Ashley’s Journals

August 21, 2025

The Beginning of Something Beautiful♡

Oi! I've officially been in Brazil for about 3 weeks now and so many things have already happened. I left Atlanta on July 29th and arrived in Brazil on July 30th. I remember being scared about navigating the airport alone, but it wasn’t too bad. The overnight flight went smoothly. I arrived in São Paulo around 7am, and my host mom and host sister were waiting for me at the exit and greeted me warmly.

On the way home we stopped by a padaria and ordered pão de queijo and pão francês to take home. For lunch we had stroganoff de carne and some juice. One thing I’ve noticed about the food here is that there’s a lot of cheese and a lot of condensed milk, especially in desserts. I’ve already tried so many good foods like pastel and açaí.

On my first day, my host family took me to the mall to change my money, shop, and play at the arcade. The next day we went to my host aunt’s house to help prepare for my cousin’s first birthday party. We helped blow up balloons and fill containers with candy. At the party, I met the rest of the family, including aunts, uncles, cousins, and my sister’s friend. The party was big and had lots of games, food, music, and people.

My host family has been very warm and welcoming. I’m especially lucky to have my host sister who speaks English and has been helping me a lot. She showed me around the neighborhood and explained everything to me.

On Sunday, my host family took me to Liberdade. It was absolutely packed with people. On Sundays the roads close to cars so it’s only pedestrians. We were squished between crowds and street vendors selling everything from toys to clothes to food.

On Monday I started school and I was nervous at first, but everyone was welcoming. The students and teachers asked me plenty of questions. School starts at 7:00am and ends at 12:45pm, except on Mondays when it ends at 5pm. I’m happy to have made some friends already, which is helping me settle into school.

After school, my sister and her friend took me to Avenida Paulista. We went to the famous MASP museum, which has free entry every Tuesday. They switch out their artworks monthly, and this month they had Monet. Then we went to Méqui 1000, which is the 1000th McDonald’s in Brazil.

A couple days ago, my host sister left for Hungary for her exchange, and we threw her a surprise going-away party. I’ll definitely miss her, but I’m glad I got to spend these first few weeks with her.

That’s pretty much everything. These first few weeks in Brazil have been full of little discoveries, and I’m excited to see what comes next.

Tchau, until the next adventure!