Rebecca's Research Travels

Everyday Portuguese: Legal

Rebecca Scott — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:23:46 +0000

Today’s word is legal, pronounced hey-gao. It means “cool!” as in, “that music is cool” or, “it was a really cool experience.” Like English, there are many Portuguese synonyms for cool as well as regional variations. I don’t know which variation is most popular in Campinas, but as with all the words I have been using here in Brazil, I just give it a try and see how people react! Everyone I have met has been very helpful in assisting my attempts to learn the language. É muito legal!

Everyday Portuguese: Saudade

Rebecca Scott — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:22:00 +0000

I’m starting a series on this blog to help me learn Portuguese. Everyday I’ll post a word or phrase and the context in which I learned it. By the way, if I make a mistake I would love to hear about it in comments.

Today’s word is saudade. Luckily this word has a Wikipedia page! I think it is a concept unique to the Portuguese language. According to Wikipedia, saudade “has no immediate translation in English. Saudade describes a deep emotional state of nostalgic longing for an absent something or someone that one loves.” Apparently it’s not quite the same thing as missing someone/thing, but rather a deeper longing for the past or for something lost.

Apparently the “day of saudade” was January 30^th, so I’m a bit late, but anyway, I think this word is applicable to my life since I miss my family and friends.

Tenho saudades tuas…

Estrangeiro Life: Week One

Rebecca Scott — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:17:26 +0000

My first week in Brazil is complete! It’s been very hectic. I have already learned so much, although the culture shock is pretty great. There is a significant language barrier. That being said, I studied Spanish for several years so it makes it much easier to learn Portuguese. Plus, many of the people here also speak Spanish, so my officemates and I have been speaking a mix of Portuguese, Spanish and English. I think I understand the gist of a lot of conversations I have with people, but I can’t really tell if they/we are speaking Spanish or Portuguese!

My research here constitutes a collaboration not only between Queen’s and UNICAMP, but between a research centre here called CEMICAMP (Centro de Pesquisas em Saúde Reprodutiva de Campinas; Centre for Research on Reproductive Health), and a clinic in a women’s hospital called CAISM (Centro de Atenção Integral à Saúde da Mulher; Centre for Women’s Health). I have a little office here in the CEMICAMP centre, which is housed above a clinic for gynecology, fertility, and family planning, and they also run domestic/sexual violence clinics. The nice thing is that there are many beautiful babies around here! As well as many lovely pregnant women.

I’ve now had many experiences with the bureaucracy of Brazil. I have had to visit the police (twice), the notary, the bank (three times), the admin at the university, and more, and I still have none of the IDs required, nor a bank account. That being said, I do not think it is exceptional to have to go through bureaucracy if one is a “foreigner” in any country. But the lineups and wait times for appointments can be long. For example, I had to make an appointment with the federal police… who told my supervisor that the first one available is in May! I’ll be leaving a month from then, but also, I am legally required to register with them within a month of my arrival. We had to go to the office in person and ask for a better appointment, and were able to get an appointment in two weeks.

The people here are extremely nice to me. Their support has been exceptional. Besides the support, they have taken me to parties and invited me to things. Last weekend I went to a churrasco, which is basically a barbeque or garden party, at the house of one of my supervisors. His students and other professors also attended. They prepared a lot of meat for the party like beef, ribs, and pork, but also had many salads and a huge variety of fruits. Actually the food here is quite wonderful! Many of the restaurants are “self-serve,” a buffet for which you pay by the kilo.

In the meantime I am really busy learning the language, learning what the heck is going on, and writing my dissertation. Actually I’ve found quality time to write while I have been here and have good access to journals.

Anyway, that is to say that, while confusing and very different, Brazil is treating me wonderfully! I am really happy that I was invited to come here!

Tchau!

Preventing Cholera has a Raspberry Flavour

Rebecca Scott — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 07:08:12 +0000

I leave for Brazil next week. As any traveler should, I have made many preparations of the health and medical variety. In December I went to a travel health clinic where a thorough and knowledgeable nurse spent an hour both alarming me and assuaging my worry with various injections and pills. It was actually a fascinating experience. You see, for some areas of the world, the vaccinations that one should acquire are obvious; for others, whether a vaccine is required or not depends on the person. In my case, with no immunological or other reasons why I should or should not receive a particular vaccine and taking into consideration the area of Brazil in which I will live, the nurse often left the decision whether to vaccinate up to me. So in effect, the decisions were made based on my level of alarm… Yellow fever: yes (I read the wikipedia article; it doesn’t sound good… “hemorrhagic”). Typhoid: yes (sounds terrible… and historical). Rabies: no (don’t plan on being bitten by a bat, and not so alarmed as to schedule, show up, and pay for the three appointments necessary).

Yesterday, I took Dukoral. This is a vaccination against cholera. The commercials affectionately call the affliction “traveler’s diarrhea.” But, I am not sure if this is because “cholera” is a highly alarming word or one that would not resonate with their target market, or because the vaccine also partially protects against E. coli, another source of the highly unpleasant symptoms with which many travelers are familiar.

Where I currently live, there is a shortage of Dukoral. I don’t know why, as I couldn’t find any information online, but I called several pharmacies and they spoke to me with the kind of rehearsed answers that let you know they’ve fielded these calls from concerned travelers a lot lately. I finally found some at Shopper’s Drug Mart.

Taking Dukoral is also an interesting experience since you become your own vaccinator. You can buy it over the counter and it comes out of their fridge. You must buy two, take one two weeks before you go, and store the other in your fridge to take a week later. The package comes with “effervescent raspberry flavoured” bicarbonate of soda (to neutralize stomach acid) and a vial of liquid containing “Heat- and formalin-killed whole-cell V. cholerae O1 Classical and El Tor vibrios.” Mix it up and drink it down! Yum.

Except not yum. It was disgusting.

Still, I appreciate very much the ease with which I became my own preventative healthcare provider. I am reminded, by contrasting this experience, that cholera is a highly-infectious yet largely preventable and treatable illness given access to clean drinking water, systems of sanitation, and proper medical supplies. Over 100,000 people per year die from cholera. According to the World Health Organization, cholera is a key indicator of social development. In a word, the disgusting “raspberry” flavour of Dukoral is a privilege to taste.

Note: There is a fabulously-researched book about cholera called Stories in the Time of Cholera: Racial Profiling During A Medical Nightmare (2004) by Briggs and Mantini-Briggs that I can’t recommend more for an effusively critical look at the global structures that make death from cholera still possible for highly-marginalized people, and for an excellent example of the power, creativity, and diversity of ethnography as a research method.

: from Flickr user Muffet