Final Farewells in Brazil....
So it has been over two months since I've last posted. Life has been very busy with lots of changes. June was spent finishing out the school year, packing up my classroom and my apartment, and spending time with my friends before leaving Brazil at the end of June. My 2 years in Brazil seemed to fly by, yet at the same time I felt like I had been there for many years because of the close friendships I developed.
My last month in Brazil was filled with a rollercoaster of emotions. I went from being so excited to go home to visit family and friends and excited for a new adventure to sadness about leaving my friends to anxious about what my new job and life will be like in Bali (along with the typical end of the school year craziness that any teacher can fully understand!)
The last few weeks in Brazil were filled with trying to soak up as much of the culture as possible...listening to samba, drinking caipirinhas, dancing, and spending time with friends.
Here are a few highlights:
I had two final performance with the hip hop group. Funny story about this last performance. You would think after two years I would be used to the Brazilian laid back lifestyle, but my North American type A personality just won't let go that quickly! The plan was to meet at 4pm to record a dance video. I arrive at 4pm. Everyone else arrives at 5pm. Then we sit around and drink chimarro (tea in a gourd that is shared and passed around) and chat for 45 minutes. Finally, it is time to start. Everyone decides to go change their clothes...not sure why they didn't do this during the 45 minutes in which we did nothing. :) Then we get to the room. It's locked and the key doesn't work. Everyone tries, but no luck. New plan. Load up in the cars and drive to another neighborhood. We arrive in the neighborhood cidade baixa and walked into a small school/daycare. The space is small but we start to practice to see if it will work. After doing the dance the several times my hip hop teacher comes back with a new plan. Record the video outside in the little patio area. You're thinking...that sounds like a nice idea, right? Well it's June in Porto Alegre so it is cold damp and had been raining much of the day. We danced in our bare feet on the wet outdoor floor with our leggings and short sleeve shirts on. We recorded the video multiple times from different angles and with different lighting. We were cold, dirty and tired but we all worked hard and I think the video turned out so well!
Check out the video here: "Breakeven" dance video
Saying goodbye to my hip hop class was hard. They always helped me to feel like a part of the group even through the language barrier. I will miss them greatly, but feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to dance with them.
Going away party with great friends....
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My last month in Brazil was filled with a rollercoaster of emotions. I went from being so excited to go home to visit family and friends and excited for a new adventure to sadness about leaving my friends to anxious about what my new job and life will be like in Bali (along with the typical end of the school year craziness that any teacher can fully understand!)
The last few weeks in Brazil were filled with trying to soak up as much of the culture as possible...listening to samba, drinking caipirinhas, dancing, and spending time with friends.
Here are a few highlights:
I had two final performance with the hip hop group. Funny story about this last performance. You would think after two years I would be used to the Brazilian laid back lifestyle, but my North American type A personality just won't let go that quickly! The plan was to meet at 4pm to record a dance video. I arrive at 4pm. Everyone else arrives at 5pm. Then we sit around and drink chimarro (tea in a gourd that is shared and passed around) and chat for 45 minutes. Finally, it is time to start. Everyone decides to go change their clothes...not sure why they didn't do this during the 45 minutes in which we did nothing. :) Then we get to the room. It's locked and the key doesn't work. Everyone tries, but no luck. New plan. Load up in the cars and drive to another neighborhood. We arrive in the neighborhood cidade baixa and walked into a small school/daycare. The space is small but we start to practice to see if it will work. After doing the dance the several times my hip hop teacher comes back with a new plan. Record the video outside in the little patio area. You're thinking...that sounds like a nice idea, right? Well it's June in Porto Alegre so it is cold damp and had been raining much of the day. We danced in our bare feet on the wet outdoor floor with our leggings and short sleeve shirts on. We recorded the video multiple times from different angles and with different lighting. We were cold, dirty and tired but we all worked hard and I think the video turned out so well!
Check out the video here: "Breakeven" dance video
Saying goodbye to my hip hop class was hard. They always helped me to feel like a part of the group even through the language barrier. I will miss them greatly, but feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to dance with them.
Having a churrasco with friends!
Listening to some live samba music
The 4 of us arrived together two years ago and we had many chances to bond during our "field trips" to the police station, teachers union, and banks....bittersweet to do it all over again two years later. We spent 4 hours in the notary together on the second to last day of school. Gotta love Brazil and it's inefficiency and excessive amount of paperwork! :)
Caipirihnas and the traditional Brazilian appetizers!
Soaking up a warm sunny day at the park after strolling through the organic market
Going away party with great friends....
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More samba music!
Weighing and reweighing my luggage to make sure I did NOT surpass the 70 lb limit! It was a close call!
Yes, that is an ironing board and yes I was using it as my desk for the last few days. And yes, that is a gigantic jar of peanut butter. That peanut butter along with those cookies were the only things I had left in my apartment to eat! :) And that in Connie, my teaching partner and dear friend. I am so blessed to have her in my life! :)
So I began to have a panic attack as I checked my visa on the night prior to my flight to Peru. I was leaving for Peru early the next morning for a week long trip. Then I would return to Brazil to pick up my bags and fly home to the U.S. I wasn't sure if my work visa for Brazil had expired. If it had, then I would not be able to reenter Brazil from Peru. Luckily after Connie skyped her husband Eric (who lived about 10 min away haha) we determined that I was able to reenter because I had a federal ID card that didn't expire until the end of July! Close call!
More live music with my dear friends......
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