With the first week of being in Brasil coming to a close, many different events have occurred. Some better than others, but all in all the week went by rather smoothly. Showcasing different aspects of the hectic week is best when describing the whirlwind that was week one.
First, the plane rides were a success. Everyone was able to meet each other over the course of the twenty hour expedition that it ended up being. First, we traveled from New York's JFK International Airport to São Paulo's airport, then to Joao Pessoa's airport in Paraiba. Needless to say it was exhausting (and at times anxious due to never traveling internationally before), but the end result was indeed a good one.
We get to Joao Pessoa's airport and a fellow student, plus our teaching mentor are there waiting for us. From here we proceeded to find a taxi to our hotel, with hopes of a shower and a nap in the near future. When we get to the taxi cab counter, one of the drivers took my bag and loaded it into a different car than everyone else. In my mind I was thinking "Okay, someone else is bound to ride with me to the hotel." This did not occur. So, it was me my luggage, another students luggage and the Brasilian taxi driver. We take off, and my taxi driver decides to take the lead. Mind you, I have no idea where or how to get to the hotel, and he knows as much English as I know Portuguese (not very much). Somehow we talk about sports, music, food and women while navigating to the hotel. As nerve-racking as the situation should have been, it turned out to be fine in the end. Even though there were thoughts of us getting lost and not knowing how to get to the hotel.
After we arrived at the hotel, our professor (who attended school at the same university we are working at) decides to take us on a walk around Joao Pessoa. Being as tired as we were, we all went on the fun excursion. We ended up seeing the beautiful Atlantic Ocean (which is no more than three blocks away from our hotel) and had dinner on the beach. We at what are called tapioca, which are very delicious. After dinner, we were able to go back to our hotel rooms and scout out the living situation (since we are going to be here for two months).
The hotel rooms are much the same as a hotel room in the states. Minus two things, a plethora of outlets and hot shower water (which the hot water aspect is just our hotel room). But as the week progressed, these "first world problems" as we have been calling them have fell to the wayside. An even distribution of power from roommate to roommate has been working, and the cold water is quite refreshing after a day of 85 degree heat and 90% humidity. Which, in this weather (knowing it's the equator) air conditioning a blessing (did I say that our AC leaked on the first day too? Oh, because it did). The fact that this current blog post is being written from the hotel room, is saying something about how accommodating the hotel actually is. As much as we snickered and sneered the first day, the rooms have grown on all of us here.
After the initial day, Monday and Tuesday of the first week were quite hectic. Reason being was that we all needed to go through immigration at the police station in Joao Pessoa. Good thing that our professor was helpful in getting us to and from places to prepare for the immigration proceedings. Also on Monday we were able to visit the university that we will be working at for the next two months, Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB). But before we got to the university, we got to go on a roller coaster (literally) of a bus ride. That including one of the students almost falling off the bus (because as soon as the last person in on the bus, the bus speeds away from the stop) and our professor laughing and having a good time watching us all bounce around the cabin of the bus. More on this later, as I prepare to take video of one of the rides. But getting back to the university, both the students and professors were very welcoming, and seeing the projects that were going on excited the academic side in me greatly.
Once Wednesday came, five of us ventured to the university for our first day of work. I was placed in a digital video lab called LAViD working with a very enthusiastic encouraging professor, who after receiving introductions and a presentation on their projects, put me to work. She also encourages student to student work groups to figure problems out. Within 45 minutes of being in the lab, I was helping evaluate an interface for a program that they made on the web, something that has never actually happened state side to me on such an informal level. I was very excited, and was able to give some minor suggestions to help them out. But as for what I will be doing this summer, user-interface evaluation will be my main "job." Figuring out what the user needs to make the program more efficient is key, and running the tests to see the user actually use the program is what I will be doing.
After the first session of the day, we had a lunch break (which lasts two hours in Brasil). Surprisingly, a student at the university decided to take us back to her house for lunch. The experience seemed natural from the onset, as the student was very open about her personal life. She made us lunch, and showed us around her house and property, which was the equivalent of a mansion. Below is a picture of what we got to walk through:
After the amazing lunch and house tour (which lasted an hour more than expected), we headed back to the university. Once the day ended, we were lucky enough to get a ride back to the hotel by one of the people in LAViD due to the torrential downpour that was happening at the time we decided to leave. The day was a success, and from there we had the next four days off.
Both Thursday and Friday and most of Saturday we used as resting days, and got to meet another student from SUNY who joined the group (which bumped the number of students in the groups to eight). Saturday night we did venture out into the city to see the nightlife, and it ended up being very fun. Dinner at a rock 'n roll bar, ice cream at the equivalent of Bevs in Oswego, a Tapioca from our (already) favorite Tapioca restaurant, and a few beverages at the RockPub behind our hotel.
By the end of the week, I felt refreshed and ready to take on the projects ahead of me. With a presentation tomorrow, and some interface evaluation to conduct, this week ahead will be very worked filled, but rewarding.
Week one in Brasil - a huge success.
-a hero within
First, the plane rides were a success. Everyone was able to meet each other over the course of the twenty hour expedition that it ended up being. First, we traveled from New York's JFK International Airport to São Paulo's airport, then to Joao Pessoa's airport in Paraiba. Needless to say it was exhausting (and at times anxious due to never traveling internationally before), but the end result was indeed a good one.
We get to Joao Pessoa's airport and a fellow student, plus our teaching mentor are there waiting for us. From here we proceeded to find a taxi to our hotel, with hopes of a shower and a nap in the near future. When we get to the taxi cab counter, one of the drivers took my bag and loaded it into a different car than everyone else. In my mind I was thinking "Okay, someone else is bound to ride with me to the hotel." This did not occur. So, it was me my luggage, another students luggage and the Brasilian taxi driver. We take off, and my taxi driver decides to take the lead. Mind you, I have no idea where or how to get to the hotel, and he knows as much English as I know Portuguese (not very much). Somehow we talk about sports, music, food and women while navigating to the hotel. As nerve-racking as the situation should have been, it turned out to be fine in the end. Even though there were thoughts of us getting lost and not knowing how to get to the hotel.
After we arrived at the hotel, our professor (who attended school at the same university we are working at) decides to take us on a walk around Joao Pessoa. Being as tired as we were, we all went on the fun excursion. We ended up seeing the beautiful Atlantic Ocean (which is no more than three blocks away from our hotel) and had dinner on the beach. We at what are called tapioca, which are very delicious. After dinner, we were able to go back to our hotel rooms and scout out the living situation (since we are going to be here for two months).
The hotel rooms are much the same as a hotel room in the states. Minus two things, a plethora of outlets and hot shower water (which the hot water aspect is just our hotel room). But as the week progressed, these "first world problems" as we have been calling them have fell to the wayside. An even distribution of power from roommate to roommate has been working, and the cold water is quite refreshing after a day of 85 degree heat and 90% humidity. Which, in this weather (knowing it's the equator) air conditioning a blessing (did I say that our AC leaked on the first day too? Oh, because it did). The fact that this current blog post is being written from the hotel room, is saying something about how accommodating the hotel actually is. As much as we snickered and sneered the first day, the rooms have grown on all of us here.
After the initial day, Monday and Tuesday of the first week were quite hectic. Reason being was that we all needed to go through immigration at the police station in Joao Pessoa. Good thing that our professor was helpful in getting us to and from places to prepare for the immigration proceedings. Also on Monday we were able to visit the university that we will be working at for the next two months, Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB). But before we got to the university, we got to go on a roller coaster (literally) of a bus ride. That including one of the students almost falling off the bus (because as soon as the last person in on the bus, the bus speeds away from the stop) and our professor laughing and having a good time watching us all bounce around the cabin of the bus. More on this later, as I prepare to take video of one of the rides. But getting back to the university, both the students and professors were very welcoming, and seeing the projects that were going on excited the academic side in me greatly.
Once Wednesday came, five of us ventured to the university for our first day of work. I was placed in a digital video lab called LAViD working with a very enthusiastic encouraging professor, who after receiving introductions and a presentation on their projects, put me to work. She also encourages student to student work groups to figure problems out. Within 45 minutes of being in the lab, I was helping evaluate an interface for a program that they made on the web, something that has never actually happened state side to me on such an informal level. I was very excited, and was able to give some minor suggestions to help them out. But as for what I will be doing this summer, user-interface evaluation will be my main "job." Figuring out what the user needs to make the program more efficient is key, and running the tests to see the user actually use the program is what I will be doing.
After the first session of the day, we had a lunch break (which lasts two hours in Brasil). Surprisingly, a student at the university decided to take us back to her house for lunch. The experience seemed natural from the onset, as the student was very open about her personal life. She made us lunch, and showed us around her house and property, which was the equivalent of a mansion. Below is a picture of what we got to walk through:
After the amazing lunch and house tour (which lasted an hour more than expected), we headed back to the university. Once the day ended, we were lucky enough to get a ride back to the hotel by one of the people in LAViD due to the torrential downpour that was happening at the time we decided to leave. The day was a success, and from there we had the next four days off.
Both Thursday and Friday and most of Saturday we used as resting days, and got to meet another student from SUNY who joined the group (which bumped the number of students in the groups to eight). Saturday night we did venture out into the city to see the nightlife, and it ended up being very fun. Dinner at a rock 'n roll bar, ice cream at the equivalent of Bevs in Oswego, a Tapioca from our (already) favorite Tapioca restaurant, and a few beverages at the RockPub behind our hotel.
By the end of the week, I felt refreshed and ready to take on the projects ahead of me. With a presentation tomorrow, and some interface evaluation to conduct, this week ahead will be very worked filled, but rewarding.
Week one in Brasil - a huge success.
-a hero within
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