I get to see him in less than a week! Finally! It was a last minute trip, just bought the ticket a little over a week ago. It didn't feel real for a while, until yesterday, when I was driving a long way and thinking about him, listening to music, and it suddenly hit me. Yes, we really are going to be together, in real life, in the same place. And it's about time! It has been a year, yes, and entire year since we've seen each other! I can't believe it. In some ways it has been torture, but it also doesn't even feel like that long. But I'm really happy, and I'll be there for a week and a half. Which isn't very long, but hey, it's better than nothing!
Oh, so many things I can't wait for. I can't wait for that first kiss (well not first kiss, but first kiss in a loooooong time). I can't wait to sit on the praia do porto, eating some queijo and drinking agua de coco. I can't wait to sit next to my love and just have a normal conversation, with subtle caresses and slaps on the arm for emphasis, with sly smiles and giggles and all those wonderful parts of expression that can't come across through the internet.
I just feel so grateful that we've finally, through all the ups and downs, gotten the chance to be together again. Only time will tell what happens in the future, how we'll figure out all the complicated parts of our relationship. But for now, I'm just excited, because it's real. It's happening. Yes! And, I will do my very best to keep you updated now that I will actually have things to share on this blog! Anyone have suggestions of things to do/places to go in Salvador? I've done most of the normal touristy things, so I'm looking for other suggestions.
Funny thing, once I started dating a Brazilian (and after falling in love with the country), all things Brazil started to jump out at me. Suddenly my eyes so easily spotted the acai juice on the shelf at the health food store and the Brazilian restaurant in a neighboring town; my ears easily perked up at the sound of people speaking portuguese (wait, "is that portuguese? yup!") on the subway in New York.
But it hasn't just been things related to Brazil that I have been noticing, it's also people! When I got home from my second trip to Brazil in August, it turned out my mom was going to be helping advise a Brazilian girl who was visiting for the year on the same high school exchange program I did a while ago (I went to Costa Rica though). Of course I was excited to meet her, and I shyly but excitedly practiced my portuguese and talked up her wonderful country and showed her around New York a bit. We later ended up going to Brazilian Day in New York (huge festivities, so much fun! think food and music and Brazilians enjoying it!). The same day I met her at the exchange program's event, we both met another girl who had been in Angola for quite some time (a year perhaps) and was engaged to an Angolan guy. A year ago I could have cared less, but hearing that there was someone else crazy enough to be in a long distance relationship and communicate in portuguese was very comforting. Then, of course, there are my friends from college, who I met through a once a week gathering at 'portuguese table' and have since thoroughly enjoyed chatting them up and reminiscing about Brazil! Plus, they always have great language tips and have provided me with a lot of insight on Brazil and its people. Not to mention they're just sweethearts and so much fun! I feel so greatful to have them in my life! I also have a friend from college who studied in Brazil (in Salvador, where Isaque lives), loved it, and is continuing relationship with her Brazilian beau from a distance too. Then there's another girl (who I haven't met but heard about through a Brazilian friend at school) who also studied abroad in Chile, when to Salvador, and is also dating a baiano (a guy from Bahia, the state where Salvador is located)! See? I'm not the only one! I'm telling you, those Brazilian guys are dangerously irresistible, no one leaves Brazil without one!
Traveling in general has made me more aware of how connected we all are, but since going to Brazil I've realized what a small world it really is! Yesterday, I met up with friend who did the same program as me in Chile last semester and was visiting from out of town. She was stying with her college roommate, who joined us for lunch. Turns out her roommate studied in Sao Paulo last semester, now also has a Brazilian bf, and knows two of my college friends who studied in Brazil last semester (one of whom was mentioned above)! Unbeleiveable! Then, I get home and I'm talking online to a college friend who is getting ready to study in Brazil next semester (in the same program as the last girl) and it turns out her host mother knows a friend of mine who also lives in Salvador. My *one* friend in Salvador besides Isaque, and she knows him! It's crazy how our lives are interconnected. I totally beleive that six degrees of seperation stuff!
Anyway, my point is, going to Brazil and dating a Brazilian have opened up my life to all these new connections and I find it pretty neat!
Or that's what I wanted to say when I showed off the photos of the scrapbook (anniversary gift for dear boyfriend) I finished this afternoon. Only one problem: I forgot to take the pictures. Oops! I was in a rush to finish it before meeting up with my friend who is studying in Salvador, Brazil next semester and will hand over the goods to dear boyfriend in February, closer to our anniversary. I'm no expert, but I do enjoy doing crafty things, even though I have terrible follow through and usually leave projects have-finished. I managed to actually finish this one, and in just a couple days! Actually, I did most of it in one day.
Just wanted to share my excitement because I think it turned out pretty great, and I can't tell him yet! So, two months from now, when dear boyfriend finally gets the gift, I'll make him take pictures. Yup, gonna leave you in suspense (gasp! I'm sure that is sooo dissapointing!).
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