study abroad in brazil.: visiting the american school of recife & GTP (Grupo de Trabalhos em Prevencao Posithivo)

on Tuesday, we were able to visit the American School of Recife in Boa Viagem where we got to learn all about how the school works & then we were able to teach the students about american sports.

We started off the morning meeting with some students involved in the Association Brazil America (ABA) & the US Embassy in Brazil English Immersion Program. These 45 students are the finalists in the Youth Ambassadors Program. The people who were chosen from the Youth Ambassadors Program were able to go to the USA and these finalists instead get to spend some time in an English Immersion Program. Next year they will attempt to become a Youth Ambassador again and they will have a upper hand because they were finalists last year.

First we were given a tour of the school and then a presentation from one of the guidance counselors who was American. We learned all about the school such as the types of students who attend and some of the schools their students get accepted to such as HARVARD, YALE, PRINCETON, ETC! They take all of their classes in English except for their language courses of course such as Portuguese, Spanish, French. When they graduate they receive both an American and a Brazilian diploma and the guidance counselors focus on helping their students get accepted to American Schools. This school costs roughly 15K a year so these students are very very high upper class.

Then we gave presentations on different types of american sports and how they are played such as american football, baseball, basketball, cheerleading.. Then we went outside and played!

Jordan had fun playing baseball!

Around 12, half of our group went to CCJ to continue painting and another half went to Diaconia (the NGO over our projects). From Diaconia, we went to have lunch at this restaurant run by a group of individuals with HIV, whose money raised from the restaurant goes to assisting their mission.

We were greeted at the restaurant by a cross dresser (sorry, I don't know all the terms to describe everyone..) but he was a man, dressed in a bright orange wig and red dress and heels.. As we got in line to get our food we were served by the waitress/cook Juliana who was darling and even looked pregnant but when Juliana spoke we realized she was a man as well..

We ate our food and then went upstairs of this house to listen to a presentation from one of the people who work there. He spoke to us for a lonnnggg time about HIV related topics such as how it is passed, how it can be prevented, the types of people who obtain it, how to educate people, the importance of using protection, how HIV does not have a face, how the brazilian government is corrupt etc etc etc.

Basically, we learned the effects of HIV and how it is passed so quickly..at least in Brazil, in the northeast, crack is a huge problem. And since crack is so affordable (around 10 reis or 5 dollars) and it is so addictive, people will sell their bodies for crack and that is another big reason why HIV is spread so quickly. We also talked about infidelity in marriage, and carnaval being a place where foreigners come to buy sex because it is cheaper than anywhere else and many times protection is not used.

In all honesty, it was not hard to be in a house of people infected with HIV. It was not hard being fed by people HIV. It was not hard talking to them, befriending them or anything. HIV does not scare me. It was hardest for me being surrounded by people with such different perspectives on life as me, people who have lived their lives as transvestites, cross dressers, prostitutes, etc. As Vanessa put it, it was kind of like a "hate the sin, love the sinner" kind of day however it was hard for me to love the sinner because I guess I just don't feel comfortable around transvestites and prostitutes and drag queens and what not..Also, the presentation we got was super heavy and actually overwhelming so after that night I was just kinda so full of emotion and so "sad" in a way that I went home and slept.. Maybe I went through culture shock of heterosexual and homosexual people! I don't know! But then I remember how many gay friends I have and how that has never bothered me but I guess maybe I had culture shock of being in a house full of transvestites, I'm not sure..

I guess it was kinda just a day to completely forget who I was and what I believed in and learn all about them and try to be accepting of how they have chosen to live their lives. It was a good thing and I'm really glad we went but I'm not sure my heart can take another trip there because I left with such a sad heart in a way.