Foz do Iguaçu, meaning “the singing rock” in native language, is one of the finalists in the competition New7Wonders of Nature, which is one of the reasons that I made it my destination from the 14th to the 18th December. With a group of 34 exchange students I visited the falls and it’s arbitraries attractions using four whole days.

With extensions into Argentine, Paraguay and Brazil, Iguazu Falls is the worlds largest waterfall with a total of 275 falls along the Iguazu River. We experienced the power of the flow many times with the falls of nothing less than 82 meters height resounding above our heads, feeling the blasts of water that repeatably blew our hair back. Or was it on the platform surrounded by endless streams of water, or was it on the speed boat close to the foot of the huge tale of Noah’s Arc; in every manner it was a boundless, vertically-placed sea. Read more…

One of the worst events of an exchange students year, is said to be Christmas. Sadness, to miss, and not-to-have-fun is the predicted conditions, not to mention the hunger of the home country’s traditions. However, without any of these, I faced the upcoming Christmas with a smile; nothing in my world could knock me down. Unfortunately, the output was very different.

A traditional danish Christmas consists, in my family, of a gathering of everybody. Arriving around 04pm, we greet all our relatives by starting small conversations informing ourselves about their health and wellness. It could be questions about American Football, work plans, hobbies, etc.; a very small talk. When everybody feels comfortable, the home-cooked dinner gets served.  Read more…

Another very interesting event of the trip to Pantanal, was the snorkeling which took place near the silver river, Rio da Prata, one of the best preserved rivers of Brasil, running more than 200 kilometers inside the borders of Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina.

The snorkeling took place on a local farm. We got split up in four groups, each one with our own guide, before we changed our clothes to the rented wetsuits; and off we went. There was a 45 minutes walk to the staringt point; 45 minutes of sunbathing in a wetsuit, sticking to the body like a chewing gum. I personally started to sweat, but under the circumstances - walking in the forest with mosquitoes with hunger - I chose to endure, instead of zipping my breast naked. After all, what is an adventure without a moment of suffering? Read more…

One of the best events in Pantanal was in my opinion the river rafting. As I mentioned in an earlier post:

The riverrafting took place at the river Rio Formoso, beginner level, rafting approximately 8 kilometers in a beautiful scenery with open sky, forests on both sides, living animals, and a burning sun. During the rafting we fought like warriors, excited of the blood rage flushing through our veins. We stole the oars of each other, pulled the enemy’s oarsmen into the water, span the boats around, and, most important, had a great time.

And that is truly correct. It was like a battle with four squadrons representing the Saxons, the Indians, the Russians, and the Vikings. With a Norwegian on my frigate we were the only battle ship with Scandinavians, why we of course were the Vikings. Read more…

From the 6th of November to the 14th I had scheduled a trip with Belo Brasil Tours to the largest wetland on earth; Pantanal. Only after the Amazon, Pantanal, as well, is the name of the region with the second largest biodiversity, giving an incredible opportunity to view a large number of different species regarding the fauna and flora.

The group consisted of about 39 exchange students from all over the world including South Africa, Italy, Belgium, Thailand, Norway, Denmark, France, the United States of America, New Zealand, and Australia. The main part, however, was from Germany. People were very friendly and easy to cope with, which transformed the first whole day of driving into a lot of fun. Our guide from Belo Brasil also did his share by telling his interestings stories about earlier trips. Read more…

The 8th of October is a big day, the term an event can be used properly, in the name of my Brazilian family; it´s my godmothers birthday. The celebration is a series of escalating events pinpointed at locations of family and friends. One of these events took place in Niteroi (see the post One Day in Niteroi) a Thursday night. A late night. A midnight. Read more…

Friday the 25th of august we were invited to a wedding in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. I got the opportunity to meet the rest of the big family, and to see an other, different part of Brazil. The occasion was perfect for me to meet the cultural way of celebrating a huge event of important character in Brazil. I really enjoyed it , and my family is really amazing.

We left Rio de Janeiro the wedding day and flew to Brasilia with GOL airlines, a local domestic flight company. The flight took approximately one and a half hour if not less. While approaching the airport in Brasilia, I viewed the barren soil with a lot of red-sandy plains. Brasilia is completely different from Rio de Janeiro. The grade of urbanization is very compressed in the center of the city, but only there. Otherwise, the houses are spread along wide areas of territory with big roads connecting them together. And not to mention the heat. It´s so dying hot that you do not dare to waste the last drop from the bottle of water. 

However, I met a part of the big family when we landed in the airport. From there we drove with the rented bus to our hotel, which I can´t complain about. We had lunch, got dressed, and off we went to the wedding. Read more…

On behalf of a notation, I must apologize to everybody who found the content of this blog offensive or written in a manner which offends Brazil. I will stress the fact that it is only, and I repeat: Only, MY opinions and impressions which are written, without intentions to offend anyone, and without drawing DEFINITIVE conclusions; it´s up to the readers.

Furthermore I would like to add that I really love Brazil, and whatever I criticize is in the perspective of my background and home country, which not necessarily means it´s better there.

Thanks for your attention.

Three weeks ago I went to an AFS meeting in Iriri (sorry for the delay, but meanwhile I have been booked up by homework, and other more important things), and it was a success - except from the speaker which unfortunately malfunctioned at the party, resulting in almost no music; a minor disturbance.

I left home Friday night 11:30pm with the AFS exchange students from Rio de Janeiro and Paraty, together with some of their counselors, heading for Iriri in Espírito Santo. The ride took about seven ours, giving me a bumpy nights´ sleep with too many breaks. Hence, all of us arrived tired in Iriri the next day. Read more…

Three weeks ago I woke up 6:15am with an excited feeling in my stomach; I was finally going to school. I dressed up, ate breakfast, packed my stuff, and rushed out of the door in time for making it to 07:00pm. However, the minute I did that I heard a voice behind me: Not yet Fred, we first have to be there half past seven because it is your first day; I threw my backpack back at the floor and placed my butt on the couch, tripping like at little anxious kid awaiting Christmas.

Finally, after unbelievable long time, we left the building and walked, in my opinion, slower than a snail who just had the best and biggest dinner ever. Right… One cross, opposite sidewalk… Walking… One cross more, left… And we stood in front of the gate. We entered the school and met Regina, the co-coordinator, at the third floor, and after a long talk and presentation of the different teachers, which, to say politely, are indifferent to you, she introduced me to a class: Read more…