Sunday, March 25, 2018

Firsts For Everything- Portuguese, Teaching, Brigadeiro, Running, and More!

Today marks one month and two days since arriving in Brasil, and my Portuguese confidence still feels as basic and low as when I arrived here, BUT a lot of things have changed since I’ve arrived here. This post commemorates and celebrates a lot of the “firsts” that I’ve experienced in the last few weeks.

Running a 10k- Since arriving in Brasil, I decided to motivate myself to keep healthy by running around the lake everyday and signed up for a 10k race that will be held in Londrina on April 22nd! I got so enthusiastic in my training that within my first week of signing up I bumped my running distance from 5k to 7k and then 10k within the week. My legs were definitely feeling the pain the next few days. Each lap around the lake is about 2.5k, so I simply needed to lap the lake four times. Also, Kathryn, my Fulbright buddy who I traveled before orientation with, signed up for the Bem Corrido run in Londrina so that she can come visit my placement city.

Getting rejected by the federal police- they say that on average it takes about three attempts to finish all the paperwork correctly when working with the federal police. Due to staying in Londrina for an extended amount of time, I need to check in the police, pay a fee, and make sure that they have my information. Unfortunately, this needs to be done within 3 months of arriving in my city, and the process can be tricky. Recently, the laws changed and the time frame extended from 30 days to 90 days, which is lucky for us, but there is also still confusion surrounding the new laws and it seems like every police station has different rules for what they require. For example, some of my friends have been turned down because their mother’s middle initial, not full middle name, was listed on the birth certificate. Or, the mother’s maiden name was listed instead of her current last name, and they need to schedule a visit to a consulate to do extra steps. For some things in Brasil, it really does seem like a process can depend on who is helping you that day. As a result, my appointment is May 25th, and I need to go in that morning with all of my documents and hope that they’re correct!

Making Brigadeiro- One of the very popular and famous desserts to Brasil is surprisingly so easy to make. Now that I learned how to make it, it’s dangerous, and I want to make it everyday! The recipe is as follows: melt butter in a pot, add condensed milk ( enough to match however much you want to make), stir this together and add a large portion of chocolate powder, stir on low for about 15 minutes and until it pulls from the bottom as you stir, and then let it cool! I have my roommate Bea to thank for teaching me. It’s especially amazing with fruit dipped in it.

Speaking in Portuguese in front of a group- orientation week began on Tuesday and all of the Letras students gathered together to hear from the professors. Our “project”- the Fulbright ETAs each spoke a little bit about ourselves and who we would teach… but in Portuguese. The other three ETAs and proficient in Portuguese, but then there is me. I was so incredibly nervous, but I wanted to make the most of it that I could, and I think my love for public speaking helped with that. I got up there and started telling them that I had never taken a Portuguese class prior to coming to Brasil, but that I was in a class now at UEL. When I said this they started cheering, and I said “estou nervosa” and they started clapping and laughing. I think being able to connect with my first year students in the fact that we are all learning a new language together is really important. Them seeing that I’m struggling through, but trying, is important. If I want them to take one thing away from working with me it’s to push aside fear of being wrong and go for it. Hopefully I can be a good model for them in my attempts to learn and showcase that it’s ok to make mistakes, and that it’s part of the learning process.

Lastly, I had my very first time teaching a university class!- In the past year I realized that I possibly want to work my way up to a career in post secondary education, and the chance to work with university level students right now is an INCREDIBLE opportunity to dip my feet in the water. Lara, Bennie, Kayla, and I co-taught two three hour long class sessions for all of the course level letras students. We had a bigger turnout than I expected, and half the students at each session were mine! We did an activity with watching a video, analyzing it, and then talking about our own homes. I loved hearing more about the students’ experiences they are bringing, especially with students coming from scattered places in Brasil like Bahia and Curitiba. I felt like I really connected with some of my students, and seeing them excited made me realize that the experience is all coming together. My class schedule is currently set that I assist in the Oral Comprehension Class for freshman every Friday from 2-4 and 7-9 pm. With the Easter holiday this next weekend, I won’t actually start working with my classes until April 6th, but they were asking me when they would get to see me in class, and it hit me really hard. I.am.so.excited.





Sunday, March 18, 2018

Minor Setbacks

As I exit the honeymoon phase of being in Brasil, after being here for three weeks, I’m really starting to see that not everything is rainbows and butterflies. Most things have been great, especially the food and my town, Londrina, but we’re hitting some bumps currently. For example, the Federal Police changed the registration law just as I was coming to Brasil, and I may now not have documents that I need in order to avoid the fine and register. Any person staying in a Brasilian town for an extended amount of time is required to check in with the Federal Police, pay money, and check a bunch of paperwork signed off on. I prepared for notarized passport copies, paying the fee…. But I did not anticipate needing the original copy of my birth certificate to get notarized. As well, when I tried to sign up for the Federal Police appointment online it only gave me one option in the pull down bar, and only one time, which was May 25th. I need to be registered within three months of entering Brasil, and this May date exceeds that. I’m starting to get a bit anxious about that.

A short theory lesson on how I understand Brasilian Universities work. There are two major university categories that you can choose from- public and private. In opposition to how the USA school systems work, public universities are harder to get into but free and private universities are easier to get into but costs thousands of dollars. In order to get into public universities you need to take a “vestibular” test specific to each university, and I have not met any student who passed it on the first try because it is very difficult. The public universities receive their funding almost solely from the government, because they are free of cost to the students, and it looks like a lot of the campus buildings have not received much renovation since they were built.

UEL,Universidade Estadual Londrina, the university that I am teaching at, is a public university. Specifically, I am working with the letras department and english education major students. UEL seems to be going through a series of strikes due to funding cuts, which my friend says he experienced since 2015 when he attended UEL. The most current strike ended as I was arriving in Londrina, and I was hoping that UEL would quickly get back on track. This, unfortunately does not seem to be the case. With so much time off filter with the strike, UEL staff members and professors are still trying to get back on their feet. Orientation was supposed to begin March 19th and classes March 26th, but today we received a bulletin that the beginning of the term will be suspended. Translated from the Portuguese post, “In a bulletin sent to faculty, undergraduates and technical-administrative staff on the night of this Saturday (17), the Rector of UEL informs that it is suspending the beginning of the academic calendar of graduation of 2018, scheduled for this Monday, March 19.”

At this point, we’re not sure when we’ll be beginning classes, I’m not sure what teacher I will be assisting in classes, and a lot of things will be up in the air for a while. Plus, this means that I don’t know when the second Portuguese class that I want to take will begin. I would say it’s stressful, but a lot of this is out of my control, and I realize that, so I’m trying to make the best of it and I’m still going to help out on campus as much as I can.

http://www.uel.br/com/agenciaueldenoticias/index.php?arq=ARQ_not&FWS_Ano_Edicao=1&FWS_N_Edicao=1&FWS_Cod_Categoria=2&FWS_N_Texto=25985

Saturday, March 10, 2018

Cultural Experiences Hit You When You Least Expect Them- Downtown Band

As Mario and I traversed through Centro today, we heard drums coming towards our store and getting louder. I was frustrated and tired while waiting for the Vivo employee to try and figure out how to set me up on a plan. By this time, it was about an hour and twenty minutes into waiting at the desk as she silently worked, and I was getting cranky. We heard the drums coming down the street and went out to adventure and here the source. The mixture of dancing and drum playing from these men and women was beautiful. They kept so in sync and they mixed in Bachata dancing as the beats began. Although I wasn’t happy to be waiting in a phone store, I don’t think I would have seen this moment without it.


Little Successes- Trying New Foods, Working Phone Plan, and an Educational Word Wall

I was adventurous and willed myself to go back to the phone store- Vivo, even after I had cried the last time I was there. They instructed me to return once I had a CPF, or someone to let me borrow theirs and sign, and I did as told. Lucky me, I worked with the same three women who helped last time and saw me cry. Except, this time I came more prepared with a paper of questions and apologies for my last appearance ready to go. I figured out that my pre-paid phone plan was set to charge me on a daily basis until the funds ran out, which happened only several days after I initiated the plan. In order to be cost efficient, I found a plan with 3 GB of internet, unlimited texts, and 50 minutes of calls to outside network, which is plenty more than I will need, for $45 R per month. So, I hoped that this visit would go a lot more smooth than the last encounter. Instead, I found that the trip took 2 hours, and they told me that my CPF was too new and they could not use it! All the work to get the documents in order for obtaining a CPF, and it was unnecessary for this in the and. Eventually though, in a few weeks, I will have to transfer the account under my CPF, so I guess it will come into plan then. By the end of the day though, I had a working phone plan. A huge victory in itself.

One of the things that I love most about Brasil so far, and I think I will miss the most when I leave, is the food. This country brings out my sweet tooth. Between feijoada, churrasco, brigadeiro, tartas, and mandioca…. I feel like I need to exercise more than ever just from craving all of the food. A small tidbit: feijoada is a slowly cooked meat stew (normally with beans, beef and pork), churrasco is the Brasilian barbecues were the meats continue to be cooked all day and you never stop eating, brigadeiro is a heavenly VERY sweet chocolate either in a truffle form or mix on other desserts, tartas are the small pies with meats in them, and mandioca is the Brasilian version of yucca. Also, today I had a homemade gelato that was caprinihia flavored!! On Friday the Fulbright ETAs and staff had a churrasco at Michele’s house, my host professor, and her husband sure cooked up a storm. There was pork, chicken, beef, and desserts, which was accompanied by the sweet drink of white wine, condensed milk, and watermelon blended and served in a watermelon. It’s a good thing that I live so close to a lake and have been working out daily!

As I continue to realize things that I need, and of course did not bring from the USA or just see the exponentially higher price in Brasil, I wanted to make note. Hopefully this will help anyone looking to come in the future and know the essentials to pack.

Face wash- any speciality kinds especially

Electronics- even small things like extra headphones and chargers

Adapters and converters- you can buy these online in a bundle for cheap (but make sure that you account for three prong devices and the adapters

Notebooks- For some reason it costs upwards of $10 USD for a lot of them here

Peanut butter, Nutella, or Maple syrup- these also can cost upwards of $10 USD for a small amount

Tea- if you’re a fan of tea, then stock up before coming here since they charge about $4 USD for a box of four tea packets

A small purse to carry around documents, money, your phone, and keys- make sure it is not too large to draw attention

Deodorant- bring an overload of deodorant. Deodorant in the USA is different than other countries, and unless you want to spend over $4USD on a small tub of roll on or go with the spray one, then bring more than you will need

A cool thing that I have begun in order to help myself learn Portuguese is creating a word wall! I have separated between my- Para practicar (for practice) and Palavras do dia (words of the day). I’m wording primarily with verbs to try and select verbs everyday to focus on using and solidifying their tenses. I’ve also included prepositions, times, directions, and other phrases/words that I think are crucial. I’m rotating out the words everyday, but hopefully it will help to have the visual studying tactic.







Thursday, March 8, 2018

Social Security Or Everyday Number?- Brasilian CPF

Some things vary between the USA and Brasil, but nothing is as different as the Social Security number, called CPF in Brasil. In the USA, I’m accustomed to a social security number being a heavily guarded thing that you don’t tell anyone. Whereas in Brasil, you use it everywhere. If you want to- buy groceries, buy furniture, buy a car, get a gym membership, buy a phone plan, etc… you’ll be giving your CPF number. Although it’s not absolutely necessary to have one, and foreigners can get away with living extended periods here without one, it sure is a useful tool to have.

After talking to other Fulbrighters and doing our research, we ventured out to try and obtain a CPF. First, we filled out a form online through the Receita Federal, and printed this form out. Next, we went to a correios, post office, and did most of the heavy lifting there. We ended up waiting for thirty minutes for the three people in line ahead of us, and then Kayla and I were called up. The post office worker scrutinized our document, passport, to the form and asked us questions. Thank goodness Kayla was there and her knowledge of Portuguese helped us complete the process mostly smoothly. It’s funny that even things like a middle name missing from the form caused question and concern. We left the correios with a receipt (and barcode sticker) in hand and we walked across the city to our next stop- a receita federal.

We had been warned that this part of the process can take hours, and we mentally prepared for this. In fact, it was just the opposite. We received our waiting number and were called immediately. The employee verified our information and printed out the CPF paper. It was as simple as that. She instructed us to visit the Papeleria, paper shop, down the street to have it laminated. Online, it stated that you might be asked for proof of residency, and I was surprised that you merely needed to give an address. For around $10 reais and a few hours of work, we obtained our Brasilian social security number.

Here are two websites that a Fulbright fellow recommended to me, and I greatly recommend if you intend to apply for a CPF. One contains step by step instructions and the other has a link to the receita form:

http://alittlebrazilian.com/cpf-for-foreigners-in-brazil/

http://www.visahunter.com/visa/brazil/how-to-get-a-cpf-number/



Nao Falo Portuguese- the Frustration of Not Knowing the Language

Frustration and tears- the two words to describe my experience moving to a new country without knowing the language. I’ve found that some Spanish words have cogantes, but it still varies. I’ve never had the experience of traveling somewhere that I was exhausted all day trying to decipher what people are saying. My knowledge of five present tense verbs has not helped me as much as I hoped. For example, I bought a pre-pay phone chip and it was giving me troubles, so I went to the phone store. This field trip led to sitting in the store with four employees in a room talking at me to try and figure out my phone, and in the and being told that I needed to return with someone that could lend me their CPF (The Brasilian’s version of a social security number that they use everywhere) and sign for it, and to buy a monthly plan. As per my knee jerk reaction, I started tearing up, and the worker looked to my friend and said in Portuguese, “ela esta nervosa”. This is one phrase I do know, which I don’t think she expected, and I looked up and just responded back “sim- yes”. Eventually, we did get the data working and calls to come through! A small victory, even if it’s temporary and took a while.

This week I also began a Portuguese class taught at UEL. It’s a mix of people from- Hungary, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, and the USA, and the teacher only speaks in Portuguese. I figured that the course would hopefully be taught in a mixture, but we jumped right in. I sat at my desk feeling lost, and confused, and helpless. My face showed it, as I always do without a poker face, and the teacher tried to ask what I was confused about. I was choked up from being upset about not understanding, and I just shook my head. I’m accustomed to understanding things when I work hard for them, but being thrown into situation like that, or the cashier at a store speaking very quickly, I just stare and freeze up. I’m hoping that the next Portuguese class will be a little bit easier to pick up on everything.

The moral of the story- if you’re going to travel abroad then try to get a good grasp on the basics before going. I’m sure by the end of the nine months I will feel very accomplished having come so far with my Portuguese, but right now it feels like a defeat. Also, happy international women’s day, especially to all those crazy ladies also taking a huge chance like I am to pursue your dreams, even if it means facing new challenges and going outside your comfort zone!

Picking My Independent Project and Meeting Staff!

After the weekend ended, the business of Fulbright began. I started my first weekday with a run around the lake, without getting lost! Lara, Bennie, and I took an uber to UEL, as to make sure we weren’t too late from trying to bus our first day. There we met Michele, our host professor! It was so exciting to have clarity on the University’s expectations and plan for us. It was frustrating that Fulbright never forwarded on the written outlined plans for us ETAs that Michele made, but we finally found out. It is an awesome balance between classroom Teaching assistant time and also developing a side project to collaborate with students and staff members. Immediately, I was drawn to the idea of working with the international education office, but Michele also mentioned the opportunity to volunteer in a local public school. You can imagine how happy I was. I did a little happy dance in my seat. To get to work with four of my loves- international education, postsecondary education, English, and secondary students…. My heart was ready to explode. There are four of us ETAs at UEL, and Michele cleverly thought to divide us up to each work with one grade level, and I claimed the freshman students. Working with lower level students during my student teaching made me realize how much I truly love the moments when students have breakthroughs. It might not be as often, and it might take longer, but their expression of making the connection to the material is what makes teaching one of the best careers.

In addition, Michele organized for us ETAs to meet the director for international education at UEL. I, of course, was in my glory listening to all of the opportunities I could get involved in to help welcome, track, and maintain a relationship with international students. I’m not sure if I will go the career route of working postsecondary in international education, but I definitely want to see the perspective from another school system abroad.

A quick side note- my host professor also told us that she wants to encourage us to participate in teaching and educational conferences across Brazil with her, meaning traveling to Belem and Salvador possibly!! I loved presenting at conferences while in University, but I’m a bit nervous for if I were to present in Brasil, and whether it would have to be in Portuguese. It’s a goal to work towards, and I very much hope that I can share my research on Educational Disparities in the USA to show that the USA isn’t always as “rainbows and butterflies” as some Brasilians think it is. It’s true that the phrase “the grass is always green on the other side” carries a lot of weight here, even around the world really.

OH! So, my campus has monkey on it around the Calcedon, main street through campus. My friends warned me not to try and cuddle the monkeys, which wasn’t a thought of mine to begin with, but they still told me to keep my distance. The ETA group plus Michele were walking between buildings and suddenly we were surrounded by monkeys! They started dropping from the trees, surrounding us, bared their teeth, and stood around us like a small monkey mafia. We got away without being touched by them, but I didn’t believe the stories that the monkeys make a menace around campus.




Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Beginning Days in Londrina

Uber XL means something very different in the USA in comparison to Brasil. One might order an uber in hopes to fit luggage in the back, yet instead find a game of tetris and squeezing into the back seat with a suitcase piled on them. The fifteen minute ride to the bus terminal was filled with sharp turns, heavy suitcases, and cramming into a tiny car. Somehow, we thought that it would be a smart idea to bus our way from Sao Paulo to Londrina. Believe me, it could definitely have been much worse than our seven hour trip, especially considering how large Brasil is, but seven hours on a bus can drive a person crazy. I ended up watching the Smurfs and Batman Versus Superman in Portuguese, which was also broken up by a few naps. We arrived in the bus terminal, and I finally got the meet Beatriz- my flatmate. She was so absolutely sweet helping me with my bags and had a bottle of water ready for me.

Walking into my apartment and seeing my room made everything seem more real. Especially, when Beatriz gave me the keys! I lugged my bags into the room, and prepared to meet my other new flatmates, Pedro e Patricia, at their friend’s house. It is common in Brasil to live in republicas, which entail a lot of people sharing one house, and also makes for some fun hang outs. That night I tried my best to make my seven Portuguese word vocab extend as far as I could, and sometimes I attempted to throw in Spanish as hope that the cognates work. I can say that never before had I played gestures in Portuguese.

That weekend was nonstop, and I was ecstatic to get to see Mario again. Mario graduated from the University that I’ll be teaching at, and we studied abroad together in New Zealand. After a long awaited “hello again”, he showed me to my closest bus stop and I experience my first time riding the Londrina city bus. UEL is a HUGE campus, and we got stuck on the far end of campus during the tempestade. Streets quickly became rivers, and my first encounter with Londrina downpour rain didn’t phase me. I was so excited to be living my dream that I did the cliche thing and literally did dance in the rain. While drenched, Mario and I adventured downtown to meet his friend for some Feijoada (one of my favorite Brasilian foods). Afterwards, we indulged in some cake, and I tried the well known Brasilian classic Brigadiero. To end the night, they showed me where the cheaper supermarket was, and we hung out with my flatmates.

The next day was just as adventurous, if not more. Mario and I began the day with a walk around Lago Igapu, which is only a few blocks from my apartment. We next made our way to a street market, which was ENORMOUS! It was way beyond my expectation and filled main street and branching avenues. I had my first pastel con quieso e carne, and you can think of it as similar to an empanada, but I was one happy girl. Following that, I went to Mario’s for his family’s babreque, and we munched on meats from the grill. Mario’s dad was very kind and offered to take us on a car town around town, and this spontaneously led to us watching a Londrina futbol game! It was a rough game though, and they tied. Mario and Refeal insisted that I must try Caldo de Cana, and it ended up being a very sweet sugar cane drink, which I would definitely have again! We once again were picked up, but then walked around a second lake. Londrina has several lakes in the area, and they’re all great for running by.

I’m beginning to get the area the more that I walk around through it. Centro is a bit confusing, especially since it’s hard to get your bearings when you don’t know landmarks. I have only so far figured out the bus system to my university, and I’m not going to try and tackle any other lines yet!










Oreintation Week!

Four days filled with intensive training on- cultural shock, safety, the Brazilian history, dance lessons, and the side exploration of a samba bar, of course to practice our new dance skills. Although the information portions should have been the most memorable, of course it was my Parana family dinner at an Arab restaurant, my first time eating that style food, and the dance lessons. It was crazy to squish 120 Fulbright fellows into the top floor ballroom to learn Forro, Salsa, Samba, and Bachata. That night, Jake, Kathryn and I attempted to go to the Skye bar, with one of the best views in the city, but it was closed due to the rain. We made due, and ended up heading to the samba bar, where I tried to learn the difference between a caipirinha and cachaça from a local. Spoiler- I still don’t understand. Afterwards, Mundo Pensate was filled with a bunch of Gringos that couldn’t dance, but we all enjoyed our last night out together before separating to our host cities. The morning we were all departing, Jake and I found a convenience store that sold Tim Tams (YES! The Australian Tim Tams that I fell in love with while studying abroad!!) and I had to buy some to share. It was a glorious moment then followed by the sadness of realizing that I needed to part ways from my travel buddies and new friends.










Ilhabela Adventures

The next morning involved preparing for a short but traveling packed weekend to the coast line- Ilhabela (beautiful island). Kathryn, another fellow ETA, Jake, and I successfully navigated the metro through the city, but not without some hiccups. I couldn’t figure out how to feed my ticket into the booth, and Jake’s ticket didn’t work. All in all, we arrived at the rodoviaria (bus terminal), bought our tickets, and took the four hour bus ride to Sao Sebastiao. From there, we took the ferry across, which is free for pedestrians. With a backpack each, we walked along the coast to our hostel, and stopped to have dinner on the beach. The 5 kilometer walk seemed a lot longer than we had anticipated with the weight of our backpacks! We had troubles finding our hostel as it was buried back in the woods up a long cobblestone steep driveway. The three of us fell in love with the atmosphere and ambiance of the hostel! To and the night, Jake and I went for a dip in the pool and shared a beer. Our room ended up having about nine people in it!

In the morning, Jake and I ate the hostel breakfast and enjoyed our coffee with food and a view of the mountains overlooking a coastline. We inquired about island tours, trying to make the most of our time on the island, and set out for a day excursion beach trip. While we were walking towards Maremar, a hostel employee offered to drive us there! We made it to the escuna, popped open a drink, and boated towards the beaches Frome and Jabaquara.

The water was crystal blue and a medium temperature- not bath water and not freezing. Along the beaches were also small pool of colder water leading into the ocean. It was a cloudy day, but I still managed to get sunburnt, as always. We spent a few hours romping around the beaches, treading water, and enjoying the views. Following that, Jake and I went to dinner at one of the most amazing restaurants I have ever been to. We were on a rooftop restaurant overlooking the city streets with a live guitarist playing. We shared a seafood platter, and I was really surprised to like the cerviche! I was really surprised and still baffled as to what I thought about the passion fruit risotto. The brownie with homemade sorbet at the and made the meal absolutely complete. To end the night, we strolled around town by the water.

The next morning, our last few hours in Ilhabela, we wanted to squeeze in some hiking and waterfalls! Ilhabela in chuck full of waterfalls, if you know where to find them. The hiking path across the island that we wanted to take was closed down due to a storm that had damaged it, but instead we went to hike Cachoeira Frigagem. It was a few kilometer trek up a mountain, through residential areas, trails, and past a lot of bugs. The waterfall was worth it! There was even a small pool of water at the bottom that we lounged in.

On the walk back to the hostel then ferry, we waited at least forty minutes for a late bus that never arrived. We decided to speed walk back to the hotel, taxi to the ferry, and super speed walk to the bus terminal. It was an intense thirty minutes of hurrying and rushing to try and not miss the bus back to Sao Paulo. By time we reached the terminal there were only four tickets left, and three of us. With a mix of rain and traffic, we didn’t arrive at our orientation hotel until 9:30 pm. As we walked up to the hotel we saw a plethora of Gringos (you have to just own it here), and I met my Co-ETAs!











I made it safely to Sao Paulo!


Arriving in the Sao Paulo airport tested my anxiety levels, but I was so glad to have made a friend on the plane ride. My new friend Mat, a native Brazilian living in Toronto the last few years, saved me when we agreed to share an uber to Sao Paulo Centro. I could not get internet in the airport (a nightmare for a person without a cellphone plan)! He chatted with the uber driver during the hour drive, and it was silent after Jake left the car.

I arrived at Vila Madalena, and I was greeted by Jake, a Fulbright friend who I have been creating travel plans with since January. After showering, and feeling more like a human again, we explored the city on foot! Of course we grabbed some fruit and wine for our adventure, which we enjoyed while resting at sunset park overlooking the city. We also visited Beco de Batman, a graffiti street that I related to Hosier street in Australia. For Jake, the coffeholic, we stopped at Coffee Lab and I tried a Cafe com cachaca, which has a bit of alcohol like an irish coffee. Jake had arrived a day earlier, so he knew the city pretty well, and he was a great sight seeing buddy. That night, the adventures continued and we went to a block party in Pinheiros, and my phrase “nao falo Portuguese” was constantly used. That first day was cram packed with sights and people, the Vila Madalena suburb continues to be one of the favorite locations I’ve been so far.




Presenting At ConectaIFB, Diplomatic Meeting, and EdUSA Fair

Such a big and tiring day. Amanda (my co-worker) and I met up with professor Fabricio at the metro station at 9 am, and because of traffic w...