6 days out

so my last post was depressing, so this one is going to be a post of my 10 favourite things about brasil. 
Good things, not bad. 


so here we go...


10- Portuguese
I really love Portuguese. To me, it is a beautiful language (if used correctly) and is often more flowing than english. It is a hard language to learn, and im far from fluent, all the gramatical stuff is enough to give you a headache, but i preffer to talk portuguese whenever i can, and i CAN talk to people, write, read and understand everything. 


9- Brasilian Parties
yes yes, i do like parties here, but there are a few reasons to why that is, OTHER than what you would normally excpect from an exchange student. I love the fact that family parties here are literally the ENTIRE family, with lots of chatter and excitement, good food & singing and dancing. i have watched a lady who had to have been in her 80's dancing frivolously with a full to the brim cup of beer in her hand, and she didnt manage to spill a drop. now THATS skill for ya :) 


8- Music
naturally, music is on my list of favourites, even more so, because the brasilian culture is rich with musical influence. there are lots of types of music here, and i like almost all of them! i am currently learning quite a few songs on the guitar, because what else are we going to do in our 5 hour stop overs at the airports on the way home! i love the music here :)


7- Dance
Talking about music leads me to another one of my favourite parts of the brasilian culture. Dance. There are a few typical brasilian dances which are very comon here, and its uncommon for a brasilian to not know the basic steps to forro or samba. i took dance lessons here for 2 months and loved every minute, dancing forro, samba and bolero. Forro and samba are both brasilian and bolero i think is spanish. 
this friday i am going to a dance night at the place where i did lessons with my host parents. its going to be my last goodbye to brasilian dance. i have to make sure someone films me this time, so that ican prove that i actually know how to dance!


6- Fruit
I know this seems like such a silly thing to write about, but i LOVE tropical fruit, and here it is either really really cheap, or you can just walk up to a tree and pick it. I eat lychees, mangos, starfruit, guava, pitanga, acerola, banana and passionfruit on a daily basis because it is just so accessable here!
i drink fresh made fruit juice on a daily basis as well, because it is all just so accessible!


5- Açai
one fruit in particular that i love here, is Açai. I havnt actually eaten the berry fresh, but the best way to eat it is frozen, with guarana syrup and banana. :) mmmmmmmm. i am in love with acai! i have promised myself that i will eat acai, or drink an acai juice every day this week while im still here. i will miss it! 


4- Parks
i love how here in brasil, you can go to a park in the middle of the city, and see little monkeys in the trees and coatis running around in the bushes :) i love that the parks are always full of beautiful colorful flowers whatever the season, and that they just seem so alive. 


3- Country of diversity
Brasil is a lot like australia, in the way that it is very diverse country, with mountains, rainforests and coastal areas; with tropical weather up north and colder weather in the south. the wildlife is as diverse as the landscape, as are the people who live here, different regions having different food, accents appearances, and mannerisms. 


2- brasilians
brasilians are also alike to australians, meaning that they are generally open and warm, willing to give you a smile. They hug a lot and kiss always when greeeting or saying goodbye; even in school, to greet someone you kiss them on the cheek. i think my first day of school i was a bit overwhelmed by the fact that i was being kissed by everyone who came up to talk to me. 
Brasilians do have their faults, as do all people, but their good parts make up for the parts lacking. 


1- Exchange
without exchange i wouldnt have come to brasil and experienced the things that i have. i wouldnt have changed and grown as i have over the past year, and i wouldnt have life long connections with friends from all over the world. 
therefore exchange is the best part about brasil... because with out rotary youth exchange program, none of this would have happened to me. 


i hope you like my list, and that you have a bit more of an idea of just why i love brasil so much. 


tchau for now!


em