Sunday wrapup

(all the pictures the kids have given me)

My observations for the week
RELATED TO BRASIL:

- I had some very deep conversations with my aunt this weekend - she is a psychologist or psychoanalyist or something. Anyway - we talked about several social "ills" in Brasil today. She mentioned that alcohol and drugs are a big problem here. That shocked me. Before I left the states I had read that there were several groups advocating for changing the drinking age back to 18 - the reasoning being that binge drinking is caused by too much restriction. But restriction is not a problem in Brasil. (I just found out that there is law here that you must be 21 to drink at bars and nightclubs but it isn´t really followed.) In Brasil they say the reason kids drink too much is because of not enough restriction. It seems to me if young adults are drinking whether there are strict boundaries or not, then perhaps the issue is deeper. Has technology - that which has given us so much convenience and comfort - also alienated and isolated us? Hmmm...


- This is the first time I haven´t felt fat when in Brasil. I don´t know if that means I am more comfortable with my body or the people around me are getting bigger.


- Regardless of the above statement, beauty is very important in Brasil. Small bikinis, a certain type of wax job, striking women - this is the cultural export of the country. Women spend hours at the beauty parlor getting nails done (which can be more painful then you ever imagined - they cut the cuticle here like it is a fungus), get hair colored, cut, shampooed, and teased to extremes, and then get every other hair on their body exterminated. Beauty isn´t just to look good, it is the national identity. (that along with music, dancing, and soccer). My mom told me that there has never been an Nobel Prize winner from Brasil. Imagine if America was adored and exalted for basketball, rap, and swing dancing. The worldly image of a nation shapes individual perceptions and insecurities.


- My aunt told me there is a saying here in Brasil that the Portuguese came to take what was valuable and they weren´t interested in creating a civilization here. Brasilians believe that mentality exists to this day - export the best and don´t worry about improving what remains. I´ll have to think about this one for the next 4 months.

UNRELATED TO BRASIL

- I am 28 and cannot figure out how to get along with my brother, who is almost 23. Here I am, thousands of miles away, and I still fight with him. We have ALWAYS had a very tumultous sibling relationship - but from the end of May of 2006 to June 2007 I thought we were doing great. And then it goes to crap. Ugh! The one person I would really love to love and I cannot figure it out. I can´t help but feel that is reflective of some flaw in me. Double ugh!
- My aunt has two cats. I would love a cat - but I´m so resistant to the idea of fulfilling the librarian stereotype to the letter: single, glasses, a bun, with a cat. I did cut my hair so no more buns. I wear contacts occassionally. And maybe I won´t be single forever. Teehee.