Trucker Strikes and Field Days
It's been a bit of a crazy week. On Tuesday, a trucker strike began and has been affecting the entire country. Prices of gas, fuel, and diesel all are rising rapidly, so the truckers are on strike to bring the prices down to a reasonable price again. They have stopped their trucks in the middle of the road between cities, which has stopped traffic of any kind. People can't go to work if they work in another city. Goods are not being distributed. Buses are not running. Planes are not flying. Everything feels like it has come to a stand-still as we all wait for the strike to end.
So far, Apucarana is still doing well. We have food in our grocery stores and a few buses are running. However, all of the universities in Apucarana have cancelled classes until the strike ends, so I don't have a job to go to for now. I've mostly just been hanging out at home during the day and going out with friends at night.
Last night, there was a protest in the main square of Apucarana with people demanding a military intervention. These people want a military government. Brazil's military dictatorship just ended back in 1985, however the southern part of Brazil, where I am, mostly benefitted from this dictatorship. They want to reimplement this dictatorship and benefit from it once more. However, there were torture, kidnappings, and murders happening throughout this time to people who did not agree with the government. Foreign ambassadors were kidnapped. Journalists were censored and harassed if they did not fall into the government's demands. All of this leads up to the election happening in October. The protestors in Apucarana will most likely be voting for Bolsonaro, Brazil's Trump-like political figure. Think of Trump's political leanings and who voted for him; that's basically Bolsonaro's position as well. He used to be a military officer and has voiced his support of the past military dictatorship. He says torture is a legitimate practice. I'm scared of what Brazil will be like if he gets elected.
The point of that history lesson is to show what the vibe in Brazil is like currently. There are a lot of political conversations and everyone is getting anxious for the election in October. With the strike happening, people seem to be on edge and protesting even more. There have been protests all over Brazil, but this is the first one I've seen in Apucarana. Hopefully the strike ends soon and eases some of the tension that has been building this past week.
Again, I am fine. I have food in my fridge and I am safe.
To end on a happier note, on Saturday, Alexa and I went to a field day for one of the language schools. Our student, Caio, invited us as he works at the school and thought it would be fun for his English language students to meet us. The students played a lot of games such as soccer, volleyball, dodgeball, English tongue-twisters, and Name That Song. We had a lot of fun watching the games and talking to the students who were brave enough to ask us questions about ourselves and the US. They were all so cute and I really enjoyed the day. Alexa and I were also interviewed and it was shown on TV, but I didn't watch it. I'm sure it's on the internet somewhere, but I can't find it right now.
Anyway, thanks for reading this week's blog!
