Sometimes when all you are trying to do is work as hard as you can in your classes, your university up and decides (without even asking for your input) that since you are giving such a fantastic effort, it would be best for everyone that you take a three-week break from learning the Porky Cheese to
A Visit To Niterói (and the MAC)
The alien spacecraft pictured above can be found in the city of Niterói, located just across the bay from Rio de Janeiro. When extraterrestrials first colonized Brazil they left this structure as a testament to their power and their willingness to return to this place and enslave the human race
My Brazilian Lunch Lady
Growing up I envied the lunch lady. She brought (and still brings) happiness to the crushed spirits of elementary, middle, and high school students (and she, yes she, because if said lunch lady was a he, the title would instead be "lunch gentleman"). Brazil has carried on the tradition of
Brazilian Night Food
Night food. It is delicious. It is better than day food. It is not entirely certain you will know what it is. That is not important. Rio de Janeiro may be lacking in the Mexican food department, and eating out may be ludicrously expensive, but there is certainly no shortage of delicious night
The Brazilian Beach Pigeon
Everybody hates seagulls. Everybody. And if you are sitting there thinking to yourself, "now just a second there, I like seagulls" then you are wrong - they suck. That said, I am grateful that I have yet to see a seagull in Brazil (or to hear their annoying squawk - god dammit I hate
The Dengue Fever (Yes, It Kills You)
For any of you thinking of traveling to Brazil, there is something you should know (something that everyone conveniently forgot to tell me before I arrived here). What is this thing? It is the dengue fever (dankey for short). What is the dengue fever? Besides a potentially life-threatening
The Prostitutes of Copacabana
I have been lucky enough to always find myself with favorable neighbors, and thankfully Rio de Janeiro is no different. It turns out that I have some of the hardest working neighbors in the city, and they can frequently be found earning their living providing valuable services to the community
Learning To Use The Toilet In Brazil
There is something that all of us do (yes, all of us) that is rarely talked about and has even become taboo in certain circles. No, I am not talking about listening to Miley Cyrus or even farting and blaming it on the dog; I am talking about number two (yes, that kind). It has become common