With only one full month left in my grant, a little over that left in Brazil, and add on a week to that before I’m back in the Motherland (Minnesota), and I’ve started thinking of some of the first and last things I’d like to do.

Foods:

Last – Açaí

• I’m going to miss the delicious cold açaí bowl with banana and strawberry slices. The U.S. açaí business does not compare to Brazilian açaí. Withdrawal will be real.

First – My mom’s Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

• Homegrown pasture-raised chicken, homegrown vegetables when the season provides, CELERY, homemade egg noodles, carrots, CELERY! Just the smell would make me happy!

Drinks:

Last – Acerola juice

• A fruit that can be made into a tart juice is one of my favorite juices to have in Brazil. (Besides Maracujade, of course)

First – A glass of whole milk

• Milk in Brazil comes from a box (usually) and doesn’t need to be refrigerated until it is opened. It doesn’t have the same smooth taste as the milk from back home…especially growing up in the Midwest where we had “milk break” instead of “snack” until high school and milk was included with lunch daily. I MISS MILK.

Activities:

Last – Visit Feira Hippie & Movimento Soul BH

• Feira Hippie is a great artisanal street fair every Sunday where you cannot only buy clothes, trinkets, and paintings, but you can also buy delicious street food. They close off a major road in front of the Central Park of BH and people walk around, stopping by the park after.
• Movimento Soul BH is a dance movement where people can do different hustles (line dances) to music by U.S. artists like Michael Jackson, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, and Diana Ross, as well as Brazilian artists. It is my absolute favorite part of Belo Horizonte and happens in the Central Park on Sundays once a month!

First – Go for a long walk down a gravel road

• In Brazil, I live in one of the largest cities. Although we don’t have a car and walk many places and although we see horses out our window daily, there is a lot of traffic and little fresh air. I am looking forward to putting the dogs on leashes and a light jacket (realistically a winter jacket because I’m a freeze baby and coming back to late November Minnesota from a year of summer) and taking a mile or two spin around the area.
  • Dear Mom, you are obviously preferred for conversation and dog control.