This time next week I will be in Brazil. Say WHAT? Here I am, sitting on my couch in the AC, watching bad TV and chatting away with friends and in one week from today I will be in a new country, toting around bags, meeting new people, hearing a new language, potentially in total chaos. While that is somewhat mind-boggling, it also doesn't seem quite real, so as of yet, I'm not really concerned. And that is totally apparent by the state of my room/packing/portuguese fluency (or lack-there-of).
Anyways, as more of a introduction/first post as this was meant to be, I will discuss what I'm doing this semester a little bit. On September 1st, I will be starting my travels to my eventual destination of Belém, Brazil. For all you folks that aren't experts at the geography of Brazil, Belém is at the mouth of the Amazon in the state of Pará, (it happens to be the capital of the state), which is in the Northeastern region of the country. In said city/state/country, I will be doing SIT's study abroad program entitled "Amazon Resource Management and Human Ecology". Perfect for the budding little environmentalist I am. Throughout the first couple months, I will be staying with a family in Belém, going on excursions down the river, taking intensive Portuguese classes and others more environmentally inclined, touring areas impacted by society and major industries (think deforestation, dams, mining) and staying with two other families/groups of people. The month of November is primarily devoted to an independent study project of my choosing. This could take me really anywhere in the Amazon and cover any environmental or social issue that peaks my interest. During that month I will be doing tons of research and writing a terribly long paper and then the group comes together again in December and present our findings. I can describe the semester in so few words, I feel like it is going to fly by in an instant!
I feel soo lucky to be able to have this experience and I hope to be able to share it with all of you as often as possible. The possibilities of internet may be few and far between, (especially while out on the river), but I'll update as often as possible!
