danlizbrasil (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} danlizbrasil) wrote,@ 2004-06-28 20:58:00 |
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I know what Daniel did two summers ago...
... and soon I will know even more. We spent Saturday afternoon and evening hanging out with this summer's Amigos leaders, who spend the weekends in Natal. The rest of the time they spend going from community to community checking on the volunteers, of which Daniel and Steven were two in the summer of 2002. Meeting them was wonderful for several reasons; I don~t know what was better, the fact that they were mostly female (a relief after three weeks of doing boy stuff with Daniel and Sergio) or the fact that they were all quite accomplished folks more or less our age. There was another girl who had applied for a Fulbright and not gotten it, so we commiserated. Two other girls have English boyfriends and have recently visited England and plan to move there any which way they can. Several were recent college grads, and a couple actually had degrees in Spanish and Portuguese. Hearing how far they had come with the languages was encouraging to me. We spent all afternoon chatting, and I learned a lot about what Daniel~s experience was like two years ago. The day was capped off with a lovely sushi dinner. I know I am supposed to be making Brazilian friends, but it was great to meet some amazing people I could actually converse with.
Most importantly, we got the low down on how to get back to Daniel~s host community and made plans to visit this weekend. I~m excited to finally see the place I sent all those letters to, but I~m going to be extra sure to take mosquito repellent after hearing a few dengue fever horror stories. (Although I~m sure that~s still a picnic compared to what Jillian just went through!)
Also, the resumes are translated and we may begin pounding the streets as soon as tomorrow... scary!
Tchau,
Liz ;)
... and soon I will know even more. We spent Saturday afternoon and evening hanging out with this summer's Amigos leaders, who spend the weekends in Natal. The rest of the time they spend going from community to community checking on the volunteers, of which Daniel and Steven were two in the summer of 2002. Meeting them was wonderful for several reasons; I don~t know what was better, the fact that they were mostly female (a relief after three weeks of doing boy stuff with Daniel and Sergio) or the fact that they were all quite accomplished folks more or less our age. There was another girl who had applied for a Fulbright and not gotten it, so we commiserated. Two other girls have English boyfriends and have recently visited England and plan to move there any which way they can. Several were recent college grads, and a couple actually had degrees in Spanish and Portuguese. Hearing how far they had come with the languages was encouraging to me. We spent all afternoon chatting, and I learned a lot about what Daniel~s experience was like two years ago. The day was capped off with a lovely sushi dinner. I know I am supposed to be making Brazilian friends, but it was great to meet some amazing people I could actually converse with.
Most importantly, we got the low down on how to get back to Daniel~s host community and made plans to visit this weekend. I~m excited to finally see the place I sent all those letters to, but I~m going to be extra sure to take mosquito repellent after hearing a few dengue fever horror stories. (Although I~m sure that~s still a picnic compared to what Jillian just went through!)
Also, the resumes are translated and we may begin pounding the streets as soon as tomorrow... scary!
Tchau,
Liz ;)
