Finding the Humor in Study Abroad

A lot of the experiences I'm having here in Niterói, Brazil (right across the river from Rio de Janeiro) are making me remember when I first landed in Chile. I only had a few measly years of high school Spanish under my belt and could barely spit out, "Me gusta...nadar?" I was awkward and frustrated and wanted to explode in English sometimes at the dinner table. Although I, without a doubt, speak more Portuguese than I did Spanish when I arrived, I'm having that feeling. Everything is confusing, I feel uncomfortable in my own skin and know that I can't even remotely pass for a Brazil when I open my mouth, even to say "com licença" - excuse me.

Yesterday was a bit disastrous. We went to a building to choose our classes and found this cork board with about 200 classes listed. We spent about an hour writing down all the classes we were interested in. Yay - tudo bom! In the afternoon, however, when we went to get our class choices signed by professors, one professor said, "wait, those are LAST semester's classes." Great. Mass chaos ensued, involving having to go to each department asking for the different classes offered. I was breathing fire at our coordinator UNTIL I realized that the situation was totally hysterical. To get through these moments, we need to find the humor in them.

I'm getting a little yoga-zen here, but study abroad is about finding the comfort in being uncomfortable - sitting at dinner and not understanding a word and somehow releasing yourself and admitting that no, you don't understand and yes, it really sucks, but you're safe and everything's okay.