Churrascos

I basically live to eat Brazilian BBQ (also known as churrasco). It's so good your stomach forgets to be full. I think it's possible to die of BBQ consumption here. I really do. It's that good.

Churrascos are also very popular party themes, particularly for goodbyes. This past weekend I attended 2 different Goodbye Churrascos for 2 different exchange students in 2 different cities in my district. I was a busy body and sleep became optional unless was done on the bus. Which was a bit of a bus ride, so that was doable. I still took in a full days sleep on the Monday... but I blame the sickness that had been creeping in the whole week that hit me like a train on Sunday night.
Some exchange students actually have a name for the sickness I had - the end of exchange sickness. I think they're right... we're all getting sick!

But back to the point. First night was Mitchel from Mexico. He did his exchange here in Sorocaba through the New Generations Rotary program (different than mine but still by Rotary) and he leaves June 15. Most of us were able to make an appearance and eat a lot of good food! (Including a LOT of BBQ Cheese)

 I must look like the weakling... I was getting some self-defense classes from Mitchel!

 Bunch of Cuties, we are!

 

The next morning I hopped on a 4 hour bus to my "big brothers" city, Cerquiera Cesar, for his Goodbye Churrasco. I say "big brother" because he's older than me and we are super close. A few of us Sorocabans made the journey to his city for him. The bus tickets weren't overly expensive and let's face it... free churrasco is worth the travel!

 

Story time! The photo above is me with my Taiwanese friend, A-mei. A-mei and I don't have a lot in common but we talk about the randomest things. And one time, when I think things were getting quiet because we'd run out of things to say that day, I made a joke about marriage... and that struck up a whole new conversation about what are wedding would be like, where, who would come. There was our first "fight" over whether it would be a tropical wedding in Taiwan or a Winter Wedding in Canada. He wanted snow, I wanted sun. I think it's good we didn't tap into the whole religion side of the wedding. I wonder where that would have gone! But this photo was taken as our wedding invitation photo. So in a parellel universe where I actually fall in love and get married to this guy, you all are invited!

 An outbound to New Jersey, USA

 Failure of a selfie!

 Last photos with Jonathan... and he isn't even present in the one below! Above, he's the guy in the center wearing the blue sweater.

And that was my weekend folks! I've been busy doing things here in the city, I got 3 weeks and 2 days (as of today) until my flight home. I've been making it count! But not with big grand things, just little things that I'm going to miss when I come home. I'll keep you posted on anything awesome or memorable that I find along the way.

Beijos,

Katrina 



International Love

District Conference. The last weekend we all got to spend together. We did a little bit of this and a little bit of that, little bit of Rotary business and a little bit of our own thing. It was relaxed and fun and we got to enjoy each others company while giving back to the wonderful organization that gave each one of us the opprotunity of a life-time.

So! Let's jump right into the highlights of the weekend! First things first: the entrance of the flags. First night of the conference and this year would be the first year where the inbounds would march their flags up to the front of the room! I think we were a hit - people seemed to enjoy giving us rounds of applause. My cheeks were a little sore from smiling the entire time, but it was worth it.We all looked dashing in our blazers and sporting some freshly-out-of-the-package country flags. Canada looks pretty classy with the striking red and white if I do say so myself!

But Indonesia doesn't look too shabby, either!

 

When we'd all finished our daily duties and were all back at the hotel, we'd usually have enough time to get some comfy clothes on, head to someone's room, and strike up some card games and conversation. Most nights were pretty tranquil since we were on our feet all day working and talking to Rotarians. I loved the chance to talk endlessly about Canada - I sang our praises loud and proud! 

9 countries all bundled into one room!

 

Our conference was held in a small town a little over 3 hours from our districts main city (Sorocaba, where I live) called Avaré. Even though it was only a small town of under 100,000 residents (yes, that's small for Brazil) it had a few things hiding up it's sleeve to interest us foreigners! We like to explore things.

 

First thing we hit up was a church... I loved it! I think I'm in love with Brazilian churches in general to be honest. Each city has their own cathedral that is normally found in the city center. Each one I see seems to exceed the last! They're GORGEOUS. In Avaré the church was antique and a was pretty plainly colored (which went perfectly with the design) on the outside, but the inside had high teared ceilings and it literally burst with color and detail. I think I felt my jaw hit the floor.



 

 

Avaré also has a lake in the middle of it! It's actually pretty beautiful and it has a dirt trail that goes all the way around. Us explorers insisted on walking around the entire thing, thank the lord almighty it wasn't a very big lake and it only took us a half hour or so. We were running on low energy so I don't think we would have made it if it were much longer!



 

And next we saw Jesus! He was pretty big, 33 or 37 meters in height from what I remember the guide saying, and he stood there looking over the whole city. He isn't the same as the one in Rio, but he was pretty kick-butt! 

Me and Jenna up at the platform you see at his feet!

All the exchange students put on a talent show that night too! I'll post the youtube links of the acts underneith the photos! I apologize, skip to about 30 second into each video because they each have a Portuguese introduction that I don't expect you all to sit through ;)

Our lovely hosts!

 The artistic talent of the lovely Demi Stark - Taiwan. While everyone was performing, she was drawing this beautiful piece!

Soemy (Mexico) - Minha Bandeira

Me, Cecilie (DK) and Matthias (Germany) - The Cup Song (You're Gonna Miss Me)
We chose this song because it used a learnable-in-a-couple-days cup beat and cute lyrics that pertained to exchange!

ME! - Hallelujah

My tribute to my wonderful family back in Canada - this is a song I ALWAYS sang back home, and it's a song I relate to my home, my family, and my country.

Brenda (Mexico) - Nao Deixa Samba Morrer (Song)

Fillipe (Indonesia) - Breakdance 

 Nicolle (Equador) - Eu Sem Voce (Me Without You)
In Eu Sem Voce, I started to cry, because in the song it talks about how without someone special, someone is left with less than half of them. And in the moment that's how I felt about leaving exchange. This life becomes your everything and leaving it is the hardest part of the whole year. It's harder than all the other struggles put together. I don't know what's next in life for me, but exchange has given me so much and as much as it's ending and I don't know what I'm going to without everyone in my day to day life, I know that I didn't lose anything by coming on exchange. You lose one year to gain a lifetime. That's really all there is to it. There is no loss. Only gain.

Everyone - Do Lado de Ca (On This Side of the World)

Do Lado de Ca was our tribute to the Rotarians and all the people that made it possible for us to come on exchange and be together. To God, to Rotary, to our  families, to every decision and choice made in the world that brought us all together and let everything play out the way it did. We all agree that we wouldn't trade a thing. Our district, the people, our experiences... everything was just the way it should be on this side of the world <3
(ps... when I was falling around... I was crying and I couldn't see where I was placing my high-heeled feet!)

 

We weren't done the weekend at that! We even got to go to a costume party! (I'll upload more pictures when my friend adds them, he took the majority of them for us) Rotary let us go to a non-Rotary party with some locals to a small restaraunt that had a DJ playing some funky town!

Jenna (the other Canadian) and I went as Canadians - she dressed up in some of her winter gear and I got myself dressed up as a country belle. We were a pretty cute combo!

 Us girls even managed to get the guys all prettied up with our lipsticks! Not all the guys were game, but these two were! Some bright red and hot pink lipstick were the winners.

 

 So that was my weekend in a nutshell! Support exchange, it's the best thing life has to offer. That's all I really have to say.

 

Beijos,

Katrina

 

 



Feijuka!

Sunday, May 19:

Us group of cuties spent the afternoon eating some good brazilian Feijoada (see Live Like You're Dying - Carnival 2013 if you don't know Feijoada) and chattin' er up. With Samba music to keep the vibe light and brazilian, I was feeling ulta cultural! Not to mention it was a Rotary event. Extreme exchange student moment for the win!

Beijos,
Katrina

Changing the Changed

That's exactly what life is: changing. All the time. And that's exactly what a year abroad taught me to see: the changes. What's changed for me since I got here? And I'm willing to say almost everything has. It's amazing what a year out of your own shoes does for you... and I'm betting the shoes I left behind won't be right for me anymore when I get back. I feel different... I might not be able to notice all the changes on the inside of me, but I know that they're there.

Everything is different now than it was 9 and a half months ago. 9 and a half months ago I had myself convinced that I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to cure diseases and fix the physical problems happening inside people's bodies. I think I wanted to be able to fix the physical problems because they're fixable. I like to fix things, meddle. I'm a meddl-er. And this way I could maybe use that part of me to stop picking-apart peoples psycological problems and trying to fix what doesn't have a fix and start putting people's bodies back together with science and medicine. I've done well in school, I have the study and memorization skills to work through it, and the determination, too.
But on exchange I started to realize the things that make me happy. Even going to a Physical Education College for 4 months taught me that I would have wasted money going into Biomedical Sciences. Because science doesn't make my heart sing. I find it interesting but I can't lose myself in the study. I don't get captured by the awe of a complicated medical phenominon the way I get lost in a book or a play. Or even the way I love to pick and understand psycological problems. Or the feelings of a foreign language spilling off my tongue. Stringing words together to make something beautiful and moving: a song, a poem, a story. These are the parts of me that make me want to live every day with a giant smile on my face. I don't want to spend 4 years behind a microscope studying cells. I couldn't see myself being happy studying science day in and day out.

Even just thinking back to the beginning of exchange when I got off the plane and everything seemed so exotic and strange. The food felt foreign and exciting on my tongue and the heat melted my skin and it was just coming into spring here. Even the buildings and stores and plants looked weird. The way of life wasn't my way of life, I felt like a stranger trying to their best to follow in the steps of the people around her. Nothing felt normal.
Now... everything feels normal. The brightly colored money with animal pictures on it no longer make me laugh a little at its appeal. The deep fried cream cheese with chicken and catipury coxinha went from being horrible to something I crave on a daily basis. I love lemon flavoured things, especially Lemon/Lime Tarts. Pear Juice is my favourite, and Maracuja Fanta or Guarana are the kinds of soda I order at the cinema. The gypsies on the street in the Downtown (Centro) don't freak me out and send me on a longe route around them. The hippy guys who sell a bunch of Bob Marley things and anything with feathers turned out to be some really cool guys that are interesting to talk to - and gave me a free wire picture frame they made just for me. The markets made up of tables with a tarp roof don't look slummy - they looks like a bundle of awesome waiting for me to buy their things. It went from every day feeling foreign and new to this being what feels like my real life. I'm scratching my head trying to come up with all these things that should be different because they don't feel different anymore. I don't really remember what it's like to speak English in large groups or with strangers in public. Or what the food tastes like. I occassionally forget that Dill Pickle chips exist and we don't eat rice with beans on top. I forget that I know how to drive - although when I remember that detail I start wishing I had a car. I have 1 pair of pants because I cut the other ones into jeans for December because that's summer. Snow.. what's snow? I get cold when the temperature drops below 20.
I don't forget the people. I don't forget the feelings that I had. I haven't stopped missing home. The smell of the earth and the ruggedness of the land. The mountains... I haven't forgotten. But sometimes it's easy to get lost in the idea that this is life. It has been for 9 and a half months. It will be for another 2 months or so. This has become my reality where as it was just my dream.

Everythings different. The changed is changing.

Beijos,

Katrina

One More Thing...

I hit up an orchestra! Or is it sympony? Either way... Brazilian musicians, a Brazilian conductor and Brazilian compositions. But irregardless of the Brazilian background I still felt like I was in a Disney film! The Little Mermaid, perhaps?

 

 

Beijos,
Katrina

Hike, Movie, and Free Pizza

Sunday, April 21:

That was literally the sequence of events for this Sunday. No word of a lie. Us ladies woke up early and got ourselves showered and ready to go on a tour with Rotary at the Fazenda Ipanema close to Sorocaba. a 3 hour hike up a mini-mountain through a forest with MONKEYS! Not that we saw any monkeys... but we heard them rumbling up in the tree tops a few times.

In the distance is Sorocaba:
(you can barely see it)

 Those little blobs you see? Those are giant spiders, not birds:

The end of the trail:

And our group photos!

 

 

And we finished off the day with watching Batman Begins and eating some pizza. Why the heck not? :)

Beijos,
Katrina 

Goodbye, Andrea! :(

Remember how I said I wasn't ready to leave this new family behind? No one is. And goodbye is a hard word to say, and a hard concept to grasp even though slowly we're having to confront it one person at a time. This time was Andrea, and we made sure we all got the chacne to say goodbye and have one last G.N.O (Girls Night Out - for those of you who aren't up to the current lingo as said in a early Miley Cyrus song) before she was on a plane back to Mexico.

<3 

Saturday, April 20:

G.N.O time! We were spending the night at a family farm of an exchange student where we would make pizza and play silly games like "truth or dare". The kinds of games you play as a young teenager with your friends when you're bonding and laughing so hard you cry. That was the goal for the night. To laugh til we cried and cry til we laughed and eventually fell asleep. The last night of the sisterhood. We weren't about to let ourselves say goodbye without one last who-rah!

The Farm:

 

 

My attempt at feeding the geese until one charged at me and I ran away:

 

Our table center-piece and warning not to leave the doors open past sundown (although it didn't stop me from crawling out a window to get signal to answer a phone call... technically no open doors):

THE FOOD! 

Now that's what I call a good way to end someone's exchange. Friends and Food. What else can someone ask for in life, anyway?

Beijos,
Katrina

Be Proud of Where You Come From

So I've had a few Rotary lunches and events and other things that I've been attending. With exchange wrapping up and our language skills skyrocketing it seems we've become an increasingly popular display for Sorocaba's Rotary Clubs. Besides, we are undeniably charming people!

Wednesday, April 17:

Rotary lunch with one of the largest Rotary clubs in Sorocaba! (From what I've seen, and I've hit a few different clubs in my stay here) All the exchange students in Sorocaba showed up. And we answered question and showed everyone a little piece of our hearts through our answers to their questions.

"What would you take back to your country from Brazil?"
The people and the happiness. When Brazilians say that they're is happiness in even the poorest people they don't lie. The country in general is so care-free and happy and shows such care for everyone. Even just the fact that they give a kiss on the cheek every time they say "hello" is a huge factor to why I've grown to love it so much here. Some of the hardest working people are the humblest. The people with the least money are the most generous. Everyone takes care of each other. It's a beautiful piece of the culture that someone has to see through their own eyes before they'd believe how muvh of a difference there is. Canada isn't cold and heartless, but there is a different atmosphere down here, that's for sure.

"What woudn't you take back to your country from Brazil?"
THE FOOD. Now, everyone who hasn't read any blog posts before this one is probably thinking "well, I now know to avoid Brazilian restaraunts". THINK AGAIN. The food here is so good that if I brought it back to Canada, I would become increasingly fat... and at the rate it's been going I would likely explode.

"What was your hardest moment on exchange?"
Now, this one... this one caught everyone off guard when one of the girls stood up and answered. She took the mic and talked about how her Grandmother had died while she was here and how difficult it was not to be back in Mexico. I remember the day she told us as clear as crystal. It was a Friday, we were at Portuguese, and she was holding it together just enough to tell us her story. And she did the exact same thing infront of a club of Rotarians. As she talked and choked over her words, we all began to, too. The girls had tears streaming down their cheeks and the boys were giving her all the strength they could send her way. What I realized is that the hardest part of exchange is finally realizing that you're a big family. You hurt when someone else is hurting, you cry when someone else is crying, and you smile when someone else is happy. The hardest part of exchange is finally realizing all that and figuring out you're going to have to leave it behind when your time is up. And I'm not quite ready to leave this family behind yet...

In a group of Mexicans, Danes, Germans, Equadorians, Taiwanese, Indonesians, and Americans... I am Canadian. There are two of us, two girls, and we are proud of where we come from. I guess I can't speak on behalf of Jenna, but I will speak on behalf of me: I'm proud to be the red, firey blazer in the sea of dark blue. I wear it with pride and a big, ol' smile on my face. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Friday, April 19:

I spent the afternoon just being an exchange student with two other exchange students before getting myself all primmed and ready for a Friendship Party (Festa de Amizade) with Rotary! My Rotary club had invited me to be a part of their table (free of charge) for a night of friendship with all the other Rotary clubs in Sorocaba! Each club had a table full of Rotarians that were ready for a night of dancing and conversations and... well, obviously good food.
I danced a ton with a handful of different Rotarians from different clubs. I was the only current inbound that was in attendance, and there were two of next years hopefuls there with me. We all just danced and laughed and used the party as an excuse to share our cultures.

Beijos,

Katrina