Novidades

Just a few updates:
- Last weekend, I went to a costume party...and hands down, it was the most enjoyable party that I've been to in Brasil. I mean, it has to do more with people than the actual party. and all it takes is just one person... I was dressed as a gypsy and Cat was dressed as Cleopatra!



- I have a new favorite place in Florianópolis--the ecological park in Córrego Grande...it's amazing and I love jogging there! I went jogging with Patrick yesterday and it was the funniest thing I'd ever seen...he was jogging with one hand in his pocket to secure his iPod and using his other arm to pump for energy...guess those cigarettes really got to him..haha!



- So November is going to be a shit-show month. I have so much work to do because as usual, I've put it off...and plus the professors just started cramping down on homework as well cos the end of the semester is coming!! Funny enough, according to Cat, there is no word in Portuguese for Procrastination...only postpone...how funny! perhaps procrastination doesn't exist in Brasil...only "starting your work late" (a.k.a partying too much).

- Our little midd group has become a fun group! Yesterday, we all went out to eat at an Arabic restaurant and it was so much fun! I love how we're all building our inside jokes and just playing with the duality of our language abilities! Last Thursday we went to a Mexican restaurant, just us girls because Patrick was in Buenos Aires. And it was such a great girl bonding session...which I've missed so much!

- As I was walking home yesterday, I just felt so happy and appreciative to be here in Brasil. I admit it was really rough in the beginning, but life is good now. I just wanted to take some time out now to reflect how incredible my past 3 months here have been. I've matured, gained 10 pounds and can speak português mais ou menos now. and there's only more to come. This is just the beginning for me in terms of the bigger picture. wow, it's so hard to believe because it feels like it's been so much longer!

Swarthmore

In my senior year of high school, I dreamed of going to Swarthmore. When I visited the campus, I was completely enamored by the small college, Adirondack chairs and the proximity to NYC and Philadelphia ( Philly, for a "night life"). You can imagine my disappointment when I was waitlisted. I cried and couldn't stop blaming myself for my failure. I was torn because I knew exactly WHY I didn't get in...it's because of the admissions interview that I missed in NYC with the representative who adored me...she thought I'd stiffed her, but it was an honest mistake...the email she sent me went straight to my SPAM box and I never got the time or date of the interview. é foi uma foda!

Then I got into Middlebury. Middlebury was the last school that I heard from. I remember the exact moment I checked online. I was at SEO after some programming event. It had been a long day and a dull meeting about how to survive college. I went downstairs to the computer lab to check and I honestly never thought that I'd get in...but long behold, my acceptance letter. I was beyond thrilled...it was the only other small, liberal arts college that I applied to. Marc (my guidance counselor) predicted in November that I'd be going to Midd. I couldn't believe his prediction came true. The only drawback at that time was that Midd was too cold and a bit further than I'd expected to be away from my parents.

But I thought fuck that. Fuck Swarthmore. I'm going to Middlebury.

And I have never regretted not going to Swarthmore. Attending Middlebury has been one of the best life decisions that I've made.

Randomly, I went to swarthmore.edu to check out their Latin American studies program. Although they don't have International Studies, their Latin American studies program seems pretty interesting. But other than that, they don't offer Portuguese. Their study abroad programs are limited and seems solely geared for Buenos Aires(and ironically, the program in Chile is through Midd!)

Basically, if I went to Swarthmore, I would not be studying Portuguese (and probably be in Buenos Aires!) therefore, I would not be in Brazil. If I went to Swarthmore, I would have never fallen in love with Brazil. I would have continued to be ignorant about the inferiority of Portuguese (sorry Mariana, my first Brazilian friend in high school--we used to have debates in history class about Spanish vs. Portuguese). My life would have been so different. I could be speaking Spanish almost fluently! wow...what a reality shock.

But I went to Middlebury. I pursued Portuguese, despite all the difficulties I encountered from the shift from Spanish to Portuguese. And now I'm here, studying abroad in Brazil. All because of one email I never got. okay, I'm being dramatic, but seriously, if I'd gotten the email about the interview, went to the interview, and received my acceptance from Swarthmore, I'd never gone to Midd...! Never gone to Middlebury. now that's a scary sentence.

AND SO, in conclusion, I'm so happy with where I am in my life. I'm so grateful to be a Midd kid. I'm so grateful to have such wonderful, amazing friends in my life. you guys know who you are. <3 The greatest moments at Midd that I have experienced is with you guys.

I never ended up going to Swarthmore because Midd was a better fit for me and I would have never realized that without being waitlisted.(see, sometimes there are positive outcomes from negative events!) I mean, conversely, I'm sure there would have been other things in store for me at Swat, but I wouldn't give up what I have at Midd with my Midd friends for anything to see what could have been at Swarthmore. I hear the college is full of socially awkward nerds anyways...haha

It's so funny how you end up where you're supposed to be, without intending to in the first place. and that is why life is so beautifully complex. Life always has its plans and that plan is always in motion. A butterfly flaps its wings and it starts to rain. It's an intimidating thought but it's also kind of amazing. All these little parts of the machine are constantly working, making sure that you end up exactly where you're supposed to be, exactly when you're supposed to be there. (inpsired by HIMYM.)


**It's not my intention to offend any Swat student or Swat affiliates...I'm just writing to demonstrate a point and it so happens that Swarthmore had to be named.

Oktoberfest!!!

I really, honestly did not think that I would be going to Oktoberfest. But Friday, last minute, serendipitously Brenna, Patrick and I bought the last three tickets for the bus, so why not? (although because of his internship, Patrick couldn't go). Oktoberfest is held in the strongly rooted Germanic town of Blumenau in Santa Catarina-- two hours away from the city I live in. The 1920s attracted a massive influx of German immigrants because of WW1 and so till this day, the German influence is still fairly strong in the southern region of Brazil. Oktoberfest in Blumenau is the biggest celebration of German traditions outside of Germany in the world! The celebration started at the beginning of October (or Oktober, cos I can't spell properly any more...!) and yesterday (Oktober 18th) was the last day of the festivities. I went on Saturday, the second to last day--which is also the most crowded day to go. and oh boy, it was such an experience! Here are a couple of highlights:

- BEER. there was so much beer! they had chopp de vinho/ wine beer! it was so good! and whole wheat beer, which is a bit sweeter and has a distinct taste that I can't quite describe. The atmosphere was so cultural. People were dressed up in traditional German clothes. They played German music. Flags of Germany. It was amazing!

- I have never felt SO Japanese in my life...and by extension, since I am not Japanese, I have never felt SO ASIAN in my life! In the U.S., the standard Asian is Chinese; in Brazil, it is Japanese. Every where I went, people would yell "Jappa!" or "Adoro orientais!"...it was so strange! Then when men tried to hit on me, they would be like, "oh you're not Brazilian? You're American! I've never kissed a jappa or an American before."/ "vc não é brasileira? Americana! Nunca beijei uma jappa nem americana!" Right. not a pick-up line I'd recommend!

- Because of said Asian perceptions, I was bowed to by SIX people. uh, ???. Also, on another random note, an Asian-Brazilian guy came up to me, asking for a high five...for reasons not understood by me.

- I think this is by far the funniest thing I did that night. So there was a group of guys hollering at me, and for some reason, there is always one guy who absolutely adores Asians and all the others encourage him to pega/get an Asian girl whenever one passes by. So of course, I pass by this group of guys and of course I hear "olha-só, Jappa, vai, vai!"/ "look a Jappa, go, go!" and cheering on to this one guy and I'm like oh shit. and I feel him grabbing my arm but I manage to slip away. A bunch of people past by between us and I RUN! I'm like weaving through the crowd. The guy sees me running and CHASES after me! who would think a guy would work so hard to get a kiss? I turn around for half a second and see him closing in on me...yelling "jappa, jappa". but I don't give up and continue running till he throws his arms around and catches me. then I'm just like fuck. I was so close to getting away. He's laughing and asks why I was running away...and I'm like, you know, getting some exercise? duh. Then he kisses my hair with his gross beer stained lips. ugh. not surprisingly, he also wants to kiss my lips and I duck and slip away underneath him. but he still has a hold of my arm, and I'm like "não, não, tenho namorado." (what else could I say?) this guy just doesn't give up. and after 5-10 more minutes of talking to this guy, I manage to get away with Brenna. I won't lie, the best part of this experience was trying to run away from this guy in a huge crowded street--I really thought I could get away. hmf.

so many more stories, but I gotta get going, I have done absolutely no homework this weekend! but I just had to write about Oktoberfest.

A Viagem ao Foz de Iguaçu--Brasil.Argentina.Paraguai!

15 hour bus ride to spend 4 days in 3 countries. then 15 hours back to Florianópolis!!

This weekend we went to Foz de Iguaçu, one of the seven wonders of the world and to Itaipu, one of the seven wonders of the modern world (engineering feats!) which is the largest hydroelectric plant in the world!!

I've never taken a 15 hour bus ride in my life and this may be the last 15 hour bus ride I'll take (30 hours total!). The first 15 hours getting there was bearable. But coming back was awful because I was so tired from all the activities of the trip...and also, I'd been bitten by mosquitoes and ants which caused an allergic reaction so my ankles are swollen now. And god, how I wanted to scratch my legs off!! I'd always thought my body was an unstoppable machine... but now my ankles are swollen, I have about 10 bites all over my legs and my stomach is queasy from bad, cheap, bus stop wine--so I can't get out of bed. ugh. bad bus stop wine...that's another story...! So, from the beginning:

9 de outubro/10 de outubro >> departure: 6:45PM | arrival: 8:30AM
On the bus ride, Patrick and Cat were drinking cachaça (kind of like vodka, but stronger) straight up...they drank 2 liters...I have no idea how they did that! I would be so sick!!! But apparently, Cat slept well after being drunk!

After our bus ride, Lilian (our coordenadora) sends us a text message saying that we have to get to our hostel by 9AM, we have a bus ride to Argentina! So we catch a taxi and go straight to the hostel. We dump all of our stuff in the hostel, brush our teeth, change to hiking clothes and head to Argentina. There was no time to rest! So going to Argentina was pretty legit--I got a stamp on my passport! (yeah I was super excited to have the stamp on my passport!) The Argentinian side of Foz de Iguaçu is AMAZING! Breathtaking!!! I can't describe how incredible it was to be there. It's a lot bigger than the Brazilian side! We took a boat ride right up by the waterfall and got soaked! It was so much fun! We hiked all around the part to get different views of the waterfalls. Also, I've never seen so many rainbows in my life!! I even saw a double rainbow! Being in this atmosphere was just absolutely surreal...my photos look like postcards...I look photoshopped into the scenery! (I can't wait to show my mom!!) I have no idea how Cat and Patrick survived the day, they were hungover from the cachaça...coitados!

Being in Argentina was so different. I was surrounded by Spanish and English speakers--which felt so foreign to me. I was taken aback when I heard these Americans speaking in English. And I tried speaking Spanish, but royally failed...I couldn't switch out of the softness of Portuguese to the roughness of Spanish. ah, I definitely felt pangs of missing Spanish...

At night, we wanted to go out to the center, but our hostel was pretty far away and we didn't feel like taking two buses to eat dinner cos we were starving! So we ate at the hostel...omg we have never waited so long for dinner. The hostel was pretty crowded and so it took 2-3 hours for our dishes to come! It was insane!! They had a small kitchen and one cook! Poor Brenna, she had a headache and needed food to eat with her medicine and she was the second to last person to receive her meal! But honestly, 3 hours, waiting for food to cook!!! ridiculous!

11 de outubro
We went to the Brazilian side of the falls and it was so different from the Argentinian side! Whereas the Argentinian side was a close up view of the waterfalls, the Brazilian side offered a beautiful, distant panoramic view of the falls. Still, it was stunning and surreal. The Brazilian side is definitely smaller and not as eventful as there are many more hiking trails on the Argentinian side.

12 de outubro >> departure: 5:45PM | arrival: 8:00AM
Our last day of the trip before our 15 hour bus ride back to Florianópolis! We luckily had enough time to visit Itaipu!! We went on a tour of the water plant and it was refreshingly educational. Itaipu is the biggst hydro-electric plant in the world! It took 23 years to build and way too much money to construct (Brazil will be done paying for it in 2023!) It is a bi-national hydro-plant owned by Brazil and Paraguay. so we were in Paraguay for the water plant! (yeah, I know, it's not really being in Paraguay...) The control room was divided in half by an invisible line--where you could have one foot in Brazil and the other in Paraguay! So this hydroelectric plant powers uses the energy of the Paraná River to provide 90% of Paraguay's energy and 25% of Brazil's...incredible!

After the tour, we grab a bite to eat and head to the rodoviária for our bus home.

13 de outubro
At 4AM, we make a bus stop and Cat and I were the only two awake and could not sleep. She thinks it would help to drink some alcohol to get some sleep...and my sleep deprived and cranky mind also thinks it would be a good idea. I just wanted to sleep. We find cheap $7R (about $4USD) wine and drink it on the bus. I just have a cup and a half--I mean it wasn't too terrible, but it wasn't great either. Man, it was hilarious--Cat drank two cups and went to sleep! And after my drink, I did too. I woke up with the worst stomach pain. And the aftertaste of the wine that remained in my mouth made me feel so queasy. My stomach was definitely not happy. The bug bites on my swollen ankle made it difficult to walk. And I'd also gotten my period. As you can imagine, this was possibly the worst situation to be in. I somehow manage to lug my duffle bag up my hill to my house. And showered, almost doubled over because the sharp pain in my stomach would not permit me to stand up straight...oh boy, it was awful.

So I've just been resting in bed all day, watching movies, falling asleep in and out of the movies. I've been burping up the wine and shit, it taste like, well, crap.

Other than these misfortunes, the trip was fun. Us Midd kids got to bond and get to know each other better...and it's definitely been an unforgettable trip.

Rio 2016

Estou demais empolgada para isso! Que incrível que finalmente uma cidade de America do Sul ganhou!! Ótimo!! Tenho muito orgulho...muito mais que deveria ter porque os EUA perdimos...

Seriamente, o Brasil vai desenvolver e crescer por causa disso. E aí mãe, como eu disse pra você, vale a pena para estudar Português!

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Basically, go Rio!