To be continued - South America

How is it possible that my time in Brazil is almost over? I only have ten more days in Rio - what the hell?  As it seems, there is and will never be enough time to spent at some place beautiful. The last two weeks I spent quite some time working on the Bachelor Thesis. At least I am quite confident that I'll manage to finish it next week so that I can enjoy the rest of my travels - free-minded. Working a lot didn't mean that I didn't do something fun. So, thanks to a national holiday, I already left Rio on Thursday and went to Ilha Grande which is aorund three hours west of Rio.  As there's plenty to do on the island, it was perfect that I had an extra day to spend on it. Ilha Grande is known for diving, the atlantic forest and the hidden beaches only reachable by foot. So, I started the trip with a couple of dives. It’s a beautiful spot for diving with big rock formations covered in corals and home to sea horses (first photo), turtles, many (and huge) crb...

It was the last week for Rebekka, so we enjoyed ourselves a lot this week. We went to the Lab of the Hanggliding Instructor which was very interesting. The Lab is located in the largest (public) University-Clinic in Rio. It's a bit outside of town in the north of Rio. The hospital is very old and that's also what you see. Very old constructions and just not very welcoming. We  met the team he was working with and did some experiments with virtual reality and heart rate observation which was fun and, again, very interesting. In the evening we took a Samba Class. It was so much fun! I am thinking about taking another few! Also, it was incredibly exhausting to try to keep up to the speed of the music and my muscles were quite sore the next day. In the end we also tried it with some parts of the actual Carnival Costums (you see them in the pictures) which didn't work that well. The costums weight a lot, so it is hard to find a good balance... After the class, we went to a bar...

Well as the title already says: I am trying to figure out a good way to enjoy myself here but also get some things done. The week before last week, I was quite busy working on the Bachelor Thesis which is why I only went to Petrópolis on Saturday and studied the rest of that week. Petrópolis is a very important town for the history of Brazil, especially referring to the time of being part of the Portuguese Empire. As a consequence there are beautiful colonial buildings and walking through that town makes you feel to be somewhere else than in middle of brazilian mountains and forests. The landscape is nice there, but besides the museums and the "Cervejaria Bohemia" (Beer Brewery) there's not a lot to do. One day was definitely enough. During the week we were again kind of busy with developing a new study, so I didn't do something special. By now, I joined a group of colleagues for having a run on the beach in Ipanema a few times a week. I really enjoy it to run bar...

Already three weeks in Rio - it's not a surprise, but still incredible how fast time passes! Due to the German Unity Day, there has been a reception on Tuesday which I was invited to. It was held at the residence of the German Consular in Santa Teresa. As the sun sets very early, so that it's dark at about 6pm, I don't have any good pictures. The residence is like a sweet little castle with a stunning view from the terrace. There were many different people from economics, science, the consular itself, other important people - and us. Yeah, we fitted in there pretty good. Anyways, we enjoyed plenty of brazilian and german food and even more Caipirinhas. It was a very nice evening! As I am pretty busy with work and (very little) thinking about the Bachelor Thesis, there really is not much happening in the week to tell you guys. So, what did I do this weekend? We started the it with a few drinks in Lapa, a district downtown, which is known for a good night life. I enjo...

As the title already says: By now I feel a little more settled and the daily routine is there. CrossFit in the morning, working during the day and, depending on my decision if I want to do something for university or not, having some quality time in the evenings. Due to the routine there's not a lot to tell. This week the weather improved a lot. I didn't write about it last time, but last week it was raining a lot. It was still kind of warm but lots and lots of rain. To enjoy the sun and appreciate this perfect weather I finally started surfing in Ipanema. The next couple of weeks I'll try to go surfing once or twice a week. There's no better way to start the day and I hope that I improve my surfing skills as well. The waves are great (at least for my level) and not too powerful. The surf teacher with whom I do some guiding is also very kind. This weekend I stayed in Rio. I just wanted to relax a little and explore the city. We started the weekend with a bar tou...

Hey guys, For those who didn't know me back in 2014: as you might or might not know, when I travel I keep having troubles with keeping everyone updated or talk about what I do or simply share some pictures. This is why I force myself to write and share some stuff on this platform. So, here we go... I can't believe how fast this summer passed. I didn't travel a lot but through lots of weekend trips, festivals and other stuff it felt like a month or so. Well, now I am finally in Brazil. I work at the "Instituto D'Or", doing a research internship in Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro. I'll stay here until the end of November and do some traveling afterwards. What is there to tell you so far? The flight was perfectly fine, I was picked up from the airport and got good instructions about the area etc. for the first few days. The appartment I am staying at is sweet and cozy and the institute is within walking distance. I also already found a great CrossFit Box j...