More fotos (click to see them full size)

At the party I had on July 7th in my house, for exchange student friends and Brazilian friends -->

At the cafeteria (bandejão) at UFMG -->
Visiting the area around a social project where Talles (leftmost in the cafeteria pic) works; probably the most I've been in a favela-type setting.

Dressed up as an indian for a costume party -->
A photo exhibit in my school at UFMG-->
Waiting for the internal bus with Flora, Valentina and Laura, returning from capoeira, to go to class -->
Andrea, Silvio, and Claudia watching Raquel prepare for her contortionism show at Confessionário -->
The staff of UFMG has been on strike for months, so libraries have been closed, and there are postings like these illustrating how their salaries haven't risen in years -->

The Brazilian equivalent of a dollar store



At a festa junina (like a country fair) with Silvio, Jimmy, and a friend of theirs -->

At the parade in São Paulo

Ready to go home?

The Festival MIX Brasil in the Palácio das Artes. I got a poster for it! -->

I finished school on Friday, July 7th, so since then, I've been going out with friends, especially Katrina and others who make up the group of Americans taking the intensive Portuguese program at UFMG - some of them will stay to study for the semester, others, like Katrina, simply return next Monday. There was a Sexual Diversity film festival (MIX Brasil) at the Palácio das Artes, and I saw about 4 feature films and 4 sets of short movies, all for free. Since my last posting in late April, I've gone to Florianópolis and São Paulo in early May. I thought I'd be spending 6 days in Florianópolis, but I met an American girl in the hostel there who was studying in São Paulo, and she implied I'd be able to stay at her house were I to come there. That impelled me to visit, as I also have a good friend, Arian, there, who I hadn't seen in 4 years - I met him when he was finishing up high school in the US and then moved back to Brazil in 2003. I changed my flight back to Belo Horizonte, and spent 3 days in São Paulo. I loved it. It really was what I was needing, after 2.5 months here in Belo Horizonte, what many people call the roça, or countryside, I needed some citylife. My last night in São Paulo, there was a Virada Cultural, a day of programming from 6pm to 6pm, going all night; I went to the museum of the Portuguese Language, saw some musical performances, a mural making, and got my groove on. Like in most cities, we ended the night at a McDonalds.

At the gay parade in São Paulo: "Kiss our friend" and "Kiss me, only women" are the signs held up. -->

Then I spent the next month here in Belo Horizonte, working away at school - writing my first big paper towards the end of May, which was due in like April. We had another short vacation, Corpus Christi, around June 7th, so I went to São Paulo for the Gay parade, and it was splendid. I mean, lots of gay guys + lots of Brazilians = lots of Brazilian gay guys - what could be any better. Interestingly enough, the day before the parade I saw a rally against the Israeli occupation, in the same place (Avenida Paulista), and there was a Palestinian woman dancing, and a play to sort of reenact the formation of Israeli, and the occupation. I got a sticker from there, so I'm happy. I went to a club the night before the parade, Danger, and met a guy with whom I made out extensively; we exchanged numbers and emails, and he didn't respond to any of my calls the next day to hang out, as I'd be going out the next night. However, about a week ago, he finally said hi on MSN, saying he was without Internet access for a while. He's from Florianópolis, so it's not really worth pursuing anyway, only a 22 hour bus ride away!

My American friend Mindy, with whom I made palha italiana, a chocolate cookie type thing, which ended up being mean to me since it got really hard and so to take pieces of it, I had to use a knife. Since I'm a dumbass, I was cutting, cutting, and drove the knife into my hand. For the last week, I haven't really been able to move my left ring finger independently of the others. --->

I'd say the biggest development has been that I've been dating a couple, starting in late May. One of them had seen me on the internal bus at UFMG, and then later on Orkut in a gay community there. When we started talking on MSN, he said that what caught his attention was that I was awkward (atrapilhado), lacking the swagger of the Brazilian, and, in sum, that I was different. He and his boyfriend have had a relationship for 2 years, being open in a way, to them hooking up with other guys. So the 2nd time I met him, we hooked up in the bathrooms at the university. Afterwards, he had told his boyfriend about me, and I started talking with him. Slowly we developed a discourse on polyamory and developing a relationship of 3 ways, being more than simply a menage. They affirmed that they'd been looking for something new in their relationship, and here I was! To date, we've collectively hooked up (sex) only twice, and hung out maybe 10 times. This weekend, we're going to Ouro Preto for the weekend, staying in the house of a cousin of a friend of theirs. Recently, though, my temper flared with one of them, and it really surprised him. He later said that I'd have the remainder of my time here to reconquistar him, redoing in 2 weeks what I'd done in 2 months. On one hand, I try to defend myself, explain that my temper flares from time to time. (All that simply happened was that I was talking about our trip together, and he didn't understand. When he didn't understand, I got a little irate. He then put his hand on me and asked me not to get mad. It was precisely at that moment that I got mad, pulling his hand off of me, and then making a kicking motion with my knee at the level of his stomach. I didn't hurt him or anything. But, my attitude was certainly a flared one, one that shattered the image he may of had of me being sweet and docile.) On the other hand, I have a total of 10 days left around Belo Horizonte, as I'm travelling for 2.5 weeks starting next week -- therefore, I feel it's not really worth overthinking too much. That's been my attitude while I've been going out with them; it's better to keep things light so I don't get in over my head and then go nuts when I leave.

Claudia, my Argentinean friend, getting ready at the dorms as we go to Confessionário, a gay club (2 of the 3 times I've gone, I ended up taking a guy home) -->

In general, Brazilian gay guys are pretty flaky. And it's still even hard to develop something with the two of them. Of course, the fact that they have been together for 2 years significantly changes the dynamic. They're both quite busy boys, working and going to school, so the schedules don't always sync up for us to always hang out, and during the last month of school, I was pretty busy too, so even the hour-long dinners I had done at times with one of them proved difficult to arrange.

Whatever. I'm mostly looking forward to being back in the US with a new head, as my friend Lucas says. I want to be back with people I know, and people i don't know, and treat them better, be more outgoing, warm - I don't know - simply apply the lessons I've learned on interpersonal relationships. I'm also looking forward to my upcoming travels, and the inevitable hookups that should result should I go into bars or really just about anywhere.

My travels are going to happen after the gay parade here in Belo Horizonte, which I've been looking forward to for months. I'm going to Salvador, Bahia, in the NE of the Brazil next Tuesday, and I stay til the following Tuesday. I have a friend, Roberta, who I met in the hostel in Rio, who is now working in a hostel in Morro de São Paulo, and I plan to either stay with a friend of hers for a few days, or stay in her hostel at a discount she'll give me.

Then the following Tuesday, 31/7, I fly to Buenos Aires, where I'll be until Thursday, 9/8. I have two friends there, and another who will pass through from 2-4/8. Also, a bunch of exchange students are from Tucumán, in the north of Argentina - only 18 hours by bus away from BA! - and I'd like to go there for a couple days.

Andrea in the stripes, Argentinean, at an exhibit of her and others' artwork at the UFMG Cultural Center -->

I deliberately scheduled my return to BH for a Thursday, so that that weekend I can have fun with my friends and the next semester of exchange students. Friday and Monday, also, there will probably be capoeira training, and I'd like to go to it, like I did last night for the first time in 2 weeks. (I'm not sure if I'll continue capoeira when I get back in the US, it's been sort of a pastime, and not something that I really fell in love with.)

Then I finally leave the roça on Wednesday, August 15th. I want to go to dinner in Philly on Friday, August 17th, and then see Elayne, my foster mom, in the hosptial after she enters for surgery on the 20th to remove a growth in her spine which is making her left hand weak. I do hope she doesn't become a something-plegic. :( Then I start training for my 3rd year of helping out with NYU's Welcome Weeks (freshmen orientation) on Wednesday the 22nd.

I.e., I feel like it's already September, as I already have every morsel of the rest of my summer planned out.

You're probably wondering (as I am myself) what I've gotten out of my time here. The principal lesson would be that people are really the same all over the world, the same desires, hopes, failings, vices. Of course, people do have their differences. In Brazil, I would agree that the people have more fun, and are more friendly towards other people. Here, if you're eating something, and don't offer it to someone around you, it's seen as a lack of education, so everyone always offers what they're eating or drinking to others ("aceita?") - I'll definitely try to do more of that in the states, though I'm sure it'll freak some people out. People touch each other more, and I don't mean just like in the private parts, I mean when I'm talking with someone, they put their hand on my shoulder. I do that, but usually only with like boyfriends, not with just anyone. I'm starting to loosen up though. In general, people seem to be more flaky. I think when cell phone service is absurdly expensive, it comes from that. People just don't put as much emphasis on, well, any sort of time-related committment, which is somewhat admirable. However, people throughout Brazil see the inhabitant of São Paulo as overworking and hurried, the same vision Americans have of New Yorkers. I think most differences in the US and Brazil can be linked to a rural-urban distinction. It's just interesting that here in Belo Horizonte, it's a big city, but with quite a rural sensibility. I often think BH has a lot in common with Philadelphia.

I'll try to update more throughout my upcoming trips to Salvador and Buenos Aires.

Beijos!