By mfretes93
How much of your life do you live on the go?
It's been one of the most difficult adjustments I've had to make while I've been here in Rio. But before coming here, I never realized how much of my life I spend multitasking, especially when it comes to meals. Back in the States, breakfast before class usually involves me frantically making coffee after oversleeping by at least 10 or 15 minutes, pouring the coffee into a travel mug, grabbing a cereal bar, and briskly walking to class, mouth half-full with granola.
And of course, I never thought that this sort of lifestyle would be perceived strangely in other parts of the world.
I started classes this week. Which meant, obviously, that I needed to slip back into my old habits. After pressing snooze one time too many and realizing that I was going to be late for my very first day, I got ready and ran out the door, breakfast in hand. Breakfast, in this situation, meaning a granola bar I brought from the U.S., and an apple.
On the bus to school though, I kept asking myself why people were looking at me strangely on the bus for chomping on my apple and Nature Valley bar. I thought that it was the noise--I was, after all, eating the two noisiest foods of all time in public--but in the days afterwards, people would look at me weirdly for eating pastries, grapes, sandwiches, and just about anything while walking around in public. It was as if I was walking around with five or six heads, and maybe an extra arm or two. But all I was doing was eating.
When discussing this strangeness with other American students, I realized that we all had the same problem: looks from strangers when eating while walking on the street, and an inability to comprehend why coffee doesn't come in travel cups, sleeves and all. But when I spoke to my Brazilian professor, I realized that this strangeness was my own doing.
Here in Brazil, few people live their lives on the go. All meals are meant to be enjoyed, even if it's just a coffee, and even if it's just a granola bar you're having for breakfast--or cafe da manhã as it's known around these parts. Meals and coffee are time for you to spend time with friends or family, to sit back and relax, to take a break from the daily grind, from work, and from life. The idea here is that your obligations can wait: it's more important to enjoy life.
So all of those looks? They were from people who just couldn't understand why I would be trying to get rid of that special time. They were from people who couldn't comprehend the idea of taking those meals and coffees, intended for relaxing time, on the street so that I could continue to work, and not relax. They didn't see the need for rushing through the day and through life--the very notion of "on the go" that my life revolves around in the States.
Which means that I've been trying to wake up a bit earlier so that I can make my coffee and enjoy my breakfast at home, before running off, late for class. It hasn't been the most successful as of yet, but slowly but surely, I'm getting used to the idea of living the life of a true carioca--walking a little slower, laughing a little more, and tucking the travel mug away until I get back to the States.