Field Trip, Round 2

Fellow Chivers,

So there's a few things to address before the big thing we need to address. First and foremost, I'm a big fan of the Chive. As in http://thechive.com/ It's a great place.

Further, it's possible to see what countries people who read this are from. While I expected the people reading this to only occupy a few places (USA @fam and friends, Brazil @me, and Spain @Uncle Victor) I have been read from 10 different countries including those above and Germany, Russia, Iran, Australia, Switzerland, Greece, and India. And 6 people have read me on an iPad, and 3 on an iPod. Technology is just the best!

So anyway, we mentioned to our commanders that we were hoping to stretch our legs and travel a bit more (@spendingthemoneyWestPointgaveus) and after thoroughly researching and planning a weeklong trip to 3 cities culminating in a weekend at the biggest Oktoberfest outside of Germany, it was "suggested" that we take a training trip with the Cavalria (Cavalry) guys to Santa Maria for a week of armor instruction along with some free time in the city.

What looked like a bummer at first could be a blessing in disguise; Santa Maria has a deep and rich German heritage and while is not the largest city in the south, comes highly recommended. It has a large contingent of universities and a young population. Further, as we've heard countless times from many a cadete, "As mulheres mais bonitas são de o sul" or "The most beautiful women are from the south." The weather is supposed to be nice this time of year (read: as it is EVERYWHERE in Brazil) and we'll be going with a branch we haven't spent much time with yet so we'll meet some more good guys I'm sure.

On that note, since we're leaving on Sunday morning and it's a 25 hour bus ride (we're gonna smash last weeks totals) there's a little more school work I need to get done in order to ensure I get this Psych paper in on time (@PsychProf, it's gonna be close) Hope you guys are enjoying the US, we're all starting to get a bit homesick but are being treated extremely well down here so no complaints yet!

Portuguese of the day (apologies in advance if I've already done this) is "saudade" which, sadly, has no direct translation into English but is mostly similar to longing or wanting. When people are homesick or miss someone, they have saudade or "ter saudade". To express homesickness, you say, "Tenho saudade pra casa."

See you on the other side of the weekend,

Tchau for now!