I've never been to the South, but I truly believe Brazilian hospitality has got to be better than Southern. Everyone here has been more than nice-- they've been accepting, inquisitive, and considerate, too. Many of my family and friends have been asking how I deal with being a vegetarian here. Truthfully, I believe it's easier to be vegetarian here than it is in the States. This is for two reasons:
One, there are so many fresh fruits and vegetables, and unlike Americans, Brazilians love fruits and veggies just as much as they love meat. Two, in the States, when a vegetarian decides to go out with friends, the friends will say something like, "Let's go to Kelly's Roast Beef." Then, you, the vegetarian, will say, "Oh, but there's not very much of a choice for me there." Then a friend will say, "Oh, no, no, don't worry. They have salad and french fries and stuff." Case solved; crisis averted. Yes, as a vegetarian, I strive to live an unhealthy diet which solely consists of unhealthy sides found at fast food restaurants. And salad. Anyway, here every person I've met has been extremely careful to make sure that wherever we eat, I have a wide choice of entrees. I'm talking old, young, friends, aquaintances, city folk, country folk. My host family always makes sure dinner is vegetarian and that lunch is primarily vegetarian. Yuka buys tofu and soy protein for me, and today we had an amazing soybean salad. Also, there are a wide variety of "vegetarians" here, I guess. I get the question, "But you eat fish, right?" as much as I get the question, "So you don't eat milk, cheese or eggs either, right?"
The other thing is how genuine everyone is. Brazilians can be a little fake when etiquette calls for politeness, (kind of the way Americans are, too), but when they feel bad about something, they are sure to apologize frankly, and often want to make it up to you in some way. Tuesday, Yuka was trying to find a group of kids with whom I could eat. Most of the groups were heading home and weren't going to eat on campus, so I ended up skipping lunch. Today, a boy who I hadn't yet met came up to me and said,
"Hey, we're so sorry about the other day when you were looking for people to eat with! Next time you can't find someone to eat with, just ask a bunch of us, and we'll go to the food court with you and eat on campus before we go home. I felt so bad when Alana told me that you didn't have lunch that day after the group of us left! Please, just tell us next time! It's terrible that you had to go hungry all day."
Other things of interest: I'll be doing a recital (about 30 minutes long) here in Ribeirao at the end June. I'm very excited. Yuka said we should go out and look for a concert dress (which I budgeted in my grant proposal). Also, Rafael, a student composer here, is writing a piece for my voice. Instead of asking, he just informed me nonchalantly after class last Friday. Wednesday, he came to my lesson to listen to hear my range, ability, and timbre. Yuka tells me he's a very good composer, and has composed parts of the opera that USP is putting up this semester.
So as you can see, lots has been happening that I haven't had a chance to talk about. Mainly, that's because I believe stories about over-sized cockroaches and hardly-countable amounts of mosquito bites are much more interesting, and also something I find easier to write about. And, speaking of which, I've got a little "friend" living in my room with me now (well, I've probably got more than one in here and just don't know it). He's a lizard-- a scurrying, see-through, slimy-like lizard. Yeah, it's gross. I'll try to get a picture of him later.
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