Day Um: Chaos

After having the first night in the hotel eating Brasilian pizza post a two-hour wait because of miscommunication, we went to the market in downtown Brasil located right at the mouth of the Amazon River — the brownest river I have ever seen. The fish market's stench combined with all of the naturally made perfumes (the natural Viagra was my personal favorite) made for a usual and curious aroma. Belém, established as a military force in colonial times, harbors many structures from the 17th century, some of which were closed today but we at least got to see the outside — another day we will venture there again.

Thankfully, my first day here while waiting for everyone else to arrive I met a couple of local boys who speak English, Joao and Julian. They have been making sure all of us girls, and the one guy, Dan the Man, are safe and enjoying ourselves.

Our first speaker in our Global Media course, Jose Benatti, the president of the Institute for Land in the State of Pará (ITERPA), discussed the many current issues and conflicts in the state of Pará (where Belém is located) that have to do with land use and allocation. While so many Americans argue that the reason our country is so “great” is because of our small government. But what I have realized is that it is our government that allows such a comfortable lifestyle. An easy example would be the trash in the streets and rivers. Without strict enforcement it is easy to evade laws in Belém, whether it is traffic, environmental, criminal, etc. While I have always considered myself a conservative democrat, I am only realizing more and more that without the big government in Estado Unidos, we would not be able to have the luxuries we enjoy every day. Poverty here is the average, at 45 percent of the 7 million inhabitants of Brasil living below the poverty line. The middle class here (which is even smaller than the middle class in Estado Unidos) is comparable to those living below the poverty line in the states. While I always considered myself educated when it came to knowing and realizing that Americans are spoiled, as I have seen videos of developing countries, read news stories and seen the pictures, it is not something one can truly understand until watching the stray dogs roam the streets aimlessly and birds float on trash down the Amazon River. People here are colorful but it seems (from those I have met that do speak English) are fearful of their own streets. This is not something we can fully relate to, even in Los Angeles or New York City.