Wow, its Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The first day in Brazil was spend walking up and down the beach of Ipanema, beautiful weather and amazing people 😀 I was so excited to be just walking around in Ipanema  and enjoying the beautiful beach and amazing weather.

Ipanema Beach

Ipanema Beach

Later in the week we visited Pontifica Univeristy of Rio de Janeiro and met with our professors, the view from our classroom was breathtaking.

PUC of Rio de Janeiro

PUC of Rio de Janeiro

The same night we decided to go to a Futbal (soccer) game, we did not know the teams and some of us were not even aware of the rules of the game; regardless, we had went of a game just for the experience. Well, it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life, I met so many people, got to learn more about different teams, cheered and interacted with the fans and the crowd and more than anything else, I bonded with the other girls in my group.

Fluminese vs Sao Paulo

Fluminese vs Sao Paulo

I will never forget this experience.

The next day was a site visit day, this day allowed me with the rest of the group to visit the financial district and downtown area also known as Centro of Rio. What a beautiful day was to be outside and to walk around Centro, on the corner of the street right after the visit I sat down with my friend Michelle to eat some corner street food. It was authentic Brazilian food comprised of: Chicken, Rice, Beans and Fries. Michelle and I had a funny time ordering food, since the vendor knew no English and us no Portuguese, we had to use the communicate through universal sign language. And this experience made me realize how thankful I am for recognizing other way to communicate with people even if I do not speak their language. So, I guess you have never eaten Brazilian food, if you do not eat chicken, rice, beans and fries.

Brazilian food

Brazilian Food

Continuing on with this week, the next was spend in our beautiful university. And I mean it, it is very beautiful, located inside a rainforest this university is much smaller than New Paltz, yet so beautiful. When we were discussing a regular day at PUC University with our professor in PUC, we learned that in a regular day, the students and professor take a break to go the beach and enjoy themselves. Off course not all students go out to the beach but long breaks are given in the day for students to focus on other activities. Now this concept is so foreign to me, yet very exciting. So, the long break that we did receive during the day, I decided to explore the campus with my friends and came across so many exhibitions and activities that PUC students participate in. We had lunch in the cafeteria and made a friend their by the name of Jennifer added her on facebook and will be in contact with her throughout this trip.

PUC University

PUC Univeristy

One of our trips also included the city tour, it was rainy and wet and most of us were not super excited to head out and take a city tour in this wet weather. Yet, we did and I am so happy I did because it made me realize that wet or dry this is my experience and the ones who came before me had a different experience and the one that came after me will have a different experience and with the in mind, I saw the Christo which was hidden in fog and cloud, saw the beaches which were experiencing high tide, saw the Rio Rainforest and saw the famous stairs of Rio, called Escadaria Seleron, which were wet. Regardless it was fun and exciting to watch famous place and monuments in Rio.

Rio Rainforest

Rio Rainforest

The Hostel that we live in Pasaduo Bonita has also been an experience in itself. Almost everyday I meet new people here, people who are friendly, want to talk, learn about USA and teach me about Brazil. Within a week I have made 12 different friends, some Brazilians and other non-Brazilians. And I realized its so easy to make friends here, the culture is to smile and make eye contact with the people you meet so, people approach you and you can easily approach them as well.

Leave a Reply

Next ArticleHappy Memorial Day!