Alrighty--ready, set, BLOG! I have not blogged since more than a year and half ago when I absolutely had to for class. I'm not much a blogger, but I have been promising my fam bam and friends updates on my Fulbright experience in Brazil. I doubt I'll remember everything later, so it's probably best that I share as I go. Like to hear it? Here it go...
I left for São Paulo last Saturday, February 19th and my departure was a little rough on my family. This time away from home will be the longest I will go without seeing my loves, and I'll be abroad! I'm sure I'll miss my Nana and Mom a bunch--Love 'em to pieces!!
Once I arrived, I met the other English Teaching
Assistants, some even before the orientation on our flight. They are all pretty awesome! I'm excited to have some couches on reserve when traveling to other parts of Brazil.
While in São Paulo, I went out with my roomie
and her friend who showed us around the city a bit. We stopped by a street party where a Samba school was exhibiting their music for Carnaval!
Afterwards, we had some beer and practiced our Portuguese. As she spoke (with her hands), she threw out her arms to express herself and spilled ice-cold beer all over me. I reacted pretty quickly and managed to tear my jeans right down the butt. That's about where the night ended--good times! :) [No pic for this one--sorry to ruin that one for you!]
Towards the end of orientation, we went out for a tour of
São Paulo. We started at O Mercado Municipal. This market was huge! There were meats, cheeses, seafood, and fruits I'd never seen nor heard of before. Curiosity got the best of me, and I found myself sampling fruits and preparing to buy just a couple exotic goods like Pitaya and Mongosteen until the
vendor rang me up and my total was 75 Reais (almost 50 bucks)!! I didn't even have that much on me! The vendor quickly went from being a fun-loving buddy o' mine, feeding me fruits and offering every aphrodisiac he had to being a feisty little hustler!
He was a little scary, but I managed to get out offering him 30 Reais (almost 19 dollars) for one Pitaya. I never ate my coveted little fruit. I hope someone enjoyed it!
We continued to O Museo da Língua Portuguesa where I was to learn more about the origin of the language. The museum was great, but I left disheartened and a little embarrassed having realized just how much not speaking Portuguese these past two and a half years has affected my skills. Can't wait to be fluent--just give me a couple months!
My spirits were up again with a visit to the park
where we
found elliptical trainers, free
weights, pull-up bars and so much more exercise equipment.
The US needs to get on this asap! We need our parks to be equipped like this. It doesn't have to be expensive, and it makes for a fun, free, healthy good time!
Our time in São Paulo was short lived but ended with a night on the town at a funky molecule bar dance club! We got our dance on, had some crazy cool drink concoctions, and received VIP treatment with Caipirinhas on the house!
By Friday, February 25th the time had come to say goodbye and we wished everyone well, good luck, and the best time while in their states.
I made my way out to Belém, Pará located in northern Brazil near the Amazon just at the delta of the river. I slept the entire time and dreamt of getting malaria, yellow fever and being eaten alive by mosquitos and probably an anaconda. I figured the first two were most likely since I had opted against the vaccine and pills. Once I saw the view from the airplane, however, I figured the third wasn't too far fetched either.
To my surprise, Belém is actually a pretty big city, full of culture, cool architecture, and very vibrant people.
At the airport, I was greeted by my host professor, the assistant coordinator and the host professors of my ETA colleague, Lindsey. I was pretty stoked to have another ETA in Belém with me. She will be working at Universidade do Estado do Pará (UEPA), and I will be at Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA). I thought she would be my only means of moral support while I was out here, but I know now that my host professors are going to be like a second family while I am here.
Our host professors have been phenomenal to say the least! They have shown us around the city, invited us into their homes, introduced us to their friends and family, found us a place to live, and continue inviting us out to family functions, and shopping.
I have only been here two days, and I know that this is going to be an amazing experience! I could not have asked for more welcoming, kind, and loving people to host us while in Belém.
Today, we were invited to their country club! We joined in on a cardio dance class a lot like zumba with a mini trampoline. Foi muito legal!! (It was sooo cool!!) I was sweating up a storm in this humidity, and it was a great time!
The club was mostly outdoors and massive! It included a gym, a recreation room, several huge soccer fields, four swimming pools, cabanas with hammocks for cookouts, tennis courts, a chapel, a beauty parlor, two restaurants, a night club, a stage, live music, and more I'm sure. All was surrounded by beautiful trees, palm trees, acai trees, ponds with paddle boats, ....
And, since Carnaval is just around the corner, we got in some pre-party action!!
Hopefully, this will be the last epic post as I plan to keep on top of this weekly. I'll try and post every other day or at least once a week. Até lá, adeus!
