How you holding up? etc.

Realizing the majority of my posts have been about the 4 day excursion in Indaiatuba/Campinas, I feel a need to let you know what life is like in my semi-permanent home of Curitiba. But that's hard. Life slowed down a lot. The reality of what I'm doing pushed to the forefront. After getting picked up on Sunday at 6 am at the bus station, a lot of it has been at this computer. I wake. I use easyportuguese.com, a dictionary and a phrasebook and study. I write, I read, I talk to friends, and at dinner time my roommates come home and we talk and time passes and somehow another day is near.

So it's slowed down, but not a waste. I'm closer to autonomous now. I'm not hanging out with Carlos taking me around. I have about 18 free hours on my own. So I am building up my confidence. This isn't Europe. This is a big city, and obviously has some experience with tourists/foreigners, but not really. So the struggle is larger without the language, and it does get frustrating.

But it's nice. It's nice weather. It's got good transport. Things are still interesting, I mean, I haven't discovered everything yet. Today I was walking past a car repair shop and there was a donkey. This country is addicted to soap operas, which run in primetime, 6x a week.

And, so, this week is when I realized I was here, and it's not really a vacation. So, I guess it's success that I adjust so quick? Or does everyone. How long do you spend each day caring about where else you could be? I mean, this was remarkably easy. With quite a bit of help, granted, but, you can sell your valuables and move to a different country without falling into crippling depression. As I look out the window, there is a sky of lights, below a sky filled with lights, and it's not shocking.

Is it more fun? I don't know. Is it difficult? At times. The differences are just gimmicks. Milk is in cardboard and not refrigerated. The cups are small. So, Brazil as compared to America is incredibly interesting in the eyes of a food consumer.

But the people are very similar. Our personalities more alike than not. We are both loud, go out the way I think of it, these things.

The more you are prepared to shake things up the more likely you are to find it wasn't that extreme after all.