My Factory of Extravagant Marvels

Here I am writing my blog post during class. It's OK. I am good at multitasking (when it's convenient). Rouge Gueule , a play by Étienne Lepage that I directed, was the opening show of the fifth edition of the  Théâtre Ouvert de Bruxelles , a student run festival that is taking place at ULB until April 5th 2011. I have to say this was one of my dearest theatre experiences so far, the whole company had a wonderful time rehearsing, producing and presenting the play, and to complete the fun, we were featured on a 2 min reportage at RTBF, one of Belgium's main francophone TV channels (wanna watch it, check out the play's blog link above). I think the reason I enjoyed the work so much this time was that I felt really free to experiment. I felt like I didn't own my choices to anybody and that just helped me to let myself go crazy. Also, everybody in the company was extremely talented and generous, which helped the whole process result in a fun and smart show. We are n...

Muitas águas já rolaram desde meu último post, desculpe a ausência. Deixe-me tentar contar tudo num resumão... As aulas começaram mais ou menos dia 20 de setembro. Vocês devem achar estranho eu dizer "mais ou menos", mas é isso mesmo. A Universidade Livre de Bruxelas faz juz ao seu nome "livre" no que diz respeito a datas... alguns professores começaram desde a primeira semana, outros iriam começar só na terceira, e outros ainda, resolveram na última hora deixar pra começar só no semestre que vem. Bom, posso confessar que isso não me agradou em nada. Estou acostumada com as instuições canadenses, onde tudo é muito organizado e as regras são respeitadas. Esse negócio de não saber ao certo se eu estava perdendo aulas ou se or professores tinha apenas resolvido estender as férias não é nada legal. Prindipalmente se você acaba de chegar numa cidade e está doidinha pra estabelecer uma rotina e organizar sua vida, como eu estava. Bom, agora as coisas já estão se encai...

Yesterday it was very sunny so I decided to go for a bike ride in the morning to enjoy the day. I went to the Atomium , one of the big tourist attractions in Brussels, which consists of a huge metallic-looking structure representing an atom. I didn't go in because I wanted to spend the day outside and save the 8 euros of admission fee, but it was nonetheless a pleasant trip. The Atomium is very shiny on a sunny day (and at night too, thanks to the lights they turn on at sundown). Later in the day I joined Courtney (an American girl from Florida/California I met through Couch Surfing) at the Flea Market at Place Jeu de Balle. It was interesting to see how much random stuff can be together in the same public square. The prices are not cheap, specially if you are chatting in English and look like a tourist, but the view is quite peculiar. From old cameras, to China, to 70's furniture, you could find mostly anything there. One very annoying thing: many of the salesmen ...

I overheard that Belgium is one of the most bureaucratic countries in Europe but I guess I could only believe after having gone through the system myself. It took me 6 visits to different institutions to be able to open a checking account to receive my scholarship. Good heavens! I suspect that they are closing off the banks as one of the efforts to make the lives of illegal immigrants more difficult, but I feel like they are taking the wrong approach. For one: if you come to Belgium on a student visa (or mostly any long stay visa) you have to register with the Commune (city office) and get a Permis de Sejour (permit to stay). They must believe that will help keeping track of the people who come live here. Sweet delusion. Most of the people "without papers" (as they say) simply ignore that rule and never show up to register. Well, when you do have papers and go to register, they are not very friendly or smiley to start with. Then, after you registered and gave them your...

Good day to you all! I know I have been absent for a while, but you have to forgive me - from precarious sleeping places to intermitent internet connections, a bunch of things got on my way of sending news to you. I am finally settling in Brussels. Today I move into the place where I will hopefully spend the whole year. I will finally have an address and a stable home. My first couple of days on the old continent were a little messy. I arrived here on Friday at 7:30am, but for me it was like 1:30am. I really just wanted to go to bed and sleep. Dimitri, my CouchSurfing host could only receive me at 7pm, though, and wanted to go partying after that. Thank heavens that my new classmate Marta (who graciously went to pick me up at the airport with Carla) offered me her house for the day. She and her boyfriend Alberto, both from Italy, were very nice and cooked a delicious Cabonara pasta to welcome me to Brussels. I even took a nap at her place. In the evening, I went to meet my CS hos...

How awful is it that the Catholic church equates women's equality rights to pedophilia? Compare Articles 5 and 6 of the new Vatican rules. To put it in plain words, they are saying that women who are ordained Catholic priests (and those who help them do so) deserve the same type of punishment as the sick priests who engage in sexual relations with kids! I am ashamed of having belonged to this denomination for the first years of my life, albeit without my own consent. Unfortunately, many people in my family are still faithful to this disgusting institution which just uses its followers for political manipulations. I am deeply sad that so many of my Brazilian compatriots are not only catholics , but active catholics, who look for moral counseling from such idiots as the ones who implement these misogynistic policies. This is an offense to all women who diligently go to church, donate their time to the institution, and follow the doctrine. Especially because the great majority...