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Blog Post 2

I wish I had thought to take a photo of myself on my first day of my internship as a tangible comparison to where I am, just a couple weeks later. I walked into Mila 20 minutes early for my 9am arrival time, wearing a navy blue sundress and sneakers with my hair in a neat braid. I worked just 3 hours that day, mostly washing dishes, and went home absolutely exhausted. The Portuguese spoken by customers and staff was often fast and clipped. I had to give them my full attention, actually orient myself to see their lips move, if I hoped to understand. I needed help every step of the way. I didn’t know how to take orders, bus tables, use the computer, charge people, or make drinks. I didn’t know who was a regular or a first-timer, that the people who brought their own mugs and those who worked at the French Embassy a block away got a discount, or that a bica is an espresso and a galão is a latte. I walked into Mila the other day at 9:03am, not quite so out of breath from the hilly 40-minute walk. A cheerful “bom dia” was exchanged as I walked purposefully behind the kitchen and climbed the stairs, setting my backpack on a shelf along with the others. I pulled off the tank top I had worn on the walk and replaced it with one of my black Mila shirts. Tying it in the back, I pulled my hair back in a clip, slid a notepad and pen into my jean shorts pocket, and headed back down, Birkenstocks clomping on the stairs. The cafe was quiet— it was still early— so I hopped behind the bar to fill glass water bottles and wash some dishes, joking with one of my favorite baristas and hearing about his day at the beach the day before. Just an hour later, not a seat was vacant. I navigated the sea of bodies from table to table, switching from Portuguese to English at the drop of a hat, taking orders, answering questions, giving recommendations about places to see in Lisbon. It was this day, this critical incident that I felt I finally became immersed in the culture. 

Sometimes, I still can’t believe the Portuguese coming out of my mouth is mine. My speaking skills were passable before coming here, but they have improved exponentially. Three, four, five times a day people comment, calling my Portuguese “incredible,” and “native,” saying they wouldn’t have guessed that it wasn’t my first language. I always smile politely while my insides leap. I’m so happy to be in a place where I speak Portuguese almost constantly. Out of the 15 employees at Mila, three are Portuguese, three are Nepalese, and the rest are Brazilian. Brazilian Portuguese was, and still is, the easiest for me to understand. It’s slow and more pronounced, plus I’m just more used to it. The Lisbon Portuguese has been an adjustment. I’d say I can, now, understand 90% of what the Portuguese employees at Mila say to me on the first try, especially if they say it a little slower. Harder is when the Portuguese customers come in, because I speak Portuguese to them, so they don’t know that it’s my second language and that I’m not super familiar with the Portuguese accent in Lisbon. Sometimes I’ll have to ask for an order two or three times before I get it, but it’s happened far less in the past week than in the weeks before. I’ve learned to recognize accents: from just a word I can often tell who’s German, American, Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, or English. I’ve learned to swap almost effortlessly between Portuguese and English, using them interchangeably when I write orders on my notepad. One table I go to speaks English, the next speaks Portuguese. One of the baristas at Mila is Chilean; he speaks to me in Spanish and I respond in Portuguese. Another is French but speaks only English, no Portuguese, so I’ll often act as a translator. In just two weeks, I’ve learned the difference between an imperial and a caneca, a café and a coffee. I’ve learned what a contribuente number is, how to print a factura, how to manage expectations, apologize for an error, and deal with difficult people, in multiple languages. I’ve also learned how exhausting a service job can be. I work eight hours a day, five days a week. I’m on my feet for all of it, except for my 30 minute lunch break. I walk back and forth from the kitchen to the bar to the tables a million times an hour, or bend over a sink washing dishes or a blender making smoothies. It doesn’t sound like much, but I do see the difference between intellectually challenging, which I’m more used to, and physically draining, which I’m not. Regardless, the language skills I’m learning and the fun I’m having at Mila, and in Portugal, has far exceeded my expectations. I can’t wait for another 5 weeks.

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First Post

May 23, 2023

This internship abroad is an absolute blessing…. So why do I feel this nervous? 

Upon completing exams and staying for ND’s senior week as a member of ND Folk Choir, I returned home (Pensacola, FL) for a few short days. Less than a week from now, I will fly to Vienna, Austria to work at the Zentrum Johannes Paul II, a Catholic parish and community. My short week at home includes a flurry of unpacking and repacking, appointments and preparation for travel, and cherished time with my family. 

With the months-long process of applying for this wonderful grant, locating and securing a suitable internship, and figuring out logistics, somehow I am counting down the days for an adventure that does not yet seem my own. As if I were a travel agent or administrator to someone else’s plans, I feel somewhat disconnected—the realization has not yet sunk in. As the days in Pensacola pass, my anxiousness transforms into excitement for what is to come. 

Last summer, I had the blessing to intensively study German for 6-7 weeks in Radolfzell, Germany through the CSLC’s SLA Grant. Though very similar, the new aspect of working in a foreign, professional environment presents new challenges and, admittedly, gnaws at some insecurities. Will my professional skills be enough? Will my professional German be sufficient to communicate effectively? How long will it take for my German to „bounce back“ to its near-fluent proficiency from the immersion environment? 

At Zentrum Johannes Paul II, the parish is rapidly growing, and thus the administration and ministry operations function similarly to a start-up: an extremely collaborative environment and multidisciplinary roles, altogether requiring flexibility and fast learning. From what I understand through my communications with the Zentrum, I will be able to contribute in everything from management to music ministry to fundraising for the renovations. This prospect not only excites me but also counteracts the expectations or assumptions I would otherwise rely upon to mentally and logistically prepare. So while radically freeing, the lack of expectations leaves room for some anxiousness to seep in. 

Well, enough pondering for now—it’s time for more packing! 

Alles Gute und bis bald! 

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Post #3 Generalizations: American… or U.S. American?

Throughout my internship thus far, I have had the privilege of visiting Costa Rican cultural and historical sites, seeing new animals and natural environments, and, most significantly, meeting new people–from Nicaragua, Venezuela, and even Germany! Each week on Mondays through Wednesdays, I hold a 2.5 hour advanced English conversation class for adults. The same three individuals have been attending, and I have had the opportunity to know them on a personal level and learn more about Costa Rican culture. Our conversations have ranged from Disney movies to daycares to job interview questions. Recently, however, much of our conversations have focused on Costa Rican culture and American culture. 

Typically, I am the one asking them questions to keep the conversation going; however, on Tuesday, the tables turned and they began the class by asking me questions about any preconceived ideas I had about Costa Rica prior to arriving. After giving them my responses–in which I believed that Costa Rica would revolve around its ecotourism industry and the people would be very chill–I asked them about their thoughts on Americans. Most of their hetero-stereotypes have been based on interactions they’ve had with Americans in SIFAIS (the social work organization I am interning at) and on social media or television. The hetero-stereotypes were generally negative, with my students believing that Americans were very entitled and selfless, unwilling to serve the La Carpio community despite volunteering at a social work organization. Furthermore, they believed this to be true because of how U.S. Americans refer to themselves as “Americans” and not “North/U.S. Americans,” as if the United States is the only legitimate nation in the Americas (emphasis on the “s” in Americas). Additionally, my students thought of U.S. Americans as wasteful, a bit greedy, and thought that they are all mainly white and racist (they were very shocked to see me–an African American/Panamanian as the English teacher). 

From what I heard prior to going to La Carpio my first couple of times, La Carpio is the most impoverished and dangerous barrio in all of Costa Rica… it also just so happens to be where a majority of Nicaraguan refugees reside (xenophobia against Nicaraguans?). With La Carpio having such a bad reputation amongst everyday Costa Ricans, I think it may have caused a lot of U.S. Americans to be wary of the people living there and, thus, unwilling to fully serve as volunteers in SIFAIS and other organizations in La Carpio. Much to my surprise, I was told by one of my students that I am the kindest and most humble American that they had ever met. Following my initial shock, I reflected on some of my international experiences with U.S. Americans. Although I believe that there is a large number of U.S. Americans who are selfless and considerate, I do think that a lot of U.S. Americans are out of touch with the hardships and realities of other societies (both inside and outside the U.S.) and often show pity instead of elevating the humanity of those struggling. Regarding their thoughts on Americans as wasteful, unfortunately, I have to agree. However, as a Panamanian-African American, I believe that, from an outside perspective, the racism in the U.S. is exaggerated, because sooooo many other countries have problems with racism (especially anti-Blackness), but their race issues have yet to come to the surface like in the U.S.

Reflecting on these hetero-stereotypes, specifically how Americans have indirectly belittled Costa Ricans and Nicaraguan refugees living in La Carpio, . Overall, it was very beneficial and interesting to hear how U.S. Americans are perceived to be, and I cannot wait to discover more about Costa Rican culture in the coming weeks!

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Ciao Bella

One thing that I’ve experienced almost daily in Italy is people, mostly older men, saying ‘ciao bella,’ at me as I walk past them in the street. My first thought is that my name isn’t Bella and that they must have me confused with someone else they know called Bella (kidding, bella means beautiful in Italian). No, at first, I found it pretty scary. When walking around by myself and a strange man tries to talk to me, a stranger danger alarm sounds in my head. When this happens in America, I speed up my walking pace and become ultra-aware of my surroundings for a couple of blocks until I’m sure that I’m in the clear. At first, that’s what I did here too. My brain interpreted their words as threatening and, to be fair, with statistics of female assaults in the US so high, with good reason. My cultural expectation is that a man catcalling me in the street is potentially a prelude to worse things.

After raising the incidents with colleagues and reflecting on these interactions, I don’t think I interpreted them correctly. I believe that their ‘ciao bella,’ is comparable to a friendly nod of the head – just the old Italian man equivalent. Aside from a couple of occasions where there was an additional ‘dove vai (where are you going),’ they simply say ‘ciao bella,’ then proceed with their day as they had been before, no following, no additional comments. Sometimes there’s staring, but I’ve found that to be a common occurrence with all Italians when I’m here. To clarify, I don’t think it’s because I’m an incredible beauty that they can’t get enough of. It’s more that I’m very pale, freckly, and slightly ginger, and there’s pretty few people who look like that in Italy.

Using the DIVE technique to evaluate this situations was very useful. Being female has given me a pretty strong awareness of how safe I feel in situations. This means that, whilst walking around Italy by myself with these interactions occurring, I was on high alert a lot of the time. Using the DIVE technique to evaluate these interactions has allowed me to feel safer and more relaxed. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to be aware, but being able to be passively aware, rather than on-edge, creates a much nicer atmosphere for exploring a new country and, as a result, has allowed me to place more focus on appreciating my surroundings.

Me sitting in a cave in Bagnoregio where a priest used to live and make olive oil and where part of Pinocchio was filmed! Bagnoregio is the most gorgeous town on top of a hill that can only be accessed by a very steep bridge.
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Blog Post #2: First Week and more

Shibuya Crossing

In my first week of being in Japan, I have been working on maximizing every second of free time with as much exploration as possible. While I have gotten a few stares here and there (some less concealed than others), overall I feel very welcome here.

Because I am interested in the culture and history, I have also been to a few Shinto and Buddhist shrines. Honestly, these have been the most prominent times when I feel out of place. For example, early into my time here, I want to a small shrine buried in the concrete jungle of downtown Tokyo. Because I did not want to be perceived as a gawking tourist nor as someone who is committing offensive acts, I took the stance that I would when entering a church: being very quiet, keeping my head down, not waving my phone’s camera at those in prayer or at the inner places of worship. I noticed a sign next to a large circular door/arch that talked about etiquette for entering the shrine and how to properly worship here. I immediately went to the side and started reading. It included rules like how you are to properly purify your hands with water in a certain manner, then you are to enter the arch a total of three times, looping back around after entering, and then you are ready to approach the main altar. While I was reading this sign, I noticed two foreigners just walk right in, go through the arch, and then stand at the altar, looking around them with a camera in hand (only a few feet from the “no pictures” sign). It made me feel embarrassed as I was now one of three foreigners present, and the local people who came to pay respects at the shrine began to throw their glances my way as well. I felt out of place as not only did I feel as though I was being lumped in with the other foreigners, but I also knew that I was not familiar with the proper etiquette and did not want to commit any faux pas. Looking back on it, there was not really much I could have done. I just gave a short bow to those that were staring at me, and I quickly made my escape. If I had to describe the cultural interpretations at play here using a metaphor, then the culture here was layered like a cake. I had no idea what to do with this “cake” and had never seen one like it before, so I decided to stand to the side and try to examine the layers which were all new to me so I could properly understand what it was before I took my next action. The tourists nearby saw an “exotic cake”, walked up, took a bite, and walked away, never stopping to see what they were even seeing or doing.

Anyways, I have been working on my Japanese everyday and trying to put it to use whenever I can, and I can already notice improvements in my listening and speaking skills. Additionally, I have had the chance to get to meet my coworkers who are at the office that I am interning at. So far, I have met only very nice and welcoming people from Japan, Hong Kong, and America who all work here. In fact, after the second day of work, the other intern and I went out for food and drinks with some coworkers. We got to learn more about their interests, their time at the office, and I got to try monja and okonomiyaki for the first time, and both were great. Everyday at the internship, we have been able to meet fantastic people: from kind coworkers to retired CEOs, I have had such a great time meeting new people.

Lastly, I just want to add a little bit about some of the places that I have seen. So, I am living in Roppongi, a neighborhood known for many expats, foreign embassies, expensive condos, and sketchy nightclubs and jazz bars. But, I have also done been to Shibuya (the place with the crowded crossing), the Imperial Palace (wow, it was huge), Jimbocho (a neighborhood known for bookshops), and Naka-Meguro (a place further afield in Tokyo that has a small river flowing through it). I have done quite a bit of what I call “wandering”, where I will just take off walking in a direction and make it back some time later, stopping at whatever interests me on the way. At the cost of my legs aching all the time, I have been hitting 7-20 miles of walking everyday.

PS: I am writing this nearly two weeks in, and I will update the blog soon enough with my experiences of my second week, so stay tuned. I have been keeping a detailed journal of what I do everyday to refresh the memories too. (I also forgot to add that I went to Disney Sea Tokyo)

Entrance to Disney Sea Tokyo

Tsukiji Fish Market
Imperial Palace
A Rock Bar in Roppongi
Naka Meguro
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Americ-her? I hardly know her!

Over the course of my time in Orvieto, I’ve had many great conversations with a PhD student in my lab, Gabriele. We’ve exchanged questions about our lives, families, cultures, languages, and from these conversations I’ve learnt lots about him and Italy. When I asked him about his thoughts on Americans, he said that most of what he knew was from the news. He’d never been to America and hadn’t met that many Americans so was unsure of the stereotypes and thought it would be difficult to generalize – Americans were lots of different things. The few times he had interacted with Americans had been at university or on nights out, where he found them to be very sociable and fun.

When talking about similarities between Italy and America, he talked about music, technology and fashion trends. He thought lots of trends were shared between the two due to the internet and social media allowing information to pass between countries much faster. He noted that this was especially prominent amongst the younger generations, where social trends were changing quickly and spreading faster, fueled by platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

I found this conversation to be a little surprising as I had expected him to know more about what was going on in America, but I guess that’s because America is very America-centric, so all our news is about what’s going on in our country and I had assumed that other countries were equally as interested in us. However, this clearly isn’t the case.

This interaction gave me a greater appreciation for studying foreign languages and being able to have incredible experiences like this, where I can immerse myself in another culture and develop a global perspective. I would love to keep having conversations like this so that I can better understand other experiences and appreciate their perspectives; being able to speak with them in a language that they feel comfortable with is a great way to do so.

In short, thank you CSLC for this eye-opening experience!

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Life in Slow Motion

Hola! Halfway through my internship and I am so excited to share with y’all about my journey so far. I finished 2nd week in the clinic. I have learned so much. I have been able to interact a lot with patients by shadowing the doctor and she has taught me so much as well. I am not only picking up on medical vocabulary in Spanish but also experiencing the integral doctor-patient relationships that build and define a practice.

This past weekend we went to the Limón Province on the Caribbean side of the country. We first went to Cahuita National Park and did a wildlife tour. I saw a sloth for the first time ever and some pretty scary spiders and snakes. We also were able to hang out on the beach and swim in the sea. Saturday night we went to an organic farm near the town of Bribri. The farm is run by a matriarchal indigenous tribe of the same name as the town. We toured the different agricultural products and talked about the Bribri tradition with the current matriarch. It was amazing to hear the many stories she had to tell and of her special connection to nature. To end our trip in Limón, we traveled to the city of Limón. There we attended mass in the cathedral and walked down the town center and talked about the African diaspora that occurred in the industrial age of Costa Rica in order to bring workers for different projects.

For this post, I’ve been tasked to talk about stereotypes and generalizations. To start, an auto-stereotype is one imposed on myself about groups I belong to. A hetero-stereotype is one that other people impose on me. We were asked to talk to someone in our host country about the stereotypes there are for United States Americans. I talked to my co-worker, Jennifer, for this project.

We started our lunch like we normally do, talking about how busy it is today, the class Jennifer is taking at night, or our dogs. But then we brought up the perception of United States Americans in Costa Rica. Jennifer had never been to the US, so a lot of her perceptions were based on interactions she has had with another US student and the media. She mentioned that there seems to be a large sense of patriotism for US Americans. She also brought up a certain degree of arrogance and and ignorance with other groups of people.

I think that solely relying on media to make assumptions about a whole group of people is not the best modus operandi. I also think that media tends to highlight the worst of things– in this case the bad actions of US Americans. But I think she is not entirely wrong. There is a large degree of patriotism that we see in the US– one could argue it is growing day by day too. Also most of the times US Americans do seem to be arrogant, but I think that anyone from any group can be arrogant; it just shows in different ways.

I was really interested to learn about her perception of US Americans and I can’t wait to update y’all soon. Hasta Luego.

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Post #2: Critical Incidents

Throughout my time in Costa Rica, I have been able to adjust myself decently well to the culture and climate. I have enjoyed all of the new experiences and people I have met since arriving here. As anticipated prior to my arrival, I have adjusted well to the food, my internship, pace of life, and with my host family. Every now and then, I have encountered some cultural clashes, such as work-life balance, or eating habits, but overall I would say that I have adjusted well. However, one of my greatest challenges has been learning how to maneuver through the Costa Rican public transportation system.  

Coming from Fort Worth, Texas, I had little-to-no experience with public transportation. Using the South Shoreline train from South Bend to Chicago during my first year at Notre Dame was a new and exciting experience to me, but did little to prepare me for the public transportation in Costa Rica. Prior to using Costa Rican public transportation, I assumed that all bus fares cost the same and that the bus would stop at every stop on route. Furthermore, I assumed the buses to arrive consistently and periodically.

However, upon first using the buses in Costa Rica, I felt very overwhelmed, as I had to strategically plan when to wake up so that I could not only sleep, get ready (while sharing one bathroom with four other people), and eat breakfast comfortably but also to get to the bus stop on time. Though it sounds easy, it was quite difficult for me primarily because the bus only comes once an hour at any time within a 30 minute time period (sometimes really early and sometimes really late). Upon using the bus for the first time alone, I was very nervous. Since not every bus stop in Costa Rica is distinctly known, I had to learn how to be comfortable with asking people for directions to the bus stop and confidently waving a bus down. Moreover, I had to quickly learn how much each bus fare was (I take 4 buses to go and come back), where it is appropriate for me to sit during the bus ride, and how many times and when to pull the cord to stop the bus.  Furthermore, it is quite common for Costa Ricans to greet people–stranger or not–on the street. Due to this, I was expecting it to be normal to show acknowledgement to the person sitting next to me on the bus. However, when riding the bus, I learned that even though it is common to say “Buenas” to those in passing, on the bus it is not normal to greet the person sitting next to you.

Overall, I am proud of myself for finally learning how to navigate public transportation–and especially in another language! I feel far more independent and confident in my abilities to travel alone now that I have mastered public transportation. Furthermore, I cannot wait to see how I will grow from future cultural critical incidents! 

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Blog Post #2 – Paris has no A/C

Parisian Pond

I am awake, under what must be a weighted blanket, sweating my soul away on a humid Parisian night. I finally decide to open the window but the bugs are easier to catch than the breeze. Why can’t there be air conditioning in Paris? Why can’t I sleep in hot weather? And why, if they do not have air conditioning, did my homestay give me the thickest comforter I have ever used? To be frank, at the moment I was frustrated! The phrase “l’enfer, c’est l’autre” is classic Jean-Paul Sartre, the French Existentialist. I think he must have written this on one of the hottest nights in Paris because not only was I hot, I was in a terrible mood! Now, I am feeling much better about the lack of air conditioning, but that might also be due to the weather cooling off in Paris.

Air conditioning, at this moment, is a part of the cultural onion of Paris! Where does this first layer start? Well, it begins with the cafes! Everybody is sitting outside, even though it is super hot out! This is of course due to the lack of air conditioning inside! Why be crammed in a hot room when one can be outside? This carries through all Parisian life! Being outside in the summer is just the thing to do. Picnics or reading in the park are the true Parisian experience. And that’s the cultural norm! If we peel back the layers, we can understand, lots of that comes from the lack of air conditioning! This continues to remind me that though an experience is different, it is not worse! Frankly, I would gladly give up the air conditioning to know that all my meetings and hangouts would be outside! However,  I write that on a cool Parisian night! 

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Blog Post 1

This post was written on May 17th, but for some reason I haven’t been able to publish it until now. Hopefully fifth try’s the charm 🙂

My 10 weeks of Portuguese glory are beginning today and I couldn’t be more excited. Besides from the simple fact that I’ve just never been to Portugal, actually working in a foreign country for two months is something few get the opportunity to do. Growing up in an American-Brazilian, bilingual household, I do feel like I’ve been exposed to a variety of cultures and my identity is sort of a hodge-podge of them all. I try to take the best parts from each culture and background I’m exposed to and leave the parts that don’t quite fit in with my values or goals.

I think it goes without saying that my most serious goal is to perfect my Portuguese. Though I grew up speaking Brazilian Portuguese, it was tainted by the 4 years of advanced/AP Spanish I took in high school. Spanish too is a wonderful language but I’m excited to be spending the summer in one of the two major countries of the world that speak Portuguese as their primary language. From what I’ve heard, Lisbon is full of tourists, so employees here will often just begin speaking English with whoever looks like they’re from out of the country. If this is the case, it would be easy for me to default to the language I’m most comfortable with and speak little of the language I came to Portugal to improve. To combat this, I’m going to try to respond to their English greeting with a Portuguese one, to show them that I’m fairly comfortable speaking the language and I want to try to get my point across using that. I also want to make a point of trying to make small talk with employees at cafes or stores, asking them just a question or two that’s not related to what I need (how’s your day going? what’s your favorite part of Lisbon?)

When I come back from this 10-week period, I hope to have shown myself that I can make it on my own in a foreign country. I can buy groceries, travel on the metro, cook, work, and explore using my wits and smarts. I think that would be empowering for me.