In just three days, I will say goodbye to the students that I have been working with for the past semester.  A day after that, I will finish their report cards and say goodbye to the school and staff that has welcomed me with open arms and supported me in my time as a long-term substitute.

In just under two weeks, I will leave Minnesota with all of its wintry weather behind for the next nine months.  Saying goodbye has never been easy for me, but the excitement of my next adventure has me eager to board a plane, don my summer clothes, and return to the country that owns half of my heart.

I’ve spent the past couple of days packing up numerous bags and buying the last of supplies that I might not be able to find while abroad.  I’ve become more realistic about saying my goodbyes to the friends that have only had to bid me farewell too many times before.  It gets a little easier every time, knowing that the people that have welcomed me back home for the last 6 years have continued to support me long distance on all of my past adventures, but it isn’t without sacrifice.  I spend my half-hour drives to and from work sifting through my thoughts and emotions, hoping to find something that calms my mind and eases my anxiety and then filling with extreme giddiness at the thought that I’ll be spending time speaking Portuguese again.

I have no idea what to completely expect, but I do know that I’ll want to share it with whomever is interested.  This blog will follow my time and travels in Brasil as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant over the next nine months.  Here’s to hoping my writing finds you frequently and with words that help you experience a little da minha vida brasileira.