I’ve been
in Brazil for more than a month and a half now! Since my arrival I’ve learned
so many things. My language skills have improved drastically, my relationship
with my host family has become much stronger, I’ve had awesome opportunities to
see more of this beautiful country and I’ve started to go to school. During my first
week my host family took me to a huge waterpark in the city of Olimpia where we
spent the whole day enjoying the water and the sun. During the next week, along
with many others, I helped my host sister, Aline, prepare for her going away
party. In one week she would be starting her RYE year in Japan. I got the chance to meet a lot of her friends from
other cities whom she met through Interact and other activities. I also got to
experience my first Brazilian party. Lots of food, music, people and dancing.
The party ended up finishing around 4:30am and I was able to get to sleep at
5:30am. A lot would change within the next few days; I was about to start
school. My first day of school was August 1. At my school, school starts at
7:30am and finishes at either 11:50am or 12:40pm. I don’t enjoy the early
mornings but I’m not complaining about finishing with a full afternoon. Unfortunately,
I was not able to choose my own courses but I am taking: biology, chemistry,
physics, sociology, philosophy, literature, writing, English, Spanish, Portuguese,
math history, geography and gym. Slowly but surely I am starting to follow more
and more in each class and I’ve actually written a few tests and gotten answers
correct! I’ve also noticed a lot of differences between my school in Brazil and
my school in Canada. We start much earlier, we don’t change classes, the
teachers come to us, there is one less grade, and there is only one class for
the whole grade. My school, Fundacion Educacional da Alta Mogiana- CoC has
about 200 students ranging from JK to 3e (equivalent grade 12). Before my host sister left for her exchange my
family took me out for the infamous Brazilian barbecue, churrasco. It is
hands-down my favourite meal in Brazil. That weekend we drove to São Paulo to
drop Aline off. For her last dinner in Brazil we went to the Outback which was
a nice reminder of home. The next weekend it was Father’s day in Brazil so I
made my host dad a classic breakfast which consisted of bacon, fried eggs and
toast! On August 18 I had plans to go to Rio with my second host mom to go
watch some Olympic events. We took the bus all the way from Ribeirao Preto to
Rio which ended up being an 11 hour trip. We started our journey at night so we
arrived in Rio at about 6am the next day. Once we got settled we set off for a full day of touring the city. We started
off with Christ the Redeemer. It was definitely one of my favourite moments
since being in Brazil. There I saw many Olympians and spoke to other Canadians.
After that, we went to the Coca Cola plaza and the Olympic Boulevard to see the
flame. At night, I was lucky enough to be able to hangout with one of my
friends from home! I was able to meet up with Allie, an outbound from the same
district as me, go to Copacabana and enjoy some great food. The next day I went
to the Olympics to watch rhythmic gymnastics and women's basketball. Being in the park was an amazing experience. It was unreal
getting to see Olympians compete and it was so heartwarming to see everyone
cheering for their countries. The park was also surrounded by mountains which
made it even more beautiful. On the 6 week mark of my exchange I finally
received one of my bags which was very very exciting. It was also great timing
because my host family and I were leaving for a week-long vacation on the
upcoming weekend. One again I would be traveling to São Paulo to fly to
Aracaju, a beautiful city on the coast of Brazil in the Northeast. Once again I
can’t thank Rotary enough for this opportunity. I also want to thank everyone
for all the support and love you’re sending! Finally, I want to thank my first
host family, the Marques, for being so welcoming, caring and loving. I don’t
think my exchange would be nearly as good without them! Te amo muito.
