Initial Post

I expected amazing food and kind people in Brazil. My only experience with Brazilian culture is through friends and food, so I do not have many expectations apart from those two areas. I know that there is a lot of pride about Brazil from Brazilians, so I expect to find people that are very proud of their culture, and hopefully willing to share it with us. I also know that some Brazilians may see Americans as annoying tourists, but I think that if I show respect and a willingness to learn, people will open up. 

The Brazilian culture that I have experienced so far has been through my friends who are from Brazil. Everyone that I know from Brazil is very nice and friendly. I know that Sao Paulo is a large city, so I think that many people will be hurried and purposeful in where they are going. I think that although Sao Paulo will be busy, there is a lot of character and life there to experience. I think that people will be helpful as long as I show respect to people.

Since I have visited other countries in South America, I think that that I will be able to adapt very easily to the customs. Since Brazilian culture is very different from the culture in the United States, it may be intimidating at times. I think the most important part of this experience will be leaning into discomfort and asking questions. The difficult part will be that I do not speak Portuguese so at times there may be a language barrier if I am asking questions. Hopefully since I speak Spanish I will be able to understand most of the Portuguese when I need to. 

I think at first it will be uncomfortable to immerse myself into Brazilian culture. There may be times when there are cultural differences that I am not aware of and I will need to adapt the way I act in order to take those into account. I think that flexibility will be important in finding my way through Brazil, but eventually I will become accustomed to Brazilian culture and going back to the United States will be tough.  

The first step that I will take to immerse myself in the culture will be to try and learn some Portuguese. I will try all the food that I am offered (within reason) and continuously try new food. I will also be trying to observe even when I am not in class in order to gain as much as I can from this experience. The culture here seems to be very warm and welcoming and I think that it is one that I will be able to adapt to quite easily.