So, these meetings with the beloved convo partner had started to become routine, and I had completely run out of ideas to converse about. We had already discussed life, humor, food, and movies. What else is there? Thankfully, spring break happened, which opened the door for plenty of new topics. However, this blogging thing has become sort of mundane, so in an effort to spice things up, I'm going to compose a few haikus to juxtapose our different experiences during our week off of school and class.
What I Did For Spring Break This Year:
Thiago
Music, South, and West
Combined in Austin, Texas
Kept it weird. Success
Sarah
Spring, Break, Sun, Sand, Beach,
Texas in Alabama
Wait, why is it cold?
So, if you couldn't tell based on my syllable manipulation, Thiago went to Austin, Texas for the South by Southwest music festival, and enjoyed Austin's "weirdness."
I, on the other hand, drove on down to Gulf Shores, Alabama, and was greeted by cool breezes and a lack of sun. However, we both had fun experiences, though very different of each other. While I spent my whole break rocking out to throwback music from my childhood, (I'm talking 11 hours in the car with Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Jesse McCartney, Jojo, and more) Thiago received a firsthand look at the newest and most up and coming-est bands out there.
Apparently I shouldn't have left Texas for better weather, it was definitely hotter here than it was in Alabama, which, when all you packed was tanks and flip flops, came as a bit of a shock. But, I pulled through, and returned to campus with absolutely no sunburn, so I will chalk that up as a win for me and my skin.
After exhausting our spring break talk, Thiago and I briefly chatted about summer plans, and the rest of our lives (and by that I mean next year.) Thiago wants to stay in school and pursue his degree, but he is not sure if TCU is going to work out for him. There are a lot of minute details that seem to be keeping him from knowing for sure where he will be next year. Hopefully here, he said, but maybe TCC or somewhere else. When I asked him if he liked it here, he couldn't help but smile. We share the same viewpoint on how impossible it is not to fall in love with the campus here. It's truly gorgeous, and not something you find every day.
To sum it all up, I figured, why not one more haiku?
TCU
Purple and gold brick;
Fountains, Tulips, and bronze frogs,
The Real Paradise
Until next time,
Sarah
Bombs.
War.
Death.
and
Aliens.
.... so it goes.
Just a brief synopsis of Kurt Vonnegut's anti-war novel, Slaughterhouse Five.
Now that I properly have your attention, let me dissect these previous statements for you.
- Bombs: This book centers ( I don't know if I can properly use that word because the plot is so jumbled, but bear with me) around the unnecessary, unheard of bombing of Dresden. What makes this especially poignant is that Kurt Vonnegut was actually there at this sight. He gives us a firsthand account told through the ironically unclear eyes of optometrist turned soldier Billy Pilgrim.
- I think I just caught a little of Vonnegut's irony. Billy Pilgrim is an optometrist, someone who corrects others visions, and he himself is the one that has visions. Some could call them impairments, he would describe them as gifts, but he sees things no one else does.
- War: This novel is an anti war novel... I think. It's so difficult to understand Vonnegut's intentions throughout his simple prose and complex story line. However, I personally believe Vonnegut achieves an anti-war novel. Vonnegut satires the complete ridiculousness of war through Billy Pilgrim. He is the epitome of a joke. He represents the American war effort in a blue toga and Cinderella shoes, all wrapped up in a woman's vest. He physically mocks the American soldier and turns the stereotype inside out. Vonnegut continues to reverse our expectations throughout this novel, and I think he truly achieves the anti-war aspect. He paints the picture of WWII being the "Children's Crusade," which, when your main character's name is Billy, definitely is achieved.
- Death. So it goes. Every time someone, something, whether that be a man, woman, civilian, or lice, the motto "so it goes" is thrown in after. I think it's very poignant because it points out the triviality of death in the war, and the lack of differentiation between humans and animals. There is so much death that it is commonplace, and people don't even understand grief anymore. Death is just a part of daily life.So it goes.
- Aliens? Did I say that right? Did you read that right? Yes, and yes. I always enjoy describing the plot to this book to others when they ask. "It's about World War II, the bombing of Dresden, and time travelling aliens." What was that last one? Talk about your cognitive shift! Yes, the Tralfamadorians are a big part in this novel. They teach Billy about time, and have several points that I just love. They refer to us as being stuck in the "amber of the moment," like trapped bugs. There is no why, there is no how, there is just now. They proceed with an interesting outlook on life, time, and Billy in general. But are they real...?
- That's the question.
- I first read this book in high school, and maybe I was naive, maybe I just wanted to believe the best in people, but I read this book with the mindset that Billy wasn't crazy, that he was just a victim of circumstance and everyone was working against him and not believing him. However, with a fresh (man) set of eyes on this book, it's pretty obvious. Billy's crazy. Psycho, nut job, wack-o, crazy. He's probably schizophrenic and probably something else. He takes crazy ideas from sci-fi novels and convinces himself that he is living them, so as to escape from his reality with which he is not content. He feels guilty for living when he really didn't want to, and his coping method is that his life is taken in control by someone or something else, and he has no free will to make his life any better. He is content living in the life handed to him by stronger characters in the book. So, maybe I've grown up, or maybe I'm just reading with a more critical eye, but yeah, the aliens probably aren't "real," but then again, was any of this real?
Po Tee Weet?
So, on to another meeting with Thiago. I actually planned this one out pretty well, might I add. Since we are conversation partners, we really worked on our conversation methods, and I texted him about or meeting. Score. We met in our usual place, inside 1873, and we got off to a really good start, aside from the fact that he was 20 minutes late but whatever I'm over it, I enjoy sitting alone with a notebook in public places so, again I say, whatever.
Anyway. Today's topic was something everyone loves.
Food.
I did 20 seconds of preparation for this meeting, and I Googled "Brazilian Food" and searched the titles of the websites. I name dropped like nothing else, hoping something would hook. Luckily, I got a bite on my first try!
(Get it? Food reference...fishing...Never mind.)
Unfortunately I can neither pronounce or spell the dish, but it started with an "a" and it's essentially friend shrimp. Thiago was not a big fan, so we moved on to our next dish.
Feijoada.
Boom- THAT got a reaction out of him.
Thiago twisted and turned up his face like he smelled something rancid. I laughed at his contorted visage and probed more questions.
What exactly is Feijoada might you ask? Well, put simply, it's pork, and a lot of it. Thiago described it as "every part of a pig with some black beans thrown in there. It's gross." I laughed, amused by his obvious distaste for something so culturally central to his country. He explained that it's way too filling, and not that appetizing at all. I promised to take his word for it, because pork and beans ain't really my thing either.
On to our third course. Simply uttering this dish's name made Thiago's eyes light up and his mouth started to water.
Pao de Quejo is a dish specific to his hometown. It's cheesy bread in the best sense. These small rolls are doughy, moist, and delicious, and most importantly, they can be enjoyed at any time of the day. What a treat.
Speaking of times of day, an interesting Brazilian custom is to place lunch as the most important meal of the day, as opposed to our fascination with big dinners. In fact, Thiago couldn't remember the last time he ate dinner at home. I find that interesting, just because we place such an importance on dinnertime, the preparation of the meal, to the placements, to the people present. Interesting.
I brought up my favorite topic- sweets. A Brazilian treat akin to our birthday cakes is a sweet called "Bridgadeirs" which is candy made on the stove with a lot of chocolate and condensed milk. Anything with chocolate I'm all about, and I promised to try it.
I warned Thiago that I didn't know when I would get a chance because there aren't any Brazilian restaurants around here, and then I remembered, wait, what about Cafe Brazil? It has Brazil in the name!
Thiago laughed and said the only thing Brazilian about that place was the name. However, its food is pretty good, so Thiago said "it's ok that it has Brazil in its name."
There you go, approval straight from the source.
Even the coffee isn't Brazilian. Brazilian coffee is much smaller and stronger than what we deal with here, also, they don't use any sweetener, so even though "Hazlenut Blast" was delicious, I don't think it was authentic. Oh well. You will never be able to fully replicate Brazilian coffee, according to Thiago. I, however, am okay with that, considering the only coffee I can handle is anything with so much flavoring you can't actually taste the coffee. So, yet another reason why Brazilian cuisine isn't for me.
With that we wrapped up our meeting, and exchanged well-wishes for our respective trips. For Spring Break Thiago was going to Austin to see South by Southwest, a music festival there.
Dang, this guy has seen more of Texas than I have! Oh well, I've got time.
Before we left, we took the next step in our friendship and became friends on Facebook. WOOHOO!! I'm excited to see how this progresses, and even more excited to do a little cyber stalking of my partner.
Just joking.
Until next time,
Adios!
That title works because, if you remember from my last blog, Thiago is pronounced "CHEE-ago."
It works, I swear.
Anyway, my adventure with Thiago had quite a humorous start.
So, there I was, sitting alone inside 1873.
I had e-mailed Thiago a few times trying to set up another meeting time, and I had failed miserably.
We couldn't respond quick enough to decide on a date and time to reunite between 5-6 different emails.
Talk about your miscommunication.
Finally we decided on Thursday at 1 in 1873.
So, there I was, sitting alone inside 1873.
Where was Thiago?
Was he standing me up?
(Again. NOT A DATE)
I whipped up a blog post in my free time documenting our pseudo-break up and I was about to post it when I finally received an email.
"I'm already here!" From Thiago.
HERE? WHERE? I'm here, not him! My eyes perused about the room, but to no avail. I ran around the first floor of the BLUU for 5 minutes until I realized he was sitting right outside of Union Grounds.
Embarrassed about my obliviousness, I ran up to him and started our conversation immediately.
I planned to discuss humor, but before I could initiate my first question, Thiago threw out his own joke.
I told him my mom was coming in town, and he immediately responded with a comment about how that must mean I was cleaning up my room for her.
A simple comment, but when paired with a smile and a chuckle, humor ensued.
I think it was especially funny because of my lack of expectations mixed with our casual acquaintance relationship. Anyway, whatever it was, it provided a nice comic relief to our meetings.
We discussed the topic of the day- comedy. We started with movies. Thiago shares a similar appreciation for comedy as I do, as in, we both love the same movies. Dodgeball, Zoolander, anything with Ben Stiller or Will Ferrel. Those guys are just funny. You don't have to be from here to appreciate their slapstick comedy combined with ridiculous acting styles.
What surprised me is that Thiago also enjoyed the intellectual English humor of Monty Python- which, again shows, that humor knows no borders. He said the first time he watched it he didn't understand or appreciate it, but his enjoyment grew with repetition, and the evil little bunny never failed to make him laugh.
So what does fail to make him laugh?
The Hangover. That's "pushing it," according to my Brazilian friend.
I somewhat disagree, mostly because of the quotability of that movie, but that's okay.
I did my research prior to this interview, and came prepared with some knowledge about Brazilian humor. I name dropped "Casseta and Planeta" to him, which is like a Brazilian "Saturday Night Live," except it's not live. According to Thiago, It was funnier in the 90's, or maybe he just grew up a little, and stopped finding the humor in the skits.
Happens to the best of them.
The best conversation about comedy that we have revolved around Twitter, and who to follow.
Thiago follows the fake Brazilian President, and I tried to find a funny tweet to post in this blog, but alas, I do not speak Portugese, and I'm pretty sure the humor became lost in translation.
Bummer.
We continued to discuss our favorite tweeters, and he mentioned Free Facts, which is an account that tweets out obviously false facts, like:
"The Earth is fat"
"Russians shed their skin every 8 years"
and my favorite
"Male sisters are sometimes referred to as brothers."
LOL, right?
In return, I showed Thiago my favorite accounts, which are all pun accounts.
"I wrote a song about a tortilla yesterday. Actually, it was more of a wrap."
HAHAHA GET IT? WRAP, RAP? puns, man. Thiago enjoyed it.
We chatted about jokes for a bit longer, and I asked what a typical Brazilian joke was. There isn't a specific formula to create laughter, but they do enjoy making fun of the Portugese, because "they're stupid."
I guess Portugal is akin to our Canada, so I understand the humor there.
Our lull in conversation moved me to end our meeting, out of my phobia of awkward silence, and I promised to work on my questions and ability to communicate. We are conversation partners after all!
I bid him adieu and we went back to our separate lives with our similar tastes, never to meet again.
Just kidding, we're having lunch next week.
LOL.
