The First Four Days

Donovan, Bawan and I have been on the ground in Floripa for five days now, and from what I've seen so far, this is going to be a very memorable summer. The trip from Dallas to São Paulo was a lot more pleasant than I imagined it was going to be, as it was my first time on an international flight. By the time we got to Floripa, I still had energy to explore the island a bit with two of our mentors, Riso and Padua. They treated us to a typical Brazilian barbecue lunch at the restaurant next to our house called Grelhado’s, which had foods that were very similar to traditional American foods. Over the next few days, we ate a mixture of familiar foods, like grilled steak, rice and black beans, and cereal, and new foods like farofa (toasted cassava flour), pinhão (a sort of pine nut), and caipirinha, Brazil’s national drink made from sugar, crushed lime, and white rum.

Florianopolis is regarded as a tourist destination, popular for its beautiful beaches and waves that are perfect for surfing. On Friday, we went to a beach on the east side of the island called Joaquina Beach – I had never been to a beach so pristine! The water was clear and the sand was finer than sugar. There were some people surfing the waves as they were breaking, but the water was somehow still calm. Donovan, Bawan and I sat under an umbrella on the beach for a few hours, just enjoying the view and watching people surf. After leaving the beach, we found ourselves at a very nice café that encouraged customers to put away their devices and engage in real life. We ate a light dinner there, then headed to a party thrown by the Pharmacology department students, some of whom will be working with Donovan and I in our labs.

Today is Saturday and we have the rest of the weekend to explore the city and get settled before we start our individual labs on Tuesday. I can’t wait to see more of the culture here!