Slept in, ate breakfast, took a nap, ate lunch, did some homework, went to the laundromat, read the local newspaper, watched some movies, updated some forms and typed some papers for our program, ate a killer hotdog, and… that about sums it up.
So what am I going to do w/ the rest of this space to write?
Ha… well, currently showing on TV is one of many commercials ESPN’s been playing about NFL Football – Americanizations anyone? The commercials are almost funny to watch – classical music, slow motion, trying to show the beauty of the sport. I would say of ten commercials that pass, 4-6 are NFL related. They even have a minute clip telling the NFL Rules with highlights; this afternoon I watched a show about the history of the Super Bowl. They sure are blugging hard to get Brazilians interested in football.
I don’t have any facts to back this up, but I imagine this is a similar technique they used many years ago to introduce basketball, and today it’s surprisingly big. Like was mentioned in an earlier blog, the other day when we were playing w/ the neighborhood kids at the church they would rather play basketball than soccer. And it wasn’t just because they were with two American guys and they thought we’d be good at basketball and awful at soccer (a typical stereotype), but one of the kids – who was actually a pretty decent ball handler – said he didn’t even know how to play soccer (which was totally against the stereotypes I have of Brazilians).
NFL football will take some work for it to get big. There are some big barriers that they have to overcome: #1. footballs are hard to find, #2. fields to play in are limited. Hence, I imagine this is why futsol (soccer on a basketball-like court) was invented and is the main way to play soccer here. In fact, in Brazil I still haven’t played a pick up game of soccer on grass yet --- COMMERCIAL ALERT… so this is the 2nd commercial since I started writing my blog, and what was it? “ESPN PRESENTS, NFL RULES.” Ha… this one was explaining what a kickoff was.
Walking through downtown Florianópolis yesterday we passed a McDonalds. It’s dirty yellow arches on the outside, providing shade for those enjoying their ice cream desserts, looked to be at least 25 years old. Though it’s nice to have some reminders of home every now and then, in my opinion it saddens me to see so many influences of the United States. In a way they take over the ideas and way of life here.
At times I stop and trace the reasoning behind why things are the way they are? More often than not it all comes back to one word: money – the root of all evil. My hats go off to the marketing and advertising agencies that do their job well. I mean, geez, where would Brazil be without “Big Brother 6” (their version of MTV’s Real World, except smuttier), or spending three times as much money to eat a Quartarão at McD’s (Quarter Pounder) or Pizza Hut, or improving their literacey skills thanks to a majority of English television programs and movies.
Of course, globalization does have its benefits. I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t recognize that for two years I dedicated my life as one of 50,000 volunteers globalizing the teachings of Jesus Christ. And I am ever so thankful for the increasing communication skills that bring the people of the world together in such a personal way. So I suppose it’s only natural that globalization occurs, taking from one’s culture and sharing with another.
The institute director of Floripa gets in tomorrow, so we’ll get to talk w/ him and discuss our plans for teaching those taking institute who are getting help from the PEF.
Tomorrow, we also plan on going to southern Floripa to the Praia dos Naufragos.
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