Futebol

So until about 6 months ago, my knowledge of Brazilian culture was basically knowing that Brazil dominated in soccer. Okay. Cool. But I was surprised how very quiet football has been in my Brazilian experience. I mean, I've gotten to know the teams that people torce (cheer) for -- Corinthiians, Sao Paulo, Palmeiras, Flamengo(?). And Marite is actually a fan of soccer and plugged me into such current superstart jogadors such as Kaka and Anderson.

Yeah, that video is hilarious.

But I forgot how much I really love soccer. For Americans, we only really get into it during the World Cup,(Soccer is such a ROW thing, isnt it?) And I actually met some Brazilians (mostly Brasileiras) who told me the same. Otherwise, it's mostly the dudes. And Sunday football matches are pretty much the norm. There are like 4 different clubs in Sao Paulo alone (I dont even know for sure). And at one match, aparently when I first got to Sao Paulo, the military police were out there keeping the peace with rowdy rioters, as well as the city police, and at one point they forgot about the fans and just went after each other. Huh??? What? Um, yeah, I guess!

But a little secret I forgot about, is that I know how to play soccer! Like every American girl, I paid my dues on the soccer field, 8 years as a goalie and 2 years playing Soph-Frosh in high school. Have a separated collar bone to show for it. So it was a nice little thing to pull out, when someone would bring out the soccer ball and start to juggle a few. I'm ok that I've hung up my cleats except for the occasional pickup game after work. But one thing Marite pointed out was that Brazilians continue their sports well into adulthood. When she told Brazilians that she used to play soccer, she said the normal response was "ussed to!?!?! why don't you still play?" with some kind of shock. I guess it's true. We're letting years of soccer practice go fallow.

. . . .and the Rest of the World (R.O.W.)

Sometimes it's when you leave your own country that you have the time to reflect on what your country really means and stands for. This time in Brazil has been no exception. Right before I came to Brazil, I was visiting my sister who was studying in Paris. There's no doubt that Brazil retains more of a continental European influence than the US, and it's extremely tempting to group all these similarities into "the Rest of the World." Here's the short list of things that people in ROW (and by ROW I kinda mean Brazil and France) seem to love, but Americans are pretty oblivious to.

Things loved in ROW:
- Soccer (football)
- Yogurt
- Vacation
- eating dinner late
- staying up late
- paying for the bus at the back
- waiters
- English as a second language

Things loved only in the US:
- Baseball
- early to bed early to rise
- English as a first language
- self-service at the counter

Or-kutchie

One of the most important things to know about contemporary Brazil is Orkut -- the google social networking program that took off huge in India and Brazil and not really anywhere else. Here they pronounce it as "Or-kutchie" which is just pretty funny. Almost every internet user in Brazil has an Or-kutchie profile. I'm not joking at all. There's really not a big difference between Or-kutchie in Facebook for me. Except one Brazilian co-worker who has profiles on both networks said they hate facebook because of the mini-feeds, which I've realized I totally ignore.

Oh shoot. And now I've realized that they have that feature they used to have on Friendster, where you can see who was looking at your profile page. Shit! that means other people can see! If I visted their page! fuck

New World! Same World? Different world!

New World?
So much the same, so very different --- it sure is the new world but it aint home.

Right before I came to Brazil, I went to Paris with my family. I live in Paris for nine months in 2003-2004 and this was my first time back since then. For a while there, I was literally over Europe. I had studied it for so long, it shares so many ties with my current life that it wasn't interesting to me anymore. I studied Africa and was lucky enough to visit the beautiful country of Mali for a short while. But up until now, I don't really know my Americas very weel.

And so there are so many things about Brazil -- part of the New World -- that are so very familiar to me. Like it's a country of immigrants, and everyone has their immigrant story, "So, where is your family from?". The newer architecture, the reliance on cars (ESPECIALLY in Sampa.) And a certain informality and creativity. I often think the flatness of the A's in American English and Brazilian Portuguese are somehow an evolution of new world english. And then there's that quebequois, and I dont much know what that could be. . .