Hey everybody,
Yep, some news from me, Belgian Bruno, so long overdue that my New Year wishes have turned into Happy Saint Valentine, well, just consider it as all my love going out to you! (or, maybe I should just say I'm on Chinese calender, so I'm even a bit early, but hey, and who are you to contradict 1,3B people)
So, what happened to me: well, after finishing my contract in Haiti in May 2006, my trip in the Caribbean and Brazil, I flew back to Belgium in July '06, spent six months settling, seeing friends all over Europe, a month in Lisboa to study Portuguese, skiing and just generally touching down and enjoying myself.
Three weeks ago I flew back to Brazil, and traveled from Rio down to Porto Alegre where I am now. Next week I am spending carnival in Salvador de Bahia (Brazil) and then will be volunteering in Porto Alegre March and April 07 before heading over to Buenos Aires and Santiago and going back home mi May 07, looking for my "real" job.
Now, since this is a very long (to compensate the overdue factor) email, let me just tell you what to expect so you can skip to whatever interests you more? First of all,
(English) a portrait of how this raped woman could possibly be spreading HIV- the cliff hanger to keep you reading,
(francais) details about my volunteering position here in Porto Alegre - pour les motives,
(Dutch) after the sex, how love came about in my life, Thomas,
and finally some information about South Brasil (Spanish) and Porto Alegre (Portuguese).
Portrait:
Miss D, lovely lady from New Zeeland. She's about 40, mother of two and a failed marriage, set loose upon South America in order to have some fun and find herself... in a lot of tight spots. She's what some would call an alternative free spirit, and what others would call a bit of a nut who will burn in hell. I met her in dorm in my hostel in Rio when I just arrived. On a night out, she tells the story about how she was raped in this border town between Paraguay and Brazil, after she had been drinking too much and three guys put something in her drink (pretty famous here, it is called "Good Night Cinderella", and the scare of young girls and gay clubs). Afterwards, she has only some vague recollections, of sex in some dark, dirty room with several guys, of running down a corridor, before waking up in some apartment of an elderly woman that found her, without any money or much clothes on laying in front of her door at 5am. Pretty shocking story huh? But wait, it gets worse. Now, after a moment of silence, I asked what happened then, did she go to the cops, what did the doctor say? Turns out she simply left town in a hurry, and never went to get checked or tested or anything! Apparently, she didn't know there was a cure that you can take after having been at risk, avoiding getting pregnant or even developing AIDS... Too late now, but I insisted that she would at least get tested, to know. I even offer to accompany her, and get tested as well (though didn't really have to since my last test dates from December). But when she finds out she has to show some ID, she doesn't want to anymore, scared that somehow her health plan is going to find out (yeah, like there must be intensive Brazilian-New Zeeland info swapping around this?!). So, I let it be, not knowing what else to do...
But, we go out, for drinks, concerts, whatever, and each time she gets drunk and picks up some random guy (but often nice ones) and disappears with them. And every time she doesn't use protection... And I sigh and make comments, and she just shrugs her shoulders, and says that it's their choice, and I can't help but wonder if and how many lives could be destroyed like that... Like, I know this kind of things happens all over the world all the time, but seeing it happen before your very eyes... The drop too much is when she even has some random sex with a Colombian guy from our dorm. And I don't know how to react. I mean, she's a nice person, a blast to hang out with, also insecure and looking for herself, and has been through a great deal, but how can you be as irresponsible and inconsiderate?? She knows what she's doing, she's aware of the risks at lot more then her partners... So, eventually, I really just pestered her into doing the test (hell, in reality, I nearly drugged her and dragged her over there, which is sort of ironic if you think about how she got in that situation in the first place). She was so scared of getting bad news that she asked me that I would marry her if it came back positive, which I jokingly accepted.
Well, we're still waiting for the results, so if soon you'll be getting a marriage invitation for a March ceremony in India, you know what happened ;-) But please guys and girls, be careful and responsible, no, even if it takes to be brave sometimes…
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