My year in Juiz de Fora

Me and my city
see all photos »

Hahahaha, how do I explain my year in Juiz de Fora.

Before I begin, I would like to apologise for my very bad english. Generally, I speak and write well but after 11 months speaking and writing in portuguese, my english has become disgusting. Anyways, here is the story ..........

I think that I have too many stories to tell, too many amazing people that I have met and too many amazing places that I have seen.

Well, first off some info about the city. Juiz de Fora has a population of about 500 000 ppl and is 3 hrs north of Rioand 8 hrs from Sao Paulo by bus. It is a city known for its night life (which is great for me) and is not a tourist city. Also, though it may appear easy to say, after 11 months living here, I can not properly say the city's name.

At a party (translated) administering directly to the mouth. goot times
see all photos »

I love living in this city. The shopping AMAZING (my mother is going to kill me when I get home) and in my opinion is that this city is only beaten by Sao Paulo and Rio. I love the night life. Every weekend there is either a huge free alcohol party or a 12 hr trance party. At these parties there are thousands of people all having a good time, as the parties are advertised in Rio. Imagine being able  to drink as much beer or gummy (in my opinion, a very  dangerous substance made out of red strawberry juice and vodka. I now know why all of my brasilian friends say to me "Don't drink gummy!!!") for ony 25 to 35 reais??? AMAZING!! Also, the city is reasonably safe. Voted as the third safest city in Brasil, I have never had anything stolen or ever been hurt.  But my island friend did manage to have his ipod stolen on the busiest (when i say busy i mean busy) street in the city, out the front of his school at 7 am. lols, what an idiot.

Me and my school. It is 120 years old
see all photos »

Mentioning friends. I would never have been able to survive without my group of exchangers and my brasilian friends. An eclectic group, the exchangers come from around the world, with members including some girlys from the USA, a white boy from an island named bermuda, an aussie (that is me), a viking from denmark and a samurai from Japan. Our once a week movie dates (a movie in english only costs 3.50 reais(thats less than 2 dollars) and our 140 reais tabs at bars (how can u manage to spend 140 reais at a bar when a large bottle of beer only costs 3 reais? the answer is lots of caipirinhas!!). Also our experimentation with Brasilian Chinese, Brasilian Italian and Brasilian pizza was quite interesting. Also, our backyard footbal that ends in a game of mines and a lot of drunk exchange stupids! How fun!!!

Well, about Brasilians. I love my host family. If i had received a bad one, I dont think I could have survived. My host sis who is great at parties, my host brother who is only 14 but knows so much about everything and my host parents who balance each other out so well when they are so different. I dont think I really have the words to explain it!

I only dont know how I can manage to write so little when I have done sooooooooo much here. I think that I have too many stories to tell, too many amazing people that I have met and too many amazing places that I have seen. A year as an exchange student is difficult. You have the best times in your life but also the worst. However, if I had the chance, I would never swap my memories from my year in this city for anything else in the world.

Will include more from my travels around Brasil and a short trip to Peru.