Exploring new places

Dear reader,

While my last post was created in Vlissingen, this post is written from Belo Horizonte, Brazil! Last Monday I departed from Amsterdam, by Lisbon to Belo Horizonte. All in all a flight of 14 hours, but without any delays (fortunately!). At arrival in Belo Horizonte, I was picked up by two members of the Living Lab Student Team; Marijn Maas and Izabella Zschaber. They brought me to my hotel that I will call home for the coming three weeks. Because it was already 22:00 and my biological clock said 03:00, so I had to wait for the next day for my first Brazilian experience.

Beautiful sight over the Atlantic Ocean

The next day I waked up very early (due to biological clock) and I went outside and I was in luck, the traffic jam of that morning has just started! Loads of cars moving through the one way roads that formed a grid (just like Washington DC) and the pedestrian paths filled with people going to work or school. The atmosphere was just alive! Not in a strictly organized way (like we are used to in the Netherlands), but in a relaxed way.

You can find that relaxation everywhere. If you go for lunch here (the most important meal here), everybody is taking his/her time. Paying the bill? Why hurry? We just stand in line some longer (up to 10 min or longer). Because the Brazilians are the same way in planning meetings etc., it took some real adjustment for me. I’ve had to learn to go with the flow, not planning in a tight way (like I was used to) but more globally.

Even the Policia Federal Brasil looks relaxed sometimes

The second day I had an appointment with Nuffic NESO, NBSO and the LivingLab Biobased Brazil, before going together to the Kingsday Drink. Everyone who had a connection with The Netherlands was invited, so their where former exchange students, people who immigrated to Brazil and starting businesses from The Netherlands. All in all a great bunch of people, with created interesting conversations and new network connections.

Me and Marijn with some Brazilian exchange students, excuses for the bad quality…

Because of Labor Day (May 1^st) the weekend is already here! That means the accommodation and preparation days are over. Next week I will conduct my fist interviews with students and professors at PUC Minas and UFMG.

In the next post I will tell you about these interviews and my other Brazilian experiences.

Until then!

Thijs