[brazil, week 8] Saudade and showing humanity
Tou com saudade
This past week I've been feeling pretty homesick. I'm missing life as a student and all the events and happenings back in Trondheim. I'm also really missing a bunch of Norwegian food, maybe especially the Norwegian bread and everything else that comes along with a Norwegian breakfast.
I also miss Norwegian grocery stores, shockingly enough. I just know where everything is and what stuff I should buy. I know where to go to find the yoghurt that I like and where I can find the best, cheap biscuits and cranberries. I know which stores sell which appliances and where I should go to get stuff to repair them. I know which thrift stores are where and where I should expect to find good things.
I know the libraries like the back of my hand, and I sure as hell know my university - well, at least the part of it which I like to use. I know what cafés to go to and what to get there, not to mention which ones it is that has interesting panel discussions. I know where students gather to relax, to party, and to protest, and I know where I can get the nicest kebab when I've been out for too long. I also know damn well that I'm not paying that much and where to go to find the cheapest one.
My homesickness has calmed down a bit now. My other Norwegian friend here happened to have some liver paté and mackarel in tomato sauce, two very common toppings for bread in Norway. She also gave me advice on a better bread type I could buy, and wow did changing bread to this one help me a lot.
There's still a lot of things that I miss. But I guess it's just going to be like that for a little while. I guess that's a natural part of living abroad.
Buying some food for a homeless man and his dog
Before writing this I went for a quick trip to the grocery store. Outside of the store I met a man named Rafael living on the street with his dog. Rafael said he liked my hair - I happened to have my hair set up in a bun just like him - to which I replied "thanks man, I like your too!". We talked a tiny bit before he asked me if I could help him out a bit. I told him "of course, wait here and I'll be back!"
I went in shopping for groceries as usual. After I had found the few basics that I wanted to get, I walked a bit around and picked up a 1,5L water, a bottle of soda, and some rice, and some mini-coxinhas which were made at the store and were still hot. I paid for my stuff and went out.
On my way out I noticed that Rafael had moved spots, however he was still visible. I waved, crossed the road to where he was and handed him his stuff. After he thanked me I told him "no worries man" and asked his name. He struggled a bit with saying my name afterwards (no real surprise given that it's made for a different language) but got it after I spelled it out for him. I told him I'm still somewhat new here and learning the language. When I told him I'm from Norway he replied with "Noruega? Caramba mano" with a very big smile on his face. He welcomed me to Tatuí and to Brazil, thanked me once again, and said that he hopes lifes treats me well and that I will enjoy my new life here in town. I thanked him before ending our conversation with a hand-slap-to-fist-bump, a short hand shake, and a "bye-bye, see you around!"
It was a very short thing, and not really that big a thing I bought him either. Water for R$3, some food for R$15 maybe, and a soda for probably around R$5. Let's say R$25 for good measure. Roughly 50kr and less than what it costs for one chocolate bar in Norway.
Judging by the smile on his face, I think I really made his day. I don't know what life is living on the streets here, but I know in Europe the homeless are really shunned. It's not only that people don't talk to or don't interact with them, but people also actively try to look away and cover their childrens eyes so they don't have to look at someone peacefully sitting by the street asking for some help where the government fails to do so.
Not everyone can contribute economically. Obviously. But I think everyone can contribute with some basic humanity.
I'm happy that I could do that to Rafael today. And I hope he and his dog enjoyed the food, water, and soda.
Maybe if I meet him again I will ask a bit more about his life.
Finishing my language lessons
I finished my langauge lessons this friday. I'm kind of astounded by how much I've learned in two months, and even more by how much more I have left. This language is difficult as hell, but right now I'm able to get by more by myself.
Going forward I will have to study more myself. For the time being, I will mostly focus on learning more words. I'll refresh my deck on Anki, and I'll try to work my way through some texts from newspapers or similar every now and then. I'll probably learn at a slower pace now than when I had 6 hours of classes every single week, but I'll make sure to still be learning. It would be very cool to be fluent some day.