I was so relieved and happy to see my sister step off the plane yesterday in the tiny airport in Ilhéus.  She was bummed that her bags didn't make it (they should arrive tomorrow - fingers crossed) but I was happy that at least she was here!  We spent the evening just chilling out and Skyping with Mom and Dad.  Today we were lucky and had perfect weather so we chose to spend the whole day at the beach.  Sue got to experience the full chaos and enthusiasm of Brazilians' love for soccer tonight while watching the final game in the Confederations Cup.  Brazil was victorious over Spain and the fireworks are still going off in my neighborhood.  Viva Brasil!

The beach at Aracaju

 My semester wrapped up around the 20th and after finishing my last class I took off and headed north for a week to spend the São João holiday in the capitol city of Aracaju in the state of Sergipe (more on that later).  I got back a couple of days ago and have been scrambling to get ready to travel and hang out with my sister who arrives this afternoon! I cannot believe the day is finally here and I am so excited that she is coming to visit. 



One thing that I know we will do is watch the game tomorrow (since that will truly be the only possible thing to do in this city on the Sunday of the Confederations Cup final).  There's actually two important games: at 1pm there is the match between Uruguay and Italy for third place and at 7pm is the biggie for first between Brazil and Spain.  The country already has cause to celebrate as today is the festival of São Pedro, the last of the saints celebrated in the June festivities.  When Brazil wins tomorrow night, I'm anticipating lots of bonfires in the streets, fireworks and parked cars with all their doors open blasting music.  It's going to be epic.  Welcome to Brazil Susie!

One of the more popular majors at UESC is "Geography" which studies a mix of geology, agriculture, land management and tourism.  I think it's one of the hot majors because of all of the field trips the students get to go on - at least two a semester.  About a month ago, Loni and I were invited along on the geography field trip to Petrolina, a city 12 hours to the north by bus.  The focus of the trip was to be vineyards and researching the possibility of wine tourism in Brazil.  It wasn't a hard decision whether or not to participate.



One of the funniest things about the trip for me was the bus ride.  We left at 6am and I assumed that the bus ride would be relatively relaxed and easygoing and filled with seat-partner conversations, ipods, books and naps.  I was so incredibly wrong that it is still a little shocking.  A Brazilian bus ride is a far cry from a Gringo one.  Right away at 6am the students cranked up their ipods and portable speakers and started singing and dancing in the aisles.  Someone pulled out their triangle and everyone started clapping to the rhythym.  Loni and I looked at each other as if to say, "Twelve more hours of this?"  The other chaperones, the head of the department and another professor, looked surprised that we were surprised.  "Just wait," they said.  "They haven't even gotten started yet."



Impressively, for the next twelve hours, the students kept up the singing, dancing and instrument playing.  At about 10am the alcohol started to appear and things got even louder (rules about staying in seats and drinking on buses are a bit looser here in Brazil).  When we finally arrived at about 9pm I, once again, wrongly assumed that everyone would be tired and want to go to bed.  Nope.  Because the next day's activities didn't start until 10am the group decided to make a night of it.



The next five days passed in a similar fashion and we had a lot of fun visiting different vineyards and doing plenty of wine tasting.  I've learned my lesson about Brazil, however.  If you're going to risk assuming anything, just assume it's going to be a party.  It always is!   

Neymar, you're the man

If you have caught any world news lately, you might be able to imagine what the two main topics of conversation are these days in Brazil: transportation riots in São Paulo and the current soccer games of the FIFA Confederations Cup.  I was up-to-date on the first one but severely lacking in the second.  I felt pretty gringo when some other professors asked me if I was going to watch the game and I responded with, "What game?".  They were talking about THE game, of course - the first game of the cup with Brazil playing against Japan (Brazil won 3-0 and I did end up watching it - there was nothing else to do, the streets are empty and the entire city shuts down).  Things are pretty crazy here because of the cup though I'm told that it's nothing compared to what conditions will be like for the World Cup next year . . .

Protests in S.P. this week

Right! We've got "First World" stadiums already! Now all we need is a real country around them!

Speaking of the upcoming World Cup, millions of people all over the country have taken to the streets in protest.  What started it all was the government's proposal to raise public transportation prices by twenty cents.  With already rising costs and wages that can't keep up, this last decision put many over the top.  People are using the price increase to protest corruption and the problems with health care and education in the country.  There are also many protestors who are angry about all of the investment in the upcoming World Cup and Olympic Games and who believe that money should be spent on the infrastructure on the country itself.  Things are getting quite heated all over and I was just invited to a protest in my city.  Little Ilhéus is filling the streets on Tuesday at 2pm and I plan to be there.  Not to worry, though, most streets have placed outdoor TVs with live streaming of the games so while protesting we won't miss any of the Confederations Cup action.  Phew!

My roommate and Fulbright partner, Loni, has Dengue fever.  Having Dengue in Brazil is both common and dangerous because there are two types: "uncomplicated" and "severe" (about 5% end up getting the severe kind).  Both kinds involve intense pain all over the body, cramping, high fevers, vomiting, rashes and diarrhea with the severe type morphing into potentially life-threatening infection and hemorraghing.

Loni got Dengue when she was visiting a cacao plantation a few hours outside of the city of Itabuna.  Dengue is trasmitted by the bite of a certain type of an infected mosquito.  Here, the dangerous type of mosquito has a black and white zebra stripe pattern on its back.  When she first got Dengue, Loni was with her boyfriend's family in Itabuna and spent the majority of toughest parts of the fever with them and in the hospital.  She returned to our apartment early this week but has still been feeling pretty lousy.


Last night she was feeling particuarly bad to the point where she was getting scared so we called someone with a car and headed to the emergency room.  While in the car, I was having flashbacks of my time as a resident director in Ecuador with OSU's study abroad program.  I went to various dentists, hospitals and pharmacies so many times with students that by the end of the semester I was practically on a first name basis with all of the attendants there. 

Like in Ecuador and in China, the hospital in Ilhéus was bare bones and no frills.  After an excruciatingly long process of translating and filling in paperwork, Loni had an exam and bloodwork and we waited for the results.  She found out that what she was feeling wasn't the onset of the severe type of the virus but just the fact that she hadn't fully recovered from the original flu.  She has been ordered to rest for a few more days (some people take up to 3 weeks to recover from Dengue) and stay very hydrated.



As for me, it's been a pretty long and stressful week. I have the big monthly, university-wide cultural presentation tonight (Traveling in the U.S.A.) and then tomorrow I leave on a UESC field trip with the head of the department, Samuel, and his group of students studying the effects of tourism on Brazil.  I think it's fitting to teach the acronym "TGIF" this morning to my beginning students of English.

In the WCC (Wyoming Conservation Corps), the term for the 10 day work stint is referred to as a "hitch."  Each crew leader leads a team of 6 students for 10 days on and then has 4 days off.  During the summer each group completes six hitches in different parks doing anything from trail building to tour guiding and visitor education or invasive species removal. 



Yesterday, Sean finished his first hitch and considered it a success though he was definitely tired and ready to take a hot shower, sleep in a real bed and not be responsible for six other people all the time.  He said that he got up every day at 5:00am to make breakfast for the group, they did trailbuilding for 12 hours a day with a break for lunch and then the students made dinner.  Most nights everyone crashed at 8:30pm because they were so exchausted. 



This hitch was particularly difficult since because of the Monday holiday they had to work a bit more on each day than normal.  He also said that once people get in shape and get used to working hard they are hoping to be able to have a bit more fun at night and play some games.  His crew members sound interesting and varied and include a past semi-pro snowboarder and a current collegiate nordic-skier.  There are three guys and three girls and Sean works with another female co-leader, Becca.  Sean said one of the hardest things about being a leader so far is not the paperwork or the physical labor, but managing the people and their concerns/relationships/emotions etc. 



His most valued possessions so far out West include a cheap pair of sunglasses, a huge water bottle and a leatherman tool.  For the next four days off he plans to enjoy a cabin at Estes Park with some of the other crew leaders to rest up before Hitch #2.  Stay tuned.

Sean and his roommates who are also fellow crew leaders getting ready for the road trip

At the end of April Sean finished his leadership training and conservation coursework at the University of Wyoming in the Wyoming Conservation Corps program.  The semester included weekly classes and practice leadership retreats on the weekends.  They also attended a fire safety and chainsaw camp in Colorado for a week which was one of the highlights for Sean.  When he wasn't in class, Sean worked at the campus' environmental studies office as an office assistant for some extra cash. 



During the first week of May, Sean and his roommates took a road trip around Wyoming and Montana to take advantage of some time off.  The orientation for their crew members wouldn't start until May 16 so they had plenty of time to hike, camp and see friends around the area.  Sean's main complaint about the road trip was that it was still quite cold to camp out West in May!



He emailed me some of the pictures and it looks like they had a great time.  They visited some cities like Jackson Hole but most of the trip was spent exploring natural areas.  Sean said that it was nice to be in the big parks during low season as everything was quiet and they were able to see a lot of wildlife.  He also said that it was great to have the extended time off because as soon as the summer season starts he will work 10 days on and 4 days off.  Keep the pictures coming Sean!

No, I'm not referring to the mouth-to-mouth kind, but the type and amount of kissing in everyday greetings.  I, personally, have found kissing in Brazil to be very confusing.  As a general rule, at least in the Northeast of the country, females kiss men and other females twice: once on each cheek.  And it's not a wimpy air kiss either - it's a full-on lip-to-cheek contact.  Men greet other men with a hug or a handshake depending on how well they know the other person. 



Things get tricky fast, however, because not everyone does the double kiss and sometimes the double kiss morphs into something else depending on the closeness of the relationship.  Brazilians can easily read one another's signals and can execute greetings flawlessly, but even at four months in I am still awkwardly bumping noses and letting go of hugs too early or too late.  It's super uncomfortable at times but thankfully most Brazilians just laugh it off and chalk it up to general gringo ignorance about kissing as a form of greeting.

The most common thing that trips me up is going for the double cheek kiss when only a single one is required.  I still haven't figured out the situation and social cues that require this but it seems connected with the personality of the other person and how well I know them.  With my close male and female friends at the university we greet with one kiss on the cheek and then a very close hug.  If I meet someone for the first time we always give two kisses.  The gray area in-between meeting someone for the first time and then becoming friends along with the small but important subtleties like how long to linger with a kiss or hug and the distance from the placement of the kiss to the mouth of the other person create a lot of room for error, especially for the untrained foreigner.  If you're planning on spending some time in Brazil, you had better be ready to start doing some kissing!