After months and months of waiting, we are finally in Brazil! It seemed so far away and the time has finally arrived, and we spent our first full day in Salvador. The long flight journey left us all wiped out, so after having a great full night’s sleep at the Wish Hotel, we were spoiled with a huge Brazilian buffet breakfast, courtesy of the hotel. Traditional Brazilian breakfast includes a lot of bread, sweets, fruit, and coffee. There was no shortage of any of this at the buffet.

Once we had our fill, we headed to our ICR orientation meeting to meet the CLARA RAMOS of Instituto Clara Ramos Brasil, aka The Queen of Brazil. Clara provided us with so much insight on the program, and her passion and joy for her work is so apparent. It was an exciting meeting filled with icebreakers, learning our Brazilian names, singing along to a Brazilian musician performing “This Love” by Maroon 5, hearing about our host families, and learning about the rules/policies of the program. We were all so excited to meet our host mothers in the hotel lobby after this. It was almost like being in an episode of a reality tv showing waiting to see if you got a match! Thankfully, everyone seemed to have found a perfect match in their host moms.

All of the host moms were so warm, loving, and excited. My host mom came me a big hug, and I immediately felt right at home. We sat down and chatted over lunch (thanks to Google Translate!) and then it was time to go to our new homes. When I walked into my host mom’s house, I was blown away by the view, only 5 minutes away from the beach! Then I almost cried with joy when I saw that she had put a picture of me in my bedroom. It was such a heartwarming touch and reminded me how lucky I am to have this experience.

There was not a moment to spare because after we got settled in, it was time to head back out to an Afro-Brazilian dance class. The class was taught by Antonio Cozido who is a dancer and choreographer. Antonio Cozido taught us the importance of movement and how it is used to express yourself. We learned about the origins of a form of Samba and how enslaved West Africans used dancing as a connection and communication. This class was no joke, we really were moving and expressing energy the whole time. It was an absolute blast, and I will remember this class for years and years to come. Antonio was so upbeat and full of life that I know he must bring so much joy into every space that he walks into. That was a perfect ending to our first full day in Brazil. After the class, we returned to our host homes and our host moms made us dinner. I enjoyed some rice and chicken which was fantastic and spent some more time talking with my host mom. Can’t wait to explore Salvador more tomorrow!