Podem Dancar se queira (You can dance if you want to)

The Saturday following our foray into the martial arts world (July 30^th, for those of you trying to piece together a timeline here), we were invited again to a deeply rooted Brazilian tradition; Forro dancing (pronounced, “Foh-ho”) To paraphrase a short history of Forro, when foreign (read: white. Very white) colonizers hit the North Eastern coast of Brazil and proceeded to stick around for awhile, they decided it was time to start constructing railroads and other large infrastructure. When the railroad officers started having parties on the weekends, they wanted to ensure that they could include influential locals at times but also maintain a spirit of discrimination when they wanted do (because come on, what’s better than overstaying your welcome and telling your hosts that you’re better than them?) They would designate parties as solely for railroad employees or “for all”. As our cadete friends tell us, the lack of hard “r” sounds in the Brazilian Portuguese led to word of these swinging parties  spreading like wildfire by mouth through the Brazilian population as, “Foh All”. The colonizers eventually reduced their presence in Brazil but the phrase stayed and the style of Forro dancing lived on until this day.

There was a group that met weekly at the GFN (I specifically remember asking what these letters stood for and then immediately forgetting. Solid) It’s the bastard child of a Rec Center and an Officers Club but is available for all to use. There’s a skate park, playground, courts for volleyball (voleibol), basketball (basquete), and a pool (piscina). There’s also a bar (bar, pronounced, “bah”) and a lounge with some TVs (televisaos……or TVs) Something for everyone. 

On Saturday, we woke up late and grabbed quick bite for lunch to include chicken sandwich and acai ice cream (sanduiche do frango e sorvete da acai) Acai, pronounced “Ah-sigh-ee” here, is a fruit from the Amazon rainforest and is typically found in health food drinks in the U.S. Here, it’s one of the ingredients in what I can only tout was the purple drank of ice cream, for reasons more than the fact that the ice cream is dark purple. It's high caloric content make it choice for many Brazilians post work out and the fact that it's delicious enough to make me cry thinking about not having it when I leave in December makes me enjoy it all the more here. As I type this, I feel my expressed love of Acai may be familiar to some of you (read: I’m pretty sure I already told you guys about this) If this is the case, please accept my apology and prepare for it to happen again for if it happened once, it’ll never happen again but if it’s happened twice, it will absolutely happen a third time. Enjoy.

Cadete Rodrigues Lima approached Sonza and myself (Nate was out running with other cadets, having woken up at a reasonable time and eaten breakfast. Brutal) as we returned from our lunch and asked us if we were interested in learning Forro that night. My universe of formal dance education (Walter Schalk, get at me) was somewhat limited and the phrase, “When in Rio…….” popped into my head. Also, Rodrigues Lima (who everyone calls “Feijoa” (“Fey-sho-ow”) which means “Bean”, which is funny because he’s really small and very tan) used the words, “informal” (which is pronounced, “in-for-mahl” and means “informal” in English) and, “mulheres” (pronounced, “mool-yer-es”, meaning, “women”) which are two words I actually know in Portuguese. Class started at 5 pm (@Brazilians and Military type folk, 1700) so at about 5:05 we left for class. As a quick side note, there exist a few words that are entirely untranslatable between our languages. From them, we don’t have the word, “Saudade” which is a great feeling of longing or sadness, somewhat like homesickness but more often related to the deep pangs of love lost. From us, they can’t grasp the idea, “hard time.” Blows my mind.

We stepped off post, changed into civilian clothes at the larangeira, and then walked back into the residential area of post towards the GFN. There was a small building in the back with wooden floors and wall mirrors. I later learned that this was a dance studio for a children’s ballet troupe and in general a multipurpose room. There were about 10 of us total, with ages ranging from about 19 to 29 and we were relying on someone’s laptop and iTunes account for the Forro music. Avioes do Forro, a primarily Forro musical group whose name literally means, “Birds of Forro” supplied the majority of our music. 3 girls in particular, Stephanie, Rayani, and Ana Paula, all about our age were our primary dance partners. They would dance incredibly fast with the other cadets there and then say demeaning things like, “Entende? Facil.” (Understand? Easy) Just the worst. 

Eventually, Orlando and I were able to nail down the basic concept of Forro (I was told that in addition to having two left feet, I have locked knees, old man hips, and no ankle joints. Sweet. I guess I’ll just retire with my 80% disability and start collecting VA checks) and spent the next few hours jumping between practicing Forro (Feedback from my partners ranged from, “Relxada, calma,” (Relax, calm) to, “Bom,” (Good) to eventually, “Ahh, muito bom, voce entende!” (Ahh, very good, you get it!)) and trying to explain the deep intricacies of Cotton Eye Joe, the Electric Slide, and even a little Jersey Shore style fist pumping (One of us is Italian, the other two are New Jersey natives. It was bound to happen) Nothing doing. Before we departed, we were made to promise to return the next weekend in order to teach them more, “American dancing” We promised we would.

Next up was the opportunity for some well earned food. We bid farewell to our new friends who, if I’m not too bold in saying, seemed particularly taken with Orlando who looks the most Brazilian out of the 3 of us, and headed to Dom Pizza, a local pizza parlor. Upon arriving, we grabbed one of the huge menus and spent almost 20 minutes leafing through what could have been a world atlas for the number of pages it had. It had everything ranging from Calabrese to Portuguese to Carne Carne to Big Chicken (Not sure why the one spot of English on an otherwise entirely Portuguese menu). We ended up getting one “Gigante” (Extra Large) with half Calabrese and half Queijo (Cheese) and one Grande (Large) with half Portuguese and half Atum (Tuna) Plates, forks and knives were brought to the table along with two liters of Guarana soda (Guarana is a fruit native to Brazil and one of the main ingredients in Red Bull and other energy drinks) and I knew this was going to be an interesting ride.

I will say this for the Brazilians; they don’t shirk from a challenge. The pizza I had that night was extremely different from anything I’ve ever had before but I have to say, not bad. Quite possibly the biggest difference I noticed in between American pizza and Brazilian pizza was the lack of gravy (Tomato sauce for all you non-Italians out there, red stuff for anyone who was still confused) They had dough and they had toppings but the subtlety of a base layer between topping and crust was lost on these wonderful people. My heart goes out to them.

All told, every slice I had (*cough* one of each, I have no discipline *cough*) was pretty delicious. The cheese pie (I was expecting just mozzarella……..I'm just going to stop having expectations here) had mozzarella, some type of Brazilian cheese I’ve noticed making an appearance at breakfast every once in a while and one other type that legitimately looked like a lighter version of Easy Cheez squirted in semi random patterns all over the pie. Good though. The Calabrese was large covered with meat (ham and honestly, not quite sure what else. Either some type of salami or sausage but the jury’s out) and had a little mozzarella as well. The Portuguese was covered with hard boiled eggs, green olives, tomatoes, peppers, and onions. Interesting, but not terrible. And finally, the tuna was mostly just tuna but also had some onions on there as well and contrasted well with the cheese. When in Rio, I suppose….

One of the other big differences I noticed (which I was warned about by DFL but largely ignored until I saw it with my own eyes) was that people in Brazil eat pizza with a fork and knife. I glanced up before I started eating and noticed that despite my host cadete friend telling me that people do both, not a single person in the entire restaurant (which included a couple very, very interested in each other, 3 older gentlemen with stained jeans and cigarettes, puffing about below a, “Nao Fumar” sign (Don’t Smoke), what seemed to be a birthday party of six 8 year olds with a few parents, and a few teenagers in the back near the soda machine) was eating pizza with their hands. I was blown away. I started using my knife and fork and to my surprise, the crust cut quite easily, as if this pizza was meant to be consumed by utensil. Interesting.

We finished both pies and, stomachs full, meandered back to the larangeira to change back into our uniforms. After a long night of dancing and pizza, it was time to call it a night. Not our last session of forro, nor our final Brazilian pizza for sure. Next time, my adventures at Airborne School and Rio de Janeiro!

Jew Jitsu

Loyal Readers (Victoria and Janelle),

So not gonna lie, I’m actually a lot busier than I expected. Who would’ve thought that at a federally funded foreign military academy that asks a binding 30 year military commitment of its cadets (35 if you include the actual school itself and the mandatory prep school year) that I’d be doing lots of stuff. Go figure. In any event, the next few posts ought to be in quick succession, very different, and somewhat out of sequence due to my current location and internet availability (Deep in the concrete jungle and none, respectively) My deepest apologies in advance.

So this post is not entirely aptly named; I just figured a few of my readers and *cough* former roommates who believe I bear a strong resemblance to a relatively famous actor of Hebrew religious beliefs would get a kick out of it. Cheers, guys. For those of you wondering why I type so much, I love the sound of my voice in my head just as much as when it’s spoken. So you understand why these posts tend to meander somewhat. A second round of apologies.

Moving right along, on a Thursday night with little to do (read: Wifi was down), Cadet Orlando Sonza (who, if I have not formally introduced yet, deserves a personal apology. For those of you who don’t know Orlando, you’re truly missing out on an opportunity to enrich your life and for those of you who don’t personally know Orlando, I highly suggest quietly invading another country with him (read: study abroad). The kid’s a riot. And he speaks Portuguese. Winning) and myself decided that in order to spend our time well in the Southern Hemisphere, we needed to do a little maintenance on the one thing we packed before anything else; our godlike physiques. A late night, end-of-week swole sesh was in order and who else better suited for such chicanery than a man of lore from the Jersey Shore himself and the Italian Stallion. The stars have never aligned this straight.

En route to Orlando’s room, I spy with my little eye him and one of his 7 roommates in the hallway. His roommate has his gi (for you non martial arts practitioners out there, imagine what a robe would look like if it were shorter and came with pants. Also, much thicker and less gentle on the skin) over his shoulder. Orlando sees me coming and waves me in, “Hey, change of plans, we’re going to jiu jitsu tonight.” Images of UFC fighters bleeding from their eye sockets as rapid fire punches bounce repeated off the back of their head and their arms flail uncontrollably as their legs lie locked and useless behind them. I respond jovially, “Far out. Where at?” “Academia do muscolo.” Directly translated to mean, “Academy of Muscle” and the completely serious name for the gym they have here, our thick necked friend resembling a certain Staten Island wrestler I’ve grown to know and love said this as he smiled at us with excitement, much the way a wolf would smile at a baby lamb asking it for directions back to the farm. Lovely.

Fast forward about 20 minutes. Breathing heavily and bleeding somewhat from my nose after the first two fights, I held my hand up in a somewhat defensive motion as the starting whistle blew, “Senhor, nao se muito e nao se nada do jiu jitsu.” As I explained my lack of knowledge in his sport, our instructor, an engineering lieutenant with an easy 20 pounds (8 some odd kilograms for you Brazilians out there) of deeply tanned sinewy muscle on me, held his hand out, expectant of the traditional hand slap and fist bump that started the round and looked at me quizzically; between my American accent and unapologetically terrible grammar, I had my doubts that we were in the same book let alone on the same page. He thought for a moment, and in his own thickly accented English asked calmly, “What do you know?” Thinking back to all the Jiu Jitsu based Army Combatives I had had the distinct pleasure of learning one day each of the last two summers and promptly dumping (to make room for more Plebe knowledge and secret radio frequencies to chat with the other Buckner bays, respectively) I said, “Wrestling, senhor. Luta livre.” He slapped my unsuspecting hand, gave my limp fingers the pound and proceeded to grab my neck. “Then wrestle.” Baptism by fire.

We rolled for about 5 minutes, as with all 5 of the fights that night. It didn’t seem to me that American folkstyle wrestling was the more dominant of the styles exhibited that night (I’m pretty sure I had a record of 0 submissions versus being submitted well into the double digits, possible triple) being that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is entirely a submission based sport whereas wrestling is often more about scoring points. I rolled out from under him at the next whistle, thoroughly gassed and ready to just about die when I opened my eyes. Ah, the ceiling. I’ve been here before. Obstructing my familiar view from my back, my opponent was doubled over by my side breathing just as heavily. Ah ha, so the Gods can bleed. “Thank you very much. What-huh………What do you think of Jiu Jitsu, Bri-un?” He overly emphasized the last syllable of my name, a product of his accent and heavy exhalation. “Ta bom. Eu gusto muito, senhor,” I sighed myself, satisfied with my efforts. We shook hands and pounded again and he clasped my arm, “Jiu Jitsu is beautiful.” I nodded in assent and thanked him, “Obrigado, senhor.” 

I was well worked over by 4 of my 5 opponents but caused a mess of problems for my final fighter and was close to a submission myself when the final whistle was blown. I stood up and looked around; we were essentially using blown out gymnastics pads on a large stairway landing. There were only about 12 of us, including Orlando and myself. Thug life. Truly a Brazilian version of Fight Club.

We shook hands with all the fighters, laced up our shoes, and limped back to the barracks. It was time to shower up, and to let the hot water discover more mat burns than we knew we had. The swelling would go down in a few days, just in time for our next session.

Military Pentathlon Obstacle Course

If you thought the IOCT was bad...............

A modern military pentathalon includes 5 events: shooting, a dry obstacle course, a wet obstacle course, throwing events, and a cross country run. We will concern ourselves solely with the dry obstacle course...for now.

The cadetes here at AMAN so fortunately have regular access to and time set aside for practice and grading on their ability to navigate the 500 meter and 20 obstacle course. For them, it's a constant test and something they can train for whenever and for however long they wish. For the "cadetes americanos" (American cadets) it is solely an embarassing exercise in painful humility.

If you will now turn your eyes to the video monitor to witness two videos; the first, a demonstration of all obstacles and some semblence of proper technique (20. Count them. I did.) and second a demonstration of how to be an Austrian and a total boss and a 2010 World Record holder. *Note* In the demonstration at about 3:15, our exhausted demonstrator is supposed to use only the horizontal beams during his ascent. The correct form for this obstacle is in the second video. *
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gk6cKsL9sU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIZeBDplaqo

Nate, Orlando, and I all jogged through this course together to ensure we learned the proper and safe way of doing each obstacle (also at the behest of our host Lieutenants, not wanting to explain to a Lieutenant Colonel why they broke the American cadets during the first week) After watching our host friends go through and come out the other side bruised, dirty, and sometimes cut and bleeding a mere 3-4 minutes later, we were warned, "It is just as hard to go fast or slow. And it does not matter your speed when start, everyone is same speed at end; sad." As we lined up, I wondered if this was a misinterpretation (mal entendido) or not. Turns out, it wasn't.

As we watched the other cadets run, Nate and I joked that the real reason any kid grows up wanting to join the military is the prevalence of playgrounds for adults. If only I could go back in time and squash that thought, I thought to myself, spitting the sand I had just crawled through as I sprinted up a steeply inclined wall. The important difference between this course and the IOCT I've grown to know and love is that if you go slow, the IOCT is not so bad. It takes until after the rope climb before you're starting to get gassed and after that it's the entirely controlled effort event of running. Not so bad. Here, messing up an obstacle means doing it over. So it behooves you to push yourself on and between obstacles to ensure you have the momentum needed to navigate it successfully. Far too many of these obstacles instructions involved the words, "Leap" or "Climb" in conjunction with the adjective "Over", to include a miniturized version of The Shelf, named "The Irish Table" Cute. But awful.

In the world record video, you'll notice on the second ladder obstacle the man who ultimate ends up winning decides to ignore the ladder for his descent. Don't be alarmed, this is in fact a technique developed by former wolrd record holder and current professor of physical fitness at........yes, you guessed it, AMAN. Lieutenant Ribamar Bandeira, of far too many accolades and awards to list here (http://www.rio2011.mil.br/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=832%3Amilitary-pentathlon-icon-joins-brazilian-technical-committee&catid=60%3Anews&Itemid=96&lang=en) developed the "Bandeira" (also means "Flag" in Portuguese. Coincidence?) for this particular obstacle. Outstanding.

Back to the grind. We leapt and crawled and climbed and jumped and collapsed exhausted but victorious on the other side. Our test is in 1 month. Good. Good. (Bom.)

Packing for Rio. Air Transport training here I come. I'll post again soon! Portuguese word of the day is a twofer. Two for one that is. "Forte" is "Strong". Conversely, "Fraco" is..............wait for it..........wait for it.........it's going to be legen......wait for it........I hope you're not lactose intolerant because it's............dary! "Weak"

Tchau for now!

Uma Noite no Resende (a Night in Resende)

As promised.........meus aventuras (my adventures)

First and foremost, after leaving the front gate of AMAN in White over Gray uniforms, we stopped at the "laranjeira". Imagine if outside of Thayer Gate (location, roughly where McDonalds is) there was a large orange house with lockers and clothing racks where you could change out of your uniform and into the civilian clothes. Just the best. Off comes the bright white sign that screams, "I am a cadet" and on comes khaki shorts (calcaos), a purple shirt (camisa roxo), and some fly white kicks (sapatos brancos). Winning.

From there, our next stop was one of our new favorite restaurants (restaurantes preferidos), Habib's (http://www.habibs.com.br/) Habib's is Arabic fast food with some other international favorites as well (hamburgers and beer as well) and is one of the largest chains in Brazil next to it's American brothers in McDonalds, Burger King, and Subway. "Bibs'fiha" (pronounced, "Sfee-hah") is much like a small pizza (roughly hand size, depending on how large your hands are) and is a staple at Habib's. It costs about 1 Real (Brazilian currency, pronounced "Hey-Ai") and is the equivalent of aboout 70 cents. A generous stack of these generally takes care of any hunger pangs quite well.

From there we played a bit of musical chairs with trying to reach one of the nicer, more touristy areas of Resende (after all.....we are tourists) where there's more people, more drinks, and yes, you guessed it, more food. After nearly getting hit by 2 different buses, which, as it turned out, were both going to the place we were trying to get to, we waited around a bit for a taxi. Since there was a group of 5 of us, we needed to wait for a minivan taxi which, if you can imagine, are less commonly found than we're used to in New York.

After finally squeezing all 5 of us into a sedan and having the driver proceed to explain that he needed an additional 5 Reals per person due to the illegality of his actions and taking our money, we headed to Penedo (see: small tourist laden faux Finnish village. Lots of fun) and proceeded to check out a variety of their shops and restaurants before stopping at a small restaurant for beers and some live music. Speaking of beers, a beer on tap in Brazil is "chopp" and anything from a can or bottle is "cerveja". The more you know.

We stayed at this restaurant listening to live music and drinking Bohemia (The original and first beer of Brazil, as they claim) which was my first........few Brasilian beers. (http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/bohemia-pilsen/24536/) We also got some fried potatoes and meat appetizers, very delicious. Following this we ended up heading towards the nearest night club, Glave do Sol (not entirely sure what this means. Google translate is wildly unhelpful. Maybe it was Clave. That's like a key. Sun key, key sun........whatever). There was some bumping electronic music, an outdoor patio, and what seemed like a lot of people inside. After attempting to talk to door people down from the semi steep charge of 33 Reals (harder to convince someone to do you a favor when they can't understand you, apparently) we walked around the building a bit just to get a glimpse inside (If I'm dropping 33 Reals on a cover charge, I better get a t-shirt and a funny hat). There was a window into the patio area and we could see that the place was largely devoid of people, much less beautiful ones that wanted to dance with me. We decided against it.

As we crawled into another cab, we watched 2 cabs worth of Brazilian cadets head into the night club. It was surprisingly easy to spot them. Short haircuts, jeans, and blown out running shoes. Some things are universal. We headed back to the Academy, crawled into bed and called it a night.

On that note, that sounds like a great idea. Another story for another night. Fogo dancing lessons and Brazilian pizza. Stay tuned!

Portuguese word of the day is "ladrao" which means "thief". Just the worst. Tchau for now!