chappetta

September 21, 10:06

Well it’s been two months since I left PA! It’s kinda surreal looking back on it. I can’t imagine being at STHS or living in Oreland at the moment. It seems strange that that’s were I’d be if I wasn’t in Brazil. I don't really miss anything. Of course I miss things but I don't have too many saudades. Saudades is a Portuguese word that really only exists in Portuguese. In English it's like a feeling you get when you miss something soooo much that your hearts is breaking over it...or something like that. I really miss American humor and playing my trombone though! Like, I really really miss them. Everyone once in a while I get a strong pang of homesickness when I think about family or friends, but that generally passes pretty quickly. Thaks for keeping in touch guys! It's good to know I'm in your thoughts!

School has been going good. When I arrived in Brazil I was actually kinda excited that I wouldn't know/understand anything. In the US I was always sorta a person that knew it all (a.k.a a know-it-all [I stole that from facebook, haha]). However, I guess my brain knows no boundries because everyone says I get super good grades here and the President of my host Rotary Club said he checked and said I had the highest grades in the class...? What? That was really surprising (f it's actually true) especially because there are really smart kids in my class.

My cousin Mirella thinks I'm weird because I haven't missed any school yet, but, you know, I don't really mind. Sure it's not always fun, but I need the grades for STHS next year, and seriously, what would i do if I didn't go? Sleep and do nothing at home...I think I'll stick with garuenteed social interaction.

Speaking of social interactions, I'd guess I'd say making friends is going good. Everyone is pretty freindly to me and I'm not afriad to start conversations with them. I wish they did more...or invited me to more places if they actually are doing things. It's been two months and I've been to like, 3 parties...but it depends on how you define parties...and I'm Brazil, stereotypically the party country of the world! Anyways, again, it's still a bit cold, and I'm definantly going to a party tomorrow and then dancing with some people, so I guess it's getting better. However, I'm content on how everything is developing. I'm not bored. I go to the gym and have Portuguese lessons so I'm occupied.

I'm pretty surprised about how my Portuguese is developing. Maybe not so surprised about my comprehension, which is one par I guess, but my speaking is really developing. I can communicate in complex sentences, like "You should talk to her because she would like to go too." Sometimes I stumble a lot through sentences, but I don't have any problems being understood. I can have a conversation in Portuguese, although my vocabulary is lacking. However, my Portuguese lessons are closing the gap. Sometimes I really surprise myself and get into what is like "the Portuguese zone" where I can comprehend and reply with lightning fast speed. It's pretty cool, trust me.

My host family feels more like a real family after 2 months. They've always wanted a son, so it's cool. My little host sister is a typical little sister, and I could also consider my cousins little siblings too because they're over out house quite often. At the moment, Paulinha and my cousin Marcinho are rocking out on Super Nintendo's Super Mario World. I like to rock out on it too, I'm like 2/3 through the game. It's pretty much the best game ever. I still haven't met my older host sister Larissa! We were supposed to visit Floripa on the 7th, then she was gonna visit on the 17th, then yesterday, and so now the plan is to visit her on the 28-29. You see, she really was supposed to come this week, but Semana de Farropilha in RS sent hoards of gaúchos to SC and the hotel she works at was swamped and she couldn't get off work. Families are closer here in Brazil, like I eat every Wednesday at my grandmother's house and then every Thursday at the other grandmother's house. I often see my aunts and uncles and cousins.

I'm pretty pysched for a Rotary trip that I'll be going on in about a month. For nine days elapsing the end of October and the beginning of November I'll be traveling to the Pantanal, the largest swampland in the world (I think) and the beautiful Bonito, a eco-tourism city/town. It's a Rotary trip, so I'll be going with like 90 other exchange students. There are still a few kinks to be worked out, but I'm 99% sure I'll be going and like 75% sure that my Rotary club is going to pay for me! Isn't that cool! I'm really hoping it works out.

Yeah, again, it feels weird that I've been here for two months. I'm learning more about myself and American culture by living in Brazil. Its hard to say if I've changed a lot from "Old Ray." "New Ray" is probably more outgoing, more relatable, more relaxed, that kindas stuff, but it's hard to say since it's hard to compare myself...to myself...Generally Brazilian people are a lot mroe open with they're feeling and ask questions that were considered more private matters in the US. Questions like, "So Ray, didn't you think that girl was ugly?" That time I just gave an "Uhhhhhmmm" as I though of an answer. Luckily I didn't have to reply as my host sister cut in with "Yeah, but her older sister was MUCH worse." Hahaha. Maybe that isn't the best example, but it stuck out in my mind. So I'm feeling pretty good here. Keep in touch.

Peace out, bean sprout.

September 23, 19:12

Yesterday was pretty active. At around 12:00 I helped Marli and Paula deliver some food to "The Friendship House" as I belive the name translates. It would be where a benificial event would be taking place. Our car, along with 3 others, were absolutley PACKED with food for this even. And it was all hand made my Rotarian's wives, as the event was Rotary sponsered. And this wasn't simple food to make. There were mini empanadas, little quieces, bite-size four-layer club sandwiches and much more. Marli told me that the other women had been working for 10 days preparing all the food. However, when I asked why she hadn't helped, she told me it was because the other women told her that is was a full time job taking care of me, haha.

Anyways, after a family lunch I when home and napped to make sure I wouldn't get too tired too early for the night's festivities. Around 6:30 Paulo, Paula, and I left. We dropped Paula at her school because she had an event to participate in. At the Friendship House, Paulo and I sat with the president of the Uruguaiana Sudeste Rotary Club. We got there pretty late it seemed, because we left maybe 45 minutes later. However, those 45 minutes were still interesting. Paulo and I were both indiviually interviewed for TV. That's right, ima be on the teevee. I hope my Portuguese wasn't too bad! There was also a really random fashion show which I though was pretty funny. So here we are, eating hore d'ouvres (spelling, much?), a bunch of middle-aged people people, babies, and me, ok, maybe there were 2 other people between the ages 13 and 22. All of a sudden techno music starts blaring and this fashion show starts out of nowhere. There were 6 participants. 5 teen age girls around my age and a woman that was probably in her 30's. The 5 girls, who all go to my school, 3 of whom are in my class, are also among the hottest girls in school, and wearing revealing clothes strutting it through this event as if in a New York venue. And remember, the majority of people here are either over 40 or under 4. It just felt really ironic. Like, who are you trying to sell to? And then it got even better as Emon's classic song, F*uck you, B*itch, (at least that's what I think it's called) started playing. So there I was, watching my beautiful classmates strutting there stuff in front of old people with F*uck all those kisses, they didn't mean jack, F*uck you, you B*itch, I don't want you back playing in the backround. This is a moment I do not want to forget.

Soon after everyone left and Marli, Paulo, and I made our was to Paula's school, Colégio União.It was the 27th annual Gaúcho Cultural event or something like that. It was interesting. It was like a big interprative dance refelcting the history of Rio Grande do Sul. It started out with the younger kids singing and making hand motions with the music. After started an epic scene starting with some sort of Indian dance (Paula was a indian) which stopped as missionaries arrived and "civilized" them with Christianaity. Then there was a break in the plot and it because something like Peter Pan meets Apacolypto. After that, there was a battle between the indians and the Europeans, which the Indians lost. This queued in the entrence of 20+ four-year-old fairy princesses (ok, maybe they were supposed to be angels...). It was cute because a lot of them missed their queue, so a bunch would run on every once in a while to try and find their spot. I the last thing I saw was what seemed to be a reenactment of the Farrapo War, between Rio Grande do Sul and the rest of Brazil. (RS lost...terribly it seems.) After that they played the anthem of RS, but Paulo and I left in the middle of it.

We arrived home and soon after so did Marli and Paula. I changed into a suit for th rest of my night. At 9:45 we left for the 15th party of a girl I met once. Marli had told me that the family wasn't well of, so it wouldn't be a simple event. However, I thought it was pretty flashy. They had rented out a building, which probably costs a lot. First off, 15th birthdays for girls in South/Central American are like Sweet 16s for girls in the US. How many girls in Philly/Springfield rent out building, have a DJ, 100+ guests, special dresses, caterers, etc. Marli and Paulo left, and I sat down with 3 other boys my age. As the girl, Thamires, made her rounds for pictures, I said hi, but that was really all I saw of her for the night. I spent the next 2 hours with the guys at my table. We hit it off I guess. We talked pretty much the whole time, joked around a little, and when Paulo picked me up at 12 I gave them my buisness cards if they ever wanted to hang out.

From there I went to my friend Bruna's house, as I was meeting my cousin, Mirella, and her friends there before we all would go to the Debutant's Ball. I had though I missed it, but the one I missed was actually the formal one, and this one would be the more social one. I had met some of Mirella's friends before, but tonight I met some more. I wasn't sure when we were actually going to leave for the Ball, so when 1 am rolled around I asked and they said we'd be leaving at 2. "Reasonable," I thought. The time passed pretty quickly. At these typical get togethers before parties, a lot of people like to drink. I however, do not like that taste of beer, so I stuck to coke. However, this one girl, Gadi, got soo drunk. It was funny at first, but then it just got...sad. She couldn't stand up right after a while and became highly unintelligible which was kinda funny since she kept trying to speak English to me. 2 am rolled around and we started to go, but we couldn't get going right away because we had to help Gadi get down some stairs and the others put her in Bruna's room to stay the night, since she was obviously in not shap to continue. We waited, then, for one of the people's dad to drive us to the Club, as it was raining, and also probably becuase its a bit dangerous at night. I had the choice to stay with Mirella or go with another guy, but I decided to stay because he was pretty drunk. I wasn't sure if he was walking, even if it was raining, or going by car, but I didn't wanna end up going in a another car and risk a drunk driver. I've been a few awkward situations here, which have made me more decisive and quick to answer questions, which had been helping for the other awkward situations that pop up from time to time. Don't worry though, these previous situations had nothing that put me in danger, like a drunk driver or anything.

So I guess we eventaully got to the club at 2:30. I split up from the group I came with and met up with classmates. Ima cut to the chase and just say that I had an ok time. It was kinda ambiguous. Like, here's an example. The other exchange student, Alekssandra, has a host sister her age, who took her to the ball. I saw them and talked with A. for a little while, but it seemed like she was more or less being pulled around by her host sister. You see, I have no one to pull me around, introuduce me to people. I'm on my own so I was more a drifter. It's just hard because we're in this loud club, I can't understand anything unless it's shouted directly into my ear, and then I still run the risk of not understanding because it's in Portuguese. And then it's even harder because I don't know the any of these Brazilian dances, the lyrics to the songs or even the songs themselves, and most importantly the socail customs. Thats the kicker. Youth culture in Brazil is way different than the US, so Ima get crakin' on tryin' ta decipher that one. However, it's not like I was a wall flower lonely boy. I danced with girls, met up with a lot of my classmates, and when anyone recognized me I always tried to talked to them. I even met 2 really cool kids, Juliani and Husted (like Spanish's Ud., I think...) But still, its was a strange because it's really different. I left around 4:30. I could've stayed longer, I wasn't tired, but there just didn't seem to be any reason to stay. I was a little surprised as some people were just arriving as I was being picked up.

I'd took me a while to fall asleep, as my mind was still racing with the sounds of samba and pagode.

Today was pretty low-key. In the afternoon I went with some family to a musical-esque event. It was like a compiticion of local "bands." They're really drumlines that also have mallet players, and 2 that I saw has trumpet players. The players were pretty young, in a common group there would probably be kids from 7-18. It was ok. You'd think they'd play Brazilian music, but I heard Eye of the Tiger and also heard The Final Countdown three times. At some times it was difficult to listen to, becuase I wasn't always convinced that it was music. You see, there were no dynamics, and usually not a whole bunch of balance. It's just ridiculous that the 1 trumpet player is turning blue to play loud enough to drowned out the sound of 20 drummers. (That kid had chops.) Overall it was pretty cool, and I even saw a trombone there, although the owner didn't not look like he was in any of the goups because he wasn't in marching band attire like the others.

Ahhh! I have school tomorrow! x_x

September 27, 17:06

Recently life has just given me one let down after another. Tuesday night I had a typical Rotary event, where I found out 1) Rotary is not paying for my trip to the Pantanal and Bonito and 2) They had not procured my health inssurance.

Now, the first one wasn't exactly a problem, although since it has become one. I started planning and getting all my stuff together for this trip around a bit mroe than a week and a half ago, right after my trip to Livramento when I finally got information about arranging these trips. When I explained it to my host parents, they said my host club would pay. Naturally I was skepticle, as these trips are pretty expensive and it didn't seem like a club expense. I told them that I was unsure about it, but as the week progressed, I talked to my counsler, Edna, and the my host club's president, and they too assured me that Rotary would take care of it. I even was able to talk to the Preseident, my Counsler, and my host parents at the same time, and they still assured me everyhting was fine. So this Tuesday, I had said Rotary event where I found my host club president was just then asking the Youth Exchange Coordinator about it. And guess what, the answer was a big fat No. Please undersand, my family can afford this trip, but I feel totally cheated that I had to find out Tuesday at 10:00 pm, which gave me only 2 more days to change my plans, make sure the trip is still affordable etc, etc, etc before the deadline. Seriously, where was the responsibility? They lead me to believe that they had done everything to get the right information when in reality they hadn't. Since then, the agency's website has changed and it's been really tough to change my information from a check (which my host club would have printed and then payed from a bank) to online payment, so I can use a credit card. I still haven't gotten to pay yet and am currently waiting for a phone call from my Portuguese teacher (she helped me call the agency) to say that they recieved the email where I'll enter my information and fax back. The email was supposed to be send immediatly but that was said around 2:30 and nothing had come by th eend of my lesson at 4. Secondly, they were also just asking about my health inssurance! My host parents had assured me that if would have the information about my health inssurance that I need for the trip would be ready by Monday, but, still my club had no idea what they were doing. I've been in Brazil around 8 weeks, and I gave the money I brought for health inssureance to my club around 6 weeks ago. Seriously, why had nothing been done? And now I have no idea when I'll get that information, as the Rotarian who should have the money hasn't gotten back back to me yet. These two things have put my whole trip in jepordy and frankly, I'm just pissed.

On Wednesday there was yet another alteration for my trip to Floripa. Now, instead of leaving today at 1:00 to go directly to Floripa, we're leaving tormorrow in the morning to first go to Cachoeira do Sul for some social event that's really important. Although this change actually worked out beneficailly, as my Portuguese teacher was able to help me with my trip stuff, I was let down when I heard it. We're still going to Floripa though, just after we go to Cachoeira do Sul. (Cachoeira = ca-sho-AE-ra do Sool)

Then today I recieved info that my transcript from STHS was not good enough. I hadn't gotten the original by mail yet, so I opted to print out a copy I had recieved by email and brought that in on Monday. So, my English teacher brought me the information and supposedly because it's not original it can't be accepted, and that they need an original copy with the school's stamp. This leads to another problem because once the original does arrive, I'm unsure if it will be accepted because it is without a stamp. If so, I'll have to wait a bajillion more years to resend a recieve the new transcript. She also explained that that basically makes me "illegal" in the school and that they need other documents too, and that I should talk to my counsler, Edna, because "she knows what you need." Again, where is this responsibility? If she (Edna) knows that I have to give people documents, why hasn't she mentioned this to me?! So after school my host mom and I talked to here and hopefully everything is getting straightened out. Hopefully.

So yeah. No I'm just slightly irritated and preocupied about this trip, which I really wanna go on, since I'm going away tomorrow and have no idea hwo any of this will work out. I just feel cheated. I knew this experience was going to be "ambiguous and confusing" like the the Exchange Student's Survival Guide said, but none of this would have happened if people just communicated a bit more.

However, I don't want you to think this week have been bad, even though irritating things have been happening. Today was kinda interesting. A few kids in my class had to do a presentation on birds for biology. Instead of a power point or posters, like the previous groups, their presentation was oral with one prop...a dead baby chick. Now it wasn't disgusting, but I wasn't sure if Pedro, who brough it in, had killed it or merely found a dead chick. He's pretty gaúcho, so he probably has a farm with chickens. It was hilarious, because he it brought to class in a tine box with it's feel sticking out and this girl Dada was like, "Pedro, you monster!" all serious, but then began to laugh when she actually saw it. At the end of they day she was taking home instead of Pedro and I asked her what she was gonna do with it and she replied, "...Ima scare my mom..." hahahhahaha. Thinking back on it, all I can think of saying is (queue music) It's my chick in a box...

Another girl, Bruna, invited me to a party! Unfortunantly I can't go since I'll be traveling this weekend untill Monday, but its so great that people are thinking of me!

Ok, bye for now. I don't know if I'll be able to update until Monday, but I plan to take bunches of photos.

October 5, 18:05

Update! I whole bunch has happened since last post. Luckily all that Rotary trip stuff worked out. I'm really excited for this trip. The two other exchange student from Uruguaiana, Chris and Alekssandra, are going too, but I don't think any of the others from the district are going.

The weekend in Floripa was both good and bad. The ride to and from were bad, but the actual vacation time was really great. The rides were bad because there were 5 of us in a small car with all our luggage. It was cramped. My cousin, Mirella, brought a enourmous suitcase. I don't know what she filled it with, because basically all the girls wear here is spandex and beaters. On Friday we started our journey and left Uruguaiana around 12:00. At 5:00, around 10 kms from our first stop, Farropilha, our car broke down. The motor was all screwed up. We ended up on the side of the road for an hour and a half waiting for a tow truck. Then we spent another few hours at a gas station figuring out how we were going to get to Farropilha. Eventually some people who we were going to meet came to get us. We got to Farropilha arounf 9:00. Our stop there was for an inauguration party for Silvestrin, a fruit shipping company. Paulo's company is a shipping company, so that's probably how he had the contacts. It was a pretty cool event. There was a live band (like actual instruments) and some gaúcho performances. They had really cool fruit displays and I feasted on hor d'ourves, since that was seemingly all they had. I guess we missed the really dinner since we were pretty late. I liked the live band's music. They had a song that reminded me a lot of the types of song you hear in American theater, but the lyrics were like "Brasil...Brasil é Brasileiro..." (Brazil...Brazil is Brazilian.) After the party we drove with the people who picked us up earlier to drive to another town to spend the night. We used that car for the rest of the weekend.

The next day we got up and left around 11or 12 to finish the long way to Floripa. It was pretty scenic, since we went through the Serra Gaúcha region, which is full of mountains and valleys with large forests, not unlike the Appilacians. It was really cool...although once it got dark I felt like we were gonna fall of the high montain roads. x_x The fact that Brazilian drivers have a weird habit with their high beams doesn't help. Like, my host dad turns his off if another car is comming, since he can tell how the road is with the other car's light. I get the logic of it, but it's still kinda freaky.

We arrived in Floripa around 7:30, and to my host sister, Larissa's, house around 8:00. We were greeted by her, my host sister Bruna, who lives in São Paulo, and Larissa'a two dogs, Lara, a baby Golden Labrador Retriever and Rusty, a more grown pit bull. The pit bull was on chain, don't worry. I avoided petting him after my experience with that other dog that bit me. The next day I woke up pretty early and Mirella, Paula, Larissa and I went to the beach. The beaches in Floripa are amazing! The water is clear, the sand is fine and bright, and no one litters! However, this might change once it becomes summer and all the tourists come. As for now, there were hardley any others on the beach. We hung out for a while but then we went back for lunch. During the lunch other random relatives stoped by. After lunch we went back to the beach, although another one, and hung out more. We didn't go in the water. It was too cold. I would have gone in, but I didn't feel like going in alone. In the afternoon we returned and the relatives left. They had come in a huge minibus which was a bit clumsy and hard to manuveur, and they ended up cracking someones partition, you know, the thing that stops people from breaking in? I don't know how to explain it, but I took a picture, so it's in one of the new pages. That night we went out to dinner at a seafood restruant.

On Monday we spent the first half of the day exploring Floripa. Larissa was our guide and we stopped at some of the beautiful beaches that Floripa is full of. The island has 42, ya, 42 beaches. We did that in the morning and continued through the afternoon. I got a little bored, however, because in between Larissa and my host mom would stop at used furniture stores since Larissa needs a new cabinet. I must say, there are a LOT of used furniture stores in Floripa.

We left that afternoon around 5:00 on our trip home. I was like, "oh noes, mountain roads at night!" but we took the ocean side route instead! It wasn't very spectacular though since it was dark. We got to our destination laaaate. Like 12:30, but we were all really hungry so we managed to find a 24 hour lancheria and had pizza and beef. Then we found a hotel and said good night.

Tuesday was the last leg of our trip and we left earlier than usual, around 9:00. We reached Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul's capital, around 10:30 and we just had to stop for...none other than...dun da da daaaaa....McDONALDS! (or just Nalds...haha) We don't have Nalds in Uruguaiana. (I should come up with a cool nickname for Uruguaiana, like how we have O-town, F-town, and Wyndizzle in the States.) It seems to have a more chic, high class conotation here. I laugh as I type this because I can't help but think of the fat greasy american stereotype for McDonalds. My host mom told me it was the most expensive 'lanche' (snack, more-or-less) in Brazil and that people from other parts of RS aslways visit Nalds as one of the primary things they do in Porto Alegre. I chose not to get anything, as my host parents weren't, so I could just eat churrasco with them later. The rest of our ride wasn't very eventful and we arrived back in Uruguaiana at 5:00.

The past few days haven't been to amazing. The beach kidna messed with my synuses, so I felt kidna under the weather Wednesday and didn't go to the gym because of it. However, as I walked home from school I ran into a girl I met a few weeks ago. She was walking with a friend and they invited me to hang out tomorrow, so she said she'd come over to my house with some kids and we'd get some ice cream or something. That was pretty cool. I like running into (not literally, haha) random people becuase even if its only a "Ei Ray! Tudo bem?" It at least makes me know that people recognize me.

Today I helps some classmates film a movie project for English class. I was actually really nervous. It's kinda complicated, but I'll start off by saying that even though Brazilian kids come off as immature, they know what they're doing. So like 3 weeks ago I learned about the project and the kids who I usualy hang with obviously asked me to be in their group. I was kinda skepticle as to what their plan was, since it had to about some sort of social issue...and these are 16 brazilian boys with a video camera, haha. 2 weeks ago they were talking about it and I asked what the plan was. They told me it was gonna be like Saw. So yeah, I felt a little weird from the start, and then they asked me if I'd mind playing the part of a gay person. It was kinda like a "Uhhhmmmmm...I guess that's ok" answer. Truthfully, I wanted to say that I didn't want to, but I figured, "Ok, they asked nicely, it's an English project so I obviously have the best ability to pull it off" with additional thoughts like "take a risk, step out of your comfort zone" etc. But in the back of mind was also "this could be social suicide." So as I walked to my friend's house today I was apprehensive, but I'm glad to say that it went fine. Being 'gay' turned out to mean talking in a high voice and that was pretty much it. No one really gave me any crap about it, so I was suprised because Uruguaiana comes of pretty homophobic. That's pretty much everyone's lead insult, "He's gay" and "She's a lesbo." In my scene I was chained to my other classmate who the character of my dad who hated me because I was gay. He was also tied to a wall so he couldn't get out. It kidna just gets weird from there. My 'hand' was trapped under a brick, so I couldn't get out either. In theory, I needed to cut off my hand to be free and so did my dad. With special effects that probably rival Spielburg I amputated myself...but then my 'dad' just sorta randomly dies while forgiving me for being gay (this was the social issure I guess) and then I comit suicide by slicing my throat. I could've just cut though the 'chain' as it was a shoelace...or my dead father's hand...but I guess that wasn't logical. Yet again, spectacular special effects. There were other scenes too with the other group members, but they made absolutely no sence (to me). The overrunning (word?) theme was the value of life.

Hahaha, so yeah, now I guess we just gotta edit it. I don't know when it's due, and I think another scene is being filmed tomorrow, but I'm not in it.

Oh, and on Tuesday I was on TV. Maybe you remember me writing that I was interviewed, and it finally aired. It was kinda embarrasing because I'm kinda fumbling over my Portuguese, but a kid at school told me a spoke well. I've also written a few more letters, so you might get one soon! And I totally failed a physics class today! Ahhhh, puta merde! I'm looking forward to the weekend.

Dis eNtRiI be EnDeD.

P.S. As I proofread this, I was checking the spelling for chic and it brought me to the word niggardly. Hahahaha its was so random and would be sooo poilitically incorrect to use, even though it comes from the word niggard and not the racial slur which lacks the final d. It means ungenerous or unwilling to spend money. I guess I've been pretty niggardly here because I've hardly had to buy anything. But I guess that doesn't mean I'm unwilling to spend money.

October 14, 14:28

So now I almost feel like a hypocrite, becuase since last entry things have gone surprisingly well.

Thursday started well. My first period was History, but he must have known that we had a Bio test next period, which would also mean that no one probably studied. So basically we had the whole period to study. But still, I don't remember many people actually studied. I tried, but it just was too boring, expecially in Portuguese and I was lacking information. The test was to be on Mammals, Reptiles, and Birds, and all I could find was my sheet about reptiles!

So anyways, History came and went and Biology followed. It's a double period on Thursdays, and I don't quite remember how it went down. Usually, because the period is so long the teacher doesn't hand the test out for a while, so maybe by the 30 minute mark of the 110 minute period was when she handed it out. That's a good 80 minutes to finish a 13 question, if that, test. So yeah, it makes me laugh that the teachers give so much time for such short tests, it's even almost a bit sad to say that the kids need all that time! Maybe they're just being thorough...What tickled me even more was that is was a 13 questions, if that, test to encompass all of Reptiles, Mammals AND Birds, so that's 4.33 questions, if that, about each one. Now that's a great way to gauge knowledge. At STHS it would be like a 25 question test for each type of animals with like 5 of them being essay questions. Did I mention that most of the tests they give are excusively multiple choice? It was a lot easier than I expected it to be. But I've thought that before about Bio tests and have gotten low marks.

After a break we went to English class. The things that gets me about English class is that sometimes we don't really have class and go do an activity in portuguese. Today we went down the hall to a small auditorium and watched a DVD of a Xuxa concert. Xuxa, pronounced SHUsha is a famous Brazilian triple threat whose work's audience is none other than infants. She's like Barney meets Rafi meets Jennifer Lopez. There's a dash of Michael Jackson in there too because she was in a movie that had some underlying theme of pedeophilia or something. So there we were, 40 something Brazilian teenagers watching Xuxa sing classics like Head Shoulder Need and Toes and 4 Little Ducks in Portuguese. Xuxa had some crazy accent too. Like the word nariz, for nose, is pronoucned Nah-rees, but she was all like Nah-reesh. She added lots of sh sounds to her words.

So 50 minutes later the class ended and I was not looking forward to Grammar class. Fo-shizzle, peeps, why must I learn that lhe is an indirect and direct pronoun? And the teacher uses weird sentence construction that they don't use in spoken Portuguese too, so it's confusing, like the sentence Fal-lhe-ie. It means I spoke to him but it would be spoken as lhe falei or falei-lhe. Portguese is a flipping weird langauge sometimes. Anyways, we didn't have Grammar that day. The History teacher came back, but I totally forgot what we did.

School ended promptly at 12:00 and I walked home. Usually on Thursdays we eat lunch at my host dad's mom's house, but two or three weeks ago she fell and broke her hip, so we haven't been able to eat there. It's unfortunant, but no one has really said anything since it happened and it doesn't seem like anyone has gone to visit, but I hope she's ok. So we had lunch at home and I walked to Portuguese lessons at 2:45. I had totally forgot to do my homework, so I did it as we were checking in, but it wasn't a big deal. The class went smootly. At the end Alekssandra (Im refering to her as Ola from now on because its easier and supposedly that's her nickname,) ok, so Ola invited me to play pool with her and a friend later, so I accepted. We walked home and I just relaxed until 7:00, went I called Ola about the plan for the night. So I told my hsot aprents the plan, they were ok with it, no curfew, haha, and at 8:30 I walked to her house. Because she's lving with her counseler I had to walk down a different road to get to her apartment. I got the the apartment and rung the apt. 301 button...but it wasn't the right one. The lady was like...uhm there isn't an Ola here. In a coincidence, the landlord was entering just as I was trying to get in, so she asked me if I needed help and I explain that I had a friend in apt 301. Turns out that was the landlord's apartment too! haha, so I excused myself, as I knew there was another apartment complex nearby, so I probably was just at the wrong one. 2 minutes later I was at the other complex, the right one, and I was greated by Ola and her host brother. We went up to the apartment and just hung out. I walked into the kitchen and was like "PENNSYLVANIA!!! THAT'S MY STATE, JAWN!" The fridge had a variety of Pennsylvania magents. Turns out the family has another daughter who did an exchange there. However, she's older now and lives in Santa Maria. We had a dinner of Linguini Alfredo, which differed from other Brazilian meals I've had because it was ONLY the pasta. There were no beans or rice or salad etc, and I asked about this. Rose Angeline, Ola's conseler told me that when they make pasta, it's only pasta, but with other meals they eat the rice and beans and salad, etc.

Ola's friend, Buba (yes...Buba) still hadn't shown up yet, so we hung out an watched Zoe 101 in Poruguese. It was quite hilarious. We also played with these little Yorkshire terriers that had. Ola totally dropped one on it's face. I thought it was funny, but she was upset because she thought she had almost killed it. Speaking of dogs, I have a dog, Mel, that I don't really write about much. She's nothing special, just a small poodle dog thing. But however, I never really noticed she was a poodle untill she had a haircut. It was like Extreme Make-over: Dog edition, becuase with all that hair gone she turned from Fat, Chuncky Mel to Heroin Chic Mel, hahahahahaha. I miss Fat, Chuncky Mel.

Back to topic, Buba eventually arrived and we went to play pool. It was at a place that was like a lancheria with pool tables. None of the tabled were open yet so we waited and drank some Coke. Eventually one opened and we played. Fist is was Ola versus me. She was winning most of the game, in part thanks to me because I ended up hitting a bunh of her balls in by accident...and then I hit the 8 ball before it was apropriate, so I lost. Buba and Ola played next, but we left before the game was over because Ola wanted to go home at 11:30. So, we left around that time and Buba's mom picked us up and drove us home. They invited me to the Campo, on Sunday (today) and then I was dropped off. They we really nice.

Now I'm tired of writing, so Maybe I'll update more later today or tomorrow.

October 10, 20:54
Listening: To Zion by Lauryn Hill

I don't know how to start this post off. This is my third attempt. So this weekend and carrying on to this week I've been sorta homesick. I guess I've been getting some of those saudades mixed with culture shock as I stay here longer. I was mainly caused because I knew for a fact that there were some interesting party-realated events going on during the weekend. So, in what seems like an on going experiement, I decided to see if anyone would come up to me at school or call to invite me to go with them. And, as what feels as the norm, it did not happen. So yeah, this is just my current problem. Friends. Especially with my class which I see for hours a day. I'm not really caught up with it, I know friends will come eventually, but it still leaves a dull pain that I've known these kids for (a bit more than) 2 months and no one has really put a hand out to get to know me. Its not that I'm afraid to put my hand out, and I've done that already. I know I can put my hand out, it would jsut feel *so* much better if someone did it first to let me know that they were interested. I've asked my questions, I've smiled, I've laughed at their jokes and I'm just bummed out that I don't feel like any one really wants to hang out (with me). I don't even care about going out at night, like to clubs, just like a, "hey let's walk to the praça" wold be fine. And remember those "Ei Ray"s I talked about before. Yeah, so those are really good in like, passing in the halls and on the street, not everytime in class if our eyes happen to meet. They all wanted my buisness cards which had all my info, not that anyone has used one. So yeah, all this was going through my head on Saturday and Sunday and I just kept slipping into "If I were back in Oreland..." mode and all the stuff I was missing and could be doing back home. However, it's sorta a cath 22 (I think that's the right term) because I know that if I hadn't come here I wouldn't be interesting in some of the things I think I'm missing.

On Sunday it was my grandmother's birthday, so we had a birthday churrasco. It wasn't so amazing, kinda boring. Because relatives all live so close and they all have friends and such the birthdays can be pretty big. However, since my grandmother is, just that, a grandmother, I was yet a again mixed in with a group of old people. Now, I really have nothing against the elderly, but I'm 15, I was feeling a bit under the weather, slightly culture shocked, and this event was not the medicine the doctor ordered. So, I retreated to the balcony where I could have some peace and just listen to music. I went back in when it started to rain and and sat on a couch with my two aunts, Preta and Sandra. They asked if they could listen to my music and I let them. I was glab they couldn't understand the English when Requiem for a Hit started to play, but was a bit embarrassed when Dale Castigo. You see it's a very dirty Spanish rap song and, since they (we?) speak Portuguese, it's non-dificult to understand the lines. They were like "OMG!" at first but then they thought it was pretty funny.

On Monday I made my way to school. I had an English test. I'm pretty such I aced it. The teacher creates some interesting sentences. I can't think of any real examples but I wouldn't be surprised if a sentece like "Do you know that woman who has horrible parenting skills?" showed up. In physics I recieved a test back. I was not surpised with the 20% mark I was given. Not soley because it was in Portuguese, but because I had missed the last 3 physics classes because of my Floripa trip. In Portuguese I was totally overwhelmed, but not in thw ay you think. Instead of the teacher teaching the class, we were going to have a "virtual" lesson. So, we made our way to the Audio Video room and started the DVD about Machado de Assisi, a prominant Brazilian parnimizizism (or something like that) writer from before the beginning of time, basically. He was the one that wrote the book which my class wrote plays for which lead to me uttering my infamous Siga-me and the world shurdered with the shear intensity of my ability to act and create run on sentences. Now, these virtual lessons are made by PUCRS, a nearby university and sold as PUCRS Virtual lessons. So, the lesson opens on a lady at a desk with PURCS on the backround board and the word virtual beneath it. However, the words are not centered with the lady and are partly cut off. The tops are all cut off alrong with most of the letter R and all of the letter S. So, to me, it looked like POOP VIRTUAL, which I found hilarious. You know, a cheap thrill. So I'm laughing to myself and trying to keep quiet at the same time as the other kids take notes while I'm helplessly lost in her confusing Portuguese. I eventually calmed down but then it got better when the lady seemed to be getting in a fight with the production team who you could hear in the background.

Production: (quietly) Uhmmm, you forgot to say...
Lady: No I didn't! I said it!

At least that what it looked like to me, so again I started laughing.

Then it got even better when they started talking about "Postmortem Memories of Brass Cubes." This is possibly the most ridiculous combination of words I've ever seen, almost like "Footsteps in the Sand of Time" but better. So this is when I'm overwhelmed, as I'm wathcing a POOP VIRTUAL video of a lady bickering with a production staff about "Postmortem Memories of Brass Cubes."

After school Monday I went to the gym and later with my family to our weekly religious cult meeting. Just kidding, it's not a cult, but that just makes it sound funnier. It's some kind of religious supplement I guess. I don't have to go because I choose to because I don't have anything better to do, don't feel like being alone in the house, sometimes there is music and/or dinner, and I want my host family to understand that I am interested in what they do, just in case I come off as I don't.

After that we went our for dinner, where Marli ran into a friend. A friend who plays, dun da da daaa. TROMBONE! Yes, so I talked to my family about my problem with the kids at school, that, although I think they're are good people, I haven't found anything I really have in common with anyone, so if there was any possibility I could find some kind of music-esque thing, maybe I could meet some kids I would get along better with. So Marli said she knew of something but the man involved was out of town on vacation at the moment. But, he was the man we met at the restruant, as he had just gotten back from Paraná capital, Curitiba. So next monday I'll be going somewhere with Paula and possibly meet some new kids. I not sure if this is a thing for kids my age or an adult thing, but I'm sure it'll be good either way.

Tuesday was pretty similar. No cult today. However I felt like a total fool in gym! Ahh. I never was that</> good at volleyball, but like a month a go I was totally awesome and within that span of time I went from totally awesome to totally awesomely bad! But you know, I smiled through it, laughed at myself it was fine.

After school and lunch I went to Portuguese lessons. We talked about verbs, the difference between poder and consegir, and then about our weekends. I brought up that fact that I've been looking to get more involved in things outside of school as I don't feel like I'm making a strong connection with the kids in my class. Cristina, the teacher, replied with what I already knew but what was great to hear from another person. She explained how she thought Alekssandra was luckier because she feels that the people at Colégio União are more open whereas the Sant'Ana kids are more clique-y and bigger "idiotas." It's not like she is a side-line observer either. Cristina and the Cultural staff teach English and Spanish to bunches of students, its a huge buisness here and they know the problem kids...and a lot of them are from my particular class. Ha. After Portuguese Alekssandra invited me to go with her and her Rotary conseler to a Dia das Crianças (Child´s day) thing which has an afiliation with her Rotary Club. I said yes and we drove into more rural Uruguaina where the activities felt kinda sad. It was for a program called SOS, and the Rotary Club supplies things like food, activites, field trips and other things for a large group or girls whose mothers are mostly poor or prostitutes. So we went and we helped give the young girls presents like teddy bears and barbies and some of the older girls got things like make-up. It was a little sad to see all these poor girls, but there were really nice and happy too. As we left the conseler (I really have no idea how to spell this) told us there had been a camera man there and that we were going to be on TV. She said it would be on tonight, but I'm writing this, so I guess I'll miss it if it's on. I got dropped of at Alekssandra's house and instead of going directly home I went an explored the market places. I've explored Uruguaiana before, but not this particular street which ended up haveing all the markets. I'm going back on Friday with Marli because I need shorts and don't want t be unfairly haggled because I'm american.

Today has been pretty low key. I finally think I understand multiplying matrixes, something I never really got the hang of last year in Algebra 2. I actually understood the stuff in chemistry. In history we were learning about the US and it's inderpendence and it was like Congress of Philadelphia</> and I was like, "noooooo, saudaaaaades" but it was actually fine. The teacher had basically no course material for the day so after like 5 minutes of copying I had nothing to do and my class quickly divided into their cliques and I was like, "Now what can I do." So, I decided to see if I could remember all the US states and their capitals. So I was just chilling, filling in the spaces of my notebook and, what do you know, near the end of class some girls got interested in what I was doing and came over to me. So I told them and then I was like "Ok, so someone is letting out their hand, I better grab it..." so I asked them to help me do the same thing but for Brazil. And for the rest of class we tried to think of all the Brazilian states and capitals. Its was nice. After lunch we returned to school. At home I had printed out the states and capitals of the US and was checking my correct answers. I remembered 48 states, but somehow Nebraska an Connecticut slipped my mind...and my capitals were pretty bad. I got an 80% overall. In chemistry we made some sort of experiement with acidic solutiona and used phenelofenatine (sp?) to make it pink. I actually understand what we're doing! That's kinda of a big deal!

And so after school I went to the gym and now I've been hanging out. My walk home from the gym was interesting. I saw a pretty bird, but it was also an ugly bird...so I guess I saw a pretty ugly bird. Haha, I'm clever. I have a bio test tomorrow which I am totally not ready for but a 4 day weekend is comming up. I'm kind of excited. I may actually being going out on Friday, since people for a new club were giving invites out after school. The kids I walk home with sometimes were with me and they just asked me if I wanted to go. I feel skepticle sicne they've given me that schpeel before and never called, so Ima talk to them tomorrow and get the details. Wish me luck.

October 21, 20:15
Listening: Lyte as a Rock by MC Lyte

Ima start this entry with the intro of this song. It always makes me smile.

Man: Do you understand the metaphoric phrase, light as a rock? It's explaining how heavy the young lady is, you know what I'm saying, King?
King: Yes, mah brotha, but I would consider light as a rock a similie becuase of the usage of the word, as.

You really need to hear it, it's great.

So yeasterday was interesting. There was a big Rotary sponsered dance and (as it was explained to me) there was also a connect Rotary lunch. So at 12:30 I left with my family to go to lunch beyond the city limits in someone's farm/vacation home. As if it's a running gag, this was more or less another 40+/4- event. I was shown off by host dad. It's kind off annoying because either they don't really care or they try to speak English. Brazilians should only speak English if they've had previous training or under professional supervision. They try to say Good Night (it was daytime...) and it comes out as Guchi Naichy. No joke. So for the first few hours I just wondered around the estate and eventually we had lunch. It was a nice property. There were galinhas e vacas e cavalos. That means chickens and cows and horses. There was also this need man made pond with man mande islands in it. Foi legal. (Twas cool.) After lunch I was just walking around again until these other people wanted to talk to me. They were younger, in their twenties, and I hadn't seen them earlier. Two of them were the property owner's kids and all three had just arrived. So I talked with them about American culture. Sorta like compare and contast. Ex. McDonald's in the US = dirty, but in Brazil = tré chic.

We got home aorund 4 and I just hung out untill I needed to go to the ball. The plan was for the rest of my host family to leave at like 7 and then my uncle, Marcio, would pick me up at 10. Paula wasn't going. She was going to something else for the family, as she's too young for the ball. The plans only changed a little. My family didn't need to stay all the way until 10, so they came home a bit early to pick me up and we ended up arriving at the club at 9:30. I thought, because the lunch and dinner were related, that only the people at the lunch, maybe 50 people would be comming. It was a big suprise when I looked in the room in the Club and there were 200 tables. Of course they were no people. We were muuuch to early. Paulo had to come early because he had been chosen to organize the ball. And, as duty, Marli had to help the other wives set up to food. As I wondered the area wasn't sure what the real titel of the ball would be. A consant recording called it the Festa das Generações (Generations Ball) but some papers said Festa do Arros, or Rice Party. Rice Party? Well, it is Uruguaiana, everything is basically agriculture.

Skip to midnight, the place was packed. Everyone was getting seated. A waiter came around and took beverage orders. I ordered water without gas. So ten minutes later he comes back with water, with gas. Hmm, I tell him his error and he goes on, as he has like 7 tables' drinks on his waiter...table...thing. Ten minutes later he comes back with my water, with gas. I repeat my self. I can't remember if it happened again, but eventually he got my order right. As this was going on, there was a loop projection on the walls. Basically just advertisements, but some of the things advertised just didn't, well, fit it. Most of the things were shipping advertisments. Most of the people a the ball were dispauches aduneiros, or people that own 18 wheeler trucking buisness. That's why my host dad was choosen to organize, becuase he owns a similar type company. So the advertisments would be like, "C & S Ltd. Rio Grande do Sul's premier fruit shipping company throughout South America, to cities like, Brasilia, Santiago, Buenos Aires, etc." But everyone once in a while there would be a panties/langerie adviertisment, and they were really graphic, on 15x15 feet projections on two walls. I found it funny. It made me lol. There were a few awards given out which also made me laugh. As the awardee would go to recieve his award the music the dj would play would always be love songs. Seriously, there was Celien Dion, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Billy Ray Cyrus and more.

It got waaaay funnier though, when Invoção Arte e Show started to perform. I don't mean this offensively, but only as the only analogy I can think of. It was like Cirque du Solei gone retarded and minus the acrobatics. But you know, the acrobatics isn't all there is to a Cirque do Solei experience. You got the weird clown scenes and the crazy warbly music. I can't think of all the details, but there were three singers. Two were a normal looking man and woman and the third was this guy with really raelly long hippie hair. They song in both Portuguese and English, which of course was hilarious. The lady was singing the song "Smooth Operator." I was actually surprised she could say smooth. Most other brazilains would say smoof or smoov. However, she didn't get the word operator, so I got to sit for 4 minutes of Smooth Opawayta. They also sung New York New York with two VERY unenthusiastic kick dancers in masks in the background.

And that was my night. I went home not to long after that, about 1 am, becuase I didn't need to stay for the rest, which was just a dance, and there were no other teens in sight. I guess if I'd have stayed I might have witness a few broken hips. One lady did fall, so I can only assume that others did too.

Today was low key. I've had some stuff I needed to do, like translate some stuff for my host family, upload pictures to the computer, trivial things like that that build up over time, so I've been taking care of those. I guess it's not a really spectacular way to celelbrate MY 3 MONTH EXCHANGVERSERY, but hey, different strokes for different folks.

For some reason I thought it was tomorrow, but when I started the post I had to check for the date and was like WOAH! I guess this means I'll have another post tomorrow commemorating this.

October 20, 11:09

Ehhh, nothing much has happened lately. Nothing too exciting. Life hear is just like life in the US, only Brazilian. On Tuesday after Portuguese lessons, me and Ola hung out in the city. We sat in the praça for a while and laughed when we saw a group of elderly ladies and a young man doing exercises. Ola was taking pictures of them and other things too. Out of nowhere this strange little boy walked up to us and just sorta stood there. We tried to get him to go away by speaking in English, but that didn't help.

The last few days have just been pretty blasé. I'm going through the cycles. Unfortunantly something has screwed up my sleeping, so I've been having trouble getting to sleep.

My school days on Thursday and Firday were pretty much devoid of learning. In stead, we spent those days listening to presentations by the third years (seniors.) There were a lot of different topics, eating disorders, biodiversity, the little things in life, stuff like that. Ohhh, but these kids sure can't make a Powerpoint like an STHS-er can, probably because "4 bullets per page - no complete sentences - contrasting color scheme - relevent movies - pictures pictures pictures" etc hasn't been pounded into their brain since 5th grade, and maybe even earlier. I spent the time listening to the presentations, reading Harry Potter e a Pedra Filosifal, or translating the confusing parts of said book.

On Thursday nights I usually go to a Rotary Meeting. Is it boring? Yes, but it gives me at least one night a week where I can focus on writing letters, or studying verbs that I wouldn't do at home. If you frequently read this blog, you might be aware of how frustrating it's been for me to organize myself for my Pantanal trip. Well, the payment is done, I've got my health inssurance and now all that's left is my bus ticket. The quickest way to Cascavel, my boarding city, is to go through Argentina to Foz de Igaçu, and then from Foz to Cascavel. Unfortunantly, I'm a minor, so I need some sort of authorization from the police or Rotary to go through Argentina. I talked to me counsler, Edna about getting this info.

Enda: Yeah, I'll get all your stuff by tomorrow.
Me: That's great, because I need to inform the travel agency how I'll get to Cascavel by Monday.
Edna: Monday!? I guess that mean I ACTUALLY have to get it TOMORROW!

Uhmm...so was she lying to me the first time she said it? Hahah, I don't know, but at least she got the picture.

On Friday I was sort of a guess speaker at the place where I take Portuguese lessons. I spoke to a pre-intermediate English class, they knew present, past, present progressince, etc. The kids were a bit younger than me, probably aged 12-15 and there were 7 or 8. I can't remember exactly becuase one kid came in late. They asked me questions and I showed them my book of Philadelphia in Photographs. They were nice, although you could tell the kids who studied from the kids who didn't, haha. I wasn't 'allowed' to speak Portuguese, but that didn't really stop me from switching to sim, não, and porque a few times instead of yes, no, and because. When I got home I totally just crashed for a few hours. My screwy sleeping patterns mixed with the heat and walking the sun hot me really tired.

Today, like most Saturdays I woke up to find the house empty. Paula has school, Marli teaches at a school, and Paulo works. At one point someone was ringing the door bell. It was some old man with something some one had to sign, and I assumed he was there for one of my host parents. Maybe he was a car/gas/heat/electrical guy. So I told him the people of the house weren't home and he kept questioning me...like "Don't you guys recieve this stuff" and I had no idea because I didn't know what his service was. Then I saw the that word "correios" and was like OMFG HE'S THE MAILMAN! So I had just spent the last few minutes telling him to leave, hahaha. I opened the door, got the letter and blah it was done, but it was kinda funny.

So that's really been all for the last few days. Today I have to go to some Rotary dance thing. It's a really big event, so it's important that I go. It's all formal and stuff. Like white shirt, tie, suit, the works.

A better update should be comming Monday. Its my three month Exchangeversery!

This is my three month exchangeversery letter that I sent out a few days ago. I wanna have it on record.

Dear Everyone,

yesterday marked the end of my thrid month here in Brazil. As such, I figured it would be a great time to write. It's been quite an experience so far. I don't think I can say I love it here, yet, but I'm really enjoying this opportunity and having a lot of fun. Recently I've noticed I've become quieter than I was at the beginning of exchange. I understand why, I just feel a little lonely, especially at school. My initial outgoingness didn't seem to have any effect on Brazilians, so as a result I've become more quiet. HOWEVER, this needs to change. So as my 4th month comences I vow to be louder, bolder, more outgoing, to lighten up, and stuff like that.

Brazil is just a totally different place. It didn't feel like it at first, but as time moves on I just think, "Why didn't I pick a country more...me?" Sometimes I honestly feel like I'm the exact opposite of everyone, but then I remember that that was why I picked Brazil. It was exotic, tropical (ok, Uruguaiana is not exotic or tropical, haha), but most of all, different. So I've casted any regret away as I realize more what a great choice Brazil was to make.

School is ok. Subject-wise I'm doing fine. I can get through most of the classes, but not really physics, portuguese grammar, and brazilian lit. In those classes I'm lost. I can understand most everything, but its so hard not to space out! Friend-wise, I'm still working on it. Making friends has been harder than I expected, so I'm working on that, as I wrote earlier. I just don't have much in common with the kids in my class. Not that this isn't classes. Homerooms in Brazil don't switch classes, instead the teachers move around the school. Kid here cannot make Powerpoings like STHS kids though. They really need a Ms. Valenza tutorial or something. It's like:

Me: Uhmmm, your background and font are basically the same color. I think you should change that.
Brazil: Our women's soccer team beat yours, bite me.

Brazilian foods are like EMO kids: they're different, but all in the same way. Restruants do not exist here. Every place is a buffet. You can expect a small salad bar, rice, beans, roasted chicken, beef, 2 types of rice, beans, polenta, pasta with tomato sauce, fries. For dessert there would probably be sagu, flan, and abrosia. There are more, but those are the bare nesecities that EVERY one will have, just every EMO has funny hair and dark clothes. I did go to one restruant, but that was in Argentina, so it doesn't count. Overall the food is good though. I've gotten used to salty beef and like it now. Having to cut off 75% of the steak on your plate because it's all fat doesn't feel like a chore anymore and my host parents know if they're going to make salad to keep a little bowl untempered since I'm not a fan of Olive Oil + Salt as dressing. Blegh. The desserts are good. They make pudding cake, which reminds me off home. There is also this cool stuff called sagu which is generally purple ooze with a slight wine taste with these little edible...things in it. I don't know how to descrive these things. In addition, we eat a lot of flan or ambrosia, which are egg based desserts. Oh em gee, my favorite comparison between food is that of McDonalds! In the US, McDonalds = dirty, fatty, gross, but in Brazil McDonalds = classy, trés chic, an indulgence. Hahahahaha.

My Portuguese pretty good, if I do say so myself. Either the mass loads of telemarketers don't think I have an accent or they don't care. I can understand probably like 95% of everything if I listen and my speaking is pretty good too. I can say everyhting I need to. I've started reading HP and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone, so that's been good for vocabulary. Muggle = trouxe. However, Brazilians should not speak English unless they have been properly trained or are under professional supervision. Their minds, full of simple Portuguese sounds, just cannot fathom the sounds of th, and final consonants. Ex:

Good Night = Guchi Nitchy
Big But (trust me, they say it a lot) = Biggy Butch
Beautiful = Brootifrul
Very = Vaei
Very Very Beautiful = Vaei Vaei Brootifrul
smooth operator = smoov opawayta
Ray = Hi, Ry, Way, Hay

It's kinda of funny. What Brazilians think of English is exaclty what Americans think of German, really harsh gutteral grunting.

I've made my own mistakes too though.
Paulo: You saw Ricardo today, right?
Me: Yeah.
Paulo: Did you tell him about the documents we have for him?
Me: No, I didn't eat yet, but thanks for asking.

I'm really looking forward to this coming Monday. I leave in the very early morthing for a city called Cascavel, where I'll be starting my trip to the Pantanal, the world's biggest swamp region. I'll be there from Tuesday until Sunday I believe with a bunch of other exchangers from all across Brazil and at least 2 others from my district. Also, in the near future I hope to experience more the gaúcho (cowboy-like but different) culture down here. It's very prevelent, but my host family isn't really involved within it. However, I've been talking about how I want to get more involved with it and they totally agreed. So hopefully after my trip I'll spend more time indo pra fora.

Any questions? Ask 'em!

Quando eu tento falar espanhol, eu sinto suja depois. Como, eu presiso tomar banho depois. Brincando, Brincando, isso é uma mentira, mas é serio que eu não consigo falar espanhol mais. </end obligatory portuguese>

Beijos, abraços, e muitos palhaços!
Ray

December 17, 2007

And *BAM* I'm back. Sorry for the delay guys. In my sort-of update a few days ago it gets into it. So now I have 2 weeks to try and make up for the last 2 months before I leave for a month to go on the northeast trip. I'll try to keep a journal then to make updates easier.

So instead of trying to make up for the last two months now, I'll do that eventually and just start you up on yestday.

Here's the short story of yesterday: Uruguay is cool.

Yesterday I woke up, or was woken up, pretty early. Maybe around 7 o'clock to go to Uruguay and spend the day at the Termas de Arapey, or Arapey Thermal Baths. I packed up a fw things for a day trip. Just an extra pair of clothes and a notebook in case I needed it for anything. I got ready and Marli called my cousin Mika to check if she was comming, but no, she wasn't. Mika is my age, but we don't really mesh well, so I was actually glad she wasn't coming. That way I could just spend time with my family...or so I thought.

We got on the road and to my surprise we picked up my grandma, Celestina, but I just call her Avó, the Portuguese word for grandma. I think she's a bit crazy, kinda like any grandmother really. Not like 'bad' crazy, but like 'not every cog fits so tightly' crazy. Anyway, it made traveling in the car a bit cramped. I must have dozed off, because I remember reaching the border quicker than it should have taken. The border patrole took away some fruit we had becasue of Uruguayan law. I wasn't surprised, but the rest of the family was. Marli must have said "Eu não sabia" (I just did not know!) like 25 times. They were all confused why the fruits were taken and not other food, like bread and meat. Avó tried suggesting that they could jsut keep it at the station and we could pick it up later, but the border patrol people just threw it out. Marli justified it that they'd have to hold every traveler's things if they did that. I fell asleep after that and at some point Avó woke me up and asked "Tá com sono?" (Are you tired.) DUH! Was all I could think. This is not an isolated incident. It's happened at school too. I was annoyed because now I awake, but we eventually arrived at Arapey.

So we got at Arapey and entered. It's like a resort/camp ground, so you can rent a house or just part in the field that has a little bbq setup for to day. We took the bbq setup. It's only 14 reais (7 dollars) a day. I don't know if that is cheap by American standards, but it sounds pretty cheap. We got of teh car and set up some stuff. Paula went an wandered for a little and a bit later I did the same with Marli. We walked around some of the pool and indeed, the water was definantly thermally heated!

As we walked by a few shops I was yet again surprised by more family, Tia Sandra, Tio César and their son Cesinho pulled up in their car and we got in with them and drove back to the campsite. After that we walked around some more decorative ponds and I was surprised for the last time when Tia Preta, Tio Márcio, and their kids Isadora and Marcinho pulled up to the campsite too. We set up some chairs and hung for a while.

Eventually My cousins, Paula and I went to the nearest bath. It didn't look like other thermal baths I had seen on TV, but maybe they're like this too. Instead of just being all natural pools of hot water in the ground, like with dirt bottoms and all, there were actual pools, that just had plumbing to bring in all the thermal (and very clean) water in. It was really relaxing, but the rules were a little to much for my cousins and Paula. It was a 'no swimming' pool. Strictly a bath, so you couldn't really swin or anything, so they went to another I stayed behind for like 10 more minutes, but eventually I go bored too so I went to one of the pools I had seen earlier where I suspected they would be. Went I left the pool I was surprised too see my cousins hadn't gotten far, so I just follewed them and they went right to were I suspected and I joined them once again. Eventually my tias showed up too. I enjoyed being able to swim in the hot water and in a pool deeper than the one in my back yard which is all level at maybe 5 or 4.5 feet. There was also a large water slide. I thought it was interesting because it wasn't made of pastic, but rather concrete or clay or something like that. I enjoyed that for a while and eventually we returned, suspecting lunch was ready. We had lost track of time, so it as up-for-grabs.

However, as we walked back, my tios were all walking up to greet us. The other kids went back with them, but I wanted to dry off a bit and returned to the campsite with my tias. They kept watch over the cooking churrasco as they talked. I listened a little bit, but I took out my notebook and started writing a little To Do list. It listed things like buy postcards, buy shorts, go over Northeast trip with host parents - this type of thing.

The next thing I remember is having lunch. I was a bit unsatisfied, as the cuts of meat aren't really my favorite. Salchichas and costelas as opposed to picanha and linguiça, which I like more. I've noticed that linguiça isn't usually eaten as an entrée, which is unfortunant. Anyways, I delt with it and eat it with some guarana and coke.

For the rest of the afternoon we kidna just wandered between the 2 pools from the morning as well as one closed bath. It reminded me other pictures of Roman baths and their were plants everwhere and a cute decorative pool in the shape of a snail. I took a short nap in a car at one point after lunch, as did Tia Preta and Paulo. It was really just relaxation. In the closed pool and totally did not see that the steps into the pool suddenly stopped and I fell/sank 4 feet deeper than expected, haha. There was also a slight scare when no one could find Cesinho, but he turned up at the campsite. Paulo and Marli also tried to show us this little hidden cave things they remembered from 26 years a go that went under on of the pools and was cool because all the thermal-ness heated up the tiny tunnel. I also enjoyed a nice orange flavored popsicle.

We started on our way home around 6. We looked at some shops and I picked up a timy boat made out of animal horn. We found the nicest place in the town, but it was closed, and I saw a funny buisnes poster featuring an ostritch/emu wearing a hat and sneakers. On our way out of town, our tire blew! It was like the Pantanal trip all over again! But, without too much time and the help from Marcio, we were up an running again in no time.

I slept again and again my grandma woke me up, but she had a good reason. She felt I was sleepign in a strange position, so she wanted to make sure I was alright. Paula was in Tia Preta's car, so there was more space in the car = smiles. And we got home.

We had dinner, which was good. I talked with Marli about my Northeast trip (checked of the To Do list!) and some other stuff. I tried watching a movie with Paula and Marli. We tried twice. The first movie wasn't a movie, but like a self-help thing. I was funny because it started out like a movie. Tehre was this woman and she's like "Ever since my mother died...I've had a mission..." DUN DUN DUNNNNN. And then somes this stupid philosopher and other succesfull people talking about 'the secret...dun dun dun' nad how amzing it is and crap. I was basically sitting through a feature film of Thighmastur testimonials. So we changed the film to the otehr we had, Converstations with God, but Marli and Paula fell asleep, so I abandoned the project.

And then I went to bed.

I woke up today fairly late, had lunch with the family and my cousin Junior. Paulo was in Libres, so he couldn't come. I went out to check more things of my To Do list to I bought some Postcards, wrote them, sent them out, wrote another letter, but couldn't send it since I didn't have an envelope and niether does the post office. I also bought some shorts and a flag of Rio Grande do Sul. And voila.

I have friends coming over tomorrow!

TCHAU FOOLS.

December 20, 2007

I forgot to mention in my last post that I was schedualed to go to a ranch on Monday for a few hours or maybe to stay overnight. I was really looking forward to it. But it didn't happen. The lady a the ranch that was supposed to look after me had to travel or something so I couldn't go. I was bummed for all of two seconds. This is Brazil. This has happened to many times to remember. I've gotten used to it. Brazil has hardened me. (Lol, I sounds so tuff.) I'm still pissed that after 5 months I haven't gone. I've talked to so many people about it but it never happens.

Anyways, on Tuesday I woke up late as uasual and hung out for a while. Around 3 or 3 30 some friends came over. Carlos, Daiane, Carrie, and William. Really Brazilian names, right? We hung out in the pool. We played chicken and just goofed around. I hjave pictures, mayb e I'll post some of them. Around 5 we had some hotdogs. Hot dogs are really different here. They're cut up and cooked in a thing tomato sauce and then you just use regular rolls to eat them. Carrie was mad that Daiane ate most of the rolls and she didn't get many, haha. After that we dried off for a while and we went inside, and Daiane and Carrie took my computer hostage. The fun kinda ended there. At least for that time. They don't have computers/computers with constant internet at their homes, so they wanted to check email, orkut (like facebook), and some other things. Eventually they were finished and two more people showed up, Lucas and his little brother Gustavo, Paula also joined us. We went back into the pool and things livened up again. They stayed quite late and we have more hotdogs and snacks for a small dinner. Marli offered to drop them off at their houses and we all went into her car around 10 or so and dropped them off. We planned to go out for ice cream the next day.

That night I wasn't very tired and had the urge to write, so I wrote out this whole reflection in a notebook about some things I had been feeling about the year, in order to get ready to write a month 5 email.

Yesterday afternoon I started to type up this reflection while also juggling a little tv watching and net surfing as I waited to go out for ice cream at 6. However, Carlos showed up at 5. We just hung out. He and the others listen to a lot of English music so I (megerly) translated some songs for him. Eventually the others came and we left soon after. W walked to the praça and to one of the many ice creameries. I was annoyed that their were no flavor markings, so instead of asking I just looked down and chose the two most ice creams. One was bright blue and the other was bright orange. I also wanted the brigh green icecream (stacio? haha) but their was a 2 flavor limit so I excluded that one. We chilled on the outside area of the shop and ate our ice cream. The bright blue was kind of like vanilla, while the orange was like bubble gum. I was ok, not bad, but not amazing. Ice cream is different here texture wise, so it's odd sometimes.

After that we returned to my house. As we walked I pointed out how ridiculous Brazil is to them, like the homage to Snow White and the Seven Drawves we have in the praça and countless statues of people no one has heard off. They got a kick out of my constant blurting of "Que ridiculo!" and "É burra!" I love how Brazil continues to be ridiculous/not make sence even after 5 months. And there were these totally pornagraphic angels outside of the big cathedral, but I won't get into that. Even Carrie thought so.

So we got back to my house and yet again, they were consumed by my computer. So I played some iPod solitarie as they uploaded all my pic onto theit mp4 players. The didn't stay as late this time. We've planned to go to William's house on Saturday to watch a movie. Supposedly it will scary. I love scary movies. Oh, and that reflection I had been righting was totally deleted! I hadn't saved it and Daiane closed the window was she dominated my computer. x_x. Now I have to write it all over!

Today has been pretty normal, but at 1 we went to Uruguiana's puny airport and picked up Bruna my São Paulista host sister. She's staying for chirstmas and is supposed to take me to nigh clubs to meet some gatinhas or someting like that. I don't really care about the gatinhas that much, I just want a caipirinha...

Now I gotta get back an write that reflection so I can send it out tomorrow - my 5 month mark!

December 25, 2007
Merry Chirstmas! Feliz Natal!

Ok. Merry Christmas, but I'll get into that later.

Honeslty, I don't remember a lot from the last 5 days. And it probably isn't worth that much to write down anyways. But, Bruna came home for the holidays on Thursday and I was excited because supposedly she was supposed to take me to go out and do some stuff. I was happy, although skeptical when she asked me if I'd like to take a voltinho or maybe it's voltatinho. Every other time I've gone on a voltinho it's been boring. I should be happy that I'm out of the house, but these voltas, as they're also called, usually end up with me just sitting a car driving around a city I've already wandered through in the dark, so it's not like I can see anything new, walking in the praça, or sitting idle in another person's house. One time I went on a volta with my counseler's grown son and I just sat idle in his house and had to meet all his family. It was made worse becasue I really, really, needed to talk to my counseler (his mom) and we didn't have a plan, so when they wanted to go somewhere else I told them I wanted to go home and I totally got a guilt trip. I think that's the word - when you think someone is trying to make you feel guilty. I didn't give in. I was just like "Yeah, ok..." and got out of that awkward sistuation.

So anyways, I was like "Ok, Maybe Bruna and I will do something cool..." but when I left later that night I was slightly bothered when Marli and Paula came to join us. The rest of the time I did nothing. First they had a planned stop at the praça to talk to some long-lost friends or something. And, when I though we were going home we just had to stop to talk to Tio Cesar and Tia Sandra. I mean come on, Bruna, you're here for the holidays, you can see them tomorrow. Ai ai ai.

The same thing happened on Friday, except it turned out to be a dinner with the whole family and my grandmas included. At least we went to a real restruant in Libres.

Saturday night we all went to a birthday dinner for a family friend. It was tri chic. No beef or chicken here. It was shrimp all the way. I don't feel like getting into the detailes, but it was like 1 in the morning and the whole family was ready to go, but we weren't leaving, and this conversation ensued.

Me: If we're all ready, why aren't we leaving.
Marli: I ordered some water (caterers were there) and it hasn't come yet.
Me: We have water at home.
Whole Family: **laughs at Ray**

They really got a kick out of it.

Later when we eventually left we sorta ran into a young couple fighitng and talked about it in the car.

Me: What was going on, were they fighting?
Marli: Yeah, even the girl's mother was crying.
Bruna: I wonder what it was about.
Me: She probabl just wanted to go home and drink water.

That was another good one.

I was suppsoed to go to a costume party at a club with Bruna, but it was 21 adn older event, so I couldn't get a ticket.

On Sunday I went to my friend, William's, house with the lieks of Carrie, Carlos, Lucas, and Daiane. We picked up some horror mocies from the US. The Marsh and Skin Walkers. They were both absolutely horrible. Not scary at all. I was looking for blood and guts and The Marsh was a try-to-be scary haunted house flick and the other was focused around werewolfs and the ending left you saying "Huh?" So don't watch them.

That night I tried to finish my Secert Sante gift for my aunt Eliseti. I was making a box like one I had made in an art class. Unfortunantly, it didn't turn out I wanted, so I opted not to give it and just buy a present tomorrow. It didn't look bad, but it wasn't the type of thing I'd want to give and be like "Surprise!" with. The cracelê didn't crakle engouh, the red wasn't deep enough, I pressed the flex paste in to hard, the picture was decoupaged unevenly...so I was sorta dissapointed, but at least I know what to do with the other box I bought.

Ok, Chirstmas Eve and Chirstmas will come tomorrow, cuz I'm going to Libres again like I did on Friday, but we're going to the casino, so I'll play craps until I can afford to oay my own way through college. K? That and maybe some roulette. The machines there SUCK and are way confunsing like woah.

This post has been a little skimpy, but that might be how it is is from here on out. If you'd like me to include more detail just shoot my a comment on my comment board. (Last link in the green box.)

Piczo