PUC - Pontifica Universidade Catolica

And now a little about the reason I'm actually here. 

The school I'm attending has a really good reputation in Brazil, and is definitely one of the best private schools in the country.  It has strong programs in everything from engineering to literature, and a very new and popular international relations department at their instituto de relações internacionais.  

The university itself is located in Gávea, a really nice area 2km from the beach and above the wealthy Leblon neighborhood.  It's right on the edge of the botanical garden, the Jardim Botânico, which is one of the largest national parks in the world.  All over campus are examples of Brazil's famous biodiversity, with different plants, flowers, and tress from all over the country (just like AU!).  This basically means it looks like you're in a rain forest the whole time.  Yesterday I fell asleep on a bench in a garden, and woke up with palm trees and giant leaves shading me from the sun--pretty cool.  

There's tons of different places to eat too--in which I can't help but notice a very strong social stigma.  There are expensive sushi and international type restaurants in one area, and the cafeteria on the other side of campus--plus countless little snack stands right outside the gates selling açaí, meat skewers, salgados, and the drinks of choice, guaraná, matte, and of course, coke.  This means you can spend about $15 on some sushi and be fashionable, or $2.50 on a HUGE meal of rice and beans, meat, salad, rolls, dessert, and a drink at the cafeteria.  So basically I live in the cafeteria.

And then they have classes too!  I wish I could get into which classes I'm taking, but I'm still not really sure.  The whole registration process is almost impossible.  Almost every day or two I receive an email half in Portuguese and half in broken English trying  to explain the next extremely important thing I have to do to be registered.  The problem is, the emails rarely form a complete idea, and when they do, they are immediately contradicted by the next email I receive.  So I'm trying.  I'm taking a Portuguese language class, which is interesting because it's cool to hear novice Portuguese with all the different accents, English, Spanish, Norwegian, French, etc.  Then I have Brazilian Foreign Policy and Social Brazilian Debate, which are both very interesting.   I'm experimenting with a few more so we'll see what I end up with.  The strange thing is that in order to maintain a 15 credit load at AU, which is 12.5 hours a week, I need to take 22 hours a week of class here.  I don't really know why the US thinks class time in Latin America is not as valuable as theirs. 

In all, I really like the school, it's such an amazing feeling to be in such a different environment.  Oh, and I almost for got to say, you can see the statue of Cristo from some of the class rooms.  Even if you don't catch him, you're guaranteed an amazing view of the mountains.  

Hopefully I'll be writing more as I start settling in!  

I

One Week Down

I've been in Rio for over a week now.  Things to update you on include moving to my new and permanent residence here, attending my first week of class, and just making it through a week in general.

On Saturday I grabbed a taxi in Ipanema to take me to the apartment where I'm now living with my host family.  The cab took me quickly out of the 2 blocks that I had begun to feel comfortable in and off to the neighborhood of Cosme Velho and Laranjeiras.  When I saw the tower that was going to be my new home the address then made sense.  That number I couldn't figure out, 1502, turns out to be the apartment number.  Fifteenth floor, second apartment.  And I thought living on Leonard Six was cool. I got in the elevator, my ears popped, and I was there...with no idea what to expect.

I was greeted by my "host-mom" Fernanda, her two college age kids Ruby and Dillon, and Funk, the dog.  (Agatha the cat was hiding).  Everyone was very nice and welcoming and we sat for somewhat of a group interview--me on one side and them on the other.  However, what grabbed my attention more than anything was their window, facing west towards Corcovado, home of the modern wonder of the world "Cristo Redentor". Not only can you see him, but he's looking right at you--and the thousands of other cariocas that are practically within reach at all times.  Regardless of your religion, it's pretty powerful.  I don't know if it's that Cristo is always looking down on the city, or that the city is always looking up at Cristo, but something about seeing the statue peek through buildings and granite hills everywhere leaves you with a certain comfort.

That night, I went out with Dillon and his friend Lucas to a place called Lapa.  As I've said on facebook, it's just like New Hampshire, if you switch trees with people.  The main street was closed off by the police and there were people everywhere.  We went into one huge bar and played pool for a while and had a few drinks.  Then, we started walking upstairs to what I expected to be your average night club.  However, instead of "DJ Kid Lucky" there was a stage and spotlights on two live singers, with a complete brass band playing live and incredible samba music.  And a cover of "Welcome to the Jungle." (I knew the words!).  The coolest thing was by far the people.  Every type of person could be seen coupled and dancing samba.  There were 45 year old couples dancing next to teenagers.

To be continued...