Holidays

I know it's been a long time since I last posted and I have a lot of different things to share. So instead of doing one really long entry, I will write a number of short posts and update my blog more frequently.

Holidays/Travels

Florianopolis

Back in September I traveled to Floripa with my first host family. Floripa is a beautiful city located in the state just south of Parana. It was a three hour drive and quite beautiful. There are two parts of Floripa; the island part and the mainland part. I stayed only on the island part.  We didnt have the best weather when we were there, but it was still a great and beautiful city.

Canyon Guartel'a

Towards the end of November I went to a Canyon a few hours from Curitiba with other exchanges students. It was a fabulous trip with amazing people. We left on a Saturday morning and came back Sunday night. We went to a number of different waterfalls, went rafting down a river, and hiked through the canyon itself.

Future Trips

On January 15th I leave on a month long trip to the northeast of brasil. I will be traveling with 50 other exchange students from around the world. It should be one of the funnest months of my life and I will be sure to update my blog soon after. towards the end of February I will travel to Rio de Janeiro and celebrate carnaval there!

Tomorrow I head to the beach with my friend and her family, so that will be exciting. Anyways, that's all for now.

Tchau

Food school and getting around

Well I have been in Brasil for almost a month now, and have finally decided to take some time to write my first entry!  I apologize for taking almost a month to post something.


My Arrival,

I left Minnesota on July 31st at 1 o'clock. I flew to Miami and then onto São Paulo and eventually Curitiba. I flew Delta to Miami and then TAM airlines the rest of the way. I had no troubles with my flight and everything went smoothly. I did get a little confused in the São Paulo airport, because everything was in Portuguese and people were moving so fast. I eventually figured out where to go and waited for my departure.  The flight from São was just less than an hour. When I arrived at the airport I grabbed my bags and was greeted warmly by family and friends. The airport is in San José de Pinos, which is about 15 minutes from my house. 


The Food,


The food here is so amazing! For Breakfast I usually have a cup of coffee grown here in Brazil and some fresh french bread with Nutella which was baked just down the road.  Lunch is the big meal of the day in Brazil. I arrive home from school around 12:30 and am greeted by the aroma of wonderful smelling food. We have rice and beans everyday along with a simple salad. Along with the rice and beans we usually have some meat ranging from beef to chicken or fish.  For desert its either fresh chocolate cake, rice pudding or just some cookies.  We eat dinner around 8 or 9 o'clock and it's usually just leftovers, soup or some sandwiches.  

School,

I started school 3 days after I arrived in Brasil.  I am studying international relations at Unicuritiba. A private university located in Curitiba.  Although I have a hard time following everything that the teachers are saying I find most of my classes quite interesting.  I am taking a total of 6 classes this semester.  I have 2 classes a day, one from 8:20 to 10 and the other 10:20 to 12. I am taking economics, methodology, Law, two history classes and Politics class. The people in my class are really nice and many of them have done exchange programs in the past.  


Transportation,


Curitiba has the best public transportation system in Brazil and one of the best in the world. for 2.50 Reals you can take the bus anywhere in the city. There are hundreds of bus's in Curitiba and I use them to go to and from school as well as to just get around the city.  Back in Northfield, MN there is no bus system so this was a whole new experience for me and I thought it was rather exciting and a bit nerve racking the first time, but I am used to it now and find it quite convenient.  Along with all of the buses there are tons of Motorcycles.  The motorcycles have the right of way in almost all situations.  They weave in and out of traffic, drive on the sidewalks in some situations and are just overall crazy... At least to me they are. The cars are also somewhat reckless, switching lanes at random and going 90 km downtown, but amazingly there never seems to be accidents. 

Brazil is so amazing and I love every every minute of my life here.  This is just a little glimpse of my life so far and I promise to post updates more often.  That's it for now!


Tchau