In nature the mama bird throws her chicks out of the nest and if they can not fly then too bad.I guess that is a good way to describe my immersion technique for learning a new language. It is, by far, the most effective technique of language acquisition that I know of. I am alone here in Brazil and I do not have anyone here to translate for me. I am reading books written in Portuguese to expand my vocabulary. My goal is to try to learn twenty words every day. The problem with this goal is that I actually already have a rather large vocabulary in Portuguese. When I read a book I recognize the vast majority of the words. I can have a conversation and I can write in Portuguese. The thing that is difficult for me is understanding the language when it is spoken to me. I still have to train my ear. Despite my difficulties, you would never guess that I have only been in Brazil for three weeks. I am already getting complements on my Portuguese, though I strive for perfection.
The hard physical challenges of riding my bicycle through Latin America have not ended. Apparently we are having an El Niño year which means it is cold and wet in the southern part of Brazil. I have seen more rain in the last month than I had seen in almost all of my travels thus far. It is wearing my patience thin. None of the rain gear I started the trip with works for me any more (A quick note: Northface may have a lifetime warranty but they do not respond to emails asking them about this. I would recommend another brand if you are going to spend a whole bunch of money on gear.).I spent about ten dollars for a plastic rain suit so I do not have to be completely cold and miserable. I am trying to camp underneath bridges when I can and avoiding the rain in every way possible.
There are no real mountains in Brazil but the entire southern part of the country is covered in interminable hills so I end up climbing as much as if there were mountains here. Combined with the rain, riding through Brazil has been no cakewalk. Rio de Janeiro is only about 900 kilometers away from where I am right now so I do not have much farther to go.
I am in Curitiba right now, staying at the house of a friend. Tomorrow, I plan to extend my tourist visa one more time and then I am going to disappear into the cracks here. I am pretty sure that I can get a job teaching English, especially with the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics being in Rio. Once I am feeling more confident with my Portuguese, I plan to give private lessons for at least $20 an hour.
In the past I have said that I want to stay here in Brazil for at least a year. I am actually thinking of staying permanently now. I have many reasons to not want to pay taxes to the U.S. government but the thought of an individual insurance mandate brings my disgust with the American government to new levels. There is no fucking way that I am going to be forced give my money to those thieving bastards. I might either wait for an amnesty for immigrants here in Brazil or cynically marry a Brazilian for citizenship. If I manage to obtain Brazilian citizenship I might even renounce my American citizenship. The U.S. Congress has not passed this mandate yet but I fear that it is a foregone conclusion.
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