Why Brazil?

I'm starting this blog to document the steps I took to make this trip possible. I hope that in the future this will be of use to someone, or a least remind me that doing what you want isn't always easy, but is always worth it.

So, why Brazil? That is probably the question I get asked most and seems like a good place to start.

About five years ago I was at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), just entering my second year at the university and my first year in the ceramics program. I needed a gym elective and I decided to try something new: Capoeira.

Capoeira is Brazilian martial arts. People stand in a circle called a "roda" and cheer on two players in the middle. The game is beautiful. There is a nearly constant circular motion between the players with constant give and take: action and reaction. But it is also much more, it's about the energy of the group and the tempo of the music. It's about a conversation between the two players and a conversation between the players and the rest of the group.

I really began to enjoy Capoeira and the culture around it. I took the class six or seven times while I was at RIT and eventually started taking classes at Capoeira Mandinga under Contra Maestre Carcará. In these classes I began playing the instruments and learning the music. I started to love the music and love interacting with everyone who was so passionate about the art.

Because of Capoeira - because I wanted to learn the music - I started taking a Portuguese language course my senior year of college. I instantly fell in love with the language and my ideas of the culture. My professor, Dani Morschbacher is a fantastic woman who truly loves Brazil. More often than not she would speak of Brazil in a very romantic way. I do believe she loves Brazil. And so it seems in my life that if there is a teacher passionate about a subject I feed off that passion and begin to love it.

That is where the idea to travel began. Those events planted the seed for this adventure and it has finally begun to grow and take shape.

The second reason I am going, besides curiosity, is to apply for a Fulbright Scholarship. A Fulbright Scholarship is one of two things: First, it is a grant given to a US citizen to do a research project in a different country. Second, it is a grant given to a US citizen to teach English in a foreign country.

I'm going for the first. This trip is for a few purposes.
1. Learn Portuguese
2. Research ideas
3. Get contacts at Universities

To apply for the scholarship I need to be fluent in spoken and written Portuguese. I felt immersion would be the best way to learn, although I have also been using Rosetta Stone to try and get a leg up before heading down. I also tried Pimsleur, but that is less interactive and it didn't really hold my attention.

I also need a research project. As of now, my ideas concern Ceramics (The field I have a degree in), but I'm open to changing that.

My first idea is to incorporate the movement and music of Capoeira into my pottery. Pretty basic and probably not enough to develop into a research project.

Next I was thinking of incorporating the colors and designs of the costumes at carnival general culture into my work.

Or maybe I can research the divide between the favelas (shanty-towns outside of the major cities) and the city proper. And contrast the wealth, technology, quality of life, safety, cultures, colors, etc. And begin to bring that into my work. I feel like this idea might be pretty common place, but it seems like the most in depth idea that I have for now.

A final idea I just recently began tossing around was working with a group of students at a university to construct and fire a wood kiln. Or perhaps move to a more rural area and build a wood kiln that could be used to purify water.

Just ideas.