reception and this nice girl, probably in her 20s, introduced us to the park.  She took out a gigantic map which mapped out the many different acres of land covered by Inhotim and highlight the different museums, outdoor art exhibitions, and botanical wonders. In addition to this, there were three classy restaurants scattered across the reserve.

She began to explain how some of the exhibits were too far out of the way and that along our journey, we will find golf cart shuttles that will take us to where we need to go.

Armed with our map and the advice from Marina (The girl behind the counter), my mother and I set off into Inhotim ready to explore.

Before long, we started encountering outdoor exhibitions.  These were works of art, mostly contemporary, that were situated strategically throughout the gardens of Inhotim.  Here is me posing in front of one pretending I am on an album cover or something.

Some other outdoor works of art were Chinese obelisks with ancient legends written on them, an artificial igloo with strobe lights (no idea what this signifies), and ponds filled with large metallic spheres.  It felt like I was in some strange contemporary utopia - in the best sense of the term.  The natural beauty was also unparalleled.

In addition to this, there were indoor art galleries, which we normally had to take golf carts too, that exhibited issues such as Native American realities, prostitution issues in Salvador, and child soldiers.  I was not necessarily expecting such deep and dark artwork to be contrasted with such a bright and green background but it was very eye-opening and artfully constructed.

Once we were leaving the park, we approached Marina again to pay the entrance fee.  We hadn't paid earlier because the credit card machine was not catching a signal (We were far into the boondocks).  It turns out, it still was not taking a signal.  Marina looked at both of us and whispered to me that we would not have to pay because the machine was broken.  I was excited, mostly because the admission to the park isn't necessarily cheap.  Then, well, my mother and I headed back into the city with the park's private driver.

You thought I'd end here, right?

Well I'm going to mention my dinner too, because it was amazing.  My friend Camila and I organized a dinner with my mom at this new hip restaurant called Paris 6 in the trendy neighborhood of Savassi.  We had never gone before but we had always heard great things.  The service ended up being great, the food was rich, and they had an entire menu of more than one hundred dessert items.  Yes.  You heard me.  More than 100.   Here is what we got (not sorry).

It was basically a spin-off on Petit Gateau, which is everywhere here in Brazil.  The change was that, well, this dessert was a lot larger.  Although it was amazing, neither of us could finish it because it was also super rich. However, it must've been one of the greatest desserts I have had since I came to Brazil!  Camila and I are already planning to come back and sample the other 99 desserts.  

Rio de Janeiro

Oi Amigos,

My mom has been here in Brazil with me the past week and I have been taking her around trying to show her the best of what the country has to offer. The first few days consisted of her recuperating from the lengthy trip over (through a hurricane and across a continent) an acclimating to the amazingness that is Brazilian food.  Let's just say she is now addicted to coxinhas and pão de queijo.  

Aside from that, I have been showing her the main sights such as Pampulha (the lake near Belo Horizonte which was recently named a UNESCO World Heritage Site), Inhotim, and Praça da Liberdade.  

However, the main attraction of this post will be our trip to Rio de Janeiro!  I had been dying to go to Rio since the moment I landed in Brazil (and many many years before) but last Wednesday we finally made the hour-long flight over. 

As we descended into Rio on our Gol flight, I legitimately couldn't stop smiling.  Christ the Redeemer was overlooking us in the background and the beautiful Atlantic water was shimmering the reflection of the mountainous landscape around us.  I don't really know if I had ever descended into such a beautiful city before in my life.

On the first day, we relaxed a bit.  Our hotel was in Copacabana, suggested to us by many people who had already been to Rio.  This was the perfect base to depart and see the rest of the city.

I am lucky enough to be blessed with a good friend who is on co-op in Rio, so I ended up meeting her and her work friends on my first day.  We set up camp at Ipanema, one of the two main beaches in the city.  

Here is Elisa to the left of me.  She is an awesome friend who I made back in Boston and is legitimately one of the smartest people I've had the chance to meet since starting college (She speaks like 6 languages no joke).  It was great catching up with her, given that the last time I had seen her was back in Spring semester.  Then to the right is Richard (from Holland), Edu (from Mexico), and Zsófia (from Hungary).   All of them were super nice and it was so great to meet them. 

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On the second day of our Rio trip, my mother and I set forth on an adventure to see all of the main sights of the city.  Well, it was adventurous as you can get in a tour bus.  They had a partnership with our hotel and it came at a pretty reasonable rate - so we took it.  

The first stop on the tour was The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Sebastian, located in the famous Lapa neighborhood of Rio.  I need to be honest, when I first saw the cathedral, I thought it resembled an indigenous temple.  Tell me what you think.  

As an architecture fanatic, I was pretty amazed by the structure of this cathedral.  It was probably the most unique one I had ever visited, given its non-conventional style.  Before I had too much time to enjoy it, we were already off to our next destination, Sugarloaf Mountain.  In Portuguese we say "Pão de Açucar" which literally translates to "sugar bread."  I still do not know why it's called this but the name is pretty hilarious right?

I am not going to lie, this was probably my favorite part of the city.  I cannot even express with words the beauty of this place so I will attempt to express it with photos.  In order to ascend to the heights of this mountain, we took a cable car diagonally from its base.  The panoramic view from the cable car was nothing less of spectacular.

We ended up at the top of this first mountain.  The views seemed like something you could only see in a movie.  Somehow Brazil managed to put a café and some luxury stores up here, but the place definitely still maintains its natural beauty.  As we walked further around the perimeter of this mountain, we realized there was a cable car to an even higher one.  We decided to take it up, and well - the views only got better.

Then here's a photo of me with my freaky cheap sunglasses that I bought who knows where.

Then here's the picture my mother and I took at the top as well (now my cover photo on Facebook).

At this moment we were standing at the top of this mountain, I could not think of anywhere more beautiful I had ever been.  People have always told me that Rio de Janeiro is a magical city, but I never expected it to be this whimsical.  This is not even an exaggeration - and I have lived in Hawaii.  At this point, I happily told my mom I was going to move back to Brazil later in my 20s and I would be living in Rio.  She was definitely happy about this (yeah, no).  

After descending from the peak, we went to a churrascaria for a typical Brazilian lunch.  As most of you know, I am a vegetarian - so that was an adventure.  Brazilian churrascarias are known to be overflowing with meat.  However, there surprisingly was food I could consume and I ate - well - a lot of it.

I probably gained a few kilos from lunch, but whatever.  It was time to head to Christ the Redeemer - the symbol Brazil is most known for.  We drove across the city once more and then took a slow tram up the mountain the Christ is perched atop of.  Note: Pão de Açucar was high, but Christ the Redeemer was MUCH higher.

Here's the view from when we finally reached the top.  That big shadow you see over the city?  That's the shadow from the Christ statue itself.  There were hundreds of people packed onto the top of this tall mountain and it was hard to get a nice picture with the statue, but I managed to snap a pretty rad selfie (now my Facebook profile picture).

It was definitely worth the long tram trip up.  Although the Christ statue was hard to look at (notice the blinding sunlight?) it was amazing just being in its presence.  It was something I had seen in so many pictures, and finally, I was standing right in front of it.  

On the way back down, my mother opted for us to take the escalator to the tram.  I wanted to take the stairs of course and burn all of the calories I had consumed from lunch, but hey, I decided to make the best of the view.

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Our third day in Rio was a day of relaxing.  We were both exhausted from all of the touring on the previous day so we decided to go to some beaches and explore the more commercial district of the city.  My friend Camila suggested that we go to the Arpoador.  This is essentially a giant rock right at the edge of Ipanema beach with amazing panoramic views - best at sunset.  I was impatient though, so we went more around noon-time, but the views did not disappoint.

After climbing rocks and basking in the sunlight, my mother and I walked past Ipanema and towards Leblon, the wealthier and more modern part of the city.  Here we found streets lined with stores (my mom was in her glory) along with trendy restaurants and hundreds of dogs.  I am not kidding about the dogs.  There was one woman who had three gigantic dogs and they followed her into every store.  My mom and I made jokes about it but the lady had the last laugh once our allergies started kicking in.

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Now we have arrived at our last day in Rio.   I decided to organize a tranquil itinerary for us to partake in before heading to our afternoon flight.  Our day started with a trip to the Escadaria Selarón, what I like to call the Brazilian version of the "Spanish Steps."  I've seen these steps in travel photos everywhere and well, I had to get a picture with them.

Who's that guy I'm sitting next to?  Well funny story, I was climbing the steps to see what lay at the top when all of a sudden I heard someone yell "Mike!" in a loud voice.  Yup, my friend Wendel from Belo Horizonte found me here at the staircase.  Just casually.  I made my mom take a picture of us lol.  I am such a difficult son to deal with.

From the staircase, we headed to Museu do Amanhã, "The Museum of Tomorrow."  This is a new museum in Rio which contains rooms and rooms of exhibitions with the theme of our future.  There are some exhibits which illustrate astonishing scientific advances while others show the possible catastrophe if we do not save our planet in the present.  I heard about this museum because a lot of my friends from Belo Horizonte were dying to go and told me all about it.  It sure did not disappoint.

Upon walking out of the museum, my mom and I stumbled into a street fair of classily-presented Brazilian food and artisanal goods.  After sampling some eats and checking out the local artwork, it was off to the airport.

This trip made me realize the greatest difficulty that comes with traveling - when you fall in love with a place and realize you actually want to live there.  I'm not even kidding, Rio was the stuff you find only in dreams.  I know one day my life will take me back to Rio and I am so thankful for all of the wonderful memories I have shared and people I have met while in the cidade maravilhosa. 

My mother has arrived!

Hey everyone,

So I just wanted to update you on the fact that I finally have someone to show around my city.  My mom has finally flown in from Hawai'i!  I hadn't seen her in 5 months, so as you can imagine, I'm super excited to have her here.

She was supposed to arrive on Friday, but she was stuck in Florida during Hurricane Matthew and had to arrive on Saturday instead.  It took a long time for her to arrive but I'm thrilled she finally made it.

On Saturday I let her rest of course (It was a long trip for her to arrive), but on Sunday I began to show her around the city.  Our first stop was Praça da Liberdade.

After showing her my favorite park inside of Belo Horizonte, we had a nice lunch at one of my favorite cafés and then went to Savassi (the "trendy" neighborhood with all of the hip cafés, bars, etc.) and I showed her where I am living.  My mom does not know that while she was caught in Hurricane Matthew, I was rushing to clean up the aftereffects of Hurricane Mike in my room.  Anyone who has a mother knows this feeling I guarantee.

Afterwards, we relaxed a little bit and then I took her to Mirante do Mangabeiras to see the sunset over the city with one of my roommates, Maria.  Here is a quick shot of us with the amazing view.

Then here is a picture of Maria and I with the view.

Lastly, here is all three of us.

And then of course, the view speaks for itself.

Belo Horizonte is a city famous for its high quantity of skyscapers.  This is because the city only has limited room to expand.  Because of this, when the population grows, the city grows vertically instead of horizontally.  

It's also worth noting that Belo Horizonte in English translate to "Beautiful Horizon"  because, well, there are so many places to view the beautiful horizon this city has to offer.

After enjoying the sunset, we all journeyed back into Savassi to one of my favorite restaurants, Cafe com Letras, and caught up for the next few hours over Penna alla Vodka, fruit juices, and some amazing desserts.  Here's snapchat video of the three desserts we ordered.  Warning: It might make your mouth water.

Overall, it was a successful day and there are only tons of adventures yet to come!  I'm excited to take all of you along with us, especially on our trip to Rio starting Wednesday!  

Cultural Differences

Oi Gente!!!!

So as many of you know, this is the first time I have lived in an far-away "unfamiliar" country.  I am not ethnically Brazilian, I did not really know too much Portuguese before arriving here, and I knew absolutely nobody in Belo Horizonte when I arrived.  One of the facets of life in a new country is the existence of cultural differences.  At first they are glaringly obvious, but with time you get used to them and may even start practicing them as first nature.  I wanted to go through some of the ones I experience pretty often here so you all have a better sense of what life is like in Brazil in respect to where you are from.

1)  Personal Hygiene

The other week I gave a speech at the school of medicine at the Federal University of Minas Gerais and when they asked me afterwards what I learned since coming to Brazil, I instantly replied: "Well, I learned to take a shower three times per day!"  The whole room found it hilarious - but there IS a lot of truth to this statement.

Personal hygiene is very important in Brazil.  One way this idea manifests itself is constant showering.  A lot of times when I go to a friend's house, they'll ask immediately if I want to take a shower.  In the United States, I am pretty sure most of us are familiar with the phenomenon of taking only one shower a day (whether it be in the morning or at night).  A lot of Brazilians take multiple showers per day.  For example, one of my friends takes a shower in the morning after waking up, another after coming home from work, and another at night before going to sleep.  This is completely normal here, but most people in the United States would be disgusted and call it a waste of water, am I right?   When I ask my friends here why they do what they do, they usually mention that it's because Brazil is a pretty hot country.

Another way personal hygiene manifests itself is through brushing teeth.  Since coming to Brazil, I have also adopted the practice of brushing my teeth three times a day.  Yes, there are people who do this in the United States, but definitely nowhere near as many as here in Brazil.  A lot of my friends tend to bring tooth brushes to work in order to brush their teeth on their lunch break.  In fact, the other day I was in the library and one of my friends who was studying asked me if I had some spare toothpaste to offer him because he was about to go brush his teeth.  I can't say this has ever happened to me in the United States or in Italy.

2)  Trays 

On my trip when I first came to Brazil in May for a vacation to visit my friend Ricardo in Recife, we ate out quite a few times at mall food courts.  The first time I ate at the mall food court, after I finished my spaghetti from Spoleto (an extremely popular "italian" pasta joint here in Brazil), I got up to bring my tray to the trash can to dispose of its contents like I was used to.  My friend Ricardo stopped me right away.  He told me that it's perfectly fine to leave your tray where it is, people are paid to put them away.  I then looked around and noticed tons of trays just sitting on tables.  For me this was extremely bizarre because in the United States (at least in my experience), leaving a tray somewhere was extremely rude and I would never think of doing that.  

After talking to a lot of my friends here in Belo Horizonte about this, I learned that many people do leave trays on their tables but there are some who also put them away afterwards.  Some of my friends even said that people who do leave their trays on tables are extremely rude and that I should not do that.  However, there are enough people who do leave there trays to the point where it's pretty obvious to note for someone like me.  

3)  Staying at Home

I am going to preface this with the fact that NOT ALL Brazilians do this, but it is a lot more common here in Brazil than it is in the United States.  Like in Italy, a lot of Brazilians tend to live with their parents until they get married.  I tell a lot of my friends here the "North-American" tradition of kicking out your kids when they turn 18 and they think it's purely bizarre.  They also think it's bizarre how normal it can be for us to live so far from our family in the United States.  I remember when I was back in Recife, my friend Ricardo's cousin asked me if I missed my family since I was here so far away in Brazil.  But I told her I do, but again it's pretty normal for us.  In fact, at that moment - I was in Brazil, my sister was in New York, my father was in Hawaii, and my mom was in Florida.  That's a rather extreme example, but you get the point.  

This also leads to some other interesting differences in regards to what people refer to as living.  Whenever people ask me here where I am living, I just reply with my neighborhood here in Belo Horizonte.  Then they ask me, "No, I mean, where are your parents living?"  I mean sure, my parents do live in Hawai'i, but I definitely wouldn't say I'm still living there.  I haven't even been back in almost a year and after college I have no plans to move back.  I attribute this to the fact that for many people here, they maintain the same residence as their parents until they marry.  This question always gets me and now I never really know how to answer.  I say I am from Hawai'i, but I am living here in Brazil.  I mean I do have residency here at the moment.  

4) Juices

Credit: FlavorsOfBrazil

In the United States and in Italy, I never really used to be a big fan of drinking fruit juices.  I would always settle for an iced tea or a water with my meal.  Although juices are gaining more popularity in the United States, I would say in Brazil it's a lot more normalized and engrained into the culture.  For example, a normal restaurant here would have whole menu of juices from lime juice, to guava juice, and even passion fruit juice.  I can't really expect a large array of juices when walking into a Denny's, an iHop, an Olive Garden, or a neighborhood Diner in the United States.  There are so many fruit juices here that I have never even heard of before coming to Brazil like acerola and graviola.  They are also at normal, affordable prices.  Back in Boston, I remember passing a fruit juice stand at the Public Market and they were $5-7 each.  Nowadays, I generally drink açaí juice every morning and I grab a random fruit juice every afternoon on my way to my second job at the English school.  Not only are they really delicious, but it makes me feel like I'm doing something for my health.  

5) DMV Culture

This difference is legitimately the bane of my existence here in Brazil.  Anyone in the United States who has registered to drive knows the horror that is the Department of Motor Vehicles.  You know? That place where you take a number, sit in a chair, and wait to be called for hours on end.  In Brazil, you will find this fun model essentially everywhere.  I have taken a few pictures to share with you all.

This first one is at a bank.  Every time you go to a bank here in Brazil and wish to speak to a teller, you need to go into the depths of their basement and pick a number.  Although you don't see many people in this picture, there were about 25 others in the room and I was stuck waiting for a little over an hour.  Given that these rooms are also in the basement, it's usually rare to have any form of cell reception or internet connection.

This second example is is a Motorola.  Yes, DMV culture has even invaded phone stores.  Who would have thought?  I did not actually walk in, but I took a picture as I walked by.

Other places I have encountered this phenomenon include Western Union and notary offices.  Over time, I've learned to cope with Western Union by walking in, picking a number, walking out, getting lunch at the mall, and then coming back only to wait a few minutes before they call my number.  They don't really expect me to wait over an hour doing nothing, right?  

6) Personal Space

Brazilians and North Americans have different ideas of personal space.  Usually in the United States (Not really so much in Hawaii) we respect personal space more and we value our "personal bubble."  In Brazil, this bubble isn't as large and people tend to be a little more "open" and friendly.  For example, hugging is a very common form of greeting along with a kiss on one or two cheeks when greeting a woman.  In Boston, I am usually a bit more uneasy about hugging someone when I first meet them, let alone kissing them on the cheek.  I even remember that in my co-op class, hugging was labeled a possible form of "sexual harassment" (which seriously shocked me).  Being from Hawaii and being Italian, the form of greeting here in Brazil comes a lot more natural to me but a lot of Brazilians are shocked when they travel to colder places and people are "terrified" by their forms of greeting.  

7) Not saying "No"

This is another aspect of Brazilian culture which I have had a very difficult time getting used to.  A lot of Brazilians DO NOT like saying "no."  I mean this in the sense of making plans.  You can make a plan with someone here to go out later in the week and they will agree to it.  Little do you know, they will bail last minute and say they cannot go (or they might not respond at all).  This is because here in Brazil, saying "no" is not really something most people like doing.  Instead, they say "yes" and go along with it, until they really do need to back out.  This has often left me super excited for a fun weekend with tons of plans, but then when the weekend actually comes, I end up stuck at home eating pasta and watching Netflix.  Again, this is not all Brazilians, but it is a common trend that is worth noting.   

8) Bureaucracy 

Another thing I want to touch upon is the Brazilian bureaucracy.  Like the Italian bureaucracy, it can be very confusing.  When I first arrived here in Brazil, in addition to doing the basic duties such as setting up my phone and finding an apartment, I needed to register with the police and retrieve my social security number (CPF).  This required days of me running around the city to get different documents, getting them notarized, getting them copied, doing stuff at the bank, and so on.  Even when I got my CPF card, I had to then run to the stationery store and have them laminate it for me.   Generally speaking, the bureaucracy here is scary.  Did I also mention that to pay my phone bill, I need to go to the lottery store?  Now I am getting more used to it, but getting anything done here requires a lot of work.  

9) Toilets

Ok this isn't really "cultural" but one thing about Brazil that is very different from the United States is the fact that you generally do not throw toilet paper in the toilet, you throw it into the garbage. This is actually very common throughout Latin America given the fact that the septic systems tend to be very weak.  At first, I kept forgetting this, but over time I got used to it.  I honestly still do think it is mildly gross, but there really is nothing you can do.  

That's all for now everyone.  There are definitely a lot more cultural and lifestyle differences I forgot to mention this time around but I hope you enjoyed reading about my experiences.