Being New and Cheering Behind My Mask 😷
2.09.22After 24 hours of traveling and two years of pandemic-induced anticipation, ur girl landed in Belo Horizonte (BH), Brazil. Riding high off the romantic phone call I heard from my seat-mate on the plane upon arrival ("my darling, your voice, oh my. It is more incredible than coffee in the morning and sun after rain"), I bounced through baggage claim to meet a friend of a friend, Luiza, who generously offered to pick me up. Gracefully dragging my 49.5lb suitcase through the parking lot, cutting through enough humidity to increase the volume of both my regular hair AND eyebrow hair ^3, I finally breathed a breath of Brazilian air and said to myself behind my mask, "fuck yea".
Little did I know this would be the first of many self-cheers that would go on behind my sweaty mask in this new home. Throughout the Covid-19 SARS pandemic, I started to learn the sweet beauty of all the taboo talking to oneself that a mask can cover. Every so often, on a walk down Wabash, Drexel, Erie or Grant, I would say things to myself behind the mask, process a conversation, or sing Silvana Estrada (watch at 3:11). Thanks to the N95, no one ever knew and my cool status was forever cemented on the hard streets of Chicago. Since arrival, I'm proud to have achieved many successes in Belo Horizonte, many of which result in a "Lydia, amazing" behind the mask.
Little did I know this would be the first of many self-cheers that would go on behind my sweaty mask in this new home. Throughout the Covid-19 SARS pandemic, I started to learn the sweet beauty of all the taboo talking to oneself that a mask can cover. Every so often, on a walk down Wabash, Drexel, Erie or Grant, I would say things to myself behind the mask, process a conversation, or sing Silvana Estrada (watch at 3:11). Thanks to the N95, no one ever knew and my cool status was forever cemented on the hard streets of Chicago. Since arrival, I'm proud to have achieved many successes in Belo Horizonte, many of which result in a "Lydia, amazing" behind the mask.
#selfie
Cheering when I arrived
in São Paulo
Squeegeeing my counters. When in Rome!
🎉Please enjoy this list of congratulatory moments:
1. Before Belo Horizonte (BH)... I thought my connecting flight was cancelled from São Paulo to Belo Horizonte because the ticket lady in San Francisco told me I was going to have to take a bus. [...] Then I got to São Paulo (2AM PST) and the ticket dude gave me an airline ticket instead of a bus ticket for the connection "FOOK ya"!
2. Before BH - When I told a Brazilian lady on the plane that I'm from Chicago and she responded "eu ADORO (love) downtown Chicago!" +1 for the Loop +1 for me engaging with a stranger and -1 for the socialists
3. When my Brazilian research advisor greeted me in his office in the School of Architecture with a printed, highlighted, and annotated copy of my research proposal and then proceeded to tell me all his ideas for my time in Belo Horizonte. He wants me to meet other student researchers, take his studio course, interview BH historians, use the school's facilities to work, co-write an article, do another creative final deliverable since "articles are cold and boring" and call him if anything happens like I get lost *tear "FcK YA"
4. Not about me but... there is hand sanitizer everywhere. And HUGE mask culture. That makes it hard to understand people without seeing their mouths, but is helpful for talking to myself and reducing my chance of contracting SARS-CoV-2. "score"
5. Not about me but... People are in constant negotiation. There is SO much conversation on the street, whether people are walking and talking with a colleague, leaving a voicenote on zapzap (whatsapp), arguing about a price, cursing out a car that didn't stop for a pedestrian (customary), or singing with their homies. Eyes are up, people notice you, you are seen, noted, and analyzed. Eye contact abounds. This is amazing for urban planning. "f. ye.s.s.s."
6. Not about me but... This is already the most (racially) diverse place I've ever been. Not sure how that plays out beyond my initial impression, but I've seen so much diversity within family units, friends walking on the sidewalk, couples in the airport, people sitting at cafes. There is no typical Brazilian look, race, or ethnicity, however it seems that the wealthier the neighborhood, the more white-esque people I see. I'm eager to understand how this society engages with difference. Not sure what to congratulate yet but +1 for ~on the surface~ being more socially advanced than Chicago.
7. Back to me... After my meeting ended with my advisor at the ripe hour of 15h30 (3:30PM), I had not a single thing to do for the rest of the day so I decided to walk and get to know the neighborhood better. Everyone's favorite urban planner was CONFIDÁNT. I walked down huge boulevards with palm trees and residential towers that I imagine match the dramatic vertical scale of a rainforest, passed the hipster Cafe das Letras that I imagine I will one day frequent with my bountiful friend group, walked by countless bars that I imagine I will one day frequent with my admiring students. Suddenly, under new rumbling clouds, I got lost. Being SIM-card-less, I didn't have the help of Google Maps and a downwards mental spiral ensued. Surely, I thought, now as a lost girl I am about to get robbed, rained on, lose my shoes, forget my name, go hungry and perish. But THEN I got found after rewinding through all my confidánt walking stops and wound up back at the Escola de Arquitetura. Upon glimpsing the school, "FUCK YA"
8. Promptly after getting lost... When I walked 3 times around one block in order to gather enough courage to ask the corner store guy for a SIM card and then I did it AND he told me where to buy a bus card* "f yuh".
*Note: there is literally only one place in the entire city to buy a bus card. Maybe I understood him wrong? Or, I judged, maybe the powers at be are really trying to heat this planet up a bit more.
9. The pure will power to adapt to this place that drove me to keep my eyes open for the entire first day (33 hours after leaving San Francisco, during which I managed a cumulative 4 hours of shut eye). When nightfall finally fell, I crashed. Hard. After waking up 14 hours later, "hell yea Lydia"
↩️ Return to Blog
1. Before Belo Horizonte (BH)... I thought my connecting flight was cancelled from São Paulo to Belo Horizonte because the ticket lady in San Francisco told me I was going to have to take a bus. [...] Then I got to São Paulo (2AM PST) and the ticket dude gave me an airline ticket instead of a bus ticket for the connection "FOOK ya"!
2. Before BH - When I told a Brazilian lady on the plane that I'm from Chicago and she responded "eu ADORO (love) downtown Chicago!" +1 for the Loop +1 for me engaging with a stranger and -1 for the socialists
3. When my Brazilian research advisor greeted me in his office in the School of Architecture with a printed, highlighted, and annotated copy of my research proposal and then proceeded to tell me all his ideas for my time in Belo Horizonte. He wants me to meet other student researchers, take his studio course, interview BH historians, use the school's facilities to work, co-write an article, do another creative final deliverable since "articles are cold and boring" and call him if anything happens like I get lost *tear "FcK YA"
4. Not about me but... there is hand sanitizer everywhere. And HUGE mask culture. That makes it hard to understand people without seeing their mouths, but is helpful for talking to myself and reducing my chance of contracting SARS-CoV-2. "score"
5. Not about me but... People are in constant negotiation. There is SO much conversation on the street, whether people are walking and talking with a colleague, leaving a voicenote on zapzap (whatsapp), arguing about a price, cursing out a car that didn't stop for a pedestrian (customary), or singing with their homies. Eyes are up, people notice you, you are seen, noted, and analyzed. Eye contact abounds. This is amazing for urban planning. "f. ye.s.s.s."
6. Not about me but... This is already the most (racially) diverse place I've ever been. Not sure how that plays out beyond my initial impression, but I've seen so much diversity within family units, friends walking on the sidewalk, couples in the airport, people sitting at cafes. There is no typical Brazilian look, race, or ethnicity, however it seems that the wealthier the neighborhood, the more white-esque people I see. I'm eager to understand how this society engages with difference. Not sure what to congratulate yet but +1 for ~on the surface~ being more socially advanced than Chicago.
7. Back to me... After my meeting ended with my advisor at the ripe hour of 15h30 (3:30PM), I had not a single thing to do for the rest of the day so I decided to walk and get to know the neighborhood better. Everyone's favorite urban planner was CONFIDÁNT. I walked down huge boulevards with palm trees and residential towers that I imagine match the dramatic vertical scale of a rainforest, passed the hipster Cafe das Letras that I imagine I will one day frequent with my bountiful friend group, walked by countless bars that I imagine I will one day frequent with my admiring students. Suddenly, under new rumbling clouds, I got lost. Being SIM-card-less, I didn't have the help of Google Maps and a downwards mental spiral ensued. Surely, I thought, now as a lost girl I am about to get robbed, rained on, lose my shoes, forget my name, go hungry and perish. But THEN I got found after rewinding through all my confidánt walking stops and wound up back at the Escola de Arquitetura. Upon glimpsing the school, "FUCK YA"
8. Promptly after getting lost... When I walked 3 times around one block in order to gather enough courage to ask the corner store guy for a SIM card and then I did it AND he told me where to buy a bus card* "f yuh".
*Note: there is literally only one place in the entire city to buy a bus card. Maybe I understood him wrong? Or, I judged, maybe the powers at be are really trying to heat this planet up a bit more.
9. The pure will power to adapt to this place that drove me to keep my eyes open for the entire first day (33 hours after leaving San Francisco, during which I managed a cumulative 4 hours of shut eye). When nightfall finally fell, I crashed. Hard. After waking up 14 hours later, "hell yea Lydia"
↩️ Return to Blog
🌨Since being new is hard, times I didn't congratulate myself:
1. When I didn't understand the price of a fruit bowl in the airport and stood awkwardly for a long while. -1 for me
2. When I didn't understand the grocery store lady ask me if I needed a box (ala Sam's Club) to carry my stuff and stood awkwardly for a long while. Silver lining: the grocery store - and everywhere for that matter - was CLUB. The number of employees FAR outweighed the number of customers and they were LOVING it - hugging each other, shouting jokes across all the registers, and swapping roles at breakneck speed. I was like, "dang can I hang?"
3. Since I'm new and not from here, I'm nervous that everyone can see through me always. I'm trying to pick up on the tiniest cultural nuances in order to fit in - do they make eye contact on the sidewalk with strangers? How do you say excuse me without sounding like you are talking to an ancestor? Do I wait for the pedestrian light to turn green or do I jaywalk? Do my shoes give me away? Does my gate give me away? My eyes? My aura?
📈In conclusion:
The next 6 months will be an experiment in learning to balance
where I am from and who I have been,
with
where I am and who I am becoming.
I am already so grateful that this new, vibrant, confusing, engaged city will imprint me in unforgettable ways. As I'm learning, life will never happen as planned.
What a better place to learn this than in a planned city that has far outgrown, manipulated, embraced, and rejected its own original Plan.
1. When I didn't understand the price of a fruit bowl in the airport and stood awkwardly for a long while. -1 for me
2. When I didn't understand the grocery store lady ask me if I needed a box (ala Sam's Club) to carry my stuff and stood awkwardly for a long while. Silver lining: the grocery store - and everywhere for that matter - was CLUB. The number of employees FAR outweighed the number of customers and they were LOVING it - hugging each other, shouting jokes across all the registers, and swapping roles at breakneck speed. I was like, "dang can I hang?"
3. Since I'm new and not from here, I'm nervous that everyone can see through me always. I'm trying to pick up on the tiniest cultural nuances in order to fit in - do they make eye contact on the sidewalk with strangers? How do you say excuse me without sounding like you are talking to an ancestor? Do I wait for the pedestrian light to turn green or do I jaywalk? Do my shoes give me away? Does my gate give me away? My eyes? My aura?
📈In conclusion:
The next 6 months will be an experiment in learning to balance
where I am from and who I have been,
with
where I am and who I am becoming.
I am already so grateful that this new, vibrant, confusing, engaged city will imprint me in unforgettable ways. As I'm learning, life will never happen as planned.
What a better place to learn this than in a planned city that has far outgrown, manipulated, embraced, and rejected its own original Plan.