Riding the bus

On Saturday October 29th, 2011 I made a trip through the city with Mellissa and Ny. We rode the bus from Paige's house and got lost on our way to Central Market, which took us three and a half hours to reach when it only should have taken us 30 minutes. On this trek we saw some interesting sites and people. The first interesting woman we saw was not a woman at all. She was a man with a tight, mid-drift revealing red shirt, and little cut-off jean shorts. It looked like a hairy, bearded, homeless man had tried to fit into Tommy Pickles' clothes. 

I also noticed, in passing, some young kids that were in front of traffic at a stop light dressed in circus clothes. One was on stilts and they were each juggling to perform for the waiting cars. They were not just there for entertainment, however, they were street performers trying to make some money for their, presumed, mother on the side of the road.

I also saw a little boy, probably about five years old, with his boy-part fully exposed as he openly peed while standing on the busy street curb as he faced traffic. Unfortunately, I have heard that grown men make a habit of this also. It is also very common that I see little girls walking around in their underwear on the streets of Fortaleza, no matter how busy the street is. 

I have seen many homeless people while in the city, and I have yet to even go into the favellas. I don't know if I will even get the opportunity to go because I have heard they are very dangerous and are home to a lot of sexual, gang, and drug activity. Anyway, the homeless people I did see were similar to the homeless that may be seen on the streets of Riverside, CA or LA. One man was tucked into his own tee-shirt, as if pulling as beevis and butthead disguise as he was curled up in the middle of the busy sidewalk of Beita Mar, a frequenced market place in the city.

On the bus there was also a one-legged man that was selling mentos. Apparently they eat Mentos and cough drops as candy here. However, I understand the Mentos equally candy. There are no sign of Skittles or Starburst, or pretty much any candy that we may find in a candy store in the states besides Mentos, Smarties, Lollipop, and maybe a few others.

Sometimes the busses get very crowded, and I mean, very crowded. One of those crowds that you hope the bus driver will make a fast turn or something so maybe some polluted, burnt-rubber air will pour in through the cracked windows on the bus. It surely beats the smell of a hot, humid space filled with people. When a seat does open up, it makes sense to take it, rather than to continue letting all the blood drain from your hands as you tightly clasp onto the pole above your head as to avoid falling over or letting your arm touch the sweaty person next to you.

At one point Mellissa was sitting in the aisle seat and the woman next to her was getting ready to get off at the next stop. When the woman struggled to get by in Mellissa's limited leg-space, she was quick to shout at Mellissa in a clearly dissatisfied voice about how rude Mellissa is as she smacked her in the chest, leaving scratches near Mellissa's clavicles. Mellissa said okay and let the lady leave. Apparently, the people around us were commenting how nice Mellissa was because that lady was a jerk. All of this was verbally communicated in Portuguese. I had watched the whole thing, and initially I had assumed the lady was saying sorry for stumbling over Mellissa and the hit to the chest was a result of her stumbles. I was wrong.

I have been learning a lot about communication while I have been here in Brazil. My nonverbal communication skills have been sharpened more than ever before, and it's amazing how much tone, body movements, pitch, up-talking, speed, and attitude truly communicate. The patience these girls at the Lar have with me is astounding. My first full day one of the girls even brought out her notebook and started teaching me Portuguese phrases and words. What neat kids!

Well the trip to Central Market didn't work out because they closed by the time we would have arrived after our extensive bus rides. So we went to Beita Mar, a market place on the shore of Fortaleza. It was really neat and I had only been there once before but only for about thirty minutes. I was able to get a Hammock chair my first time and a Hammock, along with some other souvenirs, this time. Money exchanging is truly a hassle here. I don't even really want to talk about it at this point. Anyway, at the market places here in Brazil bartering is expected, which is actually pretty fun once you get the hang of it. I love the fact that the initial price is simply the greatest amount I will have to pay, not necessarily the price I will take it home for. In the end, I managed to buy two sets of neat wooden crayons for the kids I love back home, a sweet hammock for Amanda (which I am totally tempted to keep for myself and buy her another), and some awesome man-bracelets for some guy-friends back home. I don't really want to spend much on myself here. I am actually pretty proud at the little amount i have even spent on food while being here, in most part due to the fact that I couldn't even exchange my money for the month of October and therefore didn't have the currency or transportation to buy anything from the store.

I can't wait to go to central market though. Looking at pictures online and hearing of this massive place makes me all the more anxious to explore.

Ny, also called Nyara, grew up in the Lar and is now in the half-way home at Mark and Paige's house in the city as she goes to nursing school. She is 21 years old and a wonderful friend. When she, Mellissa, and I went to Beita Mar she was really surprised that I had done all my shopping on my own. They were moving at a slower pace than I was and I went there to get gifts for my friends. They went primarily to enjoy time out and make it possible for me to go. So I was very independent the entire time, bartering with the little Portugues-Spanish mixture I know, and moving up and down the aisles on my own. She had told me as we were walking back to the bus stop to go home that even she wouldn't feel comfortable at the market alone and that I was very brave. The way she made it sound made me question if this presumed bravery was in fact naivity on my part. I thought about how my mom wouldn't be delighted to know that I went off on my own, but deep down I felt like I had a sense of my independence back that has been lacking since being withing the gates of the Lar with no car and no raise (Brazilian currency).

Note that the pictures in this blog were not taken by me, nor are they exact representations of this outing. They serve simply to convey the idea of what I experienced and saw.