I just got back from celebrating Lauren's birthday! We went to a corner restaurant and had some food and drinks...The official drink in Brazil is the Caprihna...it is sugar, lime and Cansehco (which is the Ghetto ligour!! haha...go figure!) I'm probably spelling it wrong but it is delicious!!! We also had Carne seco which is similar to corned beef and is a typical Brazilian food.

So to expand on todays activities.... we went to UEM which is the university in Maringa. We are in a class with Brazillian students from Urban infrastucture, geography and economics. We have an assignment due by friday which is to write a 2-5 page paper on a topic that we cover while we are here in Maringa. I am interested in Transportation but am not sure the specific area I will study....In Curitiba they have an amazing public transportation system and I really want to see how that works so maybe I will explore the public transport systems in other Barzilian cities and compare them?? Not sure but if/when I figure it out I will let u know!

All the people in the program are very cool... There are 5 other people from UF... Jessica, Lauren, Eric, Kevin and Shani...Also Meredith and Erin from UT at Austin, Vicky from Canada, Dan from Rutgers, and Elly who lives in Honduras. I hope I am not missing anyone!! We are all obviously from different places but ghet along well.. I am really excited for this program to get under way...I will keep everyone updated and PROMISE to post pictures soon!

Love, Maud :)