September 22, 2007
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What would you do for a glass of juice?
When we say minimum wage, we normally mean the bottom rung that you can`t go under. the place you start and quickly go higher–right? not here. Minimum wage just went from 350$R to 380$R. And basically, if you work in Brasil, you get minimum wage. In US money that is $190US–for a month. A woman i know, manager of one of the nicest clothing stores in the city, makes $400US a month. And she is considered well off. I almost made twice that, working 30hour weeks. Minimum wage is what sugar cane workers make. working six days a week, 12 a day shifts, or more.
i take so much for granted.
I am still in process about my student visa. farther along than before, and far enough to know i won`t know anything until the end of the year. Apparently, i need to do this and that here to get some papers so i can go back to the US and do this and that there…they seem to hire people to do one job, and then only that person can do that job. everyone else points you toward that person, but you have to go through five more to get to them, and then you find out they took an extended vacation the day before. Welcome to Brasil baby.
I waved my hand for them to stop even before I knew what I was
doing. In Brasil, you have a series of transportation. The very well off will
have a truck or SUV, or really nice car. The well off have a car. The majority
do not. We then have our caste system—the bus, the combe, and then the jeep. I
had to earn the privilege of being responsible enough to use the bus system,
which I have pretty well down, considering there is one main road, and you
stand on the side headed the direction you want to go. A newer addition to my
collection has been combies. I am convinced that it would be the cure for
American individualism. Combies stuff people into a general amizade, and get
you out of your bubble. No way to get around accidentally meeting someone`s
eye. Jeeps are stuffed to the brim in layers, something most combies don`t even
do, so when I flagged one down, Karine looked at me in surprise.For some reason, it was almost empty today. I asked to ride
in the back with the bumps that I thought would toss me out the back, which was
not enclosed. It was a sweet ride with the wind. Must be something in the
water. On the way back, I wanted to ride a moto, but it was way out of our
price range. Even a jeep was out of our price range, as I miscalculated the
cost. So we walked. A good couple of kilometers. All that for the best juice
and ice cream in the world. Acerolandia.
