Student Exchange Blog

The first period of exams has finished and I think I did quite well. My written answers in portuguese will probably not be perfect but luckily the professors are really cooperating. After the exams, I really enjoyed my spare time, because beginning lectures on 1th of August took all my holiday.

After three months living in Rio de Janeiro I thought it would be a good Idea to travel around to see some other wonderful places in Brazil. First, I went to visit my family in their sitio near Petrópolis. After three hours driving in respectively a bus and a car, we finally arrived at their house. No roads, no neighboors and no cellphone signal means that you are probably in the middle of nowhere. However, we really enjoyed the nature and climbed up a yet unvisited mountain.

My second trip was

planned to São Paulo. As one the largest cities in the world it is hardly possible to find your way in the complex system of subways, trains and junctions. We stayed at a house of my French fellow student´s friend, visited some musea and discovered the exciting nightlife of the city.

The organization o four tournament is also almost finishing. In less than two weeks Bangú Will be the scenery for our Third Orange Lion Cup. Due to the heavy rain last days I hope we do not have to postpone, but the weather predictions are good. Last week I visited another unpacified favela, Braz de Pina, and I am slowly getting to learn the structures of these massive organizations. What we see on television is often a very deformed image about the slums in Rio de Janeiro. Of course, the large drug traffic is a big problem, but real violence seems to only occur when policemen try to invade the areas. For us as voluntary workers, it seems to be not very dangerous and people respect us for what we are trying to achieve. Next weekend, hopefully our equipment will arrive from Holland together with my to friends from Tilburg. Next monday, we will have a meeting with our team of 10 volunteers, to finish all the preparations.

I also started with my trainging program for next track and field season. After last summer´s European U23 Championships my next goal is the European Championships in Helsinki in July 2012. I found a good trainer with some high level athletes here in Rio, and hopefully the better climate will give me some advantages towards next year.