Brasileros

I like this picture a lot. My friends and I the last night I was in Rio! I showed it to my tutor. She laughed and said I really stood out...I beg to differ

April?

I've been meaning to post. Once things took off in Baltimore, I lost track of time. It goes by so fast when you are busy. The Science Center is coming to an end. I think tomorrow is my official last day? and I have an interview tomorrow for another job. Waitress. Hmm.

Here are a few pictures I have been meaning to share. These are from when May, Sara and I went to VIVA Brasil at the Creative Alliance, in Baltimore.




Funny thing. I have been meeting with a tutor once a week and this past week we were sitting in our usual spot, at the Inner Harbor and overheard this woman on her phone talking in Portuguese. Crazy right? What are the chances?! Patricia called her over and they ended up talking for awhile. I sat in the middle, zoned in...trying to pick up anything I understood and surprisingly I knew a lot! It was a nice feeling. It's paid off!

This weekend I am buying my ticket to head back to Brasil. The plan is to be there for a month. Visit with friends and family and kind of pick up where I left off. Come back for school. Take a course at Johns Hopkins while at MICA and finish. (apply for a Fulrbight). Whew. Can I do it? Of course I can!!! It will happen if I really care that much and I truly believe that.

7 Reasons Why You Should Visit Brazil

Brazil is no doubt one of the most beautiful countries in the world thanks to its wonderful beaches, rainforests as well as the famous Rio de Janeiro carnival. But what else makes this country a top priority for millions of tourists every year? This article will show you only 7 reasons why you should plan your next vacation here.

1. Beaches – Brazil has to offer no more than 2,000 beaches that are stretch along the Brazilian shoreline. Although many of these beaches are very populated, a large part of them are preserved ecological sanctuaries;

2. Culture – in Brazil you will find a fabulous mix of totally different and exciting cultures that you won’t find anywhere else on this planet. Strong cultural resilience sustains, for example, the efforts of indigenous people and African-Brazilians as they reaffirm their sense of identity through strife. And it's safe to affirm that the people who have created Brazil are, as a rule, friendly to foreign tourists, despite nationally, race, culture or social status.

3. Cuisine – ever heard of Brasil Sabor? Well, it is the largest culinary festival in Brazil and you can imagine what you will find there. Besides this, in Brazil you will also get acquainted to the Comida di Buteco, which is the annual Belo Horizonte Bar Food Contest. In Brazil you will find, from open fire pits tended in the open fields of Rio Grande do Sul by gauchos, the South American cowboys, to upscale restaurants abroad;

4. Cities & Towns – almost all of the Brazilian inhabitants live in cities and towns. Strolling through the streets of Brazil you will find colonial towns like Ouro Preto or the daringly designed capital – Barsilia. Let’s not forget about the famous Rio de Janeiro where the biggest carnival on Earth can be found every year or the lovely city of Sao Paulo;

5. Friendly Weather – the northeastern coastal cities like Fortaleza for example, boast approximately 300 days of sunshine per year. The fall and winter travel in a great part of Brazil is exquisite thanks to the cool sunrises, a general shedding of sweaters during unbelievably bright sparkling sunny days and crystal clear, chilly nights that are perfect for cuddling by the relaxing fireplace;

6. Tourism As A Priority – Brazil has its own Ministry Of Tourism not to mention that both state and city administrations are putting in serious money, just like the private sector. With other words, they offer better road infrastructure, jobs, significant improvement of community life and other benefits;

7. Celebrations & Events – the list is very long and for that reason we will point out only the major events: the Rio de Janeiro Carnival, Festas Juninas, St. Vito Festival, Festa Nacional do Indio, Festa do Divino and last but not least, the celebration of the new year – the Reveillon;

All things considered, if you haven’t been to Brazil yet you don’t know how fabulous this country is and the numerous possibilities for fun you have here. As far as the accommodations are concerned, they offer hotels for all budgets so surely you will find a nice play to stay.

The 100 Most Beautiful Words in the English Language

I met with my tutor for the first time last week. Things were a lot more difficult than I had imagined them to be. For some reason I felt extremely tense and stressed out about the whole situation. I just have to take it slow and know that it is going to take time. I am a very forgetful person sometimes so having to learn all these verbs isn't the easiest thing for me to do but I bought some flash cards and am hoping everything will work out. I was trying to find some worksheets online to use as as practice and stumbled upon this website that was talking about the 100 most beautiful words in the ENGLISH Language. I was happily surprised and eager to see the list because I had a few conversations with people about how ugly the English language was...hopefully they can be persuaded by this list.

1 adroit Dexterous, agile.
2 adumbrate To very gently suggest.
3 aestivate To summer, to spend the summer.
4 ailurophile A cat-lover.
5 beatific Befitting an angel or saint.
6 beleaguer To exhaust with attacks.
7 blandiloquent Beautiful and flattering.
8 caliginous Dark and misty.
9 champagne An effervescent wine.
10 chatoyant Like a cat’s eye.
11 chiaroscuro The arrangement of dark and light elements in a picture.
12 cockle A heart-shaped bivalve or a garden flower.
13 colporteur A book peddler.
14 conflate To blend together, to combine different things.
15 cynosure A focal point of admiration.
16 desuetude Disuse.
17 diaphanous Filmy.
18 diffuse Spread out, not focused or concentrated.
19 dulcet Sweet, sugary.
20 ebullient Bubbling with enthusiasm.
21 effervescent Bubbly.
22 efflorescence Flowering, the opening of buds or a bloom.
23 elixir A good potion.
24 emollient A softener.
25 encomium A spoken or written work in praise of someone.
26 ephemeral Short-lived.
27 epicure A person who enjoys fine living, especially food and drink.
28 epiphany A sudden revelation.
29 erstwhile At one time, for a time.
30 eschew To reject or avoid.
31 esculent Edible.
32 esoteric Understood only by a small group of specialists.
33 ethereal Gaseous, invisible but detectable.
34 etiolate White from no contact with light.
35 evanescent Vanishing quickly, lasting a very short time.
36 exuberant Enthusiastic, excited.
37 felicitous Pleasing.
38 fescue A variety of grass favored for pastures.
39 foudroyant Dazzling.
40 fragile Very, very delicate.
41 fugacioius Running, escaping.
42 gambol To skip or leap about joyfully.
43 glamour Beauty.
44 gossamer The finest piece of thread, a spider’s silk.
45 halcyon Happy, sunny, care-free.
46 hymeneal Having to do with a wedding.
47 imbricate To overlap to form a regular pattern.
48 imbroglio An altercation or complicated situation.
49 imbue To infuse, instill.
50 incipient Beginning, in an early stage.
51 ingenue A naive young woman.
52 inglenook The place beside the fireplace.
53 inspissate To thicken.
54 inure To jade.
55 jejune Dull; childish.
56 lagniappe A gift given to a customer for their patronage.
57 lagoon A small gulf or inlet in the sea.
58 languor Listlessness, inactivity.
59 lassitude Weariness, listlessness.
60 laughter The response to something funny.
61 lilt To move musically or lively, to have a lively sound.
62 lithe Slender and flexible.
63 loquacious Talkative.
64 luxuriant Thick, lavish.
65 mellifluous Sweet-sounding.
66 missive A message or letter.
67 moiety One of two equal parts, a half.
68 mondegreen A misanalyzed phrase.
69 nebulous Foggy.
70 niveous Snowy, snow-like.
71 obsequious Fawning, subservience.
72 odalisque A concubine in a harem.
73 oeuvre A work.
74 offing That part of the sea between the horizon and the offshore.
75 onomatopoeia The creation of words by imitating sound.
76 paean A formal expression of praise.
77 palimpsest A manuscript written over one or more earlier ones.
78 panacea A complete solution for all problems.
79 panoply A complete set.
80 pastiche A mixture of art work (art or music) from various sources.
81 peccadillo A peculiarity.
82 pelagic Related to the sea or ocean.
83 penumbra A half-shadow, the edge of a shadow.
84 peregrination Wandering, travels.
85 petrichor The smell of earth after a rain.
86 plethora A great excess, overabundance.
87 porcelain A fine white clay pottery.
88 potamophilous Loving rivers.
89 propinquity An inclination or preference.
90 Pyrrhic Victorious despite heavy losses.
91 quintessential The ultimate, the essence of the essence.
92 redolent Sweet-smelling.
93 rhapsody A beautiful musical piece.
94 riparian Having to do with the bank of a river or other body of water.
95 ripple A small, circular wave emanating from a central point.
96 scintillate To sparkle with brilliant light.
97 sempiternal Forever and ever.
98 seraglio Housing for a harem.
99 serendipity Finding something while looking for something else.
100 surreptitious Sneaky.