Before I explain what I learned from a couple Brazilians today, I want to thank everyone for reading my blog. :-) I love reading the comments from my friends and family and it makes me really happy that I can share my trip with everyone!
Now, let's get down to business. There are a lot of Brazilian med students who have been working in the clinic a couple of the days I've been there. I think they all go to Medical school here in Cochabamba, either that or they are all spending part of their training taking classes out here in Bolivia. When there is not much going on in the clinic, two of the guys engage me in conversation and ask about U.S. related stuff, about myself, or about how I'm liking Bolivia, etc. All of the students are much more patient when they talk to me than are some of the other employees who sometimes become a little impatient. They commonly act things out with hand gestures when talking to me. (That might be a Brazilian thing too, like the Italians, I don't know). Their accents are harder to understand than the Bolivian accents, and they all speak portuguese when they talk to each other. I think today was their last day in the clinic before their winter break. (Yes, winter break). Anyway, today I found out that the people of South America can't stand Argentinians!! They consider them haughty and stuck up! I related it to how Americans think of the French. I also found out that Brazilians find British english much easier to understand than American english, but the worst for them is Australian english. They mentioned Crocodile Dundee when referencing Australia, and said the BBC is easy to understand, but CNN is hard because we talk too fast. The younger male med student speaks a tiny bit of english, and he said he learned what he knows from first watching an english movie with subtitles, then watching it again without them. It's all muy interesante, no? It wasn't long before the conversation got even more interesting.
For some reason I didn't quite catch, the two Brazilian male med students started explaining what "gay" and "transsexual" mean to a Bolivian nurse who joined in our conversation every now and then as she did some paperwork. I couldn't believe this educated and modern Bolivian woman actually didn't know what it means to be homosexual. And then, the younger guy said that being a gay man means that you want to be a woman. This was where I had to step in and correct him before she went on to live her whole life thinking gay men and women long to become the opposite sex. He agreed with my correction and explained that gay is when a man wants to be with a man, and a woman with a woman. Transsexual, he explained, is when a man or woman dresses as the opposite gender. She looked very confused, and the young guy was explaining it in a mocking tone I didn't like. The slightly older med student interrupted and explained to her that there are plenty of gay individuals who are great people. I asked if gay men and women can marry in Brazil, and they can't. I assume they can't in Bolivia either since this woman didn't even know what it was.
On a separate note, I also learned that Brazilian beaches have warm, clear water, and that the best time to vacation in Brazil is between December and February. Later, there was a "despedida" or going away party for the med students. At the despedida I ate a kind of chocolate cake and then an egg salad sandwich. The two clinic doctors made speeches and the students seemed to really be enjoying themselves.
After work I went to a german grocery store called "Super Haas" that I hadn't yet been to. They had a great variety of food! It was way better than the corner store I'd been going to, and much closer than the store in the rich area that has frosted flakes. Among my purchases were Chips Ahoy cookies, a can of ginger ale, and Kraft mac and cheese! The weirdest thing is that I can't find tortillas anywhere! I bought beans and I have rice, but I might be eating them with a fork because I don't think they eat tortillas here. They also don't have granola bars here. Two of my roommates have them but they got them from either their mom or their visiting American friend..
Talk to you soon! Love,
Hillary
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