It's so hard to study while "studying" abroad...

I love going to a Catholic University. Wednesday was São Sebastião Day so we didn’t have class. Of course, we used this free day to beach it up hardcore. We hopped a bus 20 minutes south to Barra de Tijuca. This area is technically still in Rio, but you would never know it by the look of it. The gorgeous beach was very wide, clean, and had beautiful clear water. We passed a good chunk of the day taking naps in the shade and taking cool dips in the sea. The sun is so strong here that even after re-applying sunscreen three times and staying under an umbrella when not in the water, all of us still managed to get scorched.



Barra (pronounced baha) is considered the “Hollywood” of Rio. This is where many of the “new rich” people such as futébol stars, singers, and actors reside and it is also where they are beginning construction on facilities for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics! Although I didn’t get to explore the city part of this area, I definitely want to come back and learn about the Olympic plans. Everyone here is very excited and proud to host both the 2016 Olympics, and the 2014 World Cup. The country will be changing a lot within the next few years and I hope to get a feel for the city before and after the changes ☺ Below is an ad for the Olympics that is all over the city. It reads, "another future starts now."



The other day, I was reading a Brazilian paper and noticed a whole article dedicated to a NYT article about how Rio is cracking down on security before the Olympics. It read something like “the world is noticing our security efforts” and seemed rather proud to be mentioned in the NYT (with a inset picture of the NYT article). It’s funny how integrated America is in Brazilian life. Half of the programs on TV are in English and have voice over or subtitles. Many English words are used in the names of stores, food, or other products. Maybe they think English looks chic? Kind of like those people who get tattoos in Chinese or Arabic because they think it looks cool? I’m not sure if that’s the reason or not, but either way it’s hilarious to hear the different pronunciations.

My top 4 favorite English words in Portugûese:
1. Chic (pronounced and written “chique”). Gets me every time ☺
2. Picnic (pronounced “pick-e-nick-y”). Hilarious!
3. Hotdog (pronounced “hot-che-dog-y”). Also great.
4. Titanic (pronounced "chi-che-neek-y"). Seriously couldn't stop laughing...

Love it ☺

I also went on a very nice walk this evening to Lagoa, a lake just down the street from my apartment. It had just stormed heavily and the sun came out. It was gorgeous! We even saw parts of a rainbow!

I took the opportunity to take lots of pictures with the one and only.. Christ ;)




PS- Yes I actually am studying also. I gave a presentation on my hometown today in class and talked all about cornfields, the windmill farm, and my grandparents Dairy farm. Tomorrow I have my first test! Although this intensive language month is not technically for a grade, if you don’t “pass” you can’t take the next level during the semester. I better get studying!