My key objectives were to carry out independent research on a topic within Afro-Brazilian literature, and I feel that i have both met my original aims, which were somewhat general, but also found a particular angle on my project that I'm really happy with. I expected to research through the use of academic sources,meeting with professors and reading books, however went above and beyond this as I was expecting to find out about the extensive networks of periferia poets in Sao Paulo. I wanted to add something new to knowledge base, and my project focus, new black women's poetry in Sao Paulo, has been written about very few times, and certainly isn't something I would have been able to access easily if I hadnt had the opportunity to go to Brazil. I wanted to find out about the influence of Afro-Brazilian culture from the Northeast, and was able to to so, both by observing the heavy influence of Afro-Brazilian religion in much of periferia culture, partiuclarly references to the Orixas, mostly Yoruba gods who are syncretized with Catholic saints. I was able to see the contrast between European and Afro cultures in Brazil during my trip to Salvador, where I visited a Terreiro de Candomble, an Afr-Brazilian site of worship, and spoke to the spiritual healer there who gave me some information about the different depictions of the orixas. I have brought back with me a selection of poetry books bought from a sarau, an open mic poetry event in Sao Paulo, alongside a book on Pedagogic practice which incorporates Afro-Brazilian culture; these recently published books will not be available in English or to buy in the UK, so this also adds to 'knowledge base', in a sense.

They key skills l gained, or developed, over the project weren't always what I expected when writing my entries at the outset of the project, but certainly include the skills I anticipated would be developed. Although I had previously developed my research skills through my disertation proccess, which involved researching through preixisting academic texts, so that the originality in my work was based on developing an original thesis. My project, on the other hand, involved researching first hand 'sources' which hadn't been previously written about, so I was required to take my initiative, researching through contacting writers myself to gain an understanding of the peripheral poetry scene in Sao Paulo. Whilst the beginning of my project involved the study of academic texts in order to gain an overview of Afro-Brazilian literature, the process led me to want to investigate the relatively unwritten about peripheral poetry scene in Sao Paulo, attending events, keeping up to date with event listings online and in the Agenda da Periferia, a programme of music, literature, community and other cultural events held in the city. Independently researching and communicating with writers and academics, was extremely challenging but was an invaluable way of improving my organisational, interpersonal communication and networking skills which will undoubtedly help me in pursuing a career in either the arts or international development.

I was not expecting the importance communication would have in the project as I was relatively unaware of the community based cultural scene in the city, and the ability to communicate politely, and crucially, effectively interview writers will be very useful transferable skills. I had to adapt my interviewing skills from using questions with a more academic framework, to learning about the problematic relationship and perceptions of academia to the poets in the peripheries (poorest areas) of Brazil; poetry and writing is a form of self expression, and is far removed from the bourgeious literary European production, where literary analysis is often removed from the context of production. In this way, the knowledge I learned first hand from the URSS experience will be invaluable to my life, whether in terms of future academic work, but also, has prompted me to consider a career in international policy, or arts education, after seeing inspiring community led work in Brazil.

During my experience I disovered that it is possible to realise projects which one is passionate about, providing you are willing to put in the necessary effort, and if you have adequate means (ie time, financial) to carry out your aims. I think that before the experience I relied on completing tasks at the last minute and without great amounts of efffort until cramming too much into the end, which was exarcebated by the structure of university, where it is up to the student to take the iniative to work hard. On the other hand, the URSS experience put the incentive on me to structure, plan and research something which I was passionate about, and which was happening contemporaneously. I genuinely feel enthusiastic about creating my own projects I will as a result of having begun a dialogue with some of the poets I met and the socio-educational projects I came into contact with, approach the way i think about the 'reality' of developing countries differently and continue with further reading into the subject.

The emerging cultural movement of spoken work poetry which my research investigated also worked to empower and educate underprivileged, mostly afro-Brazilian communities, through increasing visibility of afro-Brazilian culture and heritage. One of the ccollectives which began as a research centre for Afro-Brazilian women poets now does educational work in the communities, running workshops and classes in local women's refuges, teaching crafts and hair braiding. Through meeting with Raquel Almeida and Elizandra Souza, who each form part of black women's collectives, I became inspired to potentially begin a masters course in 2016 with a focus on International Development, or Postcolonial studies. I have also began applying for related internships, such as a Policy Internship at Women for Women's International, an international charity which offers structural support to women in crisis zones, which was inspired by seeing the importance of education and teaching practical skills to vulnerable women in poor Brazilian communities.

Many of the experiences during the URSS experience were unexpected, most obviously the direction my project took (I came to Sao Paulo with the intention of researching the Quilombhoje group of black-consciousness writers but after my Aunt, who lives in Sao Paulo, told me about the sarau open mic poetry circuit, I discovered the interrelated network of poets, activists and pedagogists who form part of the contemporary cultural scene). I didn't expect to focus my research just on black women's poetry in Sao Paulo, having anticipated researching in Salvador also. Once I began finding out about the extensive network of poets in Sao Paulo, I found that it would have made my project lack depth if I had attempted to cover too much superficially- particularly as black women poets are so underepresented, so an in depth look at the Pretextos anthology and its context became my focus.

However, I had already booked my flights to Salvador in the Northeastern state of Bahia, so in the time leading up to the five day trip I considered how to best use the time there. Salvador is the centre of Afro-brazilian culture and heritage in Brazil, and Pelourinho, an area in the historic centre of the city, is full of museums, cultural centres, capoeira and samba schools, all related to Afro-Brazilian culture. I spent much of my time here, visiting Museu Afro-Brasil, A Fundacao Casa de Jorge Amado, and other museums and centres in the area. During this tie I had the opportunity to spend some time at a Capoeira school with a friend who lives in the citywe were talked through the musical and dance aspects of the martial art, and were invited to stay for a performance which I had not expected!

 Terreiro de Candomble, an Afro-Brazilian church I visited.

I would consider my meeting with Miriam Alves, poet, researcher and co-founder of Quilombhoje as one of my most invaluable moments during URSS, as the discussion was both extremely intresting and infromative, also helped establish a positive relationship with her, so that after the meeting she would post useful articles to my Facebbook, one of which was about the anthology whichended up being the focus of my project!

I really enjoyed the Sarau I went to in SESC Campinas, a city in the state of Sao Paulo. The event was organised by Jessiva Balbino whose MA dissertation project was the event itself, and which celebrated young peripheral women poets in Sao Paulo. The event was great, many first time performers were given the opportunity to perform alongside the seven poets the event celebrated, and a highlight was getting a lift home in the van with the poets!

Meeting with Emerson Inacio, a professor at USP, the Universit of Sao Paulo was also really interesting and gave me really important advice for the direction my project shoud take, at a point where I was relatively confused.

My experience in Brazil was generally an amazing opportunity URSS provided, I couldn't have chosen a more challenging but also rewarding way to spend my summer. Going to Salvador for the first time was really important for me to understand Afro-Brazilian culture, it was also truly a highlight of my trip, alongside getting to see firsthand related events in Sao Paulo, which isn't the most beautiful of cities but inexplicably has countless cultural events happening daily.

I experienced various challenges, issues and difficulties during the course of my project, mainly do with the problematic nature of academic work in peripheral communities, and my own inexperience. I didn't anticipate the reservations I would be met with as a researcher, and at first, the fact I was not welcomed with open arms by the writers I approached was intimidating. My first interview, with writer Fabio Kabral, was perhaps the most negative of my experiences; we had corresponded over emails and he seemed very keen to meet for an interview. However, my inexperience shone through, and in retrospect, some of the questions I had prepared weren't quite right- they were overly academic, and imposed viewpoints with potentially offensive connotations. Kabral was very reserved and complained before the interview about how so many previous interviews he had had frustrated him because all anyone would want to ask him was about his race, about black consciousness politics, about Kabral's opinions on contemporary political opinions... this completely threw me off, I had expected naively for these writers to 'understand' that my intentions were good. Again, when I met with Miriam Alves, I did not expect her opinions and harshness about researchers and international academia. Whilst Miriam didn't personally criticise me, and she in fact was really friendly, informative and emphatic during the discussion, she was very blunt in what she said. However, having said this, these challenges probably helped me learn and develop my understanding of my whole project through transforming the way I approached my research. Now, I completely understand why Miriam Alves and Fabio Kabral said what they said- it was just difficult at the time as I was left lost as to how I could approach my **academic research project** in a way which did not impose a Western, patronising or 'silencing' approach. How to change my focus ended up being really difficult, but without specific criticisms, I would not have taken as much from URSS as I have.

I feel that the URSS experience was indespensible to my personal progression, and I am really proud for continually putting myself out of y comfort zone, and having pushed myself to learn, improve my language skills and be self sufficient in a way I haven't really done before. I had never really considered pursuing further research or that I was capable of doing something so challenging, but I certainly feel that the experience will lead me to being more open minded with the possibilities research, and particularly research abroad, can provide. The only thing I had my reservations about was the fact I was often slightly bewildered in being on one hand free to push my research in the direction I would like, but on the other hand, stressed with finding myself quite out of my depth, and engaging with concepts I was wholly unfamiliar with. The unique nature of the project meant that there weren't so many guidelines or people I could fall back as a comparative point; I would say this made the experience really difficult, but as I have said, truly pushed me to persever, and come away from the project feeling like I learned more than a typical module at university. I twas truly an experience of independent learning and personal progression, and I would do it again!

To keep up momentum, make sure most days you designate at least a few hours towards the project. This way you will avoid panicking half way through when you feel you haven't done enough.

At the start you may feel like your research is directioneless and that you have no idea where you're going with an idea- this is the point where you must persevere, because with consistent work, yu will eventually find the right niche to focus on.

Be confident with your abilities and you will surprise yourself at how much you can achieve. However, there is nothing wrong with feeling stuck or confused, make sure you speak to your supervisor when feeling like this, instead of panicking alone.