"Unreal..."

Unreal. If I had to describe the first full week that we spent here using only one word, that word would be "unreal". I am fairly certain that both Ben and David would concur. I cannot count the number of times that we have stopped what we are doing, looked around at our stunning surroundings, and said to each other, "Can you believe that we are here? This is unreal." To fully understand why this comes up so often, you must understand the details of our weekend. Even then, I am not an efficient nor eloquent enough writer to fully paint the picture of our experience. Our first weekend here was jam-packed with experiences, each one different from its predecessors...

From left to right, Ben, Yury,
and David.

Friday, as the workers lined up at 4:59 PM, eagerly awaiting the final "clock-out" of the week, Ben, David, and I discussed our weekend plans. After a quick dip in the pool and shower to rinse off the grime from the work-week in the shipyard, we met up with our new friend, Yury. Yury is a 23-year-old Brazilian who works at the reception desk of our hotel. He has previously worked on various cruise ships as a bellboy, and, as such, can fluently speak a plethora of languages, including English. He's our go-to guy when it comes to questions regarding just about anything: language, slang, culture, etc. Anyways, he showed us around some of the more "middle-class" areas of Fortaleza, safe areas that we wouldn't have traveled to ourselves nonetheless. We went to a Chinese/Japanese restaurant for dinner (it made Panda Express seem like a delicacy) and enjoyed our time spent just walking around. After dinner, Ben, David, and I went to Órbita, a bar/club, with Felipe, one of Flavio's cousins who I had met at their grandmother's party. We were quite surprised, and skeptical, when we learned that we would be seeing a Beatles cover band. However, the band turned out to be incredible. They got everything right, from the vocal and instrumental intricacies to the exquisite attire while playing "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Plus, we received a "cultural" lesson, learning the differences between a Brazilian club, and an American club. First of all, drinks are much cheaper here, and guys are not expected to buy girls drinks. Also, PDA is much more widely accepted here, which makes for some awkward situations. The bartenders were crazy, at one point jumping up on the bar with an alcohol bong yelling "Drink Mother F******s!" in Portuguese, and pouring free shots of vodka down the bong for anyone who so desired. A Russian girl who we befriended at the club jumped in on the offer. Afterwards, the bartender told her, "You drink like a girl!" She clearly took offense to this comment, as she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and screamed in his face, "I drink like a RUSSIAN!" Anyhow, the band was good, the club was fun, and finally at 4:30 AM (I told you Brazilians party late) we made our way back to the hotel.

Counterclockwise from the top: Pork
butt, pork foot, pork ear, pork tongue.

Ox tail.

Saturday, Ben and David woke up early and played some "futebol" with some coworkers, followed by an unexpected visit to the bar. I woke up upon my not-quite-sober roommates' return, and we headed to lunch (where I tried some interesting food, none of which I really enjoyed) and then the pool. At the pool, we met two Dutch yacht owners and some crew members/captain of some other yachts, who had all been at the hotel for quite some time. They were from Germany, California, and Oregon. It was quite refreshing speaking English with them, as were the ice cold rum and fruit smoothies they blended and generously shared with us by the pool. We went out to dinner again with Yury, stopping along the way at a forro dance competition (I've tried uploading the video to no avail, but I will continue trying).

For dinner we opted for pizza. This proved a much better choice than the previous night's Chinese food. One thing I would like to point out about the food is that nothing here is genetically modified. This is most evident in the fruits -- the pineapple is more white than yellow, and seedless grapes or watermelons are unheard of. I, personally, really enjoy this aspect to the dining here.

Ben and I jumping off of the
Flugtag launch ramp.

A traditional Saturday lunch of pork
roast, complete with feijoada.

Sunday lunch aboard the Dutch yacht.

Sunday was the day that we had been hearing about for a while: Red Bull Flugtag. We were lucky enough to watch, and eat lunch, aboard the Dutch yacht-owners' 60+ foot yacht, as 30-some "planes" from all over the country "flew" off of the launch ramp. I think that Ben and I jumped farther than the majority of the planes made it. The lunch was delicious -- fresh fish and shrimp and tuna. Clearly men who spend weeks at a time aboard boats learn to cook for themselves, and it showed. Last night, our weekend was capped by a going away party for a girl that I work with. We all met a restaurant called Dom Pastel. A pastel is very similar to an empanada. They were basically big pockets of pastry dough stuffed with cheese, meats, and whatever else you'd like that were deep fried -- how could they not be delicious? Anyhow, that was the last part of our first incredible weekend here.

The last thing that I would like to address in this episode is my typical workday. Generally I arrive at work at about 7:30 AM. I say about in reference to what we have named "Brazilian Time", similar to "Michigan Time". Consistent with my findings in Panama, people tend to not really care about deadlines or meeting times. Rather, they just show up when they're ready. This is far different from American and European standards (much to the despair of the German captain I spoke of earlier, who claims to have been waiting for his yacht to be completed for two years past the anticipated deadline). However, I think that there is something very valuable to having this sort of relaxed mindset. Anyhow, I arrive at work, and look through a couple of Microsoft Project timelines. The ship that I am currently working on is Tug Boat #620. After looking through the timeline and seeing what needs to be checked on, we walk around the shipyard, checking on the various tasks that go into building a ship of such a large magnitude. We make sure that all of the parts have been ordered and are either being produced or shipped. It is a very broad job, but we basically oversee all of the processes and make sure that everything is going smoothly, and update the timeline as necessary. I do this from the time I arrive until 5 pm, with an hour break for lunch in the shipyard from noon until 1 pm.

So far, this experience has been simply unreal. As we sit in the pool nearly everyday and look through the palm trees and hammocks out at the Atlantic, we realize how lucky we are to have this opportunity.

Until next time... tchau!

PS. My entire photo library can be found here.

E Aí Macho! It's Been a Busy Week Already...

The dessert spread at the birthday party.

When I last left you, I was still awaiting my luggage, as well as my posse. Well, my luggage arrived Saturday morning, along with a little extra gift... After lunch with Flavio and his family -- it was his avó's (grandma's) birthday -- I headed up to my room to unpack some clothes and throw on my swimsuit (finally!). As I was finishing unpacking, I opened up one of my front exterior suitcase pockets where I had packed my Nalgene, and was surprised when I found a small bag of a smelly, "unknown" substance. Shocked and somewhat frightened at the possible consequences of having this bag in my international suitcase, I quickly disposed of the bag. Anyhow, I threw on my swimsuit and headed down to the pool for the first time. After downing a few cold beers with Flavio and his cousins at the pool, we headed to a nearby club for a few hours, and then on to his grandmother's 70th birthday party at her beautiful home in downtown Fortaleza. The food was incredible (as was the open bar), but I was especially impressed with the dessert spread. Anyhow, at about 2:30 am (Brazilians know how to party hard, even grandma was still up), I got a ride back to the hotel and crashed -- it had been a long and exhausting day.

The next day I woke up late to the arrival of Ben and David -- two Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering students from the U of M who would be sharing the summer with me. I gave them the rundown and showed them around the hotel grounds (Flavio took us on another tour of Fortaleza) and we hung out and prepared for our first day of work on Monday.

Aboard the bow of "Far Far Away".

"Far Far Away" from a distance.

Uncertain of what to expect as I had never set foot in a shipyard, Monday morning rolled around, and we headed over to work -- a five minute walk away. Our first day was mostly just a tour of the shipyard, as well as a Brazilian Navy ship, but it was capped by a tour of the unfinished $11.5 million yacht that INACE has been working on, "Far Far Away" (photos of everything can be found in the slideshow on the blog homepage). Today (Tuesday) was our first "real day" of work. I will be working separately from Ben and David, as they will be doing more Marine Engineering. I am working in the Production Department, overseeing the project developments. (I am extremely grateful that I learned how to use Microsoft Project this last semester, as it is very instrumental in my everyday job here.) The coolest part about this job is that I get to see how all of the different processes in the shipyard flow together, from the very first cut in a sheet of metal to the finishing touches on a ship.

Lastly, I want to give an update on our Portuguese advancements! We are all learning very quickly, and can usually understand what people are saying to us and get our points across, as well. We are even learning some slang terms (E aí macho = What's up man). Portuguese is a very fun and interesting language to learn, and I can't wait to be fully conversational (hopefully within the next couple weeks).

Anyways, Ben and I (and hopefully David, if we can convince him!) have a big soccer game after work tomorrow that I need to be well-rested for. So, until next time, tchau!

Alô do Brasil! Fortaleza, the Gini, and Thank Yous...

Well, a little more than 48 hours after leaving home in Middleton, I finally arrived at the Marina Park Hotel in Fortaleza, Brazil! Thanks to another 2-hour-delayed flight out of ORD on Wednesday night, I missed my connection Thursday morning from São Paulo to Fortaleza, and spent a few hours at the airport. Anyhow, I made it here in one piece (of course, United left my luggage in Madison, but that's SUPPOSED to arrive tonight).

Today, I got the chance to check out the hotel grounds and was driven around Fortaleza by Flavio. For those of you who don't know, Flavio is the son of the managers of INACE (the shipbuilding company I will be working with this summer) and the Marina Park Hotel. He is also a recent graduate from the University of Michigan's Naval Engineering department, and the reason I was fortunate enough to get this internship. Anyways, we drove around and I got to see where to go and not to go (it reminded me of the scene from the Lion King where Mufasa informs Simba not to go to the shadowy area). The beaches look amazing, and I can't wait to learn how to surf (Fortaleza is renowned for its surfing). For those of you that have never been to Central our South America, there are no words to describe the hot and humid climate -- for me, the feeling walking off of the plane in Fortaleza was very reminiscent of Panama. I look forward to the arrival of my luggage, complete with bathing suit and shorts (I am still wearing jeans from the plane-ride over).

Moving onto a deeper topic, I quickly realized that the wealth disparity in Brazil is even worse than that in the US. Maybe "Occupy Wall Street" should start a movement here in Brazil. Or in any of the 42 countries with a higher "Gini Index" than the United States' for that matter. After some quick research, I learned about the Gini Index, which "measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income in a country" according to the CIA - World Factbook website. The Gini Rankings can be found here. Basically, the higher a country's Gini Index is, the more unequal the distribution of wealth is. The US comes in 43rd with a Gini Index of 45. Brazil comes in 17th with a Gini Index of 52 (ironically, it is tied with Panama -- this is a contrast that I also noticed during my summer in Panama in 2008, between Panama City, and my home village of San Cristobal). The contrast in Fortaleza between the extremely wealthy, such as Francisco Ivens de Sa Dias Branco, worth $3.8 billion, and those roaming the streets or living in favelas (Brazilian ghettos) is much more stark than anywhere I've noticed. In the US, that includes Chicago, NYC, and -- where I have seen it the worst -- Las Vegas, and even than what I noticed in Panama (where the wealth of the city and poverty of the countryside were separated by hundreds of miles, not just a few miles as in Fortaleza).


Lastly, there are some people that I wanted to thank:
Thank you to Gabby and Ana Araujo, for your help and patience with my attempt to learn Portuguese, and for teaching me about Brazil in general. If you ever need to learn Portuguese, I highly recommend talking to either of them -- even though they will likely scare you shitless and make you fear your travel to Brazil ;)


Thank you to Eric Stulberg and Tyler Fisher (and Google Translate) for spending precious MCAT studying time and CIA mission time to practice my Portuguese (among other languages) with me. Bippity bippity bippity bippity boppity... Boo.


Thank you to Alexa Fedrigon for the well-stocked variety of Butterfingers and sudoku book, which I surely would not have made it through my hellish days of travel without. Have an awesome summer in Europe :)


Thank you to the University of Michigan College of Engineering for paying for my visa expenses, flights, and more! To U of M students, there is TONS of funding out there from our University, you just have to find the right people to talk to!


Thank you to all of my friends and family for making my week home from school before leaving an awesome week. I will miss you all this summer! Thank you for your support.


Thank you to ESPN3 for allowing me to watch the Celtics game tonight...


Anyhow, that is enough for tonight. Next time, I promise I will post some photos of the hotel, Fortaleza, and the shipyard. Tchau!

O'Hare Airport: You Shall Not Pass!!!

Due to Mother Nature's uncooperative tendencies, I arrived in ORD last night at 9:30 pm, an hour after I was supposed to arrive, and 3 minutes before I was supposed to depart to Sao Paulo. Taxiing around the tarmac to our gate, I watched longingly as the 777 that I was supposed to be on rolled away from gate C18... And that is why you should never fly United though O'Hare. Especially international. And especially especially not on the last flight of the night. After a couple of hours of sucking up to United's customer service rep (thanks to my Mom and Dad for ingraining "please's" and "thank you's" into my everyday vocabulary), I was finally granted a free night in the adjoining Hilton and meal vouchers to cover "24 hours worth of food" -- $30 in an airport and Hilton doesn't get you very far. Anyhow, I am now booked to head out at 9:33 pm tonight for Sao Paulo, and then onto Fortaleza, where I am SUPPOSED to arrive at 4 pm tomorrow afternoon.

Well now that I have spent my first paragraph complaining and probably have about 2 people left following my blog for the summer, I would like to point out that I have traveled a bit, and I realized full well that my trip to Fortaleza would likely have a few hiccups. But, that is just one of the prices you pay when you travel. The joy and experience that come with traveling are more than worth the costs...

Anyways, tchau from Chicago (and the USA) and next time from Brazil!

WARNING

I would like to preface this blog with a warning: I have never "blogged" before. However, due to numerous requests from family and friends to keep them updated throughout the summer, I finally gave into the pressure of keeping a blog. I will do my best to keep it updated with pictures and posts for the next three months. Please feel free to give me feedback, ask me questions, or just say hey (I will have internet access and will be checking my email and facebook periodically)! Here goes nothing...