Northeast

As I write this now, I'm in my second host family in Uberlandia, directly following the best month of my life in the Northeast of Brazil. This trip, from November 22nd to December 20th, was at once the longest and most amazing trip I've taken in my life, outside of going to Brazil itself. We visited 11 cities over the course of a month with 89 (and in Rio 105) other exchange students from 21 different countries, with hundreds of pictures taken and countless memories made. I will never forget the friends that I made on this trip, nor any of the amazing places I've been. From the high mountains and canyons of Lencois to the islands of Angra dos Reis, it was a trip of a lifetime. I'll give a short summary of what happened on the trip, as well as what's happening after.

My trip began in Belo Horizonte, the capital of my host state of Minas Gerais. BH is a city of about 2.5 million people, and is nestled amid a mountain range. This gives some stunning views from certain parts of the city, a location that gives the city it's name, literally "Beautiful Horizon." I came to BH earlier than any of the other exchange students, on November 22nd, and met the family of another exchange student (who is currently in Germany), who received me in their lovely apartment and showed me around the city. They took me around the city, showed me some of the landmarks, as well as various restaurants and museums in the city. I had a good time in the city, but the entire time I was preoccupied thinking about the trip and everything that would come with it. So after my short stay with the gracious Cunha family, I was dropped off by them at the hotel/resort in the outskirts of the city where the rest of the trip would meet us. When I got there at 8am, there was 8 or 9 exchange students already there, most of whom had been traveling for the entire night and only arrived that morning. As people slowly arrived throughout the day, the group got larger and more diverse, until it was finally composed of the huge group I mentioned before. By dinner of that night, I had started to talk with the exchange students from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the US, whose friendship and company made this trip truly extraordinary. Our second day in BH was marked by our orientation where they reiterated the rules set by Rotary, as well as the extra rules set down by Terra Brasil, the agency I went with. After everyone received their free backpack, hat, and water bottle, we had some free time followed by a Forro dance class. Forro is a very, how should I say, "intimate" dance. Everyone was joking about the mixed messages of having an orientation stating that there would be no kissing on the trip, immediately followed by a mandatory sexy Latin dance class. After our great yet exhausting dance class, we all went on back to the hotel, where just about everyone collapsed as soon as we got to our rooms. The day after, we headed to Brasilia, the capital of Brazil.

The whole next day, we were traveling to Brasilia. This is no exaggeration. We left Belo Horizonte at around 7:00 am  and weren't actually in Brasilia until about 10:30-11 the next night. Although it was a very, very long ride, it was a great opportunity to get to know everyone, seeing as we were all packed into a bus for 16 hours. I sat with several people from Australia: Blaire, Emily, and Tamara, and we made a great time out of what could have been an awful trip. Our hotel in Brasilia was one fit to impress foreign visitors to Brasil, and probably the nicest of any we stayed in while on the trip. Our following day was one that had a lot of sightseeing of the famous locations in Brasilia, such as the senate building and several of the monuments. We had the opportunity to sit in the legislative chambers of both the senate and representatives, as both were out of session. We even got interviewed by a TV station that ran into us on the street, and several people talked about our trip and our respective countries. At the end of the day we went to a large shopping mall where everybody bought various things for the days ahead where there would be little in the ways of shops or big malls, out in the sticks of Bahia.

The next morning, we woke up early, had a nice breakfast in the Brasilia hotel, and proceeded on our way to Lencois, with our stop in Ibotirama for the night. This was another very, very long day of traveling, made longer by me getting sick on the bus about 4 hours into the trip, just before lunchtime. I'm guessing it was motion sickness, seeing as I was talking to people facing backwards for about 2 hours. Not fun. But anyway, after another long day of travel by bus, we finally got to Ibotirama. The hotel was "shoddy" at best, but nobody really minded the occasional cockroach in the shower or lack of hot water seeing as we only stayed there for one night. In a street across from the hotel, all the boys started an impromptu game of soccer with 5 minute 4 on 4 rounds. Over an hour or so, lots of kids from the neighborhood gathered to watch, and we invited them to play, so we were playing soccer in the street with Brazilian kids, quite an experience for sure. The next day, we went to Chapada Diamantina, an area with stunning mountains and canyons. We took a long hike up to the top of a mountain, where everyone took lots of pictures with the great views. After the hike, we had a nice free afternoon in the city of Lencois, a beautiful little colonial-style town with cobblestone streets and small shops. Then, we went back to our hotel. The Lencois hotel was amazing, a five star resort named "Portal Lencois". It had a great pool with a view of the mountains in the background. After a few free hours at the pool, we had a Capoeiera show, and when they asked for volunteers, I was first in line. Despite embarrassing myself trying to pull a cartwheel, I still had a great time. After buying a T-Shirt, everyone hung out a little while longer on the very large grounds of the resort, and then went to bed in anticipation of the next day. The following day was quite special, and probably one of the more memorable of this part. We started with a long hike to one of the largest natural water slides in the world, about 70 meters of rock with a waterfall going over it, which makes it ideal for sliding down, albeit a little rough on your tailbone at times. After a great time there, as well as pioneering the "4 exchange student train technique", we went on a hike back to the town. After some lunch in the town again, we went on another hike to a natural formation of pools and waterfalls about 2 km out of town. After a very long and hot trek to the pools, we jumped in the cold pools and cooled off, and had a free night afterwards. The following day we departed early in the buses on the way to Maceio, where the "beach" portion of the trip began in earnest.

After a very long journey to Maceio, we finally arrived in the beautiful coastal city. This was the first (and last) opportunity during the trip for laundry, so the people from Terra Brasil gave us a whole 5 hours to flood the local laundromats with our clothes. After the free morning, we went on a remarkable trip out to these natural pools by little wooden boats. The pools are small, 4-5 foot deep depressions made by the reefs, so that even though you're about a kilometer out off the shore, you can still stand up straight as if you were a few feet off the shore. Sailing on the boats as the sun was setting over the lengthy Brazilian coastline was a wonderful experience, and one of the many "wow" moments of this trip- times when you just sat back for a moment and reflected on the kind of luck you have. Another one of these moments came soon after, on the next day in Praia do Gunga. Gunga was the first real beach we went to, as well as the best in my opinion. The beach was only accessible by a barge, so everyone loaded onto a boat in the morning, and then we spent the whole day on the beach. It was an idyllic Brazilian beach, complete with swayed palm trees, vendors selling coconuts on the beach, and little food shacks with light beach fare being sold. We all spent a lot of time in the sun, having fun with the beautiful, calm, blue water, and I tried to get the color on my shoulders back to normal after being badly burned in Belo Horizonte. After a wonderful 5 or so hours, we took the boat back, had some time in Maceio, and then we were on our way again the next day, to the famous city of Natal.

Natal is known throughout Brazil for its sand dunes, buggy trips, and it's beautiful beaches. We started our two days there with a visit to the largest cashew tree in the world, a sprawling attraction next to the beach. We saw monkeys, ate raw cashew fruits, and had a nice morning. Afterwards, we went to a nice beach, complete with all the trappings of a typical Brazilian beach. We were encouraged to buy presents for the destitute community in the next city, as there was a market nearby with great deal on toys. Everyone had another free day at the beach, which I spent in between soccer, swimming, and walking around. After the day was over, we went to a buffet restaurant (as per usual) and rested up for the next day. The day after, we had a day out on the dunes on buggies, easily one of the best days of the trip. We all got into these dune buggies, in groups of 4, and then headed out in a huge group to the beautiful dunes of Natal. The ride was incredible, speeding up huge hills of sand and then doing sweeping turns on your way down, all while doing about 50+ mph. We had a few stops to take pictures and buy drinks (it was essentially a desert, so everyone got very thirsty very fast). After about 2 hours out on the dunes, we finally arrived at a beautiful beach, flanked by the dunes on the side with a quaint little town to the back. We had another great day on the beach, with everyone doing much of the same things there. Later on during the night, we had a wonderful Luau on the beach, with plenty of food, music, and exchange students to have a great time. Even though everyone was exhausted from the last few days (some even slept on the grass), we managed to get up enough energy to enjoy the night. The day after, we headed out to the city of Recife early in the morning after a short breakfast in the hotel.

It's generally agreed by people on the trip that Recfie was the least favorite of the cities, given our lack of beach time and the amount of time in museums and just in the bus without actually getting out and walking around the city. Our first day there consisted mostly of our visit to Brasilia Teimosa, a favela community famous for its resistance of eviction by the government, as well as the strides it's made in its many years. There, we went to the main school of the community, and had a presentation about the nature of the community, the efforts that the community and government are making, as well as how the school works. Everyone that brought them gave out gifts to the children, said a little bit about their country, and asked questions about life there. Following this, we were giving free time to prepare for the talent show later that night. Dustin (Canada), Abby (Australia), and Nicola (New Zealand) wrote and performed a song about the trip, with a lot of inside jokes for everyone to enjoy. Most of the students did things unique to their country, but some just sang or danced, such as Blessing from South Africa who amazed everyone with a rendition of "Hallelujah". In the end, we all had a great time, and got a great insight into everyone by the way they entertained us. The following day we did a tour of the city, followed by a museum. This was a large private collection gathered by one of the richest families in Recife, all located in a sprawling estate. Although it was a wonderful collection, I had spent the entire weekend before leaving for the Northeast in Curitiba looking at art galleries, so I was a bit tired of it at that point, as were the people who hadn't gone to Curitiba the week before. Afterwards, we went to Shopping Recife, the second largest mall in Brazil. I didn't really buy anything, but me and my friends did go see a movie (Killer Elite, English with Portuguese subtitles), as well as get some McDonalds (a staple in our diet on this trip). After 5 or so hours at the mall, and withdrawing quite a bit of cash, we went back to the hotel where we had a free night to go around the hotel and socialize. The next day, we headed out of Recife for Porto de Galinhas, a great beach town, and ultimately Salvador.

After about 3-4 hours drive (a quick drive on this trip), we arrived in the town of Porto de Galinhas. Galinha means hen or chicken, and the town makes use of it's name, with chickens appearing on street signs everywhere. We went straight to the beach in this city, and the boys in the group got right to playing soccer. However, we ended up being stopped by the city police, because apparently soccer on the beach is against a municipal law. Nobody got in any serious trouble, but we did have to stop playing soccer on the beach. After that, the rest of the day was spent doing all the normal beach things, sitting on towels in the sand, walking around, etc. After lunchtime, we had to leave. So after this, we keep going to Salvador and have to stop in a very "one night stay" place, with packed rooms and basic accommodations. However, by the next day, we were on our way to Salvador, the first capital of Brazil and a beautiful historic town.

After a very uncomfortable bus ride in the sun-baked front seats of the bus, we arrived in the town of Praia do Forte, where we visited TAMAR, a project directed at marine turtle conservation. After going around the conservation project, we had a free afternoon in Praia do Forte, a lovely and small city, reminiscent of many beach towns in the U.S. There were many high-end stores there catering to tourists and foreign visitors with prices to match, and everyone took advantage of the Subway there, which everyone had been missing quite dearly. After about 2 p.m., everybody got back on the bus for the remaining 3 hours or so of driving to Salvador. The trip seemed like nothing compared to the extremely long bus rides we'd already taken. After a beautiful drive along the coast of Salvador, we finally arrived in the city to go to the show of a band called Olodum, an all percussion band that is famous around Brazil. They've performed with Paul Simon and Michael Jackson before, and they gave everybody an amazing show. There was even an instructor at the show who taught everyone how to dance properly to the music, or at least as well as 89 exchange students can dance to a giant Brazilian percussion band. That night, we had an included meal at McDonald's, which everyone took advantage of. Afterwards, we all went back to our very nice hotel in Salvador, rested up for the night, and went off to the city again the next day. During our second day in Salvador we went to the municipal market, where everyone took the opportunity to buy the cheap goods there, as well as exercise our haggling skills (something I learned how to do on this trip). After the market, we went to the old section of the city, with beautiful Portuguese colonial buildings and churches. After walking around a bit and looking through the shops, we made our way to an amazing show, filled with capoeira, fire dancing, and songs that are traditional of the Bahia region. Everyone said that this show was their favorite cultural element of the trip, and I'd certainly have to agree. After the show, we went back to the hotel and headed to Porto Seguro, where Brasil was originally discovered by Europeans.

The point of discovery of Brazil is now one of the most visited tourist destinations in the country, with students from all over the nation coming there for its famous parties, beautiful beaches, and small size. We arrived late in the afternoon, and this was one of the occasions where we essentially had the hotel to ourselves, so we were able to be the noisy, raucous, fun group we are by nature. The hotel was arranged in a semi-circle around a pool, so there was quite a bit of throwing each other in there. The next day, we went to the beach, where although it began cloudy, it turned out to be a beautiful day. After about 3, we left on our tour of the town, where we went and visited the "rock of discovery", a small obelisk that commemorates Brazil's discovery and dates from more than 450 years ago. After sampling some fresh-picked chocolate powder (which was absolutely delicious), we went back to the hotel to rest for a while. After some rest and dinner, we went to a party at a barracao on the beach, which is like a combination of a restaurant, club, samba school, and many other things. There was a very large party there, and while we were certainly the largest group there, there were others from Chile and other parts of Brazil. The party started at about 9 and didn't end until 2 in the morning, although by that time most of the people were just lying on the beach. We arrived back at the hotel around 2:30, and few got to sleep before 3. Waking up at 5:30 the next day, therefore, was not fun. I can't remember the last time that I was so exhausted, but at least I had a comfortable and sleep-filled bus ride until we reached Guarapari, where we ate at a nice restaurant and stopped for the night., and then the next day, made our way to the most awaited city on the trip- Rio de Janeiro.

After almost a day of traveling, we arrived in Rio at about 4:30. Although there were some showers upon our arrival, the view of the city was still very impressive. We then arrived in our hotel in Rio with a lot of time to spare, so everyone was given free time to wander around the Copacabana district. This gave us a good opportunity to see a part of city, and also gave me my first peek at the Cristo Redentor, which gave me a thrill. After our free time, we went out to dinner, and afterwards had some free time in our spacious hotel. The next day we woke up early and departed for Cristo Redentor and Pao de Acucar, the two most visited locations in the Marvelous City. The way up to Cristo begins at a small train station which runs up the mountain, with a couple of stops for the people who live on the hill itself. On the way up, I met a couple from New Jersey, and it was a pretty interesting experience to have somebody else compare the height of the Cristo Redentor to Mount Greylock in Massachusetts. After a tree-covered train ride up to the top, the car emerged to some truly spectacular views of Rio, but even these would end up looking pale in comparison to the incredible views from the top. At the Cristo, everybody just kind of stood there are looked at the statue and marveled for a moment. After taking it in, everyone began taking the classic pictures of our arms outstretched in front of the statue, as well as one of my face with the reflection of the statue in the reflection, which I though was incredible and quickly became my profile picture on facebook. The view from the statue was probably the most incredible I've ever seen. The sweeping view of the harbor, complete with the beaches and mountains in the background, was absolutely breathtaking. It's one of those sights that will never really leave my mind. After going down the mountain, we departed for the famous Pao de Acucar (sugar loaf mountain). It's a striking peak that just seems to jut out of the cityscape, and gives an amazing view of the whole of Rio. We had to take 3 different gondolas up the 2 peaks to arrive at the top of the mountain, with an amazing view for the whole time. At the top, there is a striking view of the whole city, although nothing really compares to the view from Cristo. At the top, there were some absurdly expensive shops, that we passed, trying to fool tourists who don't look around. After we got down from the mountain, we went to a shopping mall in the city, where we finally ate lunch and had a look around. It was a fantastic day, and we were very fortunate to have beautiful weather. Later on, we went out to a pizza restaurant which seemed completely overwhelmed by the size of our group (we had grown to 105 students by this time) and had some arrived back at the hotel. Due to some behavior issues on part of the new kids, we had a very early curfew. The following day, if extra money was paid, we had the opportunity to go on a tour of Rocinha, the largest favela (slum) in Latin America and one of the largest in the world. We loaded into several vans according to language preference, and afterwards departed into the favela The first thing we were directed at was the incredible view from the entrance of the favela, with a beautiful view of both Cristo and Pao de Acucar. After this, we entered the heart of the favela, a veritable crush of humanity, with houses stacked on top of one another, people everywhere in the streets, and the sights of poverty everywhere. Rocinha is even a "developed" favela, with a moderate degree of infrastructure and sanitation, but most favelas are not so lucky. As we walked through a central market, we noticed Rio's specialized commando police stopping people along the street. The BoPe are a commando force sent in by the government to "pacify" the favelas and eradicate organized crime there in preparation of the 2014 world cup and the 2016 Olympics there. The police presence made the otherwise ominous favela seem a bit more secure, as well as the fact that the people in the favela were somewhat grateful for our presence, as the trip's cost went towards various community projects, as well as raising awareness inside the favela. After leaving the favela, we had about 3 hours of free time to walk around Copacabana and enjoy some of our last free time in Rio. Later on, we went to the Sambadromo, where the Carnaval festivals are held every year, and eventually made our way to Tourao, a famous steakhouse outside the city. Afterwards, we had the rest of the night free at the hotel, where we got our trip t-shirts and filled out our trip superlatives. The next morning, we had an early breakfast and departed for the final day of our trip in Angra dos Reis.

After about 3 hours of driving, we arrived in Angra dos Reis, a beautiful town nestled in an expansive cove with breathtaking mountains in the background. This was our last day of the trip, so everybody was quite emotional from the start, even though most people swore not to talk about our lack of time until the very last minute. We began our day in a little mall where we ate lunch and some people did some last-minute shopping, and afterwards we made our way to the boat which we would spend the rest of the day on. The boat was a typical passeio boat, meant to accommodate a group of about 100 for the afternoon. It was a double decker boat, so some people were above tanning while others were relaxing on the chairs downstairs. The cove has many islands in it, and the boat took us to several islands and little beaches, and we jumped off the boat, did flips, and had a great time in the beautifully clear water. We were out on the water until sunset, and afterwards docked at our hotel/lodge on the waterfront. It was a gorgeous setting, and watching the sun set across the water against the mountains was a sight I hope I'll never forget. Although the accommodations weren't the best, nobody really cared. We only ended up sleeping for an hour or two that night, so the quality of the rooms wasn't of very much concern. After just hanging around until dinner, we ate by the waterfront for our last meal together as a group. The food wasn't great, but as with the rooms, it wasn't the food we were concerned about. Shortly after dinner, we were handed out an evaluation of the trip, with room for suggestions and notes, as well as a general knowledge quiz about various places we visited, just to see how much we learned. Afterwards, we had our final daily meeting of the trip. There, all the counselors and chaperones gave very heartfelt goodbyes to everyone, and although they do this twice a year, they still clearly get very attached to each group they go with. After this, they announced the results of the superlatives, with categories like worst singer, best smile, best body, latest, etc. I had a great surprise when I won for the "best Portuguese" category, which was a great little mark of gratification after all the work I've put into this language. After this, Debora, our coordinator, announced there was no curfew, which was met with thunderous applause and the beginning of the party's music. We had a DJ for most of the night, and everybody had a great time while he was there. However, everybody was still awake well after he left at around 2am, and very few people were in bed before 4am. We just wanted to savor every single moment we had together, as everyone was well aware that we might never see each other again after the next morning. After hours and hours of partying on the beach, I finally fell asleep at about 4:30, only to be awoken by a group of German guys going around to each unlocked room at 5:15 telling everybody that it was time to go and that we all had to get up. I was not amused. But anyway, I woke up at about 6, stumbled into the shower, and left the room, dreading the goodbyes that had to come after breakfast. After a very quiet breakfast, our coordinator told us we had to go. Then the tears started. Everyone was crying, devastated to be torn away from the friends that we had become so close to in just 28 days, and yet would most likely never see again without very long trips. I cried more at this goodbye than that with my family, simply because I knew that I would almost certainly never see these people again. However, I'll keep the memories of this trip and these people with me for as long as I live.

The Northeast was the best month of my life, filled with amazing places, people, and experiences that I will never forget. It gave me the opportunity to make friends with people from every continent on every inhabited continent on Earth, and it was worth absolutely every single penny that was paid for it. My only regret is that we didn't have more time. I have been incredibly lucky to have been in such a situation that I can do these kinds of things, and I'm thankful every day for it. As I write this now, I'm in my second host family (with a room of my own!), both going over the memories and looking forward to the second half of my exchange.

Curitiba

A few weeks back, my host mother had brought up the subject of going to Curitiba, a city in the south of Brazil, this weekend. Curitiba is in the state of Parana, 2 states to my south. It's known for it's culture, art, and being the "most livable" city in Brazil. Seeing as the tickets were free and would give me something interesting to do for the entire long weekend, I eagerly accepted, and on Friday at 10 p.m. my host mother Guilhermina, my younger host brother Vitor and I boarded a bus for Curitiba. Being inexperienced with bus travel, I thought the journey there would be quick and painless. Wrong, wrong, wrong. In between traffic from Sao Paulo, as well as some technical difficulties, the trip there ended up taking 18 hours. This, coupled with some very noisy passengers, had me arrive in Curitiba a very irritable and tired young man. After we arrived, we went through the Botanical Garden (jardim botanico), which was very, very pleasant. I got some great photos of the grounds, as well I think was the first true breath of fresh air I've had here. You know the kind: tinged with the smell of trees and a little bit of fallen leaves, the kind that makes (along with a cup of coffee) an 18 hour bus ride disappear from memory.  However, just when I had gotten relaxed and recuperated, my older host brother  Lucas, who was supposed to pick us up, called to tell us he had gotten lost and had no clue where he was. This led to a stressful cab ride that ended up costing more than R$100, but eventually we found him and we went to the house of my "host aunt", where after a little food, I promptly passed out and slept until 8:30 the next day.

The following day, Guilhermina and I went along with her group (a mix of art students, teachers, actors, etc.) to see some more of the sights of Curitiba. These included various art museums and galleries, a large open-air market, and the Oscar Niemeyer museum, which was by far the highlight of the day. The museum is huge, with many different collections of varying styles and influences, and the building itself is of his design. After this trip to the galleries and museums, we went out to a pizza restaurant, and went to sleep fairly early, being very tired from all the walking around. The day after, we took a tour around the new house my host aunt and uncle were planning on buying. This beautiful home and gorgeous neighborhood offered a stark contrast when compared to the shanty-towns and little mountain farming villages we passed on the way there.

At 6 p.m., our bus left the city, and, while a bit more quiet and sleep-filled than the first part, still took 18 hours due to a problem with the windshield-wipers. So, 2000 kilometers and 36 hours on a bus later, I'm back in Uberlandia with a lot of new photos and knowledge of a whole other part of Brazil. Despite the troubles with the trip, I'd say it was worth it.

Soccer Game

The following is a recent blog post I had to do for a district Rotary organization, in Portuguese. I'll leave it as such, with a few words clarified due to the errors google translate tends to make.


No domingo passado, eu fui pra um jogo dos Corinthians na Parque Sabia. Havia pelo menos 40.000 torçadores (fans) dos Corinthians lá, e com certeza era o mais louco jogo eu que eu fui. Eu já fui para jogos dos Yankees e Celtics, mas isso era mais barulho, o mais louco, e o mais massa jogo que eu fui. Ali, eu encontrei Sophie, uma outra intercamista (exchange student) em nosso distrito quem veio do Frutal, tres horas de Uberlândia, somente para ver o jogo. Os musicas, as sinalizadors (fireworks), as baterias (drums) e as banderas, todo coisas foi incrível. Eu sempre ouvi sobre que bom jogos do futebol são no outras países, mas agora eu vi pessoalmente e era mais que eu esperava.

Goiânia Trip

On Friday my host family and I took a trip to the city of Goiania, capital of the neighboring state of Goias, which has about 1.3 million people. This was because in order to do a Rotary Exchange here, or at least in this district, you need to pass a long written exam as well as interviews in English and with a psychologist. This came as quite a shock to me, as I only had to complete my application and conduct two interviews with some local Rotary officials.

Anyway, we left in the afternoon on Friday, and after a two hour or so car drive, we arrived in the small city of Goiatuba, where we stayed with the family of my host mother's brother. There, we had a fish dinner and caught up on some recent things that had happened. The event wasn't very remarkable for anyone else, but as I was sitting at the dinner table I thought, "If you had told me two years ago that today I'd be sitting in a small town in Brazil, eating a fish from the Amazon, and being complemented on my Portuguese skills, I would have said you were insane." This was one of those moments when it really hit me how different my life is right now than the normal high school experience, and how grateful I am that it's like this. After this moment of self reflection, I promptly bit into one of the bones in the fish that the family had warned me about, and I was snapped back into reality. After a nice, restful night, we got up early and went to Goiatuba. There, there was a big meeting for everyone before the test, with some words about Rotary and the test. Since a few (6 of us) exchange students went to the test, they had each of us introduce ourselves. There were 3 from Mexico, 1 girl from Canada, one boy from Taiwan, and then me. Since the test (prova in Portuguese) was very long, we all went to a nearby mall to hang out and get to know each other better. I spoke almost entirely in Portuguese with the Mexican students, and in English with the Canadian. It was great to have someone to commiserate with in English about our experiences so far in Brazil, as well as learn about some of the little differences about where we live. Her Portuguese was not as good as mine is, so when we got lost looking for the college it was up to me to ask for directions and buy water from a local snack shop.

It was around this time that I started to not quite feel right. I got a weak headache and started to feel somewhat tired (this was at around 1:00), and by 3:00 I had gotten quite sick. When we got back to the school were the test was being taken, I was shivering, aching, and had a splitting headache. After that I had to sit through a 5 hour car ride back to Uberlandia. I think the best way to explain the way I felt is this: I was brainstorming what words (agonizing, horrific, excruciating, etc.) would be strong enough to describe how awful I felt throughout this. After 12 hours of sleep, and a restful morning, I'm feeling almost 100 percent now.

So, good and bad, this weekend was very interesting, in between seeing a new city, meeting new people from all over the world, and getting exceedingly sick from a mysterious illness. That's an exchange for you.

New Developments

I've had a very busy few weeks since my last post, with lots of social engagements, lots of arrangements to be made for future plans, as well as other things happening with me. As for social engagements, there was a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band concert that I went to a few weeks ago, which was a great time. It was a 16 and up night at the club, which if I had brought the right documents, would have made getting nice and smooth. Unfortunately, the bouncer wanted an original passport. It took my friends and I a very long time to convince him that this was crazy, and that my 4 other forms of I.D. in my pocket should prove I am who I am. After this little disruption, we got in, and after a bit of techno in beforehand, the band came on. The musicians themselves were about as good as you expect a Brazilian Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band to be, but seeing as I grew up with the music, I had a great time. Most of the other social events were not quite as noteworthy, just the usual fare of going to people's houses, talking, eating dinner, as well as a second churasco the other day.

This was about the same time I started to notice there was something wrong with my knee. Since about my last blog post my knee has been swollen, along with some pain and difficulty extending it. All of the symptoms seem to line up with a tear to my meniscus, which my father had as well at one point, making it seem very likely. Whatever it is, I'm going to an orthopedist next week to find out. I doubt it's anything too serious.

Anyway, last night I also made my reservation for my trip to the Northeast, which is sure to be one of the most amazing months of my life. In a nutshell, it's a tour of the best equatorial beaches in Brazil: Bahia, Natal, etc., followed by a stay in Rio. I'm beyond excited for this opportunity, and so grateful that I'm able to go on it. It will last for a month, which should be a great way to break up my routines here.  The full itinerary, with places, things, activities, can be found here (in English). http://www.terrabrasil.com/inter_programa.php?lang=ZW4=&id=NA==

So, with my concerns about my knee, reservation and money taken care of, I don't have very much to worry about, as it should always be when living in Brazil.

The First Month

This first month has been, without a doubt, the most incredible of my life. Never have I been immersed in so many new customs, people, experiences, challenges, and opportunities. Meeting everything with a head held high and a sense of humor seems to be the most important thing, and despite all of the setbacks, I have never felt so confident in my life. Every phrase successfully said and understood in Portuguese, every event I get invited to; they're all provide the rush of pride and assurance that only I only received once in a while before.

As for events in the last few weeks, we had the churrasco for my classroom at INEI COC, which was a lot of fun. 12 hours of good people and good food, and I wasn't bored for a minute. Unfortunately, I think I injured my knee there. Nothing too bad, just a little bit of swelling, and with a bit of rest, ice, and absurdly expensive Brazilian ibuprofen, it should be fine. Anyways, this week was the Brazilian Independence Day, which gave us another Wednesday off (Wednesday holidays are probably the greatest invention since the wheel).  This gave me a much needed opportunity to get some sleep, as well as go to the movies for the first time here. I saw Planet of the Apes, in English with Portuguese subtitles. I arrived before the rest of the people, and the lines were very long, so I decided to get  into line and buy them myself. This ended up being quite a mistake. Now, in Brazilian movie theaters there are two different ticket prices: Inteira and Meia. Inteira means you don't have to show your I.D., yet you pay double the price, and the opposite for meia. Like the unsavvy gringo I am right now, I went ahead and bought inteira's and spent way too much money. After this, I went to a churrascaria, which can only be described as a "meat house". A very generous paid for my dinner, so I got to enjoy everything from garlic-cooked steak and huge sausages to fried bananas. Also, things are coming to together for my trip to the Northeast and Rio, which I'll certainly elaborate more on when the time comes.

If a month feels like this, my time will go here much faster than planned.

Third Week and New Opportunities

The theme of this last couple weeks seems to have been the transition from the excitement and novelty of arriving to integration into the community and the things offered to exchange students. I've received opportunities for volunteering at a cancer hospital, a ecological social action project, music lessons, sports, and other new things. The cancer hospital is an opportunity I want to pursue, because volunteering at a hospital, and being able to tangibly help people, is something I've always wanted to do. Also, as my YEX coordinator said, it will allow me to see the "other countries" within Brazil outside of the wealthy, successful one I've been exposed to thus far. As for the music lessons (which at this point is mostly self teaching with the guidance of a very talented host father), they're a great use of the new found free time I have. Although I spent more time at home in the United States, I certainly had much less time free due to my workload.

As for sports, these aren't so much opportunities for clubs as they are opportunities through learning the rules and being able to play them when I want. First among these is peteca, which is much like Badminton, except with Native American origins and is played with only your hand and a feathered birdie. Also, today I learned how to play what is essentially cricket. The game was with a few friends of my host brother in the street at sunset, which was very picturesque and of course, a lot of fun. Also, I signed up for a inter-class handball tournament at INEI COC, so that'll be a lot of fun.

Outside of all these opportunities, my social and recreational life is still in full swing. Last week, there was a churrasco, this week there was rock climbing and a UFC fight viewing party, and this week there will be a holiday on Wednesday which will be sure to have something going on. I've been running more than I have since the winter, and with a track and within walking distance every day, it's very easy to stay in good shape and stay active.

I'll be able to say more about all these opportunities as they become realities, but until then, it's late here.

First Week of School and Caldas Novas

Starting school was always the thing I was most nervous about my exchange. The first day of school is a nerve-wracking experience in your own culture, much less one you're a stranger to. I had feared that those things that are associated with a first day of school: the possibility of exclusion, the anxiety, and the difficulty would be amplified a hundred times when in another culture. The majority of this, however, was just my imagination. The first day was a frenzy of hello's, greetings, and introductions. The pressure of making friends was greatly relieved by the churrasco we had the weekend before, which got me off to a good start with at least 9 or 10 people. I made a point to introduce myself to all of my teachers, which I feel has given me a good start with them as well.

The standards for exchange students academically in the first weeks/months are clearly quite lenient. Although I write down as much as I can, if I just stayed awake it seems that my teachers would be satisfied. The only work I've been asked to do so far is a project on the United States/Litchfield, to be presented in a week or so. The subjects at INEI COC are very diverse: sociology, biology, philosophy, English, Spanish, mathematics, and physics, as well as a few others. The language barrier continues to plague me though. It's quite odd to be invited to everything, yet feel excluded at the same time. This is due to the fact my Portuguese is only really good enough to answer questions directly addressed to me, and understanding a conversation and chiming in on it is beyond my grasp at the moment. However, I seem to be learning new words at a good pace, but the most crucial thing is hearing how words I already know sound when spoken.

Socially, this week has been very busy. In the middle of the week, I and a few other friends went to the birthday party of a classmate at a Italian Restaurant. This was an instance where the differences in eating habits came into play. The party didn't start until 8:30, on a school night, so we didn't get back until well after 11. This was all very odd for me, and didn't make staying awake in school any easier. At the end of the week, we went to a friend's (Cariniana) house, after exercising at the sprawling and gorgeous Praia Clube, the description of which I will save for a shorter post. This was a good opportunity to talk to people in a bit quieter and more private setting than school (my classroom always seems to be very loud, quite different from the US). After this, we went to my friend Bola's house, where we stayed until pretty late, and then left for Goiatuba the next day.

Driving through the Brazilian countryside was a real wake-up call that I'm not at home anymore. The environment between Uberlandia and Goiatuba is reminiscent of an African savanna, with lush green tracts of land where the irrigation systems are. This trip offered a glimpse into the poverty that is still very real here. We passed small, isolated ranches without another house for dozens of miles, and a small town where there was nothing more than one story, and tin-roofed houses seemed to be the most prevalent form of home. This served as a reminder that I have the luck to live with the upper echelons of Brazilian society, and just how many people are not as fortunate.

Goiatuba is a town of about 30,000 people in Goias State, the one adjacent to mine. It is the incarnation of what my stereotypes of a small Latin American town would be, as garnered from movies and news images. Open stores selling fresh food and beer, orange, clay-like roofs, advertisements painted on white walls in Portuguese, the rattle of old cars, and a brilliant orange sun setting on the horizon. This image was gained while going through town to get food for our dinner at the godfather of my host brothers. There we ate a wide array of meats and cheeses, talked about the differences between our countries, and I showed many pictures of Litchfield. I think I can say I only realized my identity as a "small town american boy" until I had to explain how small and sheltered my city is when compared to a place like Uberlandia or how wealthy and privileged it is when compared to the countryside. Sentimentality aside, we all stayed in the house in Goiatuba and then traveled to the resorts of Caldas Novas the next day. Caldas Novas was great, between the cloudless Brazilian sky, the huge wave pool and rides, I had a great time. There was also another "we're not in Kansas anymore" moment when I saw two brilliant blue-and-yellow macaw's as well as green and red parakeets, all in their natural habitats. Caldas Novas gave me a great opportunity to relax after a long and busy week.

This first week and a half cannot be summed up with one word. It's been at once overwhelming, exhilarating,  disheartening, and eye-opening.

-Carl

Churrascos and New People

In the last two days, I've been fortunate enough to be invited to two churrascos, or Brazilian Barbecues, and meet a huge amount of new people. One was held at the home of my host family, in their beautiful pool area, and one at their church's community house. Both of these events gave me a great opportunity to dive right into Brazilian culture, from eating habits to greetings and other customs. For example, at a churrasco, food is served in small portions, yet relatively constantly, for a very long time. The churrasco at the De Pieri's lasted from noon until almost 1 a.m.!

The food is certainly different. I had chicken hearts, steak, sausage, and bacon-wrapped chicken for meat, mandioca (cassava) with garlic sauce, and all kinds of juices I had never heard of. I also had the chance to eat raw mango, and of course, more pao de quijo. There is definitely a certain novelty for everyone meeting an exchange student for the first time, as everyone was very interested to know all about me. Everything from my favorite music and movies to past relationships, they wanted to know just what makes the new American kid tick! At the church churrasco, I met several new people and won a bottle of wine at the raffle, which I promptly gave to the De Pieri's. Everyone seems very impressed with my Portuguese, even though I can barely understand the conversations going on around me. However, I think I might be beginning to get that "ear" for Portuguese.

And tomorrow I start school. Yikes.

Travel and Arrival

It was not easy to get to Brazil, that's for sure. Beginning with a lovely three hour car ride to JFK, followed by 2 hours of nervous, excited, and tense waiting at the terminal. Then, there was the plane ride. As I found out, you begin to squirm in even the most comfortable of seats after 10 hours. Also, it is remarkably difficult to sleep in a coach airline seat, resulting in a resounding 3 hours of sleep and traveling to Uberlandia purely on espresso and guarana soda.

Arriving in Sao Paulo gave me my first taste of Brazilian culture. First of all, Sao Paulo is absolutely massive. Simply urban sprawl for as far as the eye can see. After checking my bags, I exchanged my dollars for reais and was on my way. I had an espresso and a pao de quijo as a first meal in Brazil. It's very hard to find a "cup of coffee". All I've seen are small, strong, drinks or cappuccino, latte-type drinks. I also had my first conversation in Portuguese while sitting at the gate to Uberlandia during my layover, which was quite interesting. The flight to Uberlandia was quite uneventful, with the exception of getting a glimpse of the Brazilian landscape during daylight. My arrival was far from uneventful though.

After casually waiting around for my baggage at the quite small Uberlandia Airport, I received a very warm greeting from my first two host families, as well as my Rotary Counselor and Coordinator. After handshakes and beijos, my host family graciously took my bags to the car and explained all the sights and introduced me to the city. After arriving to the beautiful home of the De Pieri's, we had a delicous lunch of pastries, pao de quijo, and guarana soda. About 9 out of every 10 sentences said in Portuguese went right over my head, although I was able to piece some together. It was quite frustrating to recognize several words in a sentence, yet have the meaning slip from my grasp, or not come until too late to give a response. However, if all goes well, this will improve with time. We went out shopping, where I saw several fruits and juices I have never seen or heard of before, and Mrs. De Pieri is inviting people over for a churrasco, or Brazilian barbecue tomorrow afternoon. After a walk around the neighborhood, I returned to the house and wrote this, and given that I've traveled in the neighborhood of 4700 miles in the last 26 hours, and have only had 3 hours of sleep, I will definitely be going to sleep early for once.

Anticipation

    Within 24 hours, I will be on a TAM Airlines flight to São Paulo to begin my year in Brazil. My bags are packed, and almost everything is ready to leave. Goodbyes have been said, some heartbreaking, yet I go with the high hopes and expectations for an incredible year abroad. Now, all that is really left is to get up, go to the airport, and begin my time in Brazil.
    The flight will be 10 hours, certainly longer than any one I've been on so far. So far, I have been to California, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Florida, and North Carolina, yet I have never been out of the country, and this will be unlike anything I've ever experienced. Friends will be made, a language will be learned, pictures will have been taken, and a country will have been experienced, but this is the beginning.