Updates on my life, if you care.

Soooooo, I'm done with my internship (thank god.) It was starting to make me lose brain cells and I'm not kidding. I honestly couldn't speak in coherent sentences anymore, I had insomnia and couldn't fall asleep until 3AM most nights and I was up bright and early at 6:30 AM every morning. That compiled over the course of 2 months made me forget how to spell and talk in English. The Portuguese is more natural at this point for me when I'm tired, hell I even dream in Portuguese at this point. But anyway...I'm glad that's over.

And I leave for Hawaii @3:30 AM tomorrow morning! It will be wonderful! I don't think I'll have internet access except for my phone, so I think I'll be on a 2 week hiatus here, sorry to tell you. I'm super pumped.

College starts the day I get back from Hawaii. I guess I'm the worlds ultimate genius...planning vacation until the day class starts. That coupled with a 12 hour flight and 6 hour time difference will be extremely interesting on the first day of school. Kill me.

I finally got my dorm assignment! I have an on campus apartment with 4 other roomies. I don't know any of them. I'm a little nervous, but that's normal I guess. I was happy about getting the apartment because now I only have to share a bathroom with 4 other slobs, not 100. Plus, I didn't want to make all the other guys feel insecure when I was walking around the showers/bathroom obviously more "qualified" than most (TMI!!!!!) Joking but not really. But seriously.

Anyway, I got an email from my Portuguese teacher in Bahia, and I wanted to cry because I was so jealous. She was in Trancoso and I reaaaalllllly want to go there. Lucky Paulistana. Oh and my PORT book for this semester was supposed to cost $300, but because of this my school is not ordering it through the bookstore--but they still expect that you get the book. FML. I guess I'll have to return to drug dealing and selling my body so I can learn something.

Anyway, I thinks that's it for now! I will be able to respond to comments on my phone ( I think) but I don't like posting entries on my phone....but maybe I'll put pictures up...don't know. I'll talk to you later blogger friends. Love you all!

Ate breve,
Alex

Visas and Stuff

Alert: this post is all about questions.

So, for those of you that know about immigration to Brasil, could you please chime in?

I know that its somewhat difficult to get a permanent visa in Brasil. The easiest ways to get them apparently are by marrying and brasileiro or having a brasileiro baby. I probably already have one of those, come to think of it....

But lets say I don't want to get married or have a kid right away. If I wanted to be single and free in Brasil but still have residency, how would I go about doing that?

I know I can get a work visa, which could work. In your opinion, do you think that it would be difficult for a foreigner, with college degree, that speaks Portuguese with almost no accent (my Portuguese teachers mistook me for a Belorizontino each time I met one of them) to get a job in Brasil?


Can any of you offer any advise or ideas as to how I can stay in Brasil long term, and what the chances are of me securing a good job there?

Abracos

So, Whaddaya think of Portuguese?

                                            (This Picture has nothing to do with content below, I just like it)

When I first heard Portuguese, I honestly didn't know what the hell I was listening to. I remember hearing it for the first time in Orlando, Florida. We all know about Brasileiros and Jizzney. The Brasilian accent makes Disney sound like a dirty word, but we all know Jizzney is a magical childhood place of pleasure (okay, I'll stop with the sexual references, for now.)

But anyway, back on topic. When hearing Portuguese for the first time, I mistook it with French. This is sad because I took French starting in Middle School all the way through High School-shows how much I learned. But I also remember it sounding more beautiful and less annoying than the uppity sound French has a lot of the time. I didn't think much of this "encounter" with the foreign language until about 4 years ago, when I finally identified what I had heard while frolicking through Jizzney years before. IT WAS PORTUGUESE!

Personally, I love the language like no other language on the planet. It is incredibly beautiful. It is extremely diverse in accent. It is a world language that is poised to grow leaps and bounds in the coming years. It can be a difficult language to learn, that's for sure. The phonology is much harder than French in my opinion. Sometimes pronunciations don't make any sense (how did de become ji?), but the quirks make it so exotic.

I love all the accents that Portuguese possesses. I love the accents of Minas Gerais. Paulistas (interior) have a goofy accent that makes me laugh. I make fun of my Paulista teacher for it! Cariocas have a gutteral French influence that sounds great in Bossa Nova and Samba. I have been mistaken by Brasilians as a Belorizontino, which is a compliment and makes me feel like my Brasilian accent is coming along quite well (tootin' my horn here.)

My questions to my blogger friends is: What do you think of Portuguese? What Brasilian accents do you like? What sotaque do you have (or try to have) when you speak Porkandcheese? I look forward to hearing what you have to say!!

Beijos!