More carnaval and more anthropologists
Door: Hilda Alberda
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Hilda
05 Maart 2006 | Brazilië, Recife
Oi! And there I was... thinking that carnaval would be over after months of preparing, weeks of pre-carnaval-parties and 5 days of hardcore carnaval... But it is not!
Let me start at the beginning... Being alone in a strange country, far away from your family and friends sometimes makes you desperate to get in contact with people that speak a language in which you are somewhat more fluent than the native language of the country you are in. So was I. About two weeks ago, when working at Fages (Scott´s department at the UFPE - Federal University of Pernambuco) there was a girl that spoke English very well, while, as she told me, she lived in London for 4 years. So, on my request we exchanged phone numbers and last friday, without any real plans for the weekend, I decided to call her. She was really enthousiastic and I ended joining a party that she gave because of receiving a grant for doing research at Federal. I met her at Central, a bar in central Recife (a really nice one with huge pictures of Recife taken from the sky). I was the only one that came on time (ofcourse... Brazilians are ALWAYS late, and not only 5 minutes, but the first one only showed up about 1,5 hours later!). So we sat down had talked a lot about living in Brasil, Brasilians always being late... etc etc. It is very interesting how 4 years in London changed her view on these issues, but also left her with a negative image of English people (and maybe Western people in general) for being very racist as she says. I really enjoyed talking to her, if not only because it is very interesting to talk with people who can also compare Brasil and other countries and share your ideas, interests and annoyances. When her friends showed up, it turned out that they were almost all anthropologists (or someting related) and most have been at Fages as well. But, what was even better is that two of them are the founders of Papai, a NGO that is concerned with studies on masculinity from a feminine perspective, how great is that! For the not insiders/ anthropologists, this is the point of view from which I am doing my research! Two others work at an NGO as well and have many contacts with other NGO´s that, among others, deal with domestic violence against women. After having some more cervejas and some toast, we ended up going to Olinda, where it turned out that people are still celebrating carnaval! We sat down on some chairs/ on the ground, outside/ on the street near a restaurant (well you could hardly call it a restaurant, but it was just a place where you can order food...). I always enjoy how Brazilians order food/ handle going out for dinner. We got some beers (you almost always get a large bottle of 600ml that you share among each other, when you take it out of the ´cooler´ this means that it is finished and they´ll bring you a new one, but in this place you had to get a new one yourself). Besides the beers there were three plastic plates with... I forgot the name, it´s not potatoe, but it tastes like it... hmmm, well anyway, one with that and chicken, one with that and typical Brazilian meet and one salad like plate with beans (ofcourse, beans are everywhere here) and a lot of other things. You all grab a fork and share the food, so un-Dutch! :) But it was so nice! Sitting there, outside, under the stars, in this beatiful street in Olinda (almost all houses are painted in bright colours and there are still decorations and lights everywhere which makes it look even nicer! There were also still blocos going through the street, I saw some real nice ones, people were dressed up really pretty! After watching the blocos we sat down again and enjoyed the music that some guys were playing on the street... it´s so nice and relaxed! Can you imgine that in Holland, at night, outside.... in the snow... :) Ohw, and there I also met another lady that works at an NGO called SOS corpo, which is a really big one with a huge library (in Portugues?!).
After a while we all got a bit tired and walked around a little through Olinda, during which I met Kevin (my American classmate who does his research in Olinda), what a coincidence! Then, when bringing me back home, the guys from Papai invited me for a manifestation that is organised because of the 50 women that were already killed by their husbands this year in Pernambuco (the state I live in). Futhermore there would be another conference about masculinity from a feminist perspective in 2 weeks or so, they will inform me about that as well. So, I came home late, but so happy about having such a great night and meeting these interesting people! Hope these contacts will work out!
I´m at Recife Shopping right now, the biggest mall in Recife (even in Brasil?!), that is so crowded now... I will soon be taking a bus back to CDU (that´s where I live) while it is getting dark soon and I want to be back home before that! While, one of the negative things about living in Brasil is that it is just not so safe to walk the streets/ go by bus, even more when you are alone, even more when you are a foreigner (or a giant like me...) and ofcourse when you are a girl...
Beijos,
Hil.
Let me start at the beginning... Being alone in a strange country, far away from your family and friends sometimes makes you desperate to get in contact with people that speak a language in which you are somewhat more fluent than the native language of the country you are in. So was I. About two weeks ago, when working at Fages (Scott´s department at the UFPE - Federal University of Pernambuco) there was a girl that spoke English very well, while, as she told me, she lived in London for 4 years. So, on my request we exchanged phone numbers and last friday, without any real plans for the weekend, I decided to call her. She was really enthousiastic and I ended joining a party that she gave because of receiving a grant for doing research at Federal. I met her at Central, a bar in central Recife (a really nice one with huge pictures of Recife taken from the sky). I was the only one that came on time (ofcourse... Brazilians are ALWAYS late, and not only 5 minutes, but the first one only showed up about 1,5 hours later!). So we sat down had talked a lot about living in Brasil, Brasilians always being late... etc etc. It is very interesting how 4 years in London changed her view on these issues, but also left her with a negative image of English people (and maybe Western people in general) for being very racist as she says. I really enjoyed talking to her, if not only because it is very interesting to talk with people who can also compare Brasil and other countries and share your ideas, interests and annoyances. When her friends showed up, it turned out that they were almost all anthropologists (or someting related) and most have been at Fages as well. But, what was even better is that two of them are the founders of Papai, a NGO that is concerned with studies on masculinity from a feminine perspective, how great is that! For the not insiders/ anthropologists, this is the point of view from which I am doing my research! Two others work at an NGO as well and have many contacts with other NGO´s that, among others, deal with domestic violence against women. After having some more cervejas and some toast, we ended up going to Olinda, where it turned out that people are still celebrating carnaval! We sat down on some chairs/ on the ground, outside/ on the street near a restaurant (well you could hardly call it a restaurant, but it was just a place where you can order food...). I always enjoy how Brazilians order food/ handle going out for dinner. We got some beers (you almost always get a large bottle of 600ml that you share among each other, when you take it out of the ´cooler´ this means that it is finished and they´ll bring you a new one, but in this place you had to get a new one yourself). Besides the beers there were three plastic plates with... I forgot the name, it´s not potatoe, but it tastes like it... hmmm, well anyway, one with that and chicken, one with that and typical Brazilian meet and one salad like plate with beans (ofcourse, beans are everywhere here) and a lot of other things. You all grab a fork and share the food, so un-Dutch! :) But it was so nice! Sitting there, outside, under the stars, in this beatiful street in Olinda (almost all houses are painted in bright colours and there are still decorations and lights everywhere which makes it look even nicer! There were also still blocos going through the street, I saw some real nice ones, people were dressed up really pretty! After watching the blocos we sat down again and enjoyed the music that some guys were playing on the street... it´s so nice and relaxed! Can you imgine that in Holland, at night, outside.... in the snow... :) Ohw, and there I also met another lady that works at an NGO called SOS corpo, which is a really big one with a huge library (in Portugues?!).
After a while we all got a bit tired and walked around a little through Olinda, during which I met Kevin (my American classmate who does his research in Olinda), what a coincidence! Then, when bringing me back home, the guys from Papai invited me for a manifestation that is organised because of the 50 women that were already killed by their husbands this year in Pernambuco (the state I live in). Futhermore there would be another conference about masculinity from a feminist perspective in 2 weeks or so, they will inform me about that as well. So, I came home late, but so happy about having such a great night and meeting these interesting people! Hope these contacts will work out!
I´m at Recife Shopping right now, the biggest mall in Recife (even in Brasil?!), that is so crowded now... I will soon be taking a bus back to CDU (that´s where I live) while it is getting dark soon and I want to be back home before that! While, one of the negative things about living in Brasil is that it is just not so safe to walk the streets/ go by bus, even more when you are alone, even more when you are a foreigner (or a giant like me...) and ofcourse when you are a girl...
Beijos,
Hil.
