Hi. My name is Esteban, but I'm also called "Tadeo" if we're communicating in Castillian (spanish) or Portuguese. Do not let this confuse you. You're better than that.

My name is Esteban and I am blogophobic.

This means I do not read your blogs. It also means that this is the first time I've written a blog, as it goes against, well, a substantial portion of my own inner workings and principles. That said, I'm living in Sao Paulo, Brazil right now, and some folks have expressed interest in hearing "updates". While that is also weird for me (I suggested penpalship, but many resist), I am sympathetic to the need for friendly communication, and would like to do what I can for my part. Thus we enter a dilemna. Hence, demons have been wrestled with, and perhaps exorcised (though one never really can tell), and here I am, um... "blogging". (even the word makes me lurch). Ultimately my intention is not to do an altogether perfunctory job (GRE word), but to honestly, if at times misanthropically, essay (GRE, secondary definition) a few communiques from my South American outpost. May they be to your liking.

Hello, my name is Esteban, and I am in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

I recently returned here from Salvador, Bahia, which is about a R$180-each-way plane ticket away from Sao Paulo, as long as you catch a sale. I spent two weeks up there, mostly kickin' it, walking around, watching other people "kick it" in the Copo Mundial, dancing, cooking rice and beans, riding buses (poor Stephen has had to endure more than a handful of rants about how I dislike buses, and hail the metro and trolley in its stead), and smiling my way through a handful of awkward social situations.

See here's (one of) the problem(s) with blogs. I start storytelling, and then I wanna get into all these fun details and like really TELL the story, and yet I'm on a fucking computer, and have neither the time nor the patience to type it all up in a blog. Better a zine, or a letter, or even an animated face-to-face account over tea, no?

okay... I'm having an idea friends. Its about all I can stand in this banal compromise on communication. I present to you:

Esteban Says (edicao um) I.

~Wary about jinxing myself by typing this, but this is the first time i've been to south america, and not had diarrhea. (no wammies, no wammies)

~so you know how american movies are often exported and translated into other toungues? my old favorite was the eng--> spanish translation of the
Julia Roberts movie "Step Mom" to "Quedate a mi Lado" (which literally means "Stay by my Side!"). New fav, the eng-->spanish translation of Molly Ringwald et al in "Sixteen Candles" to "Gatinhas e Gatoes" (which pretty much means "Foxy girls and Hunks" and literally means "Little Cats and Big Cats". I know. WTF.

~one day we went to the federal university in Salvadore, and on the way from the bus stop to the campus we say the crazy little monkeys, called Micos, surrying accross a telephone wire like squirrels. It was (a) hella cute and (b) noteworthy, since I figured my urban adventures would bode few tales of wildlife beyond lactating street dogs and the occassional green parrot (the latter of which I did see on day 3 from a highrise in Sao Paulo)

~Geographical note: of Nation States with sheer number of black people Brazil ranks Second! After Nigeria, which has hella fools. But beyond that, Brazil is the largest 'african/ afro-decendant' nation in the world, with about 75 million afro-brazilian. About 4.5 million africans were brought to brazil in the slave trade, most of whom went to the northeast of brazil (the equator just barely skims the north of the country, so the more south you go, the colder it gets. Sugar cane production centers were thus in the north). Walking around Salvador, Bahia was like, I dunno, either being in a South American Mississippi, or a Latin American Senegal. There is a really strong african descended culture hear, with music in the streets, dance all over, and yes, capoeira (though it was a little tourist trap-esque, so we steered kinda clear).

~2 de Julho (july) is Bahian Independence day. No one could quite explain to me from what  or whom, since Bahia was a province of the portuguese colony of Brasil, and later a state of the sovereign independent brazil, but people marched, and danced, and wore crazy clothes all the same.

~I think I was trying to describe this to Dave Roche or Devin or someone in a letter, but Futbol is a whole nother level down here. We walked from the airport shuttle to our hostel in Salvadore, and the streets were strewn with little green and yellow pendants, and soccer jerseys  from the national team like in the middle. people paint the brazilian flag on the streets everywhere. We noticed it in sao paulo as well. order and progress, yes, and the world cup!

~A Brazilian friend of mine learned how to drive during the last world cup, because the streets were absolutely deserted.

~I went to a day and a half of the 2nd conference of Academics talking about African and the Diaspora. It was pretty rad. I didn't see Stevie Wonder or Nelson Mandella, but I did hear a lot of French spoken, and I understood like 35% of it!

~Weird social norms from other cultures: Brazilians riding the bus (at least in bahia) give sitting down passengers their stuff to hold if they don't have a seat and are standing. hard to explain in words. umm. like, hey do you mind holding this till its my stop (and shove a shopping bag, or backpack in someone's lap), except there's no "do you mind", cuz its normal and customary, so people just do it without exchanging words. Its like, you don't trust anyone with anything (crime/ theft) until the moment you speak to them, then its all good! huh?

~Bahian hardcore kids are the best! Though their internal bickering and finite jest rival that of long island diner gatherings.

~there are things smaller than speedos. they live on the hips of brave brazilian men along the atlantic coast. I did not, nor will I (ever?) wear one. I saw 22 grown men scrimmage in them with oversized shirts on. besides being devistatingly unfashonable, it looked like they had not pants on. ps, they were playing soccer on the beach (does it get any more cliche?)

~Acaraje is a labor intensive typical food from bahia. if you get it with just salad and pimenta and no shrimp its vegan. Its incredibly delicious.

~hmm, I think i know what I wanna study for grad school. It occured to me while writing a letter to a friend.

~you should check out www.nasco.coop/camp and consider going to the Anti-Oppression Action camp this summer. It'll be in the mountains of California. I'm driving there cross country. I think today was the last day to appy for a scholarship...

~Johnny, with whom we're staying in Sao Paulo is obsessed with Ali G. He brings random bits of it up at the oddest moments. Its funny.

~Once and for all: does it matter if you put salt in a pressure cooker (for beans?)

sao paulo is treating me well. i just used the last of my green tea, so we'll see how tomorrow goes. i'll make a trip to japantown (actually called "Liberdade") and get some more. the GRE is not treating me quite so well, though Stephen and I are learning lots of new words and intimidating english speakers hither and yon with our erudite conversations. okay y'all. I'm out for now. Shoot me a message if you wanna know how to write or call me. I'm in the largest city in south america, so I do have phone and email access.

point of planetary rotation: I am one timezone ahead (earlier) of the American Eastern Standard.

beijos,
Tadeozinho