Vaihto-oppilaana Brasiliassa - Ola!
My name is Vanessa Warkentin. I am 17 years old. Last year I was an exchange student in Brazil. I lived in a Sao Luis, Maranhao. It is a small town that is located on the northern coast of Brazil. A typical weekday in Brazil (for me) consisted of waking up at about 6 or so and getting ready for school if you went to school during the morning. I went to school in the morning and got out of school at about noon or 12:30 pm somewhere around that time.
Then my host mom would pick my host sister and myself up from school and we would go home and eat lunch. Then I would go and either study or go to sleep for a little while. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I would go to Portuguese classes at Via Mundo (my agency in Sao Luis) at two until around three and then I would stay at the mall until about 5 pm or 6 pm and my mom would pick me up and take me home. We would then eat dinner at around 8, 9 or even as late as 10 pm some nights. On the weekends I would either go to a friend' s house or I would sometimes go to parties. School was out in late October, early November and didn't start up until late February, early March.
Some typical food of Sao Luis was fish and A LOT of it too! It was good fish, most of the fish that was there was fresh out of the sea and none of the frozen stuff that we have here in the United States. There is a dish called "feijoada" which is meat, rice and black beans. It is really good.
They families are usually very close and usually do a lot together as a family. Brazil is very strong in family interaction. Sundays are days when the maids have off and are usually a family day. Everything is closed other then the supermarkets and the family generally used that as a day to get together with the extended family for a lunch or something that involved that rest of the family. For example, in my host family we would take turns having lunch at our houses so that the maids didn't have to work everyday all week. If it were at one person's house one weekend then it would be at another persons the next weekend. And if it was a holiday and one person had the last holiday at their house then it would be a different person' s turn to have the family over to celebrate. Like Christmas was at my house since I was in Brazil and my family wanted it at my house. And then New Year's was at my host aunt's house. It was a way that the whole family could get together and have a good time.
There were a lot of things that I found interesting about the difference in the culture. Little things such as the difference in the way people dress and the difference in the food. On New Year's most people wear white for he New Year's celebration. Which symbolized that you are at a new year and a new beginning. But you don't have to wear all white just as long as you aren't wearing black. Carnival takes place in February or March. It is a big party that is typically four days long. It is a party that is commonly known worldwide Especially the carnival that is in Rio de Janeiro.
There is a lot to see and do in Brazil. I hope that you take the opportunity to go to Brazil. It is an awesome place to live for a year. I enjoyed everything about it. The people are wonderful and the family life is so much fun. I made friends really fast. The first friend that I really had made was my mom and someone named Bia and her and I are as close as ever and are still in contact to this day. I have made life long friendships that I hope I will never lose. I hope that one day I can go back to that wonderful place. I hope that you will go and experience the wonderful life of a Brazilian!
Tchau,
