NPR

Since I have begun my normal, everyday office job I have started listening to npr to make the time go by faster. I decided to search to see what news they had gathered about Rio with the Olympics and problems with the favelas since it seems to have caused a lot of attention in the media in the last few months. Some of these issues that are discussed, I have been thinking a lot about myself. (Posts to come! I promise!) It's amazing how many conversations I had with people about favelas either by other gringos who were interested in seeing this place (which I fear often times is because of the movie City of God..I in fact had a few people reference it, while we were speaking! Come on! Really! It's a movie! Don't justify your reasonings based off of this!) or by those who lived in other parts of Rio. I myself, began to volunteer in a favela but for a short time.I was jumping around too much, traveling to other places. I think not long enough to really be able to share many thoughts but at least a few. I think it is extremely important to note, each favela is different and some are more dangerous than others. Either way, I wanted to just post some of these news reports that I recently listened to..both positive and negative.

Image of the Day- CS friend's eating Jabutacaba- Belo Horizonte

I met wonderful people on my spur of the moment trip to Belo Horizonte. It was a much needed trip and a chance to get away from the madness of Rio for a bit. It was a chance for me to see what normal life is like in Brazil without all the glam and glitz of the big cities. It was much like if a Brazilian came to visit Columbus. We'll I loved it and had a lot of fun learning about the culture north of Rio. I stayed with a friend I met through couch surfing. (yes, I did use this site quite a bit during my trip. more explanation on a later post!!) She and her father lived in a suburb outside the city of Belo Horizonte. She was so welcoming and wanted to take me everywhere around the city. She and a few other friends went with me to a great park called Inhotim. This picture was taken there when we were eating Jabutacaba (my favorite fruit) off the trees, in hopes of not getting caught!!

Picture of the day- Volta Redonda Madame Zero

Volta Redonda has been on my list of places to visit in Rio since even before my first trip and this time around I was able to visit. It was all that I was hoping in more. Very surreal in many ways, which the steel mill in the middle of this city. I was sitting in a mall looking out the window with a skyline of factory buildings and smoke.

This picture is from this amazing concert I went to to see and meet Luciana's cousin's husbands band...whoooooo! that was a mouth full! He is the bass player and they are called Madame Zero. I am not going to lie..the singer reminded me of Missy..slighty...I may be crazy. She called me Mary Jane all night and about 10 other people. We had way too much fun and before we knew it, it was daylight and we were waiting for a local cafe to open for breakfast before heading home to bed.

Picture of the Day- Ouro Preto, MG

I am going to try something new...to keep myself more on track with my blog, I am going to start posting a picture of the day. Each picture I post will be related to my trip. I recently realized, that I am a pretty forgetful person. I didn't do a whole lot of writing while I was on my trip so now is my time to reflect and share the stories.



I took this picture while I was visited a city that is 5 hours north of Rio de Janeiro called Ouro Preto. In English this would translate as Black Gold and at one time this was the prosperous capital of gold mining in the country. I had read a little bit about this little city during my research and thought I had to see it for myself. It is known for its beautiful Baroque style churches and hilly mountain sides. The streets are pretty small and narrow so it was easy to walk everywhere by foot, the only problem was the size of some of these hills. It was definitely a workout.

my third home

Wow. What can I say about the last four months. Crazy. Life changing. Hectic. Scary. Great. FABULOUS. A huge learning experience. Learning more about myself everyday. What I like..dislike. was it a Failure? Success? success for sure but in areas I didn't expect I think. I went with high hopes for work and ended up traveling a lot instead..alone in fact and I liked it. I ended up meeting TONS of people. I feel like I have a life there now. My third home, I think. This trip was 10 times better than the last so I am expecting the next to be 20 times better. ha ha! I feel like I pushed my comfort level which was a big step for me. It felt good and I feel like I had some really valuable experiences on many different levels.

So I've been home about two weeks already..which is a little crazy to me. Start a new job on Monday, full time and on a hunt for a space to work. I realized when I was in Brazil. I kept talking to people and telling them I was an artist and in my head that is what I believe. I've had this conversation numerous times with my sister and she hates that term. I somewhat agreed with her for awhile but now or shall say lately..I've felt like using that word only makes me more determined to make it a reality. Being in Brazil allowed me to work on some ideas and in a studio sometimes twice a week and I loved it. I am hoping to start that here, in Ohio. I've had all these ideas in my head..for sculptures and installations. It is killing me I haven't started any sooooo I'm on the hunt for a space at the moment. Once I've found it the next few months will be focused on that along with grants...working full time at Cardinal Health will be tiring but for me it will keep me on schedule and focused. I'm excited and that's a good feeling to have.

A couple days ago I met with my cousin Nalita and I had the chance to share some of my stories from my trip. It felt really good. I was getting really into it. Talking way too fast and overly enthusiastic. It has been one of the rare occasions I was able to share my thoughts about the trip and there are so many. Lots of what I like to call Gringo moments...the ones that are surreal..many. But back to Nalita...She helped me look online and I found a visa I think I can apply for. It costs a bit but am thinking about saving to apply. That way I can look into work there at some point..legally. Either way that next year will involve a lot of life decisions that could lead me in many different paths.

Today I went to visit the OSU campus and Thursday I have a meeting with the director for the Art Education department there. I am keeping my options open for finishing this fall. Right now I am thinking Baltimore but that would involve me moving back there and the thought of moving petrifies me..I guess all the things to bring..though I would like to think I've become much more adaptable to owning less rather than more. I did live on a couch for 4 months... On the other hand, I've been wanting to find a space and start working. I have lots of things in storage to build a space and would want these close by. I could have my own woodshop at this point...but transporting them to Baltimore would be a pain...

my main reasons for wanting to go back to Baltimore are the obvious..friends, the facilities (specifically in terms of the metal shop and old professor friends) and networking. Less so the MAT department. Don't get my wrong. I think it is ok but can see myself finishing there but want to see the cost differences and what OSU has to offer. It is ranked the best in the country there...

So on top of being super busy, I am hoping to plan a trip back to Rio once this temp job ends. I was going to shoot of Carnaval but am not sure if I will make it. Tickets can be rather expensive..twice as much from what I have researched so far. But this trip would only be for a month and specific. even more refined than the last.

Alright I think I rambled on enough for one entry. hope it made somewhat sense.

May's trip to Rio

I was fortunate enough to have a dear friend of mine stop by Rio to see me. We had a wonderful week together and I was able to introduce her to many of my friends. It was pretty surreal having someone from home visiting but at the same time very nice. It was comforting and we had many good laughs about being gringas. Though the weather wasn't ideal during her stay, we visited a few of the highlights in Rio as well as some of the hidden gems. Here are some pics from our week!























and then from our night out with the group!

Piece #4

So I have a lot to fill everyone in on...but haven't had the time to write in the blog. So many pictures to post and stories to share. More this week, I hope! This piece was inspired by my trip to Paraty, a trip I made awhile back that I made a post about. I've decided to make a series of these boxes. Each will be inspired by something during my trip. Probably more so associated with a specific place. The main place or city (I should say) would obviously be Rio but also include the other places I have visited.