UFC, Part 1

On Thursday morning, Mac and I joined Jimmy and some other folks from the Consulate on a trip back to the Providencia favela that I wrote about a few weeks ago.  The purpose of this trip was to accompany two UFC fighters to the favela so they could meet members of the community and inspire them with their stories of how valuable hard work and education are.

Before I go further, let me share with you my exposure to UFC.  Jimmy LOVES watching UFC.  He watches it, discusses the moves, the fighters, the broken noses, etc.  In Arlington we had a tv in our bedroom, which we've never had before, and I cannot count how many nights I fell asleep to the sounds of UFC fights in the background.  The noise of the fight alone is not conducive to a good night's sleep, but add Jimmy's commentary, like "he's getting ready to break that guy's leg", and you can have full-on nightmares.

If you're not familiar with UFC, it's mixed martial arts fighting that mixes disciplines of judo, Brazilian jiu jitsu, boxing, karate, Muay Thai, etc.  I think it looks terribly violent and is definitely not the staged wrestling matches of my youth.  Jimmy points out to me constantly that nobody has ever received a life-threatening or life-ending injury from UFC, whereas people have died from boxing. So there's that.

Brazilians love UFC.  The current heavyweight champion - who happened to be one of the two people who went to Providencia - is a Brazilian guy.  People know this guy.  People love this guy.

So we went to the favela in a convoy, part of which was a big van that contained the fighters, the Octagon girls, the UFC VP of Athlete Development (from the US) and various members of the UFC Brazil office.  There were also members of the press everywhere.  Television cameras, reporters, photographers, etc.  It was really a much bigger deal than I expected.

The current heavyweight champion, Fabricio Werdum, also known as Vai Cavalho (Go Horse), got out of the van and everyone sprang into action.  The cameras start humming and clicking and people got some peps in their steps.  Mac and I had met the UFC VP back at the consulate, so he came over with Fabricio to introduce Mac and me to him.

This guy is huge.  He's about Jimmy's height and weighs right now around 260 pounds (which is +/- 20 pounds more than his fighting weight).  His arms and chest are so muscular and remember that I've fallen asleep listening to these people beating up on each other, so in my mind, I expect him to have bad breath and to eat the organ meat out of sweet puppy dogs and cute babies.

But he was the nicest guy in the world.  Seriously.

I had done some research on him and knew he now lives in Los Angeles, so when Mac and I shook hands with him, I said that I understood he lived in LA now.  He said that he lives in Redondo Beach, and they love it.  It's so idyllic and his kid can walk to school from their house.

I'm sorry, what?

Aren't you supposed to eat livers and kidneys out of babies and puppies?  But you're telling me about your sweet daughter walking to school?

I couldn't have imagined anything more unexpected.

I became a fan for life.

Mac being introduced to Fabricio Werdum

Jimmy and Fabricio discussing their similar heights

Fabricio helping Mac get the heavyweight champion belt fixed "just right"

Ready to fight

Then we entered the community center, specifically the sports room, and I gained even more respect.  This guy, who is larger than life to these kids, spent hours (along with another Brazilian, Thomas Almeida, who is an up-and-comer in UFC, and three Octagon girls) talking with the kids, demonstrating different moves, watching them practice judo, taking photos, doing interviews, etc.  It was so impressive.

Blurry photo but Fabricio "fighting" with a young boy from the favela

 

 

 

 Fabricio demonstrating some moves with the Providencia judo school sensei

Because in my mind, I am the heavyweight champion of the world

Mac and up-and-comer UFC Fighter Thomas Almeida

I discussed with the UFC VP about how powerful it was to see these people, these stars, who are so in demand and who could be doing a million other things, taking this sort of time with these folks in the favela.  He said that they love doing this sort of engagement.  We also talked about their behavior "outside the ring".  As we know, there's no end to bad press about professional sports stars in the US.  They beat their wives, get DUIs, murder people, flaunt their money and fame, etc.  He said that UFC really stresses to these fighters that they are representatives of the UFC brand, which means something to the people behind UFC.  They teach them that off the clock, people are watching and even if they're not fighting a UFC fight, they're still associated with the UFC and the UFC doesn't want their image tarnished by stories of misconduct.

I became a bigger fan for life.

We were there for over two hours and these people did not stop once.  They didn't hesitate to take the millionth photo, they shared the heavyweight champion belt around, they smiled the entire time.

HUGE FAN OF THE UFC!

Still smiling after all those hours

The UFC VP gave Mac the gift of a lifetime: a pair of UFC fighting gloves that are signed by Royce Gracie, who was one of the first UFC fighters and who is a Brazilian jiu jitsu legend.  Mac had the other glove signed by Fabricio Werdum.  Possibly the coolest day ever to a 12 year-old boy.

Mac and the US UFC VP of Athlete Development

Stay tuned for part 2!
     

Make it ALL count!

Measuring life by the small successes

Now that we're back in Brazil, we use bottled water for everything but brushing our teeth. We have a water delivery service that drops off 20-liter bottles of water as needed. 

For the record, 20 liters of water equals about 44 pounds. 

Also for the record, it is intimidating to me to have to lift and flip an open 44-pound jug of water FAST so that water doesn't gush out before you fit the top of the bottle (now open and upside down) into the water dispenser. 

I know from personal experience when we were last in Brazil that there is a lot that can go wrong in this process. Namely that you can end up with about 27 liters of water spilling out of the bottle when you accidentally drop it on the floor while trying to flip it. 

But desperate times call for desperate measures. The water ran out today and Mac wanted to drink water. I couldn't put him off all day until Jimmy got home tonight. So I cleaned the bottle, opened the top, dumped a little out just for cover, said a little prayer and flipped that 44-pound sucker. 

We now have about 19 liters to go before we rinse and repeat. 

Santa Teresa

Today Jimmy, Mac and I visited the bairro of Santa Teresa. Santa Teresa is up a mountain with sweeping views (in some locations) and makes me think this is what Rio used to look like when there were still houses and not multistory apartment buildings everywhere. 

Santa Teresa is also the bohemian, artsy neighborhood of Rio with lots of trendy bars and restaurants, which brings me to the two reasons we went:  art and food. 

Pool noodles painted and carved at the tips to look like colored pencils!

A lady made with recycled goods (feet are laundry bottles, head and bottom are a big water bottle cut in half, etc.)

This weekend, Santa Teresa hosted the 25th edition of Arte de Portas Abertas (Art of Open Doors) where artists open up their ateliers and workshops to the public. We shopped a bit and I bought two of the cutest little wraparound skirts ever.

Soda bottle planters

"Don't believe everything you read."  

After we shopped, we ate at Bar do Mineiro where we enjoyed a traditional weekend feijoada, which is this delicious stew-like yummy dish of black beans, sausage, hamhock, and beef served with rice, sautéed collard greens, orange wedges and farofa (manioc flour cooked with butter, onions and bacon). 

After shopping and all that food, the only thing left to do on a Sunday afternoon was take a nice, long nap!

Sun Protection

I hate sunscreen. 

I hate applying it and re-applying it. I hate how expensive good sunscreen is. I hate how it feels once you get hot and sweaty and beach-sandy.

Last year I started using a Lands' End long-sleeved rash guard swim tee with UPF 50 protection. This tee totally eliminates the need to put sunscreen on your back, shoulders, chest and arms. And even though it's long-sleeved, it's no hotter really than wearing just a swimsuit.   The fabric is lightweight and breathes, all while protecting your skin. (And if you're vain, they have a great selection of fun colors and patterns.) 

Last week at the beach, I pulled the sleeves up a little for maybe 30 minutes. When I removed the shirt later, I was very surprised to see just how effective the tee's sun protection really is. 

(The top was covered, the bottom was not.)

Save your skin and cover up!!

ser·en·dip·i·ty 

\ser-ən-ˈdi-pə-tē\
noun

: luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for

On Tuesday morning, Mac, two of his cousins, and I walked down the street to one of the cousin's beach houses, in front of which we were going to play on the beach. 

On any other day, we would've walked down the beach to get there instead of walking down the street. The street is hot without the breeze that's been present everyday this week on the beach, and it's just nicer to be on the beach in general. 

But the boys wanted to walk down the street, so we did. 

We passed lots of morning runners and bikers and spoke or nodded to each as we passed. 

Somewhere along our walk, we passed a couple running, who by their later account, were out running later than normal. He had on a Washington Nationals shirt, which stood out to me, but I didn't pay too close attention as I was weighed down with chairs, a beach bag and a boogie board and was trying to keep three children from getting run over. 

I made eye contact with the couple long enough to say, "Good morning" and kept walking. 

The guy stopped after I'd passed, turned back, and asked, "Susan Story?"  

Turns out these runners weren't just anonymous Folly Beach vacationers. They were a couple we started the State Department with 17+ years ago!

Michael and Jen had come to Folly Beach with their three children for the week, on their first real trip ever to the Charleston area (besides just passing through). 

There were 4 couples that were my favorites from Jimmy's A-100 class. Last night I went to this couple's beach house to catch up and was reminded why these people were one of the four.  The last time we all got together was at our house in Baltimore. We haven't lived there in 11 years, which means entirely too much time has passed between visits. 

So thankful today for serendipitous moments that allowed me to reconnect most unexpectedly with dear people!

Family Beach Week

Mac and I are enjoying the week at Folly Beach for my family's "family beach week". Mac loves this week more than any other of the year because he gets to hang out with his first and second cousins whom he loves dearly. 

A few snapshots from an encounter with a smelly, dead horseshoe crab that they almost all had to touch:

And another series taken yesterday of some of the boy cousins, one of whom would not put the Cheezit bag down for anything:

Happy summer from Folly!