from this past weekend
tour of house party
Monday, February 9, 2009
Life and Work Update
So I know I said I'm totally updating the blog every day but too much has happened since I got to Rio. Here's a brief summary:
I really only had one day to relax because Friday I went to work for 4 hours to discuss possible projects I would be working on. The folks at Promundo (http://www.promundo.org.br/) were very welcoming and had an abundance of information to share with me, both professionally and personally. What will I be working on in Brazil? I'm definitely going to go into details on another blog but in general, I'm in charge of the youth forum happening on the first day of the 5 day conference/symposium (http://www.engagingmen2009.org/42?locale=en_US). We have invited 30 young adults, from around the world, on full travel scholarships to discuss ways they can engage their community in gender equality. This is really exciting because it seems like everyone at the NGO are swamped with the adult section of the symposium, giving me full authority over the young adults. I'm thinking of so many things I can do with the young adults and when I think how other countries will learn from each other because of the work I did, I start to "kind-of" freak out! I'm like, how cool is this!!!
After work on Friday, I decided to avoid traffic and went to Copacabana. See video on previous blog.
On Saturday, I spent the entire day shopping with the family in the chic neighborhood called Barra. After shopping, I rushed home and got ready for a house party in Flamengo. I'll post some videos next. The house party was filled with full bright scholars (yeah i also didnt know what it meant), which are basically grad students doing research in Brazil. The party was filled with Americans with the exception of two very cool brazilians (one carioca and one paolista). After the house party I went to my favorite bar in Ipanema (Galeria) and had a blast. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that i forgot my ID and credit card, leaving me with only $100 reals. I had enough money for one drink, cover and taxi ride back home and I still had a blast! It is interesting how Americans get away with things, I went up to the door-lady at the bar. told her in english, sorry i left all my documents at hotel. she was like, ok just dont let it happen again. I am pretty sure they would not let locals in, but i could be totally wrong and people here are just that laid back. we'll see..
On Sunday, I woke up to an empty house (everyone was at church). So I went online and found a skate shop in Barra. Got on a train, then bus and finally bought some rollerblades. By the time I got to the shopping center, I was tired and just wanted to go home. However, on my way back i noticed way too many people in Leblon and decided to try out my new skates! I skated from Leblon, through Ipanema and ended at Copacabana. By the time I reached Copa, I knew what it literally felt like to be cooked in an oven. My body was burning hot and sweating like no one's business. After a much needed 1.5 ltrs of water, I got on the metro and went home.
On Monday, I woke up in pain from skating the day b4 and for the first time I got up before 11a.m. (8:30a.m to be exact!). It was my first day at work and nothing could have prepared me for the 2 hour staff meeting (of which I only understood 75%). But alas, I made it through the day and went to Alessandro's job for a ride back home. Once we got home, I asked alessandro to take me to a nearby gym and after 2 hours (the people in Rio seriously move at a glacial pace- NO JOKE) i became a member. Now I'm at home, getting ready for bed because I'm just exhausted.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. Today, HBS sent out 750 emails inviting folks for interview and I was not one of them. :-(... There are still 100 invites left between now and April 2, but if I had any chance of getting into Harvard it would have been with the initial 750 invites, I'm pretty much calling this one "Denied". So it's one down and 8 more to go. I said it before and I'll say it again, this year will be the MOST interesting year EVER!
Tchau gente!
I really only had one day to relax because Friday I went to work for 4 hours to discuss possible projects I would be working on. The folks at Promundo (http://www.promundo.org.br/) were very welcoming and had an abundance of information to share with me, both professionally and personally. What will I be working on in Brazil? I'm definitely going to go into details on another blog but in general, I'm in charge of the youth forum happening on the first day of the 5 day conference/symposium (http://www.engagingmen2009.org/42?locale=en_US). We have invited 30 young adults, from around the world, on full travel scholarships to discuss ways they can engage their community in gender equality. This is really exciting because it seems like everyone at the NGO are swamped with the adult section of the symposium, giving me full authority over the young adults. I'm thinking of so many things I can do with the young adults and when I think how other countries will learn from each other because of the work I did, I start to "kind-of" freak out! I'm like, how cool is this!!!
After work on Friday, I decided to avoid traffic and went to Copacabana. See video on previous blog.
On Saturday, I spent the entire day shopping with the family in the chic neighborhood called Barra. After shopping, I rushed home and got ready for a house party in Flamengo. I'll post some videos next. The house party was filled with full bright scholars (yeah i also didnt know what it meant), which are basically grad students doing research in Brazil. The party was filled with Americans with the exception of two very cool brazilians (one carioca and one paolista). After the house party I went to my favorite bar in Ipanema (Galeria) and had a blast. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that i forgot my ID and credit card, leaving me with only $100 reals. I had enough money for one drink, cover and taxi ride back home and I still had a blast! It is interesting how Americans get away with things, I went up to the door-lady at the bar. told her in english, sorry i left all my documents at hotel. she was like, ok just dont let it happen again. I am pretty sure they would not let locals in, but i could be totally wrong and people here are just that laid back. we'll see..
On Sunday, I woke up to an empty house (everyone was at church). So I went online and found a skate shop in Barra. Got on a train, then bus and finally bought some rollerblades. By the time I got to the shopping center, I was tired and just wanted to go home. However, on my way back i noticed way too many people in Leblon and decided to try out my new skates! I skated from Leblon, through Ipanema and ended at Copacabana. By the time I reached Copa, I knew what it literally felt like to be cooked in an oven. My body was burning hot and sweating like no one's business. After a much needed 1.5 ltrs of water, I got on the metro and went home.
On Monday, I woke up in pain from skating the day b4 and for the first time I got up before 11a.m. (8:30a.m to be exact!). It was my first day at work and nothing could have prepared me for the 2 hour staff meeting (of which I only understood 75%). But alas, I made it through the day and went to Alessandro's job for a ride back home. Once we got home, I asked alessandro to take me to a nearby gym and after 2 hours (the people in Rio seriously move at a glacial pace- NO JOKE) i became a member. Now I'm at home, getting ready for bed because I'm just exhausted.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. Today, HBS sent out 750 emails inviting folks for interview and I was not one of them. :-(... There are still 100 invites left between now and April 2, but if I had any chance of getting into Harvard it would have been with the initial 750 invites, I'm pretty much calling this one "Denied". So it's one down and 8 more to go. I said it before and I'll say it again, this year will be the MOST interesting year EVER!
Tchau gente!
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