24 de Maio de 2007 - movimento - an update

nobody@vox.com(GPBrazil) — Thu, 24 May 2007 22:46:46 -0300

Daniel has arrived and indirectly we are seeing Brasil again with fresh eyes. Now we're not just the Australian couple, we're the Three Gringo Amigos :) I would like to say that he's having a fantastic time but the truth is he's in bed right now, sick as a dog. Ah that fresh Paulistano air....

Had a meeting with Bueno Sensei tonight about creating a website for Aikido Harmonia - emcompassing the dojo, the NGO social projects and the aikido corporate work. I'm excited about having something new to work on, a contribution that will last for longer than my stay in Brasil.

Loving my Wednesday morning class. I have a small but dedicated group coming along and we just finished learning the first Yuishinkai jo kata this week. Keeping the theme to weapons.

Daniel @ Casa da Criança

Things are moving along at Casa da Criança. Paul and I have been giving the kids a one hour English class each week. We try to incorporate games and songs, keep it interesting (keep them interested!!). Janiena, the "mother" of Casa da Criança says that it is difficult for them to learn english because they don't have a good base in Portuguese to work from. The public schools in Brasil are, apparently, terrible. Interestingly, the public universities are the best, and free. Of course the kids from public schools have buckleys chance of getting into them because they haven't had a decent education. So, learning english one a week for 5 months may not make any difference to these kids, but...Maybe one kid, one day, will get an opportunity that'll involve learning english and those 5 months might just make them feel a little more comfortable about it. More like exposure to a language than learning a language.

Gabby

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21 de Março de 2007 - Paul's first thing

nobody@vox.com(GPBrazil) — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 09:29:16 -0300

This is my first attempt at a blog post as I have a particularly slack arse sometimes. I think its fair to say, and so does Gabby because she says it, that I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her organising etc. But I am here and it is good.

traffic

It's been a month now that we've been here so we are reasonably settled in. This is my first time overseas and the culture shock took a while to disipate but now it has I feel pretty at home. Brasil is a crazy and I like it. I feel safe where we are though I think you still need to be sensible about where you go and when. I could see how the craziness of this district could be interpreted as unsafe, especially for people (like me) who are used to richer areas without visible homelesness and busy street culture. And I also cant discount the possibility that I am maybe being a naive, young guy in a new town but I know there is a difference between feeling comfortable and feeling complacent.

At Casa de Criança

We have been doing classes at the favela where the project with the kids works from and again my first impressions are different to my ideas of what it would be. We haven't been there enough times to form many opinions and we don't really know of the internal workings of the place, but I think you would be hard pressed to call it a slum. To me it just seems like a fairly poor area skirting the city. The favelas seem to come in a range of conditions and Josè has said it would be difficult to run this project in one that is extremely poor. There needs to be a degree of existing structure to be able to run classes and obviously aikido classes exist on a different level of needs after shelter, sanitation, food etc.

Other impressions of whats going on?...Hmmm, I guess it is hard to describe of my impressions of Brasil without mentioning cheese. Unless you already come from a crazy cheese wonderland, Brasil has more cheese than you will know what to do with and there is only so much you can eat. Really, the food here is generally quite good. I am a vegetarian (lacto-ovo, so i eat dairy and eggs) and contrary to what I was told, I survive suprisingly well. I'm not sure how I will go outside of Sao Paulo but here there is much for me to eat. I'm not sure how easy it would be for a vegan though. I'm pretty sure everyone always says that about being vegan but seriously, cheese here is omnipresent. Like Jesus.

The aikido here is very good too. It is soft and effective. Feel free to interpret that any way you choose. We generally do alot of it and I find it can be hard to manage my energy levels. But Brasil is an easy place to relax in and, like aikido, if you're not relaxed, you're probably not doing it right. Well, thats my opinion anyway...man. As far as stereotyping cultures go, Brasilians dollop out wads of hospitality like it was cheese. Many people we meet tell us that if we need anything they would enjoy helping us out and that they should take us to the beach soon. Then we say that it's really nice to meet you too, and feel somewhat inadequate. We get on well with everyone at the dojo and spend much of our free time hanging out with them. There are some good restaurants and bars around the place and its good to have access to local knowledge. There is a night club next door that seems to specialise in playing shit music really loudly and we are yet to try it out. Although this is my first time out of Australia, I have the feeling that this type of tacky club is the same the world over. But Brasil, as someone else has said, is a microcosm of the world. Lots of extremes, lots of diversity, good stuff, bad stuff, nightclubs and cheese.

2 extremes

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Gabby & Paul - Harmonia Brasil

24 de Maio de 2007 - movimento - an update

21 de Março de 2007 - Paul's first thing