Alegria no Brasil = Joy in Brazil
It's been (almost) 3 great months in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. I don't even know where to start. I flew in on July 26th early in morning. Luckily, I was welcomed into this great country by finding R$50 on the ground (25 bucks-go me!) before I even made it through customs. But, let's hang out on the first days for a short grip.....
I arrived in the airport in Brazil, only to be greeted by three Brazilians, Luan (my friend who I met in Budapest 3 years ago), Pedro (a Brazilian friend of my American friend), and Albert, a friend of Luan. Instantly these three guys became awesome contacts here, introducing me to so many Brazilians and showing me all the best spots in Brazil. Although school has started by this point, and I don't have the opportunity to see them as much, they all still remain very close friends to me and continue to help me when I most need it.
I couldn't possibly write about the last three months all in one blog post so I am going to sum it up in one short paragraph. Here goes nothing: Arrive in Brazil, university has strike for two months, hard time finding things to do on a regular basis, slightly unnerving/disheartening, Rio de Janeiro with 27 other exchange students (AMAZING!-you can ask me about the deets if you really wanna know), drinking and clubbing, cheap school cafeteria lunches (sometimes yummy, sometimes mysterious/questionable), school starts, anthropology, don't understand anything (will elaborate on this later), hot brazilians, random homesickness, Brazilian co-op, Maeva, Maeva, Maeva, Maria, Maria, Maria. I think that just about covers everything...
...which brings me up to today, October 21st, 2012.
I feel so comfortable here in Belo Horizonte. I have grown so accustomed to the Brazilian way of life. For example, lunch being the main meal instead of dinner, little baby-coffees (super strong) instead of my massive mug of American jo, the heat/humidity (still sweaty ol' RJ that you all are so used to, but it's becoming more tolerable for this cold-blooded WI boy). I love my co-op, or as we call it here, republica. I live with 14 other people. Yes, I said 14. I am the only American, there is one French girl, and 13 Brazilians. But anyone who knows me would understand that living with 14 other people for me is a cake-walk. The house is huge, two fridges, two stoves, lots of tables for doing homework and having big meals, 2 bathrooms with 2 private showers per bathroom, and 4 toilet stalls separate from the shower rooms. The ONLY problem I face with this co-op is the damn location. Unfortunately, we are located extremely close to what appears to be the end of the world. Although it's only a 20 minute walk to the university, we live in a very industrial neighborhood, with factories galore. It's hard to explain, but we are extremely secluded, you wouldn't know such a big house is hiding at the bottom of our hill if you were just walking on the street. Complete silence, besides for the military base on the other side of our fence. 6am and those army boys and girls are chanting away. I feel like I have a room in some nature reserve because we have some many animals around here, MONKEYS, owls, snakes, spiders (shh, don't tell Sarah Elmore), f***ing mosquitos, tree frogs, geckos etc. etc.
Anywho, School. School is going....well.....it's going. My university, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), doesn't have my specific major, Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies. But that doesn't matter. Just being here in Brazil couldn't be a better "course" for my specialization/future aspirations. So I decided to study anthropology this semester and social sciences next semester. How come no one ever told me that anthropology in Portuguese would be so damn hard to follow...geez! It's one thing studying college courses in another language, but it's another thing beginning a whole new major in another language. Poor planning, Robert J? Yes. But in any event, I am understanding more and more everyday and the COUNTLESS pages of texts of Radcliff-Brown, Kroeber, Rivers, and Levi-Struass are helping me break free from my original basic knowledge of Portuguese. If I'm lucky though, I can find them online in English.
My classes: Anthropology of Death, Social Organization and Relationships, Anthropology in Cinema, (feel free to ask me to elaborate on these), and 3 intensive Portuguese classes for foreigners: Intermediate, Oral Production, and Academic Writing. Needless to say, my Portuguese has traveled leaps and bounds since I first arrived.
I am going to write a separate blog post about the special friends I've made thus far, but just know for now that I am making friends left and right and have met some really amazing people. More on that in the next blog post.......
It may appear from my pics on Facebook as though Brazil is one huge party for me. Filled with delicious drinks, hot Brazilians, beaches, delicious foods, and fun parties. Well, this is partly true. But now, being in the middle of the semester, I have settled into a really great routine that seriously isn't much different from mine in the US. Gym in the morning, studying during the day, classes in the afternoon/night, fun on the weekends. Totally comfortable
If you were at all worried about me, you can tuck those preoccupations under the covers. I am one happy foreigner here in Brazil.
-Ardge
P.S.- Enjoy my pics on Facebook! Next blog post is soon to come.....this is kinda fun....
P.P.S.- If you haven't yet, check out this article! I made it on the cover page of a Brazilian news website in an article about "foreigners views of Belo Horizonte." I will be happy to translate for you.
http://noticias.r7.com/minas-gerais/noticias/jovens-estrangeiros-descobrem-em-bh-a-capital-da-gentileza-20121014.html
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