One of the best things about my host mom is her love of music. She is constantly playing new CDs on her stereo system, and the constant flow of classical music and Brazilian jazz throughout the house is very calming. I have noticed that Brazilian’s have a much slower pace of life. Even
though we are in Sao Paulo, one of the largest cities in the world, you can still see how much people enjoy taking time to talk to one another or to sit down for a long meal.*We have quickly learned Brazilians are not very punctual. For example, if someone invites you to a party that starts at 8:00pm, you probably should not show up until 10:00, if even that early.
Every meal that I have had with Solange takes at least 45 minutes, and we always prepare and clean up together as well. Also, last night she was playing one of her favorite albums for me, and she was enjoying it so much, that she just quit everything she was doing in order to sit and listen to the entire album. Now I would consider myself to enjoy listening to music more than the average person, but I do not think I have ever taken the time to simply sit and listen to an entire album. Usually music accompanies me while I am doing something else, such as driving or studying.
I am not sure if all Brazilians are as expressive as Solange, but it is really a great thing to hear someone express there excitement or frustration for something. When we were listening to that album, she would constantly say “Que lindo!” (how beautiful!) and I don’t think her smile left her face the entire time. I think that Solange really enjoys having me around so that she can share her passions with me. She is seventy years old, divorced, and has two sons that have grown up and gone away, and it makes me really happy (and a bit sad) to see how content she seems to share her life with me (no matter how small or seemingly insignificant some of the things appear to me).
We experienced our first futebol game today in the Pacaembu stadium. Despite the elements, the game was very fun to watch. When we arrived, it was about 90 degrees and we were wearing black because that is the color of the home team: Os Corinthians. (If you were caught wearing the away team’s colors, there would most certainly by violence). It was comforting to watch the rain clouds move in as we were sweating our butts off, and finally the sun disappeared and we got a nice little shower to cool down. However, the shower turned into a mighty downpour that lasted for pretty much the entire game. We were freezing, but at least it wasn’t scorching hot anymore.
The home team won, 4 x 0, but the most exciting part was watching the fans. The were chanting and screaming throughout the entire match. If you think college football games are crazy, you haven’t experienced a Brazilian soccer match, and the game we saw wasn’t even considered a classico (big game).
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