And We're Back!

Praia Copacabana

Except this time, I'm not writing from Santiago, Chile.

This past Sunday afternoon, I joined 6 other Northwestern students (there are 11 of us total) at O'Hare airport and left Chicago for my second, South American destination: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. My flights went well, save for an hour long delay leaving Miami, and I arrived on Monday morning to a very warm and mildly humid city (~85 degrees). It was like stepping into the summer season I never had. And what's crazy is it's their WINTER. And the Brazilians I've talked to think it's COLD. I've had two responses to this: (1) emitting my characteristic, very loud, single burst of laughter (which has caught many off guard...even, I think, offending some); and (2) inviting them to Chicago for their Christmas holiday (all have declined). But in all seriousness, in the four(!) days I've been here, Rio de Janeiro has shown itself to be the tropical paradise that it has come to be known as: incredible weather, green hills, beautiful beaches, a colorful culture, and very nice and warm people.

Along with the four other guys in the program, I am currently staying in the Merlin Copacabana Hotel in Copacabana (no, not that Copacabana). There were some issues with the hot water in our apartments in our original building (where the girls are staying two doors down), so we've been staying here in the hotel for the past week. We are actually moving buildings tomorrow morning. It would have been nice to stay with a host family, but I cannot complain. The rooms are very nice, we're a short taxi ride to school, and it takes us less than five minutes to get to the beach. I know many of you asked about my address while I was in Chile, so here is my Brazilian one:

Benjamin Harris
Real Residence Hotel
Avenida Princesa Isabel 500 RM #612B
Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
CEP (I'm thinking this is the Postal Code): 22011-010

Avenida Princesa Isabel

It would be fun to get some snail mail, but remember, it is just that: SNAIL mail (that is, outside of express or priority mail, it probably will take 2 weeks to get to me...just like it will take and took 2 weeks for things to get to the States).

Classes started on Wednesday. All are at and taught through Fundação Getulio Vargas, recently voted Brazil's best university. The primary focus in country development and how Brazil is inserting itself into a globalized world, so I'll be taking classes that range from social history of Brazil to public policy issues to economic development models. They are certainly not my forte or similar to what I have been studying for the past three years, but I am very excited to have the chance to learn the subject first-hand in an emerging country. And of course, I am taking Portuguese. While there are noticeable differences between it and Spanish, there are enough similarities to make me feel more confident about learning it. Just give me 14 weeks of class and a couple of Brazilian friends :)

Sorry for the boring post. Give me a couple of days/weeks, and I'll have more exciting things to tell. Tomorrow we take a tour of the city, so there's a start. I just figured I'd cover the basics and welcome everyone (some for the very first time) back to my fantastic voyage.

And so the second adventure begins...

Back in South America...and still wearing v-necks.