Short update :)

Hey guys,

today I have a little update about my journey! :)

Since my last report, Portuguese has become easier for me day by day and I had more and more fun with the teachers and the children at the internship! :D

In the mornings, I was still in the oldest group (G5) and in the afternoons and evenings, I had a look into different younger age groups for one week each.

On the weekends, we continued to go on beautiful trips, for example to Embu das Artes, a tourist city in the interior of Sao Paulo with a nice market, lots of handicrafts, and many small (touristy) shops. We also enjoyed the view of Sao Paulo from the 'Farol', the tallest building in the old center of Sao Paulo.

View from 'Farol'

We also ate fruits, empanadas, ham, goiabada, and many more things at different markets (Mercado Municipal, etc.).

In addition, we visited various exhibitions and art museums by Brazilian artists and the 'Museu Afro Brasil', which tells about the slave era as well as African culture.

What made me particularly happy was that we visited a small exhibition by Paulo von Poser. Paulo von Poser is a well-known artist from Sao Paulo who also lives in Riviera and was even my mom's neighbor when she still lived in Riviera.

'Farol' painted by Paulo von Poser

In the largest park in Sao Paulo, 'Parque Ibirapuera', we made use of the warm afternoons to ride bikes or simply walk around the lakes with a view of Sao Paulo's skyline.

In Riviera as well, the son of the family and I often used my days off to ride bikes and kayaks or even sail on the represa.

all alone in nature, perfect to clear my mind

I also tried Korean, Arabic, and Mexican food (unbelievably spicy sauces, but otherwise very delicious) and got to know esphiras for one real (less than 30 cents :D).

In the evenings, we often went to a bar with live music or to birthday parties.

In the past two months, I've learned and seen so much! Thank you for the wonderful weeks!!!

But before I said goodbye to the family and the kindergarten, there was Easter. In short, we ate a lot and well on Easter Sunday. :D

It started with a brunch at the neighbors' and ended in the evening with a churrasco (barbecue afternoon) with friends. On Sunday evening, it was time to pack my bags and on Monday, Amanda, the daughter of the next family, picked me up at 5:30 pm after a big farewell tour through the kindergarten.

For the first two weeks of April, I'm still staying in Sao Paulo with the family that I was already with at the beach in Peruibe. I now spend my free days a lot at the pool or on the treadmill (mostly at the pool :DD), both of which belong to the condominio. In the evenings/afternoons, we go to the shopping center, the cinema, or out to eat. :)

On Friday, I attended a lecture at Amanda's university. It's a beautiful campus with lots of trees and meadows. I didn't understand as much from the lecture, but it was interesting to see the comparison to German universities/schools. I think the students behaved similarly to those in Germany. Some were interested and others not so much. What annoyed me a bit was the incredibly uncomfortable chairs. They are these typical school desk chairs from American movies (I always thought they were cool), on which you sit crooked in the long run because there is only one armrest/desk side. I also think it must be terrible to have to take notes on the tiny desk. Just an A4 sheet of paper fits on it... there's no space for a pencil case or a book. Amanda told me that even exams are written on these chair-desks... :o

In the afternoon, we went to Butantan, one of the most important biomedical research institutes, especially in the field of snakebites and vaccines. We looked at the different snake and spider species and the historical museum and finally walked through the premises and saw two free-living parrots!! :o

a pocket calculator ..'pocket'

On Saturday, I went to a churrasco at Amanda's university and on Sunday we visited the museu de futebol. The museum is in the 'Estadio Municipal Paulo Machado de Carvalho', the first football stadium in Sao Paulo, which is now only used by smaller teams.

In the next few days, I will continue to enjoy the pool and the sun, and on Friday, I will continue to Rio de Janeiro!

You will hear about it in the next post.

Lisa :)