The Beginning of an Adventure: Life as an American exchange student

Before I came here, I was terrified.

Whenever I told my friends I was going to Brasil, I got a vast array of different reactions and questions. Those who asked, you know who you are. My personal favorites:

"How are you going to survive without running water for a whole year?"

"Do they even have cars yet?"

"Just don't get kidnapped, okay? I don't want to have to bail you out of a Favela"

I think you get the idea.

Ridiculousness aside, I had a lot on my mind before I left, as I was leaving and even now that I'm here. What would the people be like there? Would it be difficult to fit in? What will my host family be like? But most importantly - before any of that - how the hell am I going to learn Portuguese?

The summer months leading up to the plane, I tried to build up a wall of confidence. I had taken several Portuguese language courses, went onto the internet to learn about some basic aspects of Brasil, and said goodbye to my closest friends and family. At least once I got there, I could hit the ground running and pick the rest up as I went along.

As I went through security clearance at JFK, waving goodbye to my parents, I felt ready to take on the world.

Well, that lasted for a whole ten minutes.

As I sat on the plane next to a snoring Willams College Professor, the swarm of questions started to dismantle my psychological "fortress". As each brick fell, more fear flooded into my head. I didn't sleep a minute.

By the time I got off the plane, had my flight switched and my departure gate changed about 15 times in São Paulo, I almost cracked. As I sat down at my fifteenth gate, I thought to myself: "What am I doing here? I could be going to college right now". The woman next to me prodded me, looked at the gate and said something completely unintelligible in Portuguese. What the hell was "deixando" anyway? I thanked her anyway, saw the people boarding and filed into the cue, apprehensively.

Before I came here, I was terrified.

It's amazing how much can happen in only two months.

Dave Wolfe always told me that this year would be the best of my life. It wasn't until several weeks ago that I realized how true he was.

I am Chris Sledge, a rotary exchange student from Connecticut, and I am living in Brasil. I am doing things I never would have dreamed of doing, eating things I never would have imagined, and seeing the world from a completely different vantage point.

Despite my host brother laughing whenever I try to speak, I feel like I'm starting to come into my own with Portuguese. I'm going to keep giving this everything I've got and seize every opportunity I can seize.

Feel free to watch what happens along the way.