Brazil!!!!

Well, I had so many requests from you to maintain my travel blog while in Brazil so here it is. Although, I have to warn you, it is not nearly as exciting thus far as my Nicaraguan adventure. Since I am STUDYING abroad, it is not no work and all play. Plus, I am trying to squeeze in work-work back at UF, via tele-commuting also.

I have already been in Brazil for two weeks as of today. We have been in Sao Paulo, Maringa and now Florianopolis. We had internet for a while, but since we've been in Florianopolis, it's been sketchy. I wrote some notes while travelling and saved them until I could download them onto the site. Sooo, here are the first two weeks in words and pictures...Enjoy.

May 8, 2008

I arrived in Brazil on Thursday night around 9:30 p.m. I was trying to meet up with my friends who live in Sao Paulo, but communication was sketchy. My friend suggested I take a bus from the airport and get dropped off at hotel that was right next door to her apartment and only a few blocks from my hotel and she would meet me. Only we did not communicate very well, so when I got there no one was there. No worries…I speak Portuguese now (ha) so I figured I could just keep asking for directions until I got to my hotel. So, that’s what I did. Here I was traipsing through the streets of Sao Paulo, the third largest city in the world, at 11:00 at night, carrying my four bags of luggage. But, I made it. The hotel is extremely nice. I feel kind of dirty surrounded by run down buildings and poverty, yet we are staying at this posh hotel. The next day when we were meeting for a short orientation, my professor said “rule number one: Never walk alone…especially at night.” And she looked directly at me. Oops.

The new crew...waiting for the bus

May 9
Today I got to meet the rest of the students in the program. There are 3 guys and 9 girls. I already knew a few of them, as 5 of us are from UF. Two are from U of Texas, two from FSU, one from Canada, one from a university in New York and one from Rutgers University. I can already tell I like everyone...that’s good since we’re spending 6 weeks
together!

May 12

I’m feeling a little homesick and I’m having a hard time getting into the trip. Sao Paulo was very expensive…just as much as the U.S. and even more for some things. We’ve had a few interesting lectures and done a lot of walking. But, the sun hasn’t shone the entire time we’ve been here and it’s been pretty chilly. The city is unsettling to me. It doesn’t have the excitement of NYC or the beauty of Montreal or San Francisco, my favorite cities. The tall, steel skyscrapers erected between the historical colonial style buildings taints their historic district. Check out the pictures I have for this part of the trip. I think another part of the problem is the restraint I feel being a part of someone else’s program or itinerary. Also, this is an English-speaking study abroad program in Brazil. Therefore, only one of the other people in the group speaks Portuguese, so I’m pretty much just hanging out with a bunch of Americans in a foreign country. Also, I’m not responsible for my own getting-around; we have our professor and her assistant who both translate for us and navigate us through the city. Finally, since Americans are not the most loved citizens of the world, traveling around with a group of loud, jovial young Americans really prevents interaction with the real culture here. I think I might have to go off by myself to get that experience.