A Brazilian Halloween

Or, a very very surreal day.

I spent most of my day avoiding all the work I need to do for ISP preparation or studying for our exams on Tuesday. I read a good deal more of In an Antique Land, I really enjoy the way Ghosh writes. There's something very casual yet serious at the same time about it. Plus, he weaves together his own life narrative of living in an Egyptian rural village and that of the Jewish merchant traveling with his Indian slave quite masterfully.

Around five I suited up in my Halloween costume and met up with Emily at the corner of Lomas, since we live extremely close to one another. I was a cowboy, which quickly turned into me just being Woody from Toy Story, which mean that I received a lot of fun comments from random passer-bys as Emily and I made the 25 minute walk to Susan and Will's home, where we also met with Gina and Lynn. Emily was our 100% Jesus Convee Van, Susan and her host brother were Pinky and the Brain, Will was um peixe, which means he just covered his shirt in plastic plates ie fish scales, Gina was a flower, and Lynn was a farmer, with Karina and Ups as her animais da fazenda, a sheep and a cow, respectively. From Susans we hopped on the bus in full costume and rode to Greenville, a private walled/electric fenced-off community for the incredibly wealthy class in Belem. So, obviously, we met an American couple there from California who gave us candy as trick-or-treaters. I would say I can place that up there as one of the more surreal moments of my life. I can't even begin to imagine what going back to the US will be like.

Maya's family was hosting the party, and I have to say they were incredibly generous people, seeing as Brazilians are insane and easily stay up blasting all kinds of music until 4-5 am, aka when I went to sleep. Everyone brought some kind of food to the party so there was a lot to eat, most of it involving cake, homemade quacamole and hummus, cookies, Halloween candy, amongst other things. Nigel, Neil, and I decided to be typically American and instead just buy gin and tonic water. Classy. Nigel came dressed up as, well, perhaps the best costume of the night, which was only rivaled by Neil's, to be honest. He came as Gustavo (our Academic Director)'s arch nemesis, Captain Deforestation, which included a get up in red tights and top, a green Brazilian speedo, a cape, and toy axe. Neil, on the other hand, came as a piece of white trash in the style of Joe Dirt. Cut off jean shorts, a black tank top, big sunglasses, and, most importantly, an actual mullet and mutton chops. My costume, obviously, did not have such kinds of commitment.

The night, in general, involved a lot of dancing, a lot of people stuffing their faces, a lot of bad American pop, Brazilian pop, and fun/terrible mixes of both. Also swimming in the pool. And apparently, according to Maya, a lot of drama between Brazilian couples. Fun. For the 6-7 of us who actually slept over, waking up was a surprise when Maya's host mother had a full spread of breakfast complete with bread, coffee, fruit, juice, cheese, cake, cereal, fun stories about the previous night, and awkward moments. When I finally got home on my bus I was surprised to find nobody home, which made me feel bad, because even though I had told Maura that I would probably be sleeping over at Maya's because it would be safer that way rather than taking a taxi home at 5 am, I never was actually able to call her to confirm that I was sleeping over, seeing as my phone-and apparently everyone else's for that matter-ran out of credits. So, I decided to grab my Ghosh, set up my hammock outside, and read. Which translated into me falling asleep from 1-5, waking up, and realizing that while in my slumber Maura and Diego had come home, eaten lunch, showered, and left for church.

...

But, Maura just came home and seemed totally fine with everything. I think here in Brazil people just accept the fact that, for example, parties go incredibly late and wild, and so while I apologized a million times, I think its all ok. To make up for it, I ate a lot of açaí, because apparently Maura and Lea both think I'm not eating enough and am losing weight. Which I think is funny, because if I am, its probably all muscle. Because the only exercise I get all day is the 15 minute walk to school and the few push ups and sit ups I do at night.

I now feel slightly sleepy, but am enjoying the guitar at the bar down the road, and things are good. As long as I don't think about the insane amount of work I need to do this week. Not to mention watch the election. But, I know it will all turn out ok. Because every other SIT Amazonia student here has done it, and I know for a fact I am more organized and capable of getting my stuff together than many I'm sure.

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