Musical Monday - Amy Winehouse

Like everyone else, I was saddened when I heard the news of Amy Winehouse's passing, but I was also not shocked. I almost expected it, unfortunately. In fact, I had just been talking about her drug addiction the night before she died. I mentioned that she was killing herself with drugs and that she was not going to live long (if she kept it up); the following day I heard the news from my friend's manicurist here in Brasilia that Amy had died that morning in London. 


I loved her music. Her soul. Even her wacky hairdo (well, maybe not the bees nest since I could only imagine what was inside. Ew). It really is our loss that she is gone. We won't be able to sit back, relax, and really listen and feel what it is she has to say anymore. I'm sorry that her family and close friends have to suffer because she lost her battle with drugs and alcohol. Not many people do win the war with crack. I'm sad to say that Amy didn't. 


Amy will be missed. Greatly. Many brazilians are huge fans of her and the notice of her death was on the local and national news every few minutes. Everyone who'd been around her, worked with her, or was a fan was interviewed, and images of her skinny-as-can-be self were plastered all over the television. I guess it's not a big surprise because she was on the news even before her death, especially because she was just in Brazil in January. People loved her. I loved her music, too. Fans in this country and around the world will sense the void she will surely leave behind.


I'd like to, then, post a few of my favorite videos from the late Amy Winehouse here to pay homage to a very talented woman, and to say again that she'll be missed and that I'm sorry she had to leave the Earth so soon. 


Tears Dry on their Own...




Rehab...




Back to Black...

Wordless Wednesday: Travel to New York

In celebration of my return to my homeland -New York State - for vacation, I'd like to show off some of my favorite pictures.

All of these images were taken by me between 2008-10 except for the one with me which was taken by some random tourist.

The Amazonense's first time experiencing snow

Niagara Falls (taken from the Canadian side)

New York City Subway System

Brooklyn Bridge

....John Lennon

Washington Square

Times Square

♥

Marrying out (multicultural relationships)

I wrote a post recently about multiculturalism and mentioned that I had contributed to an article that was going to be published about Latinas marrying Non-Latinos. Now, while I'm not a Latina, and my husband IS a Latino, you may think that this does not include us, but in a way it does. We are in an interethnic and multicultural relationship (marriage). Consequently, the author of the article was interested in hearing my voice in regards to the issue of "marrying out" and included my input when publishing the article on NewLatina.net. 


I believe the article is interesting and informative, giving the viewpoints of people in multicultural relationships, and I think everyone should check it out (especially if you're in such a relationship). It's refreshing to read about the similarities that we have, regardless of our race, ethnicity, culture, or religion. And as the article states, "One thing is for sure:  our innate tendency is to move towards where the heart feels content, excited and peaceful…"


The article can be found at: Marrying Out: Why Latinas are Marrying Non-Latinos
Source: NewLatina (written by Angelica Perez-Litwin, PhD)

Thanks for visiting my blog and checking out the above links. as well as supporting communities like NewLatina and Multicultural Familia.


Take care,

My multicultural family

Our wedding day

I have a small multicultural family. Just me and my husband. Nevertheless, we are a multicultural unit. By "multi" + cultured I mean that we each have more than one culture. I'm an American of European descent. E is a Brazilian who is Native American and European. My native language is English and E's is of course Portuguese. We eat different foods, we grew up listening to music that the other had never heard of, and watching TV shows that the other will never get a chance to watch. Our traditions are diverse, our customs, our physical appearances, our likes and dislikes. And I know that E comes from an Amazonian (Brazilian) culture where my northeastern upbringing has greatly influenced the person that I am today. Neither of us had ever truly experienced the culture of the other and probably didn't really understand one another until we first slept in each other's childhood homes.

I got to thinking about multicultural relationships recently as I was introduced to New Latina, "a personal growth and lifestyle on-line magazine for women" by a good friend of mine from college. I realize that I am not a Latina, but I was asked by the founding editor and publisher to contribute to an article that she was writing about bicultural relationships (with a focus on Latinas and their "gringo" partners). I was asked a few questions via e-mail about my relationship and this started the ball rolling...in my head....and I started to think about this "bi/multi cultural" relationship/marriage that I'm a part of. And then, much like me, I started to read and read and read about other people's experiences and find it all so fascinating. 

By the way, once the article is published, I'll post the link here for everyone to read. I'm so proud.

Anyway, back to thinking about multiculturalism and how it's a part of my life....you know I realize that my husband is from a different culture than me, but yet it's not something that I dwell on. Hence, out of sight, out of mind. Wait, that doesn't make sense because it's not out of sight. But it is almost out of mind. I mean, I don't have daily thoughts about the fact that I'm living with someone who is not "culturally" like me. I'm just so used to E. Oh yeah, and did I mention that my mom told me last year that she thinks I'd be "bored if I had married an American"? Interesting.

What I want to say is that I don't feel huge cultural differences between my husband and me. Maybe it's because we met in Brazil so everyone was unlike me during the beginning - the foundation - of our relationship. I was used to being with someone who did not share the same customs as me, someone who didn't speak my language. Therefore, when we moved to the U.S. everything in our relationship seemed to me to be "normal". Plus, I'd dated foreigners in the past so I wasn't necessarily used to dating Americans. I didn't feel I was missing anything by not dating one. I actually noticed our cultural differences most when we went to New York to visit my family and stay with them for 2 weeks, especially when my mom whispered to ask me why my husbandbread for breakfast. But what is funny is that on our subsequent trips to NY there was more bread in my parent's house and yet my husband had picked up the habit of eating oatmeal for breakfast. I loved it!

Although after more than 6 years together we still are learning from each other and dealing with cultural differences, we're also used to being in a marriage with someone who is very unlike us in many ways, and I'd say, deal with it pretty well. I believe that living in each other's country has helped us better adapt, as well as having an open mind and an adventurous spirit. Oh yeah, and loving each other despite our differences. Isn't that the fun part anyway?

Brazilian Narcissism

Gotta love it!

Maybe E and I should buy these t-shirts. Or you could check out some for yourself. 
Source: the Cafe Press website.

Is Brazil a Racial Paradise?

The concept of race in Brazil is quite different from that in the United States. Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explains this all very thoroughly and effectively in his latest PBS program as he explores the "rainbow nation" that is Brazil. Here is a clip of the show that aired last night. A link to the entire show can be found at the bottom of this post.

Watch the full episode. See more Black in Latin America.

Source: PBS - Black in Latin America

Say what?!.....(in Portuguese)

Here is a video in Portuguese about the humourous side of misunderstanding language. I was surprised to see the child misconstrue what the reporter asked him since he is a native speaker; I thought these kind of things only happened to foreigners.Then again, he is just a kid.

This little Brazilian boy is too cute. I won't say anything except that you have to see it (but only if you know Portuguese well or you won't understand the joke). I'm not going to bother translating because it'll lose its humor in English.

The way he responds is darrrrrling!

Brazilians sure do love public notaries

I just don't get it. Why the fascination with notaries? I mean, really, aren't they only supposed to be used in the incident that you need someone to verify that it is in fact YOU that is signing "that" document? Not for everything else.

But I swear that everything that I send to the Brazilian consulate has to be notarized. The problem I have with this is that it's a pain in the behind. I have to go out of my way and depend on other people. Apparently this is something that I don't enjoy doing because it makes me royally annoyed every time.

We had to ask friends to follow me around town to have their signatures notarized when we were legalizing our marriage in Brazil. My signature had to be notarized when I wrote the letter to the consulate swearing I'd never been married to a Brazilian previously. Now for E's passport renewal we have to do it all again. And this time it's not just to verify that E is who is he when he signs the application. We also have to have his documents notarized stating that they are in fact copies of his documents (passport, military ID, birth certificate).  I don't get that, but then again, I don't want to send his birth certificate in the mail so getting a notarized copy is a better choice. The thing is that the bank, or notary, has to make copies and then notarize them. They won't accept the copies I made.

So here's the story.....

I tried to hurry home from work today to meet E so that we could go to the bank together. We made it before they close at 4 p.m. and didn't have to wait too long before we were called on to have our documents notarized. Luckily for us, the banker who helped us recognized my husband and knows one of his trainers, AND is Brazilian, so he used his "jeitinho brasileiro" (for lack of a better translation, his "Brazilian way") to persuade his co-worker to notarize everything since his commission had expired. He knew exactly what to do as far as notarizations for the consulate and he, and his dissatisfied and grumpy co-worker who just wanted to go home, took care of everything for us. We were in and out in 20 minutes (which is good for our bank).

I feel everything was done to par since the Brazilian banker knew what he was doing. E's passport will be in the mail by the weekend - heading to Miami. I called the consulate this afternoon just to verify that we have everything and that we don't need to send originals (yea!!!) besides the expiring passport (obviously). I'm a satisfied customer.

The World's Coolest Nationalities

The U.S. was ranked at # 5 and Brazil at # 1. I guess I'm in the right places.

The World's Coolest Nationalities: Where do you rank?

Americans

Brazilians

And on to the Brazilian passport

Check out that new fancy schmancy Brazilian passport! I like to tease E that Brazil wants to be more like the U.S. because their passport used to be green and now it's blue?? Weird. Anyway, E's passport expires in two months (since it's only valid for 5 years), and he needs to renew it in order for me to apply for my permanent visa. Apparently we both need to have valid passports at the time I apply for my visa. Even if we didn't need to renew it for my immigration paperwork, we'd still have to get him a new passport before we move to Brazil. The process to renew the Brazilian passport for an adult (vs a child) is relatively similar to to that of renewing an American passport. In fact, I remember only waiting about a week when I renewed/applied for a name change to my passport back in '08. I'd imagine that it's an easier process to renew a passport then to apply for one in any country. At least, I'd hope so.

Since we live in Florida, E is supposed to request for his passport at the consulate in Miami. However, the beauty of living in a city inundated with Brazilians is that the consulate makes frequent trips up north and visits a Brazilian church in Orlando for one day every other month (at least I think that is there plan) to assist those citizens living in central Florida. Since I was aware of this, I asked the consular last month when we were in Miami when the next trip to Orlando would be. We were told that it would be the final weekend of January. Good. Neither one of us has much time or energy to make another quick trip to Miami, especially when we have to go there to get my visa within the next few months. Unlike applying for a permanent visa, renewing your passport can be done at the consulate visit in central Florida.

In order for a Brazilian citizen to renew his or her passport, the requesting person must present the following documents:

1. the complete application (which can be found on-line or at the consulate). If this is not done at the consulate, the signature must be notarized. [of course, Brazilians LOVE notaries!]

2. a passport style picture taken within the last 6 months

3. the original passport (and a copy), including the page with the citizen's signature and picture

4. the original (and a copy of the) military document for men ages 18-45. This proves that the man has registered with the Brazilian military.

5. a money order for $80. If the Brazilian renews his/her passport at the consulate, this person can pay at the Banco do Brasil machine and can just present the receipt as proof of payment.

In addition to the above listed items, if the passport is expired [which is our case], the Brazilian citizen can also present his/her national identification, work identification, Brazilian driver's license, a professional identification, birth certificate, or a marriage certificate (as long as it was a Brazilian marriage certificate).

From when the application and supporting documents are given to the consulate, it should take about 20 days (about 3 weeks) for the person to receive his/her new passport.

Luckily we have everything required to renew the passport except for the passport picture (but that takes 5-10 minutes at your local Walgreen's drugstore). And so it seems that we are on the right path to taking care of all of the legalities of emigrating to Brazil.

Christmas on Both Sides of the Equator

Different cultures means different celebrations. Even Christmas. Or 'Natal' as they say it in Portuguese. As I grew up in New York state, Christmas to me means snow, freezing temperatures, FAMILY, presents, a Christmas cake for Jesus on the morning of the 25th, sledding (at least for my older sister), stockings, Christmas movies, a warm house, and a general relaxing festive atmosphere. Since I didn't give it much thought, I just figured that everyone else had the same Christmas experience as me. I was wrong. I discovered this when I first went abroad at the age of 17 (Bolivia 1999). That was a learning experience for me because I went to midnight mass on the 24th and then celebrated the holiday with my Bolivian "family" at an aunt and uncle's house afterwards.  Christmas was a 6-hour holiday, from 9 p.m. on the 24th to 3 a.m. the next morning. Then it was over. No Santa. Some presents. Definitely no snow. December in South America means summer so the weather was hot. Not what I was used to growing up in upstate New York.

Needless to say, I knew what to expect when I spent Christmas 2004 in (Manaus) Brazil. Christmas would be HOT and it would probably be celebrated on the 24th. I spent that holiday season with E since we had just started dating the month before; we've now spent every Christmas together since then with the exception of 2006 since he was preparing to emigrate here. Our individual expectations of the holiday can be summed up in these two pictures.

On the left we see the Christmas of my childhood, and on the right we see a typical situation in a tropical country like Brazil (the picture was taken there). Now where would Santa Claus feel more at home?

E's Christmas may not seem too different from mine from the outside, but when you experience it first hand, you feel the unfamiliarity in Brazil's celebration of the holiday. I am expected to not only dress up, but to wear new clothes. I am also expected to wait until midnight to have dinner. I get that the 25th is really Christmas, but why start the festivities on the 24th (which they consider to be Christmas) and then wait to eat until the 25th? Dinner is delicious, but is it really worth the wait? Brazilian children do get to open their presents on what we consider to be Christmas Eve; I'm sure American children would love that. Basically, the celebration begins on our Christmas Eve and lasts late into the morning on the 25th. Why not, the 25th is not really Christmas in Brazil anyway.

Unless we are in Brazil or with my family, we have worked out a way to celebrate on Christmas Eve (for E) and Christmas Day (for me). Seems to work out. I believe that we will forever do this. I don't think I can ever give up my Christmas Day present unwrapping (with maybe a trip to church), and a lunch on the 25th. I also don't see E envisioning Christmas as any other day than the 24th and wearing new clothes on that day is important to him. But we can do this. A bicultural relationship means compromises and bicultural celebrations. I know that as far as I'm concerned....I'll always be dreaming of a white Christmas.