Elvis w/host brothers & friends in Brazil

-Excerpts contributed by Elvis Diaz (Cultural Embrace's participant - Internship in Brazil; April 2009-April 2010)

Participant background: On April 3, 2009, 19 years old, Elvis Diaz left Long Beach, CA to embark on a ‘gap year’ break to intern in Curitiba, Brazil. Here are some excerpts from his personal blog that he would like to share with us. Elvis, like so many young adventurers, are taking advantage of ‘gap breaks’ to enhance their personal, professional, and academic development.

Sunday, April 9: Ola!! Boa Dia!! My first words in Portugese. I have arrived in Curitiba! I was picked up by Rafaela, my local coordinator with Cultural Embrace. She was kind and drove me to the house of the host family. After an hour drive we arrived and I met my host brother Everson (Ever), and he gifted me a pair of Havianna's (flip flops) and the keys to the apartment. He was the only one there from the family and explained to me that it would only be him and his other brother Helerton (Mano) living in the apartment. Their father stays for about 5 days out of the month at the apartment.

The next day we went out to the Praza Ukriana= Ukranian Plaza, Curitiba has a large population of Ukrainian immigrants as well as Polish, Italian, and German. He showed me around the city, the beautiful Curitiba Cathedral that is about 316 years old!! Extremly beautiful!!!

Thursday, April 19: It has been awhile since I have written anything. I just have been busy settling in…I will give you the details about my internship later. For now, let’s talk Churrascaria, and about the people I am surrounded by...

Churrascaria is the most delicious BBQ I have ever had. Helerton aka Mano, is my host brother, had a bbq with some of his friends from his college. We were all hanging out, it wzs tough trying to communicate with my limited Portuguese, but with Spanish and hand gestures, we managed.

Mano is kind, and has a great sense of humor and very patient when we are trying to communicate. We always talk about futbol. He is a devoted Sao Paulo fan and I am an Atletico de Parana fan! I was told by my brother the 2 things I shouldn’t talk in public are politics and futbol! It is that intense!!

Veri, Ever's girlfriend, is pretty and VERI nice! She is a nutritionist and recently graduated from her university and is now taking an exam to receive her credentials to work in northern Brazil by the Bahia area.

Ever is really down to earth. Since the moment I got here he has always been thoughtful and going out of his way to help me get settled in. He has even cut out labels in Portuguese to put around the house. It was so cool Cozinha= Kitchen, Copo= Glass, ...

I really can't say much more than that, I have only been here for about 2 weeks. In any exchange program this time is considered the "honeymoon period." But I feel I was placed with the right family. Honestly I always feel good going home everyday. Each day there is something new to learn and I grow closer with them.

Tuesday, June 19: I thought I should spend some time explaining my internship. I am working at a Brazilian education exchange company. I am charge of all new course enrollments into the 16 different offices in Brazil. I will have to contact our international partners, make sure that the invoices are correct, and that the student's accommodation is correct, and they have all the correct visa documents in a timely manner. I also have to make sure that the finance department has all of our sales and invoices in order from all 16 branches.

Not bad for someone that just turned 19 ;-)

The first week I was just observing, but man there was much to learn. From my first day on the job I told my supervisor, that I am here to learn and I want to learn. I don't mind criticism! I love it because it lets me know what I am doing wrong and what I need to work on, so that I don't do it again.

For example: I almost send a student to the wrong continent!! I got confused with the names which were spelled exactly the same way but going to different school at the same time. One was supposed to go England and the other the Australia. I mixed up the names and I sent the flight details to the wrong student!!

Luckily our partner abroad noticed the confusion and made me aware of it. First lesson PAY ATTENTION TO DETAIL!! I also learned all of the visas issued by the U.S., Australian, U.K. and Canadian governments. Keep in mind, this is my first real desk job! But I really enjoy it, there is something new to be learned everyday, and I am learning how to think on my feet more effectively. In a way to improve my position and get more experience, I am rotating positions with everyone in the department. That pretty much covers my internship duties.