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