Um dia longo...

Grant, a student from Niagara College, arrived on Monday. Since our other roommate from France doesn't arrive until August 7^th, we thought we might as well make use of the spare room we have. I’ve heard horror stories about living with boys but so far so good. He cleans after himself, he takes showers, and he likes to cook. He’s also really good at making sushi. I’ve only eaten sushi twice in my life and I didn't LOVE it but let me just say, sushi might be added to my list of top 25 foods...might.

Hhhhmm sushi

Yesterday was probably the worst day we've had here in Fortaleza. When we got our Brazilian visas, we were told to go the Policia Federal within 30 days of our arrival to get our visa stamped. What we thought was going to be a quick errand turned into the longest day. Ok, bureaucracies vary in efficiency all over the world, I get it. But this by far has made my top 5 worst bureaucratic experiences, definitely beating out my past experiences with Ottawa’s MTO (Ministry of Transportation).

Although we were at the Policia Federal since 6:30am, we didn't get out until 4:30pm. The only good thing that came out of the day was meeting Florian, a German who has lived in France, UK and is currently travelling Latin America. We filled our day exchanging stories of our travels and random cartoons we watch. This traumatizing day at the Policia Federal left Amber, Florian, and I tired, hungry, and frustrated over the whole process. But it’s over now and I don’t have to do this again, hopefully. Since Amber and I are working on a package for the future interns to get around Fortaleza with ease, yesterday’s experience will definitely be included in the package.

Amber, Florian, and I reunited a few days after our ordeal at the Policia Federal
Photo taken by Grant

We got bored waiting at the Policia Federal, so we started playing futebol with coins.
We giggled like little girls while people stared...
...yes we went mad

Our days are still occupied with learning Portuguese but the holidays are coming to an end. I’m excited for next week to finally start doing work for Mulheres Mil.