Okay, wow, it’s been forever. Before I get started, I’m going to reflect for a bit. I think there’s a direct correlation between my being bored and/or depressed with how much I journal and how many blog posts I write. While Brazil was in many ways a great year for me, in many ways it…
All posts tagged youth exchange
What Is Happiness?
Today my French professor is dressed up as a medieval French soldier and in the middle of our French class the rest of the professors in the department came running in all dressed up as soldiers and they had a sword fight in the middle of the class. And then another guy dressed up…
Goodbye Brazil, Hello Colorado
I’ll be honest with you. I’ve been procrastinating the writing of this blog post for a while now. It’s not really flowing off the fingertips like some of my posts do. And I think the reason for this delay is because my life has taken somewhat of a dramatic turn in the last two…
Over The Past Ten Months…
I lived in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil as an exchange student. I learned how to speak Portuguese fluently. I lived with two different host moms. I met other exchange students from all over the world. I cried. I took a surfing lesson. My family came to visit me. I laughed. I studied in…
Despedidas
At the beginning of our exchange year, there were eight Rotary exchange students in Natal. Then the number dropped to seven, when Haven got sent home. Now the number is down to five, because when June came, so did the despidadas (farewells). Pierre left on the thirteenth, and Veera on the fifteenth. I knew…
Awkward
Morning: “We leave at 8pm!” – Virna 6:30pm, the same day: Virna gets back from wherever she was. I think she was getting her hair and nails done. “Are you ready?” “I thought we were leaving at 8pm.” “No, that’s when the party starts. We are leaving at 7:30pm to pick up Mamãe (her…
Adventure in the Amazon
When I was in second grade, my class had a unit about the Amazon Rainforest. I remember watching videos of monkeys, seeing pictures of all sorts of different animals like sloths and jaguars and alligators, learning about the different levels of the forest, and thinking, wow, that’s amazing. Never once did it cross my mind…
Feminism, Sexism, and I’m Going to Hell
About a week or so ago, Veera (my Finnish exchange student friend and quasi host sister by virtue of us sharing a host mom), Virna (my first host mom), and I (me) went to the bakery for dinner where we encountered one of Virna’s many acquaintances. That in itself was not an unusual experience,…