Oi!

It’s hard to believe I’ve already been in Brazil for close to two months!

I had fully intend to write this up at the one month mark, but I ended up putting it off in favour of spending time just enjoying Brazil (plus I was crazy tired all the time at that point, not used to staying up as late as my current family likes to)

Now, after being asked nicely by several people, and ordered by others. I am sitting down to tell you all about the crazy stuff I’ve been up to.

The first few weeks I spent in Brazil were mainly dedicated to resting, adapting, and meeting lots of amazing people. Including my host family, and people who have quickly become friends in and out of school.

I’ve enjoyed going out for lunch,  ice-cream, or milkshakes with various groups, some smaller than others, and I’ve gotten to know my ‘oldie’ (‘oldie’ is a rotary term for an exchange student who has already been in country for half a year. I am considered a ‘newie’). Her name is Flavie, she’s from France, and she is the only other exchange student living in my city.

If you’ve already seen my Facebook posts then you know all about Iguaçu Falls trip, and how amazing, breathtaking and beautiful the Falls truly are. So I don’t really need to go into detail about how most of my host family and I, along with a Danish girl who had gone to Mexico on exchange a few years ago, drove down to Foz de Iguaçu, staying the night in a nearby hotel, before visiting the Falls themselves. It was absolutely incredible.

More recently I spent a weekend in nearby city Maringá, for a ROTEX carnival event. Myself and several other exchange students spent an amazing Saturday having lunch, dressing up in crazy costumes, learning all about the history of carnival, and playing a game that left most of our faces decorated with lipstick. Needless to say it was a brilliant day.

A handful of us inbounds stayed for Sunday’s Rotary Day. It was a hot day, but we had fun regardless, aided by free fairy-floss and ice-cream to keep us going, some of us relaxed with a meditation session. We watched an exciting military dog show, in which the well trained dog (who is a Good Boy) clamped down on a soldier’s (padded) arm, and didn’t let go even when he was swung around. I thought it was wicked cool.

We also got a very interactive demonstration from the police about seatbelt necessity, where many of us were rolled around in a (safely) spinning car (two at a time) with only our seatbelts stopping us from being tossed around.

Since that weekend I’ve been spending more relaxing days at school, and trying to learn more and more português. I’m proud to say that I’m getting better at not mumbling because I’m scared I’ll say the wrong thing. I’ve been pushing through sentences, and getting easily corrected when I say the wrong thing. I’ve also surprised myself with how much I understand when people talk to me in português, so long as they don’t talk too fast.

The easiest people to talk to are the ones who are learning English, for me anyway, because we are both fumbling through another language, and can help each other know what the right word is.

I think that’s all I’ve got for you all for now. Until the next time,

Tchau!

– Jess