[brazil, week 12, 13] Picking up writing, Campinas, getting accustomed
These past four weeks I've lacked a bit in my writing, resulting in one post per two weeks instead of one each week. They've also been a little bit shorter than usual due to being in more of a "I just need to click publish"-space instead of a "let me write for a while"-space. This doesn't have to be a problem; the goal of the website was to post something, not to write masterpieces. I still think I should try writing somewhat more in-depth though, and I'm going to get a bit stricter with myself with the weekly writing.
Ups and downs, food, Campinas, and capivaras
These past weeks have both been great and tiresome. I've got to spend 2/4 weekends with my girlfriend again, seeing her for the first time in 3 months1. We've went around in São Paulo together with some friends of mine who were visiting from Norway, and we've been to Campinas and Paulinia including my first ever visit to a park with a loooooot of capivaras2.
Campinas was great to say the least. Actually, most places that aren't Tatuí are great. But Campinas was extra great. It felt so good to finally walk around green areas again for the first time in..... wow, I think this was my proper first walk in green areas since february.
Going forward, I will have to leave Tatuí at least once every three weeks. Living at the most trafficated road in a city that seemingly hates trees isn't exactly the greatest for someone who comes from (1) Norway and (2) a village in Norway that has at one point had the highest production of wheat per inhabitant - it's pretty green there.
I've also been much more tired and had more (in lack of better descriptor) depressive symptoms than usual, with lack of motivation and energy probably being the biggest ones - and not just for specific stuff like practicing/studying, but also just for getting up in the morning. I also lack a reason to leave my apartment when I have no plans most of the time, in big part due to Tatuí being Tatuí.
I've started taking steps against this with the first one being fixing my eating habits again (I even allowed myself to buy meat for a few days just to make things a little easier3). Now, I'm back to primarily eating vegetarian, though I do still make exceptions when I'm outside. When I'm done writing and cleaning my house, I'm gonna prepare some rice w/ chick peas and stuff :)
Getting more accustomed
Something I noticed recently is how I've now made the transition from "I live in Brazil???" to "I live in Brazil!!!!" to "I live in Brazil"; it's been normalized and is simply just the place where I live now. I still have some crazy gringo moments at times (such as seeing capivaras for the first time in my life) but I have in general gotten pretty used to how things work here.
Many things I like, somethings I'm not as big a fan of, but it has all become normalized; I don't really get caught off guard in the same way. I check my groceries (esp. veggies and fruits) properly when buying them, and I take routes to/from places in Tatuí that actively avoid the... let's say, more challenged areas. If it's after like 20h00 or something I avoid walking alone as much as possible, and I have given up on all daydreams of not needing whatsapp - this I did quite some time ago actually.
Generally speaking though, I really enjoy "brazilian life". My only big problem lies with this city, which I think is my biggest ranting topic whenever I talk about Brazil :P it's just so gray and dead and horrible, and somehow also has worse drivers than São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, not to mention the lack of cool things to do and places to visit.
The first time I went to the conservatory, literally day 2 in Brazil, I ran into one of the teachers there. His advice to me was "Get used to the highway, man". Three months later, I get why.
Also part of the reason why I have posted every other week↩
"Capybara" in Brazilian, "capivara" just sounds so much cooler. Also, crazy gringo moment to go see capivaras.↩
Meat is so easy to prepare and to make more nutritious meals out of. So many meals which are essentially heating up meat with some seasoning, cutting some greens, and adding some form of carbohydrate like potatoes. You also don't need to do stuff like leaving your chick peas in water for 6 hours or so before you can start cooking with them.↩