To End Is To Begin

I’ve probably smoked a few too many cigarettes, I’ve probably had a few too many drinks, I’ve probably purchased a few too many unnecessary things

However, I have too many memories to even remember, so many friends that I don’t want to leave, and too little time to say goodbye to Brasil. It’s strange to think that I’m going back home today and scary that almost no one within hundreds of miles from me will have any idea of what happened here.

Will I come back to Brasil? I sure as hell hope so, but life is funny. Real life has a way of making people too busy to revisit the places that have meant so much to them. I can’t believe that eight months ago I was almost ready to forget this whole study abroad thing. That would have been stupid. For the last 155 days I spent a lot of time being excited to see all of my MN friends, but now that it is time to leave, I am already missing my friends from Brazil. Thanks everyone! This has been incredible. This has been indescribable. This has been because of you. Skype me and lets figure out when we can meet up again ☺

-Tony

World Cup!

I watched Brazil's first world cup game yesterday, and yes, I am rooting for the yellow and green guys over EUA (USA). As my friend Anna said, futebol is such a huge part of the culture here, and copo do mundo games are literally like national holidays. Everyone takes off work, dresses up, and goes to the bars with friends to watch the game. I root for Brazil because soccer means so much to this country, whereas in the United States, a majority of the people could care less about the world cup. It really is amazing to see an entire nation united in the name of Brazilian Futebol.

I think I forgot to mention this...

There are three very lovely Russian ladies that studied at FGV with me this semester. Well, they absolutely love to sing karaoke, so myself and several other Americans decided to join them one night. It was a lot of really bad singing, but a lot of really good fun! Anyways, there's a reason for mentioning this...The night ended with four American boys singing "We are the champions" to the three Russian ladies haha...How classy of us.

Stupid Things I’ve Done While In Brazil:

For those of you reading this, I wrote a lot of these in “code” cause I’m not sure my parents want to know about all of this stuff. But if you were there, you know what I’m talking about, and hopefully it’ll give you a good laugh.

Cassarão
Credit Card at Virada Cultural
Asked a cab driver to drive me across the street
Jivago Club with Fe and Felipe
Andrea and the host mom at 4am
Wesley and the ride to the favela
Wine and Shutter Island
Cervejada and the Piano
GDells and the Funky Bunch

5/22/2010 - Gioconda

Gioconda = the most epic party you could ever imagine. This was the final FGV sponsored party of the year, and it was incredible. Everyone dressed up in suits and dresses, and made their way to this huge establishment with outdoor pavilions and huge dance floors. For US$40 I was able to enjoy all I could drink tequila/margaritas, vodka, whiskey, and beer. The party started at 11pm and for the first three hours all of the guys were separated from the girls. Each side was provided with sushi and strippers, and finally at 2am, the gates were removed and the 4,000 men and women at Gioconda collided. It was so much fun, and 7am never came so quickly.

5/7/2010 – 5/9/2010 - JA JA!

CIEE took us to Rio de Janeiro this weekend. It was a great intro to the city, but two days was not nearly enough time. Also, we went with the other Americans from another São Paulo university called PUC. It was really nice to have some new people around! Anyways, here are some random thoughts from my trip.

Ipanema Beach = the most beautiful people I have ever seen.
I should probably start working out if I want to go back to that beach.

Corcovado is the famous statue of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, Jesus was getting some work done, so we saw him in scaffolding, but at least we could see his nose, and the view from the mountain was breathtaking

The Kodak EasyShare Camera sucks. It does not do justice to the sights we saw, makes many pics blurry, and decides not to work at inopportune moments.

G-Dells and the Funky Bunch. Yeah we had the party room. Lots of cheap alcohol, music, and games. Council boys are players.

The famous tile steps. My favorite were the music ones.

I fell in love with Shaggy and Outkast all over again.

Always carry an umbrella.

I am confused as to why the souvenir market is called the “Hippie Market”

I finally found my mom that South American map she wanted.

The resident director of CIEE, Ana Luiza, is the coolest and nicest old woman I have ever met. On this trip we learned a little about her love life. Apparently she had been married for a long time, but later on met the love of her life. The problem was that he was still with his wife. Ana Luiza still plans on being with this man, and she informed us, “I am just waiting for his wife to die.” Haha.

Jasmine and myself are going to form a hip-hop/electro music duo. People around the world will know us as JA JA.

I only have a little more than 30 days in Brazil. About a week ago, I went through my first wave of homesickness, I think mainly because most of my friends in the States are finishing up with school right now. However, I am now getting a little bummed that my time is almost over here. I have met some fantastic friends, and it sucks to think that I won’t get to see them very often once I return to the states. Oh well, I just have to make the most of the time I have left here.

5/5/2010 - Game Nights

So I don’t even need a Television or radio to know the score of the soccer games here. Just leave your window open, and listen to the different cheers and chants from the bars each time a team scores.

AQUI TEM UM BANDO DE LOUCOS! LOUCO POR TI CORINTHIANS!

Awesome fight song…I’ll sing it for you when I get back!