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.