Intercultural Cafe

Every month one of the programs at Universidade Estudual de Londrina is called Intercultural Cafe. This brings together students of different nationalities that are studying on campus and gives us the opportunity to connect and learn from each other. This past month's theme was Festa Junina, which consisted on a small history lesson, a game of Kahoot to test our knowledge, and attempting to dance the qaudrillo. Enjoy our crazy attempt!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0N9ZndwgKc&t=21s

Tackling the Federal Police

Even harder than creating a phone plan account was registering with the Federal Police for my RNE number. On average, we joke that it takes three visits to the Federal Police to get all of the paperwork in and correctly done. Although, it really isn’t a joke. For me, it took three Federal Police visits and one consulate visit.

If you are staying in Brasil for longer than three months then you are required to register with the police and pay a fee. The RNE (Registro Nacional de Estrangeiros- national registration for strangers) requires a passport, the application signed off at the USA embassy, proof of payment, 3x4 photo, a CPF card is helpful but not necessary, photocopies of ALL pages of your passport (I kid you not. Every. Single. One. Whether it does or does not have a stamp on it), and new to the list is- your original birth certificate with an official translation of it or an inscription letter from the US consulate in Brasil. This last part was a new rule put into place as I came to Brasil, and thus I did not know that I had to bring my birth certificate.

The story goes as so- I went online in March to make my appointment for the Londrina Federal Police and the soonest police appointment wasn’t until May 25. I entered Brasil February 23rd, and you generally have to register within three months of entering the country. In a panic, all of us ETAs in Londrina went to the police station together to and plead our case in hopes of a sooner date. No luck. The man told us to return when we had our official appointment dates. We told him that it was crucial for our fellowship and our university placement. To this, he responded by telling us to put our boss from the university on the phone. A surprise to us all, but we had our program manager call, and he pretty much said in exact repetition to her what he said to us.

So, time goes by. It’s now the end of May and I returned to the Federal Police with one of the research Fulbrighters. We went in very hesitantly, only thinking about our last experience. This time though, we worked with the man on the left instead of the right. It made a WORLD of a difference. Santana, our main man who helped us through the process with such kindness and patient, began our process that day by inputting some of our documents into the system. We ran into problems as he asked to see our birth certificate. Tara had her original birth certificate, and I had a believable photocopy of mine. Even with these, we were still rejected. Why? Our birth certificate had our mother’s maiden name on it, but the application for the Visa to enter Brasil had their current last name. Santana instructed us to each visit one of the US consulates and get an inscription letter. We finished out the visit that day by Santana taking our fingerprints and making a list of all of the items we needed to bring next time. For example, I made copies of my stamped pages in my passport and got them notarized. Santana laughed at me for getting them notarized and told me that it was a waste of time because he is a state official and him seeing my passport is enough to verify it. As well, I went to a photo place for my copies and they put two pages on each paper, which is another no no.

The next part of the adventure- how do I even go about getting an inscription letter? It didn’t matter which consulate I went to, as long as I made an appointment ahead of time and visited one of them with all of my materials ready. I went in to Sao Paulo expecting all of the worse; instead, the process to get through security took longer than the paperwork. This was my first solo trip in Brasil, which required an overnight bus in and out of Sao Paulo, and a mixture of five metro lines to get to the Brooklyn area. When I arrived at the gate there was a long line, but as I showed my appointment slip they ushered me in… and then kicked me right back out. At this consulate you’re not allowed to bring any bags in, so you must pay to leave your stuff in a locker across the street. My options were a credible looking building that also offered parking services, or the corner newspaper stand that offered for very cheap. I ended up choosing the safer looking venue, but was ripped off and had to pay 20 reais. Once again, I entered the consulate, went through the metal detector, and entered the American Services corridor. A very kind woman called me up, which was especially easy since I had an appointment booked, and she asked for my passport. I had to first pay the $50USD fee for the service and then returned to her for the paper to fill out. I asked her what documents she needed to see, and she said only my passport. Only my passport? Not my birth certificate? You mean that they didn’t even need to see the item that caused this whole extra work? Nope. I filled out the paper with my name, my parents’ names, my marital status, address, and email, which I had to fill out again because I put “single” instead of “solteira”. After that, I signed it in front of the woman, she did as well, she gave the stamp of approval, and that was that.

Tara, the Fulbright research fellow, and I returned back to the Federal Police for our third time hoping that it would be our last. We sat anxiously as Santana examined the new paperwork, but felt relief as he gave the stamp of success. Four months, three Federal Police visits, and one solo trip to the Sao Paulo consulate I finally walked out of the Federal Police with my RNE number document in hand. Santana told us to come back in August to pick up out official printed RNE, and we laughed because at that point we will have less than three months left in Brasil for our stipend.

Moral of the story- make sure that you go online to check the availability of the nearest Federal Police station (No, not every town has one and some people have to travel for these appointments), bring your passport photocopies of ALL pages, a 3x4 photo, and the paper the embassy gave you. Most important, contact them ahead of time to check if you need to get a translation of your birth certificate, and if they suggest anyone local to do that, or whether you will need an inscription letter. From what I’ve gathered, every single experience at the Federal Police is determined by who you work with, how much they like you, how they are feeling that day, and you never know what will happen- so make friends with your local Federal Police Officer!

The Long Haul to Get A Cellphone Plan

Getting a phone plan is hard enough in your native language, between the jargon, and being offered deals and plans- it’s difficult. Now throw in a new language. After four months, I finally have a phone plan under my name.

When I moved to Brasil, I thought that the easiest option for phone service would be a rechargeable fill as you go plan. I bought a sim card from a supermarket and just needed to register it for it to start working. As I continued to try to use it I found that although I had money loaded onto it, my phone was still not working. So, I headed to my nearest Vivo store. This would be the Vivo store where they talked at me for one hour, even though they were trying their best to help me and explain the situation, and I teared up in front of three store associates. In my little to just very basic Portugues, I deciphered that for some reason, the prepaid plan wasn’t working and they convinced me that I had to buy a monthly plan. Why the prepaid did not work, but is working for several of my friends, is still beyond me. Anyway, I took their advice and tried to set up a monthly plan, which ended up being an adventure in a half.

In order to buy a lot of bigger items- gym memberships, furniture, cars, etc, one must provide his or her CPF number. In other words, they must give their social security number to the cashier, which to me is an odd concept. In the USA we guard our social security number heavily and fear identity theft, but in Brasil they give this number even when checking out at a grocery store. All of the purchases logged on a person’s CPF number then is processed into their taxes that year, or a process along those lines with Federal monetary involvement. So, Vivo told me that I would need a CPF to register a phone plan. Getting a CPF was on my to-do anyway, so no big deal. It only involved a day of going to the Post Office and Receita Federal- a process that took a few hours, but was easy enough. Later that week, I returned to the Vivo store, and when the women recognized me they had that “oh no, she’s back” look. For an hour, we tinkered with the system and they tried adding my CPF number to create an account for me.

Surprise, surprise, my CPF number was too new. They told me that because it was so new, it was as if I was just born in the system and could not be accepted. Defeat, once again. This time, they told me that in order me for to create an account I needed to use someone else’s CPF number and register it under their name. That meant that I dragged my poor friend Mario along for another hour long adventure visit to the store, in which they had to record all of his information, made him sign papers, and then technically created the account under his name. Here we are, about a month to living in Brasil, and trying to live off of solely wifi to communicate with everyone. The store clerks told me to return in a few weeks when my CPF was more used, and could be recognized by the system, to swap the account.

When I returned, you can guess what happened- no success. This time though, the ladies told me that I needed an RNE number register the plan. This RNE number can be received by going to the federal police, registering with them, and paying a few hundred reais. Little did I realize that this is what I had an appointment for the next month, which is a whole other story. By this point, I have a working plan, but it’s under someone else’s name. I wasn’t too worried, but I felt bad making my friend be accountable legally for my account.

Month three and a half of living in Brasil…. I have my CPF, passport, and RNE document in hand, along with a bit more confidence in Portugues, and I return to the Vivo store. I laid out everything, explained my situation, and TADA! Finally, friends, I completed the process. Thank goodness Brasilians are so kind and were very patient with my lack of Portugues, but man was that a tough pursuit. Moral of the story is, if you are living long term in Brasil and want to get a phone plan either A. bring a Brasilian friend with all of their documents and register under them or B. be prepared to bring your CPF, Passport, and RNE registration.

Thanks for sticking with me through that long rant. It was the first time that I really realized the struggles of doing something that, I honestly don’t like even doing in the USA, took months and months to process that I assumed would be completed easily. In some ways, I wish that the prepaid plan would have worked, but I know that working through the whole process was a good learning experience.

A Very Honest Poem to Organize Thoughts

Not everyday is wonderful while living abroad. You're away from your family and friends, you experience culture shock, and throw in immersion for a real kicker of a challenge. I used to write poetry more frequently when I was younger, and it's one of the things that inspired me to pursue and English major. Yes, living abroad can be hard- especially if you have anxiety and depression, but it's manageable. This post is not a cry for help, nor complaining, but simply rather just the very honest portraying of some of my thoughts one night that I jotted down. :)


Small truths about me-

I'm a sweets girl.
I'll take sweet over savory anyday.
Moving around as I have has made me unattached in a way.
I get restless if I stay in an area
for too long,
Which is partially how I wound up in another hemisphere,
Again.
I prefer paper books to electronics-
the antiquated manner English majors prefer.
I am a hopeless romantic through and through.
When the rain pours, I do hope for a passionate kiss.
I crave being pulled in for a slow dance with no music.
I look forward to hugs when I can nuzzle my head into a chest.
I prefer hugs over kisses-
The feeling of being wrapped up and feeling safe.
Waking up and a shy good morning smile
from the guy I like is one of my favorite
Moment of the day.
I'm a restless sleeper, and crave the comfort of being held as I sleep,
but know I can't.
But just a hand reached over and touching me
keeps me at peace.
Living in the heat of Brazil helped me to overcome my anxiety
of sleeping without a blanket.
It took 9 years,
but the Brazilian heat broke me
for the better .
Writing, normally a form of stress relief,
turned into a stress producer this year.
I worry about the future too much,
And while Brazil has helped to shed
a bit of the tranquilo attitude on me,
I still worry about rejections this coming year.
Until this year, I thought I wanted
and needed to settle down.
I thought that by 25 I wanted to buy a house,
start a family,
and have a stable job,
but now I can't imagine this timeline.
Fulbright has given me hope for
winning more fellowships
and furthering my education,
but everyday I remind myself that
it's ok to work for a year or pursue a different opportunity
if things don't work out as planned.
Everyday my goals for what I want
to do and how I want to change
the world- morph.
I just hope that something
advantageous comes from these goals.
Somedays in Brazil I surprise myself and hold
down my depression and anxiety to the point
that you might know they affect me.
Other days, I curl up in my bed, avoiding
the language, stress, and people.
Somedays, I'm so sick of hearing Portuguese.
Somedays, I want to be back in the country
I know so well how to navigate.
Most days though, I babble
On with English thoughts
in my head and
a botched Portuguese conversation aloud.
The sunrise reflecting off
the city buildings keeps me grounded.
Every morning I wait for
the pink clouds and I mentally
remind myself of reasons to feel lucky.
I count them off in my head everyday.
I've never been an easy girl to understand.
I say one thing and mean another.
I'm the cliche-
I get mad over simple things,
realize the ridiculousness,
but fear apologizing.
I get mad, and sad, and I cry too much
I cry when I'm sad
I cry when I'm happy
My body just leaks
whenever it's emotional-
Which scares people
I try to stay grounded, but sometimes
communicating seems impossible.
Especially when my language
barrier sets me back to being 5 years old.
The prestige of a Fulbright fellow,
but the day to day feeling
of a struggling girl just trying to make it through
one conversation after another until the day is over
Then repeat.
But smile as I wait
For the pink glimmer on the glass.

Tenho Saudades

February 23 to May 23. Three months have passed since my first day in Brasil, and I haven’t nearly come closer to blending in, speaking Portuguese fluently, or being very confident with navigating all cultural situations, but I sure have come a long way.

Tenho saudades- a phrase I heard as one set of Fulbrighters were leaving Brasil, and I was preparing to go. I had no idea what it meant, but now it’s a phrase that hits home everyday (pun intended). I long for and I miss so many things from home, and I mean other than the obvious choices of my family, friends, and pets. There are some things in Brasil that I never realized I would encounter living without, and others I didn’t mentally prepare for.

Indoor heating- Before coming to Brasil, I of course checked the average weather for my city throughout the months that I would be in Londrina. I was ecstatic to see that the low for their winter is about 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Fall is my favorite season, so seeing that the fall, winter, and spring months would all be temperate made me very happy. UNTIL, the colder days of fall hit. Suddenly, the temperature shifted- all in one weekend. It feels like there are three or four months in one day. The mornings drop to about 48 degrees Fahrenheit, and require some sort of jacket, and drop again to this temperature at night, but rise to 75 or 80 degrees Fahrenheit throughout some days. Other days, it will stay chilly at 65 or 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The thing is- it’s always cold. There is no way to escape the chilly temperature by going into a building, because the buildings don’t have heat and they’re just as cold. I regret not bringing more sweatshirts or a pair of sweatpants.

Air conditioning- Normally, I’m the type of girl who likes to spoil herself with this, when I can. Whenever I have the opportunity to use AC, I take it. My first few weeks in Londrina were awful at night, and I caved in to buy a fan just so that I could sleep through the night. The 80 reais were worth the comfort of not being perpetually sticky in my room.

Having a car- It’s very easy to fall into a lul of comfort of having a car to easily get around town. Need to go grocery shopping? That’s easy to go across town and then pack the grocery bags into your trunk. Need to get to the university campus on a time schedule? You can leave whenever you need to. This privilege is something I forgot was just that- a privilege. Learning to navigate and take the public transportation has been a challenge. Buses may run late, or not pass through certain places on weekends. You always need small bills, and anything over 5 reais will be followed with an eye roll or sigh from the bus driver.

A dryer- I’m lucky enough that my apartment has a washer, just to begin with that plus side, but I’ve started to get used to hanging everything and waiting the day for it to dry. The nice feeling of burying myself under a pile of warm laundry isn’t an option, and some days it can be so frustrating to have to wait for the clothes to dry, especially as the temperature outside and inside the house decreases.

Being able to communicate easily in hard situations- Although I have not cried in a public place since my first month here, like when I broke down in the Vivo phone store, I have had difficult situations since then when I wanted to shut down and turn off. Only having mastered a few verbs in present and past tense makes it very hard to follow conversations and communicate effectively. When I’m asking for directions, get asked something by a store clerk, or am confronted by tasks when I need to immediately and quickly follow a conversations an answer then I stress out. I never realized how a small task could turn into a challenge with this one small change.

Although I do miss a lot of things, I keep reminding myself that today does mark ⅓ of the completion of my Fulbright experience and I tell myself that I need to cherish things rather than focusing on what I miss. 3 months out of 9 completed and I still have so many goals to accomplish, things to see, and lessons to teach.

Volunteering In A Private English School

Last week, I had the pleasure to volunteer speaking at a private English school in Londrina called Instituto Federal Parana. The instructor asked me to come in for a class and talk about American cultural, but also requested that I make a typical “American Dish”. The USA doesn’t really have one well known meal that I could think of, but I offered to make chocolate chip cookies to bring. Instead, the class instructor asked that as a class we make mac and cheese. The first thing that came to mind was- shoot, they don’t have Kraft mac and cheese here. So, we went old fashion. Luckily, I’ve made mac and cheese from scratch before, so I knew how to do it, but I didn’t have the cheeses the recipe called for- I can’t easily obtain Vermont Sharp Cheddar here.

I went to the class expecting maybe ten students, and I instead was welcomed by about twenty-five students, all varying in age from University students to grandparents. Everyone greeted me with a kiss to the cheek, and we headed to the market to buy the groceries. They were so hilarious, bargaining with the instructor to add extra ice cream and guarana to the cart. Once we got back to the school, we headed to the kitchen and all got to work on preparing the food. We ended up making five bags worth of pasta! I tried to involve the students as much as I could in the chopping of cheese, stirring, adding pasta, and the whole process. I definitely didn’t expect that many people, and guesstimating the measurements made it taste a little differently than I hoped, but hopefully they enjoyed it! In return, they made traditional brigadeiro for us all, which was my favorite part. It astounds me how kind, energetic, and talkative the students were, and we all tried to converse in a mix of English and mostly Portugues.

You can check out the school's post about the event and their commentary here (it has more mac and cheese adventure pictures):

http://londrina.ifpr.edu.br/2018/04/06/curso-de-ingles-intermediario-tem-aula-especial-com-professora-americana/

Firsts For Everything- Portuguese, Teaching, Brigadeiro, Running, and More!

Today marks one month and two days since arriving in Brasil, and my Portuguese confidence still feels as basic and low as when I arrived here, BUT a lot of things have changed since I’ve arrived here. This post commemorates and celebrates a lot of the “firsts” that I’ve experienced in the last few weeks.

Running a 10k- Since arriving in Brasil, I decided to motivate myself to keep healthy by running around the lake everyday and signed up for a 10k race that will be held in Londrina on April 22nd! I got so enthusiastic in my training that within my first week of signing up I bumped my running distance from 5k to 7k and then 10k within the week. My legs were definitely feeling the pain the next few days. Each lap around the lake is about 2.5k, so I simply needed to lap the lake four times. Also, Kathryn, my Fulbright buddy who I traveled before orientation with, signed up for the Bem Corrido run in Londrina so that she can come visit my placement city.

Getting rejected by the federal police- they say that on average it takes about three attempts to finish all the paperwork correctly when working with the federal police. Due to staying in Londrina for an extended amount of time, I need to check in the police, pay a fee, and make sure that they have my information. Unfortunately, this needs to be done within 3 months of arriving in my city, and the process can be tricky. Recently, the laws changed and the time frame extended from 30 days to 90 days, which is lucky for us, but there is also still confusion surrounding the new laws and it seems like every police station has different rules for what they require. For example, some of my friends have been turned down because their mother’s middle initial, not full middle name, was listed on the birth certificate. Or, the mother’s maiden name was listed instead of her current last name, and they need to schedule a visit to a consulate to do extra steps. For some things in Brasil, it really does seem like a process can depend on who is helping you that day. As a result, my appointment is May 25th, and I need to go in that morning with all of my documents and hope that they’re correct!

Making Brigadeiro- One of the very popular and famous desserts to Brasil is surprisingly so easy to make. Now that I learned how to make it, it’s dangerous, and I want to make it everyday! The recipe is as follows: melt butter in a pot, add condensed milk ( enough to match however much you want to make), stir this together and add a large portion of chocolate powder, stir on low for about 15 minutes and until it pulls from the bottom as you stir, and then let it cool! I have my roommate Bea to thank for teaching me. It’s especially amazing with fruit dipped in it.

Speaking in Portuguese in front of a group- orientation week began on Tuesday and all of the Letras students gathered together to hear from the professors. Our “project”- the Fulbright ETAs each spoke a little bit about ourselves and who we would teach… but in Portuguese. The other three ETAs and proficient in Portuguese, but then there is me. I was so incredibly nervous, but I wanted to make the most of it that I could, and I think my love for public speaking helped with that. I got up there and started telling them that I had never taken a Portuguese class prior to coming to Brasil, but that I was in a class now at UEL. When I said this they started cheering, and I said “estou nervosa” and they started clapping and laughing. I think being able to connect with my first year students in the fact that we are all learning a new language together is really important. Them seeing that I’m struggling through, but trying, is important. If I want them to take one thing away from working with me it’s to push aside fear of being wrong and go for it. Hopefully I can be a good model for them in my attempts to learn and showcase that it’s ok to make mistakes, and that it’s part of the learning process.

Lastly, I had my very first time teaching a university class!- In the past year I realized that I possibly want to work my way up to a career in post secondary education, and the chance to work with university level students right now is an INCREDIBLE opportunity to dip my feet in the water. Lara, Bennie, Kayla, and I co-taught two three hour long class sessions for all of the course level letras students. We had a bigger turnout than I expected, and half the students at each session were mine! We did an activity with watching a video, analyzing it, and then talking about our own homes. I loved hearing more about the students’ experiences they are bringing, especially with students coming from scattered places in Brasil like Bahia and Curitiba. I felt like I really connected with some of my students, and seeing them excited made me realize that the experience is all coming together. My class schedule is currently set that I assist in the Oral Comprehension Class for freshman every Friday from 2-4 and 7-9 pm. With the Easter holiday this next weekend, I won’t actually start working with my classes until April 6th, but they were asking me when they would get to see me in class, and it hit me really hard. I.am.so.excited.

Nao Falo Portuguese- the Frustration of Not Knowing the Language

Frustration and tears- the two words to describe my experience moving to a new country without knowing the language. I’ve found that some Spanish words have cogantes, but it still varies. I’ve never had the experience of traveling somewhere that I was exhausted all day trying to decipher what people are saying. My knowledge of five present tense verbs has not helped me as much as I hoped. For example, I bought a pre-pay phone chip and it was giving me troubles, so I went to the phone store. This field trip led to sitting in the store with four employees in a room talking at me to try and figure out my phone, and in the and being told that I needed to return with someone that could lend me their CPF (The Brasilian’s version of a social security number that they use everywhere) and sign for it, and to buy a monthly plan. As per my knee jerk reaction, I started tearing up, and the worker looked to my friend and said in Portuguese, “ela esta nervosa”. This is one phrase I do know, which I don’t think she expected, and I looked up and just responded back “sim- yes”. Eventually, we did get the data working and calls to come through! A small victory, even if it’s temporary and took a while.

This week I also began a Portuguese class taught at UEL. It’s a mix of people from- Hungary, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, and the USA, and the teacher only speaks in Portuguese. I figured that the course would hopefully be taught in a mixture, but we jumped right in. I sat at my desk feeling lost, and confused, and helpless. My face showed it, as I always do without a poker face, and the teacher tried to ask what I was confused about. I was choked up from being upset about not understanding, and I just shook my head. I’m accustomed to understanding things when I work hard for them, but being thrown into situation like that, or the cashier at a store speaking very quickly, I just stare and freeze up. I’m hoping that the next Portuguese class will be a little bit easier to pick up on everything.

The moral of the story- if you’re going to travel abroad then try to get a good grasp on the basics before going. I’m sure by the end of the nine months I will feel very accomplished having come so far with my Portuguese, but right now it feels like a defeat. Also, happy international women’s day, especially to all those crazy ladies also taking a huge chance like I am to pursue your dreams, even if it means facing new challenges and going outside your comfort zone!