Goodbyes are always difficult but I did not expect leaving my host family and saying goodbye to São Paulo to be so hard. Tuesday night of our third and final week in Brazil carried in these farewells which made leaving Wednesday morning even more difficult.

At the beginning of the trip, I did not expect to become so close to my host family. However, after spending two and a half weeks in their house and accompanying them on shopping trips, walks in the park, and jam sessions that consisted of High School Musical and worship songs like “A Boa Parte”, I felt as though I had found a home in Brazil. Flauber and Alexandra opened up their home to me and Lauryn welcoming us with open arms. I always looked forward to the end of the day when we got back to their house after our hour and thirty minute car ride through the city of São Paulo and we all sat around the dinner table, ate amazing food, and laughed about the events of our day or the antics of the cats Crystal and Mary. Even though there was a language barrier between our parties, we were able to connect on a personal level breaking the boundaries that the language difference sought to maintain. While exploring the beautiful sights of Iguazu Falls will be a joyous and epic adventure, getting to know my host family has been my favorite part of my Brazil experience.

I will greatly miss Flauber’s “Bom dia meninas” every morning, singing along to Olivia Rodrigo with Sarah, hearing Nathan sass his aunt, Aline, and having cake and coffee with Alexandra on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Their kindness, joy, and generosity showed me that you do not need to know people for a long time to become a family.

Projeto Locomotiva invites children ages 7 to 17 to form a connection with each other through music. Locomotiva uses instrumental education to create structure in children’s lives and to help those who may struggle with social disorders. This program is free of charge with the exception that each student must be actively attending school whether it be private or public education. This non-profit organization opened my eyes to the power of music. 

I was taken aback when I got to listen and watch these children perform for us. I witnessed a huge room filled with many different instruments and kids of all ages. Seeing the older more experienced kids sitting with the younger children mentoring and playing alongside them brought me so much joy. It is rare to see teenagers and children all playing together, and creating such beautiful music; music that brought chills to my arms. These children come from all walks of life but manage to connect and relate through their love of music. It is evident how being involved in this program has changed their lives, brought them together, and taught them invaluable life lessons. Seeing the smiles and pure happiness of each one of those students shows the power and connection these kids have to music. Projeto Locomotiva creates a loving and inviting atmosphere, connecting all walks of life through the power of music.

My host family’s dog, Yoda, changed my Brazilian experience to something familiar even when I felt different. Growing up surrounded by pets, I’ve always found an unexplainable comfort in having a dog around. There’s beauty in walking with them, witnessing their growth through thick and thin, and knowing they’ll always be there as your loyal companion. It’s undeniably a universal experience that occurs between many cultures.  Dogs can unite us regardless of country, history, or spoken language.

When I arrived in Brazil, anxiety gnawed at me about meeting my host family, especially because their English wasn’t perfect, my Portuguese was worse, and I’m not the most social butterfly. But upon arrival, one thing that instantly connected us all was our love for pets. We shared laughter over Yoda’s goofy personality. He’d pop out of nowhere in a perfectly quiet house, panting like crazy because he’s a pug. His sudden appearance would always put a smile on our faces or make us attempt to catch him for some decompression time. Nothing was better than spending time with something familiar when I was far away from everything else familiar. Yoda was an anchor in a new place and an interpreter everyone could understand. He helped me open up to my host family in an unimaginable way because I felt like they could really understand me when I interacted with Yoda. My host family’s grandparents, who could not make out much of anything I said, could still understand me when I chased Yoda around. This sparked so much joy: my own joy as I played with Yoda, the joy they shared with Yoda too, a joy that rivalled their love of football and their chosen teacm, the Corinthians.

Today, we are leaving our host families to spend time at Iguacu Falls, and while I will really miss everyone, I might just miss Yoda the most; just like how I miss my dogs while I’m at school, I will miss my furry friend of the southern hemisphere. He made life so much less stressful every time I looked down and saw him begging for food as he distracted me from any hardship I was experiencing. Nothing is more comforting than something that can keep you rooted at home.

Started in 2001, a community school in a gang-heavy area provides free education and care for children from 4 months to 14 years old. It supports families earning less than 14,000 BRL annually, ensuring even those making less than $400 a month can enroll their children. The school relies on donations and partnerships for expenses like food, diapers, and teacher’s salaries. Despite the surrounding gang activity, the school remains a safe haven, protected by local gangs who respect the work being done. Initially challenging, this respect has grown steadily. Operating at full capacity with 130 children, the school offers half-day sessions with proper teacher-student ratios maintained. Donations also include clothes, food, shoes, and other essentials, providing comprehensive community support.

Children attend the school from 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM, with some parents paying for the second half of the day. Teens volunteer on Saturdays to help with younger children. The school plans to expand by purchasing a neighboring building to accommodate more children. When I was in Haiti, my mother had to protect me from high levels of violence to receive an education, navigating a battlefield daily. Getting to and from school was incredibly hard. I relate to how gangs near Todo Mundo Feliz offer protection; respect alone can go far but can also be precarious.

In Haiti, my education journey was fraught with danger. My mother shielded me from chaos, making each day a test of resilience. Reflecting on my experiences, I see parallels with Todo Mundo Feliz, where children face significant challenges but receive protection from gangs out of respect for the school’s mission. This reliance on goodwill ensures safety but highlights precariousness. The efforts of Todo Mundo Feliz, like my mother’s determination, showcase extraordinary measures to secure education in hostile environments. Both stories underline that education is a beacon of hope and progress, often achieved through formidable adversities.

The story of this community school is a testament to resilience and collective support. Despite operating in a gang-heavy area, it provides children with a safe and nurturing environment, offering them a chance at education and a brighter future. The respect and protection from local gangs highlight the school’s positive impact on the community. Like my experiences in Haiti, this initiative underscores the importance of safe access to education in challenging environments. Through donations, partnerships, and efforts to expand, the school continues to be a beacon of hope, showing that even in the most challenging circumstances, a community can make a significant difference in children’s lives.

Realizing the bonds I have made with my host family has made me realize the importance of reaching out to others. Despite the fears and anxieties of connecting with people from other cultures, the results could be life-altering. I pushed through my anxieties and allowed connections to form naturally and more meaningfully than ever. I have made connections that I will cherish for life and I consider these people who were virtual strangers 2 weeks ago, my family. I will remember this experience as I travel in the future and keep myself open to connections with people despite my reservations. I’ll never forget this experience or this temporary family that has become a permanent fixture in my heart.

When we got to the kitchen at our cooking school, the whole energy changed, everything became much more positive. I realized that this was because the chefs expressed themselves through their cooking. The chefs were so proud to show and teach us their talents. At the same time you could see that their cooking was a part of them by the way they expressed themselves. They wanted to share a part of themselves with us. This was no more evident then when the chefs would proudly give instructions on how to create delicacies such as the brigadeiro and this delicious fish wrapped in banana leaves. It was complex, but it was completely and wholly them.

During samba I really started to catch a theme for the day: these weren’t just activities, these were arts that these instructors fully immersed themselves into, and then expressed them. I could clearly see our samba instructor expressing himself through his dance moves, such as cleaning the floor with his feet, or catching a rhythm on the drums. He was completely in the flow state, and it was simply beautiful to watch. Once again, they took pride in expressing themselves for the betterment of our education and experience. It felt like a transfer of energy just as in the cooking.

As I got home I realized that I do the exact same thing as these instructors, but just in a different art form. Instead of cooking or dancing, I express myself through my athletic abilities, specifically soccer. I am usually a pretty confident and skilful person, and I see this within myself being externally portrayed on the soccer field. I love to dribble past guys, set up my teammates, and do moves most others wouldn’t. It made me feel proud of myself and my instructors on that great Friday, that we can use the arts we have mastered to express ourselves and also help uplift others.

Ready to cook!

The outcome after making many different Brazilian dishes!

Having the opportunity to cook for a few hours and make different kinds of Brazilian food is something that I don’t even experience much of back at home within my culture. This has also opened my eyes to the beauty of cooking meals together rather than just alone. As the morning went on and we were preparing and cooking together, it started to become fun for me. I always had a negative view on cooking and did not really have a passion to want to cook, but after today that has changed. Working all together and as a team allowed us to have a good outcome of such amazing food. I enjoyed every bit of this cooking class and through our teamwork, we were able to cook the delicious food seen in the picture above while also having a good time with each other. 

Samba class!!

Later in the afternoon, we had a spectacular Samba class that was such a blast. I know that the dancing and playing of instruments pushed me out of my comfort zone and I am glad it did. It was a lot of fun and I have not participated in any kind of musical group since I was in middle school, so it brought me back to then. I found that working together was a very big part of this as well because we were tasked with making a beat with many different instruments, without speaking to one another. In order to do this we needed to work together and make something that sounded well together. Eventually we got the beat down and we even did it twice. We then got to the dancing part of the class, and we had partners, so we had to work with them to successfully dance together, and after a little practice it all came together. This activity showed myself and others that working together can make a positive difference and lead to enjoyment of the activities we participate in.

These experiences are very different from what we do in America because we don’t have the same connection with one another as the people in Brazil do. They are very involved with one another, while we tend to be very independent people and do things on our own. It is amazing to see how united the people are here in Brazil! America should strive to grow in relationships to be more like Brazil. 

From childhood, we are all told to learn from the past. However, it is just as important to recognize where the future is taking us and learn from that as well. There is no future without the past, and without the future the past is just empty stories.

The Ipiranga Museum is the perfect image for remembering the past. The museum tells the stories of the founding of Brazil as first a colony and then a nation of its own. The museum features a multitude of beautiful paintings depicting the era of slavery, but also paintings of the triumph of independence. What I found most beautiful are the glass orbs of water lining the grand staircase. Each orb contains water from a river in Brazil and serves as yet another portrayal of all of the influences that have made this country so amazing.

That is the funny thing about history: whether it is one’s personal history or the history of countries that span centuries, there is always something to be learned. Studying the past, whether it is on the grand national scale or the intimate personal scale, has the potential for new insight. We can find deeper meaning in our own stories by looking back at our histories.

Nevertheless, history is not the only pathway to knowledge. The future has so much to teach us as well. Though the future is uncertain, we can see the advancements before our very eyes if we pay close attention.

It is so easy to look into the past and analyze how we could have made a different decision or changed the outcome of a situation, but it is much harder to apply the lessons we learn to our future path. In my history, I have struggled to come out of my shell with new people and to enjoy experiences that I initially dreaded. However, I can already see growth in myself while on this trip, and I fully intend to apply what I have learned for years to come.

Routine. Everything Americans do is dictated by their routine and schedule; at least that’s how it is for me. During the school year, my Google calendar runs my life, telling me when the next event of the day begins. However, this is not necessarily the case in Brazil, specifically in our museum visit. Throughout the trip, plans have changed or been modified, and learning to be flexible is one of the challenges many people in my class, including me, have had to wrap our minds around. So when our scheduled museum trip was threatened because of a slight miscommunication, our rigid mindset was quick to complain and fuss over the disappointment of missing out on our scheduled museum trip. Were we going to be able to explore the museum? Do the leaders of our trip know what is happening? Should I have brought a book? Are we going to stick to the schedule? Did I say schedule? It was scheduled.

However, within a few minutes and some group discussion surrounding our entrance into the museum, we were given the ok to wait until our tickets were valid to enter. And the few minutes were worth the wait. In groups of two or three, we all successfully entered the beautiful, stunning Ipiranga Museum. What seemed to be an unsolvable hitch in our schedule, turned into an educational experience both from the Ipiranga Museum itself and the surrounding situation.

I learned about the beauty of being flexible in everyday situations and discovered the complex history stored in the Ipiranga Museum. And even with one small inconsequential inconvenience, the day was an absolute success with Ipiranga in the morning, lattes at lunch, and AI and laser printing for the afternoon’s adventures.