September 12- September 18

Host family. :) (September 13)

Host brothers (September 13)

Friends. (Me, Gabi, Bru, Iza) (September 12)

joão bosco e vinicius!!!!!!!! :) (September 12)

local newscaster, Michelle Sampaio. (September 15)

Álvaro and Jonas Almeida. (September 15)

more friends from school. clockwise from bottom: Raquel, Naty, Maisa, Me, Viki, Mony (September 14)

More famous people in São José. Vinícius Valverde. (September 15)

Cousins. :) (thalita and marie) (September 15)

we love SESC theater. (Vó e Mãe) (September 16)

Okay, so I'm going to apologize for my laziness and also for the fact that I have been very busy here so I haven't updated this as much as I have wanted to. So here goes for the last week of my life.

September 12 (Saturday)-

Today, after getting to sleep in for a bit, we a had a little breakfast but went to Vó's house for lunch. We had meat, rice, beans, pumpkin, farofa and something Tia Ma made, coconut milk pudding/jello with caramel and fig sauce. We stopped on the way back for a quick popsicle from the bakery. I had limão but mostly everyone else had corn. Then Mãe and I went to Extra, the grocery store. It was like Fred Meyer and Target, with the fact that you can buy clothes and shoes besides just groceries, but it was huuuuuuuge. There was a couple of the same things, Natural Valley Granola Bars!, but there was a lot of different things too, especially in the produce section. Green coconuts, Codorna eggs, pumpkins, big avocados, 3 differents sizes of bananas, many other fruits I didn't recognize, to name a few. After our adventure there we went back home to pick up the boys and go to SESC. It was very relaxing. When we went home we were going to visit a friend that had just had a baby, but Álvaro wasn't feeling well and we didn't want to risk the baby's health. So I went to Colina's with Mãe to get my ticket for João Bosco e Vinicius. The weird part was I went in the mall and bought it at the shoe store counter, even though the concert wasn't anywhere near the mall... We decided to test my debit card, and it finally worked! So I bought Aninha's birthday gift and a couple things for myself. :) Then I had to get ready for the concert. Tio Indío picked me up at a little after 10:30 with Marie, Iza, Gabi and Bru already in the car. So i squished in the back next to them and drove to UNIVAP. The venue was different. I reminded me of the fairgrounds, because we stood on grass and it was that kind of atmosphere, only with a lot more drunks. After getting patted down at the entrance we had a run in with a group of drunk guys. And let me tell you this is the only time when the Brasilian friendliness can be a problem. Guys grab on to you and try to talk to you.. and you have to tell them to leave and make up fake names, it's kind of scary. I'm really glad I had people there, looking out for me. After shaking the guys off, we waited by the entrance for Marie's friend Mih to get there.

September 13 (Sunday)-

When Mih finally got there, along with more friends I didn't know, we went to find a spot while the opening band played. We pasted the VIP section, actual seats, and many stands selling food or beverages. And people everywhere, doing everything. When we found an open spot, what do Brasilians do? Dance of course. No one watchs the band they dance, talk and laugh. I couldn't really tell you what the singer looked like. And when I say dance, I really mean jump around and wave their arms while belting the lyrics to the songs they know. After our empty spot got crowded by smoke we went to the center of the crowd for the main act, avoiding smoke and drunks along the way. Finally João Bosco and Vinicius came on stage. We watched them for the first couple songs, then it was back to songs no one really knew so we just swayed to the music and talked. But throughout the entire show there was fireworks shooting over the crowd, fireworks on stage, confetti.. It was pretty crazy. The song the duo is famous for it called "Chora Me Liga" and we must have heard it 4 times throughout the night (www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbngXjlUfwo) It finally ended at about 3am. We waited for Gabi's sister to give us a ride home, talking with my new friends. Then all five of us fit in the back seat, Gabi and Marie on our laps, and drove everyone home. I was so tired I mostly slept on the way back, I probably couldn't tell you where we drove. When I finally got dropped off, I couldn't get the door open from my lack of focus. But I got in and passed out at 4:15am.

Not wanting to miss anything I woke up the next day at 11ish, had something to eat and watched some T.V. Then we went to a surprise place for lunch. We went to beautiful restaurant overlooking the city with typical food. We ate filet minon, rice, potatoes, fried bananas, and there was parmasen meat. And Grananá to drink of course. We took lots of pictures in the beautiful setting and ate some pitanga berries that were growing on a tree outside. Then we drove back to the city and stopped at the roadside stand for garapa again. I got mine with pineapple this time. It was just as good. :) Then we went home, I cleaned up a bit, and talked to my parents. Then Va's brother, his wife, daughter and her daughter, that we visited in Lorena, came to eat dinner with us and drop off his daughter, Thalita, because she was spending the week with us. Then we just relaxed and went to bed.

September 14 (Monday)-

Everything was back to the usual routine. Only I went home for lunch and I stood at COC to avoid the rain. As we were opening the gate, it really started raining on us for just a couple of seconds. I ate another big lunch, creamed corn, fried chicken, potatoes, rice, brocoli, and new juices. The highlight for me was hard-boiled Codorna (Quail) eggs. João and I got a ride to the gym because it was still raining. I met with my trainer again and did most of the same exercises, except I learned a new sit up that was 10x more difficult. I talked to the same guy as I did last Friday and he introduced me to his friend, Paulo. Then Va picked us up, and João and I took showers while she went and got Álvaro. We ate dinner and I checked on how the Patriots were doing. I went to bed early because everyone else had too.

September 15 (Tuesday)-

The only interesting thing about school today was Heron taught Gomes Setor 141 class. Other than that, life was pretty normal. Minha Mãe has decided that it is time for me to speak in Portuguese because I've been here a month. For lunch we had leftovers, plus meat, rice, potatoes and more crazy juices. João, Thalita and I watched the end of a movie in portuguese, that I know I've seen I just don't remember the name, and then 13 going on 30 was on again so I opted to chill on the computer. Mãe came home but had a client so we all continued to veg. Then we all got ready to go to SESC for some volleyball! It felt a little weird playing, cause I haven't played in forever and I sucked, but I missed it. Once we got kicked out early for a futsal tourney (indoor soccer), we went out to watch a four on four volleyball tourney in the quadra. We got pictures taken with the people that are on the news here, so they're semi famous. The volleyball wasn't that great, but it wasn't horrible either. We went home to eat again, dried meat, eggs and rice. Then I went up to take a shower and when I came back downstairs everyone had gone to bed. So I talked to Caio till it got really late and then I passed out.

September 16 (Wednesday)-

This morning was very different from the others. No one was up but Thalita and I, and she left before I came downstairs. So I let myself out for school and school continued as usual. Perrenoud singled me out again, as usual, but I think my embarrassment is decreasing. Lunch was salmon, tomatoes, white aspargus, beans and rice. Mãe showed us this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbNtPXYL2ltI. It's hilarious. Then João and I walked to the gym because mãe was at work. Lincoln (my trainer) gave me my own card so I didn't have to ask what I should do everytime, though I still did. My friend at the gym introduced me to someone else. I swear he's just trying to get me to know everyone there. Then mãe picked us up and I went home, had a glass of water and a few granola bars and waited for Maria. João went to tennis with me and Maria. I have already improved, my coach commented on how my serves were really good and I play very well. I had a lot of fun with the people we play with. When I got home I got ready to go to a play at SESC with Vó and mãe. Well the show happened to be an opera. :O but it wasn't that bad. There was one lady playing piano and the other one singing. They would explain a little about the what was going on in the scene and then sing the song. The reason they did this was because sometimes the song was in French, German or Italian and everyone in the audience was just as lost as me. They also acted out a few bits, with feather boas, dusters, lettuce, radishes and coffee. It was pretty awesome, the audience even got offered coffee. :) It was so much better than the pianist. We went home, I had a little more to eat and went to bed.

September 17 (Thursday)-

The day continued as usual with Heron breaking up the school day I dislike the most. Fred and I had perfect timing hitting both crosswalks and then mãe was waiting for us. We had "jaticonheço" aka leftovers, plus mashed mandiocinha. I talked with my parents because they were leaving for Canada tomorrow about the time I would halfway through my school day (6:30am PST) Then I had to find a way to entertain myself because mãe had to work and I had not contacted Terezinha in time, thanks to being out all day yesterday, to go with her to Tenis Clube. So I ate an apple outside and watched a ghost show with João. We had a little dinner and then it was time for Rotary. Dinner at rotary was parmasen beef, rice, salad, vegatable and tuna cake thing, with mamão for dessert (I didn't trust the other option).We had a program again and it was about soccer, naturally. From what I understood it was like a club program with U15, U17 and U20 divisions. I understood most of the program and was very proud of myself. We got out at around 9:45 (the longest yet I think) and went home and went to bed.

September 18 (Friday)-

Today was a pretty normal day, to start out with. But when I was waiting for my host mom to come pick me up, I got a call saying that the car is broken and Pai was coming on the motorbike. Awesome? Most definately. Then we had lunch, spaghetti. Then Mãe went to work, on the motorbike, and I went to the gym as usual and had a good talk with Lincoln, in mostly portuguese. Then Tia Ma picked us all up, because we still had no car, but what was better was the fact that we didn't have the house keys either. So we went to Vó's to eat dinner and Marie came home from school and invited me to go with her to a movie with my other cousin Pam. So I went to her house to get changed, into her clothes, and then back to Vó's to wait until Pai got home from work. Then we rushed to Colina's to make it on time, but I needed my id and Claro Clube card and Mãe had to bring it from home. Well the movie was really funny, "Verdade nua e crua" aka "The Ugly Truth". Then I came home and went to bed.

That is all for now. Hopefully I will write something sooner this coming week, and look for a blog on school coming sometime soon. :D

Beijos, tchau!