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Feliz Natal
So. Christmas in Brasil, as you may well imagine, was pretty bloody surreal. It wasn’t just the weather either, or the fact that it was occurring in the middle of my summer vacation. The entire atmosphere was not what I typically associate with the season. A multitude of perhaps minor details became terribly conspicuous in their absence. ( Read more... ) -
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I suppose I ought to apologize for falling off the face of the Earth. My life has accelerated somewhat unexpectedly in the past two months. Of course, the second I sat down to post this Glicia popped into the room to tell me that in a few minutes we'll be leaving, heading out a day early for our latest trip to BH. Christmas season is party ( Read more... ) -
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First of all, I apologize in being so long in posting. Family has been visiting, I've begun working with a Portuguese tutor, and my local Rotary Club turned 25 years old. I want to thank everyone who sent my Happy Birthday messages, especially my Grandma O'Brien who sent me a card in the mail. There's a lot that's happened these past two weeks ( Read more... ) -
Tree Number One - The Larch
Today is Tuesday, which you would think indicates school, but yesterday was the day of Brazil’s Patron Saint, Nossa Senhora (or Our Lady, or Mother Mary - who I’m not actually sure is a saint), and Brazilians are reasonable about this kind of thing. What’s better than one day off? Two days off! So today is called Dia do Professor (Teacher’s day ( Read more... ) -
News of Varying Qualities
I had very mixed feelings about lunch today. Limes are no longer in season, but there’s another tree in the yard that grows these red berries about the size of large grapes. The juice made from them is orange and pulpy and vegetable-y and usually makes me feel like I’m drinking a hedge, but I’m told it is very rich in vitamin C. This observation ( Read more... ) -
I Thought Distance Was Supposed to Make the Heart Grow Fonder?
This week was, in a word, troublesome. I’m an odd person. I do, say, and like odd things, which is not very helpful when everyone I interact with is constantly monitoring me for abnormal behavior. There seems to be nothing I can do to convince the Rotarians that I’m not pining to death for home. What I don’t tell them is that it’s not like for ( Read more... ) -
Interior Decoration of a Questionable Nature
I know I've commented quite a bit on the asthetic and style choices of the people down here, and I apologize for the monotony, but I feel this one additional thing must be mentioned. In my host home, on the wall near the dining table, there are too frames. I never really took great notice of them - they were all in shades of whites and browns, ( Read more... ) -
Interim
I apologize for that spontaneous hiatus, but I do have an excuse. For the span of seven days, my host parents were somewhere else. I assume on vacation, but only because I spotted a hotel’s webpage left up on the computer last week. They could have been doing a small stint in prison for all I know. Sorry about the lack of forewarning, but I had ( Read more... ) -
One More Day, One More Party
On Friday we drove to Belo Horizonte for, as usual, a party. My cousin Diogo was graduating from University, and while I was all for celebrating his accomplishments, I wasn’t overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the event. I’m not as much of a homebody as I seem, but when it comes to parties I prefer either being among friends or strangers. ( Read more... ) -
Inbound Orientation
Throughout the entire weekend people had listed what it was that they missed the most about their home countries while I had drawn a blank. Certainly I missed certain people, knowledge of my surroundings, talking, and the ability to do as I pleased in my own home without worrying what my host family thought about it but the others seemed primarily ( Read more... )