Settling in.
For the first few days I felt a bit shaky. A little unsteady walking around, a mix of “what if someone starts speaking with me in Portuguese and I don’t understand them” and “I sure hope I don’t get lost”. After a week here, I feel a lot more comfortable. The people of Porto Alegre are really to thank for that. Everyone has been really nice and helpful.
I’d say that I’m starting to settle in. Part of it is BJJ. I’ve been training at a gym near my house, and I’ve met some nice people. Most of them are pretty high-level in their jiu-jitsu or in vale tudo, but when I start getting frustrated because I am getting tapped out, I stop and practice my Portuguese. Everyone is pretty eager to try out their English though, so we may need to work out some kind of trading system.
It is a bit weird being someplace where you don’t understand people. I grew accustomed to hearing English, or Spanish, and since I speak both of those pretty well, I grew out of practice of having to tune my ear. At the same time, when I walk by someone on their cell phone and understand what they are saying, I get a warm fuzzy feeling. I’m really glad that the people don’t mind making an effort to understand you.