Saturday morning was finally a time for rest. After some good sleeping in, all the LTI MIT mentors, hosts, and some student friends met up for lunch at a Chinese buffet. We shared some jokes and ate way too much of the delicious food. By far my favorite were the caramelized bananas!! Yuri spent lunch making faces at a two year old child whose shrieks of laughter echoed through the restaurant. Mariana also showed us this hot pink fake furry worm attached to a thin nylon string that appeared to scurry through her fingers on its own. She fooled us for about 5 seconds before we realized the trick. Ricardo was a bit more convincing with the worm; I attribute his skill to the look of pure joy on his face as it crawled over his fingers.
We then made the trek to BH Shopping and browsed through a typical Brazilian mall. Much to our surprise, the little boy Yuri was making laugh in the restaurant was also there! He must have been following us.. We saw some super comfortable pillows in the shape of various animals - the turtle was by far my favorite. Speaking of turtles - Michaela and I discovered Tortuguita!! (white chocolate with cookie pieces in exactly the right ratio) I'm sure we've collectively consumed at least 4 packages by now... The tiny turtle imprinted on each bite is too much to resist.
Movie night came next. Lightening filled the sky most of the night but we hid inside and watched some hilarious American movies with the Brazilian LTI students. I think the Brazilians knew the movies even better than we did! I realized many of the strange English quotes they repeated all week came from movies I had seen before!
Sunday was a sad day of goodbyes - little did I know how attached I had grown to Belo Horizonte and the wonderful friends I made. I spent the morning with Deborah's family. Her 2 year old younger brother called me 'princesa' and we played with his toy horses from Avatar while her twin baby sisters adorably slept on the couch. Deborah and I ate a delicious lunch and then packed up for the bus station.
Although I promised myself I wouldn't cry, I couldn't suppress the tears as we said goodbye. These students amazed me with their determination, optimism, and love. In just two weeks, we started strong foundations for LTI and also made friendships that will last a lifetime.
The bus ride started strangely - my water broke. Well, more like I dropped my bottle of water and the bottom fell off, spilling water everywhere! Thankfully I was able to drink out of the bottom as not to be dehydrated on the 8 hour journey through the hills. That night, we arrived in Rio where Susan's amazing family greeted us and took us into their home. We ate some delicious pizza prepared by her mother and then snuggled up for bed. I cannot thank Susan's family enough for welcoming us into their home!
Now begins the Rio de Janeiro segment of our journey. We have important meetings coming up this week to establish more connections in Brazil and hopefully will get to check out the beach at some point!
Thank you students of Belo Horizonte for everything. I will never forget all of you and am grateful for all you have taught me.
Make sure to keep in touch - we won't be able to rid of each other anytime soon.
Beijos!!
Tina
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