Travels
This past weekend  I rafted for the first time and enjoyed it. The hot springs at the hotel my ISA group stayed in weren't exactly "hot", but they were warm and enjoyable in the cool weather. Saturday night Americans and Brazilians gathered in the movie room of the hotel to watch the UFC Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen.  Chael Sonnen made himself look like such a jerk that not even the Americans could cheer for him.

This next weekend our group will take a trip to the part of Santa Caterina that was colonized by Germans, Blumenau.  I expect to see German architecture and actually here the language.  Our group is scheduled to visit a beer brewery, whale watch and site see, see sites....sites the see.


Sins
I spend too much time on facebook. The program I am traveling with told us not to "try and live two lives", meaning..your body is here so bring your mind here.  My mind is not always here. Even though I am in Brazil I am not convinced that the language I am surrounded by is Port ...as I am in school the majority of the day with Americans and then I go home and get on Facebook.

Redemption
In order to be happy with my current self and past self... years down the road, I am creating some standards for myself.
1. less facebook.1 hr per day?
2. try harder to converse with natives.
3. avoid English when possible
4. Put focus in Brazil.

Homework
I was given a homework assignment to research a church of choice in Florianópolis. During a three hour break in my classes, I walked the downtown area until I found an open church. I was hesitant to enter because the door seemed to be blocked stopper, but I made I contact with one of the three people who were in the church and mouthed "can I enter?"  I was given a yes signal and went in. I was quickly approached by the evangelistic pastor who had been talking to person number three, a crying woman.  I told him I was there to do research for a class...and he asked me if I wanted to be blessed.  Hmm..to be honest..no I did not want to be blessed by him...but when abroad and when safe..saying yes to everything is my philosophy. The pastor lead me and the teary lady to the from of the entirely white chapel and asked us to close our eyes. I felt his hand on my head and heard the typical "God enter these bodies and relieve their problems" type speech.  Every time the pastor accented a word or spoke louder his hand would tap/squeeze my skull a bit harder. Towards the end of the blessing he wiped oil on our foreheads and sat us down in the white beach chairs that were arranged in long rows in the church.  Once we sat down he talked a bit more about how money is nothing and God is everything and then tried to sell us a DVD of his travels to Israel for 10 reais. The pastor eventually lead us over to a table that had little clear bags that had colored papers in it.  As the pastor placed both hands on the pile of paper and plastic and mixed the pile, he looked at us and told us to choose a bag to find our "seed of faith".  Immediately I was reminded of fortune cookies.  I choose the plastic bag closest to me.  The past took my bag from me and opened it.  Again I was reminded of fortune cookies...everyone wants to break the cookie and read the fortune.  My cookie of faith was "Your salvation is to wait for the Lord".
The pastor let me interview him a bit after he gave his impromptu presentation and he invited me back to services which was very nice.

Brazil 101
-Brazilain Coca cola is made with real sugar instead of corn syrup.
-One single orange is less than 25 cents.
-One bottle of cheep nail polish remover is about 75 cents.
-Students often receive discounts in movies theaters, concerts and public transportation.