I Love Brasilia Sign!

I've seen a more colorful sign around the city, but we saw this one on the way to the Convention Center. 

Of course we had to seize the photo moment!

In the background is the Plano Piloto, Rodoviaria, and Esplanada dos Minesterios. 

And on the other side was the TV town. 

Love 

Being A Part of A Community

One of the first things that I did when I got to UEL (the University I work at) was to join a Portugues For Foreign Learners class. I met people from all over the world, but mostly from South America. I am currently taking my second Portugues class, and I have met people from: Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Iran, Hungary, Haiti, and Morocco. In addition, I attend the monthly Intercultural Cafe, which has allowed me to reach out to people studying at UEL from even more countries across the world. 

One of my classmates, Daniela, asked me to participate in a poem reading for one of the Master's classes. She sculpted a video that highlights the differences and beauty that we all bring to UEL with our languages. In the video, we all read the same people, except in a cascading effect in our language. It was really breathtaking to hear the differences in languages. 

From left to right:

Romania- Argentina- Spanish

Brazil- Portugues

Daniela- Venezuela- Spanish

Dominique- Haiti- French

Andrea- Hungary- Hungarian

Me- USA- English

Claire- France- French 

Copa do Mundo- Brasilian Style

I wish that I could describe the love, support, dedication, and excitement that Brasil feels for futebol. It's a breath of fresh air for a girl who played defense her whole life and feel in love with the sport, but lived in a country that it doesn't receive as much love as it deserves. Every game day I get so excited to put on my jersey. Whether we throw a viewing party at an apartment, or head out to a bar, it's always fun to cheer on Brasil. On the days that I've streamed the games online, it's funny because I hear fireworks and the whole town erupt and I know something is coming as my computer lags a minute behind the live television streaming. The commotion that occurs in the bar after winning a match makes you want to jump up and joining in the chanting, which is normally what happens. So far, Brasil tied their first match and won the second two. Tomorrow is a quarter finals game against Belgium, which you bet I'll be watching diligently and spiritedly to cheer them on. VAI BRASIL! Sidenote: the amount of Brasilian memes that get created based on the game is brilliant. Pictures and videos featured the coach tripping and flipping over, Neymar in a baby walker, crazy fans announcing the termination of future revival teams, and so much more. Brasil meme game is very strong. 

Patricia, Simba, Pedro, Ashley, and me 

Junio and me

Me, Bennie, Lara, and Ashley 

Me, Junio, Bia, Henrique, and Lara  

Henrique and me 

Intercultural Cafe

Every month one of the programs at Universidade Estudual de Londrina is called Intercultural Cafe. This brings together students of different nationalities that are studying on campus and gives us the opportunity to connect and learn from each other. This past month's theme was Festa Junina, which consisted on a small history lesson, a game of Kahoot to test our knowledge, and attempting to dance the qaudrillo. Enjoy our crazy attempt!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0N9ZndwgKc&t=21s

Festa Junina Celebrations

Normally when people think of Brasil they think of the month long party Carnaval, but the underrated little brother to that celebration is Festa Junina. This month long holiday honors three saints, and even spills into July to create Festa Julina. The most authentic experience I could have asked for was at a chakara with 150 people, more food than I could imagine eating, a mechanical bull, and the quadrilo (square dancing in sorts). The traditional wear is to dress as a caipira, farmer, in plaid, dresses, braids, and mustaches. Although I've gone to a few Festa Junina events, this by far was my favorite. 

Tackling the Federal Police

Even harder than creating a phone plan account was registering with the Federal Police for my RNE number. On average, we joke that it takes three visits to the Federal Police to get all of the paperwork in and correctly done. Although, it really isn’t a joke. For me, it took three Federal Police visits and one consulate visit.

If you are staying in Brasil for longer than three months then you are required to register with the police and pay a fee. The RNE (Registro Nacional de Estrangeiros- national registration for strangers) requires a passport, the application signed off at the USA embassy, proof of payment, 3x4 photo, a CPF card is helpful but not necessary, photocopies of ALL pages of your passport (I kid you not. Every. Single. One. Whether it does or does not have a stamp on it), and new to the list is- your original birth certificate with an official translation of it or an inscription letter from the US consulate in Brasil. This last part was a new rule put into place as I came to Brasil, and thus I did not know that I had to bring my birth certificate.

The story goes as so- I went online in March to make my appointment for the Londrina Federal Police and the soonest police appointment wasn’t until May 25. I entered Brasil February 23rd, and you generally have to register within three months of entering the country. In a panic, all of us ETAs in Londrina went to the police station together to and plead our case in hopes of a sooner date. No luck. The man told us to return when we had our official appointment dates. We told him that it was crucial for our fellowship and our university placement. To this, he responded by telling us to put our boss from the university on the phone. A surprise to us all, but we had our program manager call, and he pretty much said in exact repetition to her what he said to us.

So, time goes by. It’s now the end of May and I returned to the Federal Police with one of the research Fulbrighters. We went in very hesitantly, only thinking about our last experience. This time though, we worked with the man on the left instead of the right. It made a WORLD of a difference. Santana, our main man who helped us through the process with such kindness and patient, began our process that day by inputting some of our documents into the system. We ran into problems as he asked to see our birth certificate. Tara had her original birth certificate, and I had a believable photocopy of mine. Even with these, we were still rejected. Why? Our birth certificate had our mother’s maiden name on it, but the application for the Visa to enter Brasil had their current last name. Santana instructed us to each visit one of the US consulates and get an inscription letter. We finished out the visit that day by Santana taking our fingerprints and making a list of all of the items we needed to bring next time. For example, I made copies of my stamped pages in my passport and got them notarized. Santana laughed at me for getting them notarized and told me that it was a waste of time because he is a state official and him seeing my passport is enough to verify it. As well, I went to a photo place for my copies and they put two pages on each paper, which is another no no.

The next part of the adventure- how do I even go about getting an inscription letter? It didn’t matter which consulate I went to, as long as I made an appointment ahead of time and visited one of them with all of my materials ready. I went in to Sao Paulo expecting all of the worse; instead, the process to get through security took longer than the paperwork. This was my first solo trip in Brasil, which required an overnight bus in and out of Sao Paulo, and a mixture of five metro lines to get to the Brooklyn area. When I arrived at the gate there was a long line, but as I showed my appointment slip they ushered me in… and then kicked me right back out. At this consulate you’re not allowed to bring any bags in, so you must pay to leave your stuff in a locker across the street. My options were a credible looking building that also offered parking services, or the corner newspaper stand that offered for very cheap. I ended up choosing the safer looking venue, but was ripped off and had to pay 20 reais. Once again, I entered the consulate, went through the metal detector, and entered the American Services corridor. A very kind woman called me up, which was especially easy since I had an appointment booked, and she asked for my passport. I had to first pay the $50USD fee for the service and then returned to her for the paper to fill out. I asked her what documents she needed to see, and she said only my passport. Only my passport? Not my birth certificate? You mean that they didn’t even need to see the item that caused this whole extra work? Nope. I filled out the paper with my name, my parents’ names, my marital status, address, and email, which I had to fill out again because I put “single” instead of “solteira”. After that, I signed it in front of the woman, she did as well, she gave the stamp of approval, and that was that.

Tara, the Fulbright research fellow, and I returned back to the Federal Police for our third time hoping that it would be our last. We sat anxiously as Santana examined the new paperwork, but felt relief as he gave the stamp of success. Four months, three Federal Police visits, and one solo trip to the Sao Paulo consulate I finally walked out of the Federal Police with my RNE number document in hand. Santana told us to come back in August to pick up out official printed RNE, and we laughed because at that point we will have less than three months left in Brasil for our stipend.

Moral of the story- make sure that you go online to check the availability of the nearest Federal Police station (No, not every town has one and some people have to travel for these appointments), bring your passport photocopies of ALL pages, a 3x4 photo, and the paper the embassy gave you. Most important, contact them ahead of time to check if you need to get a translation of your birth certificate, and if they suggest anyone local to do that, or whether you will need an inscription letter. From what I’ve gathered, every single experience at the Federal Police is determined by who you work with, how much they like you, how they are feeling that day, and you never know what will happen- so make friends with your local Federal Police Officer!

Feira das Profissões na UEL

We had students from high schools all over the country come for UEL's feira das profissões day, which is similar to a university open house. I got to talk to students from all over Brasil and work alongside my students to tell them about our program. I did sneak away for a bit with Thais, one of the professors I work with for the first year oral production class, to take some pictures in the Letras Espanhol room. I'm so lucky and glad to have supportive and wonderful students that enjoy hanging out with me outside of class and call me over to join the Just Dance activities. 

I worked the night shift of the event, between 6-9 pm, and by then the crowds had died down. In order to try to attract the attention of passing by people, we put on Just Dance videos to popular English songs. Depending on the song we attracted some pretty big crowds. I got a bit too into it and jammed out with my students, which resulted in them pointing out just how bad of a dancer I am. To me though, if I can't be who I am in front of them (which is a total goon and crazy goof ball) then how can I ask them to trust me by doing the same. My bad attempt at dance moves was just met by my students encouraging me to continue and calling me over to join. I may have only talked to a hand full of perspective students, but I think we let our personalities shine out to those that we did. 

Tenho Saudades

February 23 to May 23. Three months have passed since my first day in Brasil, and I haven’t nearly come closer to blending in, speaking Portuguese fluently, or being very confident with navigating all cultural situations, but I sure have come a long way.

Tenho saudades- a phrase I heard as one set of Fulbrighters were leaving Brasil, and I was preparing to go. I had no idea what it meant, but now it’s a phrase that hits home everyday (pun intended). I long for and I miss so many things from home, and I mean other than the obvious choices of my family, friends, and pets. There are some things in Brasil that I never realized I would encounter living without, and others I didn’t mentally prepare for.

Indoor heating- Before coming to Brasil, I of course checked the average weather for my city throughout the months that I would be in Londrina. I was ecstatic to see that the low for their winter is about 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Fall is my favorite season, so seeing that the fall, winter, and spring months would all be temperate made me very happy. UNTIL, the colder days of fall hit. Suddenly, the temperature shifted- all in one weekend. It feels like there are three or four months in one day. The mornings drop to about 48 degrees Fahrenheit, and require some sort of jacket, and drop again to this temperature at night, but rise to 75 or 80 degrees Fahrenheit throughout some days. Other days, it will stay chilly at 65 or 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The thing is- it’s always cold. There is no way to escape the chilly temperature by going into a building, because the buildings don’t have heat and they’re just as cold. I regret not bringing more sweatshirts or a pair of sweatpants.

Air conditioning- Normally, I’m the type of girl who likes to spoil herself with this, when I can. Whenever I have the opportunity to use AC, I take it. My first few weeks in Londrina were awful at night, and I caved in to buy a fan just so that I could sleep through the night. The 80 reais were worth the comfort of not being perpetually sticky in my room.

Having a car- It’s very easy to fall into a lul of comfort of having a car to easily get around town. Need to go grocery shopping? That’s easy to go across town and then pack the grocery bags into your trunk. Need to get to the university campus on a time schedule? You can leave whenever you need to. This privilege is something I forgot was just that- a privilege. Learning to navigate and take the public transportation has been a challenge. Buses may run late, or not pass through certain places on weekends. You always need small bills, and anything over 5 reais will be followed with an eye roll or sigh from the bus driver.

A dryer- I’m lucky enough that my apartment has a washer, just to begin with that plus side, but I’ve started to get used to hanging everything and waiting the day for it to dry. The nice feeling of burying myself under a pile of warm laundry isn’t an option, and some days it can be so frustrating to have to wait for the clothes to dry, especially as the temperature outside and inside the house decreases.

Being able to communicate easily in hard situations- Although I have not cried in a public place since my first month here, like when I broke down in the Vivo phone store, I have had difficult situations since then when I wanted to shut down and turn off. Only having mastered a few verbs in present and past tense makes it very hard to follow conversations and communicate effectively. When I’m asking for directions, get asked something by a store clerk, or am confronted by tasks when I need to immediately and quickly follow a conversations an answer then I stress out. I never realized how a small task could turn into a challenge with this one small change.

Although I do miss a lot of things, I keep reminding myself that today does mark ⅓ of the completion of my Fulbright experience and I tell myself that I need to cherish things rather than focusing on what I miss. 3 months out of 9 completed and I still have so many goals to accomplish, things to see, and lessons to teach.

Ilha do Mel Retreat

This past weekend I met up with my Fulbright mentor group for a mid year retreat, our almost three month in check in. Twelve of us from within the state Parana, from the cities Londrina, Apucarana, Ponta Grossa, and Curitiba, gathered together in Curitiba and then took a bus and boat to our destination- Ilha do Mel. We spent the weekend reflecting on the past few months, comparing experiences of learning Portuguese, our University placements, and city life. It was really interesting to see the variation in Portuguese language level, but also to hear just how different every University sets up their Fulbright experience. Our clan works in a mix of public and private universities, and the universities dictate some groups to assist in classroom time, lead cultural activities, or host office hours. Talking with the other Fulbrighters to hear their difficulties, accomplishments, and goals truly did make me feel better about my own ups and downs so far.

That Friday through Sunday we spent participating in an array of workshops, and of course bonding activities- which mostly entailed caipirinhas on the beach, hiking, and bicycling. We hiked to the top of the Farol das Conchas (the lighthouse), and even trekked there early one morning to watch the sunrise. We also hiked across beaches, up hills (which included shuffling down the muddy side hill with a rope and eventually led to a cross marking), and to the Grutas das Encantadas. In Encantadas we stopped for a lunch break, and I got a leite condensado and coco pastel- which ended up being too sweet for my taste, and that’s a hard thing to do! Half of the group went biking to the Fortaleza on our last day. We rented bikes cheaply, and got what we paid for with a lack of brakes. The freshly made fish lunch by the beach, views of the ocean as we rode on the shore, and fort art gallery made it all worth it.

One of the best things I left this trip with- two congas! My very own first conga purchases. One if dark and light blue with splashes of color in the pattern, and the other is a classic Brazilian flag on it.

The worst thing I left with- two arms filled with mosquito bites. They’re healing quickly though.

Watch this video to see a compilation of video clips and photos from my adventure!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUrZtHctkFM&feature=youtu.be

Sao Paulo Adventures on Easter Weekend

Delayed, but better than never! Here is a snippet of some of my best memories from my adventure trekking through Sao Paulo on Easter weekend. Some of the locations shown include-


The Municipal Market

Banco do Brasil

Liberdade

The Sao Paulo Cathedral

Braz Quintal- rated as one of the top ten pizzerias in the world

Vila Mariana

Avenida Paulista

Vila Madalena

Beco de Batman

Sunset Park


It was a short weekend, with two over night buses, but it was worth the trip to reunite with my friends placed in Sao Carlos. I got to know the Sao Paulo metro really well, and felt confident navigating the city. We ran into a lot of small fairs on the roadside, and Avenida Paulista was closed to all traffic on Sundays to allow for a band and fair to overtake the road.

Click here to watch my video from the weekend trip:

https://youtu.be/Cf-L21TCLew

Cityscape Views

It took me two months to finally make it up to the rooftop of my apartment, and now I try to go every chance that I can. I'm beyond in love with the views of this city. Londrina sunsets and sunrises are some of the most beautiful I've ever been able to admire. 

10 Km Run Success!

After weeks of preparing for the 10 Km race, the weekend finally arrived. I picked up Kathryn from the airport at 6 am that Saturday, and we ventured out into the North zone of the city to pick up our race bags. The bus deviated from its google maps route, so we left the bus early... only to see it pass by us as we walked the extra 6 blocks and additional 10 blocks to the pick up location- an elevator company shop. 

Either way, the next morning came and we arrives at Lago Igapo around 7:15 am to pick up our chips. The race was down streets I had never run, with a lot more hills than I expected (but that's Londrina for you). It was a rough race, especially with my hurt knee, but I only had to walk two or three times. 

I was really happy with my finishing time of 57 minutes and placing 2nd place in my category and 9th place for all female runners in the 10 km race. This race definitely motivated me to look into more races in Brasil!

Running Path

A look into my beautiful running path each morning. 

Volunteering In A Private English School

Last week, I had the pleasure to volunteer speaking at a private English school in Londrina called Instituto Federal Parana. The instructor asked me to come in for a class and talk about American cultural, but also requested that I make a typical “American Dish”. The USA doesn’t really have one well known meal that I could think of, but I offered to make chocolate chip cookies to bring. Instead, the class instructor asked that as a class we make mac and cheese. The first thing that came to mind was- shoot, they don’t have Kraft mac and cheese here. So, we went old fashion. Luckily, I’ve made mac and cheese from scratch before, so I knew how to do it, but I didn’t have the cheeses the recipe called for- I can’t easily obtain Vermont Sharp Cheddar here.

I went to the class expecting maybe ten students, and I instead was welcomed by about twenty-five students, all varying in age from University students to grandparents. Everyone greeted me with a kiss to the cheek, and we headed to the market to buy the groceries. They were so hilarious, bargaining with the instructor to add extra ice cream and guarana to the cart. Once we got back to the school, we headed to the kitchen and all got to work on preparing the food. We ended up making five bags worth of pasta! I tried to involve the students as much as I could in the chopping of cheese, stirring, adding pasta, and the whole process. I definitely didn’t expect that many people, and guesstimating the measurements made it taste a little differently than I hoped, but hopefully they enjoyed it! In return, they made traditional brigadeiro for us all, which was my favorite part. It astounds me how kind, energetic, and talkative the students were, and we all tried to converse in a mix of English and mostly Portugues.

You can check out the school's post about the event and their commentary here (it has more mac and cheese adventure pictures):

http://londrina.ifpr.edu.br/2018/04/06/curso-de-ingles-intermediario-tem-aula-especial-com-professora-americana/

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.

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

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/