Latest strange travel stories

Written July 4, 2008

Life is good in Brazil. Although I hardly ever work, my bosses are continually impressed when I send them pictures of things that I have correctly identified. Yes, life is good as a Fulbrighter.
Recently, my buddy Larken arrived in Brazil. After traveling around with his girlfriend for a while, he came to stay in Caravelas. We had a pretty good time, I was going to work some days, but stayed home a lot and we walked on the beach or rented movies, ate lots of hamburgers at the only restaurant in the nearby town. In the time Larken was here, I acquired a huge tiger shark head and Larken, Thiago (my awesome Brazilian boyfriend) and I stayed up late grooving to tunes and taking the jaw out of the shark.

The Sāo Joāo party in Caravelas was great. Sāo Joāo is a Brazilian holiday, huge in the area in which I live. People dress up and dance square dances, have fires, eat corn, and dance to Forró. We took Larken and introduced him to some Brazilian hotties to learn to dance, but having been stung by a jelly fish that day, Larken was not up to dancing.

Then Thiago, Larken and I went traveling. We stayed in Itapetinga, where Thiago's family lives, for a couple days. It was really fun for me to meet my "in-laws" and staying with Thiago's family was great because there was always home cooking, nice showers, beds, etc. A way to travel in ease. I met his 87-year-old grandmother who has won all sorts of prizes from the city and all sorts of organizations just for being so great. She was hilarious and drank quite a bit while I was there, certainly while I wasn't there as well. Her good friends are activists for the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), the political party to which the current Brazilian president belongs. So it was interesting to hear them talk politics as well, which was mostly the same as American politics (i.e. blame the other guy for the problems, since your team is clearly the correct one).
We went to the nearby town of Macarani for the Sāo Pedro party. Ah, Catholic countries. So many saints, so many parties. Sāo Pedro is just like Sāo Joāo, just with a different name. The party was huge but the bands were terrible. We stayed at Thiago's dad's house, whom he hadn't seen for 3 years. He treated us really well and made us more than comfortable in his tiny Brazilian favela house. The highlight of that trip was walking out of the town up the nearby hills, which were filled with crystals and other crazy rocks. It was a quaint town with an awesome view and I never would have passed through there were it not for Thiago's dad living there.

Larken then went to Porto Seguro, but having to get back to work, Thiago and I took a quick trip to Itaparica, which was the ultimate goal. Itaparica is an island close to Salvador where Thiago has lived and worked. The island community was founded by run away slaves that swam over to the island and then defended it. It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL, and a little piece of Africa. It is mostly poor, and we stayed in a clay house with no running water. That was definitely an interesting experience.

There is a Candomblé territory there, a religion brought over from Africa by the slaves. I had been to a Candomblé ceremony before outside of Salvador, but this was a new experience. Thiago is a practicing member of Candomblé, so I had learned a lot more about it before I went. There is a fence around the territory, and as soon as you pass through the fence you feel the positive energy (Axé) of the place, especially in the building where the ceremonies take place. You can't disturb the nature there, men and women are separated, it is all about respect and sacrifice to the spirits that are constantly around us. I took a bath of Axé (positive energy), prepared by one of the highest-up members of the community. I threw coins into the trees as a sacrifice. I really liked it there.

Thiago and I also stopped briefly in Salvador, to kill some home sickness. It was weird to see the town again after all this time. It was especially great to see my old host family. My host mom made me hot chocolate and juice and gave me some peppers. She remembered everything I like. I also got to take a shower there, which was much needed.

Now I'm back in Caravelas, trying to get back into the work frame of mind. Really, there isn't a lot of change involved.

I hope everybody is doing well. I think about you all often.
Peace, love, happiness and sharks,
~Helen

Never visit a Brazilian dentist

Written June 18, 2008

Never visit a Brazilian dentist.

Sure, you may think that $20 is a more than fair price to pay for a full mouth cleaning. But then you arrive in the back room where the equipment is of questionable cleanliness and there's no fan, so you will sit there sweating. The chair will wobble. And you may tell yourself that for $20 it's worth it, but then the dentist will begin to mercilessly attack your teeth and gums. You will spit blood and the pain will be so intense that you will remember why dentists in Brazil are paid so little. Nobody would pay any more to have such misery inflicted on them. So, please, don't go to a Brazilian dentist.

Life is good otherwise. Today my good buddy, Larken, arrived in Caravelas. We stuffed ourselves with classic Brazilian grub (rice, beans and chicken with fried manioc). Now he's at my house and I'm at work. Yes, when I'm at work I mostly check facebook and write Emails.
I hope that we will head out for some adventures soon, so I will keep you updated.

The newest happenings are that all three of my cats have now died. Recall that Bruxinha was viciously attacked by my landlord's cat. About a month later, my cat Gaia crawled out the window to her doom when the cat attacked her as well. I was at work, but my friends called me and I arrived in time to see Gaia die. Since the window was still broken, I decided to leave my other cat, Manguezal, with a friend until I could have the window fixed. This "friend" let the cat out, who has not been heard from since. Poor cats, I don't know what I did wrong....

I also adopted a dog, I'm not sure if I had written about that. Hopefully he will do well. He's a puppy and I picked him up off the street. When I got him, most of his hair had fallen out and he was all ugly and pink and his skin was coming off. Now he's gotten much better. He's an awesome dog, the best behaved dog I've ever been directly involved with. His name is Vagabundo.

Tata for now,
~Helen

Settling in

Written May 7, 2008 (and thus published out of order, sorry!)

Dear friends and family,
Life is good. Things are finally picking up for me here, after only a month and a half of doing nothing, haha.

For the next while I will be working with Conservation International (CI), an NGO based out of Washington D.C. that has an office here in Caravelas. I will be meeting with shark fishermen as they disembark, looking at their catches. The main project is to just identify which species of sharks and rays we have in the area. But I will be measuring them, sexing them, identifying the species. Apparently fishermen cut off the heads before they bring them back, so it adds an extra challenge to the process. But at CI (recall, Conservation International), I have freezer space, a back room, and as much formaldehyde as I desire. So I will be purchasing some specimens from the fishermen and poking around in their insides. But none of this has happened yet.

Yesterday I got my work space at the CI office, which is just plain rad. This project will start ASAP, but we're also waiting for permission to work inside the Abrolhos (national park) limits. Once I have that permission, I will be spending some time diving on the island, following around the Mariana ray. The time I spend on the continent will be devoted to the shark identification.

I've also moved into my own house, finally. The house is AMAZING. I live about as far away from town as possible, in the middle of a bunch of trees. I have a huge yard with various fruit trees, including coconut trees. There are birds all over and tons of other animals, including: bats, lizards (so far I've counted about 3 genera and 5 different species), frogs (huge tree frogs that are SO COOL), plus my baby cats that I adopted from the beach. There are also tons of bugs, which is sort of cool (I like the caterpillars crawling across my floor all the time, plus the various beetles and moths) but sort of not cool (read: way too many damn mosquitoes!)

Yes, I have 2 cats: Bruxinha ("Little Witch" since she's all black with bright blue eyes) and Gaia (Greek goddess of the Earth). They're tiny and I love them. They run rampant in my house, which is quite large (2 stories, 3 bedrooms, but I technically only rent the bottom part of the house). There's also a veranda, a bathtub (first time I've seen one in Brazil), and a sweet hammock/swing/chair that hangs in the living room. I'm going to have to give in to the Brazilian way of life and get a maid I think. With all the bugs in this house, I feel like I need to be cleaning constantly, plus it's been uninhabited for a while so there's a big accumulation of dust, bat poop, pieces of wood left by wood-eating bugs…

Well, those are the novidades (new things). The best thing about having my own house is that it killed all my homesickness. I was feeling pretty bummed for a while, wanting to return to the US. But now that I have my own house that I can control my way, I am feeling better. Even if it is still too hot with too many mosquitoes. Actually, I take it back. Losing homesickness is the second-best thing. The best thing is being able to hang out naked, singing loudly. (I am far removed from my street, where no people pass anyway because I have no neighbors!)
Much love and happiness to all,

~Helen
PS I now have a telephone number! So you can call me any time you want to. I generally seem to be home from about 6 pm to 12 pm on weeknights and any random time on weekends. To call here, you dial 011-55-73-3674-1048. I hope to hear from people soon!

The happenings

Hello all,
I feel like it's been a while since I've written, but not very much has been happening in my life.
I'm still working at Conservation International, but things are moving quite slowly there. I'm also still waiting on other bureaucratic issues. Work is generally frustrating, and I haven't gotten my hands on any sharks yet, nor have I gone out to the sea.

Home life is good. I adopted a new kitty, the brother of Gaia, so she has company now and everybody's happy. His name is Manguezal, which means mangrove. Soon I will have a new housemate and things at the house are generally pretty exciting and I'm making new friends.
Last week I traveled to the big city of Porto Seguro, as I had to register with the federal police. To get to Porto Seguro, which is the closest large city with any real movement, I have to take 3 separate buses. I left home at 7:30 am and only got to Porto at like 6:30 pm. And yes, this is the closest city with any real movement. Porto Seguro was in general a headache. The federal police were big jerks and almost everybody I encountered there just wanted to tell me how wrong I am and show off their authority over me. But, ultimately, I got what needed to be done done.

It's so funny to travel alone. The first night I got to Porto Seguro, I just wanted to sleep, so I only left my hotel to get food and didn't explore the city at all. But the second night I was without anything to do, and I already knew I was going to have to stay at least 1 if not 2 more nights than I had planned. So there was nothing to do but explore the city alone. And I walked around looking at shops, which I didn't even really want to do. I sat down and ate dinner by myself, feeling awkward. I was feeling awfully lonely, but quickly made friends with the local hippies and I had friends for the rest of my stay in Porto Seguro. One night we were sitting in the plaza, playing guitar and bongos and dancing. To me it was nothing out of the ordinary, but soon tourists were showing up to take pictures! It was pretty weird for me, especially since I didn't quite "fit in" with the rest of them, but I was still a part of the general groove there, playing bongos and dancing without inhibition.

It really stood out in my mind how different my Brazil experience is from other tourists: they show up and take pictures, while I groove to the beats.

Another lesson I've learned is that while traveling alone, I never stay alone for very long. Traveling with other people is fun too, since you have automatic company; but traveling alone causes you to make friendships that you would automatically exclude yourself from when hanging out with another foreigner.

I'm back in Caravelas now, loving my home. Work is still frustrating.

~Helen

RIP Bruxinha

Written May 9, 2008

Yesterday afternoon, at approximately 3 pm Brasilia time, my precious kitten, Bruxinha, was viciously attacked. The cat belonging to the owner of the house I rent approached Bruxinha, who playfully went to introduce herself. The adult cat was in no mood for kittens and without warning lunged at Bruxinha's neck, severing both her jugular vein and her throat. Bruxinha couldn't breathe and slowly slipped away in my arms. She never had a chance.

Bruxinha was a wonderful cat. She will be remembered for her loving nature, which is what ultimately caused her demise. She was too trusting. Bruxinha always came when called. Her sister was the trouble maker, but Bruxinha just loved to cuddle. She only complained when she was left alone. She was curious and beautiful--all black with alarmingly blue eyes. When I first got her (taken from the beach), she was so weak I thought she wouldn't last a day. But she grew quickly and had a baby kitten pot belly.

Bruxinha is survived by her sister, Gaia, and her mother, Helen. Both have been left feeling the injustice of life. Gaia used to be particularly playful and troublesome, but now sits quietly, refusing to play or explore. Occasionally we cry together.

Please send us both some peace. We are suffering.

Rest in peace, beloved Bruxinha. You will be terribly missed.

~Helen

As a note, writen months later, this same cat proceeded to viciously attack another kitten of mine, then when I tried to save a third kitten from harm, it disappeared and was never heard from again. Currently there are 3 cats at the house, but the adult cat is defending the kittens from harm. I hope it works.

Making it home safely

Written April 24, 2008

This morning I arrived in Caravelas, Bahia, the location of my research. For the first time in quite a long time, I really feel like I've arrived home, despite the fact that I don't yet have a house.

From Sao Paulo last week, I took a bus to Uberaba, Minas Gerais. Minas Gerais means General Mines, and in this state, as you might guess, there's a lot of mining of various materials going on. So much so, that apparently it's the richest state (highest GNP generator) in Brazil. They also have a lot of cows and cheese. LOTS of cheese. Everywhere you go people try to give you cheese.

I stayed with my friend Erica while in Minas, who I met in Caravelas last time I was here. It was really fun and it's nice to have friends all over Brazil so I can travel and stay in nice houses. Her dad even forced me to get the yellow fever vaccination, which should make my parents feel good. Anyway, Minas was fun, but I couldn't wait to get to Bahia.

I took a 26 hour bus trip to get to Caravelas, and I really loved it. I got a lot of thinking done and reading about the biology of fishes.

I got here this morning at about 9:15 am and my friend Felipe (from the humpback whale institute, who I also met last time I was here) picked me up. I'm staying at his house with him and his wife until I find a place to live. And until then, it's totally cool for me to stay as long as needed. I napped in the hammock and took a cold shower, since there's no hot water in their house.

We went into town and I bought a bicycle. Greatest investment ever. 100% of people surveyed say that riding a bike with a basket is way more stylish than driving a car. And the ride from town to Felipe's house (and thus my house, since I'm looking for a place next to him) is about 30-40 minutes, as follows: leave Caravelas on cobblestone. Ride along the one paved road in the area, the highway, with farms on one side and the mangrove on the other. Enter a new cobblestone neighborhood, exit into the Atlantic rain forest. Ride through the forst for about 1 km until you come out on the beach. Ride along the beach until you reach more cobblestone, then dirt rodes through my neighborhood to our respective houses. I LOVE IT!

I love it here. People leave their cars and houses unlocked, they leave their bikes on the streets without locks. I'm already making friends with my neighbors, and you can just start up conversation with anybody on the street and be their friend. I'm looking to adopt a couple kittens, which I would theoretically take back to the US with me. I say "theoretically" because I'm not sure I'll ever really return for any great length of time. I LOVE IT HERE. Felipe is going to try to help me get into a Brazilian master's program. Then after 2 years living in Brazil as a scientist I could get my citizenship. I've looked into it. Then someday I could start an NGO involving environmental education. Pretty sweet plan, eh?

Well, much love to all. Walk in peace. When things are bad, think of me and share some of my positive energy!

Positive vibrations,
~Helen

Where in the world is Helen?

Written April 13, 2008

The answer: Uruguay. Why, you may ask. The answer: Asado Mas Grande Del Mundo. The world's largest barbecue. Not just Uruguay, not just South America. The world.

Sunday night (last week), I went to Buenos Aires (Argentina, clearly) for a Fulbright conference that lasted all week. I have to say, it's pretty freaking awesome to be a part of this program. Super VIP treatment all the time. I actually made money by traveling to Buenos Aires, in addition to a paid plane ticket and paid accommodations.

Monday the Fulbrighters all met in the Ministry of Education to meet each other and schmooze. There were about 40 of us that met in Argentina from the Southern Cone: Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil. Throughout the trip, my favorite part was being able to talk to all these interesting people and just having totally fascinating conversations. The research topics varied greatly. Some of my favorites were Brazilian circus and street youth outreach, Habitat Fragmentation in Chile, Habitat Fragmentation in Paraguay, Racial Identities of Ex-US Immigrants in Brazil, Fisheries in Chile, Secularism in Uruguay, the list goes on and on. A lot of people had topics about public health, many people are studying history, several studying biology. There are two people doing astronomy research, one in the Atacama desert in Chile, and one in Sao Paulo.

After a tour of Buenos Aires (BA), we got together to meet the US ambassador, which was a pretty big deal, although it wasn't very fun. I attended a tango class at the college of engineering, then went to a percussion concert.

Argentina is SO different from Brazil. It feels more like Europe than Latin America and there are SO many white people! The people are friendly, but not as friendly as in Brazil. But the crazy thing was that I only had 9 pesos on me and this concert was 10 pesos. In Brazil, and even in the US for that matter, I think they would have just let me in. But not in BA. I borrowed from a colleague that had already entered the concert, and it was really awesome. I love to belly dance, African dance, anything dance to some crazy drum beats.

Tuesday we presented our projects in 10-15 minutes in different groups. Amazingly, my research topic was one of the most popular. When I met people they would say, "Oh right, you're the sting ray girl!" and during presentations a lot of people asked what group I was presenting in so that they could attend my presentation. At night I went to a traditional Argentine barbecue. I had been told that while in BA I should eat a lot of meat. I did, and I have to say, it's better in Brazil. Then I went to a tango show. Not very good. I had been anticipating something equivalent of the Flamenco show I saw in Barcelona (on a side note, I went to Paris and then Barcelona the day after the war in Iraq started, which is a crazy story for another time), but the tango show was modern, more like musical theater, and it wasn't very good.
Wednesday we took a trip to an Estancia (Argentine countryside). I rode a horse, walked around the grounds, spent about an hour reading in a tree, took a nap in the grass. Pretty much perfection. At night I went to a Thai restaurant, which was really fun. To get there I rode the A line of the Subte, the BA metro. It's the original metro built in 1913. Made out of wood and with all the original circuitry, this metro was the first built in the Americas.

Thursday we talked about Fulbright stuff for the day, and at night I went to a Cuban restaurant (Delicious!) then to a bar called Miliones in an old mansion. Very cool.

Friday and Saturday I spent the night at a hostel (since Fulbright had stopped paying). I had never stayed in a hostel before, so it was definitely a trip. At first I thought it would be cool because there were tons of people doing various interesting things. But I really hated it. I probably won't do that again soon, but it seems like a good option for people traveling alone. If they're not anti-social, like I am. Saturday I got together with a couple friends from college (Juliet Shapiro and Mia Palomo) and we had a really good time wandering around Avenida Florida, a pedestrian street with lots of artisans and touristy shops.

This morning I took a ferry from Buenos Aires to Colonia, Uruguay. From there I took a bus to Montevideo and met up with a couple Fulbrighters that are living here. Together we went to the Asado Mas Grande Del Mundo. Yes, that's right, the biggest barbecue in the world, recorded officially for the Guinness Book of World Records. There were 26,455 pounds of meet, all donated by slaughterhouses around the country. The grills totaled a length of almost 5,000 feet and 1,252 asadores (cooks) worked to grill the meat for more than 15,000 people. All this for about US$3. But we didn't even pay. We showed up late, walked in without a ticket like we owned the place, then my friend Ben who's a charming journalist talked his way into getting us free meat. After the record was officially reached, a lot of people left, and we picked up scraps left over on the grills. Pretty much awesome. Apparently Uruguay exports meat to 80 countries around the world. It is one of only 4 countries top meat exporters in the world without Hoof and Mouth disease and Mad Cow Disease (this does NOT include the US). Uruguay is the second largest consumer of meat per capita, at 117 lbs per person a year or 600,000 tons of meat produced a year.

Pretty crazy.

Afterward we walked around a botanical garden with trees from around the world. To my disappointment, they cleverly planted trees too tall to be climbed.

Now I'm about to go grocery shopping to cook some pizza tonight with my friends. Tomorrow I'll fly back to Brazil. I'm homesick for Brazil. I have been since I arrived in Argentina, although I don't particularly miss the US. But it's been really fun traveling to new places in South America. Speaking Spanish is an interesting trip. I've been speaking pretty well, but mostly in Portañol. Amazingly enough, I've had several people ask me if I'm Brazilian since I've been in Argentina/Uruguay, but NOBODY ask me if I'm American. Other people asked me simply where I'm from, but nobody guessed American. The only guesses were Brazilian. Awesome.
I maintain that I would make an EXCELLENT "Amazing Race" partner for anybody interested.
Sorry this Email was so long. I've been up to some crazy things! Soon enough I will finally arrive in Bahia. I can't wait.

Um forte abraço,

~Helen

Brazil email 2008, vol. 2

Written March 24, 2008

I have just returned from vacationing in Florianópolis (affectionately known as Floripa), in the state of Santa Catarina, with 4 other Fulbright girls. We decided pretty last minute to take an overnight bus on Thursday. Floripa is wonderfully awesome. It's a city on a big island, most of which is covered in thick jungle. The city itself is nothing special, and when I arrived I wondered what all the fuss was about this place. But then I took a bus ride from one side of the island to the other, saw some fantastic views, fantastic beaches, and I began to understand.

We stayed in a comfortable bed and breakfast with plenty of hammocks. It was hostel style dormitory rooms, but I got a room to myself, heh heh. On Friday and Saturday we sat around all day on the beach, eating grilled cheese skewers (sticks of cheese that are cooked over a bowl of coals the vendor carries (awesome)) and açai (frozen berry smoothie served with bananas and granola). The water was perfect, the waves energetic, the sun perhaps too strong. I got pretty badly sunburned, but this tends to happen at the beginning of every sunny season for me. We read a lot, climbed on big rocks, read, contemplated life. Before I came to Brazil I was feeling pretty anxious and negative, and when I got here the feeling didn't go away. I just kept telling myself that once I was standing on the beach, it would all make sense again. And it did.

At night we wandered around the town. We weren't in the actual city of Florianopolis, but rather Lagoa da Conceiçāo, which is a small, artsy, chill town with plenty of clubs and restaurants. I bought a bunch of jewelry and, as long as I was at it, I decided to pierce my ears. Here, this is done in pharmacies. I procured a place and the pharmacist took me into the back room. It was painted white and decorated only with a poster of how to properly administer shots in the butt. That was an interesting distraction. We'll see how long my pierced ears last this time before I grow tired of earrings and let the holes grow in.

It was really nice to be hanging out with the other Fulbrighters. The first time I met them was in the bus station and it felt good to be traveling with friends. Unfortunately, it didn't last long. Soon I will be traveling to the coast again to visit my professor, by myself. Then I plan on taking a bus from Sāo Paulo all the way up to Southern Bahia, with a stop in Minas Gerais to visit a friend. I'm looking forward to the travel greatly, though.

It was also good to meet the other Fulbrighters because I realized they are all as disorganized as I am. And they assured me that the first month is just to get yourself oriented. It's only been a week so far, and I've done nothing, but I feel fine about it. In the mean time, I'm still staying with my Paulistano parents, which is just like staying with my real parents, but more humid. And my Brazilian mom is a professional cook.

Anyway, much love to all. I have to go scratch my many mosquito bites.

~Helen

Brazil email 1

So, starting with the Emails I've sent this trip, which I suppose should have been written on this blog...

Sent March 18, 2008

Hello all,
I realize that for some of you it has been a long time since we've corresponded. So you may be surprised to hear that I'm now officially in Brazil. Or you may be surprised to hear that it has taken me sooooo long.

Originally I planned on getting to Brazil to conduct my Fulbright research on sharks and sting rays in the middle of January. January became late February, which became early March, which became mid-March. Then I finally flew out to Houston on Sunday, only to get stuck in Houston overnight! Apparently the plane we were supposed to take had been hit by lightning (while on the ground?), so hundreds of people were without a place to stay. We were sent to the Sheraton (nothin' wrong with a free comfy bed once in a while), and while I was witty and quick to get a room, other stayed in line for hours and probably not everybody even got a room. Well, instead of traveling overnight, I left in the morning and arrived in Sāo Paulo at 11pm. Turns out, NONE of our luggage was on the plane! Here's where I'm really lucky because I have a home to stay at (host parents from my last trip to Brazil), where the luggage will be delivered. But some people didn't have a hotel address, didn't speak Portuguese, didn't pack any toiletries or changes of clothing.

I got to my Paulistano parents' house last night at about 12:30 am. I feel incredibly lucky to be here, with a nice bed, a shower, and wireless internet. Boy do connections ever pay off. But I'll only be here for a couple days. I'm waiting for the professor with whom I will be conducting research to contact me here. Then I'll be traveling by bus to meet with him and discuss our plans. Then I'll fly to Porto Seguro, Bahia and take a bus to Caravelas, where I will be living. But that feels like forever from now.

So, for now, I'm taking it easy until my baggage arrives. Sāo Paulo is a huge city and I don't have much to do here. So I'll just go back to sleep.