A little home sickness

A little home sickness...I think that is what you would call it. This week my mind was definately in Ohio with my family. I did not want to go home, I just wanted to be with my family.



But things are still going strong here. I am understanding much more Portuguese. I am really going to focus this week on trying to understand my teachers. They speak very fast and in the past I have beens unable to understand what they are saying... It is truely exausting to focus all of my attention on a sound and try to recognize words. Last week I was reconginzing a good majority of the words but was unable to actually understand content. Last week my brain became fried after my first period(1 and 15 minutes) and so for he rest of the day I would look up words in my minidictionary, day dream and write poetry.



Last weekend I spent Saturday and a good portion of my Sunday with other intercambistas...I mean exchange students. I met students from Germany, Denmark, South Africa, Australia, Sweden, Tiwain, Canada, and other Americans. We spent two days and one night in the very cool city of Botucatu (Boat-two-catch-oo). There, we bonded, ate great food, played games, had a pizza party at a very nice home of a Rotarian. For the night all the students we split up and sent to the homes of rotarians to spend the night. The family I stayed with was friendly and had a very lovely home. The next day we were told of the city's history..but in Portuguese...so I cannot really tell you what they told us. All the exchange students met the mayor or Botucatu, were were given books about the city and all were autographed by the author. Then we boarded a bus and drove to the country. Our first stop we ate lunch on..kind of a side of a moutain...It is really difficult to explain. Our second stop was at a waterfall, but before we got to the waterfall we had to hike a rough path for about 3/4 of a mile. The waterfall was beautiful..but my camera died..so I will have to steal pictures from other exchange students facebooks/orkuts..
A rotarian from Piracicaba, Rosali, gave me and some other exchange students a ride home from Botucatu. The drive was kind of long and at some point it was necessary for us to stop for gas. However, the gas station we stopped at did not have any gas...and Rosali did not have enough gas in her tank to make it to the next gas station. Sounds bad...but not in Brasil. With in twenty minutes there were two guys cking gas out of their own tank and putting it into our car. Of course Rosali payed them for teh gas...but only in Brasil..I dont even know of people in the loving town of Monroeville would do that.




On Wedensday (quarta-feira) this past week I skipped school and traveled to Sao Paulo to be with my sister Natalia at her university. I went with her to some classes and she gave me a tour of her "campus" and some labs. In the past she had told me about the rats she works with (bio medicine) and how cute they were. In one of the labs she took me two she chose a box/cage of 4 test rats and set it on the counter of a small room that only the two of us were in. She opened the box/cage and picked up the biggest rat. To both of our surprise the rat took off running around the counter that stretched around two walls of the room. I figured I would be helpful and assist my sister in catching the rat so I grabbed it. The rat with lightning speed crawled up my arm on to my chest and got to my neck before my sister grabbed it off of me and threw it back in its box/cage. She said that had never happened before and later referred to the rat as the rat from hell. hahaha.

Somethings I've Noticed:
-The soil here is a dark red
-It is not uncommon to be in a random place..like school, or on the street, or a church and find a tree with fruit and just eat right off of it.
-All gas stations are service gas stations...drivers do not even have to get out of there cars...but they do to make conversation for enjoyment.

Fun Weekend

After Bella e Feta, I went to an over night Interact meeting. The meeting was at a location that could be compared to a campground, but thats really not what it was. There were probably about 60 people there. At practically any moment you could here someone playing guitar and singing. (sometimes that person was me. Since I've been here I have given quite a few performances). At Interact there was constant access to food. At night there was a dance.."ballada". I loved it. It was perfect. Saturday night I probably got a total of 1, 2 at the very most, hours of sleep. It was the job of some of the Interact students not to let others sleep. Sunday night, when I got home I crashed around five in the afternoon and slept until 6 this moring.

I've meet so many awesome people. One of the hardest things I have had to deal with so far is the task of remembering peoples names. I think I almost know everyone in my class. I know most everyones name on my host mothers side of the family... Its like when I meet knew people there names are kicked out of my head with in a couple seconds....My brain gets all scrambled and all my focus is on listening to what they are saying and trying to translate.

The day I am fluent in going to be a great great day.

This weekend I went to see a performance in Sao Paulo of Beauty and the Beast (Bella e Feta). It was sweet. I stayed the night at a Rotarians apartment with two other exchange stuudents..I returned earlier this afternoon, and now have to prepare for a weekend with Interact students..

Things are going very well.

Since We Last Spoke...

As I expected, computer access is inconsistent...so I apologize to all those who have been waiting for a new update (mom, Lauran). Things are going well. My Portuguese improves daily. I am getting good with comprehension, but my speaking still confuses most people. It is funny to think about how rediculus I must sound to them.
Since I last wrote, I have continued with my dance classes. My weekends have been busy. This past Saturday and Sunday (sabado e domingo) I went to a Brazilian wedding. It was hands down the coolest wedding I have ever been to. The party was in the same place as the actual wedding. The entire fest, wedding and party took place at night. The food was never ending, and in multiple locations. The service was amazing, the drink was great, the people were so happy. I had a great time. I went to this wedding with my second host family. Before hand we went to a huge mall in Sao Paulo( the wedding was in Sao Paulo also) and my second host mother and myself got our hair done. It was really cool. It was especially nice to get mine done because I do not have a hair dryer so my hair hasn´t looked too great for some time. ha.

Somethings I have noticed recently:
*not too many people have blue eyes here.
*People do not stop at stop signs.
*Most people drive stick shift
*Almost all the kids in my class wear nikes

How do people my age get around?
Here, the driving age is 18, so it seems that if those younger than that want to get around, they ask for rides. Honestly, there is not a whole lot of walking long distances...and I have seen bikers, but only on the high way on my way to Sao Paulo.

Today, I fell asleep in class, the first time in my life I have ever done that. When I woke up, there was a spider on me... Taught me not to take naps in school...:)