Episódio 17: Urban Adventures (Aventuras na cidade)

Duolingo English for Portuguese Speakers Podcast

Muita gente conhece a Times Square, a famosa praça no coração da cidade de Nova York, cheia de telões luminosos e um mar de turistas.

Mas só duas pessoas viram a Times Square como Lijana Wallenda viu na noite de 23 de junho de 2019.

The plan was kind of crazy.

We were going to walk from one building to another, across Times Square — very, very high in the air — above all the bright lights and cars and people.

Lijana é equilibrista, ou high-wire walker, o que significa que ela anda sobre cabos estreitos de metal suspensos no ar, geralmente numa altura de 10 a 15 metros.

Mas, na Times Square, o fio tava a 75 metros, ou seja, a 25 andares do chão.

In my many years as a high-wire walker, that was my first time walking on a wire 75 meters in the air.

Just two years earlier, I fell and almost died.

I wasn’t able to perform for a long time after that, because of the injuries to my body.

I knew it would be difficult, but I knew that I had to do it, because I didn’t want the accident to define me.

So, I took that first step out onto the wire…

Welcome! Esse é o nono episódio da segunda temporada de “Histórias em Inglês com Duolingo”.

Eu sou Helena Fruet.

Nesse podcast, você vai poder praticar inglês no seu ritmo, ouvindo histórias reais e emocionantes.

Os personagens falam um inglês simples e fácil de entender — perfeito pra quem tá aprendendo.

Eu vou te acompanhar em cada episódio pra ter certeza que você tá entendendo tudo.

Hoje vamos ouvir a história de duas pessoas fazendo coisas inesperadas em dois dos lugares mais famosos dos Estados Unidos.

Lijana vem de uma família de artistas de circo.

Seu bisavô, Karl Wallenda, começou a se apresentar na Alemanha, seu país de origem, e em 1928 entrou pro famoso circo norte-americano Ringling Brothers.

Na primeira metade do século 20, os circos itinerantes eram superpopulares nos Estados Unidos.

I come from many generations of circus performers.

My aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, and even my younger brother all perform.

And their specialty, like mine, is the high wire, which is also called tightrope walking.

My mom performed while she was pregnant with me, so I was on the high wire before I was even born!

Lijana começou a subir na corda bamba, ou tightrope walking, quase desde que aprendeu a andar.

Os equilibristas carregam nas mãos uma vara de equilíbrio, ou balancing pole, que é bem grande e pesada, pra ajudar a manter a estabilidade.

When I was a kid, I trained with my balancing pole in my backyard for years.

But my parents didn’t let me perform in front of an audience until I was 13.

I was so nervous.

My heart was beating so fast.

It was my first time performing on a high wire in front of people.

E não é só isso: os Wallenda quase nunca usam equipamentos de segurança, como arneses ou redes de proteção.

Se Lijana perdesse o equilíbrio, nada poderia impedir sua queda.

But as soon as I took that first step onto the wire, I was totally in love.

High-wire walking felt like home to me.

I loved everything about it, like the way it felt to move my foot across the wire and to hold the balancing pole.

It became my passion.

Depois da sua primeira apresentação, Lijana viajou por todo o país fazendo espetáculos com sua família.

E com o tempo, as apresentações foram ficando cada vez mais complexas.

Em 2001, eles fizeram uma pirâmide humana de quatro andares! Foram oito pessoas em cima de um cabo, a 7 metros do chão.

It was a World Record.

We were the first people to do it!

Em 2017, quando Lijana tinha 40 anos, sua família tentou bater o próprio recorde.

Eles queriam fazer a mesma pirâmide humana, mas dessa vez, ainda mais longe do chão.

We practiced a lot for the big show.

I remember feeling so confident while we were getting ready for the big performance.

When I stepped onto the wire, I told everyone, “This feels great!” But then, as we were in the pyramid, I suddenly felt something strange.

Lijana estava no segundo andar da pirâmide.

As pessoas em cima dela caíram e ela caiu também… de uma altura de 8 metros!

I tried to grab the wire, but I was too far away.

I remember seeing the ground getting closer and closer and closer.

And then my brother ran over to me to see if I was okay.

He was shocked when he saw my face.

Lijana foi levada às pressas pro hospital.

Lá, os médicos disseram que ela tinha quebrado todos os ossos do rosto, o pé esquerdo, um osso de um dos braços e uma costela.

Ela teve sorte de sobreviver.

Das outras sete pessoas que estavam em cima dos cabos, cinco também caíram e ficaram feridas.

Mas ninguém morreu, o que foi quase um milagre considerando a altura da queda.

I spent 10 days in the hospital, but I continued to exercise whenever I could.

I wanted to stay strong, so that I could return to the wire.

Lijana passou três meses na casa dos pais se recuperando do acidente.

E no geral, ela conseguiu.

Mas seu maior desafio foi a reabilitação psicológica.

Apesar de ter decidido voltar pra corda bamba, ela teve transtorno de estresse pós-traumático, ou PTSD na sigla em inglês.

PTSD, or post traumatic stress disorder, is real.

As soon as I was physically better, I started practicing again on the wire in my backyard.

It was only one meter high.

But when I started training on a higher wire, I couldn’t stop remembering my accident.

Foram dois anos de prática até que Lijana pudesse se sentir pronta mentalmente pra se apresentar de novo.

E a grande oportunidade veio em 2019.

My younger brother, Nik, was getting ready for a show.

He asked if I wanted to perform with him — just the two of us.

He was going to walk across Times Square, in New York City, on a wire between two buildings.

A Times Square fica bem no centro de Nova York, no cruzamento da Sétima Avenida com a Broadway.

É um dos lugares mais badalados da cidade: recebe 330 mil pessoas diariamente, e 50 milhões de turistas passam por lá todo ano.

A Times Square também é muito famosa pelos artistas de rua e por seus anúncios publicitários.

When I think about Times Square, I think about all of the bright lights and big screens playing videos.

No matter what time of day it is, that place is always so busy and alive.

A Times Square recebeu esse nome porque é o local onde o jornal The New York Times mantinha seu escritório.

Ao redor da praça também estão os teatros mais conhecidos da Broadway.

Era o lugar perfeito pra Lijana fazer a melhor apresentação da sua vida.

It was my first time back on the wire in front of so many people — and it was a very high wire.

It was going to be on live TV! I was so nervous, but I said “yes” immediately.

I was ready to make my comeback.

Antes de seu grande retorno, ou comeback, Lijana e o irmão praticaram por meses.

Walking on the wire became psychologically difficult for me.

Anything higher than 3 meters started to scare me.

I couldn’t stop thinking about my accident and how terrifying it was.

When I stepped on the wire, I couldn’t relax my body.

It was a strange new feeling for me.

Finalmente chegou o dia da apresentação.

O plano era que Lijana caminhasse 400 metros, saindo do edifício de número 1 da Times Square, o antigo prédio do New York Times, até o edifício 2 da praça, na Sétima Avenida.

Lijana e Nik se cruzariam bem no meio do caminho.

Right before I stepped onto the wire, I could see all the bright lights from the video screens and the buildings in the Square.

I could hear the shouts and cheers of the people watching me.

My heart was beating so fast.

Without looking down, I took my first step, only looking ahead.

Pra fazer a travessia, Lijana usou um arnês de segurança.

O governo local só autorizou a apresentação com o uso desse equipamento.

Mas mesmo assim, ela tava nervosa.

With every step I took, I told myself that I was prepared for this, I was born for this, and that I had all the skills to do it.

I wasn’t going to let my fear control me.

I just told myself over and over again, “I can do this.”

Na metade do caminho, Lijana se encontrou com Nik.

Essa era a parte mais complicada da apresentação.

Ela precisou se inclinar sobre o cabo e desafivelar o arnês de segurança, ou safety harness, pra que seu irmão pudesse passar… por cima dela!

I was 75 meters in the air.

And for my brother to walk past me, I had to disconnect my safety harness.

But when I did, I realized it was connected incorrectly, which made this task much harder.

But I tried to stay calm, and I was able to fix it.

Then, I stood up and started walking again.

Depois disso, Lijana se sentiu bem melhor! Ela tava até se divertindo.

I felt like I was home.

I was so confident and comfortable.

As I walked, I thanked God, because I was so lucky to be able to walk on that wire again.

It was a miracle that I didn’t die when I fell, and it was even more amazing to be able to do the biggest walk of my career.

I didn’t want the walk to end.

I went really slowly the rest of the way.

I just tried to enjoy all the energy from Times Square, from the cheers of the hundreds of thousands of people shouting my name.

The bright lights made me feel like I was on a stage.

Nik e Lijana são as únicas pessoas que conseguiram atravessar a Times Square numa corda bamba.

That walk across Times Square was my comeback.

Falling was terrible and traumatizing, but that experience doesn’t define me.

I got back up again, and I didn’t let my fear control me.

And that is what defines me.

A Times Square é pra Nova York o que o letreiro de Hollywood é pra Los Angeles.

Ele fica no centro da cidade e estampa a palavra “Hollywood” em letras gigantes, de uns cinco andares de altura.

Ele fica em um parque pequeno, que é rodeado por casas de ricos e famosos.

Não é exatamente onde a maioria das pessoas iria pra procurar… um puma.

Mas Steve Winter não é igual à maioria das pessoas.

Ele é um fotógrafo da revista National Geographic que se especializou em registrar grandes felinos, de tigres a jaguares e pumas.

I knew that I wanted to be a National Geographic photographer when I was eight years old.

The year before that, my dad bought me my first camera, and I fell in love.

He taught me photography.

And I even entered photo contests when I was 8 years old, and I had my first photography show at the age of 14.

I loved looking through National Geographic magazines because they always took photos of such interesting places.

Mas muita gente quer ser fotógrafa da National Geographic.

É um trabalho dos sonhos.

Então Steve precisou se esforçar e ir construindo sua carreira aos poucos, desde seu primeiro trabalho numa ONG, ou NGO.

One day, I was offered an assignment documenting scientists’ work with a pharmaceutical company working in the rainforest of Costa Rica.

That was my first time visiting a jungle.

I had no idea what I was doing, but I went anyway.

Steve passou seis semanas na selva tropical da Costa Rica.

Enquanto tava lá, ele tirou a foto de uma tartaruga na praia, durante o amanhecer, e enviou pra National Geographic.

Foi sua primeira foto publicada na revista.

Ele tinha 34 anos.

I usually took photos of people, not animals.

Luckily, my first real animal photo was of a turtle — and they move really slowly! That trip changed my life.

After that, I worked on a story about the famous quetzal bird in Guatemala.

I spent weeks living high up in the trees in a little house, waiting to capture a photo of the quetzal.

And then one night, I heard a noise…

Steve tava sozinho, lendo um livro, quando ouviu um barulho vindo das escadas da casa na árvore.

Something outside my door started making horrible noises.

I was terrified! I grabbed my machete and hit it loudly against the wall.

Then, I heard the sound of something going back down the stairs and leaving.

I called a local friend immediately and he said, “Oh, that was probably a black jaguar.

They’re common in this area.” And I said, “What?! Why didn’t you tell me?!” And he said that he didn’t want to scare me.

Depois disso, Steve ficou assustado – mas também um pouco animado.

A few weeks later, I saw the black jaguar jumping from tree to tree.

It was following me! I was so surprised.

I didn’t have time to take a photo before it ran away into the jungle.

At that moment, I knew that I wanted to photograph big cats.

I wasn’t looking for them, but they found me.

Depois daquela experiência, Steve fotografou grandes felinos pelo mundo todo: onças no Brasil, leopardos-das-neves na Índia, tigres em Myanmar… Mas ele tirou o que talvez seja a sua foto mais famosa de um grande felino bem no meio da cidade de Los Angeles, que em inglês é conhecida pelas iniciais, “LA”.

If you think of LA, you think about the Hollywood sign.

It’s huge — you can’t miss it! It’s in the middle of the city, on top of a big hill in an area called Griffith Park.

I grew up in the state of Indiana, but as a kid, I used to go to LA every year to visit my grandparents.

We rode horses in those same hills.

I remember looking up at the sign and feeling amazed.

O letreiro é enorme.

Começou como um anúncio imobiliário pra vizinhança de Hollywood, a meca da indústria do cinema.

When I was a kid, my grandparents told me all about the history of the sign.

It actually said “HOLLYWOODLAND” when it was first put up in 1923.

But as the movie industry grew in the city, the sign became an iconic symbol and the “LAND” part was removed.

Em 2012, a National Geographic deu a Steve a tarefa de fotografar a vida selvagem urbana, ou urban wildlife.

I immediately thought about the times I visited my grandparents in LA as a kid.

When we went to Griffith Park, we were still in the middle of a huge city, but we were also in nature.

It seemed like the perfect place to photograph urban wildlife.

Steve lembrou que quando era criança, alguém disse que os pumas, ou mountain lions, às vezes desciam as montanhas até a região onde fica o letreiro.

When I got this assignment from National Geographic, I wondered if the mountain lions were still in Griffith Park.

I thought that photographing one in front of the iconic Hollywood sign could be a great way to show urban wildlife.

So, I made some phone calls to get more information.

Steve acabou falando com um biólogo chamado Jeff Sikich que estuda os pumas das montanhas de Santa Mônica, nos arredores de Los Angeles.

Ele costumava colocar colares nos bichos pra rastreá-los.

I told him about my idea for the photo and he thought I was crazy.

He said it was impossible to get a mountain lion to walk past the sign.

They don’t go to that area, because to get there, they have to cross two of the country’s busiest roads.

But I gave Jeff my number, and I told him to call me if anything changed.

Oito meses depois, Steve recebeu uma mensagem do Jeff em letras maiúsculas dizendo: “ME LIGA”.

I was literally sitting in the dentist’s chair when Jeff messaged me.

I asked the dentist to stop because I needed to make a call.

Jeff told me that one of the mountain lions that he tracks walked by the sign.

So I immediately jumped on a plane to LA with my cameras.

Steve trabalhou com Jeff pra descobrir o caminho mais provável do puma.

Então, eles precisaram pensar em que parte desse trajeto poderiam conseguir uma foto que incluísse o felino e o letreiro.

Mountain lions don’t like being around people.

It’s very rare to see one.

I planned to take a photograph at night because that’s when they come out to look for food.

So I needed to choose the perfect place to put my camera, and have the right amount of light, to get a clear photograph of both the sign and the mountain lion.

Steve não ia ficar pra tirar a foto.

Seria praticamente impossível estar lá no lugar certo e na hora certa.

Em vez disso, ele instalou quatro câmeras em caixas fechadas, presas no chão com correntes.

As câmeras tinham sensores de movimento e tiravam fotos toda vez que algo passava na frente delas.

E vários animais passaram por lá: cervos, guaxinins…

My cameras were there for months.

I got photos of all kinds of animals — even of people trying to take selfies.

But I didn’t get any mountain lion photos.

And three of my cameras were stolen!

Steve sabia que tinha que ser paciente, mas foi complicado.

A cada três semanas, Jeff, o biólogo, checava as câmeras e trocava o cartão de memória.

Finalmente, depois de 14 meses, um puma passou perto do letreiro.

E o enquadramento ficou… perfeito!

But the photo wasn’t clear because the light was bad.

I knew that I could get a better one.

So, I flew back to LA to try to get the photo that I was dreaming of.

I changed the settings on the camera, went back home to New Jersey, and then waited.

Depois de mais um mês, Steve finalmente conseguiu a foto perfeita.

Ela terminou sendo a foto principal da reportagem da National Geographic e ainda deu início a uma verdadeira obsessão pelo puma de Los Angeles.

I was so excited.

The photo was perfect! The mountain lion was positioned perfectly.

He was walking down the hill in the dark, but there was a bright light around him.

And you can clearly see the Hollywood sign behind him.

The photo tells the story of urban wildlife beautifully.

It shows that even in an urban place like LA, we live near wild animals.

But we don’t need to be afraid.

Instead, we need to protect them, because this is their home too.

Nossa primeira narradora, Lijana Wallenda, vive em Las Vegas.

Ela tem uma corda bamba de quase um metro de altura no quintal de casa.

É lá que ela treina todos os dias.

Esse episódio foi produzido por Paige Sutherland, jornalista que vive em Boston, Massachusetts.

Eu sou Helena Fruet.

Thank you for listening!