Anne in Brazil

my suffering stomach

2004-05-11T15:04:00.000-03:00

Awesome, there's a Giardia Club website online!

Assassination Mango

2004-04-23T17:46:00.000-03:00

I just witnessed a mango plunge onto the roof of a car. Everyone's heads whipped around at the sound. Lucky it wasn't someone's head... new photos at http://photos.yahoo.com/arouss13

nine months into my trip...

2004-03-25T16:42:00.000-03:00

...finally, a comments program that works!

greve (strike)

2004-03-24T18:51:00.000-03:00

The past week and a half have been marred by a student strike against tuition hikes. As a student at McGill, I'm pretty familiar with student strikes, but unlike at McGill, where things seem to go on as usual no matter what is happening outside, things (i.e., classes, my social life in general) have pretty much stopped functioning around here. It's beyond the point of being interesting or helpful

Invasion!

2004-03-17T18:20:00.000-03:00

I think the final frontier of trying to salvage your dignity in a host country is the necessity to explicitly describe the well-being of your colon, first in a foreign language to a group of serious doctors (and your host mom, who asks questions), and after that in English to groups of your fellow exchange students, all of you in tears from hysterical laughter. And beyond that, not even caring

back again

2004-02-13T21:28:00.000-03:00

I wish I could post an MP3 of Gilberto Gil's "Back in Bahia" the way Sean can, but I guess you'll have to download it for yourselves. Anyway, I'm back. photos: http://photos.yahoo.com/arouss13 Week 2 was about as different from Week 1 as you could possibly get while remaining in the same country, but that's what traveling is all about, right? After traveling all night through hours and hours of

2004-01-30T18:20:00.000-03:00

Greetings from Buenos Aires!! I am finishing up one of the best weeks I've ever had, all thanks to my expert tour guide and friend, Katie, as well as the company of her roommate from back home. By day we toured the essential landmarks, like the Plaza de Mayo and La Boca, and by night we sampled some of the hotspots that Buenos Aires has to offer, most notably an old warehouse that is home to one

2004-01-25T19:27:00.000-03:00

After several weeks of bumming around, as well as a whirlwind visit from the parental units, I finally bit the bullet and purchased a ticket for a two-week trip to Argentina. I'll be spending the first week in Buenos Aires, where an old Interlochen friend will show me around (finally!! the last time I was there I only had a fleeting glimpse at this amazing city), and then I will trudge up north

I guess I must be technically inept

2003-12-06T16:23:00.000-03:00

...because I can't get any comments feature to work (though I've been receiving the comments you write in my email), and the archives code is messed up. If you know how to fix these things, drop me a line.

free at last

2003-12-05T15:31:00.000-03:00

Yesterday I turned in my first honest-to-goodness research paper in Portuguese. I wrote about a public display of sculpture by one of Salvador's foremost artists, Mario Cravo. My professor told me he "couldn't wait" to read my paper, which makes me happy but also makes me feel sort of sick to my stomach. I'm hoping he'll have a little pity on any grammatical errors I'm certain to have committed.

Thanksgiving

2003-11-29T16:02:00.000-03:00

Surprisingly, I had a great Thanksgiving this year. I'd originally planned to share a little, 6-personish meal with a few of the other American students, but it turned into something beyond my wildest imagination. Of course, so much of Thanksgiving is the preparation process itself, which in this case is almost more interesting than the actual meal. I'd put myself in charge of fruit salad, so

2003-09-15T16:40:00.000-03:00

I used to think I made a pretty mean mix tape or CD, back in the days before I met my former roommate, Sean. Once we started living together and I saw the extent to which he dedicated himself to compiling albums (complete with title, theme, and illustrations), I realized he was way out of my league. A few weeks ago I asked him to put together a CD for me in his spare time, thinking that

2003-09-03T17:56:00.000-03:00

Greetings Earth people. The past two days have been wild here...the city decided to raise the bus fare by 20 cents, which may seem like peanuts to some of us but it caused quite a stir here. The buses are essentially the only form of public transportation in the city, and the fare certainly adds up when you have to take the bus multiple times per day (like me). Anyway, the entire high school

Mega-show

2003-08-26T11:25:00.000-03:00

It has been raining and raining and raining and raining here...I can't believe the amount of rain I have witnessed in the past week. To make matters worse, most of my classes were cancelled last week (this is a metaphor for my entire life here), and with few friends and no beach option things got a little boring. Still, in many ways I prefer rain to sun because at least it's cooler. The entire

2003-08-13T17:36:00.000-03:00

Hello, all! I'm still alive and well. I realize that the site that has been hosting my comments has gone down the drain, so as soon as I have the time to find a new one and put it into place, I will do so. Sorry for the inconvenience. It's actually chilly today (relatively speaking, as always). It is dark and rainy and almost like a Michigan morning, but not quite. I'm grateful for this brief

2003-07-30T16:38:00.000-03:00

I know I am on my way to becoming Brazilified when I put on earrings to match my bathing suit. That is a definite change from six months ago, don't you think? Our group has officially splintered - today and tomorrow lots and lots of kids will either be going home to the States or on to São Paulo to study. I am incredibly sad. Today several of us went to the beach one last time. At first it was

2003-07-23T14:52:00.000-03:00

It's been a rough few days. To make a long, drawn-out story short, my backpack was stolen on Sunday while I was at the beach with friends. Fortunately, no one was hurt; we didn't even see it happen. We suspect one of the many vendors came by and lifted it while we weren't paying enough attention. These things happen. I didn't lose anything valuable, though I lament the fact that I lost a book

2003-07-17T13:50:00.000-03:00

Hello, hello, I promise I haven't forgotten about you. I've just been busy, and sick with a sinus infection. I saw the doctor the other day and bought some medicine, which will hopefully kick in soon. We are in the midst of a rain cycle here in Bahia. The past few days have been "cold" (definitely a relative term), windy and rainy. Based on what I know of the weather around here, it should clear

2003-07-08T20:48:00.000-03:00

The internet cafe where I am writing this is playing songs like "Don't Stop Believing" and "99 Red Balloons." Strange, though at this point I am not surprised by very much. Sunday was the first day of my life as a beach bum, hopefully to be followed by many more. Around here the most heated discussions revolve around which is the best beach. Did I mention how much I love this place? Today we

2003-07-01T10:18:00.000-03:00

I'm relieved to say that my family assignment is a good one. I live in an apartment almost literally across the street from the hotel where our group had been staying, in a neighborhood called Ondina. It takes about five minutes to get to the closest beach. I have spent the most time so far with my host mother, Maria, though she also has two children - Pedro, 25, and Marta, 27. There is a father

2003-06-27T13:40:00.000-03:00

Strom Thurmond, wow. Wow. I never thought that would actually happen. Anyway, things continue to go well here in beautiful Bahia. I have developed a moderately pesky cold, but so far it hasn't stopped me from enjoying the splendor that surrounds me. I've also begun to meet the other 54 exchange students, some of whom are only staying for the five week language program, some of whom are staying

2003-06-25T15:26:00.000-03:00

Well, somehow I managed to avoid all crises and land in Brazil all in one piece!! Right now I'm at a hotel in downtown Salvador, and although I have absolutely no idea where I am in relation to anything else, I can say that it is in a beautiful location, right on the beach. I haven't had much time to enjoy it yet; at the moment I am too tired to do much. My next project is to find some food and

2003-06-23T22:17:00.000-03:00

I've waited a long time to be able to say, "tomorrow I am going to Brazil," and now it's time. I am mostly packed, but I still have to go through all my CDs, and you know what a daunting task that will be. I encourage you all to make use of the comments feature of these posts - from my experience, the ability to add comments is what makes blogs so amusing. So please, write something, if not for

2003-06-21T00:05:00.000-03:00

I bought out Politics and Prose today. I imagine these will eventually become units of trade among the other North American students, but for now they are mine, all mine. Barbara Kingsolver - Homeland and other Stories Vladimir Nabokov - Ada, or Ardor Salman Rushdie - The Ground Beneath Her Feet (a tribute to you, Sean) Margaret Atwood - The Robber Bride Dorothy Parker - Complete Stories Roald

2003-06-17T17:02:00.000-03:00

One week countdown, starting now. LinktoComments('<$BlogItemNumber$>') ">Comment