June 1st or: lazy day, time to say obrigado

Yesterday, we went to the party.Today, we got up and that's basically about it. Burgers for lunch, nothing too spectacular. We were scheduled to go to the favela again to distribute glasses there, but for a reason unknown to me it didn't work out. Well, this gives me the opportunity to wrap up our stay here in Sao Paulo.

It's impressive to see: we arrived here 23 days ago, but it feels like yesterday. During this time, I've learned quite a lot about myself, met tons of awesome people, learned a lot about the brazilian culture and empowered homeless people to become micro-opticians. It all started off with our arrival in Sao Paulo and the rodizio, then continued with the training. The first weekend was mostly relaxing and an open air festival, then another week of training followed. The second weekend we went to Belém, and I cannot emphasize enough how overwhelming that was. The third week of training was more grinding than the first two, but we also finished that, and now I'm sitting here writing this. 

Sitting where? Right, in Michelle's living room. Without her, everything here would have been way more difficult. For the record: Michelle is not connected to Enactus in any way, but read about the project and offered to accomodate us. This is the perfect example for the incredible brazilian hospitality. At this point, I really want to thank you for sacrificing your living room and basically your whole apartment for two random german dudes. I hope we weren't too much of a burden. 

We also have to keep in mind why we are here. The main reason for that is Ralf, who made this cooperation possible and also accomodated us very well, together with Sylvia. Thank you! Sylvia, obrigado para as comidas incrivels! Eu vou sentir falta delas! 

Part of our project was also training people from Insper. Now, we have Felipe, who became a very good trainer just within three weeks. We really appreciate your persistence and the fact that you were always there. Thanks dude! 

Going around Sao Paulo also would have been a challenge if it wasn't for all the Enactees who drove us around constantly. It may seem a matter of course, but it really isn't. Danke!

Then, the weekend in Belém was a blast, as I may have mentioned before. A huge thanks to the Enactus CESUPA team for that and especially to Luana, who gave us a home far away from home. 

But of course, that's not just about it. There are way more people who positively impacted our stay here. Andrea and Paulinha from the shelter who cooked for us, Ana for making the work there possible, Caio for always being there even though you weren't even involved in the project, Fábio for the incredible amount of time he put into the project instead of going to the gym, Zé for always trying to drag us to a party, Ralf for talking to Dana in Cancún (thus initiating all this), Bruna for pointing out that I'm a hopeless narcissist and Paola for always encouraging the others to speak English when we are around. This may seem like a small gesture, but it meant a lot to me. Thank you!

This stay in Sao Paulo would not have been what it was without every single person we interacted with. Thanks for being there! 
OBRIGADO!

Tonight, we will start a new adventure. We're going to Rio de Janeiro by bus. I don't know about you, but I'm really excited, and I will try to keep you posted!

tomorrow, we're trading this for beach and sunshine!