Até mais, Fortaleza

Nine and a half months after I first arrived in Brazil to begin what turned out to be an incredible year working abroad, today marked the end of my Fogarty Fellowship year. The year was different than I expected in many ways, but was an incredible experience in so many ways. Today was bittersweet as I said farewell to some great friends, while packing and preparing to head home to see many friends and family in the States who I have missed durign this year abroad. Much of my day was spent on one of my least favorite tasks... packing. I always seem to wait until the final day to pack, and this trip was no exception. Fortunately, I was able to fit all of my things into the three suitcases that I had available. After a day of packing, I joined two of my friends Andrêssa and Neto for dinner at a rodízio, Boi Preto. There I ate far too much, and followed dinner with a final trip to 50 Sabores, the best ice cream place in Fortaleza. After ice cream, I said farewell to two of my closest friends in Brazil. Currently, I sit in my apartment packing the last few things into my suitcases, with only ten hours before my flight is scheduled to depart from Fortaleza. I know I will leave Brazil tomorrow with some sadness, as Brazil has become home to me during this past year, but I also will depart with great anticipation for catching up with many friends and family in the US. This will likely be my last post from Brazil, and perhaps my last blog post for a while. I started this blog as a way to keep up with friends and family in the US while abroad, and now that I will be back in the US, it would seem to have served its purpose. I may post photos and news from time to time, but this will mark the end of the account of my year in Brazil. Many thanks to all who have read this and stayed in touch this year, and I do look forward to seeing everyone back in the US! Até mais tarde de Fortaleza!

Last Day in the Lab

Nearing the end... Mais três dias

The photo above was taken on my first day in Brazil over nine months ago. In some ways, that day seems like years ago, and in others it seems like not so long ago. In any case, it is hard to believe that in less than three days, I should be aboard an airplane bound for the United States. It will be sad to leave behind what has been an incredible year in Brazil, as I have learned much from my research, have made many great friends, and have seen many incredible places. Despite some sadness about leaving, I am incredible excited to be returning to the Estados Unidos (U.S.), and look forward to seeing the many people whom I care so much about and have missed during my year in Brazil. I also look forward to getting back to the School of Medicine, where I will begin my fourth year rotations on May 28, starting with a month of internal medicine (two weeks of consults and two weeks of infectious disease) before beginning rotations in ophthalmology, the field in which I currently plan to apply for residency training.

I'm sure I'll post a few more thoughts later this week on leaving Brazil, but I have been delaying packing my luggage, and that task is only looking more daunting as time passes, so for now I'll close...

Nine months later... three days from leaving...

Campeanato Cearense Final

Sunday afternoon saw the state soccer championship come to an end as the second leg of the final was played in Fortaleza. Unlike many American sports, where playoffs involve best of five or best of seven series, soccer playoffs typically involve two game series, with the winner determined on aggregate goals. In this year's Ceará state league championship, the finalists were Fortaleza, the best team in our state, hailing from the capital, and Icasa, a team from Juazeiro do Norte, the second largest city in Ceará, 12 hours south of Fortaleza. The first leg of the final, played a week earlier, ended in a 2-2 draw, thus this match would prove decisive.

The match began in front of a larger than capacity crowd at the largest stadium in Fortaleza, Castelão. Nearly 70,000 fans saw Icasa have the better of play for the first 10 minutes, before Fortaleza began to show their superior talent. Fortaleza created a number of great scoring chances over the second ten minutes, but several shots placed just wide of the net left the score tied. Finally, midway through the first half, the Fortaleza attackers combined on a quick series of passes that found a wide open striker at the penalty spot. The striker converted the goal to give the home side the 3-2 advantage on aggregate, and the Fortaleza fans immediately roared to life with chanting, fireworks, and dancing. Fortaleza continued to dominate play for the remainder of the first half, heading to the break with a one goal advantage.

In the second half, Fortaleza again dominated play early, but was unable to capitalize on repeated chances, as striker Rinaldo pushed many a wide open shot just outside the goal posts. Icasa seemed unable to mount a coordinated attack in search of the equalizer until the final moments of the match, during which the Fortaleza goalkeeper made a number critical saves to preserve the win. Fortaleza held on to win 3-2, winning the Campeanato Cearense of 2007, a year after losing the title to crosstown rival Ceará.

The crowd became a bit unruly toward the end of the match with rather uncontrolled use of fireworks, that resulted in a small fire that was quickly extinguished. After being relegated to the second division of the Brazilian championship with a finish near the bottom of the first division last year, Fortaleza will open play in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie B this Saturday, as will Ceará. Icasa will join Itapipoca, also a team from the interior of Ceará in Serie C, as 2006 Serie C finalist Ferroviário missed out on qualification for the third division with a fifth place finish in the state league.