I believe life should be as unpredictable as possible. Not unrealistically, of course, yet just enough to add a flare of adventure every chance possible. Moments of oblivion and excitement bring out the child in us. So far, my Global Citizen Year in Brazil has been quite unpredictable, and I am really getting to know the curious and eager child in me.
Our first week in Brazil was in Salvador, Bahia. The winter there is ridiculously perfect; comfortably warm and soothing. Our hostel was a block away from the beach, which gave me a completely new city experience. Coming from New Jersey, I’m not use to walking around a large city and following a breeze to find an ocean. I went for a run along a sidewalk parallel to the ocean one afternoon, and this will be my one of many cliché yet true examples of purely unpredictable days in Brazil. So, I was lost in my thoughts as usual while running, completely absorbed by the new surroundings. As I was trying to organize and arrange my mind, filled with incorrect Portuguese and tons of questions about my future host family, plans, and such, I was suddenly swept off my feet. Quite literally, actually. A wave had crashed and reached the sidewalk where I was running. Completely soaking wet, I looked around and saw a few guys had fallen as well and found it hilarious. I caught myself laughing, too, and then picked myself up and went on running. Turns out, this wave that was at first obnoxious, was really perfectly refreshing! I realized I should take this mindset on daily; any wave that can knock you down only knocks you down if you let it. Instead of getting knocked down, just think that you got an unexpected splash of something new, and an opportunity to get back up.
I am currently in Capao, Bahia. Capao is quite difficult to explain with only words. Be sure to check out my video, “Glimpses into my First Weeks in Brazil”. So far, I’m glad to say I’ve tried a lot of new, unexpected things. Some examples are that I jumped in on a Capoeria class, and hiked up mountain Fumaça, twice. I attended a yoga class in an tree-house-ish-room by a woman who lived in a cave in India for seven years. Every day I wake up with no idea what I’ll be journaling about that night. My next big chapter starts in the beginning of October, when I move to my permanent home-stay and start my apprenticeship. Like just about everything else, I have no idea what to expect, and I love it.
