Leaving the Frango behind and coming home to the Chicken....

I am amazed at how quickly these 10 weeks have passed, but I can't complain because even though time flew by, I had an amazing experience in Brazil, and I would not change a second of it. This is my last blog post and in three days (counting today), I will by at GRU (the airport right outside of São Paulo) boarding a plane back to the United States. It's a bittersweet ending, but we all knew this day would come.

So, let me share some of the great moments I've had in Brazil! There are some pictures that I wanted to share, but they have yet to be taken.. For instance, I have to wait until my Monday lunch with the lab group to get a picture with the amazing people that I've been working with. But....I'll share what I have!

We met a lot of wonderful, fun, kind people
that were willing to show us a good time
everywhere we traveled in Brazil 

These guys from our hostel would
literally sit up there and play every
day, and sometimes we would sit and
listen.

I made some really strong friendships while I've been here, too. This guy here, Herrison, was one of my best friends in São Paulo, but he had to return to Londrina for classes about a month ago. He wrote the most touching post about me on Facebook. I'm hoping he comes to visit me in the United States some day!

There are, of course, many more awesome people not pictured above that I will miss a great deal when I leave!

I've been on quite a few explorative adventures to other cities while I've been here, and while I'm satisfied with the amount of traveling I got to do in my 10 weeks here, I wish I would have had time to visit more cities. Maybe one day I'll travel back to Brazil for more. Until then, here are some highlights from the trips I did take!

I did a lot of modeling in
Curitiba! It had many great
sites that I got to explore
with new friend Gino, and
he helped me document
the experience. 

Rio was so much better once we found all these pretty viewpoints!
Let's not even think about some of the uglier views we got of the
city...

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         And, of course, we cannot forget the Foz do Iguacu trip. The falls were breathtaking, and there is little that can be said about how amazing it was to be there.

 If there is one experience I'll truly remember for a lifetime from my time in Brazil, however, it's my greatest adventure: skydiving over Foz do Iguacu! I was actually left speechless by the experience. I'm extremely happy to have gotten that opportunity and to have taken it.

Thank you, MHIRT, for the experience of a lifetime! The in-lab and out of lab experiences have all been incredible! It's hard to believe that I got to live this, and I'm so grateful I did.

That's all for now. See you back in the United States soon! Até logo!