Chegar - arrival in Sao Paolo

after a 10 hour direct flight from newark, i am in brazil! it's surreal how i'm actually here... and actually writing a blog. it's probably because i finally got my internet to work and because i need to finish a book by monday... but it's all good! i'm currently at my grandpa's brother's apartment in sao paolo with his wife and my cousin. sao paolo is SUCH a huge city... when i was coming in from the plane, i literally could not see past the city limits... it's overwhelming and breathtaking. awesome, awesome.

it's been really amazing being with my relatives from brazil... it's such a different feeling to interact with asians not in the u.s. or asia! my uncle, Will, knows mandarin, taiwanese, and portuguese; his daughter, my 19 year old cousin (andrea) knows portuguese, taiwanese, and a bit of english; my great uncle (daniel) knows mandarin, taiwanese, portuguese and a bit of japanese; and his wife (marina) knows japanese, portuguese, and a bit of taiwanese. it's quite incredible how i'm getting around these family conversations with my broken portuguese, mandarin, and english... hahah. it's really fun and is inspiring me to be multilingual. i love my grandpa's younger brother! he's such a joker... and really good at portuguese. he's been in brazil for 37 years! when i couldn't get my internet to work for a while, he kept saying how my laptop (3 year old macbook pro) was too old and no good, and that i should just leave it in brazil. he has also asked how to say my name (we settled on Joana), if i have a boyfriend, and if my parents cried when they sent me to the airport. also, daniel walks around the apartment in a white tank top and basketball shorts spouting fluent portuguese and taiwanese... so bauss. marina is also so great! she's a brazilian japanese, so she was born and raised in brazil. she's first generation brazilian, and has been able to keep japanese going for her children as well. so proud of my bilingual/trilingual relatives :') she's also an AMAZING cook! for lunch, we had this steamed tofu/egg seafood soup (SO. GOOD.), humongous grilled fish, bitter vegetable (koo gwa... lol), spicy cucumbers, and brazilian salad (whose dressing is a combination of a vinaigrette and taco bell sauce, hahah). it was all topped off with acai soda :) i feel like i can really get used to this fresh fruits, veggies, and seafood here. :)
and men, daniel knows what he's doing; a japanese wife can result in amazing, homecooked japanese food ;)

ALSO, it is so hot here, omgness! my body has been so lethargic all day, and it's only 80 degrees now... fortaleza is supposed to be much hotter and sunnier. it's incredibly bright and sunny here. i really can't believe it. as soon as i left the airport, i was hit with sunny 80 degree weather... unreal considering that when i left nj, it was snowing. i leave for fortaleza on monday, so i hope my body adjusts to the heat by then! we're getting churrasco (brazilian bbq) in sao paolo for dinner tonight; i. am. excited. onwards to reading, dinner, and attempting to keep cool.

oh, & a side note: i met my first brazilian newark resident on the plane ride here! carlos is an electric guitarist and has been living in newark for 20 years; he's born and raised in curitiba. we had really great conversations about music and life on the plane (occupying 4 hrs out of the 10 hr flight), and we'll be sure to meet up over the summer so i can practice my portuguese and swap music with him. it's so sweet because he's playing a gig at his hometown and visiting his daughter, who's 22. our conversation was so truly genuine and enjoyable, and he was so helpful in enforcing the generalizations that brazilians are so friendly, open, and have big hearts. :) my family has been great so far, and i can't wait to meet more brazilians once i'm in fortaleza. TTFN; beijos e tchau!