Minha pesquisa (my research)
Door: Hilda Alberda
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Hilda
15 Februari 2006 | Brazilië, Recife
Boa tarde,
Seems like a long time a go, actually I don't remember when I wrote my last story. Since Monday my life is getting back to 'normal' here, while on Sunday Marielle left Brasil again. I spend some time with her last week, but I also did 5 interviews. So it has been a productive week. Me and Amanda are getting around more easily in the favela and I am also getting the feeling of doing interviews here. After I told you about all the warnings, we luckely didn't experience any dangers. We tend to just walk to the health post that is on the main road (as far as you can call it a road) of the favela. Then if anyone is there to accompany us, they will help us finding the person we want to interview. If no one is there we sometimes try to find people ourselves, if we know them already or if we have an appointment (yes, that happens here as well!). Yesterday we used a senhor's offer (the ex-police officer) to walk with us. The only problem with that is that he stayed with the interview, which can influence the freedom to speak of the interviewee. It is difficult to tell him not to stay with the interview... The good thing is that we managed to also do an interview with the senhor himself. Although he speaks very unclear and looks a bit uninterested, the interview was interesting. He lives in Caranguejo since the beginning and helped building the place, so we hope to meet him again to ask some more questions about Caranguejo this time.
So, yesterday morning we managed to do two interviews, which is a lot! We had one scheduled with the wife of a man that we interviewed last week and this inteview was unplanned. Tomorrow we will go back again. We tend to go into the favela early (at 8h-8.30h) in the morning (which is nice, because then the bus is not yet that crowded and it's not that warm yet...) the last days. For tomorrow we have an appointment with a 22 year old male that is married with the 19 year old girl that I interviewed last week. Yesterday, when we made this appointment he was bathing his daughter of 1... so that might be a good sign of an empowerment men! ;)
I already have 10 interviews now with very diverse outcomes and also similar answers on some questions. It is for example really nice to hear people talk about their relationship and how they met. Usually they start saying that their marriage is good, but after a while we often hear some complains. But, fortunately, there are possitive stories as well. For example, the interview with an ex-drug addict/ glue sniffer. He told us about his life then, how he ended up in jail. In jail he had to share a room that is ment for 5 people with 20. He told us he has seen bad things in prison, gave some examples, but also told us that he did not experience it as so bad. This was mostly because his mother always cooked food for him, so he didn't had to eat the food there. Anyway, the experience in jail made him see 'the light' and he got of of drugs (used some stronger stuff in jail but did not get addicted to it) and became an evangelic. Now he is just married and thanks God for his wonderful wife and life.
In general, I appears that it is more accepted for women to work because of the bad circumstance people live in. But still, in most households women are expected to do the household. There are men that help, but you hear men say things as: 'those men are not real men' or 'God made women to take care of her husband' or 'women who work cheat on their husbands'... isn't that interesting?! There are also many stories about jealous husbands, who lock their wifes out when they come home to late or acuse their wifes of cheating while they are the ones cheating on their wifes. Men... hihi! Anyhow, it is very interesting to get a glance of their feelings, their daily life and their opinions about women working and about the task division at home, among others.
That's about it, things are becomming more normal for me and my life a little bit more structured, so I don't remember everyting I did. Therefore it is nice to write it down sometimes...
Besides my interviews and research there is not so much to tell you. Marielle and I have been exploring Recife Antigo, the beach Boa Viagem, the crazyness of catching a bus in the center (I knew which one to get, but there are sooooo many buses there and whenever you find the right one, it just passes you because the stop is somewhere else - and you won't find a sign that says which bus stops where, but we managed!!!) and Recife's nightlife! Wow... we were an attraction in the nightclub called Down Town (where the only beer they have is Heineken, which we didn't drink ofcourse). I am really long here - a giant: are you a basketball player?!-, so people stare at me a lot. Marielle is blond with blue eyes - my hair is getting more blond because of the sun as well and they are very interested in my green eyes, but I am a bit browned by the sun, so that makes my appearance less obvious, luckely! But, the two of us get a lot of attention...I actually felt more confortable walking on my own through Recife. But, anyway, they don't get very bad, if you just make clear you are not interested they'll leave. So, we enjoyed the 'black music', dance and Brazilian rock... so nice to hear people singing English songs with a Brazilian accent!
Okay, I'll be going home now soon (I'm at uni... where the elevators don't stop where you want them to if the men that is sitting in the lift to control it (a lift-boy) is having his break...), because it is getting dark soon!
Beijos,
Hilda
Seems like a long time a go, actually I don't remember when I wrote my last story. Since Monday my life is getting back to 'normal' here, while on Sunday Marielle left Brasil again. I spend some time with her last week, but I also did 5 interviews. So it has been a productive week. Me and Amanda are getting around more easily in the favela and I am also getting the feeling of doing interviews here. After I told you about all the warnings, we luckely didn't experience any dangers. We tend to just walk to the health post that is on the main road (as far as you can call it a road) of the favela. Then if anyone is there to accompany us, they will help us finding the person we want to interview. If no one is there we sometimes try to find people ourselves, if we know them already or if we have an appointment (yes, that happens here as well!). Yesterday we used a senhor's offer (the ex-police officer) to walk with us. The only problem with that is that he stayed with the interview, which can influence the freedom to speak of the interviewee. It is difficult to tell him not to stay with the interview... The good thing is that we managed to also do an interview with the senhor himself. Although he speaks very unclear and looks a bit uninterested, the interview was interesting. He lives in Caranguejo since the beginning and helped building the place, so we hope to meet him again to ask some more questions about Caranguejo this time.
So, yesterday morning we managed to do two interviews, which is a lot! We had one scheduled with the wife of a man that we interviewed last week and this inteview was unplanned. Tomorrow we will go back again. We tend to go into the favela early (at 8h-8.30h) in the morning (which is nice, because then the bus is not yet that crowded and it's not that warm yet...) the last days. For tomorrow we have an appointment with a 22 year old male that is married with the 19 year old girl that I interviewed last week. Yesterday, when we made this appointment he was bathing his daughter of 1... so that might be a good sign of an empowerment men! ;)
I already have 10 interviews now with very diverse outcomes and also similar answers on some questions. It is for example really nice to hear people talk about their relationship and how they met. Usually they start saying that their marriage is good, but after a while we often hear some complains. But, fortunately, there are possitive stories as well. For example, the interview with an ex-drug addict/ glue sniffer. He told us about his life then, how he ended up in jail. In jail he had to share a room that is ment for 5 people with 20. He told us he has seen bad things in prison, gave some examples, but also told us that he did not experience it as so bad. This was mostly because his mother always cooked food for him, so he didn't had to eat the food there. Anyway, the experience in jail made him see 'the light' and he got of of drugs (used some stronger stuff in jail but did not get addicted to it) and became an evangelic. Now he is just married and thanks God for his wonderful wife and life.
In general, I appears that it is more accepted for women to work because of the bad circumstance people live in. But still, in most households women are expected to do the household. There are men that help, but you hear men say things as: 'those men are not real men' or 'God made women to take care of her husband' or 'women who work cheat on their husbands'... isn't that interesting?! There are also many stories about jealous husbands, who lock their wifes out when they come home to late or acuse their wifes of cheating while they are the ones cheating on their wifes. Men... hihi! Anyhow, it is very interesting to get a glance of their feelings, their daily life and their opinions about women working and about the task division at home, among others.
That's about it, things are becomming more normal for me and my life a little bit more structured, so I don't remember everyting I did. Therefore it is nice to write it down sometimes...
Besides my interviews and research there is not so much to tell you. Marielle and I have been exploring Recife Antigo, the beach Boa Viagem, the crazyness of catching a bus in the center (I knew which one to get, but there are sooooo many buses there and whenever you find the right one, it just passes you because the stop is somewhere else - and you won't find a sign that says which bus stops where, but we managed!!!) and Recife's nightlife! Wow... we were an attraction in the nightclub called Down Town (where the only beer they have is Heineken, which we didn't drink ofcourse). I am really long here - a giant: are you a basketball player?!-, so people stare at me a lot. Marielle is blond with blue eyes - my hair is getting more blond because of the sun as well and they are very interested in my green eyes, but I am a bit browned by the sun, so that makes my appearance less obvious, luckely! But, the two of us get a lot of attention...I actually felt more confortable walking on my own through Recife. But, anyway, they don't get very bad, if you just make clear you are not interested they'll leave. So, we enjoyed the 'black music', dance and Brazilian rock... so nice to hear people singing English songs with a Brazilian accent!
Okay, I'll be going home now soon (I'm at uni... where the elevators don't stop where you want them to if the men that is sitting in the lift to control it (a lift-boy) is having his break...), because it is getting dark soon!
Beijos,
Hilda
