Brazilian Elections, and a great trip to the Mata Atlantica, among other things...

A number of interesting things have been happening around here lately. My new classes at CEFET are going well, and I am starting to understand more of what is going on there. Also, there are alot of very nice people in my classes, so that is a big help. I´m also continuing playing basketball at Universidade Catolica, which is really great. We have our first game on Oct. 22!

I´m also continuing my guitar lessons. Right now I´m learning mostly technique (it is classical guitar, so it´s alot different from what I had learned previously). It´s fun though, and my teacher is very good. He is also showing me different examples of brasilian music, which I will start learning how to play soon, I think. There are various styles of music which are categorized acording to rhythm (Samba, Maracatu, Coco, etc.) My teacher also records his own compositions in these styles and was playing some examples for me. How cool!

One of the important occurances here was the election. This took place on Sunday, and it was very interesting to watch it unfold. This election was for Prefeito (mayor of Recife) and Vereador (I think this is some kind of legislative possition, like representative, but I´m not sure it has an exact equivalent). This election was somewhat different from what I´ve experienced in the U.S. Like in America, TV adds are popular, but there is a notable absence of attack adds. Other forms of political propaganda which are prevalent here are flyers (everywhere you go, someone is there waiting to hand you a political flyer) and alto-falantes (I have never seen these in the U.S., but they are very cool! these are large cars with speaker decks mounted on top which drive around the city very slowly blasting political slogans and jingles.) Usually, the alto-falantes have pictures of the politicial who rented them plastered on to the side of the car. When I first saw these, I didn´t realize they were political propaganda, because they play music. On closer examination, however, this music is a jingle with the politician´s name, number, and something about how they´re going to make the city so much better, etc. Another interesting tidbit: alto-falante means "loud talker" in Portuguese. :) I actually got to participate some in the process, becuase one of Bruna´s friends was running for vereadora. We went to a rally for her at Boa Viagem beach, and walked around handing out flyers.

On election day, all of this stops abruptly. campaigning is no longer allowed (only t-shirts and flags are allowed). As you walk or drive around the city you have a strange feeling that something is missing (alto-falantes, carriatas- processions of cars and motorcycles with political banners-, people trying to hand out flyers on every street corner, etc.) It is strange.

The Brazilian voting system is one of the fastest in the world. It is all electronic, and each candidate has a number which is used to vote. Voting here is obligatory between the ages of 18 and 70, but 16 and 17-year olds, as well as older people can vote if they choose to. I went with Clara and Gustavo to watch the process in action. The results of the election are known on the same night. And, because this is Brazil after all, and people like to party, there are parties all over the city that night. Some are for specific candidates, victors of the election, etc. But many are just parties for everyone, reguardless of political persuasion. I went to a party with some of my friends in a park in front of our church (Praca de Casa Forte) there are food vendors, music, and multitudes of people.

The other big thing I did this week was go on a day trip with the other rotary students from Recife. We went by bus to a nature preserve area in the mata atlantica. Mata atlantica is the name of the type of forest which used to cover this entire region, but which now is only there in part. Much of the land surrounding the cities is used for growing sugarcane, so the forest was cleared to make way for this. This forest is very neat. There is a huge amount of biodiversity and some very interesting plants and animals. When we arrived, we took a hike through the forest and stopped at a river, where we went swimming. We also fished in the river and went in row-boats. One of the people who worked there saw a sloth in the forest, but it left before we could see it. The trip was alot of fun, and it was great to see the other youth exchange students again.

Well, that´s about all for now, but I´m sure there will be more adventures to report soon!