The Final Day

Sophie leaves in the morning...she will be on her way to Quito!!! I am incredulous. It's unbelievable how quickly this summer has passed! It just seems like yesterday when we were all in DC(missing Lauren, of course!)just talking on Thao's couch and laughing till our stomachs' hurt! I can still remember the moment Sophie surprised Afsana and me by showing up in DC! I was shocked beyond belief--I definitely hugged her extra hard to make sure she was physically there...and then I poked her a couple of times to make sure it was her flesh and not my imagination haha!!

I can still remember my last night at Midd. It was so sad sleeping on that bare bed. Then in the morning, I missed my train, but that was a whole other ordeal...

Okay, now I'm just spacing out to random memories. I'm going to miss my sweet, amazing, and wonderful friends SOOO MUCH! How will I have wonderful life chats in Portuguese? I can't conjugate!!! (jk, kind of...)

Randy and Lisa surprised me last night by planning a belated birthday dinner/goodbye dinner for me. They invited Afsana and Steven to dinner and it was just so great! Randy made me an ice-cream cake with my favorite ice-cream flavors, red bean, green tea, vanilla and strawberry. It was good...but melted because apparently, the freezer wasn't cold enough to keep the ice-cream cake in shape...

Anyways, I should go and sleep. 1 day till departure!!!

Making the most of being computer-less

I cannot believe my computer is in San Diego being repaired right now when it should be at home with me and gearing up for Brazil!! Ah! I really hate being laptop-less--I feel so helpless. Oh well--this is probably a good thing that I am not on my laptop so much! I just hope that I receive my laptop before school starts in Brazil. My first day of classes is August 3rd. I have orientation starting July 30th. I leave July 23rd.
Everything.is.happening.so.so.sooo.FAST!!!

There's so many things to remember...I keep on reminding myself that I need to get myself one of those awesome Moleskin notebooks so I can write notes, to-do lists, telephone numbers, addresses, quotes and Portuguese things so that I have access to all this information. Ah!

How do I pack? Where do I start? In theory, I should already be packing, but I'm such a last minute person...and I still need to get stuff for Brazil. How is this even possible that I'm leaving in 4 days?

I've been dreaming about my study abroad experience since high school. Ever since I had my first dosage of it in Costa Rica, I knew that I would be studying abroad again in college...and here I am--about to embark on it. Granted, I thought I would be studying in a Spanish-speaking country, but really who can ever predict where a life path leads you to.

the last ride around New York

Last summer, Randy taught me how to ride the bike again. It took 1 hour in the parking lot of his building. People walking past would chuckle and cheer me on...it was kind of embarrassing! Since then, I have bicycled crazily in the streets of Tuscon and in the calm streets of Middlebury and the path towards the organic garden. On Sunday, Randy rented a tandem bicycle and we biked all along the west coast of Manhattan--and it was so beautiful! This was my first time biking on a tandem bicycle (what comes to mind is the image of Afsana and Sophie's mom synchronizing their pedaling on their tandem in Tuscon, hehee!) Anyways, it was a bit of a struggle to synchronize with Randy since he is kind of a maniac when it comes to bicycling! From the East side, we rode through the streets of Manhattan to get to the West side highway...omg imagine bicycling through NYC traffic! It was scary! Half the time I was clinging onto the handle bars for dear life and telling Randy that there was a car behind us...Luckily we made it to the bicycle lane unscathed! Once we were on the lane, it was smooth biking! The west side is so beautiful! The Hudson river is so gorgeous! We biked through some really scenic routes--I wish I had my camera to photograph some of the sights I saw. I couldn't believe I was still in New York City!


Since we were on a tandem bike, I didn't have to pay as much attention as I usually do--I trust Randy! I just took in all the sights and lived in the moment. I was so happy to be in New York. I closed my eyes and looked up toward the sky and the beaming sun. I saw the shadows of the trees dance on my eyelids. I took my hands off the handlebars and just pedaled (I know! It was so daring of me, but I took a risk and did it. It was exhilarating!)I breathed in and thought to myself how wonderful life is and how happy I am.

I was smiling throughout the whole bike trip. My mouth was so dry from grinning like a schmuck! I'm going to miss New York.

(oito dias mais!)

Minha Família Brasileira!

I'm super excited! Today I FINALLY received the long awaited email from Lilian explaining my living situation!!! I have a host family! In the beginning of the summer, I was worried that I wouldn't get a host family since Aly told me that it's difficult for Lilian (the Brazilian coordinator/my former PGSE teacher) to find host families and most likely I would be placed in an apartment nearby the university with other international students (wow, I'm going to be an international student!!) I had adjusted to the idea of living with the international students--I even was looking forward to it. But then a couple of days ago, Aly told me she'd met my host brother's girlfriend...which shocked me because I had discounted the idea that I was going to have a host family! But I dooooo!!!

So today as I was checking my email, my eyes jumped out of their eye sockets when I saw an email from Lilian with the subject line Bem-vinda ao Brasil! I immediately click on the email and it's a long email. I savor the Portuguese words. I think to myself, wow this is actually happening. Eu tenho uma família Brasileira! I have a Brazilian family! My host mother is a biologist; my host father is a lawyer. They have a son who is 27 and his girlfriend also lives in the house. The son is a pianist and the girlfriend is an English teacher (perfect!! I can ask her about grammar!) and a pianist as well. They have two pianos in the house, a backyard with a pool and a veranda...it sounds amazing! I wish I played the piano! Unfortunately, I have no musical talent.
They have two dogs--Wolf and Babica. Although I'm alergic to dog hair, the dogs can't enter the house so I'll be fine!

Afterwards, I tell my mom the information in Chinese: "the mom is a biologist and the dad is a lawyer". She looks at me weirdly and I realized that I called my host mom, "mom" because I don't know how to say host mom in Chinese, and I think my mom felt a little taken aback, maybe even hurt that I had acknowledged my host mom so quickly as "mom". I retract my words and simply say again "the wife is a biologist and the husband is a lawyer". And I moved on to describe the other details. I forgot how awkward it can be to have a host family--do you address them as "mom" and "dad" or by their first names? I remember during my first host stay in Costa Rica, I fluctuated between calling my host parents by their names and by "mama" and "papi". It was so strange. I think I'll stick to the first names...

Anyways, I couldn't really focus at work today because all I wanted to do was talk about my host family, Brazil and my career. My manager asked me today what I wanted to do with my degree and I responded "I have no idea. Maybe work for an NGO?" yeah, I don't know what I'm going to do with my life. but it's okay, cos I'm going to BRAZIL!! 12 more days!

I am also vaccinated against Yellow Fever! This is becoming more and more real as each day passes!

Since Xanga...

I remember starting my first blog on Xanga in middle school. I thought it was so cool that I could journal online. I was uninhibited--I wrote about boys, friends and school. It was my online journal. It was my Xanga--my first "cyber space"to write. Silly me, I didn't realize that it was public and that ANYONE could read it. One day, a friend of mine showed a guy who was really into me my blog. He was an awkward guy who had a nervous hop/walk and drooled in class because he stuck out his tongue while he wrote. Yeah, he had many idiosyncratic gestures. I was so embarrassed because my blog revealed my true feelings about him...I wrote things that I would have never said to him...it was awful. I was mortified. Ever since that experience, I have been careful about what I write and cautious not to offend anyone. So that's my first blogging horror experience.

This is my "adult" blog now. I can write about "mature" content and not have gossip spread like wildfire via the web.

Why am I blogging?
Since I'm going abroad to Brazil soon, I thought it would be really interesting to document and share my thoughts, emotions and life throughout this experience. I'm also considering blogging in Portuguese...but that is way intense. Perhaps when I arrive in Brazil...which is 18 days from today!