The Spring 2013 semester at Georgetown is starting, and I could not be any colder. Although the weather in São Paulo is rather unpredictable, I became accustomed to a high of at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit, often accompanied by an unbearably strong sun. I am currently cooped up in my house praying for the weather to get warmer fast, as a high of 40 and low of 28 has not been in my weather vocabulary for over a year.
Aside from the chilling temperatures of DC winters, I am happy to be back in the comfort of my own home and around many things I forgot existed, mainly the local Chipotle. Although I sleep soundly, I feel as if the past six months have passed in the blink of an eye. Keeping in touch with both American and Brazilian friends isn’t too difficult with new apps and technologies, keeping much of the “saudade,” the feeling of missing someone or something, I would otherwise feel for them partially at bay. I continue to practice Portuguese every few days with Brazilian friends, which not only helps me maintain a command of the language, but also provides periods of entertaining during spouts of winter-break boredom.
When it gets dark I listen to an upbeat Samba to remind me of the days I spent on the sunny beaches of Florianopolis and Rio de Janeiro, and the nights I spent in São Paulo in hidden, yet crowded Samba clubs scattered around the city. The cheerful energy of samba is the energy of São Paulo, a pulsating nonstop city. As I return to life in a comparatively quiet suburban neighborhood of DC, I must accustom myself to an American schedule, and the slower pace of small city. Dinner time will return to between 6:00 and 7:00pm from 10:00 to 11:00pm, it will become unacceptable to stand within two foot radius of a person at any given time, and personal conversations with anyone who is not a close friend will all but disappear. While São Paulo has a bad reputation for it’s poor infrastructure, horrible weather, and intolerable pollution, it more than makes up for its issues with its endless oportunities and warmth of its people.
Washington definitely has it’s charm, but I’ll continue to dream of the day I return to the noisy, bustling megalopolis of São Paulo. As for now, I’ll have to take advantage of an earlier schedule, the smell of clean air, and beautiful Spring weather that will hopefully be here before I know it.
