[side note] Last night I went to Trivia Night at the Black Swan (a restaurant in Lagoa which is owned by a British man so the whole restaurant is in English and serves traditional British food and Brazilian food, so the trivia night is in english) It was really interesting the questions were REALLY hard. I only got like 4 out of 50 right. One of them was what country does Disney's Beauty in the Beast take place in, FRANCE (of coarse) I was the only one in the whole bar who knew the answer hahaha. After we went to a little hole in the wall bar (and I mean hole in the wall, it literally has two chairs inside) called amarehello and they serve this passion fruit cachaca drink for $R2 that is made with moonshine cachaca (home made) so it is very very strong. Then we all headed to forro on the praia joaquina (beach house where they have a bar and huge dance area) with about 50 people from the little bar (we were all out on the side walk because only like 10 people can fit into the bar haha. Forro was so much fun! Forro is a traditional country side type of dance, where couples dance together with spinning and swinging steps.
Looking back on my experience in Brazil, I have learned so much, experienced so much, and will have amazing memories for the rest of my life. I am sad to say that my study abroad experience is almost over, and also sad to say good bye to this amazing island and country. It is sad because I really don't know when I will be back, I would love to come back for the world cup next summer, but only time will tell. I have met so many amazing people and am really really going to miss them. Because we were all in a new and different place together, we all became really close. But now I have friends all over the U.S. and from all over the world! I have also learned so much about myself, I took this time here to really reflect on myself and work on personal growth, I read two books while I was here, one called "Habits: why we do what we do" and "The Best Year of Your Life" both of which really helped me to better myself and really to understand myself and make goals for my future for my career, personal life, and much more. I am very excited to go home back to San Diego to see my friends and family forth most. But also for the little things, like my car, having a schedule with things to do, pursuing my career, my bed, my iphone, my gym, Target... When you live in a different country you realize how convenient the U.S. just from the efficiency, to the way the traffic and streets work, to people being on time, or with all the stores everywhere where you can buy anything you need at any time.
Because of this experience I have realized that I would like to live in different parts of the world, but I think there are some critical things I need to have in order to feel comfortable and happy in these places. One I need to have a car, relying on public transportation or other people 100% of the time is stressful and hinders my ability to really experience a place because I am so limited to what I can do and when. Also I need to have my own place to stay, or at least my own room, that I can make my own space, decorate it and make it feel like a home. Third I need to have a purpose, I almost died of boredom here on multiple accounts because I did not have a clear purpose here, school was ridiculously easy, and on rainy days I would literally have nothing to do, at all. I need to have a full time job that I can focus on and work towards to keep my mind busy, I like to feel like I am making progress with something not just standing still waiting. Forth I need to have a real cell phone that I can use to get ahold of people no matter where I am, it is very hard to coordinate things when you cannot get a hold of anyone. And finally I need to know the language, at least a little, because nothing makes you feel like an outsider more than not being able to talk to anyone, it gets very lonely very fast, not to mention you feel left out and depressed when you can't socialize, joke, laugh, and express yourself with others. I feel if I have all those things I would thoroughly enjoy living in another country, but without those things I feel like I am in constant limbo and never really settle in and feel at home. It is really important to develop a routine in a new place because it make it feel more like a home and more structured and safe. And it is next to impossible to develop a routine with out some of the critical things I talked about above. I also realized how much I love being active, so another thing I need to do when ever I go somewhere new is join a gym immediately and find active things to do in the area like hiking. As soon as I joined a gym here and started hiking multiple times a week here, I immediately felt better, less stressed and anxious, better about my self, better moods, and more at home, and simply happier. I also realized how much I love the sunshine, I took it for granted in San Diego, because 75 and sunny 350 days out of the year is the norm for me, but being here in florianopolis where during the rainy season it will rain for 10 days strait, I really realized how much it effects my mood, and how much a crave sunshine.
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