going even further beyond

today i think i more or less finished my interviews. i took the bus to the barrio of Coroadinho, which lies close to the Bacanga river, a good 30 minutes ride from Centro. i was able to get 3 interviews done before lunchtime, when everything in Brazil shuts down. i currently have 6 interviews from Monte Castello, 5 from Sao Franscisco, and 5 from Coroadinho. Plus the 4 from organizations, and the 1 more with the environmental journalist tomorrow night. maybe i will go for one more in Sao Franscisco tomorrow, but i also have a lot of other work to do as well. right now i am sitting diligently in my room trying to translate the large Sao Luis development report Joao lent me. ill need to see if i can scan some maps and figures onto a computer or what not. it might be useful. my isp is also due, along with the powerpoint for the presentation, next thursday. damn. translating is a long process, but ive recently come to the conclusion that i actually really like the portuguese language. its fun to learn and i enjoy speaking it, most of the time. its hard to believe how much i can understand now. when i first arrived in Brazil i knew some basics, and my knowledge of spanish grammar was helpful for at least understanding what people were trying to tell me. but now, here i am, able to more or less comprehend an hour long interview about health. im considering maybe taking bards translation workshop class as an audit next sem if theres room just so i can work on that some more.

the whole experience here is really wrapping up. gustavo sent us the schedule for the last 1-2 weeks in Belem and the isp format.

im hoping one day ill return to Amazonia. i have this idea for this project id like to undertake. many years ago my grandparents came to the Amazon once their children were off at college. i have no idea where they went, what they did, and what they saw. i dont know if they kept a journal. all i have to really go off of is the fact they traveled there, a picture of my grandfather holding a parrot, and the flute i have back home that they bought along the way. my whole time here in Amazonia, since the first weekend in Belem, ive carried around a frog necklace with me, whose string broke in Santarem but ive still carried from place to place regardless. in Amazonian folklore and tradition, the frog symbol is one of good luck. i dont know the actual legend and myth, i need to find out. regardless, ive been carrying it around so that it holds the same amount of memories that the flute i have in my room holds, and so perhaps my grandparents can in some way from above see the same things ive seen. id like to start investigating, when i come home, if theres any trace of what they did while they were in this place, to wonder where our paths might have crossed. and then maybe, one day, come back to Amazonia and see whats changed between these three stories, mine now, mine then, and theirs then as well. perhaps also look into other historical accounts. this region is such a mixed place. rivers are like railroads, its been said. at one point in history, everything traveled along the rivers. in some places, they still do. im sure my grandparents' story and mine crossed at some point along O Rio Amazonas, or O Rio Negro, or O Rio Solimoes. just like both our paths for sure also cross with the host of colonial expeditions, scientific voyages, merchants lives, and travelers tales along the way. i want to try and find out what these connections are. i like anthropology. i like history. i like rivers. i like ecology. i like narratives and first hand accounts. i think this could be the start of something quite interesting. i finished "in an antique land" by amitav ghosh the other night. his story is somewhat similar, and something of an inspiration. he weaves three stories together. one, of his years spent doing fieldwork living in two egyptian villages and then his return years later once modernization began. two, of his semi-fictional account of an indian slave and his relation to his jewish-egyptian master. and three, of his own personal journey trying to trace the steps of these two medieval figures and his own connecting the stories together. and it works really well. and if he can find a way to connect modern egypt and medieval slave relations in the indian ocean, then i can find a way to connect history, the Amazonia ive experienced, and the Amazonia my grandparents saw. who knows, maybe i could make it my senior project?

well i digress. im grateful for what ive been given here in Amazonia. the people ive met and talked to, who let me into their lives knowing that i only understand 60% of what they say, and were patient with me. ive been frustrated here, but that is a good thing. ive learned a lot about what "culture" actually means, in the end. one of our program assistants, who works on the homestay experience, sent us an email that i think lays it out pretty clearly: "you’ve may noticed that there are some cultural differences between us, but in the essence we are all humans beings with the same kind of feelings". and i think thats true. the way people do things here, ie the culture here, is different, and there are all sorts of little things here and there that make that abundantly clear. but in the end, we're all human. i have all these ideas that i really just need to be able to talk out back home. with whoever is willing to listen, honestly. ranging to general thoughts on life to things bard can help me hone in on. itl be so interesting to see how different things that i always felt were normal/never noticed in the us are now that i have something to really compare it to.

tomorrow is my last full day here in sao luis. i would post pictures, but the internet isnt strong enough to let that happen. the two weeks have been an interesting ride, but it all turned out fine in the end, just like everything. today i bought a sweet pair of pants. ill wear them to the airport. also considering my jeans dont really fit anymore, which im hoping is more a product of brazilians not owning drying machines rather than me having lost that much weight. tomorrow i plan on spending lots of time on the beach in the morning reviewing my interviews and relaxing, and then taking the rest of the day to translate and finish research. then ill talk to joao and present what i think ive found and ask any last minute advice/questions. then wake up and get on the plane. im also weirdly excited to get to throw away the travel towel ive been using here in sao luis. its so disgusting.