Looking back
It’s been over ten months since my college commencement. It’s really hard to believe that it’s been that long since graduation – kinda seems like yesterday – and yet …
When cultural adaptation backfires
While walking back from the city center, I ran into Sandro talking to a guy on a bike, about four blocks from home. In no hurry, and feeling it …
Brazilian foods I hate
Some parts of the feijoada. Feijoada, the Brazilian national dish, is a black bean stew with various bits of meat mixed in; it’s served over rice. Sometimes sketchy pieces …
Brazilian foods I love
Churrasco. I don’t know what the Brazilians do to their meat, but MAN it comes out good… moist, hot off the skillet, impossibly flavorful… my mouth waters just thinking …
Freshman orientation/hazing at the USP
It’s orientation week at the University of São Paulo (here, the school year starts in March, which is the fall) and it’s quite easy to identify the freshmen on …
My new home
It’s really nice to be part of a household again. I’ve always thought of myself as an introvert (still do), but I discovered after four months of living alone that it …
“Time is money”
There’s this really annoying guy who hangs out with the capo/samba crew, and I can’t avoid him because he’s at all the same events and parties I’m at. First of all, …
Trip to Salvador
I just got back from sixteen awesome days in Salvador. Every time I go there (this was my third time) I find it harder and harder to leave. It’s interesting how people …
Anti-Americanism
How come it’s okay to be proud of being any other nationality, except for American? While in Salvador, I met one of the most snobby and anti-American people I’ve ever …
Training capoeira in Brazil: Myth vs. reality
There is a persistent myth, widely believed among foreign capoeiristas, that Brazil is this magical capoeira paradise where people train all day and ginga down the street to the …