Adventures of Living Abroad

So this is a common sight in Porto Alegre....use anything - from tree branches to pieces of plywood - to fill in holes and warn motorists and pedestrians of danger!  And I just came across this picture I took months ago while walking through Centro one Saturday afternoon...

A few weeks ago I posted some pictures and talked about the hip hop video taping I participated in with the hip hop group I am part of here in Porto Alegre. Here is the video! I feel so lucky to have stumbled upon Aluisio and become a part of this group!  Grupo Stylo Urbano| Aluísio Gustavo| Porto Alegre- RS During the same day that also wanted me to rap the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" song from the performance we saw the night before. I definitely should NOT quit my job to become a rapper. haha! https://www.facebook.com/439137776139671/videos/846444632075648/ You can also check out his facebook page to see more videos from our classes.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stylo-Urbano/439137776139671

So back in October 2014, Brazil held its presidential elections. Dilma Rousseff, part of the Workers' Party (PT) was reelected for a second term by only a marginal 51% victory. There have been various protests throughout the country expressing the people's unhappiness with the way things are being run here. Recently, there were even teachers' strikes across the country. Corruption is a huge problem here. A few months ago, I had heard that during a speech by President Dilma the citizens opened up their windows and loudly banged on their pots and pans making it difficult to hear the speech being televised on national TV.  Well, a few weeks ago I experienced this for myself. I had just gotten home from dance a few minutes prior and was confused when I heard this banging song and couldn't figure out where it was coming from. I went over to the window, opened it up, and heard this.... It is good to hear that people are standing up and expressing this disapproval of ...

February 2014 - Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro - Part 2 Then after the blocos and Carnaval offically ended we did a few of the touristy things - The Christ, Sugar Loaf and toured a favela. Thunderstorm was rolling in and it made our hair stand up!   A favela is known as the slum and originated when soldiers built on the hill because they had nowhere else to go. One of the favela's we toured was Rocina which is the largest hill favela in Rio. I don't remember much about the information the tour guide gave us. I should really carry a notebook with me. He talked about how the favelas are controlled by gangs but the police are trying to go in and take control,but many people don't trust the government or police. I remember feeling nervous about touring the favelas because I felt like I was being a noisy tourist and invading their privacy, but the people we saw seemed to proud to show their homes and their life to us.  ...

I'm finally getting around to posting about my Carnaval trip back in February. Last year a large group of us "gringos" decided to go to Rio. Hmmm...I just realized that I never posted my Carnaval pictures from last year...well I guess I should start there... February 2014 - Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro... What an amazing experience! It was my first time traveling to Rio and I absolutely fell in love with the city. We had about 15 people from school that ended up going and we stayed in various apartments in Copacabana. We were only two blocks from the beach. I loved the fresh juice that was sold at stores on just about every corner as well as the food....being such a large city, it offered a much more diverse food selection than Porto Alegre.  We were there for 8 days and it all seems to be a blur...and no that is not because I was drunk the entire time by any means. I didn't sleep a lot and stayed really busy wanting to explore as much as possible. The first few day...

So I received this email from a friend a few weeks ago and wanted to share it. It helps to put things back into perspective and it helps me to remember what matters most in life. :) Jar & Two Beers... When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24  hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2  beers.  A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some  items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty  mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into  the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the  jar. Of course, the s...

A few weeks ago some of my coworkers and I planned a relaxing beach weekend for our 4-day vacation. It was exactly what we all needed. A quiet place right along the water and hammocks for relaxing! We ate some delicious seafood and enjoyed the calm and tranquility of the island.  We stayed in a different area of the island further away from the typical touristy areas. The town  Ribeirão da Ilha  was one of the first places in Florianopolis to be inhabited by the Portuguese back in the year 1506. The town had a cute antique feel.