Esssay #3

17 Nov 2009

ESSAY #3

So it was great that we went to Cachoeira right before this essay is due, not.
But this part #3 is usually the most enjoyed by students because it is the one on popular culture and music and all that sort of stuff.
I wrote my essay on the implications of having Carmen Miranda be the international spokesperson of Brasil, but also for the Whole of south America--from a feminist perspective.
People love to bag on Carmen Miranda, but i decided that the issue is much more complicated.

I have to say I am really rather proud of this essay, the most I have been with my papers so far, and I think it's because I am the most passionate about this one.

How is studying and doing homework here?

Oh my gosh! it is really an effort. I'm not going to lie. Not only because there are far more distractions here than I'm used to because of course I want to go out and explore, but also I usually live with all other students and haven't studied around a family in a really long time. But I get my stuff done.
I am somewhat picky about study ambiance, and organization and usually everything has to be in a particular order. The desk cleared my laptop, an area where I can spread out all my sources, i have to feel comfortable, I need to have a glass of water, and really prefer when it is quiet.
Oh man and the process of writing a paper for me. First I have to transfer any relevant quotes into word, then categorize them into patterns for how my essay might flow, it's just super organized in detail and I honestly think it's just busy work procrastination. but again, that is my process and I manage.

However, the biggest struggle for writing papers here, for me, is the whole sleepy thing. I get sleepy and tired around 7PM and want to go to sleep. (still don't know if it's the weather, food, my imagination, all of those) That really only gives me like 3 hours a day of homework time when I account for classes, then eating times, and shower. And reading exacerbates this problem because it makes my eyes so hard to keep open even though the material is interesting.
(TIPS)
But I think that by now I have gotten better. I can stay up longer and I just close my door, put my headphones on and turn it up--to stay awake, it really helps. I also have to keep drinking water to keep having to go to the bathroom. Open the windows sometimes because it gets pretty windy and it flutters around all my papers and the blinds that keep falling out.
Anyway, I can control how much i let external distractions get to me, but not bodily functions and I want to sleeeeeeeeeeeeppp. Sleeping feels so good.
And I wake up early too because my room faces east and I get the bright morning sunshine through my window at 4 o'clock in the morning. I wake up at 6, the latest.

Street Food II, acarajé & abará

11 Oct 2009

ACARAJÉ

Acarajé is one of the MOST traditional Bahian anything. It's an icon and so are the women who traditionally make them. They are called "Baianas" :). They are usually dressed in all white big skirts, shirts and a head scarf. Like most current Brazil is influenced by the history of colonization and slavery, so does the making of acarajé.
When Brazil was going through the exruciatingly slow process of emancipation of slavery, (it took centuries!) there were some free Black people who were either free because of the "Free womb" law, or because they paid their "masters" a satisfactory amount. This was one of the things that people did to earn money. Women were sometimes sent out to sell fruits on the streets for their masters who would receive most of the profit but sometimes they kept a little bit for themselves. Or there would be these groups juntos that were made up of several slaves and freed and they would all pitch in to buy people's freedom one by one but this way it was much faster than each individual waiting to accumulate enough money.

Then when slavery was abolished, there was no assistance from the government at all for all of these now unemployed people who now had to face racism. However many women, who came to be called ganhadeiras, found out ways to enter the business arena and it was usually by selling their products, sometimes fruits, and food like Acarajé, which is actually traditionally from Nigeria, and Ghana, Africa. It is still found in those countries and prepared almost exactly the same.
These ganhadeiras were actually where hollywood and industries got their ideas about the fruit hats. Because the ganhadeiras would carry the basket of the fruits they were selling on top of their heads.
This was the inspiration for Carmen Miranda:

Very interesting that this Portuguese-born White woman became the face for not only Brazil but all of South/Latin America.
And Chiquita Banana followed suit:
So after the little history lesson this is Acarajé



A video on how it's made. There is a black eyed peas or beans made into a paste with ground dried shrimp and then it is fried in dendê (palm) oil which is very flavorful in itself. Then it is usually cut open and stuffed with tomatoes, shrimp, vatapá and carurú, which I've described before and are pictured below:
http://soniabrazilmorethanahottouristspot.blogspot.com/2009/12/caruru.html

They work into the night too.

ABARÁ

This one is the exact same thing except it is not fried, but wrapped in banana leaf and steamed much like tamales.

(This picture just shows a better view of the condiments)

I personally think that fried one is better, but abara is probably more healthful. But they're both worth trying if you're in Bahia or Rio de Janeiro.