Pre Departure!

{My name is Alec Roth, a Junior in the EPIB program at Rutgers. I am traveling to Brazil for two internships, thanks to the generous SEBS International Department at Rutgers. My main purpose for this trip is to gain work experience, learn Portuguese, and to compare American society to Brazil’s, regarding the environment, community, and social capital.}

{The first part of my trip, 10 days, I will stay with my Portuguese professor’s family in São Jose dos Campos, São Paulo. It will be a nice transition into the Brazilian culture. After the first 10 days I will begin my internships in Bahia.}

7/25

10:24AM JFK Airport, Gate 16

Today is here.

Ever since I was little I always looked toward the future with excitement, ready to travel the world to experience and absorb language, culture, and society. Yet, now that the future is here, I am nostalgic. This past year has been one, if not the best, year of my life. I am hopeful as I look toward my future years, but the memories linger, tapping me on the shoulder asking to be bookmarked, stamped in some narrow crease in the brain. I cannot help but feel I am leaving something behind. Not a charger or my toothbrush, but the intangible spirit of my youth. Despite, the immense love I feel for 2013, the past month has been difficult, accompanied by major life transitions: A dear uncle has passed away, my childhood home is up for sale, and a love for life that has never been so powerful. I know this is a pivotal time, a turning point in my life as well as my family’s. With the selling of our Cherry Hill home there is a feeling of release, a catharsis. A symbolic event representing the end of my first two decades on this planet and the beginning of my last decades. As I see it, the next few years are prime adventure time, which explains my current craving to travel. I do not know what to expect when I land, nevertheless I will land with a clear conscience, an open mind, and open arms to whatever awaits me!

        

I dedicate this first post to the Roth, Loew, and Horn Family, as well as all my friends, for making me who I am today, and for the support and love that surrounds me even when we are thousands of miles apart.

(The internet does not work in the Family home unfortunately, and in Bahia I will not have internet everyday. So although I write everyday my posts will not be as frequent.)

- Alec