Brazil: Week 3.

I have been in Brazil for 3 weeks now.
I have the lay of the land in my tiny town.
I feel very at home at my new house.
I share a room with my host sister, Júlia.

I started school last week.
It is awesome.
I have met so many great friends and am learning Portugese very fast.
School here is really different, for example you stay with the same class all day, but i love my classmates so its really cool.

School is from 7:45-11:45.
Then I get home and we eat lunch as a family.
Then I take a nap till 2:30.
Then I have all day to play sports (tennis, fotsal, volleyball, swim) or hangout with friends.

I miss my friends and family but things are going great here, it is everything i could wish for in an exchange.

*I have my first AFS camp on Sunday..just to talk about the exchange so far, I am really good freinds with all the other AFSers here so it should be really fun.

Hope all is well.

Love,
Syd.

Brazil Arrival.

I have been in Brazil for about a week now.
I have been keeping a travel journal that I write in once a day.
So far I have been getting used to things and having a lot of fun.
Its summer now and school starts March 2nd.

I am finding it hard to find time for the computer.
Internet here in Brazil is very slow.

All is well.
I have so many friends and people are very nice.
In my town there are 5 AFS students.
US, Belgium, Germany, China & Thiland.
We are all very good friends.

I really enjoy Brazil but I am also experiencing classic exchange student feelings.
Missing my house, my family, my friends, my entire former way of life.
Things in Brazil are even more different then I thought.
But im learning that different is not bad, just different.

The food here is really good and I am trying everything..even the gross stuff.

I have learned so much already.

My host sister and friends and I go out on the town and have a great time.
People are very interested in the American Culture.
and wow and I glad Obama is our Pres.
People here HATE HATE HATE Bush and LOVE LOVE LOVE Obama.

More Posts to come, when I find the time.

xoxo.
feel free to email.

Host Family

I will be living in Ipe in Rio Grande do Sul..

It is the south most state in Brazil..

Dad: Osmar (50)
Mom: Lione (49)
Sister: Ane (13)
Sister: Julia (17)

Address: Rua Luiz Augusto Branco, N.o 380

School: Basica Frei Casimiro Zaffonato

1 hour from Caxias do sul (RS second largest city)
3 hours from Porto Alegre (RS largest city)
6 hours from Joinville (SC largest city)
6 hours from Curitiba (Largest city in Southern Brazil)
11 hour from Sao Paulo (largest city in Brazil and the 3rd largest city in the world)

I leave February 11!

I thank my Application Adviser and my scholarship donor. This trip would not be possible without them.

xoxo

Pre-departure

I'm leaving for Brazil in February..

As I prepare to go abroad I am wondering what it will be like. I have a picture in my head but I know that it is nothing like the real Brazil. I know I will be totally shocked when I arrive because I have no idea what to expect. I hope I will have an amazing family who I get along with and who gives me tons of opportunities and freedom. I am afraid I will be in a "bad" city, one that is boring or out of the loop. I am also scared my family wont like me or I wont like them. I have overcome so many challenges in order to become an AFSer. I have been rejected from 2 countries because of my OCD. In the end many tears have been shed but I am a stronger person because of it. I wanna go abroad in High School because I am still learning and growing and so unsure of myself. I want to take this oppurtunity to become a cultural, open-minded person. There is no day like today. My family and friends have been very supportive on my dicision to go abroad. My family will miss me very much and they have still not accepted that I will be leaving. My friends are excited and happy for me to begin this new chapter in my life. I have worked so hard for this which only makes it that much better to finally be going.

-Sydney
-Brazil '09 Winter Semester