2 weeks until Brazil

I will be in Recife, Brazil in exactly 2 weeks from today. It seems like it was just the other day that my advisor asked me if I would consider going on a Study Abroad to Brazil. I had thought about it before, but always used the excuse that I could not afford it or couldn't stay away from my family for that long. Well, I still can't afford it but after praying about it and talking to my family about the possibility of me going to Brazil, I felt like it was the right thing to do. My husband and children are so incredibly supportive. They told me that I should go and take advantage of this opportunity to get to know Brazil and the culture. I know I will miss them so much, but Skype and e-mails will help with that. So will a few phone calls, like the one on Father's Day and my son's 13th birthday in July.

I'm super excited to finally get to know a little bit of Brazil. I'm mostly excited about meeting people, eating different foods, sightseeing and admiring the beautiful paisagens and architecture and, of course, going to the beach! I miss the ocean so much, I hope we can go a few times. I also hope I can go visit some old Catholic churches and maybe even attend mass there; it's been a long time since I've attended mass, it would be fun:) I'm not sure what the people in Brazil will think of my nationality and weird accent, but I guess I will find out. I'm not planning on changing the way I speak, except for not using certain forbidden words that in Portugal are not a big deal but in Brazil are offensive. I'm glad my colleagues and professors have warned me about those!

The group of students, our TA, and program director that I'm going with are really friendly, and I'm sure we will have lots of fun together. Hope the next 2 weeks go by fast:).