Activities

The priorities in my life are school and various other activities that I am participating in such as Portuguese lessons, oil painting, drawing, ballet, forro ( a Brazilian style of dance) and guitar. The school day is from 7 a.m. until noon everyday besides the weekends.
Recently I began studying Portuguese at the Federal College in Belo Horizonte. This is a very drawn out five month course with an professor who teaches Portuguese to foreigners. I am preparing for a final exam which will show my level of communication skills, whether they are beginner, intermediate or advanced. Only three weeks into the rigorous but valuable course, I have come to the conclusion that the participation and knowledge that I am getting out of the course is tremendous. Definitely one of the better choices I have made this year.
My oil painting class is quite fun. I would describe the setting as old Italy, with a small house and a large garage full of various oil paintings, black and white pictures of World War II and the reflection of a life carried out by a husband and wife through pictures hung on the walls. In one corner of the garage rests an old typewriter that has been used to the bone, which rests so heavily on a hard dark wooden table. Aromas of sweet brasilian coffee,laquer from oil paints, acetone and sweat releasing from us students. The class consists of three older women pushing their seventies, a man around sixty years old who is a professor and is jazzed by the spirit of the Italian beat, and myself, a young spirited exchange student who doesn't have the least bit of a clue how to paint. All in all it is fun and I have the opportunity of using the right side of my brain instead of the left!
Drawing is another class that I have been involved in. Studying at an art school, I am learning the technical part of art design. For me, the area that has been most difficult to draw has been the drawing of the perspective of objects. With taking this class I am learning how to draw from different points of views and the technical part of drawing 3D objects.
When I was six years old I started playing the piano from one of my favorite teachers, Carol Comfort, and I played until I was thirteen. But, by then I was ready to do other things with my time, like playing sports, and I quit playing piano. Now that I am in Brazil I feel that music is something that I ought to bring back into my life. So I have begun playing the guitar. It is an instrument that where ever I happen to find myself in the world there will always be someone who can teach me a little bit more about strumming the guitar. I will be able to take it with me on my journeys from here to there and it won't be a huge hassle to move around, such as the piano. I also enjoy playing because the guitar makes me feel good, the rhythm of the music changes my heart (mood?), and it really pulls me in. What's even better is my music teacher is exchanging guitar lessons for English lessons, so I don’t have to pay one dime.
When I arrived in Brazil eight months ago, I came with a bare-slate. As I have progressed through the year learning life's lessons, experiencing a new culture and social values, I have discovered that this year’s experience has lead me to a inner happiness that I can't describe into words. All I can share is that now I now have a burning eagerness to want to continue on with my subjects and to put into practice what I have learned here in Brazil and use these lessons for the rest of my life. The moments that were the hardest about my exchange I have found to be my motivators in life. The hardest barrier of my exchange has been broken, in the aspect of the language, and now it is a clean ride out, until I find myself home again, full of new desires for the upcoming years.