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Random Pictures Compiled Together

Good lookin' fruit tree

Family reunion

Alex (host mom's boyfriend) and I

Host mom, Alex, and I

Birthday party for my host nephew

Volunteers that put on a Christmas program for the kids living in a favela (the slums)

Presents for the Christmas program

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Christmas in Herval D'Oeste

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Jingle Bells in Portuguese. By the way it's super weird to be experiencing summer in December ✌️

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I leave for a month long trip to the northeast on January 5th. This means that I will post about Christmas/New Years in February. I hope everyone has good holidays. 

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On this trip I want to Foz de Iguacu with exchange students from my Rotary district and another Rotary district that is located closer to Foz de Iguacu. I also went to two different malls in Paraguay and walked the streets briefly with a few other exchange students. It was a great trip that I’m glad that I had the opportunity to experience.

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Brazilian Dating Culture

This post is a generalization of what I have observed and heard from Brazilians. I think that love is a beautiful thing that can’t be put into a box. This said, there are acceptations to everything in this post.

More Casual

It’s hard for people to find somebody to be in a serious relationship with because most people just one to kiss and be done. Kissing isn’t as intimate of an act here as it is in the US. Also, once people have kissed each other they don’t usually kiss again. For example, my host sister and I went to a costume party for Friday the 13th. It was the majority of my class and two other people from another school. One of my friends told me what to expect at a Brazilian party, and one of the things she said is that there would probably be people kissing. Before we went to the party I asked my host sister about this (she had a list of everyone that had said they were going) and she said that they had already kissed each other so it probably wouldn’t be that way.

When You Snag Someone

In high school guys aren’t ready to get serious (a lot of girls don’t want anything serious too). Due to this when a girl in high school starts dating a guy he is usually out of high school. This isn’t something wrong here because age gaps aren’t a big deal here. I only have three friends that are dating someone and all three are dating guys that have graduated high school.

Musts of Dating in Brazil

Public displays of affection such as making or cuddling are a very normal part of relationships in Brazil  and people aren’t judged for it. It seems like people don’t even give a second thought to it. Lots of posts on social media (similar in the US but I think there’s a different reason for why here). I think that it’s more of a you’re mine thing here, and I’m sure it’s the same for some people in the US. When you’re in a relationship here you wear a ring on your right ring finger to show that you’re not looking. Jealousy is also something very significant to mention. Cheating is very common here (not sure how it compares to the US), and this causes a lot of distrust in relationships (in the US too, but it’s different here). When you’re in a relationship it is a must to be jealous because to them it shows that you care about losing them. The dating culture has been one of my biggest culture shocks. To me these dating musts make it seem like you own the other person, and some of these I would consider unhealthy in the US. It has been a struggle to see these things and not judge this other culture. I just try my best to remember that society has programmed me to think that there is a right way and a wrong way to have a healthy relationship, and I am deprogramming this notion.

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Brazilian Independence Day

Things are going well here. I miss my animals a lot though! 😕 I’m heading to Florinopolis with my class tomorrow so I’ll make a post about that when I get back. 😁

Soooo… Crazy thing! My mom and I both went to the same Japanese celebration on the same day but on different continents. We even both wore Rotary shirts without planning it. It was pretty cool. There was an awesome drum performance, fighting performances, and dancing performances. I went with the new French exchange student. He dosen’t speak English or much Portuguese, but he does speak a lot of Spanish. I honestly thought he was speaking Portuguese because I understood what he was saying, but then I relized he was saying “but” in Spanish and not Portuguese. Then I noticed more words haha. So I aparently can understand Spanish now because we were walking around and chatting for an hour and we talked most of the time. I’m pretty proud of that because that means I have a good enough grasp on Portuguese to be able to understand Spanish. Portuguese speakers can understand Spanish speakers, but Spanish speakers have a hard time understanding people who speak Portuguese. I found it super crazy that I couldn’t tell which language it was because I understood haha. Pretty cool! 😸

So the relationship between the exchange students in my town is kind of humorous. There is a 15 year old from Taiwan (so brave!), a 16 year old from France, and a 19 year old from France. The relationship between us is humorous because the boy from Taiwan and the 19 year old from France don’t understand how the world works yet so they still need a lot of help and direction, and they look for the help and direction from me. Not their smartest option. They treat me like their mother! 🤦 I’m the one that brings the backpack with sunscreen, snacks, and water. They both blow up my phone (text/call a bunch of times until I answer) when they have the slightest inconvenience that they don’t know what to do about. Last weekend one of them called me at 3 am because he didn’t know what was happening the next day, where it was happening, and what to wear. 😅 The other one (15 year old) had texted me about his “crisis” of whether he should walk in the parade with the other exchange students or his basketball team the night before the parade haha. I helped him decide and the “crisis” was fixed. Another example is when we were at the inbound orientacion and it had been raining and he was going to go play football (soccer) and I notice he’s wearing his nice white Gucci shoes. I tell him that he should consider changing his shoes and he does the whole teenager “but (insert thing that will definitely happen here) won’t happen.” Then I do the “okay, but remember what I told you when your favorite pair of shoes are ruined” thing. He ended up changing his shoes haha. I kinda thought that I would be the most clueless one here. 

Brazilian Independence day was last weekend and It wasn’t treated like Independence day in the US. I was in a short parade with the other exchange students in my town and then I went to watch a basketball game with my family and the other exchange students.

I started going to a local gym. I was really proud of myself because my sister helped me start my membership, but I gave the desk lady my information. Then my sister left and I was on my own with an employee that spoke no English (we used an app for some of our communication). He showed me around and I worked out for an hour and then walked back to my host fathers restaurant without getting lost! 💪 That experience may not seem like a big deal, but it was because that would be something that I would be nervous to do in the US and I did it in another language without knowing anybody there. I also definitely feel like more of a local with a long term gym membership lol.

Side notes

I tried wine from Chile. It just tasted like wine lol. When my host mom first offered it to me I thought that it might be a test so I refused, but then my host sister told me that it wasn’t and that our Rotary was okay with taste testing alcohol with your host family. Not enough to get drunk or buzzed of course.

Two guys from my class really want to throw me a party. Not for any reason in particular though lol. I love the Brazillian way 😂

I didn’t think about this being something suprising until I was talking to my mom and she was surprised, but people in Brazil listen to mostly music from the US. Nobody I know in Brazil well watch any shows from Brazil. They watch shows from the US in English with Portuguese subtitles because they say that the emotion of the acting is lost when the voice over is in Portuguese. When I first got here I asked them to change it to Portuguese audio because I thought they were just watching it in English to make me comfortable, but I soon found out that people always watched shows/movies in English.

Do any of you think that the US owns the rain forest? If so, I encourage you to do some research. 😊 A lot of people in Brazil think that people in the US think they own the rain forest. I'm not sure if a lot of people think this or not.

Just a reminder to be kind to foreigners because it’s people like me that have to apologize for all of the US and hear all the awful stories about the things that people from my country have said/done to hurt the people around me 💔

I had my first Portuguese class and I already looked through the workbook to find that I already knew everything they are planning to teach. I was disappointed, but the class is a good excuse to spend time with the other exchange students in my town 👍

One of the biggest culture shocks that I have had since I’ve been here is how taboo it is to talk about sex and periods. Two very natural things. Brazil is such an open culture in so many ways that I didn’t expect this. The government won’t even let schools put period products in school bathrooms because they (men in government) think it aludes to sexual behavior 🙄

There’s this thing called an English Festival and all the classes choreograph and dance to different music. It is up to each class how they want to do things. My class has several songs and choreography with different people. I am dancing in three of the songs. I’m only super embarrassed lol 🙈

Japanese festival

Japanese drum performance

Japanese festival

Japanese festival with French exchange student (16 years) and his host family

Independence day parade

Evening meal with both French exchange students and my host family after the basketball game. Pizza in Brazil is awesome!

Walking in the park with my host sister and three of our friends. This is a popular passtime in Brazil. Also, I'm wearing my school uniform in this photo. The pants are like fancy sweatpants lol

Something that's important to understand. I encourage you to look at this image and really take time to think about it

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Pictures

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Update!!!

2 September 2019

I had orientation for exchange students in my district. It was a lot of fun! To start out the day. My host sister and I went to our fathers resturante and I was sitting there and a girl wearing a Rotary blazer walked in. I kinda just stair for a second because I’m like who is this. Then I introduce myself. She was an exchange student from my district that was traveling to the orientation. Then Casper (Taiwanese exchange student) arrived. Then the French exchange student that had arrived the day before to Joacaba (Thomas). Then a girl from the US and a girl from Germany arrived. My sister who went to Taiwan last year was there and another girl who would head to France the next week. I had no idea this was happening. I think the host parents must have a group chat together and planned it without telling many of us. Thomas (French), my host parents, and I rode to the orientation together. Thomas doesn’t speak much English or Portuguese so it took a lot of work to communicate for hours with each other. We had five languages being spoken in the car to try and understand each other (Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and English) and there were only four people in the car haha.

At the orientation I felt all cool and experienced because I had been in Brazil for a month and most had only been in Brazil for a week. So the orientation was pretty pointless for me information wise because I had already had to figure this out on my own. I really like the other students from my district. There are three girls from the US (including me), one guy from Argentina, two girls from Germany, two girls from Belgium (but they don’t speak the same language because one is in the french part and one isn’t), two french boys (both my town), one Taiwanese boy (my town), and I think two students from Mexico. One of the boys from Mexico and the other French boy weren’t in Brazil at the time of the orientation though. The place we were staying was like a little ranch. It was kinda strange, but very pretty. Something that I didn’t like about the orientation was that they just expected everyone to know English. I found this rude, and it caused a lot of communication errors because not everyone has had the kind of resources to become fluent in English. Before I knew it the orientation was over and I was heading home.

I went to Florianopolis this weekend with my host family. They told my host sister and I about an hour before we left. It was an impromptu visiting of family. I got to see the ocean for the first time, my host mom bought me two pairs of shoes, and I met new people. It was a very chill city, but I got more attention for being an American than I would have liked. One guy (no joke) turned around and started jogging backwards to stare at me when he heard me talk about the US. He didn’t say anything, he just stared. I saw and experienced lots of new things in those two days.

Side notes

I feel bad because when Thomas and I are together and people learn that I’m from the US they get excited, and then they ask where he’s from and people don’t seem to care that he’s from France

I had to speak (impromptu) to a large group of people twice in one day with Rotary. I don’t like to do that in English and definitely not in Portuguese

Dating culture is super weird here (a post on that soon and don't worry, I'm not dating)

I’m going on a trip to Florianopolis with my class in two weeks.

Might go backpacking in India for a gap year.

I feel like I’m learning how to live my own/Gods truth without worrying about others thoughts on the matter

I’m going to Pantanal e Bonito in November. It’s all about animals and nature so I’m super excited

I met my second host mom and I really like her, and can’t wait to live with her

I swear, the dogs in Brazil are fluffier

I think my voice is starting to sound different and my friend said the same thing without me mentioning it

Don’t let my positiveness make you think that this is easy or a vacation. This is still the hardest thing that I’ve ever done.

My wild ride has just started so hold on tight!

Italian soda

Joaçaba in background

About to do a 5k

The ocean

Family

Orientation

Floripa!

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I experienced something today that I have never experienced before, and I thought that I would never experience. It may seem kind of small to my people back home because you can’t have any idea of what I’m currently experiencing, but to me it was life changing (I know it sounds dramatic, but it’s true). Today I was in class. It was the first day we had Physics so I was meeting this teacher for the first time. Of course he asked me my name in front of the class like any normal teacher. I respond. He asks me another question that I don’t understand (I know a lot of words in Portuguese, but I am having trouble understanding those words when someone is speaking because of the speed and the unique dialect). I asked my friend to help me translate. She does and I answer with broken Portuguese and my friend helps me fill in the blanks. The teacher starts to teach, and I am listening and writing the stuff he writes on the board. I am trying my best to listen and understand because school is a great place to hear the dialect and begin to understand. Then he says something to me (quickly) in front of the class. I don’t understand. Next thing I know the boy behind me gave me a Physics book (exchange students at my school don’t get the textbooks because they cost money and we aren’t expected to understand what’s going on until the end of our exchange). At this point he has an evil smile on his face. This is when I realize that something isn’t right, but I don’t know what’s happening. One of my friends brings her chair by my desk and helps me start reading. The class is very silent, and I’m very confused. Then I don’t remember exactly what happened, but the teacher was saying something. He stopped calling me by name, and he started calling me intercambista (exchange student). I thought it was weird, but I didn’t understand until later why. I didn’t understand that what had happened was really bad until everyone was apologizing to me, and telling me to not worry about it because he’s just a baca (mean word). I still didn’t understand what had happened. At the end of the first half of our day (on Wednesdays we go from 7:30 to 11:30 and then 1:00 to 5:00) people were still telling me how sorry they were, and when I was walking with friends to the café of my papai during lunch break and I asked them to explain to me what happened. He was wanting me to read a paragraph out of the physics textbook to the class because he was angry that I didn’t know more Portuguese. He was trying to shame me and embarrass me in front of my peers. He was saying mean things when he was talking. He was talking to the class about me. I didn’t ask them what he said. I was scared to know. They were defending me when he was saying the mean things. I got to my parents café and got food. Then my mamai sits down and says something in Portuguese about bad teacher (my host sister had told her). I was sitting drinking my coffee when I realized why he stopped calling me by my name. I was devastated. I think it was his way of saying you’re worthless. He thought that I didn’t work hard because I didn’t understand more Portuguese. I worked hard for this, so much anxiety over this. He thinks it’s easy to leave my home, friends, family, and everything familiar to me at 16? To go to a place where I have no idea what’s going to happen. It’s the hardest thing I've ever done. Then I thought about the people who come to the United States because of the devastating state of their country. I hear people all the time say stuff like “we stayed in our country when things were bad” and “if they’re in the United States they have to learn English” and they say this like it’s an easy and quick thing to do. In the US I could only try to imagine how that makes them feel, and even now I can only imagine because I have a home to go back to. 

After our lunch break we had a class and then we had another class that he taught. When he walked into the room he put his stuff down. At this point I am very nervous. He walks up to me and puts his hand out for me to shake it. At first I think this is a peace offering, but then I look at his face. It was like he was challenging me. He better be prepared for smiles, and prayers every night before I go to sleep, and the words of “I could see how you might think that, but I disagree” because that’ s how I plan to fight. 

Despite the drama my Portuguese is good, I have wonderful friends who rush to defend me even though they’ve only known me for three days and it puts their grades for his classes at risk, and all of my other teachers besides him are wonderful (even the one that asks me about Trump). I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have all of my friends here to make me feel better and to have my back.

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First Day of School

I want to stay honest in this blog, and that means telling the good along with the bad. Two days ago I started to feel homesick. The sadness is something that comes and goes. My language skills have gotten a lot better though. I have dealt with the homesickness really well. I haven’t been staying in my room and becoming anti-social or given up on learning Portuguese. The sadness is actually encouraging me because a lot of the homesickness is actually about loneliness and not being able to communicate my feelings and learning Portuguese is the only way I know how to fix it. I have also been making an effort to find my support system. I have two people locally that I feel able to talk to. One is my older cousin, but she is family so I feel that I can’t share some things with her. My other person is a friend, but he’s about to go on exchange in the United States so I only have him locally until 8 August. There is another outbound to Brazil that I feel comfortable talking to. I also just started talking to a German girl that will be in my district, and I think that we’ll hopefully be able to lean on each other. The last person is somebody who I never imagined being in my support system. He is finishing his own exchange year in the United States and then will go back to Sao Paulo. I think soon I’ll have more people to trust with my emotions because I had my first day of school today and made LOTS of friends.

When I was walking to my classroom I felt like I was going to throw up because I was super nervous. It was super awkward at first because a bunch of people in the class were talking about me but not to me. I was talking to my sister and her friend, and I kept hearing my name in hushed tones. Then my sister pointed out that they were talking about us. Throughout the day some people looked at me a lot which I understand because I’m American, and people in Brazil are super interested with the United States. During the first class the teacher starts talking to me in the middle of the lesson (in English thank goodness). That’s when God was like JK. You’re not actually you here, and suddenly gave me confidence. I was funny and made people laugh, and it was because I meant to and not because I’m a gringa. Then my teacher asked me what I thought about Trump in front of everyone. I’m not supposed to give my opinion on politics as a Rotary exchange student so I just say hmmm… and look at him like “you should probably just move on because that’s all you’re getting out of me.” He moved on and the awkward moment was over. Overall my school day was amazing, but now I’m super tired, and I need to nap.

I had my second day of school and it was good, but that same teacher asked me about Trump again in front of the class. I didn’t reply again, but tomorrow I’m going to say (in Portuguese) “depends who you ask” and if he says something like “but what do you think” I am going to say “I think that it’s not a good idea to talk about politics in a country I’ve only been in for 11 days.”

*Side notes

I feel bad because I don’t hang out with my sister at school. We are just very different, and we have different goals for ourselves right now. Before I went to school my worry was that she would abandon me for friends, but now my worry is that she may feel abandoned. Which I would understand, but it’s hard because she doesn’t hang out with many people and I found my group.

I think that the group I’m hanging out with is the popular people. It feels weird to me, but it’s nice.

There is a saying that “if there are two or more Brazilians in a room then it’s a party.” I am happy to confirm that this is true.

Circles just kinda form around me in school. My first experience was on my first day when I was in PE class I was standing and talking with a few people, and then more and more people came to talk. While we were talking I backed up and realized that there were people behind me also. That’s when I realized that I was the only person in the center of a circle of my peers. They had literally made a circle around me! It was super strange for me.

My Netflix changed once I got to Brazil. It now has different options for what to watch, and everything has a Brazilian Portuguese option. Super helpful for learning a language.

Two of my friends said that they were going to make me all kinds of pastels for me. Pastels are my favorite food so far. There is something called  pastel de chocolate that is very similar to the chocolate turnovers that Arby's used to have.

My Portuguese is progressing much faster than I thought it would. 

My Rotary had a stand set up outside a supermarket and gave free tests for Hepatitis C

Picnic at the park with my host sister and our cousins

My friend, my host sister, and me

My town has a vegan restaurant! There are also no chain food places in Joaçaba.

Exchange student meme

Present from my host sister (she just went on exchange in Taiwan for a year)

Where I think I'm at in the exchange journey.

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I forgot to mention vehicle day! It was on Sunday. When we were walking fireworks were going off (during the day) and it was kinda like a huge vehicle parade. Everyone was honking continuously. It was awful! Vehicle day is definitely not going to be my favorite holiday in Brazil.

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Primeiro dias em Brasil

A lot has happened so I’m just going to tell you about the highlights. I left home on 18 July and when to Chicago to see my family of the United States and take a plane to Sao Paulo. Everything was fine except that my flight kept getting delayed until I finally had to rebook a flight from Sao Paulo to Chapeco. The thing that was nerve wrecking was that I had to get my boarding pass printed in Sao Paulo. I thought this would be no big deal because I was told that airport workers in Brazil would speak English. I think I found a total of four people who spoke English, and I talked to a lot of people. I was not prepared for the small differences in the Brazilian airport, so I walked around confused for a bit, but I figured it out with some basic Portuguese and strategic pointing.

I got to Chapeco and my family was waiting for me with a sign with my face on it. We went home (was a two-and-a-half-hour drive), and I was shown my room. They had a mat with my face printed out on it, a towel with my name in between an American and Brazilian flag. They had also gotten me a bunch of Brazilian sanitary stuff (toothpaste, lotion, deodorant, etc.). I took a shower and used my personalized towel. When I got out dinner was ready. My mamai had cooked an Italian dish (my family is Italian, so we eat more Italian food than Brazilian food) called sopa de leite. After that we watched tv and I went to bed.

The next day I woke up and organized my room. Then my papai picked us up and took my sister and I to his restaurant/café. I made my first two friends there (they are really my cousins, but I count it). I ate so many new foods for lunch! I tried Brazilian coffee and it was good but very strong. Their coffee is so strong that they drink it in tiny cups (picture to come) and it has as much kick in that little cup as a grande frappe at Starbucks. One of my cousins invited me to a birthday/housewarming party for her friend. Me, my sister, and cousins went shopping for a gift, and then went to the party. I met so many new friends at the party and the birthday girls house had a great view of the city skyline. Everyone was super interested in talking to me at the party. It was weird to be the center of attention, and I didn’t even mind it. I thought that I would be super nervous in Brazil, but I’m actually calmer here than was in the US. I ate so much good food at the party. I can’t remember the names of the food but I ate something shaped like a teardrop with chicken inside, a strawberry covered in some cream and chocolate, a soft fudge ball thing that’s traditional to Brazil, a sweet milk ball that I think was called dolce de leite (sweet milk), and an amazing “soda” made out of a fruit found only in the Amazon. I also learned a Brazilian tradition. When there is a party thrown for someone and they receive presents they have to guess what’s inside the packages, and if they get it wrong the sender of the present gets to paint on the receiver’s face (picture with birthday girl to come). They birthday girl told me to come by anytime and we could hang out and exchange language knowledge. After the party my sister and I went home and then went to a church dinner thing. The food was great!

The next day (Sunday), my family and I went on a six kilometer (about 3.7 miles) walk in the morning, and they showed me the two cities that I will live in. Then we walked to the supermarket and went shopping while papai got the car. We even got abacaxi (pineapple). Then we went to Grandma’s house where she, my uncle, and two cousins live. I tried a drink with herbs and hot water while I waited. The drink is special to southern Brazil and is always drank in a special cup. When the food was done cooking we all sat down and ate. They drink straight lemon juice in Brazil! We had that to drink with lunch, and they put packets of sugar by my drink, but I wanted to be like everyone else, so I didn’t use the sugar. There was so much food and I tried everything and liked it, but everybody kept offering me more food! Later we went to a farm where the friends of my mamai and papai live and ate snacks. When we got home my mamai cooked more food. After dinner I helped my mamai with English and she helped me with Portuguese.

Monday morning my mamai, sister, and I went to the gym of the lady who lives on the farm. In this gym each person had their own personal trainer. Luckily, my sister and I were able to stay together. Our trainer went on his own exchange in high school to the US. Everyone at the gym wanted to talk to me, and I was just trying to breath haha. Another weird thing about that gym was that you don’t stretch on your own. Your personal trainer stretches you. Super weird! Of course, they are Brazilian, so the same boundaries don’t apply (i.e. inner thighs, hips, butt, etc.). I was pretty calm about the whole thing. Then he has me get off the ground and sit on a cube chair and massages my back, neck, arms, and shoulders. This is the point in the conversation where he chooses to ask me if I’m comfortable with the whole Brazilian touchy thing. At this point I’m just relieved that I’m not having my legs stretched apart by a total stranger while he asks me about Illinois is what I was thinking. That’s not what I said though. I just said that I’m getting used to it. After the gym we go home, and I eat breakfast and shower and then our papai picks my sister and I up to go to his restaurant/café. We wait there for Amanda’s friends to show up and then we all go get acai. I tried to order my own, but I was too confused, so my sister ordered one for me. After we finished, we went to the park and walked around for a while, and then we parted ways. When we got home my mamai cooked seeds from a tree that she said was extinct. Her English isn’t good, so I don’t know if that is what she actually meant, but my sister speaks really good English and didn’t correct her. In the evening I went to the supermarket with my mamai, sister, and grandma. I like my grandma, but I don’t understand anything she says, so I just smile and nod.

*Side notes*

·         My family is Italian, so they are stricter about being on time than other people in Brazil

·         We eat mostly Italian food

·         My district is super strict about not going to parties (bummer)

·         School starts on the 29th

·         It is considered unclean to not wear shoes in the house

·         I’m going to my first Rotary meeting today

·         I only have to go to that weird gym one more time and then we’re switching gyms (don’t know why)

·         I don’t know what is happening or where I’m going 98% of the time. I just follow my sister

·         I feel like I get looked at/leered at a lot more here

·         I’ve learned some more Portuguese

·         Since I came to Brazil super early I get to meet my second host sister who will be in Belgium when I live at her house

·         My mamai is a dentist and I want her to like me, so I’ve started flossing

·         A guy that goes to the church of my family and the weird gym tried to talk to me Monday at the gym but he speaks absolutely no English, and I speak barely any Portuguese so we had no idea what the other was saying so we gave up, but for today he learned how to say “hi”, “you look beautiful today”, and “good job” in English haha

·         Fruit is super big here

·         Lastly, I am never eating another avocado without honey! Seriously guys, try it!

toothpaste my mamai got for me. It’s yellow and tastes like tuttie-fruttie gum

Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo

Joacaba (view from apartment roof)

Seeds from a possibly extinct tree

The sign they were holding at the airport

A mat they had printed out in my room

Chicken hearts. I’ve eaten them every day for lunch. I just found out what they are today

At the farm

Those are mountains in the back!

Herb drink in southern Brazil

My family and I at Chapeco 

Me trying to explain to another outbound to Brazil what it’s like to be here. She leaves 4 August!

#foreign exchange #student exchange #youth exchange #foreign exchange student #foreinexchangestudentblog #brazil #brasil #student #study abroad #Wanderlust #student blog #portuguese #português #travel #travel the world #studyAbroad #blog abroad #beautiful

[just-a-catcher-in-the-rye]

Passport Mishap

It’s been an interesting few weeks, to say the least. I took the SAT, and I had to use my passport as a form of ID because I don’t have my license yet. The problem was that I accidentally left my passport at the testing center. I didn’t realize this until I needed to get my papers together to mail to the travel agent. My mom and I called everyone that we could think of. It seemed to be nowhere. The crazy thing is that I don’t ever lose things, so of course, I had to make up for years of keeping track of things by losing the most expensive thing I own. My mom and I were freaking out, so we made an appointment to go to a place in Chicago to try and get me a new passport as soon as possible. Online said that the soonest that I would get my new passport was 7 to 10 business days. The next morning, we got up super early and drove three and a half hours to Chicago. On the way, I was obsessively checking my email to see if my travel agent had emailed me back. Everything went smoothly (except for the huge sum of money that my mom had to give up). We found out that I was going to get my passport later that day! I have family near Chicago, so it was nice to get to see them. Later my mom and I went to get my passport and while we were waiting I checked my email and found that the test proctor had emailed me that she had my passport. It took four days for me to be informed that my passport was found! I was so angry. My passport had already been terminated at that point so there was no way of getting my mom’s hundreds of dollars back. My mom and I were pisssssed! It’s alright though because it looks like nothing is messed up.

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[just-a-catcher-in-the-rye]

What about Brazil made you wanna be a foreign exchange student there?

My Rotary youth exchange officer recommended Brazil to me based on my personality. So I researched more and discovered that he was right. What I found was that Brazil is a beautiful country with a unique culture and wonderful people. Portuguese is also a fun language to learn. I couldn't be happier about my choice. It also doesn't hurt that I only have to go to school for four hours a day 😂