I'm miss organic brown rice :(

16 Nov. 2010

I thought the homesickness week was over. I was told about the first 3 days and definitely after the first 3 weeks, it's all good, homesickness should be over, but I was NOT told about after 3 months I might want to go back home now.
I am actually kind of sensing among several of the EAP students that they are kind of ready to go back home. Missing their moms and dads, and friends and partners. But I'm feeling I miss the life style of back home and my family. Yes especially my mommi!

I miss organic vegetables and fruits at the farmer's market:

I miss my FARMER'S MARKET in general
oh the apricot jam!!

I miss the cage free eggs, meat from free-range animals, fresh and not salt cured. I miss my mama's beans, I miss home-made pastries from scratch that have some good whole grains in it.

[I made these buckwheat triple ginger cookies above from scratch--not to show off or anything ;), but they were delicious; they had fresh, powdered, and crystallized/candied ginger in them]

I miss cooking!
[enokitake mushrooms wrapped in bacon over broiled romaine hearts with some homemade blue cheese dressing--]

[here i'm making butter-by accident but...w/e it was pleasant surprise]

[some sweet potato fries with freshly grated parmesan--okay can you tell I'm a foodie by this point?]

And baking, I miss baking.[my attempt at a killer-cupcake-inspired cake, it was yummy]


Wow, I guess this is all turning into food. But of course i miss being able to walk around my campus or home town without caring if my cell phone is showing or I have some cash out, or that I look too much like.... a woman? And the fresh air that the ocean brings in.

I totally sound spoiled (and totally, possibly am) but, I think that there is a quite spread consensus that we are feeling ready to go back home. May be 3 months is our point because we're used to 3-month quarters? But at the same time of course I'm happy and grateful to be here,
I not for a second regret coming. And I'm not too worried because I really only have like 4 weeks, oh the clock is ticking I want to start doing my ...to-do stuff.

Tips: well, I think it helps to focus on all the great things, and realize all the things you can still do while here that you won't get to do back home. Try not to feel like the only thing that will make you feel better is leaving, because my friend is in that situation and I don't think that in that mindset you can really enjoy the time that you have left here.

communication while away trouble

26 Oct. 2009

It is so much harder to solve problems going on back in the states from here! oh it's so slow and frustrating!

Communication is so difficult

Journal Entry

19. Oct. 2009

It's amazing how easy it is to forget how it felt to be with people [back home]. Even people closest to me that I'm still in contact with, I even see picture of them and kind of conjure up faded-ish memories that seem more like details. Semi-void of feelings sometimes--not that I don't have feelings for them but they somehow feel more abstract right now with the concrete life of Bahia and my new friends who I know how to be around. When I watch videos of myself around people back home it feels even weirdER because i'm like "is that really what I act like with them?"
hm....
But i don't really remember how I am with those people or what an every day interaction with them is like. I forgot.
I think it's a procedural memory that I've forgotten, because I haven't been using it recently.
But I see these people's images and they are definitely familiar, like my own face but at the same time not quite them really.
It's hard to explain but I guess it just seems like that is another world and right now this world of EAP Bahia with my family seems more real and concrete, because it is. I guess it makes sense. But I do still miss everyone.

I miss my mommy

September 08/09/10 Homesickness.


I guess I started to miss my family and friends, pretty much as soon as I left. In the airport especially while just sitting waiting 7 hours for my next flight. But I don’t know if this is normal homesickness, because there was quite a lot going on back at home when I came over here so I was mainly thinking about mistakes that I’ve made and it was really hard for me. Homesickness and then adding culture shock is just not fun. The thing for me I guess was like comparing to my tiny 700 person town and my school town [I know it’s not good to compare but it happens subconsciously it seems because obviously coming to the city of Salvador I was not expecting to find my home town], I could always just walk around at night and didn’t have to depend on anyone to be able to go out at night. But here it’s just always risky to be out at night [even in the day sometimes]—but even more so alone—and as a woman—and as a tourist! It is pretty hard at first just having that kind of change. And also I guess I was missing my friends and partner too because I knew that they would have had similar plans as me, and being here there are so many things that I would like to do, but I feel like I’m dependent on having someone else-- for safety reasons--to come with me, and that pretty much makes my activities dependent on someone else wanting to do the same things, and yeah you have new peers to get used to. Luckily my group seems to be pretty cool and diverse like there should be someone with whom most people can relate. But it’s kind of hard to get together sometimes because we don’t always live so close and I don’t have a cell phon, and all those things just really affect my social life.


So how to cope with it? Well I always keep in mind that 3 months go by really really fast. But also my host family is oh sooo welcoming and I feel cared for and my mãe is just extremely affectionate. Once in a while she’ll grabs my face “oh soninha!” and kisses it. The first few times I didn’t know how to react really so I just kind of laughed and smiled.

me, my host sister, and her namorado having ice cream together. like invite me out with them and it's really super cool we have good times.

this is the famiily and part of the namorado's famly at their house in arembepe. just chillin'. i just don't have their permission to show their faces and, although i think that eventually i'll end up showing my face 'cause it makes pictures look awkward but...whatever. for not this will do.

But apart from that having skype really helps. [it’s a program that works pretty much like a phone over the internet and it’s free between computers and cheap if you’re calling from computer to a landline; you can download it for free at skype.com] but I can only chat right now because my computer won’t connect to the internet and my sister’s laptop (which she’s so nice in letting me borrow) doesn’t have a mic, camera, or functioning speakers. But regardless it helps. And just keeping in touch with family back home--even if it’s just through email, is very soothing. But these would just be flows of home sickness, that happen usually when I am by myself at home, especially when my plans were changed due to other people’s plan changes. But of course while you’re out seeing the city and especially on the tours, and traveling, or just hanging out with your peers having a bowl of acai, and you let yourself enjoy what you’re living at the moment, it’s all good.



I heard that usually by the second and third week your homesickness just goes away. And by the 3 week if you have culture shock, I think around this time it’s pretty much over too.



possibly helpful links for homesickness:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2058286_deal-homesickness-during-study-abroad.html



http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0405/combatting_homesickness_abroad.shtml

http://www.shelteroffshore.com/index.php/living/more/dealing-with-homesickness-living-abroad-10290/