September 19, 2018
Today is a month and 4 days in Brazil! It's been a while since I've updated my blog which is weird because I haven't been doing much. After getting back from Salvador, I got quite sick and kept being sick until a couple days ago. I went to the doctor last week and he said that it was probably food poisoning and all the different adjustments my body was making, in regards to the temperature and humidity differences, in addition to not sleeping very well. I'm feeling a lot better lately though and I've been back at school which is good. If any other exchange students are reading this, I have some advice! SLOW DOWN. I know that everything is new and exciting and interesting but I've talked to so many exchange students that are burnt out or sick by their second week because they've been doing things nonstop. For me, it's been difficult because when I'm stressed or I'm sick at home, I take a bath to help me feel better but I haven't seen a bathtub anywhere in Brazil. I've started doing yoga though, maybe not an exact routine but I'll sit and stretch for 20 minutes when I'm feeling upset or homesick instead of wishing I could be in the bath. It's not the same but it relaxes me in the same sort of way! Talking about homesickness too, what's helped me (and spending a week stuck in bed in a foreign home made me extremely homesick) is talking to my host family about what's going on and talking to my actual family back home. Even if it's just for a couple minutes it can help immensely. Being homesick is a really bizarre feeling and I thought that I had felt it before (I used to joke all the time that I was homesick when I was in Campbell River that I was homesick for the mountain but, after feeling true homesickness, I know that I was just missing the snow and mountain culture) but it really sucks. There's no better way to describe it than it just sucks. I have a list going in my phone right now though of all the food that I've been missing from home but only if I'm able to make it here. Because of that acknowledgement, I'm already planning to make some pumpkin pie on the 8th when Canadian Thanksgiving comes around! This whole blog thing is supposed to be about my life but really, my life lately has just been wake up, go to school or don't go to school, come home, eat lunch, chill out for a while or go for açai, eat some more, shower, go to sleep! Below are just some pictures from Ilheus and from the pat week!
