Brazilian Nostalgia

Well, let's see. I guess I am a bit excited about this whole new year blog... I couldn't resist writing in it for a second time today! I'm still, unfortunately, on Germany time and woke up at 6:30 this morning, 2:30 am back home in the midwest. Yeah, it was early. But it was nice, because I got so much done while the rest of Sao Paulo was still sleeping. It made me feel like this year is going to be a productive year. In addition to this blog, I watched a documentary about migration into cities around the world and its affects (nerdy... I know...), went for an hour run, and started preparing for Argentina. Man it felt good. While I went running, I realized there were so many little things I missed about Brazil while I was gone.

1) The sidewalks are all different. Everyone is in charge of their own sidewalk so some are stone, some are black and white tile, some are cement that should have been replaced 10 years ago, and others are painted in yellow, green or blue. It's a weird sight, but I love it!

2) Beans and rice- the Brazilian staple. I ate these almost every day for 6 months and didn't eat them for 2 weeks while I was away in Germany. I had my fair share of beans last night and again today for lunch;I missed them!

3) Throwing toilet paper in the trashcan. Okay, I don't really miss that but in Germany I always stopped and thought about what I was supposed to do with the toilet paper because there was no trashcan. Hahaha It's nice to not have to think about it.

4) Being able to go for a run without freezing. In Germany, I went for a run in negative degree weather one day and it was so cold I got frostbite on my ankles. Yup, real frostbite. My skin froze, then blistered, and is now a weird purple brown color. Who wants to live in a place where you get frostbite?!? While it rained on my run this morning, I definitely prefer rain to freezing to death!

5) Knowing how to communicate. In Germany, I had to always have a translator to say everything. How annoying! Here, even if it's not grammatically correct, at least I can communicate on my own in Portuguese.

As for Argentina, I can't believe I'm already leaving tomorrow. I wish I could have a few more days here in Brazil. It seems like I just got here! Well, I guess I did just get here. My plane leaves at 15:55 tomorrow so I'm hoping to take a taxi to Barra Funda, a nearby train/bus station, and then a bus to the airport to save some money on getting there since it's over an hour away. My goal is to pack everything into a suitcase and backpack with tons of room to spare for purchases. We'll see how selective I get.

I'm a bit nervous about my trip because, while I understand Spanish perfectly well, I can't say anything back for the life of me. I used Iberia, the Spanish airlines based in Madrid, to get to and from Germany so everything was in Spanish. It seems like the Spanish that I used to know just doesn't want to come out anymore because I'm so used to the Portuguese pronunciation of everything! Agh! You would think that after beginning my Spanish studies over ten years ago I would be able to at least hold a conversation. It's so annoying. Hopefully it will come back quickly.

Well, my next blog will either be tomorrow morning if I'm not frantically packing or after I arrive in Argentina! Best New Year's wishes to you all!