Feeling Tired – Elliott Lawrence

In all honesty, I am exhausted. I feel like I am getting less sleep than at the beginning of the trip and the work I do for our class throughout the day now seems to take more energy. I am feeling the fatigue set in as each night it seems like I will pass out and staying awake in the afternoon becomes more and more of a struggle. I also started to feel afraid of how my fatigue would affect my attitude. However, I have not let my fatigue take over my time here in Brazil. I find the fight against it difficult, but not something that I cannot handle. As my fatigue kept building I received a much-needed reminder that while I am in Brazil I should be immersing myself in the culture instead of letting my tiredness negatively impact me.

I am not much of a dancer and I felt like most of my energy had already been drained so when my roommate told me that he was going to go samba dancing I immediately thought that he would be on his own. However, to my surprise I found myself joining him later that night. When we arrived I found myself in a space that seemed to not have enough room for everyone who was dancing plus the house band. I found a nice spot in the corner with some other people from my class and sat. I swayed to the music and I thought that this would be the extent of my “dancing” for the night. Of course, I was wrong and soon found my self on the small dance floor with my classmates. Somehow I was actually dancing and somehow I was actually enjoying it. I felt awkward at first, but those feelings soon disappeared as I became more and more drawn to the music. I stretched my comfort zone and experienced a new part of Brazilian culture. It also turned out to be exactly what I needed to combat my fatigue and to stay positive.

Kayla, Chris, and I at samba.

My experience dancing reminded me of how important it is to stretch my comfort zone, to try new things, and to immerse myself in the culture. I have loved my time in Brazil, and I want to keep loving every moment. If I let my fatigue get the better of me I do not think that I will be able to meet this goal. I have learned the importance of fully experiencing the culture of Brazil. This experience has also helped me to realize that I should be stretching my comfort zone at home and not only in a different country. I learned something that would not have been possible if I had stayed home because I was too tired. I am still tired, but I look forward to making more new memories while I am still in Brazil.

-Elliott Lawrence