Half way there...

Today I am exactly half way through my time here in Brazil. In a way, it feels like the time is flying by, but in another it feels like I have been here forever. This whole business of going on an exchange is completely unique, and never ceases to suprise you, no matter how many times you go (this is my third). I say this, because you invariably spend months waiting to jet off, dreaming of your escape and planning your adventures. Yet, when you are there, there will always be a part of you that longs for home. This inconvenient paradox often leaves me confused. How can I want both things at once?

Brazil has brought me everything I had hoped it would. Fantastic new friends, beautiful new scenery, culture, music, dance, parties, beaches, sunshine, and the day to day living in an entirely new reality. But there are times when I miss my family, speaking my language, being surrounded by my old friends who know me inside out... even the seasons and my big comfy bed. I´m told that the middle of your exchange is always the hardest, because you really start to miss things - I can vouch for that being very true. I have every reason to be euphorically happy here, but the last week or so I´ve been suffering from a lot of saudade. Saudade is a Portuguese word that has no translation, but means sadness, longing, nostalgia, dating from the times of the Portuguese discoveries, when men left their families on the other side of the world and travelled to the New World.

But now I´ve reached the peak of my exchange. The hardest part of adjusting to a new life is over. This period will pass and I'll be back on the up. To mark this moment, something incredible happened last night. It rained. After three entire months without seeing so much as a cloud, the heavens opened for a few minutes and quenched the dry earth. So I´ll take it as nature's own centrefold in my Brazilian story so far. I'm looking forward to seeing what the second half of the story will bring.