A Day Away

For those of you that don't know, I will be living in Joao Pessoa, Brasil.  This is in the northeastern part of the country near Natal and Recife, and I will be living right next to the beach (How lucky am I!).  My city is 7 degrees from the equator and the temperature is always in the 80's and 90's no matter the time of the year.  It's also the farthest east you can get in all the Americas.  This means that I will be the first to see the sunrise! 

Wow. One day. It is strange, to say the least. The past year I have dreamed of this day, but I never thought it would actually arrive.  It was always a fantasy, a really nice idea, but now that this dream is becoming real, I couldn't be more excited!

To be honest, last week was hard.  I never appreciated what I had until I realized that I will have to leave it all behind.  It was scary for me to come to the realization that I had one week left with my loving family that I haven't spent more than two weeks apart from and my amazing friends with whom I've relied on so much.  I only had one last week in my safe small town, surrounded by a language that I can fully understand.  It hit me like those pop-out-of-nowhere sliding glass doors! I was not expecting to feel that way so soon.  

It seems odd, but what helped me the most was saying my goodbyes.  I had been dreading them, but once I started, I noticed how short a year will be.  Everything will be here when I return: my family, my friends, Northfield, and I'm sure they will all still be speaking English.

My first host family has also put my nerves at ease.  It has been very easy to feel welcomed through  their facebook posts and emails because of their warm words and continual contact.  I came to the conclusion the other day that I have nothing to worry about! Brazilians are known for being warm and welcoming (I'm excited to spend a year surrounded by such compassionate people!), and I know they want to help me succeed.  Now, I can't wait to hop on that plane and start the Brazilian chapter in my life.   

That's all I have for now, but I'm sure you'll hear from me in the next couple days!

GOODBYE

HELLO

Goals for this year: learn more about myself and become Brazilian!