Holly

After spending a week camping in the rugged Arizona desert I have finally arrived in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil!  My experience volunteering with No More Deaths providing humanitarian aid at the border was simply amazing.  The coordinators of the Alternative Spring Break made it clear over and over again that our service was appreciated and I truly felt like I was making a difference as I was hauling gallons of water through the harsh terrain.  I will be posting a more thorough description of how I passed my time there in the very near future, along with photos, so check back soon.

I arrived in Brazil this morning without any problems, aside from having to be rerouted when the first leg of my flight out of Tucson was canceled.  Luckily I was able to check my email at the airport in Tucson before I left because my host family placement was changed two days ago… for the third time!  I was completely out of touch with the world in the desert and I just could have seen myself showing up at the wrong door when I arrived in Salvador.  But no worries, everything worked out and I am extremely pleased with my host family placement!

Tomorrow begins spring quarter, along with my intensive Portuguese classes.  My hosts tell me that I already speak Portuguese very well, although I would say I´m mostly just faking it by filling in the gaps with Spanish.  I spent the early morning wandering around my new neighborhood and am now experiencing tropical heat for the first time.  This is hot like I have never ever felt in my life!  I think I should just attach a water IV to my body because I sweat more this morning than I did all of last year.  Did I mention it´s hot?

Now it´s time to unpack and have a nap.  Até logo!

My contract has been approved!  My study abroad is official in every way.

What a great day at Evergreen!  So great, in fact, that I decided to test out my new camera right here on campus.  Enjoy!

The ladies from the Evergreen crew team offering up some baked goods to raise money!

I have the busiest week ever coming up and it already started today. Tomorrow I am coming to Evergreen to collect signatures from the International Studies Adviser, the Dean of International Programs, and Registration and Records for my Individual Study Contract next quarter. The process for an ILC is very thorough, and it will be nice to have it finally taken completed. Plus, I am really looking forward to seeing all of my Greener friends. I miss the forest so much now that I’m living back in the city.

On Saturday we are throwing a fundraiser for our group volunteering with No More Deaths at the border. I took the night off work to have some fun and participate in the festivities. On Sunday I have to work, then afterward I have an extra rehearsal with the Women’s Choir, another dress rehearsal on Monday evening, then the performance on Tuesday evening. I also have to turn my research project outline into an actual draft of my paper between now and next Thursday so that I can plan my presentation to give in class in one week. I also have two house guests this weekend and have to study for my Portuguese final that is one week from Friday. If a person could place my level of anxiety on a measurable scale, I think I would still be off the charts.

One small relief is that I just learned a friend of mine will be flying to Brazil to meet me in Rio de Janeiro at the end of April! I visited her in Europe a few years ago when she was studying abroad, and now she’s going to come and visit me. My intensive Portuguese program ends on April 24, and that means I have to leave my host family’s home the following day. I will leave Salvador on Saturday the 25th and my friend is going to meet me in Rio the next day on Sunday! While I am perfectly capable of traveling alone, I think it will be safer and more fun to have a travel buddy. She’s also going to visit Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay with me before she flies back to the States. She is my oldest friend and fellow world traveler, and I cannot wait to visit three of the most interesting cities in the entire Southern Cone with her.

Yesterday I received an email from the University of Washington Bothell informing me that I have been accepted to the Master of Arts in Cultural Studies (MACS) program starting in the fall!  I’m going to grad school!  It is such a relief to know that I have a plan for the next couple of years.  Maybe now I can relax and stop planning so much… if only for a little while.  I have already decided that I will eventually be getting my PhD, and it’s just nice to know that I really am on track.

This week in my Latin American Studies seminar we are focusing on issues at the border and the immigrant experience.  This is a topic I am already very familiar with, as I have made immigration advocacy and reform a key part of my undergraduate academic research.  Today we had a guest speaker who came to present to our class about her experiences conducting research about immigrants from other countries in Central America at Mexico’s southern border, or la otra frontera.  It really opened my eyes about the complexity of border politics.  People who come from Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala all have to cross into Mexico before they can get to the United States, and the dangers they encounter there are far more hazardous and violent than those that await them at the U.S.-Mexico border, if you can believe that.  It’s like there is no end to the level of monstrosity that human beings are able to achieve.

Tomorrow I have a test in my Portuguese class.  I am shocked that the final exam is one week from Friday, and then the quarter is over!  I’ll be on a plane headed south in less than three weeks.  Ok, I should get busy.  I already feel the anxiety pains creeping up from my gut…