Surgery

I'd never thought I would ever want to go and watch surgery performed, I've never considered being a doctor or following that career. Never thought I'd want to be in the same room as someone being operated on and taking pictures of the process but thats exaclty what I did the other night, on two seperate occasions. Emidio not only delivers babies for just about everyone in Valença but he also removes lots of ulcers. I followed him one night to two different ulcer removals, the first was in a private hosiptal and took a little over a half an hour, the second was in a public hospital and took almost two hours. Each time I was given my own scrubs to throw on and was allowed to be right at the doctors side both times, Emidio was assisted by another doctor each time who would help with various little things like stopping the bleeding or clamping certain parts of the operation. I was probably the most nervous one in the room each time, the second Emidio asked me to come along I started freaking out. Not because I'm a wuss, because I'm a sissy. During each operation Emidio would check up on me to make sure I hadn't fainted and before each operation I always made sure I knew where the closest trashcan was, just in case. As exciting as the operations were I think I'll always be haunted by the sound effects I heard, the crunches and the sloop slops of someone being opened up and arranged in a new way. I grew a new sensation of ackwardness as well! My legs developed a new kind of nervous shake which was more like me shifting my weight from leg to leg without knowing it. The nurses were all laughing at me which made me laugh and helped hide the fact that I wanted to cry the whole time. Surgery was great, terrifying and haunting but it was just another chance for me to be out of the comfort zone making people laugh at how manly I am.

Dom Bistro

The first time I visited Valença with Fabiano we stopped by a restaraunt some of his friends were about to open. It was a nice little place they were planning on turning into a little restaruant, a very casual place where people could come enjoy great food and relax. Since then the place has blown up, it's turned into a great location that is always welcoming and you know there's always some good eating waiting for you. Dom Bistro is a must see when in Valença, everyone involved with the restaurant is super friendly and have great attitudes. Now they have a happy hour every friday night that has become very popular with the locals. Cachaça mixed with your choice of fruit is what evryone is usually drinking, that and beer. Of course there are more options of what to drink but thats what I usually see everyone drinking. The employee's all have a great sense of humor and its very easy to spend a whole afternoon chatting with people and trying new dishes. This place has been beyond good to me, I know I can always meet interesting people there and easily make new friends. The welcoming atmosphere Dom Bistro possesses is a great example of how easy and succesful a great attitude can truly be. Any place that can make you realize the simplicity of happiness if well worth visiting or at least knowing about. I've had many great times at the Dom and look forward for more to come.

Motorcycle Tour 18|4|09

About ten minutes from Valença is Rio das Flores. Another small but great place to visit, Emidio (my father here in Brazil) often travels to Rio das Flores to deliver babies and visit the hospitals of the town. Well again I was off to a new event that started with a "follow me Alex" and again this time I ended up in a huge crowd of people going nuts. Emidio took me to Rio das Flores to check out the annual motorcycle show that is held there. On the way there I couldn't believe how many motorcyles were on the road, we would pass a group of bikers that was about twenty deep and then further down the road pass another the same size or bigger. I've never seen so many bikers on the road, it was intense. We arrived at night, right at prime time when bikers from all over were arriving and parking their bikes, and drinking cerveja. There were people from all around representing various motorcycles gangs, lots of interesting people. Everyone had on biker jackets and they all had their own gang patches and were reprsenting their crews hardcore. Tons of yelling, lots of loud music, way too many tattoo's and a Mrs. Motorcycle show going on at the same time. It was insanely perfect. There had to be more than a thousand bikers there. Lots of American rock and roll blaring along with lots of drunk people singing along and yelling at each other. I saw bikes there that didn't even make sense, bikes that could take down a baby elephant they were so big. It was so rediculous how decked out some of the bikers and their bikes were, so many bikes were decorated with skulls and fake decapitated heads. The whole scene was sort of like something Iron Maiden would use for a music video, it was that gnarley. The bikers were great, all of them had their own bad ass attitude and I had a great time trying to tell who in fact was the top dog. All the bikers were strutting around chest puffed out like they had just won a gold medal for successfuly riding their bike to the next town. It was hilarious. I was choking on the amount of testosterone that filled the air. Emidio explained to me how this Motorcycles extravaganza lasted a whole weekend and all the bikers would just roar from town to town giving the people a show. We went back the next day to take pictures since the lighting was so bad at night but most of the bikers had already taken off. The bikers weren't dangerous at all and just acted crazy and laughed all the time. They had a great atmosphere about them and my love for bikes has grown ten fold because of what I witnessed.

School in Valença

I was offered the chance to go to school with one of my friends in Valença, at first I was nervous because I thought everyone would just make fun of me the whole time. Then I realized how little I actually cared because I was so eager to see the difference in the school systems. When I got there the only person who gave me any trouble was the schools bodyguard, he was the kind of person who looks at everyone like he's about to punch them in the face, great guy. All the students and professors were very nice to me and eager to ask lots of questions, mostly about what music I like to listen to. I sat through four classes and by the end was sitting in the middle of circle of desks of curious teenagers. The language barrier was there but I was in school so there were plenty of paper and pens to draw out explanations and give better descriptions of whatever I was attempting to describe. Kids in Brazil get a snack break! Even in highschool these kids got a little twenty minute break between certain classes to get drink juice and eat cookies, c'mon USA! Wisen up! No nap time though, something I will fight to incorporate in the school system the rest of my life. One big thing I continued to notice is how much the kids talked while the teacher was talking, in the United States this is looked down upon heavily, here it was nothing. Students were just yapping it up the whole time the teacher was teaching laughing and having a good time. the atmosphere in the classrooms was very positive everyone smiling and laughing and giving each other the asnwers to problems. It was very different and a good experience, I'm glad I got the chance to get the first hand look at a different school system. There was even a fight in front of the school! I missed it but was in the crowd trying to see who was smacking around who. So is school cool? Well at least in Brazil you get cookies in school.

Foooooooood

I love food, I always have and always will, I love eating meat, it is historically correct. Meat in Brazil is very cheap, you can buy it everywhere and everyone eats it. Brazil has tons of walk in eateries, something the United states really needs to wise up on. These walk in joints are great, fast service, wide variety of sucos (juices) and lots of baked goods. My favorite snack to grab is the Cochinha which is like a hot pocket shaped like a minature hot air balloon. There are many different kinds of cochinha's all stuffed with a different kind of goodness. Everyone here eats fashow which is beans and rice and it served at just about every meal, very simple and very very good. Most of the meals and food here are simply prepared which compliments my hungers ever growing pace. Emidio Cafure is a great cook, he and I have prepared many meals together and he continues to share his knwoledge of the food world with me, he's a great guy to get hungry with. Almoco is my favorite time of the day because I always know there's gonna be some fashow waiting for me accompanied with some carne. Food brings people together, it calls for a merry time, a time when we can talk, laugh and enjoy each other company. When visiting other countries or eating new dishes someone has prepared for you its importnat to clean the plate and not be shy, express your hunger! Eat! Smile! Make a funny face if the taste demands so, but always try everything, experience the goodness. Tempt your taste buds. Laugh and be merry.

Concórdia

A thirty minute drive from Valença will take you to the Parque Natural Municipal do Açude da Concórdia. Concórdia is a beautiful nature reserve where you can come to hike, rock climbing, go canoeing, camp, fish, grill out, and do all sorts of other outdoor activities. Leading down a dirt road off a route heading towards Rio de Janeiro you pass a picturesque historical farm house and then come to the gates of Concórdia. The park mainly surrounds a huge lake with all different kinds of vegetation and wildlife. Most of the trails circle and loop around the lake and there are a couple little waterfalls and tons of benches and places to rest and soak up the views. Although my day there was a bit gloomy with a major lack of sunshine I still was amazed by how calm and peaceful the park was. I got the chance to see trees of all sorts and crazy tangled branches alsong with some pretty flowers. I felt like I was in a dreamland, lost and walking around with no particular direction in mind, partly because of my major lack of sleep the night before and also because Concórdia seems so unreal. We've all been places that just seem to good to be true, this was one of my many.

Valença's beauty and it's pool hall.

30-2 3,4 09

Valença! Holy moley, Valença. Located in the country side about two hours north west of Rio de Janerio. This now small University town had a huge impact on Brazil's colonization way back when coffee was becoming a major commodity. The rolling mountains and vivid greens that surround Valença are like non other I've ever seen. The sheer beauty of the place is so captivating, one morning we drove up one of Valença's many surrounding mountains and it felt like we we're in the scene from the Lion King, looking over the pride land. I've climbed many mountains and have had the chance to experience great views but this one was just so surreal.
Also I finally got the chance to witness brazillian pool at its finest. I love pool, it facinates me with all its endless possibilities, all the various styles people have, the math involved, everything about it, I love it and I support it. The rules of the game are different here of course, the point of the game isn't to sink all the stripes or solids. There is no cut throat in Brazil. The game which I've seen is based on a point system based on which colored ball you sink. Each color has a different significance in points, and the balls are assembled in a different formation, three balls forming a triangle on one end and three balls forming a line at the other. After days of visiting the pool hall I'm still not completely sure the rules of the game, there is no final score to reach, mainly it's a team based game where you have to keep up with the opposing teams points, when you fall to far behind the game is over.
The pool hall I've been accepted in is like something out of a movie. The entrance is a very small alley that leads to a basement of a building where there is a large room half kitchen and half recreation. The men who come here every night are rediculous. Loud and robust, full of cheer, always making fun of eachother, "That guy there, he my girlfriend" "those two there, fat boys, gay fats!" All of these guys had me laughing nonstop, yelling ruthlessly at each other and making some of the funniest sounds I've ever heard just to distract one another from the game. My last time there before we returned to Rio Fabiano's father prepared a famous dish for everyone at the pool hall, cow tongue. As nasty as it looked and sounds, it was actually pretty good. There's nothing cooler then an alley way that leads to a pool hall.