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

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. 

The Long Haul to Get A Cellphone Plan

Getting a phone plan is hard enough in your native language, between the jargon, and being offered deals and plans- it’s difficult. Now throw in a new language. After four months, I finally have a phone plan under my name.

When I moved to Brasil, I thought that the easiest option for phone service would be a rechargeable fill as you go plan. I bought a sim card from a supermarket and just needed to register it for it to start working. As I continued to try to use it I found that although I had money loaded onto it, my phone was still not working. So, I headed to my nearest Vivo store. This would be the Vivo store where they talked at me for one hour, even though they were trying their best to help me and explain the situation, and I teared up in front of three store associates. In my little to just very basic Portugues, I deciphered that for some reason, the prepaid plan wasn’t working and they convinced me that I had to buy a monthly plan. Why the prepaid did not work, but is working for several of my friends, is still beyond me. Anyway, I took their advice and tried to set up a monthly plan, which ended up being an adventure in a half.

In order to buy a lot of bigger items- gym memberships, furniture, cars, etc, one must provide his or her CPF number. In other words, they must give their social security number to the cashier, which to me is an odd concept. In the USA we guard our social security number heavily and fear identity theft, but in Brasil they give this number even when checking out at a grocery store. All of the purchases logged on a person’s CPF number then is processed into their taxes that year, or a process along those lines with Federal monetary involvement. So, Vivo told me that I would need a CPF to register a phone plan. Getting a CPF was on my to-do anyway, so no big deal. It only involved a day of going to the Post Office and Receita Federal- a process that took a few hours, but was easy enough. Later that week, I returned to the Vivo store, and when the women recognized me they had that “oh no, she’s back” look. For an hour, we tinkered with the system and they tried adding my CPF number to create an account for me.

Surprise, surprise, my CPF number was too new. They told me that because it was so new, it was as if I was just born in the system and could not be accepted. Defeat, once again. This time, they told me that in order me for to create an account I needed to use someone else’s CPF number and register it under their name. That meant that I dragged my poor friend Mario along for another hour long adventure visit to the store, in which they had to record all of his information, made him sign papers, and then technically created the account under his name. Here we are, about a month to living in Brasil, and trying to live off of solely wifi to communicate with everyone. The store clerks told me to return in a few weeks when my CPF was more used, and could be recognized by the system, to swap the account.

When I returned, you can guess what happened- no success. This time though, the ladies told me that I needed an RNE number register the plan. This RNE number can be received by going to the federal police, registering with them, and paying a few hundred reais. Little did I realize that this is what I had an appointment for the next month, which is a whole other story. By this point, I have a working plan, but it’s under someone else’s name. I wasn’t too worried, but I felt bad making my friend be accountable legally for my account.

Month three and a half of living in Brasil…. I have my CPF, passport, and RNE document in hand, along with a bit more confidence in Portugues, and I return to the Vivo store. I laid out everything, explained my situation, and TADA! Finally, friends, I completed the process. Thank goodness Brasilians are so kind and were very patient with my lack of Portugues, but man was that a tough pursuit. Moral of the story is, if you are living long term in Brasil and want to get a phone plan either A. bring a Brasilian friend with all of their documents and register under them or B. be prepared to bring your CPF, Passport, and RNE registration.

Thanks for sticking with me through that long rant. It was the first time that I really realized the struggles of doing something that, I honestly don’t like even doing in the USA, took months and months to process that I assumed would be completed easily. In some ways, I wish that the prepaid plan would have worked, but I know that working through the whole process was a good learning experience.

A Very Honest Poem to Organize Thoughts

Not everyday is wonderful while living abroad. You're away from your family and friends, you experience culture shock, and throw in immersion for a real kicker of a challenge. I used to write poetry more frequently when I was younger, and it's one of the things that inspired me to pursue and English major. Yes, living abroad can be hard- especially if you have anxiety and depression, but it's manageable. This post is not a cry for help, nor complaining, but simply rather just the very honest portraying of some of my thoughts one night that I jotted down. :)


Small truths about me-

I'm a sweets girl.
I'll take sweet over savory anyday.
Moving around as I have has made me unattached in a way.
I get restless if I stay in an area
for too long,
Which is partially how I wound up in another hemisphere,
Again.
I prefer paper books to electronics-
the antiquated manner English majors prefer.
I am a hopeless romantic through and through.
When the rain pours, I do hope for a passionate kiss.
I crave being pulled in for a slow dance with no music.
I look forward to hugs when I can nuzzle my head into a chest.
I prefer hugs over kisses-
The feeling of being wrapped up and feeling safe.
Waking up and a shy good morning smile
from the guy I like is one of my favorite
Moment of the day.
I'm a restless sleeper, and crave the comfort of being held as I sleep,
but know I can't.
But just a hand reached over and touching me
keeps me at peace.
Living in the heat of Brazil helped me to overcome my anxiety
of sleeping without a blanket.
It took 9 years,
but the Brazilian heat broke me
for the better .
Writing, normally a form of stress relief,
turned into a stress producer this year.
I worry about the future too much,
And while Brazil has helped to shed
a bit of the tranquilo attitude on me,
I still worry about rejections this coming year.
Until this year, I thought I wanted
and needed to settle down.
I thought that by 25 I wanted to buy a house,
start a family,
and have a stable job,
but now I can't imagine this timeline.
Fulbright has given me hope for
winning more fellowships
and furthering my education,
but everyday I remind myself that
it's ok to work for a year or pursue a different opportunity
if things don't work out as planned.
Everyday my goals for what I want
to do and how I want to change
the world- morph.
I just hope that something
advantageous comes from these goals.
Somedays in Brazil I surprise myself and hold
down my depression and anxiety to the point
that you might know they affect me.
Other days, I curl up in my bed, avoiding
the language, stress, and people.
Somedays, I'm so sick of hearing Portuguese.
Somedays, I want to be back in the country
I know so well how to navigate.
Most days though, I babble
On with English thoughts
in my head and
a botched Portuguese conversation aloud.
The sunrise reflecting off
the city buildings keeps me grounded.
Every morning I wait for
the pink clouds and I mentally
remind myself of reasons to feel lucky.
I count them off in my head everyday.
I've never been an easy girl to understand.
I say one thing and mean another.
I'm the cliche-
I get mad over simple things,
realize the ridiculousness,
but fear apologizing.
I get mad, and sad, and I cry too much
I cry when I'm sad
I cry when I'm happy
My body just leaks
whenever it's emotional-
Which scares people
I try to stay grounded, but sometimes
communicating seems impossible.
Especially when my language
barrier sets me back to being 5 years old.
The prestige of a Fulbright fellow,
but the day to day feeling
of a struggling girl just trying to make it through
one conversation after another until the day is over
Then repeat.
But smile as I wait
For the pink glimmer on the glass.

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/

First University Classes Assisted!

My students are beyond amazing and better than I could have ever asked for. You know that they break your expectations of adorableness when a students says, “I’ve seen this on American tv so many times and I knew this was my chance”, and proceeds to hand me an apple. In order to celebrate my student’s first ever class in oral production, I stayed up until midnight and then two hours the next morning baking cookies. Baking without USA measuring cups was a challenged, and I apologized profusely to my students that they probably tasted different than normal. Their faces lit up when they saw the cookies, and my night class went back for seconds.

Every Friday I assist in teaching two sections of oral production for freshman English Education students. Meaning- my students are studying to be English teachers, and I get to help them improve their fluency and confidence in the language. There are four of us Fulbrighters at UEL, and each of us is assigned a grade level for the course. The freshman class is the largest, meaning that I get to work with about 40 students between two classes. The classes are set up as 1.75 hour chunks, and there is an afternoon and night session (2 pm and 7:15 pm).

It’s interesting how many of my students stated that their reason for choosing the major is because they either 1. Loved English and have studied it a lot of their life or 2. Want to learn English. In a way, this is similar to a lot of English Education majors I met in my program who started the degree track because of their love for English, but eventually switched out of the Education track.

Our first class we spent some time doing icebreakers and getting to know you questions, which helped me to gage the students’ personalities and English levels. They are so spunky, and I was so impressed by the level of humor that they’re already able to include in their responses. My night class had a running joke about being single and loving cats, and we decided that blind dates are definitely necessary to set up almost the whole class haha!

I am a bit nervous about working with two different professors for the class. Both classes are based on the same syllabus, except my afternoon professor seems to want to incorporate a lot of texts, and my night professor is keen to follow a certain textbook. It does make me worried that I might get strung out from lesson planning two different curriculum. As well, I haven’t received an answer yet as to how I’ll fit into the class- whether it be creating an opening activity, or just adding to what the professor creates. I’m hoping that the next few weeks will help to lay that out.

My students are working on their biography and autobiography unit, which leaves a lot of wiggle room for activities like- headbanz, coffee house speed dating, classmate bingo, and other small activities that can be infused to introduce more adjectives and descriptive vocabulary. I’m hoping to plan a lot of group activities to get them up and talking. As well, I’ve begun collecting information on my students to gage their levels, goals, and backgrounds, and I hope to incorporate a variety of multiple intelligences in my activity so that I can collect feedback about how they best learned oral production skills.

It may be a lot of work, and things still may not be set up, but I love it. My students make it worth it everyday. My goal is to show my students how great their abilities already are, to improve their confidence, and show them that as they’re learning English- I’m learning Portuguese. It’s a joint process. I made sure the first day to emphasize that I’m not there to judge them. When I shared some of my recent mistakes (for example louca-crazy for louça-dishes) they laughed. I can’t wait to share more laughs and jokes with my students as we learn.

Immersion Ups and Downs

The ugly truth about immersion. Depending on the person- you cry, feel exhausted, want to stay curled up safe in your room, wish to be back in the country where you can hear your native language everywhere, and maybe even feel mad or frustrated that once again your language level is that of a five year old. For me, it is all of these. I leave Portuguese class crying some days. I feel inept when I can’t understand the cashier at a supermarket. I can tell that people are looking at me and talking about me, but I can’t understand everything they’re saying. I wish more than anything somedays that I could fast forward a few months to when I could hopefully recognize more verbs and words in a conversation. People keep telling me that I’m doing really well for only studying Portuguese for one month, but it feels like a defeat to not know more. As of this week, I start my second Portuguese class. This means that I will have an overlap of three weeks where I’m taking classes Monday through Thursday for Portuguese. My brain is frazzled and I don’t know how many more times I can ask a Brasilian person to speak slower. Here is to hoping that within this month I’ll hit the magical “clicking” point that everyone tells me will come eventually.

Beautiful Londrina Views

Evening tempestade in Londrina

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.

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/

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!