Ugh- so many emotions in one day, I can´t really pin it down. Happy, tired, crabby, sad, homesick, excited, annoyed. Regardless, too many things are swirling around in my head that I need to write down.
First of all, I literally spent all last night out dancing. I don´t know how the Brazilians here do it, but the show we saw didn´t even start till after 1 am!! The bar we went to was this incredible place, the theme was Soviet Russia. Everything was red and gold, and propaganda and old photos where everywhere- young and strong russian men and women brandishing the sickle and hammer. Most of the drinks were vodka, white russians and other names like the KGB. The opening band was what I would say is the Brazilian version of hipster- all grungy guys and a delicate girl singer crooning sad english songs. The second band rocked though. They played some popular brazilian songs, but then did covers like Kings of Leon and Arctic Monkeys. Tiffany and I grabbed a spot in front and started rocking out. To our right were some hipster groupies dancing discretely, eyeing us up as we jumped around and tossed our hair. However, after I left quickly for a bathroom break, I returned to see that they had hijacked our spot and were now dancing like whe had been 5 minutes ago. This did not go unnoticed by our brazilian friends though- who laughed at how those girls started copying us. Maybe now they learned its about feeling the music, not just watching it. I was more than exhausted returning to the hostel at 6:30 am though. Maybe one brazilian show is enough for a long time.
Today I got picked up by my uncle Laury and Ingrid to go have lunch and meet with my other relatives I have here. Besides once again being stuffed with meat and the multiple jokes being made at my expence, I had a great time. What made it so wonderful was my great-great uncle Kurt. He is the 86 year old German cousin of my grandmother Maria, and he is just delightful! He is by far the easiest person for me to understand (I think its his german accented portuguese... weird), and he just loves to tell me stories about my family back in Germany and here in Brazil. Today was so special, I only wish I had the ability to really understand every detail of his stories though, I am sure much got lost in translation. But this is one story he told me:
Long, long ago in Germany during the second world war, Kurt was a very young man who was made to serve. One day, he was injured and was lucky enough to get on a train toward a town with a hospital. He was too hurt to stay conscious though, so a nurse had to write his information and his conidition on his hand so he could be identified when he arrived. When he arrived at the station, one of the nurses took one look at his name, Kurt Ocht, and began shouting to another nurse on the platform. She called out `Maria- I think this might be a relative of yours!`
My grandmother, a nurse during the war, climbed on and helped move Kurt to the hospital. When he eventually came to, they found out that they were cousins that had never met but somehow found themselves together in this place. Kurt healed quickly, but as the American front was rapidly approaching, the Germans were anxious to put men out at the front lines. My grandma took Kurt and hid him in the basement of the hospital for a full week, keeping him from being found by the military. He continued to hide when the Americans secured the town, afraid that they wouldn´t accept his surrender. Being a nurse, Maria easily made contacts with a couple American Captains, and was able to get him validation to be in the city. Then it was arranged for him to sneek out with the American troops so he could return home unharmed.
Several years later, Germany in ruins and with little hope for a future in broken Germany, Kurt found his way across the sea to Santa Catarina, Brazil. As luck would have it, Maria had also immigrated, but to Peru. There she met a young English gentleman who had just finished his service in the British Navy, and they too decided to start fresh in Brazil. Every year, their families would exchange children, and they became very very close.
Seeing the brightness and joy in Uncle Kurt´s eyes touched me so much. I couldn´t imagine the bravery and courage he and my grandmother had to survive in such a hard time.
I was even more touched when Kurt gave me some old photos of my grandparents and my dad and aunt Patsy. The absolute first thing I thought though was- why is Mitch in this picture? It seriously looks just like my brother. For whatever reason, those old photos have a special quality that is no longer in pictures today. I don´t know if it is how they are aged, or the yellow tint in all the colors, but they capture a candidness and joy unmatched by any other era.
Oh! One thing I keep forgetting to bring up is that right now the elections for president are being held in Brazil. Not only that, but also Governor of Paraná and senators and many other offices. They Brazilian system is crazy, people with flags and boomboxes blasting commercials are everywhere. To help the illiterate, each candidate is assigned a number so you can vote based on number recognition. The system is very quick too- all mechanical, so the results are going to be in TONIGHT. There is a very high chance that Brazil might have it´s firt woman president. Talking to many people, it doesn´t seem like many of the candidates are that different, and none really stick out as a leader. I wish I knew more, but honestly, people who talk about it talk so fast, I can´t even hope to keep up. But as soon as I know who is elected, I will for sure find out what is going to happen and how things will change.
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