Malas
Its not the ideal way to spend the last moments of a trip, but alas it is necessary. I have spent the majority of today repacking my "malas" or suitcases.  Tomorrow around one I will take an hour and a half plane rise from Campinas to Florianopolis on the well-known Brazilian airline Azul. I never really unpacked my things in the two weeks I was here.  I figure anything less than 2 weeks stays in the suitcase and anything more than two weeks comes out. Because of this experience I learned a lesson that I hope to remember the next time I travel; put dryer sheets in the suitcase.

Lesson Learned
Last night I went to my host sister's (Ju) friend's birthday party.  I met Ju's high school friends and the birthday girls family friends. I arrived at the party and Ju introduced me as her American friend. As usual there was somebody who assumed I didn't speak Portuguese and decided to give his English skills a workout. My initial reaction is always silent frustration and inward focused anger. I looked at the guy who was speaking English to me and I wanted to slap him.  But I remained silent and let him practice.  Upon encountering him later that night he again spoke to me in English and I decided to respond in Portuguese. He spoke then in Portuguese.  We ended up having an interesting conversation about business between US and Brazil. I felt bad for having angry emotions towards him. I learned from this experience the etiquette that I want to have in this situation from now on. Respond first in English in a charming way and then speak in Portuguese:)

Brazil 101:
-Decent nail polish is significantly less expensive in Brazil than in US.  Price ranges from 1-2 US dollars.

Chuva: noun. rain.       Chover: verb. to rain.

It has been raining for more than a week in Piracicaba according to my host father. The day I arrived the central area of San Paulo, the state, was spared from the generally constant downpour, but ever since chuva chuva and more chuva.  When the northern hemisphere is in its summer (Ohio), the southern hemisphere (San Paulo) is in winter and vice versa, so right now I am in the mist of a much less thought of wintry Brazil.  The weather is a chilly 18 Celsius or 64 degrees and the sun rarely finds its way out from behind the clouds. Just know that it happens.

I neglected in my first return blog post to credit the reason I have returned to Brasil. I applied through the Center of Latin American Studies at the Ohio State University for a Summer FLAS scholarship.  I was awarded the scholarship and decided to use said award for a six week program in Florianópolis, Santa Caterina, Brazil.  I arrived two weeks early in Brazil to visit my friends and host families from my 2009-2010 Rotary exchange, and will leave Piracicaba for Florianópolis on the 30th (in 8 days).

In the past week I have attended two Rotary events.  I have another scheduled for today and another for Monday. The past two Rotary events have taken place in the Casa de Amizade in Piracicaba, where the roof leaks and the floors are a naked cement, but the rotarians dress in suits and jewels.  Rotarians arrive and park in a parking lot that is closed-in with fence, gates and 12 foot walls. While this type of architecture in common in the city, but it is also scattered with modern architecture, often times neighboring the old.

Brazil 101
-Parking meters arrived about a year ago in Piracicaba.

Just Like Old Times

Because I think I should:


After some brief seconds of shallow thought I do not find any reason not to add to my old blog, although I must admit it feels strange and almost sacrilegious.  I am adding to poorly written deep thoughts and emotions because I find myself in the same foreign country in the same lovely house as I was two years ago.   I arrived in Piracicaba, Brazil on Friday the 15th on June.  My old host parents, Li and Sérgio picked me up from the airport in São Paulo and took me to my Brazilian home. I offered ahead of time to take a bus from the big city to Piracicaba so they wouldn't have to make the long trip with the crazy (crazy to the point of being comical) traffic, but they insisted. They are great.

The city of Pira now has a big iron jumping fish in front of it that welcomes incomers, like the green wooden signs just outside of the village limits in Monroeville, my home town.  I asked my host mother if it was new and she laughed and said it was, later making fun of it and wondering why a more aesthetic piece of art couldn't welcome people instead.  I haven't been about the city much since I arrived but in what I have seen I notice lots of improvements. Roads do not seem as bumpy as I remember, the mall is more developed, the jumping fish.

Sérgio's family seems to be closer as a result of two big events.  One of his daughters moved back into the house and another one had a baby girl, who is now a year old.  Sérgio and Li make great grandparents.

Since I've been gone, my host brother started college and now lives 3 hours away, but I did get to spend time with him and his girlfriend at his birthday party that was held Saturday.  Saturday I was quickly thrown back into the Brazilian culture with a very typical churrasco, or BBQ in honor of my host brother's birthday. Just like old times I ate too much but enjoyed every second.  The event was especially cool because it took place on a part of Sérgios property that I had never seen before, even though it's located on the side of his house.  For very sad and dramatic reasons that I have no right to go into detail about, that part of his property which includes a pool, two bathrooms, a living room and a outdoor kitchen was closed off for over two years and opened only days before for my host brother's party.

Exploring this new piece of old real-estate was much like a reoccurring dream I have. I have dreamed multiple times that my abode had rooms that I did not know about previously.  In the dreams I would go and explore them and find cool nick-nacks.  I suppose my experience wasn't exactly like this, since I knew that property was there, and because I didn't discover any hidden nick-nacks....

I arrived recently but I already feel the anxiety of being idle and I believe this to be the main reason I am compelled to return to my blog. I hope to use this space to record my thoughts and memories and well as use it as a still frame to which I can later compare the thoughts, goals and accomplishments.  


Brazil 101:
-Brazilian meat is so good because the flavor it with tons of salt.
-It is common for a Brazilian to ask anther Brazilian who is traveling to the states to buy them a list of goods because those same goods in Brazil cost more than twice as much as in the USA...for example a laptop or a talking Elmo.
- 1 dollar is currently worth about 2.05 reais.


P.s.  I cannot figure out how to take off the highlight for the last two paragraphs. It appeared like that by itself . Apologies.