Hello friends and family,
Well its time for my long overdue (as usually) update on my student exchange to Brazil. For starters, I recently realized that, sadly, this will be one of my last of these updates...
This thought has filled me with bitter-sweet emotions for the past few weeks. Obviously I am loving the experience of being in Brazil. I truly have gained a lot from it and am excited to have some fun adventures in my last few months here. However...at the same time, I have never missed my friends and family so much in my life. Its odd, I didn't miss anyone very much in the first months (the period when most exchange students experience the most home-sickness), but now I can hardly wait to get back home.
Not a lot has changed recently....I'm still doing Capoeria and giving English classes. Teaching has been a great experience for me. Its as much of a challenge for me to interact and get the students interested as it is for me to explain all of their questions in another language. I am finally seeing some results, though. The first time I handed out a class asignment it was very discouraging to receive 14 blank stares. These past few weeks, however, the students have been very hard working and interactive. The director of the school seems to have liked the classes and is looking for another English teacher to continue them after I leave Brazil.
One of the funest trips I have taken recently in Brazil was one to a city called São João da Boa Vista. The city is around an hour away from mine (or roughly 3 by bus). I went to São João with another exchange student from New Zealand. The reason for the trip could not more perfectly exemplyfy the kind of events student exchange students should be obligated to attend. The Virada Cultural (Cultural ``Turn-around´´) was by far one of the funest events I have attended in Brazil. The free, 24-hour event was simply a display of Brazilian culture in various forms (lots of live music and theatre). The events all took place at 3 seperate locations not to far from eachother, so we were able to go to all of the shows we wanted to. In addition to experiencing tons of wonderful art, Marcus and I were also able to make lots of friends/contacts in São João, which has oppened up many opportunities for us to re-veisit that beautiful city.
Speaking of traveling, it looks like I will finaly be able to do some more extensive trips before I leave. Although my program ends in the first week of July, my visa is valid until the end of August. Fortunately, AFS allows students to disconnect from thier programs and stay more time in thier host countrys, if possible. And so, after much discussion, miscommunication, and many emails, my family and I have decided that I will stay in Brazil until mid-August. The reason I am extending my stay is quite simple...uhm...adventure time? While many exchange students travel using tour programs throughout thier exchange programs, I decided to try to become more envolved in the community of my city, São José do Rio Pardo. I have found this decision to be very rewarding and am very thankful for the friendships and connections I have established here. However, I have always had a desire to simply get to know Brazil better, and I love traveling. Therefore, these last couple of months will hopefuly serve as my independent travel time. And where will I go??? Hmm...good question! As of now, I would love to go to: Florianópolis, Manaus (the capital of the state Amazons), and, of course, Rio de Janeiro. I would also like to return to Salvador one day, but maybe I should leave that for another trip to Brazil. My host grandparents (on my mothers side) will also be visiting my host aunt in Mato Grosso at the end of June, so maybe I will be able to tag along and finally see the Pantenal...who knows?
Thats all for now...hopefuly I will have more to write about next time. If you know me, I'm probably missing you! Thanks for reading,
Patrick
Monday, May 25, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Family, English, Capoeria, and São Paulo!
Dear friends and family,
I am writing to tell about some recent happenings and developments in my student exchange. First off, things with my new host family have been going great! They are very nice and also have a lot in common with my real family. My older host brother (Leonardo) is no longer living with us because he has moved to São Paulo to study there. My younger brother (Leopoldo) is in his last year of high school here in our city, although he studys in a different school. Samuel (my host father) is a pediatrician and works at a clinic here in São José. Cristina (my host mom) use to be a nurse but now works inside the home. My family also has many relatives (on my Moms side) in a nearby city called Ribeirão Preto and sometimes on the weekends we go to visit them. Religiously speaking my new host family is Evangelical Cristian, as opposed to my first family, which was Roman Catholic.
Another change has been my finding of new opportunitys to get involved in the community of my city. The biggest of those opportunitys has been some volunteer work I have been doing. I have recently begun giving English classes at a social service school in our city. The school is a part of a national social service program called CRAS (Centro de Referência de Assistência Social). My work there consists of giving 2 classes per week to 3 groups, one of which I will see only once per month. Although the school has no English curriculum (having never had English classes available), I have been able to put some lessons together using curriculum from my school. So far, teaching English has been a great way to find new and rewarding opportunitys like this.
Capoeria has also been going very well. I am able to follow along in the classes and I now see as my only real problem being able to use what I have learned to improvise. I have been talking with my teacher about the possibility of passing on what I have learned when I return to the States. That is to say, actually teaching Capoeira. If your interested you can contact me on facebook or through e-mail (creedlover7@yahoo.ie). It also looks like Capoeira has opened up yet another travel opportunity. Our Capoeira group will be making a trip in April to Florianópolis to meet with some other Capoeiristas. It sounds like a really fun trip.
Speaking of traveling, I recently had the privilege to spend a weekend in São Paulo. São Paulo, with 11 million people, is the largest city in the Americas, and among the 4 largest citys in the world. I went to São Paulo to see a concert of the American rock-band Radiohead. We also went to a couple Paulistan-samba shows and an art museum. So many things in São Paulo fascinated me and have given me the desire to return. I traveled to São Paulo with a good friend of mine, Juliana. Juliana is a teacher at my school who became interested in helping me and the other exchange students learn Portuguese. She has been a great help to me in many ways. In May, there will be an art presentation at our school and for it I, Juliana, and 2 other students have formed a band. We will play music related to Brazilian Folk-Lore (the theme of the presentation this year). I'm excited to finally have people to play music with and we look forward to a good show.
Well, that about does it for the recent news. I will try to start writing more frequently; I promise! Until next time,
Patrick
I am writing to tell about some recent happenings and developments in my student exchange. First off, things with my new host family have been going great! They are very nice and also have a lot in common with my real family. My older host brother (Leonardo) is no longer living with us because he has moved to São Paulo to study there. My younger brother (Leopoldo) is in his last year of high school here in our city, although he studys in a different school. Samuel (my host father) is a pediatrician and works at a clinic here in São José. Cristina (my host mom) use to be a nurse but now works inside the home. My family also has many relatives (on my Moms side) in a nearby city called Ribeirão Preto and sometimes on the weekends we go to visit them. Religiously speaking my new host family is Evangelical Cristian, as opposed to my first family, which was Roman Catholic.
Another change has been my finding of new opportunitys to get involved in the community of my city. The biggest of those opportunitys has been some volunteer work I have been doing. I have recently begun giving English classes at a social service school in our city. The school is a part of a national social service program called CRAS (Centro de Referência de Assistência Social). My work there consists of giving 2 classes per week to 3 groups, one of which I will see only once per month. Although the school has no English curriculum (having never had English classes available), I have been able to put some lessons together using curriculum from my school. So far, teaching English has been a great way to find new and rewarding opportunitys like this.
Capoeria has also been going very well. I am able to follow along in the classes and I now see as my only real problem being able to use what I have learned to improvise. I have been talking with my teacher about the possibility of passing on what I have learned when I return to the States. That is to say, actually teaching Capoeira. If your interested you can contact me on facebook or through e-mail (creedlover7@yahoo.ie). It also looks like Capoeira has opened up yet another travel opportunity. Our Capoeira group will be making a trip in April to Florianópolis to meet with some other Capoeiristas. It sounds like a really fun trip.
Speaking of traveling, I recently had the privilege to spend a weekend in São Paulo. São Paulo, with 11 million people, is the largest city in the Americas, and among the 4 largest citys in the world. I went to São Paulo to see a concert of the American rock-band Radiohead. We also went to a couple Paulistan-samba shows and an art museum. So many things in São Paulo fascinated me and have given me the desire to return. I traveled to São Paulo with a good friend of mine, Juliana. Juliana is a teacher at my school who became interested in helping me and the other exchange students learn Portuguese. She has been a great help to me in many ways. In May, there will be an art presentation at our school and for it I, Juliana, and 2 other students have formed a band. We will play music related to Brazilian Folk-Lore (the theme of the presentation this year). I'm excited to finally have people to play music with and we look forward to a good show.
Well, that about does it for the recent news. I will try to start writing more frequently; I promise! Until next time,
Patrick
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Recent happenings...
Friends and Family,
Just thought I would tell you all about the recent traveling I have been able to do! On the 15th of January, I went to a city in North-East Brazil called Salvador, the capital city of the state of Bahia. Salvador is commonly recognized as a cultural capital of Brazil. Being the birth-place of Samba [as well as various other styles of Brazilian music], Capoeira, and Brazil itself, it certainly lives up to its name! I went there with my professor of Capoeira and other student to participate in a presentation of Capoeira that took place. Among many things I was able to learn, we had lessons of Tambourine and Berimbau making, and of course, Samba class! The Beaches in Salvador are also some of the best in Brazil, and where we stayed was just a few minutes walking from them. On our last night there we went to a college student concert in the oldest part of the city...very fun. Although we only spent 6 days in Salvador, it was enough for me to want to go back.
After words we all took a plane back to Campinas. In stead of returning to São José, however, I took a couple of buses to a city called Ubatuba [just say it like its written, its a hilarious name! hahaha]. My family was vacationing there and I met them for the last 5 days of their stay there. Unfortunately the weather was pretty bad when we were there, but the beach was still really fun. Also, a few days after we returned to São José, I went to a city called Ribeirão Preto with my new host brother, Leopldo. We stayed with his grandparents and later with his aunt.
Thats the other big piece of news; I have a new host family! I had to switch houses because my old host family is going to have someone live with them for a while who needs a place to stay and there wasn't enough room. My new host family consists of my 2 parents and 2 host brothers, Leonardo and Leopoldo [you can imagine the confusion the first few days hahaha]. Leonardo is 18 and will be moving out most likely at the end of this month to study in São Paulo. Leopoldo is about to turn 17 and studys at a different school called Objectivo. We all seem to be getting along just fine, so thats good news.
That about does it for now, although I'm really looking forward to Carnaval and later traveling a lot more. Other than that....I miss you all! Until next time,
Patrick
p.s.I put some pictures of these trips on facebook, if you want to see them.
Just thought I would tell you all about the recent traveling I have been able to do! On the 15th of January, I went to a city in North-East Brazil called Salvador, the capital city of the state of Bahia. Salvador is commonly recognized as a cultural capital of Brazil. Being the birth-place of Samba [as well as various other styles of Brazilian music], Capoeira, and Brazil itself, it certainly lives up to its name! I went there with my professor of Capoeira and other student to participate in a presentation of Capoeira that took place. Among many things I was able to learn, we had lessons of Tambourine and Berimbau making, and of course, Samba class! The Beaches in Salvador are also some of the best in Brazil, and where we stayed was just a few minutes walking from them. On our last night there we went to a college student concert in the oldest part of the city...very fun. Although we only spent 6 days in Salvador, it was enough for me to want to go back.
After words we all took a plane back to Campinas. In stead of returning to São José, however, I took a couple of buses to a city called Ubatuba [just say it like its written, its a hilarious name! hahaha]. My family was vacationing there and I met them for the last 5 days of their stay there. Unfortunately the weather was pretty bad when we were there, but the beach was still really fun. Also, a few days after we returned to São José, I went to a city called Ribeirão Preto with my new host brother, Leopldo. We stayed with his grandparents and later with his aunt.
Thats the other big piece of news; I have a new host family! I had to switch houses because my old host family is going to have someone live with them for a while who needs a place to stay and there wasn't enough room. My new host family consists of my 2 parents and 2 host brothers, Leonardo and Leopoldo [you can imagine the confusion the first few days hahaha]. Leonardo is 18 and will be moving out most likely at the end of this month to study in São Paulo. Leopoldo is about to turn 17 and studys at a different school called Objectivo. We all seem to be getting along just fine, so thats good news.
That about does it for now, although I'm really looking forward to Carnaval and later traveling a lot more. Other than that....I miss you all! Until next time,
Patrick
p.s.I put some pictures of these trips on facebook, if you want to see them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)