Today was a full but spectacular day – beginning at 7 this morning, we all piled onto a bus to head to the beach in Bertioga. After driving an hour and a half through lush mountain greenery, we finally arrived and could not have been more ready to tackle the day. However, we were soon greeted by a sudden downpour. The rain lasted only for the morning, though, so after lunch we spent the rest of the day enjoying somewhat warm water and undeniably warm friendship on the beach.
Our view of the coastline as soon as we stepped on the beach
Enjoying the sweet taste of freedom (and no homework for a day!)
Since the water wasn’t as warm as many of us had hoped, we spent most of our time playing beach volleyball, soccer, and frisbee.
These games were both relaxing and intense, and it was fun for me to capture some of the excitement through the lens of my camera. I played a bit of volleyball but spent much of the day observing and interacting with various classmates as they each found their own way to enjoy our free day.
Coconuts were available for purchase right on the beach, and some of us opted to embrace the fullness of our tropical experience by partaking.
Two paparazzi taking Doug Porterfield’s picture as he bought a coconut. He’s a pretty popular guy I guess.
And some of us drew pictures – on paper…
…and right in the sand! 
Overall, the day was spent enjoying friendships that have been built over the past two years of being in the honors program together. I could not have asked for a better group to be a part of, or better professors to lead us in learning and growing in our cultural awareness. I have heard many of my classmates say that this trip has passed more quickly than they expected. I think all of us have felt like our time together in this program would never end, and we’re certainly not ready for it to. In less than a week, we will be saying “tchau” to Brazil and our wonderful host families and “oi” to our family and friends from back home. Where did the time go?
-Haven Robart
1 Comment
Rebekah Distaffen · May 21, 2018 at 2:15 am
It looks like everyone had such a great time– sorry I missed it! What I love most about this is how well you captured our group and our experiences together– both in your words and in your photos 🙂 Our group has had some wonderful experiences together, and it will certainly be a part of my life I’ll miss when the trip is over. Thanks for sharing this and letting me experience part of the day despite the fact that I couldn’t be there in person!