“We’re not in Kansas anymore.” These words, first uttered by Dorothy from “Wizard of Oz”, were repeated by “Avatar: The Way of Water”‘s Colonel Quaritch as I watched the movie on the plane ride to Brazil. They were also the words that echoed through my head as we touched down in Sao Paulo, and began a trip that will be like nothing I have ever experienced before. The streets were bustling with cars and people in a manner reminiscent of New York City, but with a climate and infrastructure that was unfamiliar to me. The people around us spotted us as “Americanos” or “Gringos” instantly, and we moved around, searching for our Uber to our new school ESEG with an eager ignorance that would make any tourist proud.
Upon getting to the school we were able to meet the buddies and supervisors with whom we will be spending the next several weeks, and hit it off with most of them instantly. They are a bunch of students both our age and younger, who volunteered to help us find our way around the city and to teach us Portuguese for the next several weeks. Most of them speak English fluently, although several of them speak little to none. However, they are all very eager to spend time with us and get to know us. We were joking and laughing with them mere minutes after being introduced to them, and even received an impromptu tour of the school from them. I am still not used to hearing people converse so frequently in another language, however, and it was strange to not be able to understand most of the things that were said around me. It is yet another reminder that we are no longer in New York.
Soon it was time to meet our host families for the first time. Both my roommate Kyle and I had agreed beforehand that we wished we didn’t have to spend the weeks with a host family, as it might be awkward and strange to be in a house with people that we didn’t know for so long. However, any fears of this have been quickly dispelled a mere day into our trip, as our host family has been nothing short of amazing. Consisting of a host mother, father, and two young brothers aged 6 and 1, we spent much of the day seeing the city and spending time getting to know them. We were afraid of having a host family that was unable to speak much English, but were given a family that speaks it very well, while still encouraging us to learn Portuguese while we are here. They gave us the opportunity to go see a large park near where they live, and this instance was yet another reminder that “Kansas” is far, far away. The park that we visited was massive, and consisted of an entirely different environment and climate than what we were used to from New York. The air is humid, although very fresh, and the trees are more akin to something like a Miami Palm Tree than an a New York Oak. The people are more friendly as well, eager to interact with us students and practice their English, as well as to see if they can get us to spend our money. They even let us play basketball with them until we had to leave.
Only one day into the trip I can tell that it is one that I am going to love. The food is wonderful, the people are friendly, the climate is perfect, and again, the people are wonderful. They have made the entire trip worth it in one day. They are eager to get to know us, and happy to have us as a part of their lives for even just a couple of weeks. They are loving and kind, and want to see us enjoy our time here, as I am now sure that I will.
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