Catching Up

I just realized how long it’s been since I last posted, and I apologize for that.  A lot has happened in the past few weeks! 

Primarily I’ve been getting to know my awesome host family!  My host father is a civil engineer.  He works at one of the Federal Universities, but also spends a lot of time abroad on business trips.  My host mother is a secretary to a judge here in Rio.  I have an older Sister named Eduarda, but the common nickname is duda.  When I first arrived she was in college studying pharmacy.  But she had a change of heart, and is now doing a course to prepare to retake the ENEM, and hopefully earn a spot in another university.

 

One of the most difficult things about college here in Brazil is that it’s incredibly difficult to change your major.  When you take the college test, only offered one time a year, you are competing with everyone to enter in only a limited number of vacancies for each major.  So if you later decide that the major you originally chose is not for you, it takes a lot of effort to restart.

 

I also have a crazy aunt, and a cousin.  They’re a lot of fun, and always making me laugh!  I’ve met my host grandmother once, and we played cards.  It reminded me of playing cards with my grandparents, but of course I played and learned some new games, and there wasn’t a jar of M&M’s to nibble at.  She’s an incredible artist.  She doesn’t have any more wall space in her apartments to hang her paintings! 

A few weeks ago, one of my really good friends Johanna went back home to Aust

ria.  She opted in the end to only have a 6 month exchange.  We were all really sad to see her go, but it was what she wanted, and therefore the best thing at the moment for her.  It was an emotional good bye for us.  While of course I wish she was still here enjoying Rio with us, I am glad she went home, because I learned a lot from that day at the airport.  Principally that my exchange is coming to an end, and soon I’ll be coming back home.  I have to take advantage of every day and make memories!  It also got me thinking about who I’ve met on exchange, and how they’ve impacted my life.  That now I have two places on this planet that I can call a home.  That I know there would be a house with open doors and people with open arms willing to receive me.  The comulation of feelings at this point in my exchange are intense, confusing, and conflicting.  I’m so excited to go home, to be with my family, visit my friends, eat familiar foods, etc.  But now Rio is also a familiar place, with friends and family as well.  It’s an indescribably feeling, and I got the first wave of it when Johanna went home.

Throughout the month of March I made my way to various free classical music concerts.  There wasn’t one in which I wasn’t by far the youngest concert goer.  But it was really nice to get in touch with my musical being once again, even if it was only by way of attending concerts.  I also met various kind old ladies, who were always interested in me, and my story.  I had a fun time telling it to them, and I got to thinking that if everyone took a little time out of their day to get to know a stranger, I mean really get to know them, that people would feel more appreciated.  I would even stipulate that there would be less sadness, therefore less madness, and less violence in this world.

 

I have plans to begin playing futsal, indoor soccer, at the local Jewish club.  I went once and had a really fun time.  It’s not competitive, we’re a group of about 20 ladies ranging in age from 16-40.  I would’ve loved to have the opportunity to train a bit more seriously here, but as it turns out, the female soccer program in Brazil is practically nonexistent.  It really shocked me to find this out, especially when Marta is Brazilian.  However, such is life.  I frequent a gym with the other exchangies for free because one of the host father’s is the owner.  Basically, we’re all just trying to rid some of the weight we gained over the course of the year!  Haha

One weekend in March was spent in a place known as Brazil’s “little Switzerland”, Campos do Jordão.  We were in attendance for the Rotary district conference, and each exchange student was to give a 3 minute presentation about our year.  It was a nerve-racking experience to speak in front of 500 people in a foreign language, but we all did wonderfully.  The Rotarians were all very supportive of us as well.  Afterwards they treated us like celebrities.  We couldn’t take 5 steps without being stopped for another photo shoot.  This simply strengthened my intention to never become a celebrity, because frankly smiling for that long just hurts!  The last night was a ball at the event.  The band was already playing, and no one was on the dance floor.  So we got things started!  The governor of Rotary loved it, and then asked for Peter’s hand in dance.  It was great fun, a nice break from the city and a chance to see a whole other part of Brazil!

Easter in Brazil wasn’t anything like any Easter I’ve lived before.  Instead of easter baskets and hunting for eggs, children here receive a chocolate egg.  Inside the egg is individual chocolates.  My host mother and aunt were in the US visiting Marecella who is doing her exchange there, so we all sort of did our own thing for Easter.  Duda and I went to a friends vacation house in the mountainish region, and we hung out with about 20 of her friends.  It was just a very relaxing weekend of barbecues, volleyball, cards, and charades.  Now I could be generalizing here, but Brazilians are very talented when it comes to charades.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that in general they talk with their hands, but maybe it doesn’t.   I was proud of myself for getting certain words right, like guessing velocity.  But there were also frustrating parts when I was reading the cards to get my words.  At times I just felt dumb in the language, but I suppose that since these weren’t words that are commonly used, of course I wouldn’t know them.  For example, the one word was change purse, but it doesn’t translate directly to English. 

I got bit by a mosquito, maybe on that weekend and it gave me Dengue Fever.  That put me out of commission for about a week, which was no fun.  I’m still very sore from it, and a bit tired, but I’m recovering.  As my friend Tellie says, at least I have a cool tropical disease that I can brag about. -__-  I was to go to RYLA, a leadership workshop weekend this past weekend, but because of the Dengue, I could only get there on Saturday night.  Even so, I made some good connections and friends. 

Well that’s all the big stuff I can think of for now.  I promise to try and be more regular in the updates in my last 80 days!