My departure from the United States quickly approaches and I invite you all to follow me on my journey to Santa Catarina, Brazil. I have chosen to postpone the traditional college experience and embark on a bridge year abroad. This adventure consists of eight months in a strange and new place. During this time I will be assisting in whale or otter conservation or working at an animal rehabilitation center! I will be staying with a host family but I will be doing plenty of traveling as well.
I shall keep you all posted on the places I see, which I hope includes beaches, rainforests, amazing cities like Rio, and engaging little villages. Like most of you I have very limited ideas as to how this trip will play out, but I have GREAT EXPECTATIONS none the less!
Some questions wandering around my brain include: Will I pick up the language easily? How will the food be? Will poverty or underdevelopment be visible in a country so distant from our own? How is the day to day life of a Brazilian family different from ours? I hope to answer these questions for you and myself very soon. Some things I am sure of though. This year will be amazing. I will have the time of my life and have no regrets. I will return home a changed man, seeing the world through new eyes.
