COVID-19

Oi, tudo bem?

I wanted to pop on here and just give you a bit of a sneak peek into the life of living in Brasil as a pandemic is on the rise. Ah coronavirus, what a nasty thing. Stopping and changing people’s lives in an instant. Normal lives are being effected but also exchange lives.

I recently just got back from my amazing Foz do Iguacu trip, it was honestly so needed and made me so incredibly happy. So many new friends were made and so many incredible memories. Whilst on the trip some exchange students found out that they were being sent home because of the coronavirus and that made us all mad. I was just meeting all these amazing people from all over the world and now I might not be able to see them again for a very long time. But we all tried to not think about it and make the most of our time together. The time we spent together formed bonds that I’m not hoping to break any time soon. Our last night together was very emotional and I will miss them all, little did I know that was the last time I was going to see a lot of them. At the airport, we met a girl from Germany who was on exchange in Argentina who had only been there for 5 weeks and she was already getting sent home. We’ve all been keeping in contact and found out nearly everyone on the trip was getting sent home due to the virus. All my good friends have gone in an instant, spread all over the world.

Now back in my city, I’m in quarantine and it is anything but interesting. Mainly I just lie around and watch movies, learn Portuguese, scroll endlessly through Tik Tok, learn a dance or two, eat food when I get the chance and drink a lot of water. Netflix is quickly running out of shows for me. My Amazon trip has been postponed until May, which I’m hoping will still go but at this rate, I’m not sure.

My host mother is usually at work all day because she is a pharmacist so she can’t stop her job, but my host dad and my sisters don’t go to work now so at least I’m not alone anymore, I was at the start. I didn’t really have a clue what was going out there until my mum in Australia explained it to me (thank you kylie) it is so crazy. Nobody here really watches the news but my host sister did tell me that the president here, who is insane by the way, said: “The coronavirus is just a little sickness, everyone can continue their daily routines.” I definitely feel like Brasil will not bounce back as fast and good as some other countries, but if the president doesn’t do something the virus could spread everywhere, which is definitely worrying. People are still practicing social distancing but I’ll be worried when school goes back as Brasilians are very affectionate and touchy people.

This whole experience is making me sad and every other exchange student I know sad. Like it’s such a shame that it had to be us, why us you know but there is nothing we can really do about it except follow the rules and hope that this ends soon. I’m so thankful that none of my trips have been canceled so far but I do feel so terrible for the kids in Europe whos one Euro Tour was canceled. Brasil has many trips so even if the ones around this time are canceled hopefully some later in the year aren’t. So far what I know of is one Australian in Brasil has gone home. My host district at the moment don’t want to send me home, which is good but you never know, the situation could change very quickly.

Anyway just thought I would share my experience. Stay safe and wash your hands.