Day 3: First Day of Class!

First Day of Class!
Following a very successful morning finding a gym about 50 metres from my apartment, I spend the day with Gabriela being shown around and meeting people as we got organized for our first class (Gabriela also found the gym for me, and went in and explained everything, helped me fill in the forms, and lent me R$15 because I didn't have enough cash. But other than that, I did it myself). 


The class is being held at the Universidade Federal do Paraná. Here is the facade:

And here is the view:

It reminds me of my office in the butterdome and view of a construction site.

Student Presentations
In a bid to make myself immediately unpopular, I started class by having the students make presentations. Thanks to Mike to "volunteering" to go first. The students were asked to present issues that had attracted their attention during the build-up to the world cup. I was really pleased with the presentations, and the students will be writing blogs about the issues they selected. Some of these issues included:

• Sport/soccer for peace programs.

• A comparison between 2014WC 'message' of equality and anti-racism and the historical legacy of racism in Brazilian soccer.

• Soccer and national identity

• Gender, globalization, and soccer.

• Several issues around the 'privilege and chore of hosting mega-events' (thanks Seb for the words there). There are lots of 'chores' including the clearing of low-income neighborhoods to make way for stadia and facilities. That would never happen in Canada... oh, wait. 

• There was also some debate about the role of FIFA and the role of the Brazilian government in dealing with some of these issues. Put another way, who gets the blame for the problems?

• One of my personal favorites is that FIFA are stopping cafe owners within 2km of stadia selling alcohol on games days, yet they are selling alcohol within the stadia. 

• Quick quiz: Who won the last world cup? *(Scroll to the bottom for the answer)

We have Canadian and Brazilian students in the class, and there were some interesting perspectives. One thing we discussed was "What would be a successful world cup for Brazil (the country, not the team)?" Here are some views:

• If Brazil do not win the world cup then this will be a victory for those who oppose hosting in the first place.

• If Brazil do win the world cup, it will be a victory for those who support the hosting because the 'problems' will be overlooked (at least temporarily) by the majority.

The Brazuca!
OK, so FIFA are now giving a media blitz to the Brazuca (the official world cup ball). Yes, it is actually called the Brazuca. Here's what I just heard on CNN. The Brazuca has got only 6 panels compared to 8 on the ball used in south africa (anyone remember the name of that ball?). The Brazuca also has a rougher surface and deeper seams, which will make the ball fly faster with less power (yep, that's what they said, "faster with less power"). They finished the item with this classic: "Players are advised not to kick the ball too hard." So, expect accuracy and speed before power.

Fun Discoveries
Some of my favourite things about Brazil so far:

(1) Netflix has Portuguese subtitles.

(2) Bear Grylls is dubbed in Portuguese in Man Vs Wild, even the grunting.

(3) There are different types of sockets/plugs. Apparently the building code changed a few years ago. Brazilians carry adaptors around with them.

Type 1 (possibly the old style, but why is this new?)

Type 2 (North American style - macbook plugged in. I think this is the new style, but why is it old?)

AND... Type 3: Both together!!

** The answer: You said Spain right? They won the Men's tournament. Why is the Men's tournament just called The FIFA World Cup and the Women's tournament called the FIFA Women's World Cup?

Japan won the last world cup (Thanks to Jessie for this one).