Study Abroad – Christopher Wellin

For the past two and a half weeks, I’ve had a change of scenery from the dusty, scorching hot state I know as Ceara to Recife, Pernambuco and Salvador, Bahia, two marvelous cities and states which lie directly south of Ceara. I arrived in Recife two weeks ago and was amazed that the entire city is green. Recife is about the size of Fortaleza, somewhere around a metropolitan area of 2.5 million people. Recife was also one of the first places the Portuguese came, and it’s a center of preservation of Northeastern Culture, however it is still a city struggling with racism and equal rights for its majority population who are Afro-Brasilians. I happened to go to a museum which is preserving Northeastern Culture in a Brasil which many of us perceive to be that of Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paulo. The museum was heavily oriented towards the Portuguese and their enslavements of Western Africans, specifically peoples from Nigeria, Angola, and Mocambique. We consistently viewed the city’s struggle for equal rights for its African descendant population. What distinguishes Brazil’s vision of race compared to the United States’, is that the problem is not black and white when you have a population which has been interracially connected for generations. I definitely saw the difference in opinion when we visited the movimento negro in Recife, which was a movement for empowering Afro-Brasilians to recognize their roots to Africa. When we talked to some youth within the movement, a few of them would be considered “white” by our standards, however they specifically stated that their movement does not solely use an identity politics for its operation because they need to chance the perceptions of non-Afro-Brasilians in Recife, as well as in the rest of the country.

We visited a school on our final day in Recife which educates youth on their African Heritage, specifically how it has melded culture of dance, music, and art in Brazil. We viewed an absolutely phenomenal show a group of kids put on for us. Here’s a picture of it:

After Recife, we departed for Salvador, which is considered the beating heart of not only Black Brazil, but of Brazilian culture in general – Capoeira, Samba, Music, etc. About 90% of Salvador’s population is of African Descent, and you can see that they are very proud of it in the city. Many communities in Salvador are deeply rooted to Candomblé, a religion which started in Nigeria. We visited a few Candomblé houses and had to wear all white out of respect for the religion and head priestesses. One of the issues which we continually discussed at the Candomblé houses we visited was how many people perceive it not to be a religion because it is not monotheistic. Additionally, it became apparent through our dialogue that the Evangelists in Brazil are the main culprits of this counter-movement because they finance campaigns of politicians and speak badly upon followers of Candomblé. When the Portuguese came to Salvador, they were very concerned with controlling the area we now call Bahia because of the productivity of its land. While doing so, they were incredibly interested in transplanting the catholic church there. It was apparent when we visited this church in Pellerino in which it is rumored that the Portuguese built it with over 1,000 kg of Gold. Take a look for yourself:

An interesting part about Salvador is from a city planning perspective. The city has two major parts Cidade Baixa and Cidade Alta – Lower and Upper City -. If I could describe the city layout, it is as if the entire city is located on hills, and the roads are located in a mesh of green, vegetative-lined streets at the foots of the hills. Additionally, is that the city is VERY old, and has a very European feel because of the Portuguese.

The most enjoyable part of Salvador was when we visited Dida, a group of all-female drummers who play a form of music called SambaReggae. These girls were really, really good. They even invited us to play a bit with them. You can see me in the mirror, playing the Funda, or bassdrum:

Music was a huge part of the trip, considering that we not only saw Ivete Sangalo’s condominium, but also that we traveled to Cachoeira, which is considered the place were Samba was preserved in Brazil. However, on the way, we passed kilometers of Sugarcane fields. It was similar to passing miles and miles of cornfields which exist all throughout Indiana, however the actual Sugarcane plant has razor sharp leaves, which will seriously hurt you (It puts into perspective how rutheless the Portuguese were with slavery in comparison to the United States, farming a crop 24 hours a day which inflicts serious pain when harvesting without protection). On our way to Cachoeira, we also passed through the little town of Santo Amaro, which for those of you that don’t know, is the birthplace of the greatest Brazilian artist of all time (in my opinion), Caetano Veloso.  It all continued to make sense to me why the majority of Caetano’s songs speak of Bahia. To make it even more painful that my time in Salvador was limited, I realized that on the night of my departure (November 7th), Caetano Veloso was playing a concert in Salvador for $R30.

This week, I am starting my Independent Research in a community called Almecegas, about 150km northwest of Fortaleza. I will be studying Escola Santa Luiza, and the Inclusao Digital project which was constructed in 2005 by IDER – Instituto Desolvimento e Energias Renovaveis -, an NGO focused on Sustainable Development through education on the environment and the utilization of renwable energy technologies.

Until next time, you can enjoy a picture from one of my American friend’s birthday with a few other SIT students. The guy in the middle is my GCB Capoeira professor, Paulo.

Ate Mais =)

Two weeks ago I realized that the Northeast of Brazil is different than the Brazil most imagine. In fact, Brazil has many Brazils. For example, in Fortaleza, many listen to Forró and Reggae instead of Samba. I had the chance to go with my neighbor Mardey and his friends to Ceará music, the largest music festival in Ceará. It was located right near the sea in a large open area separated by two stages (one main and the other for unknown artists). This was definitely a rock scene with bandannas, covers of Rage Against the Machine and Metallica. The most interesting band we heard was Natty Roots – a Reggae band which everyone in Fortaleza adores -.

As a part of the SIT’s Social Justice  Program, I conducted a week long community project in which I kept a field journal and investigated how communities in the greater Fortaleza area respond and organize to problems affecting them. I studied ARCA – Associação Recreativa de Crianças e Adolescentes -. ARCA was formed by a Dutch man and his Brasilian wife in which it provides recreational activities and events for children in low-income areas of Fortaleza. I spent most of my time in the neighborhood of São Miguel, which is located in another municipality called Caucaia. I played games with children between the ages of 5-12 and drank lots of chocolate milk and creme crackers. However, I spent a few days at Casa do Surf, which is a little house located in a community in Barrá do Ceara, 15 minutes from my house. At Casa do Surf, the instructors Natalia, Wilkison, and Walter teach children how to surf, bodyboard, and kitesurf.

ARCA is a very interesting organization in the context of Brazilian Education. In Brazil, kids only go to school for half of the day, just like Kindergarten in the US. However, there is a lack of support schools for tutoring and recreational activity. ARCA is an organization which provides the support by focusing on three areas for its children – puntualidade, respeito, e participação – punctuality, respect, and participation. Now, many children throughout Brazil, specifically ones from poorer stratifications of society, do not have access to extra schooling and are often systematically excluded from the system.

ARCA is a leading organization which is trying to combat the problem of sexual exploitation of children and on a much larger scale, the negative image that Fortaleza has a huge international sex tourism trade. ARCA does this through hugs. Many of the children, regardless if they are 15 or 5 years old, give alot of hugs.

This week, I am discovering a different Brazil  which is African Brazil. Many people do not recognize that Brazil has the 2nd largest African Diaspora behind Nigeria. I recently traveled to Recife and am currently in Salvador, Bahia – the heart of Afro-Brazil -. I will post my findings and experiences later next week. But for now, enjoy some pictures of the Missa das Vaqueiros and the Basilica do São Francisco from our excursion a month ago in Canindé.

I haven’t posted in a while because I´ve been occupied with excursions, research development, and Capoeira. However, I will attempt to “Spill the beans” about these adventures. However, before I start, I must apologize to all of my readers, especially the Brazilians. My last post I made the claim that Dilma Roussef, the candidate for a presedÊncia do Brasil, was a lesbian. I later realized that this, is solely a rumor which was made since Dilma has been twice divorced, and currently lives with another woman. So, Dilma is not a lesbian.

The election two weeks back was very interesting. Cid Gomes, who was the frontrunner for the governo do Ceará, won by a landslide. However, since Dilma did NOT win over 50% of the vote, there will be a second term “segundo turmo” of voting which will take place in two weeks. The segundo turmo will be between the two frontrunners: Dilma Roussef and Jose Serra. My favorite candidate, Marina Silva, unfortunately only won 17% of the vote and is out of the running. However, the atmosphere here is a bit eerie, because even though it seems throughout the Northeast and on national television that Dilma will be the next president, there is a very good chance that Jose Serra, the former governor of the state of São Paulo could win all of Marina Silva´s votes, and therefore become the next president of Brasil. However, it is not my place to decide, but the Brazilian people.

This past week, we visited an MST site in the middle of the state called Vinte cinco de Maio. MST is the largest social movement in Brasil, as well as all of Latin America. It stands for Movimento dos Trabalhadores sem Terra = Movement of workers without land. Many of you reading this blog who study Latin America probably have heard of Latifundios, or large farms owned by a very small proportion of the population which employ techniques of modern slavery. MST is a movement whose main goal is to re-establish the constitutional rights of Brazilians to have land re-appropriated which is not being used for productive resources. Some people mistakenly say that MST is “stealing” land since they engage in occupation of land without large landowners knowing. However, it is a duty of the government of Brazil to re-appropriate this land and in addition, MST eventually pays the market price for this land, this it is not “stealing”.

The MST encampment which we visited was in the Sertão, an indredibly hot and dry region in the middle of Ceará. The land around the encampment was filled with small trees and shrubs, almost appearing like a forest. However, none of the trees had leaves, and appeared as the trees do during winter in the states. It appeared so dry that you could start a small fire and potentially burn down the entire area. To give you a better clue of how dry it is around the MST camp, community leaders and the workers in the banana farm said that their region had not received rain since março (March) of this year.

The part which I enjoyed most about the MST camp was visiting the ensino medio, or high school. Their classes were much more thought provoking than the classes I took in high school, even more thought provoking than alot of Economics classes I have taken at Loyola. I attended one class entitled mercados, or “Markets”. The class discussed the vagueness of the word “market” and “economy” in modern neo-liberalist economic thought as well as American capitalism. The class also discussed the atrocities and problems corporate America has done to Brasil, specifically Avon, Nestle, McDonalds, and Nike. Even though the movement is a bit Marxist, and may scare some Americans and Brasilians, MST does what most Economics professors and academics are afraid to do and need to do: discuss and formulate economics as a SOCIAL SCIENCE, instead of a MATHEMATICAL SCIENCE. Many economicts make the ultimate mistake by formulating economic systems on the belief that all humans are rational, and that the invisible hand is some sort of force which has thoughts, feelings, and compassion for others. It´s obvious that “markets” do not have feelings, and they do not act rationally because they have killed, impoverished, and systematically killed Brazilians since the country was formed. After we met with the teachers, leaders, and high school, kids in MST, they were glad that a group of American students visited, specifically because it was a wake-up call that many of America´s agricultural practices are not only hurting Americans, but Brasilians as well as people all around the world.

After MST, we ventured to Canindé, a city in the middle of the Sertão about an hour and a half´s drive from the MST encampment. We visited one of the largest catholic pilgrimages in Latin America as well as in the world, for St. Francis of Assisi. The pilgramige, or romaria, started around the 1770. Canindé has pilgrims from all over the Northeast of Brasil (Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Piaui, Maranhão, Bahia, etc.) as well over Brasil. When I was standing next to the statue of São Francisco (Which interestingly is the largest statue in Brasil, larger than Cristo Redentor in Rio de Janeiro), A man with a camera asked me where I was from and I told him the United States. Turns out that this guy was from SBT, a major television station in Fortaleza. He called over all of his crew and actually did an interview with me because they were very curious at how and why an American would venture to Canindé for São Francisco. Unfortunately, I cannot find the video on the internet, but when I do, I will post it.

Então, Piligrims basically make a promise to St. Francis which involves a sacrifice. In return, people ask for favors from him. The majority of the promessas I heard involved health or for the blessing of a family. The Basilica of Canindé is absolutely gorgeous, and interestingly has many symbolic statues and figures of St. Francisco inside. Many of you may ask “Why not just pray to God for these favors?”. The interesting thing is that for the people of Northeast Brazil, São Francisco serves as a medium of communication with God. This tradition has continued for centuries, and I think some sort of divine intervention or miracles have occured through this process.

I must get going because I am going to practice Capoeira with my instrutors Paulo and Leonardo, as well as 25 crianças. This time, I will try not to get kicked in the face.

Até logo =)

When I decided to venture to Brasil, I was completely unaware that I would have the opportunity to experience the national election. This Sunday, millions of Brasilians will vote for their new President, State Deputies, Senators, and Governors. It’s very interesting watching the political methods of the candidates, in which they pay hundreds of poor people to stand on all of the major medians, intersections, and bus terminals in Fortaleza to wave flags and advertise their campaigns. Some candidates even pay people to go into the favelas and post stickers, posters, and other propoganda because the candidates are too scared and unfortunately, numbed to the social injustices and exclusions in Brazilian society. It would take a too long to discuss all of the candidates for positions in the state of Ceara’ as well as the juicy details. However, allow me to give a basic overview of the three major candidates running to be the next President of Brazil.

Dilma Roussef

Dilma Rousseff is the favorite to win the next election because of her support from the current president, Lula Ignacio da Silva. Lula is viewed as a saint here in Brazil because he is the first president who is NOT from the priviledged class in Brazil. He grew up in a poor family in Pernambuco (The Northeast) in which his family’s main source of income was from his mother who swept floors and did other housework in his town. The reason why Dilma is going to win is because of the relationship she has with Da Silva and his high approval rating (Around 80%). Da Silva has openly given his support to Dilma, and considering how Da Silva has improved social programs (Bolsa Familia’) and brought millions of Brazilians out of poverty, some people will vote for whomever he thinks will do the best job. What’s interesting about Dilma is that she is a LESBIAN (Sapatao, in Portuguese). She does not openly flaunt her sexual orientation, but it’s very interesting that this country even with its negative perspectives on Gay culture, could overcome this hurdle and elect the first Gay president in Brazil, and I think in the world.

Jose Serra

Jose Serra is also another large contender specifically because he has visited the Northeast. The Northeast of Brazil (Bahia, Ceara’, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, etc.) is the poorest region of Brazil. Jose Serra has recognized this problem and has made many visits to the Northeast, specifically Ceara’ this past summer and during the election. He has won many supporters, however, his suspect political activity and financing has created some discontent and distrust for electing him as the next President of Brazil.

Marina Silva

Marina Silva is the final major candidate for the election. Marina is the “Dark Horse” so to speak of the election. Many people here compare her to Obama because of her ability to organize within the Amazon and to focus on the major issues within Brazilian society (Social Exclusion of the Amazonian regions, The Environment, and Education). Marina was born in the poorest state of Brazil (Acre), which is located on the far west corner of Brazil, neighboring Peru. Marina’s big story is that she has been an educator in Brazil for quite some time. The NY Times published a very good article today about how Brazil’s status in the “BRIC” is heavily threatened by its inability to provide fair and equal education to its society. Education is one of Marina’s main platforms and the Brazilian people will support her if she is sincere with this plan. Additionally, Marina is an environmentalist, serving as the Ministeria do meio-ambiente (Environmental Minister) of Brasil. She has successfully pushed many programs for preserving the Amazonian regions of Brasil and including them into Brazilian society.

An interesting note about this election, is that the majority of the candidates are women. This is a direct affect of the many social programs and movements for women in Brazil. It shows that Brazilian society is not a society where women are viewed as pristine objects of beauty, but as primary leaders in this nation. It will be very interesting to observe the type of celebrations, thoughts, and opinions of Brazilians this weekend as well as after the election.

Ate mais tarde =)

On Tuesday night I had a very interesting field trip with my advanced Portugues class. We went to an Umbanda festival. Umbanda is basically a religion which was created within the Afro-Brasilian diaspora because of the lack of liberty within the Catholic church. Umbanda combines catholocism with spiritualism and shamanism.

We walked into this obscure neighborhood with only a few people, lots of concrete walls, and graffiti. While we were looking for this address, we noticed this woman following us around. She eventually got our attention and we realized that she was from the Umbanda church and was expecting us. We came into the church and the first thing we noticed is that everyone wore white. The church service was like 2 hours straight of upbeat singing, heavy drum music, samba-ish beats, and rituals involving oils. The most interesting thing about Umbanda is that it´s like a Catholic church service, except the priests are smoking during the service and they serve alcohol. We received a few blessings from members of the parish where they rubbed oil all over our hair, faces, and arms.  Even as absurd as catholic service with booze and smoking sounds, Umbanda is more about the vice-like grip the catholic church has had in Brasil in the past. The church attempted to export mainstream Portuguese Catholicism to Brasil. However, when the large African and Indian diasporas took Catholicism and melded it with their own rituals and spiritual beliefs.

Now, the Bank Robbery. While we were returning home from an excursion today, our Academic Director told us a very interesting story of the World´s Largest Bank Robbery which occured blocks from our school in Fortaleza at the Banco do Brasil (The Central Bank of Brasil). In 2005, a group of guys rented a house fairly close to the Banco do Brasil and dug a tunnel directly into the Bank´s vault and stole somewhere around 75 million Reais. The funny part about this story, is that these guys dug into the Bank´s vault WITH AND ONLY WITH SHOVELS.  I thought it´d be a funny story to share.

This weekend is the first weekend where we do not have class on Saturday. I am looking forward to lying on the beach for hours and finally being able to use my sunga (Basically the Brasilian Speedo which all of the guys here wear) and exploring other parts of the city. For now, I´ll leave you with some pictures!

Ate Mais Tarde =)

Chris W.

Yesterday night I trained Capoeira with my group Grupo Capoeira Brasil. I am blessed to have joined the group this summer in Chicago, because my Mestre Caxias (who is in New York) and my Instructor in Chicago (Brucutu) put me in contact with a guy named Sapinho. I met Sapinho downtown and took an interesting motorcycle ride to our training ground on the outside of the city.  Sapinho was a very cool guy and very generous also.  He trained with my Mestre while they were kids in Rio De Janeiro.  It was pretty scary riding on a motorcycle for 40 minutes, swerving between large trucks, cars, and other vehicles, however it was very ehxilarating. When we arrived at the academy, I met Paulo and Fernando,  who also train with GCB Fortaleza (Grupo Capoeira Brasil) . Paulo is a Green Cord and Fernando is a Red-Blue Cord. Basically, the two are absolutely lights out at Capoeira. They had me practice my jinga, kick combos, work on technical stuff with kicks, and  etc. The best part about training was that they trained me regardless of the fact that I am a tall, fairly inflexible skinny man. They had me work on Brinquedo, which is a move in which you do a one-handed handstand and scissor kick your legs across the front of your body. I never could´ve imagined that I could do something like this , especially considering that I was learning in Portuguese! I will train on Tuesday and Thursday at the academy and on Mondays, I will have the opportunity to meet the Mestre of Fortaleza, Mestre Kim.  He has beach rodas (fight circles) every Monday night at Praia de Iraçema, which is a very popular beach here in Fortaleza. I´ve never been more excited in my life to be potentially kicked in the face.

SIT tries to do a great job at “immersion” into a culture. They are doing a pretty good job at it so far.  However, because the program is so radical, it´s challenging to get a clearer view of the picture.  This past week, I have experienced the crystallization of the reality of violence in Brazilian society. One of the other students in the program had a cousin of her family murdered last weekend. A bunch of people broke into his house and were trying to “rob” him.  However, in the process, he was shot in the throat 3 times. It´s interesting how most of the families we are staying with do not want us to see this side of Brazilian society which deeply affects them. We suspect that this boy was shot because he was involved with drugs, because if you were robbing someone and they reacted, why would you shoot someone in the throat, nonetheless three times? It´s a bit unsettling that this occured in a neighborhood which is right next to my neighborhood, albeit a few blocks away. However, it´s a products of hundreds of years of social exclusion, deprivation of human rights, stealing, and corruption within the priveledged in Brazliian Society. Tomorrow, we will learn about the Hip-Hop Movement in Fortaleza and how it is trying to deal with the problems of violence and drugs in Fortaleza.

Ate Logo =)

Unfortunately I was not able to go to the Reggae concert because the bus which we were going to take with the rest of the Cristo Redentor kids returned at 4am. So, instead we went to Dragao do Mar on Friday night. Dragao do Mar is a very interesting place with a unique story. Since the city of Fortaleza did not have a port until the early 1900s, men from Fortaleza would go out to the ships in the Atlantic Ocean and get the goods from other ships and bring them to shore. The majority of good brought to Fortaleza were slaves during the 1800s. Francisco Jose do Nascimento was one of these men who would bring goods to Fortaleza from other ships at sea. However, Francisco was one of the only boatmen who refused to bring slaves into Fortaleza. He was nicknamed “Dragao do Mar” which translates from Portuguese to “Dragon of the Sea”. His actions led to the abolishment of slavery in the state of Ceara’ (The first state to abolish slavery in Brasil). Dragao Do Mar is currently a very hot tourist/nightlife spot near the sea which has shops, outdoor bars, a planetarium, beautiful museums, and etc. We had a few drinks and spoke with a few Brazilians about how going to college is a blessing for many in Brazil. They say 1 out of 40 kids will get a spot in the public university. Few people here will ever get the chance to become “Formados” or “Graduates” of the university.

These unfortunate realities of Brazilian society became further engrained on Saturday when we toured important parts of the city with a famous photographer from Fortaleza, Jose Albano; we called him Ze’, which is short for Jose here in Brasil. We went through the Favela on the way to the highest point in Fortaleza. It became apparent that the rich are ignoring the poor because the condominium developments sprawled all over the city skyline, and in the shadows were the favelas which many people both outside and inside of Brasil neglect to discuss. It’s very interesting time to be studying in Brasil because elections are in October. There are political advertisements all over the concrete walls, 15 minute segments of advertisements every hour on television and the radio. However, the methods of drawing support for the people is much different than in the United States. Instead of candidates showing their faces around the city, speaking, and being put on the hot seat about the obvious neglect of the poor and inequality within the city, they pay the poor to roam the poor neighborhoods by car, bike, and even on foot, playing propoganda and poppy songs about how they will bring equality to the city.

At the end of our tour on Saturday with Ze’, we headed out to the Sand Dunes on the outskirts of the city. I finally had the chance to play soccer with a bunch of 13-19 year old kids under the silhouettes of the dunes. Typically Brasilian, they were very good. However, they were surprised by my goalkeeping skills (Who knows how surprised they would’ve been if they played with Loyola’s Goalie Peter McKoewn ).

Sunday I finally had the chance to visit Praia do Futuro, the major beach in Fortaleza. We walked to a “barraca” or seaside tent area that sold seafood, drinks, and had a forro’ band (forro is a very popular type of music in Brasil). The sea was very warm and it was quite refreshing to swim in compared to the cold waters of Lake Michigan.

This week, I am continuing to develop an independent study project (an integral part of SIT Study Abroad) on alternative energy uses in urban and rural communities of the greater Fortaleza area. Until next time.

Ate Logo =)

I´ve been staying with my host family for the past 2 days. They are absolutely insane in the best way possible. My mom, Terezinha, speaks hardcore PortuguÊs, I´m talking crazy nasal accents, slurring of the s, and she basically overdoes everything which makes PortuguÊs the best language in the world. I have one brother or irmão named Osmacy who is 22 and two irmãs named Barbara and Ana Carolina, who are 25 and 26 respectively. I am very lucky that I was placed by SIT into this family because they are hardcore Brazilians. I often hang out with Osmacy´s friends Pedro and João, who live nextdoor. We will be going to a Brazilian Reggae concert this Friday at one of Brazil´s best beaches called A Praia do Futuro (The beach of the future). It´s similar to North Avenue beach, except it´s a bit nicer, bigger, and there´s twelve miles of it.

The first thing I realized about my neighborhood is that it´s much more run down than some Chicago neighborhoods I´ve been to such as Pilsen, Austin, or Englewood, however, Cristo Redentor is very very unique. Everone is outside from 7 to 1130pm smoking, talking, playing, whistling at girls, etc. It´s pretty relaxing just to hang out and talk to people in the neighborhood and watch the kids in the praça (square) all evening. Cristo Redentor is also a quick bus ride to the center of the city and it´s literally a hop, skip, and a jump from the sea. Today, we had the chance to get out and explore the city, starting from Cristo Redentor.

We had a CIAesque mission in which we were given a map a pen and pad and had to find the name of a important place fueling socioeconomic change in the city. Since I´ve had the most experience with PortuguÊs, they sent me and my friend Katrina to Banco Palmas, which was the farthest journey through a favela to the outskirts of the city. It took about an hour and a half to get there by bus, but the ride was awesome. I saw one of the most beautiful statues on the way, which was of a giant mermaid on a rock, in the middle of a lake. It is a very well known landmark in Fortaleza. When we asked a few people where Banco Palmas was, we finally ended up in Palmeiras, a run down neighborhood on the southwest (Sudoeste) side of the city. I studied Growth and Development Economics a few years ago and wrote a few papers on Microfinance, but this Microfinance institution was one of a kind and operates a bit differently than Yunus´Grameen Bank.

In the 70s, the Fortaleza government wanted to generate more tourist revenue from a neighborhood close to the sea called Beira do Mar, so they did the easiest and most unfortunate thing and kicked all the poor out to Palmeiras. The Palmeiras neighborhood quickly deteriorated (especially quality of life). One day, the community and their main leader João Joaquim started to create a dialogue around how to improve these conditions. The question they resorted to ask was “Why are we poor”? Marx and all of these leftist nutjobs would say it´s because you own nothing to produce, which is true, but it´s a trivial answer because it doesn´t uncover the more important questions. João Joaqim did some resarch an realized they were poor NOT ONLY because they couldn´t save or the didn´t own anything, but because 90% of the goods they bought were produced outside of Palmeiras. They worked outside of Palmeiras, had to buy essential goods outside of Palmeiras, and enjoy entertainment outside of Palmeiras. So, Banco Palmas started promoting Economic Solidarity by creating a pact with Banco do Brasil to create a “Social Currency” which can only be used in the community, thus it promotes economic activity WITHIN the neighborhood on both production and consumption sides. The community owns the bank, decides where the microlending goes, and formulates strategy on how to plan out their neighborhood. Palmas is a bank, however, it also produces household goods such as water, detergent, sandals (in Brasil, this is a household good), with the Palmas logo as well as the phrase (È mais vende comprar no seu bairro. – There is more business when buying in your neighborhood) Interestingly enough, large corporate, local, regional, and federal banks actually promote this social currency in Brasil. Banco Palmas fights inflation by taking Brazilian Currency (Reais) out of the local market when they create the social currency.

Learning about this stuff was absolutely mind blowing. On the ride back towards the central part of the city, I was completely shocked by the idea that banks, large, massive, corporate banks would work with community banks to promote community Economic Solidarity. This was completely unknown to me, especially considering the increasingly suspect ethical and systematic behavior or banks such as the World Bank, IMF, EU CB, Federal Reserve, and etc. And oh, I forgot to mention, the people who work at Banco Palmeiras live in Palmeiras. Employees are not “Financiers” with all this false, mathematical perspective of the behavior of “credit” and “creditors”. I will have more on the neighborhoods of Fortaleza, its beaches, and neighborhoods later in the week.

Ate logo =)
Chris

Oi, boa noite!!

Unfortunately, I have not been able to post until 3 days after arrival because I was vomiting my innards out with a stomach virus for the first two days.

Anyways, On my way from Manaus to Fortaleza, it became apparent to me that Brazilians are very generous and friendly. I befriended two Brazilian girls from trying to find the word for Jean Shorts in Portuguese (Calcao Jeans). One of them happened to be an executive for the Brazilian equivalent of HSN and offered any help on learning Portuguese. I was very surprised that people would be so inclined to introduce themselves but moreover offer help which would only be offered in a very close relationship in American culture.

For the first three days, SIT has conducted an orientation about Brazilian society, expectations, home-stays, and our Independent Study Projects. Tomorrow morning, I will meet my homestay family. They have two daughters – Ana Carolina and Barbara Camila; a grandmother named Raimunda; and one son named Osmacy -. I am excited because the kids are all around my age – 26,25, and 22 respectively -. I am sure that they will be able to show me around town for a few futebol matches, capoeira rodas, good seafood, and some of the best beaches in Brazil. Tuesday, September 7th is Brazilian Independence day and it shall be a hoot. I will have many stories about it later in the week. Until then,

Ate mais =)

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