Finally, a gay bar....and a..table

Friday, I went shopping on Rua dos Caetés, getting socks, shorts, and a laundry bag. Lara and I then started our search for a table for my room, which we got for R$100, about $45. Now my room at least has a table to go along with the bed. The armoire is quite spacious, so I'm not wanting for space to put things; a big room needs furniture though; you'll see in pictures eventually.

This table fits in a corner and has a rounded perimeter (think a quarter of a circle); it was quite a good deal, seeing as all the furniture here, even in the used furnitures shops, is quite expensive. I really don't know how people furnish their houses - it just further reinforces the fact that the class disparity here is quite large. Everyone lives in their own little world, behind gates, and I haven't seen more than one instance of people outside, conversing with neighbors. There's no such thing as a streetfront stoop for someone to sit on, since literally every residence is behind gates.

Perhaps in the favela, there are, but that's the favela. It's a different culture here.

Friday night, I went to Andaluz, a gay bar in Santo Antonio, Rua Congonhas, 487, with a friend of Natália and his friends. Gay guys here are the same as they are in the US; they dress in fitted clothes, move the same way, though I've learned that the American lisp which we associate with gay guys isn't an indicator here in Brazil. I only had a 1/4 glass of caipirinha, and a bottle of water. One of the guy's friends was trying to teach me how to dance, thinking I couldn't move my hips. That may have been true...still, it just takes me a while to loosen up. I didn't pick anyone up that night, but Natália's friend did. Still, I met several cool guys, and got a taste of the gay scene here, which I hear is quite ample.

Here's the bar's website: http://www.andaluzbarcasa.com.br/site/

Saturday, Lara and I went to her parent's house, where I had a long conversation with her mom about the social disparity here, and how to haggle at a street fair, as well as how to dress so that I don't get victimized by a criminal: simply, and stay close to the soldiers of the Policia Militar.
She affirms that so many people here can't find jobs, even with a college degree. This problem has been lamented time and again in the Brazilian press, and the government could probably do a better job of helping. Everyone pays absurd taxes, and the politicians steal a good chunk of the money, so nothing ever really gets done by the government. Sure there are almost 200 million people here, but with taxes as high as I hear they are, the pols could certainly do more.

Lara's father, who came from Japan in 1967, looking for work, I believe, is an agronomist by career, but also a violinist. He learned some Hebrew too, from a Brazilian Jewish friend, so he was showing me his textbook which he mostly used 10 years ago, and playing some Jewish song CDs. His English isn't too bad, either. His Portuguese has a hint of a Japanese accent, as can be expected. It's like a regular U.N. in that house.

Today I've been in all day, my stomach's been acting up a little. Maybe it's the water, though I've been drinking from the filter; apparently, in the whole of Brazil, tap water's not safe to drink, according to Lara's mom. With all the different foods I'm eating, I'm sure I've been exposed to different bacteria and microorganisms here.

Tuesday, I meet Sandra, my university liaison in the exchange program, and Wednesday, programming for the Semana do Aluno Estrangeiro (Foreign Student Week) starts. At that point, I pick my classes. Apparently, some classes may very well begin tomorrow (Monday), but I can't really do anything about it; I'll have to wait until registration is opened up to us during this programming to choose. I hope the classes I want, or similar ones, are happening this semester, and open. (I'm looking to take stuff around politics and economics of Brazil, basically an academification of my observations of the socioeconomic situation here.)