19
May
Two Months and Counting
I am back after many months of absence and I apologize greatly! I have been keeping up with my life here and just in the everyday rythmn that is Brasil.
In March I applied to attend a university in Belo Horizonte, called Potentia Universidade Catolica de Minas Gerais, or PUC, instead of attending high school. I was accepted and I am now studying International Relations. I am taking three classes during the week. Anthropology, Introduction to International Relations, and Asian-Western Relations.
I am enjoying university much more than high school because the students are obviously much more mature and I am interested in the subjects I am studying.I am do not have to take tests and I dont have grades so I am only assisting the classes but I am still getting a lot out the material.
By taking these classes I am seeing if I would like to study this course in the US which is very convenient because I don’t have to pay for the course and I didn’t have to take the test to get into the university. How lucky am I?!
I am still living with my second family and will be until I return to the US. I have stayed with them for over 7 months now and I am so greatful they still want me in the house! I am now truly like a daughter.
My brother Markinho, 17, is going on exchange to a small town in the outskirts of Houston, Texas. He will be leaving in August right about when my actual brother, Chase, is leaving for Cucuta, Colombia. I am so excited for both of them!
Markinho needs to get his student visa done in Sao Paulo so I think the entire family is using it as an excuse to go on a vacation. I have never been there so this is a great last little vacation to see the other enormous city of Brasil. Sao Paulo is supposedly much much much different from Rio and the rest of Brasil so I have been craving a visit. We will hopefully be going in a couple of weekends so I will get it in right before I come home.
My return date is July 16th and it is coming fast! I started counting down the days until I leave but it is just making me extremely anxious. I have to only think about my life here and focus on the people and experiences surrounding me.
This is an odd example but yesterday I walked into the small kitchen that I have inhabited for over 7 months and was grabbing juice out of the fridge when I realized how comfortable and at home I am here. My life has been here for so long that imagining myself going back to my “normal” life in Northfield just julted me for a few seconds. It also made me very happy about how I have adapted to my family and the culture. When I go back I will be bringing a little of my new life back.
