Post 4: Portuguese, Coffee, and Capoeira

Today was my favorite day of our trip so far.

We started the day with a Portuguese lesson at Campus Casa. I have taken Spanish before, but I've realized that although there are many similarities between the two languages, there are an equal amount of differences. It was also interesting to learn a language that would directly impact us all. I feel like I was much more motivated to learn, knowing that in only a few hours I would be on my own ordering lunch in Portuguese. 

A few of us headed over to a coffee place called "Coffee Lab." It was really interesting because you could order what they called "rituals," where you could test various types of coffee, or the same type of coffee made in a different way. The waitresses came over to our table to explain how it was made and the different tastes. The atmosphere of the place was awesome too, because it felt like you were in a garden or forest.

For lunch, I went with a few people from the same group to a Tibetan restaurant down the street. It was buffet style, so you could fill your plate as many times as you wanted to. The food was all either vegetarian or vegan, so it was nice to see some vegetables after a few days of eating a bunch of fried food, as much as I may love that as well! The view from this restaurant was incredible. 

From here, we headed back to Campus Casa, I chilled in a hammock for an hour or so, and then our Brazilian culture class began. Going into this class, I understood very little about Brazilian history and in 2 hours it was summed it up very nicely. I found it very interesting how similar our history in the United States is to Brazil's, for the most part. We were both first created as colonies owned by European countries, gained independence, and we both have a history of slavery. I think it's important to realize that although Brazil and the United States do have differences, we share a lot of background and cultural aspects. 

After this class, we quickly ran back to Conforto Mada to change, and then came back to Campus Casa for a lesson in Capoeira. Capoeira is a Brazilian martial arts and dance first created by Brazilian slaves. They used it to learn how to protect themselves and fight back against plantation owners and slave traders. 

This experience was amazing. The leader of the group was an older man who did not speak any English, but it was obvious that he was living his dream teaching this tradition. One of the other younger instructors translated for him while he went over some basic moves first. It was very difficult at first, but once we all got out of our comfort zones a bit, it became a bit easier. We eventually learned enough to start dancing or what they called "playing" to music. I played the tambourine for awhile, which was amazing. I've played music my whole life -- from piano to guitar and flute -- so being able to learn this type of music and share that with the Brazilian people was an amazing way for me to connect to them. After just a few minutes of playing, I felt myself get into a sort of rhythm, and it was sort of like a form of meditation.

After we finished our class, the leader of the group asked us all to say something to the group about what we learned or how we felt about what we had learned. We were translated by the same instructor to the leader, which was cool in itself, because I had never had a translator before. It was so interesting hearing how the experience had affected everyone in different ways. For me, I thought it was so cool that even though we have completely different backgrounds and lifestyles from the Brazilian people teaching us, and even though we spoke different languages, we were able to connect through the dance and the music. In the moments that I was dancing with the Brazilians, it didn't matter that we all had different lifestyles and backgrounds. We were just human. It was beautiful, and a memory I will keep forever.