pre-post

okay, so currently i am at JFK airport in new york, but that has nothing to do with brasil (i'm between my mom and my dad's houses right now, which, if you know where they live, doesn't make any sense, but that's the inefficiency of airlines for you).

this is the pre-post: everything i can tell you about my trip before i actually take my trip (a week from tomorrow!!!).
so, i will be in fortaleza, brasil, which is on the northeast coast. fortaleza is a beach town, really a beach city, with about 2.2 million people. it's less afro-centric than salvador, where i will also be spending time. (fortaleza is in the state ceará and salvador is in bahia, which is a little further south down the coast.) i will be staying with a family, whom i don't find out about until i get there. there are 18 other kids in my program, none of which go to any of the claremont colleges (the closest person goes to oxy).
the official program title is "culture, developement, and socal justice." we will be going to class for a few hours everyday to learn about brazilian culture, history, etc, as well as portuguese classes. we will also go to special events and talk to different groups and people about the titular topics. (last year, they saw dance troops and worked a little with a group of farmers who are fighting to gain the right to work with unused land, among other things i'm sure.)
i will also have free time to hang out with the locals and the other kids in my program. they seem nice enough so far -- some people expressed excitement about the readings, which are pretty cool (pedagogy of the oppressed by paulo freire and the open veins of latin america by eduardo galeano).

right now, i'm trying to speed learn a little portuguese and speed read the books and speed get everything together and speed stop thinking about everyone i'm going to be missing (or continue missing) for the next 4 months. what's cool is that at the end of my program, my mother is coming and we're going to spend christmas in salvador (which was recommended to me by liz).

i hope i don't forget anything and that everyone is fine. i already miss california and everyone everywhere.

so... this will be my travel blog once i leave the country. you're simmering in anticipation, i know.

in the meantime, i've got heartburn.

also, blogger thinks i'm still on the westcoast. i'll get on that later.