Blogging
From Abroad

It hasn’t even been a week since I left Morgantown, but so much has happened already. Between going to DC to get my Visa, a ten-hour international flight, getting accustomed to a city with over ten million people, and starting intensive Portuguese classes, life has been moving fast. I am finally starting to settle into this new experience yet still can’t help cracking a smile every now and then when I stop to think just how wonderful this opportunity is.

I was very stressed when I finally got through the Rio de Janeiro airport, but as soon as I got out, took a look at this beautiful city, and caught the breeze of the coastal air, I was ecstatic. Being in Rio de Janeiro is simply wonderful.

I had some doubts last year when thinking about study abroad and where to go; I didn’t know if it would make sense to study jazz outside of the US, the birthplace of the genre. In hindsight, I could not imagine a better option for me. One of the first jazz albums I ever listened to was Getz/Gilberto (I highly recommend it), the album that typified the bossa nova craze, and the origin of the hit Girl from Ipanema. Now, I am in the very birthplace of this music, and I have even eaten in the Garota de Ipanema restaurant, in which Antonio Carlos Jobim wrote that very song, inspired by an enticing woman on the beaches of Ipanema (they are incredibly inspiring).

The city is incredibly beautiful, as I hope you see from my pictures. Please enjoy and there will be many more to come.

A beautiful waterfall at a park inside the city (Interesting note: Rio has the largest urban gardens in the world, which really contribute to the city’s charm).

A beautiful view of the city from the top of one of the university buildings.

There’s some really striking graffiti in the city; I’ve been quite entranced by it.

Pictures from a trip to the Botanical Garden with fellow exchange students.

The footprints of renowned Brazilian soccer player Pele.

Some views of downtown Rio.

The amazing vistas atop a mountain overlooking the city.

Paz (peace),
Colin