Last day of class

Today is the last day of class and I have to say I am relieved. The course has not been all I was hoping. It is sort of overwhelming and disorganized, so I am feeling my burn out from the spring semester just seep into my summer. I think that this introduction to Rio will be very useful in the future, but at present I am having a hard time making sense of it or focusing on what to work on. As much as I want a break, the unforgiving workaholic in me won’t allow for it. humph….

I still want to get my ars to capoeira. And I am thinking it would be a better idea to hang out with the kids at Nos do Cinema for my last two weeks here. This project is a spin off of the crew that put together City of God, now teaching film making and animation to young people from favela communities, giving them tools to boost their self-esteem and critically examine issues they face. I think tagging along with energetic, creative teenagers will get my spirits up. I was talking to Leon, another class mate, about ideas I have for working with the youth homeless organizations in NYC around media policy and media making. He said that he likes working with people my age and younger because there is a certain fluidarity and adaptability, especially among the queer kids (who make up as much as 40% of the homeless youth in NYC). This gets lost when the queer kids grow up, and loyalties and class standards set in. This is exactly why I appreciated the crowd at the drop in center I photographed at a bit in the spring. (I think I am having a Peter Pan moment)

Shoot, time to go to class again. I have no patience for blogging in the evening, so these entries end up abruptly cut off.

Tchau!