A Despedida
Joshua Reason
April 23, 2013
I’m not a very sentimental person, but saying goodbye to Lençóis and all of the people I had the pleasure of spending this time with was one of the hardest parts about my experience. Coming to Brazil was the first experience I had being abroad for such a long period of time. This lack of...
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Martial Arts in Brazil
Joshua Reason
April 23, 2013
Here is a video that I made at the beginning of my time in Brazil about the different types of martial arts I have encountered. There are three different styles featured here, but there are many more that can be found throughout Brazil (one example is Jiu Jitsu, which I discovered after making this video). Enjoy!
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A Year of Discovery
Joshua Reason
April 4, 2013
Here’s a video I made on my time in Brazil. Special thanks to Lola Perez for providing about 90% of the photos and video that you will see (a little bit of an exaggeration, but she did contribute a lot). Enjoy!
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Ear Infections and Awesome Families
Joshua Reason
March 6, 2013
Having an ear infection abroad has been one of the most intense experiences of my life. It all started with a sore throat. Though my throat was in pain, I was not worried about it at all. I thought I could take care of it with a combination of cough drops, tea and over-the-counter medication....
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Negão
Joshua Reason
January 15, 2013
People call me by many different names here. I originally introduced myself as “Joshua” to everyone I met, but I soon learned that the “ua” part was difficult to pronounce for some locals. Eventually I started telling people to call me “Josh”, but ending on the “sh” sound was hard for a lot of people...
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Being Happy with Where You Are
Joshua Reason
December 11, 2012
After our cohort’s first training seminar I was sick. It wasn’t anything serious, but nevertheless I decided that once I got back to Lençóis I would take it easy for a little while. I have been taking jiu jitsu classes for about a month now. I just bought a jiu jitsu kimono from Salvador before...
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Get Over Yourself
Joshua Reason
November 27, 2012
I don’t give hugs. I have a couple of reasons for this, but the main one is that I am adverse to physical contact. Coming to Brazil, I never thought that this and many other personal preferences I have would make my experience more challenging. For example, it’s very common in Brazil to greet someone...
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Being Green in Brazil
Joshua Reason
September 17, 2012
Like most developing countries, Brazil has prioritized rapid development and economic growth over sustainable practices and clean waste management. This isn’t a criticism of the country, but rather a sad reality that comes with aspiring to be an economic superpower. This fact was evident to me during my time in Salvador da Bahía, the third...
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My Life Trajectory
Joshua Reason
July 10, 2012
My road to taking a gap year has been a long and interesting one. I recently graduated from a private high school in Atherton, California where gap years were always presented as “Backpacking across Europe”; although gap years looked fun and exciting, I had yet to hear a story that justified putting college on hold...
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