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So the latest is that I am going to Bogota on August 1st and have 2 weeks of spanish classes before I go to Apartado, where the base of the mission is. So I decided to Google Apartado and look what I found:
"Apartadó is a town and municipality in the Antioquia Department, Colombia Is located near the atlantic ocean in the Gulf of Urabá, the economy is based in Bananas and Plantain. The temperature is about 30 degrees Celsius and the relative humidity is above 80% all year round. It is also located in a region of Colombia known to have a large presence of Colombian drug cartels. Inhabitants: 134572" (Wikipedia)

So I guess I don't need to pack any jackets. From there we go on mobile clinics to rural areas.
In terms of comfort, I think I got one of the best missions MSF currently has. At least I will have toilets that actually flush and toilet paper, and even a swimming pool in our guesthouse! I consider myself lucky! Can't wait for August to come!!

Em Portugues:

A ultima noticia eh que eu estarei indo pra Bogota no primeiro de Agosto pra fazer um curso de espanhol de duas semanas e de lah eu vou pra Apartado, onde eh a base da minha missao. Entao eu fui pesquisar no Google onde fica Apartado:
" Apartado eh uma cidade pequena no municipio de Antioquia, Colombia. Eh localizada perto do Oceano Atlantico no golfo the Uraba, a economia eh baseada em plantacoes de banana. A temperatura eh em media 30 graus celcius e a humidade relativa eh acima de 80% o ano todo. Tambem esta localizada em uma regiao da Colombia conhecida pela grande presenca de quadrilhas de drogas. Populacao: 134572 " (Wikipedia)

Entao acho que nao preciso levar nenhum casaco.. De lah a gente vai em clinicas moveis para as regioes mais rurais.
Pelo menos em termos de comforto eu acho que peguei uma das melhores missoes oferecidas pelo MSF. Pelo menos eu vou ter um vaso com descarga e papel higienico, e ate uma piscina na nossa casa! Me considero com sorte! Mal posso esperar pra Agosto chegar!

Can you "behave"?

An interesting topic in our discussions in Germany was around female security when doing humanitarian work, since in several places in Africa rape is used as a war weapon and sometimes humanitarian workers get caught up in the middle. Therefore we debated how a woman should “behave” in such a situation. They say it is best not to fight and there was even the suggestion of offering a condom, since the transmission of HIV is much lower if there is no injury and a condom is used. Well.. I can tell you right now that “behaving” is definitely not an option for me, God forbid something like that ever comes my way. So I started to develop my own strategies and incorporated some other suggestions offered by the group to formulate my own plan.

My first thought was a pocket knife, which could be used to perform a quick castration. But we can not carry weapons and the procedure itself would be bloody and messy, not to mention the risk of losing the knife to the attacker and getting stabbed myself. Ok, no knives then. So somebody suggested a pepper spray! Great idea! I had a patient in emerg once that got pepper sprayed on the face, and I will tell you, that stuff is powerful. You could not get close to him without having a coughing fit, itching throat and general aversion. But still not incapacitating enough… that’s when I thought of a pocket taser! Imagine the effects of one of those is some exposed testicles… effective indeed! So, that’s it, that’s my plan: a pocket taser and some peper spray. Girl power is here! Maybe I should take some martial arts classes too.. any other suggestions?

That being said, since I am going to Columbia I am probably safe from that kind of risk. On the other hand I am at risk for abduction. Great… why am I doing this again?

My favorite story

Everybody has a favorite story. I would like to share mine with those of you who haven't heard it and to the ones that have heard it before but have forgotten it.

The star thrower - adapted (by Loren Eiseley)


One day an old man was walking along the beach. It was low tide, and the sand was littered with thousands of stranded starfish that the water had carried in and then left behind. The man began walking very carefully so as not to step on any of the beautiful creatures. Since the animals still seemed to be alive, he considered picking some of them up and putting them back in the water, where they could resume their lives.

The man knew the starfish would die if left on the beach's dry sand but he reasoned that he could not possibly help them all, so he chose to do nothing and continued walking.

Soon afterward, the man came upon a small child on the beach who was frantically throwing one starfish after another back into the sea. The old man stopped and asked the child, "What are you doing?"

"I'm saving the starfish," the child replied.

"Why waste your time?... There are so many you can't save them all so what does is matter?" argued the man.

Without hesitation, the child picked up another starfish and tossed the starfish back into the water... "It matters to this one," the child explained.

---

"On a point of land, I found the star thrower...I spoke once briefly. "I understand," I said. "Call me another thrower." Only then I allowed myself to think, He is not alone any longer. After us, there will be others...We were part of the rainbow...Perhaps far outward on the rim of space a genuine star was similarly seized and flung...For a moment, we cast on an infinite beach together beside an unknown hurler of suns... We had lost our way, I thought, but we had kept, some of us, the memory of the perfect circle of compassion from life to death and back to life again - the completion of the rainbow of existence" (The Star Thrower, p.181).

I hope you too can be motivated to be part of the rainbow.

PPD

They said it would be intense, but I honestly wondered what could be so intense about a pre departure course. Well, I changed my mind after walking for 5 hours in the forest at night, carrying a jug of water that weighs a tone after a day full of classes on a mock explo mission where everything you do is wrong and when you realize that you know shit about nothing. They say it was an exercise about team dynamics. I say it was their first test to see if you can handle stress and frustration. At least it wasn’t raining and it is summer.

I am almost done the course now, tomorrow is our last day, and I can say that although I am utterly exhausted, I can also say that I have had one the most wonderful times in my life and I will cherish the memory for a long time, especially when I am sitting in a little tent in the middle of nowhere with not much to do except to laugh about the good moments I have had.

Most importantly I fell like I am now part of a big family that is MSF and that even though I might feel alone out there in the field somewhere, I am not alone at all. I have made friends for life and I know I will continue to make much more.


Eles me avisaram que seria intenso, mais eu duvidei que um curso preparatorio seria tao dificil. Bom, mudei de ideia depois de caminhar por 5 horas na florest, a noite, carregando uma jarra de agua que pesa uma tonelada, em uma simulacao de uma explo mission, depois de um dia inteiro de classes, quando vc aprende que tudo que vc faz eh errado e que vc nao sabe merda nenhuma. Eles disseram que era um exercicio sobre trabalho de time, eu digo que eh um teste de stress, frustacao e paciencia. Pelo menos nao estava chovendo e eh verao..

Eu estou quase terminando o curso agora, e posso dizer que apesar do cansaco extremo, tive um dos melhores momentos da minha vida e vou guardar essas lembrancas com muito carinho, especialmente quando eu estiver sentada em uma tenta no meio do nada, sem muito o que fazer a nao ser dar risada lembrando de coisas engracadas.

Mas importante, agora eu me sinto parte da familia MSF, e mesmo que eu esteja sozinha do meio do nada, eu sei que nao estou sozinha de verdade. Fiz amigos pra vida toda e sei que ainda vou fazer muitas outras amizades.

We are not in Kansas anymore

I feel right at home already. As I land in Amsterdam I walk into a camera shop in search for an USB cable for my camera (since I forgot mine at home, with the charger) and the two male clerks are glued to the TV watching a world cup soccer match. They were not very pleased when I interrupted their concentration and quickly got rid of me. Everywhere else in the airport the scene is the same, employees glued to their mini TVs, just like in Brazil. Then Holland scores, general cheering erupts. I think to myself, wasted cheering… Brazil is going to win anyways ;)

I found my first European idiot. I guess they have those here too. It was an immigration officer that was rude and the more polite I was with him, the angrier he got. Until at the end, taking the ultimate insult he cursed at me in dutch. What I said was: Thank you, I hope your day gets better. I love that, idiots get totally pissed off when you are nice to them because they have no excuse to hate you.

Smithers has a lot of Duch people. I mean, a lot, and they are really, really nice people. The men are hard working and the women are so proper and tidy, organized, clean smart and sweet. As I am landing in Amsterdam, the land were prostitution is legal, and drugs are easy, I wonder: what the heck happened here? Can you imagine one of the little old dutch ladies that volunteer at the gift shop in my hospital, here, in Amsterdam? There must be a different kind of dutch here. That being said, I have not met that kind yet (except for that officer, I guess). All the people I have met were just like the nice folks back in Smithers. So I guess it proves that the bad reputation is just coming from a small group of rebels that were allowed to do as they please. I tried leaving the airport, but there is not enough time… Apart from the length the flight was excellent. I definitely recommend KLM if anybody is flying here.

At the plane to Bonn I sat beside 2 brazillians! Imagine that! They were hilarious and kept me good company, especially entertaining when the plane is going down since both of them were very scared of airplanes.

Em portugues:

Eu ja estou me sentindo em casa. Assim que aterrisei em Amsterdam eu fui procurar uma loja pra comprar um cabo USB pra camera (ja que eu esqueci o meu cabo e carregador). Encontrei uma loja com dois vendedores colados na TV assistindo um jogo de futebol da copa, que arrumaram um jeito de se livrar de mim o mais rapido possivel. Em todas as outras lojas a mesma historia, todo mundo grudado na telinha. A Holanda faz um gol, todo mundo comemora e eu penso pra mim mesma: que perda de tempo, o Brasil vai ganhar de qualquer jeito.. ;)

Conheci o meu primeiro europeu idiota. Eles existem aqui tambem. Um official de imigracao que foi super mal educado. Soh pra provocar eu fui super educada com ele, o que soh enfuriou ele mais ainda, ao ponto que no final ele me chingou em holandes depois de eu falar: muito obrigada, espero que o seu dia melhore daqui pra frente.

Em Smithers existe uma comunidade grande de Holandeses. Grande mesmo, e eles sao pessoas super bondosas. Os homens trabalham duro e as mulheres sao tao graciosas, arrumadas, limpas e gentis. Por isso, enquanto estamos pousando em Amsterdam, onde prostituicao eh legal e drogas sao faceis, eu nao consigo entender o que diabos aconteceu aqui Eu nao consigo visualisar uma das senhoras sorridentes que fazem trabalho voluntario no meu hospital morando aqui. Amsterdam deve ter um tipo diferente de holandeses, mas ao mesmo tempo, todo mundo que eu conheci aqui (com excecao do idiota) eh tao gente fina quanto os holandeses em Smitehrs. Deve ser pra provar o quanto um pequeno grupo de rebeldes, que podem fazer o que quiser, pode causar dano a reputacao de um grupo maior. Eu tentei sair do aeroporto pra visitar a cidade, mas nao tive tempo suficiente. Tirando o tempo de voo, a viagem foi excelente. Recomendo voar com a KLM se alguem estiver vindo pra essas bandas.

No voo pra Bonn sentei do lado de duas Brasileiras de Piracicaba! Uma comedia aquelas duas com um medao do aviao pousando… Um abraco pra Ana e pra Michalle.

Journey to Germany - Day 1

I thought Smithers was a small town, but it is a huge Metropolis compared to Lytton. That is where I am now, resting the night before continuing down the road to Vancouver tomorrow. Unfortunately, I got into town just past 8pm, and thought that maybe I entered a ghost town (a cute one), since I saw nobody alive on the streets and all doors closed. I did find a motel with a friendly german host, very interested in where I came from, where I am going, etc, etc. I did not find an open restaurant though, unless I wanted to drive out of town, which I didn't. So my dinner tonight were a cpl of granola bars and soda.. oh well.

Anyways, what I really wanted to talk about is the movie I watched (or wasted my time with) the other night and the excellent book I read (or rather, listened to) on the road today. The first, is a Canadian (Montreal) production called "The Barabarian Invasion", supposedly a drama about a father and son reconnecting when the father is declared palliative. Instead, the movie was an overdramatized production about the medicare drama, showing hospitals as bad as overcrowded war camps, union members as gangsters and the United States as the heaven of medical care as an alternative. Give me a break! Medicare has its problems, yes, but it is undeniably efficient in providing high quality medical care to Canadians. Actually care so superior to what Americans get, that people live longer here. No, we do not offer hotel-style suites with gourmet dinners and room service, but you also don't need to worry about mortgaging your house to pay for your heart surgery, or an ICU stay of your newborn baby. In Canada human life doesn't have a price. That is something I love about this country.

In the States, as I learned with the book I was reading today (Marley and Me), even pain control has a price. The women in the delivery room that could not afford it, just had to go without it. The author describes having the options to choose a luxury suite, a regular ward for the middle class or a bare bones room (which he ended up in anyway because everything else was full.. I guess you are not immune to overcrowding even in private hospitals, huh?). This is also how it is like in Brazil, but at least we have the excuse of being a poor third world country, with a corrupt government. What is the United States excuse?

Em portugues:

Eu achava que Smithers era pequena, mas em comparacao com Lytton, eh uma metropole. Decidi parar aqui pra passar a noite e continuar pra Vancouver pela manha. Infelizmente eu cheguei na cidade depois das 8 da noite e por um momento achei que tinha entrado em uma cidade fantasma, ja que nao tinha ninguem nas ruas e as portas estavam todas fechadas. Mas eu achei um hotel com um senhor alemao simpatico que queria saber tudo sobre da onde eu vim, pra onde eu vou, etc. Eu nao achei um restaurante aberto, a nao ser que eu queira dirigir pra fora da ciadade, que eu nao queria. Tudo bem, eu tinha duas barras de granola e uma sprite pra jantar.

Mas o que eu queria falar sobre hoje eh o filme "The Barbarian Invasion", supostamente um drama sobre pai e filho reconectando quando o pai esta doente e morrendo. Na verdade o filme eh um melodrama sobre o Medicare (sistema de saude Canadense, 100% publico), mostrando hospitais superlotados e caindo aos pedacoes (eles devem ter gravado o filme no Base, em Brasilia), membros do sindicato como gangsters, e os Estados Unidos como o paraiso da medicina, o que eh uma mentira. O medicare tem os seus problemas, sim, mas eh eficiente e providencia medicina de alta qualidade pra todos os canadenses (ricos ou pobres), e tao melhor do que os Estados Unidos ao ponto que a expectativa de vida eh maior aqui. Nao, aqui vc nao vai achar um quarto de hospital parecendo um hotel, com jantar gourmet-style e servico de quarto, mas vc tb nao vai precisar vender a casa pra pagar uma cirurgia cardiaca ou a estadia do seu bebe na UTI. No Canada, vida humana nao tem preco, e isso eh uma das coisas que eu amo nesse pais.

Nos Estados Unidos, conforme eu aprendi no livro que eu li hj (ou ouvi, enquanto dirigia, chamado Marley and Me), ate controle de dor tem preco. Para as mulheres em trabalho de parto que nao podiam pagar a epidural, sinto muito, vai sem epidural mesmo. O autor descreve as opcoes que eles tiveram no hospital entre um quarto super luxo, regular ou simples, dependendo no quanto vc pode pagar. Eles optaram pelo quarto super luxo mas acabaram no simples por falta de vaga (entao hospitais privados nao estao imunes de superlotamento, heim?). No Brasil tambem eh assim, mas pelo menos tem-se a desculpa de ser um pais pobre com um governo corrupto. Qual eh a desculpa dos Estados Unidos?

Close encounters

So last evening we tried to go for a walk again, this time properly slobbered in mosquito repellent. The first 3km were fairly good, the mosquitos were there, but bearable; Macy was keeping us entertained, swimming in every muddy puddle she could find, all normal.

Then the trail looped to go back.... The mud got worse and the mosquitos, you wouldn't believe it! I realized then that the trail was going right alongside a swamp. There was no mosquito repellent for that mob. So our walking turned into running, which was probably worse then walking since now I am going against the mosquito cloud, and they are hitting my face and some of them getting into my mouth!

As I run almost blindly (since I am trying to avoid mosquitos getting into my eyes), swinging my arms madly across my face like a crazy demented woman in the forest, I hear a big noise on my right and glance up to see the form of something large going up a tree, just about 12 feet from me. I run back yelling to were Drew and Macy are. It was a black bear, a small one. Now what? The thing is almost in the trail and is now coming down the tree. I am holding my camera, not to take pictures but as a weapon. Macy is staring at it, not barking, waiting for Drew's instructions (I was so proud of her).

Luckly for us the bear was probably as scared of us as we were from it. As soon as he got down, he went up another tree a bit farther. We continued to walk away from it, me hoping that my adrenalin trail would not attract him back (can't animals smell that?). Drew says that was the closest he has ever been to a bear (outside a car). No, I didn't take a picture... I was too busy concentrating in surviving. But I did take a picture of Macy muddy and happy (the only one from our group that actually enjoyed the walk). And I am not going back there until this mosquito madness is over, next time with some bear spray handy.

Em portugues:

Ontem a gente decidiu tentar uma caminhada de novo, dessa vez apropriadamente ensopados em repelente de mosquito. Tudo estava bem nos primeiros 3km, os mosquitos estavam lah, mas toleraveis; Macy (a cachorra) estava nos entertendo, nadando em toda poca de lama que ela achasse, tudo normal.

Mas quando a trilha dobrou pra voltar... a lama piorou e os mosquitos.. inacreditavel! Foi ai que eu prcebi que a trilha agora estava indo bem ao lado de um pantano . Nao tem repelente que aguente aquela galera. Entao a nossa caminhada virou corrida, que foi pior porque agora eu estou correndo contra uma nuvem de mosquitos batendo na minha cara e entrando na minha boca.

Enquanto eu estou correndo meio que cega (ja que estou tentando evitar mosquitos entrando nos meus olhos), abanando meus bracos na frente do meu rosto que nem uma doida desvairada no meio da floresta, eu escuto um barulho e vejo a forma de um animal grande subindo numa arvore, uns 4 metros a minha direita. Eu dou um grito e saio correndo pra onde o Drew e a Macy estao. Era um urso preto, pequeno. E agora? O bixo ta quase no meio da trilha e agora ele esta descendo da arvore. Eu estou segurando a minha unica defesa, minha camera, nao pra tirar fotos, mas pra usar como arma. A Macy esta encarando o urso, sem latir, esperando instrucoes do Drew (tao obediente, coisa mais fofa).

Pra nossa sorte o urso estava com mais medo da gente do que a gente dele. Assim que ele desceu da arvore ele subiu em outra um pouco mais distante. A gente continuou a andar, eu torcendo pra nao atrair mais animais com o rastro de adrenalina. O Drew disse que esse foi o contato mais proximo que ele teve com um urso (fora do carro). Eu nao tirei uma foto... eu tava mais preocupada em sobreviver. Mas eu tirei uma foto da Macy, cheia de lama e feliz. E eu nao volto lah ate que essa doidera de mosquitos tenha passado, da proxima vez com um spray anti-urso.

I have the Tickets!

With my name misspelled... nothing new there. But the important thing is that I am going for sure to the course in Germany (unless a volcano explodes or something), which is my first step to going out on a mission. I am going to have to drive to Van on saturday, since it is cheaper than flying and then take off on Sunday. Wish me luck! I will keep you posted. Meanwhile I took a cute picture of Chess, the king, on his throne.

Ps: does anybody know how to put the picture below the text, not above it?

Em portugues:

Eu tenho a passagem! Com o meu nome errado... nenhuma novidade, ninguem consegue nem pronunciar meu nome aqui, quanto mais escrever. O importante eh que eu estou indo com certeza pra Alemanha (a nao ser que um vulcao exploda, ou coisa asssim) fazer o curso, que eh o primeiro passo pra ir em uma misao. Vou dirigir pra Vancouver no Sabado, jah que eh mais barato que de aviao e depois viajar no Domingo. Torca por mim! Eu vou manter todo mundo atualizado. Por enquanto eu tirei uma foto do Rei Chess sentado no trono dele.

Ps: Alguem sabe como colocar a foto abaixo do texto e nao acima?

Spring has finally sprung!

Alas! Spring has finally come to Smithers. I can go outside without a jacket now and wear skirts again, except that the mosquitos are trying to eat me alive! For my brazilian friends, you ain't seen mosquitos yet until you experience spring in Canada! Yesterday we went out for a walk at the provincial park nearby and we turned back after 300m. Impossible to walk with a mosquito cloud around you. Note to self: don't try that again without bathing yourself in mosquito repellent first. Nevertheless it was beautiful and sunny at 6pm, which is what I love about spring here. So, I took a few pictures to test out my new camera. Happy surprise today, we now have a mama duck with 8 ducklings in our sewage lagoon (hey, it wasn't my idea). They are soooo cute! I hope my cats don't eat them... As long as they stay in the water they are safe. I took a picture of them too.

Em portugues:

Finalmente! A primavera chegou em Smithers. Eu posso sair de camiseta e usar saias de novo, com o unico problema de ser a refeicao de milhares de mosquitos. Para meus amigos no Brasil, voces nao sabem o que eh uma invasao de mosquitos ate conhecerem a primavera no Canada! Ontem nos fomos pra uma caminhada no parque provincial aqui perto e tivemos que voltar depois de 300m. Eh impossivel caminhar com uma nuvem de mosquitos em volta. Nao vou tentar essa caminhada de novo sem tomar um banho de repelente antes. Mas de qualquer jeito estava super bonito e ensolarado as 6 da tarde, que eh uma coisa que eu adoro na primavera aqui. Entao eu tirei algumas fotos pra testar a minha camera nova. Hoje tivemos uma surpresa agradavel: uma mamae pato e 8 patinhos nadando na lagoa septica (nao foi minha sugestao.. eles que escolheram). Eles sao tao fofinhos! Tomara que os meu gatos nao comam eles... Desde que eles fiquem dentro da agua, eles estarao seguros.

Motivations

When I applied to work with MSF two years ago I had to write a motivation letter. Basicaly to explain why on earth I want to go to the middle of nowhere and work for no money. I think it is their first test to determine if you are plain crazy or what. I still often wonder why I want to go so much.

I remember that "back in the day" when I went to nursing school (10yrs ago), people would ask me why I chose nursing, and I would answer that I like helping people. It didn't take me long to realize that I cannot help people if they don't help themselves first. Take for example the young girl that looked so annoyed and inconvenienced while we were figuring out anti-retroviral medications for her because she got drunk and had sex with an HIV man. Or the young boy that was upset that I removed his earrings while he was passed out drunk because we needed to do c-spine x-rays to make sure he didn't break his neck after rolling over his ATV while driving drunk. Deep breath...

So that is it: I want to help people that want to be helped, and I want to go were they are... in the middle of conflicts or abandoned areas, poor and abandoned. I want to help the helpless.

Em Portugues:

Quando eu iniciei o meu processo pra trabalhar com o MSF, dois anos atras, eu tive que escrever um carta de motivacao. Basicamente, eu tive que explicar por que diabos eu quero ir trabalhar no meio do nada e nao ganhar dinheiro. Eu acho que eh o primeiro teste pra saber se vc eh doida mesmo ou o que.. Eu ainda penso porque eu quero ir tanto.

Eu lembro que quando eu entrei na faculdade pra estudar enfermagem as pessoas me perguntavam porque eu escolhi enfermagem e eu costumava responder que eu gosto de ajudar as pessoas. Nao demorou muito pra eu perceber que na verdade eu nao posso ajudar as pessoas que nao se ajudam primeiro. Por exemplo, a garota que estava tao entediada e agindo como se fosse uma grande incoveniencia pra ela esperar enquanto a gente arrumava a medicacao anti HIV pra dar pra ela, porque ela teve relacoes sexuais com um homen infectado enquantoo ela estava bebada. Ou o rapaz que ficou bravo quando ele percebeu que eu tirei os brincos da orelha dele enquanto ele estava desmaiado de tao bebado, porque a gente precisava fazer um raio x da coluna cervical pra saber se ele tinha quebrado o pescoco depois de ter capotado o quadriciclo dele enquanto dirigia embriagado. Respira fundo…

Entao eh isso: Eu quero ajudar as pessoas que querem ser ajudadas, eu quero ir aonde elas estao.. no meio de conflitos e areas abondonadas. Eu quero ajudar as pessoas que nao tem como se ajudar.

What a shame...

I wonder what Israel would say if they had a ship full with hospital beds and wheelchairs and someone invaded their ship in international waters... hum... Would they try to defend their ship? Why so much violence in this world...

Em Portugues:

Eu queria saber o que Israel diria se eles tivessem um navio cheio de macas e cadeiras de rodas invadido em aguas internacionais... hum.. Sera que eles tentariam defender o navio? Nao entendo porque tanta violencia nesse mundo...

Why is ugly art worth so much?

Somebody explain this to me please: why is ugly art worth so much? AND why would you spend that kind of money on it when there are people dying in poverty around the world? The other day on the news they were going on and on about this painting that they thought was a fake from a famous Canadian artist (Tom Thompson) and how, now that they realized it isn't, suddenly the paint is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, I was having breakfast at the Aspen this saturday and saw a beautiful painting on the wall of a forest: the long thin Aspen trees in the light of an early bright morning. The color was amazing, even inside a dark room like the restaurant you can look to that painting and be transported to the middle of the forest, the light so beautiful. I wonder how much that painting is worth... 30 bucks? After all, it was not painted by Picasso or Tom Thompson.
Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate good art, and the Tom Thompson picture was nice. I think it is incredible how people can paint, especially considering that all I can draw are stick dolls. But I think art should be judged by its beauty, not by its name. Somebody still has to convince me that Picasso is beautiful.

Em Portugues:

Alguem me explica por favor: por que eh que arte feia vale tanto? E por que voce pagaria uma quantidade ridicula de dinheiro em uma pintura enquanto tem tanta gente morrendo na miseria? Esses dias a imprensa Canadense estava falando sobre esse quadro de um artista famoso (Tom Thompson) que ate pouco tempo era considerado uma falsificacao e, agora que eles decobriram que nao eh falcificacao, o quadro vale centenas de milhares de dolares. Enquanto isso eu estava tomando cafe da manha em um restaurante aqui (Aspen) e vi uma pintura de um floresta tipica dessa area. A luz que a pintura emitia era fantastica.. parecia que eu estava la na floresta, cedo pela manha, o sol iluminando o tronco das arvores... lindo. Quanto sera que vale aquela pintura? 30 contos? Afinal nao foi Picasso ou Tom Thompson quem pintou.
Nao me leve a mal: eu sei apreciar um bom quadro, e eu acho impressionante quando alguem pinta ou desenha qualquer coisa, especialmente porque eu soh sei desenhar bonequinhas de palito. Mas eu acho que arte deve ser julgada pela sua belesa e nao pelo seu nome. Eu ainda tenho que ser convencida que Picasso tem beleza.