Double Portuguese

July 2nd
Today was a long day of classes. Instead of our regular schedule of a morning Portuguese class and an afternoon cultural class, today we had a double of Portuguese. Originally we were supposed to go to the Memorial De America Latina in the afternoon, but due to the poor weather (it was rainy and the coldest day yet and the memorial is all outdoors) we were not able to go. We passed the morning with grammar and reading and discussing poetry as well as a short story before breaking for lunch. I am sad to report that it turns out that many of the lunch places on campus (including the great coffee and cheap juice/acai) were not closed as part of the strike, but were closed for PUC’s winter break. They will not reopen until August…
In the afternoon the Portuguese classes combined to watch a Brazilian art film from the 1980s called O Homen Nu (the naked man) that is a satirical comedy of errors in which a man gets locked out of his apartment naked and is then chased all over the city for being a robber/pervert. The movie was really funny and very interesting in its commentary on the police, the media and academics as all of Rio becomes obsessed with chasing this man. At the end of class several of us who are going to Rio this weekend were going to go buy tickets but somehow while I was at the ATM the group dissolved and went home, so Angelika and I decided to go on our own tomorrow. I have always found it to be rather hard to arrange things with a group of people when you are abroad.
          On my way home I went on a small adventure to the Pão de Azucar (the local grocery store) to pick up some food for the week. I remembered the street it was on exactly but I did not remember exactly where the cross streets were so I wandered around in a large circle for an hour until I found it (walking with a purpose just like we learned in Costa Rica!). The grocery store was rather small, and most people here shop at their local street farmer’s markets or simply go to the store several times a week to get what they need. After I finished my shopping I walked the few blocks back and had a quiet evening studying and researching for my final paper for our culture class.