Brazilian cultural presentation

Hi Everybody!!
Yesterday was a hard day at work, I was very tired... just came back home, had dinner and went to sleep as at the next day there was an AIESEC meeting but the mood at the CL (AIESEC office) was not that cool... something happened but they didn't want to talk.

March 23rd, 2002 - Saturday: Turkish seminar in turkish and the brazilian cultural presentation
Wake-up very early... this is not for me... specially because here is very cold in the mornings but as I needed to was my clothes I decided to put everything in my backpack and bring to AIESEC office as they could tell me where to bring it to wash. Time passed and the only answer I got was we could make it... and I trusted.

Went to Ozmangazi University to get the end of the meeting. Me and my backpack full of dirty clothes. The meetings sucked as I could not understand 90% of what they were talking about, but they loved. Around 2PM they asked me to talk about my traineeship in Turkey, my expectations, etc but I had only 5 minutes. Tried to compile my thoughts and focus on being a change agent and learn as much as possible to try to change something back in Brazil. I talked also about meaningfull work but I could see that even with someone translating to english their faces showed me they were not understanding much. At least, I made my part.

We left the university and went to the other one (Anadolu University) where there was a seminar about something I didn't understand again as I don't know turkish yet. Several minutes later, it was already 7PM and my clothes, of course, still dirty in my backpack. Seminar ended and I decided to talk seriously to them as they promissed something to me but nothing. Of course, didn't work as everything closes at 6PM and only opens again on Monday. I almost had to come to work by pijamas.

At night, to relax, there was a birthday party in one of the AIESEC guys house and I made my brazilian cultural presentation. It was good but from 20 people there, only 5 were really enjoying asking questions and participating. Anyway, they day today was very long and I was also tired and I don't know if I could pay atention to something completely different being presented by a brazilian, in english. I think I understand them. At the weekend of April 6th I will make my brazilian party and I hope they enjoy more than this presentation.

Kisses and see you!

Alex!

Conversations at work and Turkish Party!

March 20th, 2002 – Nice conversations at work
Even very sleepy I had to come work today. The day started like everyday… wake-up, takes half hour to start putting the cloths on, leave home, take the bus, fight against the fingerprint identifier that doesn’t read my fingerprint correctly, send e-mails, work and having lunch… nothing new if wasn’t a guy from Bestel (marketing department in Endel) come to my office after lunch to invite me to have a tea (çay) with everybody there. Of course I accepted and went there.

I met a lot of people that I’ve seen before but didn’t have a chance to talk to. I realized they don’t speak english so well but they can understand quite good... I talked about what is my work here, in what I can make their work better, talked about Samba, capoeira, carnival… I made the Rio de Janeiro marketing, of course! Only to think that there is hot I get colder here.

Today I still have AIESEC meeting again… I can’t support anymore of it… I’m thinking about to have dinner and sleep, I need more sleep than meetings. This week there will be a party in a dance club very famous here in the city… let’s see if I can play my CD’s there.

Frozen kisses to everybody!

March 21st, 2002 – Today is a Party day!

Hi everybody! Yesterday as I told you, I went to AIESEC. We had dinner and then I went to sleep, no meetings.

Today the day started as everyday… very cold… freezing!! But I had to come to work. I’m creating things to do because my boss didn’t give me anything officially. Well, I’m remodeling some things I found here, let’s see what he thinks. Tonight there will be the AIESEC party. Finally something in this city to do! I think that I’m slow because I’m missing do something different then work-dinner-sleep.

I’m curious to know what kind of party they have here because after the bread with chicken leg on snow, I’m prepared for the worst. Let’s give them a credit. I’m going there to see how is it and if it is too boring I ask to play some Brazilian music J.

Kisses,

March 22nd, 2002 – Turkey party – very weird for a Brazilian!

Hi again! Yesterday was... let’s say... totally different. Everything here is weird. Let’s explain my impressions. Left work, went home… a dam cold weather (basic), starving, stopped in a market to buy some biscuits. Problem solved, changed my clothes and let’s go party!

Parties during the week here start at 9 pm and finishes at 1 am, very different from Rio. About music, it is quite normal… there was a group playing some rock (in Turkish, of course) and everybody was enjoying a lot. Here seems they like a heavy rock! After 40 minutes of show the band stopped and they started playing some techno and electronic music. After this interval there was more rock and, at the end of the party, some pop music like Tarkan. This guy, Tarkan, is the man… all women here die for him... they get crazy when the music starts playing. But the DJ left it to the end.

Some more basic differences: There aren’t people “hunting” a partner here. The guys just didn’t go for the women. You cannot see people kissing anywhere. I think that even the couples or don’t even go to those places or just stay as normal friends. I couldn’t see people kissing the whole night even dancing all the time close to different groups, specially because everytime someone requested me to introduce to their friends as the Brazilian guy who dances samba. Hehehe!

In one of those introductions I met one nice girl and invited her to dance. We danced a lot together and getting closer every music, looking in her eyes, trying to seduce her and she seemed was enjoying it, letting me go further. I think I got too excited when I was very close to her face when I went to her to try to give her a kiss, to see if she would kiss me. Suddenly, she jumped back! With her scared eyes looking at me she run out of the dance club. At that time I thought: “Its over… I’m going to dye… I made a huge shit… she is going to bring the police to arrest me!”. I don’t know where she went but I didn’t see her the rest of the night.

At the end, it was fun. It’s strange but the Turkish don’t dance at all. They shake a lot but a little bit I share is a lot to them. Them I danced a lot all night long. I’m done today. Who knows me know that I don’t like to dance but staying here as the only one Brazilian, I need to defend my Samba and Forro in the land where they think Rio is the capital of Brazil, Batistuta is Brazilian, Brazilians dance Tango, Boca Juniors is a Brazilian team, and many other interesting things I heard last night when speaking to some people.

And the night was not over yet. After party, in Eskisehir, turks go for… soup! Yeah, that’s it, soup! There is a place opened 24 hours where they sell all kind of soup you can imagine. As the dance clubs close early, everybody go there to drink a soup and warm-up a little bit. I went there, of course! I had my soup as well. But with all those things, the time went away and I just got home to sleep around 3 am. This morning was harder than every to wake-up, but I’m here… let’s say… trying to be awake.

Unfortunately I don’t have pictures to show you anything. I left my camera at home as I didn’t know how safe it would be.

Kisses to everybody. Missing to speak portuguese and someone understands me!