Hello United States!

Yesterday I said goodbye to my partner in crime, Diogenes, as he left for Salinas, Monterey, to start his traineeship. I am currently writing from my beautiful Berkeley Hills bedroom, looking out my window at a view spanning the San Francisco Bay area. In a few hours I will watch the sunset out of the same window and watch San Francisco and the Golden Gate and Bay Bridge come alive with lights in the distance.

Arriving in the US was far easier than we had imagined, or at least had been warned about. The trip was quite uncomfortable given we booked last minute and had awful seats on the long 9 and 6 hour flights from Sao Paulo to Miami and Miami to San Francisco, respectively. But we arrived in our gorgeous Victorian era hotel in downtown San Francisco and felt very exhilarated by the SF 'vibe'. After dinner in China Town, we witnessed a mass movement of cyclists parading the streets with loud music (some were naked), and we thought to ourselves “… this is San Fran, baby!". Our first meal here was at a local diner where we ordered simple sandwiches, that turned out to be half a cow between two slices of bread. They were enormous. With nearly 2/3 Americans overweight or obese, we had no difficulty understanding why. We travelled over to Berkeley on our second day, and despite Berkeley’s reputation for incrediblely delicious and healthy food, the portion sizes weren’t much smaller. I ordered two rice paper vegetarian fresh spring rolls for lunch from the Berkeley Organic Farmers Market, and was presented with two football sized parcels of cabbage, mango, Vietnamese mint and vermicelli wrapped in (bed) sheets of rice paper. The sustainability and local, organic food movement here is incredible. There was even an organic beer Olympics at the Farmers Market. Our hostel was full of lost souls from all over the world who were the epitome of ‘hippy’ and no doubt participated in the original Woodstock ‘69. The US is just larger than life. Everyone here is a complete character. We were amazed at how friendly and lively everyone is. I knew straight away that I was going to LOVE this country.

Everything happened so smoothly. I found a house quickly and Diogenes was around for a few days to help me sort myself out and set myself up. I have 7 other housemates who are all a little older and grad/PhD students or professionals, and I feel like I fit in really well. Luckily, there is also an Ikea nearby where we scored some funky but cheap furniture.

However, my luck turned when my wallet was stolen in downtown San Francisco on a mission to apply for a Social Security number. Amazingly, when I tell Americans about it, they don’t even look surprised! Concerned, but not surprised. Identity theft is a huge issue in the US, and I am sincerely hoping whoever has my wallet was just a regular thug after some cash. Unfortunately I had some items of significant sentimental value in there which are irreplaceable. Nevertheless, I am using it as a good opportunity to start afresh and reestablish myself here in the US. I was granted a cheque-book and given cheques are obsolete in most western countries I am finding small pleasures in signing my name on the antique currency. Spanish and Chinese languages are prevalent here and almost every phone line you ring has an English and Spanish option. The Social Security office was 99% Chinese, and all the tellers spoke Chinese. Fascinating. The next stop for me is to find some work. Now Diogenes and I are apart (despite feeling a little lost and naked after having just spent roughly 2000 hours straight together, 24/7), I have more time to focus and concentrate on myself and my career (and my blog!). With the US market taking another downturn, my prospects are not abundant, but nevertheless I have much hope that the right thing will come along at the right time… it always does. Like America, for instance… I still remember the phone call offering Diogenes the job… Hello United States!

Goodbye Brazil!

It has been exactly 9 weeks since I landed on Brazilian shores, and today I am leaving again. My partner and I are off to the United States of America; California; San Francisco. Life took over in my last month in Brazil and I barely had time to attend to photos/ blogs/ etc. The experiences I’ve encountered in the last month have been incredible to say the least. I became really absorbed in Brazilian family life, Brazilian social life and really started working with the System. I have cried, I have laughed, and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here. I have discovered and come to accept with a warm heart that Brazil is the ‘Land of Contrasts’. For every beautiful sight, there is a shocking contrary. For everything glimpse of poverty, pollution and despair, there are smiles, beautiful smells of Brazilian BBQs and of course the stunning Brazilian nature as a backdrop. For everything which is ‘right’ there is always something which is ‘wrong’ and for everything despondent moment there is also a moment of hope, peace, ambition and contentment. Graduation parties were the theme of my last month in Brazil. Both Diogenes’ and his friends’. They were incredible, emotional moments with a party to match! I remember a moment when I found myself waking up on an unknown couch, wearing a pink cowboy hat having danced all night and pondering ‘how did I end up on this couch… in a random house… in a random city… in Brazil?’. I still question how and why I ended up here and why life in Brazil was not what I expected it to be. I feel I still have a lot to learn about this country. It has helped me grow as a person, by completely challenging all my ideals and beliefs about life. I’ve always considered myself and open-minded and accepting person, and Brazil challenged me to not only ‘talk the talk’ but ‘walk the walk’. When you are challenged with limitations of many sorts, being dependent on someone, being isolated through language, you learn a lot about your own limitations and how to push past them. I’ve had some weak moments indeed, but I feel I have come out of it stronger; stronger than I ever would have imagined. Communication has always been my forte, but here in Brazil I’ve had to exist without this strength. I can’t even remember what it is like to casually joke around with a Sales Assistant during a purchase, or make a joke across the dinner table (other than a basic, generally un-witty, precipitated, well-thought out, usually passed the funny-time threshold joke), or make a passing comment when it comes to mind.

Moving to California is going to be a breath of fresh air in many respects, but the cycle of adjusting, adapting, learning, appreciating will begin again. Diogenes and I are going to live in separate cities. He in Monterey, myself in San Francisco. There are few jobs in Monterey County for me (it is a small area with predominately blue-collar employment). Given we are both young, career-oriented people, it makes sense for us to pursue our hopes and dreams without dependency on each other and our relationship. Naturally, if we are both contented and fulfilled individuals, this will only strengthen our relationship. We will see each other on the weekends and enjoy the opportunities life brings us. UC Berkeley and Stanford and two universities in the San Fran area which I plan to make efforts to connect with in some way. The United States is a country I was always interested in, but never imagined pursuing it as a place to live. However, the closer the time approaches to landing on US shores, the more excited about it I become. The next month or so, but particularly the next week and coming days are going to be another adventure filled with uncertainty and new opportunities.