Episódio 38: The Power of the Volcano (A força dos vulcões)

Duolingo English for Portuguese Speakers Podcast

Era 18 de maio de 1980.

Austin Jenkins tinha seis anos e tava numa excursão da escola.

Ele e seus colegas de turma tavam dormindo num acampamento a várias horas de carro da casa dele, no estado de Washington.

I loved being at the camp! We walked through the forest, slept in cabins, identified plants and animals, and played games outside.

It was my first time sleeping away from home without my parents, but I was having a great time.

Na última manhã no acampamento, Austin voltou pra cabana pra dobrar seu saco de dormir e fazer a mala.

Ele escreveu o seguinte sobre o que aconteceu logo depois no seu diário, ou journal:

“First, I heard three booms.” I wrote in my journal.

“Then, it became dark.

When I looked out the window, I saw a big black cloud.” I didn’t know what was happening.

Welcome to “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 protagonistas falam um inglês simples e fácil de entender — perfeito pra quem tá aprendendo.

No episódio de hoje, duas histórias de pessoas que tiveram suas vidas transformadas por vulcões.

O acampamento onde Austin tava ficava do lado de um rio, a uns 30 quilômetros de um vulcão chamado Monte Saint Helens.

O Saint Helens é um dos vários vulcões adormecidos no noroeste dos Estados Unidos.

Mas uns meses antes da viagem de Austin, pequenas erupções fizeram com que o governador isolasse uma área de 8 quilômetros ao redor do vulcão.

O acampamento tava fora dessa área.

We went to the camp in several different vehicles.

The road to get into the camp was long, and it went through a forest.

But after a long drive, we finally arrived!

Tinha umas 30 crianças na viagem, além de professores e outros adultos.

Quando chegaram, eles reuniram todas as crianças pra explicar como as coisas funcionavam no acampamento.

Primeiro, eles falaram sobre o restaurante e depois sobre o que fazer em caso de emergência.

I listened carefully.

The camp staff said if there was an emergency, we were going to hear an alarm.

And then we should all meet in a big field.

I thought, “Could there really be an emergency?”

Por via das dúvidas, Austin decorou o plano de emergência.

Depois, começou a diversão!

Each day at the camp, we explored the woods nearby.

The trees were so tall and old! I collected leaves, and drew pictures of the different plants and animals I saw.

On that last day, we woke up to a bright sunny morning and ate breakfast.

Then we went back to our cabins to pack our bags.

Com o vocabulário de uma criança de seis anos, Austin escreveu sobre a experiência no diário.

“First, I heard three booms.

Then my teacher said, ‘Look up.’ In the sky, there was a big cloud that looked like a tornado.”

O Monte Saint Helens tinha entrado em erupção e tava jogando pedaços da montanha pelos ares.

A explosão foi enorme.

Muito maior do que tinham previsto.

As cinzas, ou ashes, atingiram 24 quilômetros na vertical e logo começaram a cair do céu como se fosse chuva.

Nisso, o alarme de incêndio do acampamento disparou.

Everyone ran to the field, and one of the parents said, “Don’t panic, we’ll be OK.” But then we realized ash and rocks were falling from the sky.

It wasn’t safe to be outside.

So, we returned to the cabins.

Depois de um tempo, os adultos explicaram pros alunos que todos iriam embora e que eles precisariam entrar em qualquer carro que passasse por ali.

I don’t remember being afraid or nervous, but I knew I needed to follow instructions and hurry as fast as I could.

So I jumped into a van.

But when we started driving, we had to go very, very slow.

The road out of the camp was very narrow.

And it was so dark that when I put my hand in front of my face, I couldn’t see it.

Austin se concentrou em olhar a pista pelo para-brisa, ou windshield.

Some kids were scared and crying, but I just paid attention to the road.

It was hard to see through all of the ash on the windshield.

Our driver tried to concentrate and told us that we couldn’t stop to go to the bathroom.

Um dos carros que levava os alunos quebrou por causa das cinzas no motor.

Outro saiu da pista.

Depois de um tempo, todos se reuniram numa igreja de um povoado próximo.

Eventually, we arrived at a church in a little town.

We went inside, and the adults gave us crayons and paper.

They wanted us to be calm while they talked about what to do next.

The road was very dangerous, so they didn’t know if we should continue driving.

Os adultos se perguntavam se inalar cinzas deixaria todos doentes ou se eles encontrariam rios de lava no caminho.

Será que as estradas tavam interrompidas? Mas a única opção era continuar, então seguiram viagem.

Eles molharam lençóis velhos com água e fizeram máscaras pra evitar que as crianças respirassem fuligem.

After each vehicle left, the next vehicle waited five minutes to give the other cars time to get ahead.

It was still dark, and the drivers didn’t want to hit another vehicle.

But an accident happened anyway.

Someone driving a truck was going too fast.

The driver couldn’t see well because of all the ash, so they hit one of the cars.

Felizmente, ninguém ficou ferido.

Mas o grupo parou na cidade seguinte, numa estação dos bombeiros, pra decidir se continuariam o trajeto pra casa.

At the fire station, we stopped to rest.

I remember that I ate lots of slices of white bread — with a lot of butter! At home, I wasn’t allowed to do that, so it was really exciting — even though we were running away from a volcanic eruption!

Depois de muitas horas dirigindo no escuro por pistas escorregadias, os carros finalmente deixaram a grande nuvem de fumaça pra trás.

When we finally drove out of the ash, the sky was bright and clear again.

My teachers were very happy because they knew that we were going to be okay.

Quando as crianças voltaram pra escola, as famílias tavam esperando no estacionamento.

Tinha até equipes de televisão.

Austin ficou animado com aquela multidão.

My parents and my brother were waiting for me in the parking lot.

They said, “It sounds like you had an adventure! We’re glad you’re home.” But I was more excited to see the news reporters with their cameras.

I wondered if I might be on TV! Before I went home, we took ash off of the cars and put it into plastic bags.

We wanted to take it with us to remember that day.

Naquela noite, quando chegaram em casa, os pais de Austin deixaram ele ficar acordado até mais tarde pra ver o jornal das 11.

Eles iam falar sobre a erupção do Monte Saint Helens.

On the news that night, the reporters were talking about the eruption.

They were very close to the volcano, so they could tell people what was actually happening.

I realized that while my classmates and I were running away from the eruption, the reporters went towards it.

That seemed really brave, and in that moment, I decided I wanted to be a reporter too.

A erupção do Monte Saint Helens foi um dos piores desastres naturais da história dos Estados Unidos.

Naquele dia, 57 pessoas morreram.

Felizmente, Austin e seus colegas não entraram pras estatísticas.

E pra ele, a experiência teve uma consequência importante: ele acabou virando jornalista.

I have reported stories about natural disasters like floods, tornadoes, and fires, but never another volcanic eruption.

I did report at Mount Saint Helens on the anniversary of the eruption, though.

And even today, I still have a jar of volcanic ash on my desk at work.

Fugir de uma erupção vulcânica aos seis anos ajudou Austin a descobrir o que queria pro futuro.

Já pra Tom Pohaku Stone, passar tempo nos vulcões fez com que ele se conectasse com seus antepassados.

Tom é nativo do Havaí e pratica holua.

Holua é um esporte tradicional em que os praticantes deslizam, ou slide down, sobre vulcões com um trenó.

O Havaí tem oito ilhas, todas criadas pela atividade vulcânica submarina.

Tom aprendeu sobre o holua com o avô.

When I was a child, my grandfather told me stories about holua, or how to slide down volcanoes.

He took me to small hills where we could slide down on big leaves.

I also learned how to jump from tree to tree, which was like learning how to fly.

Mas depois da morte do avô, Tom parou de praticar holua.

Ele passou a surfar, outro esporte que surgiu no Havaí.

Foi só mais tarde, em 1993, aos 42 anos, que Tom lembrou do holua.

I was going to college at the University of Hawai’i-Manoa.

I needed to do a research project on Native Hawaiian traditions, but I didn’t know what to choose.

First I thought, maybe surfing? Then one night, I had a dream about my grandfather.

I realized, “I’ll do my project on holua!” But when I started my research, I couldn’t find any information.

Tem gente morando no Havaí há milhares de anos e até o fim do século 19, as ilhas eram uma nação independente, com seus próprios reis.

Depois que o governo dos Estados Unidos ajudou a acabar com a monarquia em 1893, muitas tradições culturais se perderam, como o holua.

My grandfather knew a lot of the old traditions because he still remembered the time when Hawaii was an independent nation.

But when I started researching holua for my project, I couldn’t find any information.

I asked my Hawaiian culture and language professors, but even they did not know what holua was.

Pra esse projeto, Tom queria construir o trenó, ou sled, usado pra deslizar pelo vulcão.

Em havaiano, ele se chama “papaholua”.

I knew about papaholua from my grandfather.

But I didn’t know how to build it, and I couldn’t find anyone else who knew either.

So, I had to guess how to make the sled.

Tom sabia que o papaholua não tinha pregos nem cola, apenas uma corda, ou rope, feita de fibra de coco, pra segurar o trenó.

Every night in my dreams, I saw my grandfather and my other ancestors, and they helped me understand how to make the sled.

My uncle cut the wooden pieces for the sled, then I tied them together with a friend.

In Hawaii, we believe that men and women have a spiritual connection.

It’s symbolic for a man and a woman to create something together, so I asked a female friend to help me build the sled.

The experience made me feel more connected to her.

Depois de terminar o trenó, Tom foi pra uma colina no extremo norte da ilha Havaí, a maior do arquipélago.

Ele vestiu um malo, a roupa havaiana tradicional dos homens, e fez uma bênção, ou blessing.

It was a very sunny day.

I chose that hill because it’s special to the Hawaiian people.

I said a blessing, and then I walked up the hill.

It was covered in short, dry grass, and the ground was hard.

Those were perfect conditions for holua.

Then I laid down on my stomach on the sled.

Even though I was going slowly, the ride only took about ten seconds.

Quando terminou de descer a colina, Tom era outra pessoa.

Com o holua, ele sentiu uma nova conexão espiritual com sua cultura, com o Havaí, os vulcões e seus antepassados.

E ele sabia que tinha que manter viva essa parte da cultura do seu povo.

That day changed my life.

I felt a spiritual connection with the holua and my Hawaiian culture.

And I got a good grade on my holua project! But after that experience, holua became more important to me than just a school research project.

I knew that I needed to continue doing it.

Tom resolveu que queria experimentar o holua em encostas mais altas.

Ele sabia que seus antepassados tinham construído longas pistas, ou courses, de holua em muitos vulcões das ilhas.

But when I started researching the original holua courses, there was very little information — just like when I was building the sled.

There was nothing in books or museums.

But then, I remembered traditional songs my grandfather taught me.

Tom percebeu que algumas das canções tradicionais do Havaí incluíam histórias sobre holua.

E ele acabou achando algumas gravações originais antigas que ajudaram a identificar a localização das trilhas originais.

Muitas das canções falavam de canoas, ou canoes.

I started to find courses on all the islands of Hawaii.

In total, I found 47.

I also started to think about why holua was invented thousands of years ago.

People came to Hawaii in huge canoes, and canoes continued to be an important part of Hawaiian culture for centuries.

They needed huge trees to make the canoes, so holua was probably a way to move the trees down the volcano easily.

Tom disse que com o tempo, essa forma de mover as árvores virou um esporte.

Holua became a sport, but it was also a spiritual practice.

It was a way to honor the goddess of fire and volcano, Pele.

If you honored her, she protected you.

For me, holua is a fun sport, but it’s also a way for me to honor Pele.

Tom descobriu pistas de holua em todas as ilhas e foi percorrendo cada uma delas.

Uma das suas experiências mais memoráveis foi em uma pista chamada Ka’ena Point.

The Ka’ena Point course is 200 meters long today.

It used to be even longer, but now at the bottom of the hill, there’s a cliff.

Below the cliff, there are only rocks.

So I knew if my sled went off the cliff, I could be hurt — I could even die!

Tom decidiu fazer a Ka’ena Point em 1995.

I knew it was dangerous, but I was confident that I could do it.

I walked up the volcano with my sled.

When I started sledding down, I could see the ocean far away.

Then I started to go faster — I was traveling probably over 100 kilometers an hour.

The ocean was getting closer and closer.

Tom sabia que tava indo pro penhasco, e bem rápido! Ele tinha que achar um jeito de sair do trenó antes de cair no abismo.

At the last minute, just before the cliff, I let go of the sled.

It flew into the air, but I landed on the ground.

I was alive!

Pra Tom, sobreviver ao Ka’ena Point foi mais uma prova de que seu destino era praticar holua, por mais perigoso que fosse.

Ao longo dos anos, ele sofreu muitas lesões com o esporte.

I have hurt myself many times while doing holua, but it doesn’t stop me.

I always keep going.

Because it makes me stronger and ready to deal with the difficulties that Hawaiian people experience today.

And that’s why I keep going.

Hoje Tom tá na casa dos 70 anos e não pensa em parar de praticar holua.

Ele acha importante ensinar outras pessoas pra manter a tradição viva.

Por isso, ele construiu uma pista perto de um resort pros iniciantes aprenderem.

The course I made is 90 meters long and it has a lot of rocks.

I’ve taught Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians.

Holua is an opportunity to connect Hawaiian people to their traditions, but it’s also a way to teach others how important volcanoes are in Hawaiian culture.

I’ve taught thousands of kids, and they love it.

They don’t mind getting hurt sometimes.

They just want to keep doing it.

I want them to continue the tradition so that holua is never lost again.

Tom Pohaku Stone mora na costa norte da ilha de O’ahu.

Seja surfando em vulcões ou no mar, ele tá mantendo vivas suas tradições culturais e transmitindo o legado pras novas gerações.

Nosso primeiro narrador, Austin Jenkins, é um jornalista de política do Northwest News Network.

Esse episódio foi produzido por Tressa Versteeg, uma jornalista e produtora que mora no Maine.

Eu sou Helena Fruet.

Thank you for listening!