Settling down

Around 7 in the morning, I went to the airport with my father to pick up 3 other Yippies who came to Brazil, also for their internships, in a different flight: Andrea from Norway, Aurelia from Germany and Ennio from South Africa/United Kingdom/Italy and maybe somewhere else. We had breakfast at home and then we took the girls to Horizonte Azul, where they are going to do their internship, and me and Ennio came to Aramitan, where we are doing ours. At Horizonte Azul, we met Ediane, a former YIP participant, and we also had lunch.

The first day was pretty much settling in. A room was given to us and then around 4 in the afternoon we begin to play soccer with Douglas ( Kiko ), another former YIP participant, and some kids from the community.

At the moment there are 9 people, counting me and Ennio, who are living in Aramitan. There is not a workcamp at the moment, so we are engaged in the daily maintenance of the place ( cutting the grass, cleaning, preparing food, organizing activities, etc. ) and organizing events for the community.

During the evening we went to watch some Capoeira in a square in Valflor, a neighborhood close to Aramitan. After that, we all came back home. I just went straight to bed since I was still very tired from the trip.

Ankomst or chegada?

All begin with a cab ride from the Seminar to Arlanda airport with 4 other Yipies: Joakim from Bolivia, who was going to a camphill in Norway, and Jonathan and Jenifer, both from Germany, who were going to a Kibutz in Israel.

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to just hang out and say goodbye. Then, I took a flight to Amsterdam, where I stayed for less than a couple of hours, and then finally took a 12 hours flight towards Sao Paulo, the biggest city in South America and the whole southern hemisphere, which is also were I was born and raised.

I arrived safe in the beginning of the evening and spend the night at home with my parents. 

Introduction

To be in my own country as a foreigner  is one of the deepest meanings that my internship has to me.

All the other Yippies are going to other countries or places that are at least somewhat unknown to them. I am going to my own town and working with a project that I have been working before and that presented me the possibility to go to YIP.

After arriving in Brazil though, the first thing I realized was that I was not going back home. I was doing my internship in a foreigner land as all other Yippies. The smells of the city were stronger; the fruits were more delicious as ever; the flies were a pleasant company rather than an annoying noise. Instead of using an umbrella as all other Brazilians do ( trust me when I say, for Brazilian people in general, it seems as they are made of sugar: they can’t get any rain drop over their heads ), my body felt like being embraced for that warm and heavy rain.

The country is the same, the people are probably not so different, as the fruits, noises and smells. I am the only one who changed and after going through the whole YIP experience ( including Swedish winter ), it completely changed my perception of myself, my own country and the world.

This is personal but it is important to know in order to understand  what my internship is. Doing that before experiencing YIP and all the extras that came with it would be completely different. 

To have more information about YIP, please visit www.yip.se . To have more information about Aramitan, the place where I am doing my internship, please visit www.aramitan.com or keep visiting this blog. =)