Delayed letter that never reached it´s destanation, but anyway here it is:
About three weeks ago I got a call from Lucas. He told me that my agency expolrius in Sweden wanted me to write a letter about my experiance in brazil for their homepage. But because my mom had her birthday the same day I wasn´t able to write the letter. And the the after I was busy with something else... ;) When I then came to Via mundo the day after that I met a disappointed Lucas and angry Ivo. Ivo was following me around all the time, giving me the evil eye and asking if I where done with the text. The answere was always no and even do I hid he sempre (=always) managed to find. The whole thing ended with a long night of work, an unfinished text, three disappointed people plus bad consience from part. But if you count explorius, Ivo and Lucas as the people I would probably have to add myself as disappionted. Because I'm not really happy about the text, it's comercialish, booring and don't tell the whole truth or true feelings according to my opinion. But either way I'm to lazy to finish it...
So anyway here it is:
Brasil, Brasil, Brasil!
Well to start with, the best way to describe Brazil is diffrent. Everything is diffrent, the weather, the food, the school, the family, the environment, the transportation, the security, the music, the culture, the language and especially the people. I don't even know where to start! But I can start with the location and enviroment.
As and exchange student traveling with Explorius and Via Mundo (my agency in Sao Luis ) to Brazil you will be situated in Sao Luis, which is a very small city compared to Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and other big cities in Brazil. Sao Luis has about a bit more than 1 million inhabitants. For me however this is a quite big city since I lived i Stockholm and Copenhagen which isn't much bigger. This was one of the reason to why I choosed Expolrius. I knew from the begining where're I was going to be situated. All the exchange student who travels with Explorius and Via mundo goes to Sao Luis, which for me has been really positive. All of the others exchange student are very good friends to me and it's so nice to have close friends that you can talk to who's in the same "situation" as yourself. Sao Luis is an island so everywhere it adjacent to the ocean which leads to MANY nice beaches ;) And in the center of Sao Luis you have the centro historico which is very beutiful place. Sao Luis is in the state Maranhao, in the north of Brazil. Because of that the wether is hot all year round. Sao Luis has as the rest of Brazil a big diffrent between poor and rich people. Because of this some areas are extremly poor while other are extremly luxurios. But Sao Luis is quite secure as long as you just think about what you do.
Before I left I was told that the family rules where a lot stricter than in Sweden. But after being here for 2 month that's not my impression at all. The brazilian family is very tolerant as long as you earn their respect and respect them too, they just want you to be safe and happy which is very understandable as they now have the responsibilty for you this year.
A typical weekday for me is waking up about six a clock in the morning. Take a quick shower in the cold water and after that put on my uniform. That have made me and the other students in my school famous as the avocados in town. The breakfast in Brazil isn't very big. Usually it's some bread, fruit and juice.
Then my mom drives me to school. The transportation in Sao Luis can be a bit complicated in the beginning. Because the buss is very "unorganized" , which may seem a bit chaotic... An example is that there dosen't exist any real buss stop. So when you want to get off the buss you have to scream at the driver and as you're going of the bus it's literally driving away the same time as you're jumping of it. But when you do learn how to take it, it's very easy and gives you a lot of freedom.
My school begins 7.10 in the morning. In Brazil you go to school in the morning or in the afternoon. The exchange students almost always go in the morning shift. Which in my opinion is much better because then you get more out of the day. I love going to school. The schoolwork and the classes in particular aren't especially fun the first two months when you don't understand a lot of portuguese. But the people are awesome! It's easy making friends because everyone is so happy, open and intrested. This makes the classes fun and lively. The teachers like to joke a lot with the students, sometimes even more than teaching. My history teacher for an example can make English history turn into a standup comedy about how girls talk on the phone with their boyfriends while he at the same time reveal the secret about his true identity of being a woman and finish the whole thing in a danceclass. This includes all of the brazilian people. Whom all are warm, open, happy, curious, loving and especially CRAZY;) I belive it's much easier coming as an exchange student to Brazil from any country in Scandinavia, than it is for a brazilian exchange student to come to any country in Scandinavia.
For me school is also one of the best places to practice portuguese. When you speak with your classmates they're all very helpful and want you to learn this beutiful language.
After the school I go home to my grandmother to eat lunch. The lunch is usually the biggest meal in the day. And the food in Brazil is really good, with a lot of rice, feijão (beans), farofa, chicken, meat, pasta, fruit, suco and other delicious things.
After the lunch I would prefere to go to sleep a little while. But most of the days I always have something to do. Like going to dance classes, basketball, capoeira, volleyboll, meeting friends, go to the mall, the movies, the beach with my family to drink coconut water or go to the church which is more like going to a concert. So often I'm always doing something. But sometimes I just stay at home, sleep a little, study, play some guitar and hang out with my sister and the rest of my family. The dinner is diffrent from day to day. It depends of what you been doing and how much time you had to make it. Sometimes it's only toast and other times it's a big meal like the lunch. And to be honest let me just tell you that the brazilians are big fans of The Toast when they're to lazy to cook which is pretty often. Seriously, I never seen my hostmother cook a single meal while I been here the two past month, not even my grandmother when we go to her home. Only their mades cook, however very good. Anyway when I then go to bed in the evening I'm often very tired because of the heat and all the activities I've been doing during the day. So I fall to sleep right away and get a short but good night sleep.
The weekend is usually fullbooked. Fridays and Saturdays most people go out in the evenings. Sao Lauis has like the rest of Brazil A LOT of good music. Everything from more American and European music, to rock, reagge, forro, axé, samba, pagode and other nice music. It's everywhere and there's something for everyone. And Everybody knows how to dance!
On the days in the weekends you often go to the beach, with your friends and family to chill and have a lot of fun.
The family is important and the realations in the families are very close and supportive. When you arrive to your brazilian family they welcome you with open arms and love.
So what I really wanted to say about all of this is that I deeply recomend you to go to Brazil a year as an exchange student if you want to try something completely different.
If you want to live the brazilian way of life, live by each day.
And if you want:
Friends for a lifetime
Experience for a lifetime
Wisdom for a lifetime
Fun for a lifetime
And simply the greatest time of your life!
So anyway here it is:
Brasil, Brasil, Brasil!
Well to start with, the best way to describe Brazil is diffrent. Everything is diffrent, the weather, the food, the school, the family, the environment, the transportation, the security, the music, the culture, the language and especially the people. I don't even know where to start! But I can start with the location and enviroment.
As and exchange student traveling with Explorius and Via Mundo (my agency in Sao Luis ) to Brazil you will be situated in Sao Luis, which is a very small city compared to Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and other big cities in Brazil. Sao Luis has about a bit more than 1 million inhabitants. For me however this is a quite big city since I lived i Stockholm and Copenhagen which isn't much bigger. This was one of the reason to why I choosed Expolrius. I knew from the begining where're I was going to be situated. All the exchange student who travels with Explorius and Via mundo goes to Sao Luis, which for me has been really positive. All of the others exchange student are very good friends to me and it's so nice to have close friends that you can talk to who's in the same "situation" as yourself. Sao Luis is an island so everywhere it adjacent to the ocean which leads to MANY nice beaches ;) And in the center of Sao Luis you have the centro historico which is very beutiful place. Sao Luis is in the state Maranhao, in the north of Brazil. Because of that the wether is hot all year round. Sao Luis has as the rest of Brazil a big diffrent between poor and rich people. Because of this some areas are extremly poor while other are extremly luxurios. But Sao Luis is quite secure as long as you just think about what you do.
Before I left I was told that the family rules where a lot stricter than in Sweden. But after being here for 2 month that's not my impression at all. The brazilian family is very tolerant as long as you earn their respect and respect them too, they just want you to be safe and happy which is very understandable as they now have the responsibilty for you this year.
A typical weekday for me is waking up about six a clock in the morning. Take a quick shower in the cold water and after that put on my uniform. That have made me and the other students in my school famous as the avocados in town. The breakfast in Brazil isn't very big. Usually it's some bread, fruit and juice.
Then my mom drives me to school. The transportation in Sao Luis can be a bit complicated in the beginning. Because the buss is very "unorganized" , which may seem a bit chaotic... An example is that there dosen't exist any real buss stop. So when you want to get off the buss you have to scream at the driver and as you're going of the bus it's literally driving away the same time as you're jumping of it. But when you do learn how to take it, it's very easy and gives you a lot of freedom.
My school begins 7.10 in the morning. In Brazil you go to school in the morning or in the afternoon. The exchange students almost always go in the morning shift. Which in my opinion is much better because then you get more out of the day. I love going to school. The schoolwork and the classes in particular aren't especially fun the first two months when you don't understand a lot of portuguese. But the people are awesome! It's easy making friends because everyone is so happy, open and intrested. This makes the classes fun and lively. The teachers like to joke a lot with the students, sometimes even more than teaching. My history teacher for an example can make English history turn into a standup comedy about how girls talk on the phone with their boyfriends while he at the same time reveal the secret about his true identity of being a woman and finish the whole thing in a danceclass. This includes all of the brazilian people. Whom all are warm, open, happy, curious, loving and especially CRAZY;) I belive it's much easier coming as an exchange student to Brazil from any country in Scandinavia, than it is for a brazilian exchange student to come to any country in Scandinavia.
For me school is also one of the best places to practice portuguese. When you speak with your classmates they're all very helpful and want you to learn this beutiful language.
After the school I go home to my grandmother to eat lunch. The lunch is usually the biggest meal in the day. And the food in Brazil is really good, with a lot of rice, feijão (beans), farofa, chicken, meat, pasta, fruit, suco and other delicious things.
After the lunch I would prefere to go to sleep a little while. But most of the days I always have something to do. Like going to dance classes, basketball, capoeira, volleyboll, meeting friends, go to the mall, the movies, the beach with my family to drink coconut water or go to the church which is more like going to a concert. So often I'm always doing something. But sometimes I just stay at home, sleep a little, study, play some guitar and hang out with my sister and the rest of my family. The dinner is diffrent from day to day. It depends of what you been doing and how much time you had to make it. Sometimes it's only toast and other times it's a big meal like the lunch. And to be honest let me just tell you that the brazilians are big fans of The Toast when they're to lazy to cook which is pretty often. Seriously, I never seen my hostmother cook a single meal while I been here the two past month, not even my grandmother when we go to her home. Only their mades cook, however very good. Anyway when I then go to bed in the evening I'm often very tired because of the heat and all the activities I've been doing during the day. So I fall to sleep right away and get a short but good night sleep.
The weekend is usually fullbooked. Fridays and Saturdays most people go out in the evenings. Sao Lauis has like the rest of Brazil A LOT of good music. Everything from more American and European music, to rock, reagge, forro, axé, samba, pagode and other nice music. It's everywhere and there's something for everyone. And Everybody knows how to dance!
On the days in the weekends you often go to the beach, with your friends and family to chill and have a lot of fun.
The family is important and the realations in the families are very close and supportive. When you arrive to your brazilian family they welcome you with open arms and love.
So what I really wanted to say about all of this is that I deeply recomend you to go to Brazil a year as an exchange student if you want to try something completely different.
If you want to live the brazilian way of life, live by each day.
And if you want:
Friends for a lifetime
Experience for a lifetime
Wisdom for a lifetime
Fun for a lifetime
And simply the greatest time of your life!
