Jovens Aprendizes Group Discussion

> This morning Martha, Ron, Erica, Alewa and I met with 15 members of the Jovens Aprendizes Organization. We first sat in and observed them rehearse parts of thier performance for Saturday. Their material had an underlying message, like use protection, or personal experiences, some of which was expressed through acting, or rapping. > The graffiti teacher, Demison was very active with the group. He was showing them how to engage the crowd, and how they could express what they were saying through body language. >After they were finished, we all gathered in a circle, and a group organizer for J.A. named Martha joined us while we basically discussed any topics that we thought of. Alewa translated everything we covered, like body image, the Brazilian Amizon, sterotypes, dance, social class, propaganda, global knowledge, American, Brazilian, and interracial relationships. It was amazing to hear how the American culture is perceived. Mainly because of the media´s influence. Although we discussed a variety of things, what completly schocked me the most was how much the Brazilians knew about America, and how little [us, as students in] Americans knew about Brazil. >Toward the end of our visit, we danced Samba, and some of the Jovens Aprendizes members demonstrated their dancing skills. So far, I´ve noticed that at any given moment the majority of people, if not all, are willing to dance. It was like 11 am and we basically had a little party in the middle of their classroom/studio. I loved it. I adore how open they are with their culture, and how willing and patient they are in showing and teaching us their dances.
~

and so i just realized this didnt need to be so formal.

so next time i wont spend like 20 minutes trying to spell words right, cuz it doesnt matter.

[Padre cant even read this anyway.]

Grrr.

xxoo

Vika