stephanieNY

Hi!  I'm in Brazil.  A quick recap so far:  

The first two days we were escorted around Curitiba on a public city bus...except that it was just for us. Our professor is the ex-mayor / ex-governor of the city of Curitiba and its state, Parana. He's HUGE here. Everywhere we went, people stopped to point and stare, and some even to come over and shake his had, thank him, and get their picture taken with him. He's apparently very well-liked and is responsible for many of the aspects of the city today that make it really incredible.  We rode the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) with him for which he is most well-known. I tried to think of an analogy of what it was like for locals to see Jaime Lerner riding his own bus system....and the best we could come up with was like seeing Bill Gates at a Best Buy buying a computer.  (I think I can do better, but that's the best for now.)  We went to Jaime's beautiful office (pics 2 & 3). and were taken out to some incredible meals and some Brazilian music and dancing Saturday night.

We're in Sao Paulo now starting last night.  Again, we got carted around the city in some private vans.  We're studying "sustainable" public mobility systems in cities for this studio, and have been looking at the paralyzing congestion of the streets here.  Why I am the only one that thinks that driving around in vans and not using the public transportation systems while we are here is hilariously ironic, I don't know.  Hehe.

Anyway, I luuuuuv Brazil.  I'm having a really great time.  And I don't want to strangle anyone from my group of 15 people yet, so that's good.  And it's summer here!  Today was in the 80s and mostly sunny.  My hair is mostly frizzy from the mostly humid air too.

Here are a few pics for now.  I'll put together proper photo albums after the trip.  Tchau!

My iCalendar sent me a reminder just before midnight to go to Brazil tomorrow.  Thanks.

I got my visa, my tickets, and a new ISIC (international student identity card)...remember those from studying abroad anyone?  It brought me back...

No doubt, I'll remember to go to Brazil tomorrow.  Tchau!

I google-earthed Sao Paulo for hours today.

The bus to Boston and I need a little time apart after a crowded and unpleasant time at Thanksgiving. So today, I'll be luxuriating on the train. I'll stretch out, plug my computer in, watch a movie maybe, and look out the window at the trees instead of the traffic. Aahhhh.

Oh, and I'm done with finals. Yes.

On the train from New York to Boston this morning, I watched the sun come up and gazed at the end of this year's foliage.

Ya know when you've been in Russia for nine days? and you're on a three-hour bus ride back to Moscow from traveling the countryside all day? and you've been struggling to communicate with people over a huge language barrier all week? and you turn on your ipod and listen to Ira Glass interview a guy from Lowell, MA with a crazy Boston accent? and for ten minutes you feel a little at home in a strange place? Yeah, that's what happened to me today.

I'm applying for my very first visa! So that I can go to RUSSIA!

The MBTA commuter rail now has wi-fi and I'm using it. I'm on the last train into Boston right now and I get to surf the web. Good thing...it's lonely on here. There's not another soul in sight.

Update: We've picked up a few more riders. I'm not alone anymore.

A Belgian architecture firm is proposing an urban camping scenario.
http://www.dezeen.com/2009/06/18/urban-camping-by-importexport/
Sounds like a good idea...What's a hippie to do when all the hostels in Reykjavik are booked up? Pitch a tent.

Eh...I'm not so sure. It seems a little too refined for hippies and a little too public for the more refined. I think I would just expect to get egged or something in the middle of the night by some drunk kids.

For two twenty-three hour time spans this past week, Adam and I kicked back, watched movies, read books, played cards, and drank some beers as we traversed the Northeast and the Midwest via rail. Although the time might be a concern for some, it was so easy to show up at South Station in Boston, walk onto the train, pick out some good seats, and sit tight until Chicago. Flying shmying...the train is awesome. There was something really comforting and real about not leaving the ground. The scenery was a pleasant surprise, and I got a peak at some small cities that I'd probably otherwise never see...Buffalo, Cleveland, and Toledo.

The train felt a little something like this:

a send-off from the platform

the dining car

card games in the lounge car