Short, but sweet.

Oi, meu Deus. I can not believe it's been 2 weeks since I've written in here. What have I been doing with my time? And where is it going??

I'm going to keep it short this time, less talk about food more about activities, and hopefully I will be caught up... So here goes:



October 8 (Quinta):

It rained today during school, so when we had our second 20 minute break, I stood in the doorway of the school and watched the rain. We had a new (but old, from mãe's childhood) treat for lunch. It's called Mandiopã, mandioca chips, this batch was flavored like potato, that you put in hot oil and they puff up to make light chips. Rotary was good, the man that went to city hall with me (not my club president) talked about the qualities of a leader. I'm proud to say I understood mostly everything, especially the short video in English. :) The highlight of today was talking to Trent in Portuguese on MSN, which lead into talking to Maria in Portuguese in the car and at Rotary, and then mãe when I got home about brands. I think I am starting to get the hang of the language. :D



October 9 (Sexta):

I got to go to gym on the motobike today. :) João went to a friend's house to study and mãe and I ran some errands before rushing me back to the house so I could pack and shower. I went with mãe and Álvaro to a little celebration in the Aquarius shopping center parking lot, for Children's day. There was a trampoline and puppies to pet. I sat with the adults, my tio and some friends, and just talked with them. Then we went back to the house, after having some difficulties with the parking garage exit, mãe had opened the wrong one and disposed of the ticket and we couldn't get a new one unless there was a car at the stall and ours was promptly stuck behind the gate, and Maria was waiting for me. I was then off to Caraguatuba, again with João, João Vitor, Maria and Gabi. We had a short stop to eat some bbq sandwiches and arrived around 10:30. We had to pick of one of JV friends at the corner of the street and when we got to the apartment, we watched a little tv, unpacked and went to bed.



October 10 (Sabado):

I got up at around 9:30 like everyone else and after breakfast went for a walk along the same boardwalk in the rain. Well rain in Caragua is more like constant mist, but by the we got back to the apartment I was soaked. So I changed clothes and we went to the vacation house of Gabi and her parents in Ubatuba for bbq. My cousin and all of her friends were there too, Marie, Bruna and Iza. We had typical bbq, played many games of cards and watched a movie. Then everyone got ready to go out to downtown Caragua. The girls and Gabi's mom ate Al Badah, arabic food. I tried some stuff I have never seen before Kibe and some sort of mini pizza thing, with arabic crust and palmito (heart of the palm tree, typical Brasilian) with Limão Swisa (limeade milkshake thing) to drink. Then we walked in the mist to get Capricho (a magazine). JV and I watched "A touch of the Medusa" when we got back to the apartment while Guedes slept.. Then we all went to bed.



October 11 (Domingo):

I was woken up by the sun today! It was a beach day. :) There was a meeting for the apartments to decide on some important issues that João and Maria had to attend so JV and I watched another old movie, "Sunset Boulevard". When João and Maria got back we started our drive to Ubatuba. The scenery was similiar to Hawaii, big green mountain and towns that appear out of nowhere. The towns themselves were like Mexico, the paint peeling off the buildings and brightly colored. But the beach was totally Brasilian. There was a lot of sand before you got to the water, and it was all gently sloping. But it was packed from the road to the water. People sitting at tables, next to tables, next to tables, everyone walking, playing a paddle game (like ping pong without a table), kids playing in the waves and building sandcastles. João, Maria and I went for a walk to end of the beach and back, eating popsicles along the way. After a little while longer of just sun bathing, we were starving. So Maria and I weaved our way to the counter and ordered fried cação, fried lula (both the name of the president and octopus) and fried mandioca. It was so good! When we had finished it was starting to get dark and cold so we headed back. After a short nap and the end of the movie, Maria, JV and I went to downtown (a street back from the beach this time). JV had to get a book for school, but right next to it was a friend of mãe's brother's açaí shop! (the same guy that was a the children's day celebration with us) He came in and said hi and we all ate the most excellent açaí. Thanks to Brasilian hospitality, it was free. Then we headed back to meet the girls and we went out for ice cream and to walk on the beach (Guedes told me it was full of cat pee to which I replied "Legal" (cool) and kept running towards the waves). We then went back to the apartment and hung out by the pool (I talked with Iza, in portuguese!) until we got kicked out. Then we watched Chicago (the girls left around midnight) and went to bed.



October 12 (Segunda):

Today we had to drive back to SJC. :( We stopped at Churraskilo to eat before dropping Guedes off. Churraskilo was definately an experience. It was like a buffet, with a bunch of food I didn't recognize, and then you ordered meat, weighed your food, ordered a drink and ate. You pay on the way out. I stayed at Maria's house until my host fam got back from Tia Ma's sítio. When I got home, there was no power due to a crazy windstorm. So I just relaxed with my host family. They are awesome.



October 13 (Terça):

We ate lunch at Vó's today, with Fred and Pam. We rushed to get a box to a friend of Álvaro's parents who were going to give it to Mima. We then ate a quick dinner, picked up Álvaro and Marie and went to SESC. The kids got to play with other kids, while Marie and I watched. Then they moved the net to the middle of the gym and the good adults came out. They were the best I've played with so far. It was so much fun, and my side won just about every time. I recieved a new nickname: Loira (blonde).



October 14 (Quarta):

We got to school late this morning, Furukana was entering class when we got there. I walked to gym in the heat and by the time I got there I was dying. When Maria picked me up for tennis is was still sweltering. Tennis was good, though I was frustrated with myself for most of the class. Arriving home, I was immediately greeted by cousins from Pinda. We ate dinner with them (best part was the banana turnovers) and talked for a long time.



October 15 (Quinta):

During the middle of physics, spring came back with in form a huge rainstorm! I'm so smart to pack my raincoat everyday. I talked with my parents on Skype (like I do most Thursdays) and finished some things I had on my to do list. After a quick dinner, Maria and JV picked me up for Rotary. I didn't understand much of the program, it was about the speakers community service work, but it was still good. The club gave me money because the district still hasn't paid me for either month, and I will pay them back when I get money. I solified my weekend plans and went to bed just as pai was getting home.



October 16 (Sexta):

I don't know if my second alarm didn't go off or I just didn't hear it.. but I was woken up ten mintues before tio Indio picks me up. Maria picked me up to go to children's hospital at 2, and Terezinha, Ana Maria and I took a tour. We saw the maternity ward, Oncology center, Intensive care center and a small celebration for the saint of the hospital. I came back home in time for gym and walked part of the way with Janaina. We went to the mall to get ice cream and I came back and went to sleep because I was super tired.



October 17 (Sabado):

I woke up around 11, and we went to Vó's for lunch with most of my family. We sang happy birthday and 3 different kinds of dessert (carrot cake, para vir (to see only), and a kind of pineapple pudding thing), all were excellent. So was the fried banana. :) Then my friend Preto picked me up to go to the churras (bbq) of my seat partner, João. It was way out in the military base of my city, CTA. I had a blast there, meeting so many new people and dancing to loud sertanejo music. Then pai picked me up and I went home and got ready for the fantasy party held by my school. My final choice for a costume was Barbie, simple but feminine. Then my future host parents and host brother picked me up at around 10:30. We drove to the other side of the city to a kind of fazienda (farm) where the party was. As we were arriving, Tailia was confused and pulled over to the side of the road, then back out into the lane, colliding with another car! Way to make a first impression. But the festa was great! Way different from US, there were live bands from different classes in school (my future host brother's girlfriend was in one), inside there was a DJ and everyone was dressed up. I stayed there until around 3 am when Tailia picked me up and I went home and crashed.

October 18 (Domingo):

Thanks to daylight savings time, I now have no idea what time it is. We gained an hour, so I am five hours different from home. Today we went to Pindamonangaba to visit more family. I met Tia Fátima, Tio Pedro, and Primos: Joyce e marido Marcos; two children: João Marcos e Pedro, Daniel, Fábio, Gisele (pregnant) e marido Gustavo, Juliana e marido Guilherme, Augusto, Julio e Luiza; Daniel (Luiza's son). We had a great time eating bbq, singing and playing guitar and playing uno. I then decided I never want to leave Brasil. When we were returning from Pinda, our car broke down again and mãe and I walked home. I talked with my parents really late, because again, I have no idea what time it is and went to bed.

October 19 (Segunda):

Daylight savings had one more trick to play on me, regarding my alarm clock. My alarm was set for the right time, the time on my phone however was not. So again I had 10 minutes before tio Indio picked me up. School was normal, minus my math class because of a sick teacher, at least that's what I think. We had to walk to gym because the car was still in the shop but we took the umbrella (which was smart) because lo and behold it started raining again. So João and I walked home in the rain, huddling under the umbrella. I spent the rest of the night bringing back my sophomore year, playing Cooking Mama.

October 20 (Terça):

Everyone left the class of the day, Ricardo Gomes, so it was Viki, João and I in my group of friends. I wonder if he noticed that half the class was not there.. We ate at Vó's and we got to volleyball a little late, but I saw people that I had played with the last couple weeks. I am finally getting to know people! After we played on the jungle gym outside and I had a good time laughing with my host family.

October 21 (Quarta):

Perrenoud's second class was probably the funniest thing ever. He talked about the menstral system, which lead into sex ed. He made a girl in my class put a condom on the microphone he was using and proceeded to teach the rest of the class with it on there. Gym was good, I can tell I'm getting stronger and Tennis was great! I won the small competition between the 3 other people in my class. i got to dry dishes for the first time here. :) I went to bed at 9:30 because I was super tired.

October 22 (Quinta):

When I got to school it was pitch black and no less than 5 minutes after I got there a downpour started. Once it got a little lighter, you could see the rain pounding down. The lights even went out for a couple minutes in my first class. After lunch I played Rack (the Brasilian version of Rack-o, possibly the best game ever) with João and mãe. It made me miss my US parents a bit, but it definately was still fun. Rotary was a bit later tonight, so Maria picked me up a 8:15 (mãe had two clients). Rotary was good, there wasn't a speaker, more just of an open discussion. Dinner was pasta, rice and brocoli with mamão and some kind of peach cake for dessert. It got over really late though and I went to bed even later, around 11:30.

October 23 (Sexta):

School was normal. We ate lunch at Vó's because of a persistant fishy smell in our kitchen. I had gym, which was good. Nothing else really exciting happened today, except that pai came home from São Paulo for the first time this week! And I had to pack for my Rotary weekend, complete with talent show, Halloween celebration and country fair, but I'm sure you will hear all about it in my next blog, whenever that happens.

That's all for now (it's taken me two days to finish this!). Beijos gente! Tchau!

The past weeks.

car pictures with the family. :)

my strict teacher.

guitar playing kelsey. and the family at the beach condo.

belinha aka rato. haha.

birthday hugs. :D

portugal.

fitting in with the natives.

awww Tutu. :)

Hiding in a cave.

Jesus Christ or Che Guevara?

So this is long overdue, and I'm very sorry. I have just become super busy here. Also, I'm just going to give a quick summary because otherwise this will take years.

September 28 (Segunda)-

School was normal. Lunch was chicken pot pie (with eggs, potatoes and corn), brocoli and rice and beans. João and I biked to gym and after my workout I looked outside to find it pouring down. Mãe told us to wait for it to stop raining or ride home in the rain. By the time I got home, I was soaked but it made for a much faster shower. I should've taken shampoo with me so I could've saved even more time. After dinner I finished reading blogs from earlier and every word in Spanish I translated to Portuguese, which I found hilarious.

September 29 (Terça)-

Today was João Heitor's birthday. At lunch we sang happy birthday and had amazing carrot cake made by Neh. Aninha came home with us after lunch and we watching "Knowing", which was very similiar to "War of the Worlds". Endless amounts of people called, skyped or stopped by to wish João happy birthday. I didn't get to play any volleyball today because mãe had a client and pai was at COC. We ate dinner after mãe's client left and then I finished my report for Rotary and uploaded some pictures to Orkut.

September 30 (Quarta)-

During the first break of school, I went with my friends to the store below the school to get school supplies. During the second 20 minute break, we went to a feira (market) in a little park to buy salgadinhos, I don't know how to explain them but they are similiar to Funyeons. I had some good laughs with my friends back in class. Lunch was leftovers plus rice and beans. I had gym but João was at school and would meet me there so mãe dropped me off and went to the doctor's. Afterwards, after passing the phone back and forth, Tio Nanu came and gave us a ride home then I went to tennis with Maria. When I got back from tennis mãe was still not home but I went to be after sending my report.

October 1 (Quinta)-

After school, we went to Vó's for lunch, which was beef, fried mandioca, and rice and beans. I had many emails to answer and I talked to my parents as usual. We went to the boys school next year to look around, mãe commented that it was huge, though it was about the same size as my elementary school. Mãe had a client real fast, dropped the boys off at Tio Nanu's and we went to Rotary. I don't know what the programs were about really, it was people from the club and I didn't really understand it, but dinner was excellent: mango, tomatoes, beef and creamy mashed potatoes. Then I went home and went to sleep.

October 2 (Sexta)-

Some of my friends and I went outside during a class that we don't like (Portuguese Lit.) and the principal came over and asked why we weren't in class. So Fred explained and the principal said he would talk to the teacher and then left us to continue sitting outside. Lunch was fried chicken, creamed corn and tomatoes. Then João and Álvaro got dropped off at school and mãe and I drank some green tea. While I was in the shower, mãe yelled to me that I had recieved a package. The package from my parents had arrived after 3 short weeks. :) After donning a new shirt from mãe we went to the boys' school for a "cultural fair". Every class had studied an artist and made replicas of their art. Each room had some kind of theme too. It was all super cool. After eating at the school (chicken crossiant) we watched them give out books to the kids and Álvaro's play on the history of Brasil. When we got home, João got his birthday gifts: a DS from the family and a Bears hat from me. I found my old old DS for Álvaro to play with and I looked at colleges online until we all went to bed.

October 3 (Sabado)-

We went to the mall to get a converter to charge the DS and ended up shopping for shoes. Álvaro got a pair and so did I. We ate at McDonald's in the food court (I had orange juice) and then went home to pack for Caragua. We set off around 5 and drove southeast. As soon as we got over the mountains it started raining and the fog was so thick you couldn't see much in front of you. Once we had reached Caraguatuba we drove by the beach to the condo where we were staying with parents of João's friend from school. The condo was 3 floors, living, dining and a huge kitchen (with indoor bbq) on the first, two bedrooms on the second, and a loft space that over looked one of the bedrooms on the third. I did some a very difficult puzzle and we ate pizza (corn, brocoli, and sausage) Then pai began to teach me some guitar. Around 11 we went to meet the neighbors and have some coffee. They were very nice and their condo was as well. After about an hour we headed back to our condo and went to bed.

October 4 (Domingo)-

We woke up "early" (9:30) because we only had one day in Caragua. However, the Brasilian definition of early and American definition are very different. After a trip to the grocery store I ate some breakfast and then our hosts woke up and ate breakfast while we talked with the neighbors and I practiced some guitar. Around 11:00 we set off for the beach on an overcast day. We wandered around the backroads, past Prainha to the main beach in Caragua. There was permenant restaurants, stands selling jewelry and beach wraps, and beach venders. João went swimming in the freezing ocean and we ate tapioca (like a crepe/wrap) while shopping among the few stands. Once we got back to the condo, Janainina's parents had dropped off her kids: Anna Maria and Guilherme. The kids went swimming while I watched tv and the dads cooked dinner of bbq meat, tomatoes, garlic bread. The ride home was rainy but comfy in the car. We had a little more to eat and I talked with my parents. I had just finished talking to a friend on Facebook when another one called me on Skype. Needless to say it was a late night.

October 5 (Segunda)-

I surprisingly didn't sleep in school though there was nothing really exciting to hold my attention. Lunch was fish with tomatoes, shrimp sauce, green beans and carrots, fish sticks and rice and beans. Mãe and I went out to get my Brasilian id and figure out some things with Tenis Clube. It was so hot I was sweating before gym. When mãe picked us up we went to the bank and look for a birthday gift, unsuccessfully. After we dropped the boys off at a party place, mãe and I went to look for a gift again, this time successful, and somewhere to eat. The first place she wanted to go was closed, the second was expensive and empty, the third was closed so we ended up at Golden, but it was still good food. The restaurants weren't closed because it was late (8:30ish) but because it was Monday. We ate spitinhos of filet mignon and another kind of beef, plus garlic bread, farofa and tomatoes. The outside bar was playing techno music and House was showing on a projector screen. Returning home, I played a little guitar and mãe went to get the boys. Then everyone went to sleep.

October 6 (Terça)-

I got called out in class again, by new teacher when I was laughing with João about something. He didn't know I was American and didn't speak much portuguese but apologized by saying "Excuse me" which caused everyone in class to laugh. After he said I was a beautiful girl, so I still don't have much idea of what he was talking about in portuguese. Lunch was at Vó's house again, Chicken, tomatoes, rice and beans. After we got home mãe said she wasn't feeling well enough to go out (the little rain had given her a cold) so I proceeded to take a 4 hour nap. When I woke up I ate a little then went to SESC. The boys and I got distracted by the new exhibit, of Santos Dumont and the first airplane. Then I played some volleyball. It started out rough, with too many people that couldn't play, got worse as more people joined but by the end was really good. After cooling off by the fans in the exhibit I went home and went to bed.

October 7 (Quarta)-

We celebrated a couple birthdays in school, which resulted in my class of about 60 singing and clapping and the teacher drawing a cake on the board and making the two girls erase the flames on the candles. During Biology (with Perrenoud) he asked for someone to go to the front of the classroom to demonstrate reflexes. A guy went up.. but apparently he needed someone else so my wonderful Brasilian friends called out my name. So I had to go to the front, sit on a stool in front of everyone and get my knee reflexes tested. Embarrassing to say the least but hopefully I didn't blush too badly. Lunch was excellent meat, leftover shrimp sauce and rice and potatoes. I chatted with a friend while I drank more green tea and got a message from my Mexico-bound parents. I went to the gym and then to tennis but had to leave early because Maria had a meeting. Then we went to a friends of mãe's to look a package that she is sending to Mima when the husband goes to Chicago on business. They are very nice people and their apartment is beautiful. Then I came home to watch the Corinthians game on Globo. The game ended at 11:45 in a tie. Then I went to bed.

That's all for now! I'm going to Rotary tonight and the beach this weekend! :) Life is good here in Brasil.