Sadly, I am preparing for my flight back to the United States. I have honestly loved every moment of the last 5 months I have spent here in Brazil and it's going to be difficult to reflect back on everything I have learned and how I have grown as a person, but I'll try here:
First of all, this is the first time in my life I have moved to a completely foreign country. I have lived in the United States and Italy, but my mother is American and my father is Italian so it really does not count as "foreign" in my book. I previously had little to no contact with the Brazilian culture and the Portuguese language. In addition to this, I arrived here completely alone. Without knowing anyone in Belo Horizonte. Yup, I was crazy.
The first (obvious) thing I learned was Portuguese. Before I arrived in Brazil, I studied the basics (e.g. grammar and like 1,000 vocab words) in order to get by. I practiced it a bit while I was on dialogue in Switzerland with my Brazilian professor, Denise Garcia, and the first time I went to Brazil in May for 2 weeks to visit my friend Ricardo in Recife. However, I developed my skills the most since I arrived here in Belo Horizonte. I still remember during my first week when I met people and I had to constantly look up words in my phone dictionary that I did not know.. or worse yet... when I kept going to Subway and they kept adding some mystery meat item to my sandwich, to which I would have to tell them I am vegetarian and look apologetically as they threw away the sub they had just made.
Nowadays, I am fine with Portuguese in any situation. I read, write, and speak it daily and I have no issues expressing anything I want to say. I guess this is what happens when you only speak Portuguese every day for 5 months and your only friends are Brazilian.
Again with the obvious observations, I learned a lot about Brazil itself. Before I came here, my knowledge of Brazil was limited to Dilma, the names of a few cities, the Amazon, and the fact people here speak Portuguese. Now I can tell you the name of all 26 states and their capitals. If someone speaks to me, I can tell you exactly where in Brazil they are from. I can name all of the influential presidents, architects, and other figures in Brazil's history. You get the point. Living somewhere is different from studying it because the facts are literally all around you. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard "This building was built by the famous Oscar Niemeyer" or "Lula did this." Then of course, the biweekly protests also add to my knowledge of Brazilian politics.
In regards to safety, I have learned to become more aware of my surroundings, "street smarts" if you will. I was assaulted once and there is no way I am letting that happen again. Living in Brazil, you need to always be aware what is happening around you and be prepared for everything. Never have I lived in a place where I have had to use these skills (Hawaii? Boston? Rome? Yeah no) so this experience in Brazil has allowed me to improve my guard and learn how to protect myself in violent countries.
Lastly, I have learned that you do not need much to be happy. In recent years, I have become less and less materialistic. Here in Brazil, there are so many people who do not have a lot - yet you will never see their smile fade away. I am also blown away by how nice everyone is. Here in Brazil, you know everyone. The shopkeeper, the baker, the grocery store manager. They know you name, they know your story. You're friends with everyone you interact with. However, in Boston and most other places, this is a very foreign concept.
In general, there is this sort of vibe in Brazil that I have never found anywhere else, and it keeps me wanting to return here after I graduate.
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