Feriado on Ilha Grande

Following a few very busy city weekends in São Paulo, I decided make the most of the feriado and my last weekend in Brazil and travel to the island of Ilha Grande in Rio state, to destress before my upcoming holiday to Colombia - life's tough! 

After having fun at the pre-feriado holiday disco at ACER, I packed up a bag and headed to Tietê bus station to meet Vanessa. 7 hrs later, having caught up on a lot of sleep, we arrived in Angra dos Reis to catch the 30 minute speed boat to the island.

I felt all the stress of bustling São Paulo instantly disappear as we pulled up to island's colourful harbour. After checking into our brilliant hostel, we ate a much needed snack at the padaria and headed off, on what we thought would be a short hike, to Lopes Mendes beach - recently voted as one of the 10 most beautiful beaches in the world. 

3 hrs later and having done rather more exercise than intended, we arrived, hoping to find some food but we were too late, all gone! After relaxing for a while and becoming increasingly more hungry we took the taxi boat back, treated to the most beautiful sunset from the water.

The next morning - after the best hostel breakfast I think I have ever had, I definitely made the most of it, we boarded our our speed boat to start the tour of the island. On our boat there was a Czech couple, French, Argentinian and Brazilians, needless to say my role for the day was designated interpreter! We stopped at lots of good snorkeling sports and had the best day. That evening we also went to island's Festa Junina which was good fun. Our last full day on the island was divided between hiking and beach, a perfect combination for me.

The bus ride home was surprisingly traffic free, very unlike São Paulo, topping off the the perfect weekend! 

One last week of work here and then on Saturday morning I leave for Colombia - lots to look forward to but also will be so sad to leave, it really has begun to feel like home.

Virada Cultural

Time is going so so quickly here, this weekend I will already be half way through working at ACER. I absolutely love the work I am doing, so interesting and I am learning so much. This week I have been mainly working on presentations to give to companies that we hope to get funding from and also another fundraising proposal.

The volunteer house has been busier than usual as we are hosting three football coaches, who are running a course on using football for social impact. I took part in their training session on Monday which was good fun, In the evening there has been lots of cake baking - I made brownies from the office which disappeared in record time!

As usual I rushed into São Paulo after work on Friday and this time met Fellipe and his friend Pepe. We then drove back to his home on the outskirts of the city and had a delicious supper, before heading to 2 of my favourite clubs. As is to be expected when Fellipe is involved, we had a great night! The next morning I got up early and Fellipe's mother gave me a lift to the centre on the way to her Hungarian class! I was determined to do pack as much culture and general São Paulo appreciation into my day, even if I was feeling a little worse for wear.

I started by a much needed Starbucks before heading into Jardins for a bit of window shopping. I spent the day revisiting all my favourite places and just managed to make myself feel very nostalgic. From brilliant art exhibitions, to vintage shopping on Rua Augusta, to açai at my favourite ice cream shop, I was reminded of just how much São Paulo has offer.

However the main event to report back is the Virada Cultural that took place all over São Paulo last weekend. The Virada Cultural is 24 hrs of nonstop live music, hosted annually by the city government. Choosing which shows to go to was hard enough as there were 1500 in total - We spent Saturday night at the Monobloco show and then on Sunday went to Emicida and the closing show given by Caetano Veloso. They were all brilliant and the fact the shows were free meant there was such a mixed audience which was so great to see and is certainly not normally the case at paid concerts in São Paulo. I headed back to Eldorado exhausted but happy that I had another productive weekend!

After another busy working week, I am finishing off some last minute tasks, and then will pack a bag and head into SP once again. Tonight I am taking part in a friend's Masterchef competition so need to decide what to cook!

Reunited with the Caipirinha

One week down and I'm realising just how much I'm going to have to pack into my remaining 5 weeks!

Despite my flight being delayed for 6 hours in Madrid and only arriving at ACER at 1am, I keenly volunteered to help out at a picnic that the NGO had organised at a park in central São Paulo.
At 8am we collected the supplies from the supermarket, packed up the combi van and set off for the city centre. After setting up the picnic under a shelter in the centre of the park, we had a wander round and waited for the families to arrive. The park was situated amongst the skyscrapers in a wealthy neighbourhood, next to the city's most exclusive shopping centre JK Iguatemi. The innequality between our guests and the park's everyday visitors could not have been more stark. 

Parque do Povo

                                   

After serving the picnic to our 100 or so guests (hard work!), we spread out into the park and enjoyed the sun. It was really sweet to see children of the everyday visitors lending their bikes and toys to the children of the Familia Guardiã; for most of them it would have been their first time on a bike. It was also great to meet the families and my new colleagues in such a relaxed setting. After another round of sandwiches we took a few team photos, packed up the van and headed back to Eldorado.

On Monday it was straight to work- I´m helping to write a project proposal, using football as a tool for social change, to try and obtain funding from a new grant that is being awarded. I am still working on it now, it was a steep learning curve at first but it has been such an interesting process and it will be interesting to see how it is received. On Tuesday night after work, I managed to help out with an art class which was really good fun and it was cool to get to know some of the kids better. I haven't had a lot of spare time to be able to sit in on other classes, but there is so much going on here all the time, from African dance to Capoeira to cooking classes, the charity is doing such amazing work.

On Thursday we headed back to my old office at the British-Brazilian centre, to celebrate the Queen's birthday party with other Brits in São Paulo. Everyone always feels so much more patriotic when they are abroad, although I am sure the caipirinhas did play their part in helping us belt out the national anthem! 

Queen's Birthday Party

After another busy day of work on Friday, I quickly packed a rucksack and headed into São Paulo to meet Vanessa in my old neighbourhood of Vila Madalena, where she takes pole dancing classes!! Let's just say I doubt I will ever be giving it a go! We got back to her ap, ordered pizza and caught up on all our news. We had planned to go out but chatting and an early night seemed so much more appealing after such a busy week. 

Following a much needed lie-in while Vanessa had an Italian exam, we took the bus to Jundiaí, a city of about 300,000 an hour from São Paulo, where her parents live. We arrived to the most delicious feijoada cooked by Vanessa's mother. While the sofa did look rather appealing at this point, we got our act together and drove to the biggest outlet shopping centre in São Paulo! Brazil has got to be one of the most shopping-obsessed countries for sure. No luck for me, my big feet and height don't help!

Feijoada

                      

We then headed to a food fair that was taking place at the local football club to celebrate their anniversary. It was good fun and there was so much interesting stuff to try, even if the Beatles cover band playing was slightly dubious! 

Sunday was a much needed chilled day. After a long lie in, we went for a walk in the roasting heat. June weather in São Paulo is all over the place, cold and rainy to 30 degree heat in the space of a few hours. After another delicious lunch, we drove back to São Paulo where I said bye to Vanessa and began the long journey back to Diadema. The perfect first weekend, bring on the next one. 

              

My second week has begun just as busily as when I stopped in Friday. We are now in the final stages of the proposal writing and I even went to a concert this evening, given by a Scottish band featuring a man dressed as a rabbit, who says there's not a lot going on in Diadema! Excited to see what the rest of the week holds and then looking forward to the Virada Cultural; 24hrs of free live music in São Paulo.

The Countdown Begins

The boredom of essay writing and revision is constantly causing my focus to drift to summer plans! Determined to make the most of my last long holiday for a while, I have packed lots in, returning just in time for work in September (my family are a little worried that I will be gone for good!). 

In exactly 7 weeks I will be at Heathrow about to board a very early plane to São Paulo, having finished my last exam the afternoon before, a slightly speedy turn around! 

There, I will be volunteering with an NGO for 6 weeks. ACER, Associação de Apoio A Criança Em Risco or The Children at Risk Foundation, was founded in 1993 to 'offer an alternative way of life to vulnerable children and young people living on the streets of São Paulo.' Here's a video of Lewis Hamilton and Jake Humphrey visiting ACER for Sports Relief.

I will be focusing on learning about the finances and marketing of a specific project that the charity runs called Family Guardian (http://www.familiaguardia.org.br/index-pt.html). It supports extended family members caring for children that have been taken away from their parents by the justice system, due to abandonment or negligence, so that they don't have to go into care.

ACER is situated in Eldorado, a favela in Diadema, one of greater São Paulo’s most violent suburbs according to Wikipedia! Although it is still classed as São Paulo, it is actually 2 hours from the centre which shows just how huge the city is. From living in one of the most middle class neighbourhoods, Vila Madalena, during my year abroad I will now be living in one of the poorest. I am so grateful for the opportunity to see this amazing city from a different perspective.

I'm also really looking forward to staying with friends in the city

centre at weekends and revisiting the incredible restaurants/nightlife/culture that São Paulo has to offer. Hopefully I will discover some new gems that I'll be sure to write about on here!

After São Paulo, I will be backpacking around Colombia for a month, a country that I have wanted to visit forever - suggestions for what to do and see are very welcome!

So, now I just have the small obstacle of 13 exams! Until then I will be dreaming of this place...

Selva de pedra, São Paulo

Hopefully see you on the other side!!

Home Time

So, I’m sitting in Barajas Airport finally flying home after 6 months in Madrid. At times it definitely dragged but the last few weeks have flown by, mainly due to the need to submit my year abroad essays before I start work in London on Monday. It has been a bit of a slog to say the least. 

My last night didn't end in the best way, although the company and copious amounts of pizza made up for it!

My time in Madrid has definitely had its ups and downs, but overall it's been a great experience; the total opposite of Brazil in so many ways but just as valuable, if maybe not as enjoyable. The first month was tough, I felt pretty miserable after having spent just a week at home and still missing my life in Brazil a lot. It didn't help not being able to find anywhere decent to live and then having 3 jobs fall through, but luckily things only got better thereafter. 

I was so lucky to have my best friends in Madrid with me too!!

The Spanish education system does not rank well and the schools at which I worked as a language assistant definitely reinforced this. One of them, in particular, did not have a good reputation; it was situated in one of the city's most deprived areas and had an exam pass rate of just 30% (almost 10% below the Madrid average). However it wasn't the children who ever caused me problems. Sure they were difficult sometimes, I had a few pens chucked at me (more to see how I would react than out of hatred I hope!) and a brawl did break out in one class a few weeks ago which was an interesting experience, but ultimately children are children, I loved being with them and found them extremely welcoming. I often found myself siding with them and not the teachers, probably because I was only 3 years older than the top year students.

I was so lucky to have the best housemates!

It was actually the teachers and the school itself that I found the hardest to deal with. The standard of teaching was worse than I could have possibly imagined and made me realise just how lucky I was with my education. The majority seemed to simply have given up and couldn’t care less about anything. The school itself was a dump, no money for anything, no electronic boards, internet that never worked, no decorations in the classrooms, rusty desks and graffiti everywhere. I could go on and on, it just annoyed me so much that the very children that need all the help they can get in life are being failed by the state.

Favourite brunch destination with Greta

Rozzy and Olivia 

Although I found the job tough, it did mean that I focused on finding things that I enjoyed doing in my spare time, especially as I didn't get to speak as much Spanish as I would have wanted to at work. I joined a running club, took Spanish classes three times a week, taught private english classes to little kids twice a week, joined a great gym and found a Brazilian exchange to keep up my Portuguese. Let's just say it took my mind of things and meant that I definitely never got bored! 

An early start for the Madrid 10K

It was so sad saying goodbye to my favourite private class

Anyway, after almost a year away I am definitely ready to come home, even if it's only for a day!

Is it ever not a bank holiday?

My reward for one full week's work since the easter break has been 2 puentes in a row and I have another one in 2 weeks time, it's a tough life. Thursday was national worker's day (so naturally this meant no work!), yesterday (friday) was 'national day of the community', and in 2 weeks it will be the San Isidro holiday (the patron saint of Madrid). I also had a day off on Tuesday as all my classes had a national exam and then on Wednesday I left early as my last class was on a trip! I have had a lot more free time than usual... 

I ran the Madrid 10k! 

No idea what the capes were for, but I put mine on and looked like an idiot with everyone else!

Obviously I am not complaining about this but it has made me think that it really doesn't do much good for the economy (shops are constantly shut which is a pain) or for children's education. I also feel like the more bank holidays you have the more you need them, my four day week this week is going to be a struggle I feel! Copious amounts of spare time should mean I am getting a lot of work done but obviously this is not the case; the more time I have the less productive I seem to get. I have now had my second year abroad essay title 'approved', great news, apart from the fact it means I now need to write it...

Everything is seriously quiet in the flat, my Spanish flatmates are down south at their parents like usual and my Belgian flatmate left today for Uganda to do her microfinance dissertation research, very jealous! Yesterday I went to the mountains to visit the family I used to au pair for in the summer when I was 18 and 19. I had a great day spent playing lots of football and badminton with the children, a mountain walk and my first BBQ in Spain, it was so nice to catch up with all their news and see how much the children had grown up. Tomorrow I will be heading back to the mountains with a friend for some hiking, for me something that definitely makes up for Madrid not being near a beach. 

Sarah and Bruno 2011, aged 2 and a half and 6

Sara, Bruno and I yesterday... I feel old!

Scenic bus journey back to Madrid, heading back to the mountains again on Sunday

Easter Down South

After a very busy few weeks juggling the job, the annoying year abroad essays and receiving guests, I am enjoying a week's holiday in Andalusia.

Mama Framboise Tea with the mother and Lucinda

I have travelled a lot around Spain; Galicia and the Basque country in the north, Barcelona and the Balearic Islands in the east and Salamanca in the west, but I have never made it down south. My flatmates are from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, a small town near Jerez in the heart of Andalusia, so it seemed the right time to visit this part of the country, a region so different from the affluent north and cosmopolitan Madrid. It's also the first time I am travelling alone. This was met with a few strange looks when I told my flatmates; it seems that doing anything alone just isn't normal in Spain, from eating at restaurants to going shopping, everything is in groups. Obviously I would have preferred to go with someone else but my English friends have gone home for easter and it means I get to be selfish and visit exactly where I want. I have booked sociable-looking hostels so hopefully I will meet people! 

On Friday afternoon, once my flatmate had finished work, we piled into the car and began the journey to Seville. 6 hours later we arrived, dropped off one of my flatmates to meet a friend and collected another's dress for the Feria de Abril in a few weeks time. We then continued to my flatmates' parents house in Sanlúcar. The apartment was beautiful and right on the beach. After a delicious supper of salad and seafood we had a much needed early night(by Spanish standards).

I spent yesterday with my tourguides, flatmate Blanca and her boyfriend Carlos. Their tour was amazing, especially as it involved stopping for a Manzanilla(the traditional sherry wine made in Sanlúcar) at every site! In the evening we watched the first of the traditional easter parades that the south of Spain is so famous for, something I feel I am going to be seeing a lot of in the next week!

Blanca and I visiting the beautiful Palacio Posada

Palacio Duques de Medina Sidonia

Solear Manzanilla Sherry

Today, after a quick walk on the beach and goodbyes to my flatmates and their parents, I took the train to Cádiz where I am staying for the next few nights. 

More easter parades in Cádiz

South American art centre, Brazilian painting paying 'Homenagem a Santos Dumont'.

This artist's exhibition didn't grab me as much, all of his paintings were like this one!

Sunset beach run

Seeing the benefits

As I said before I have found it more difficult than I thought it would be settling in here. My lifestyle in Brazil was some kind of dream and I definitely had to come down to earth with a bump. 

However little by little I am seeing more and more positives to living here in Madrid. These are just a few of them...

1. Transport. Public transport that actually works. I have quite a long commute to work each morning. In Brazil this would have been exceedingly unpleasant, the buses were useless and the metro was often so packed that you had to elbow people to get off. The buses here are on time, never full and even have wifi. I can read my book or check the news quite happily with a coffee in hand and before I know it I have arrived at work. 

2. The food. Supermarket food especially is so much cheaper than it was in SP and generally much better quality. I am enjoying being adventurous with my cooking again, something I definitely missed in Brazil. 

3. The shopping. One thing I missed a lot in Brazil was high street shopping. Mainly due to security, shopping takes place within the confines of the shopping centre. I am not a fan of shopping centres, they rarely have any personality and always have the same shops. I love visiting the small shops in my neighbourhood in Madrid and then stopping for a coffee before strolling back home.

4. Visitors. Lastly and most importantly, people can come and visit me!! In Brazil people obviously couldn't just come for a weekend. Here in Madrid I have already had visitors, including my sister last weekend. Door to door from her house at Bristol Uni it was just 5 hours. It really is so nice to be able to show people my life here. In just over 2 weeks, my mum and youngest sister are coming too, It's fun being able to plan where we're going to eat and what I am going to show them...

Olivia arrives in Madrid!!

After dinner fro-yo followed by a walk in the park, not the best idea on my part, I didn't realise it shut at 10pm and we got locked in with a few other dog walkers and had to be rescued!

One of the best things about being here is that my two best friends from school and uni are here too!!!

Olivia and Rozzy; brunch time at the amazing Carmencita's

Obviously I am still missing Brazil tonnes and that's going to take a long time to fade, but I can't complain, life really is pretty good here!

Settling in

So since I last blogged things have got a lot lot better and I am finally starting to warm to Madrid again. 

Very much appreciated English treats from Sarah!

I have now done two weeks working as a language assistant - I was super lucky to get on the programme half way through the year due to someone dropping out. After a few days on the job I was definitely craving my comparatively relaxing office job, but have now come round to the idea and I see it as an opportunity to gain a completely different skill set. I have been given two schools; one in the north west of the city and one in the south east! A slight logistical nightmare but it is doable and am looking at the commute as an opportunity to read lots of novels that I have been meaning to get round to for ages. 

The two schools couldn't really be more different. The first is in the north of the city, which on the whole tends to be better off than the south. It's very small, I am the only language assistant and although it's not by any means an academic hothouse, it seems a happy place and the children, in general, are well behaved!

The school in the south is a different story (maybe it is why the girl before me dropped out?!)... It is situated in an area called Vallecas, the neighbourhood with the lowest average income in Madrid and since the credit crunch unemployment has soared. Many of the kids come from broken homes and have all sorts of behavioural problems. There are also a large number of gypsy children, often who are practically illiterate and only attend school as it is the condition for their parents to receive benefits. There is an armed guard at the gate, the school is so covered with graffiti that you can't even see out of the windows and during my first class a boy lobbed a pencil at me!! The school is tough and, without wanting to sound dramatic, I find it quite emotionally draining. The teaching I have witnessed in the school is some of the worst I have ever seen, it seems like most of the teachers have completely given up which is so sad for the children that do want to learn. It's going to be a challenge but I am determined to show them that learning english can be fun if taught well! It's going to be a long 5 months I feel!

Apart from the job situation nothing has really changed here... I went to my best school friend, Rozzy's, 21st birthday last weekend which was so much fun. I have finally signed up to a gym which has definitely cheered me up, I'm looking forward to my first spin class in this amazing room with 300 bikes. Also still enjoying running club, last night we all went in carnival themed fancy dress which was fun, if not the most comfortable experience! Am also going to attempt a 10k this weekend in preparation for the race in April which I signed up for in a moment of craziness. 

The spin room at the gym

Apart from that not much else to report really, think I am going to start to do some blogs on specific topics as my life is pretty uninteresting here and I feel doesn't make great blogging material! 

Better head off to my Spanish class, have a great weekend, Helena x

The 21st birthday girl, Rozzy!!

Meticulous creation of the all important gin and tonics by DJ Jaime!