Official Temporary Resident

Hello to all! Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I have been really busy! Well, to begin, school has been going great, and I just completed my third week! I am even starting to comprehend most of what the teachers are saying, so that is good! My friend from school insisted that I add this picture she took of us, so here it is:

Brenda and I!

I still continue to meet new people every day, but it is really difficult to remember everybody's name!

Thursday night, I left Itabira to return to the capital (Belo Horizonte) of my state, Minas Gerais. It is about a two hour drive along the most dangerous road in Minas Gerais. I can see why! There are hardly any guard rails, and if you go off the road, you tumble down the side of a mountain! With Brazilian drivers, I can see why that isn't very hard to do. I also took a few pictures of some beautiful scenery (I'm sorry about the quality, it is difficult to take good pictures in a moving vehicle on Brazilian roads).

 When we finally arrived, I got to meet my host uncle(?) Gusttavo's two children and see his amazing apartment. He has a deck area that over-looks all of Belo Horizonte and has a great view of the Favelas.... I wish I would have brought my camera! From there, we went to my host mother's apartment that she owns to spend the night. 

Friday morning, we went over to the Federal Police station to get my Temporary Residence Permit, and after getting finger printed and a lovely mug shot picture, I received it! From there, my host mother and I went to the mall where I got to see just how ridiculously over priced clothing is here in Brasil. I saw a normal sweatshirt in one store ON SALE for R$180 (about US$90), and my host mother said it was a good deal! Meu Deus! Along with all of the clothing, I saw my first McDonalds and Burger King! Only here, a Whopper is US$8. I also got a picture in a famous shopping corner in BH! 

Later that night, we went to a party for my host mother's niece. I am not exactly sure what kind of party it was, but I think it was a going away party because she is in the military. It was probably the richest home I have ever been in. We were greeted at the door by a butler who asked for our drink orders (I got Guaraná), and then another waiter who gave us hor d'oeuvres all night long. Everyone got so drunk. The drink waiter very generous with his drinks, and constantly filled everyone's glass no matter how close to empty it was. I am pretty sure the 10 of us went through 4 bottles of campaign and 2 bottles of really expensive whiskey. One guy kept insisting that I speak French, for some reason. I don't even speak French. The food was really good, though, and the dessert was creme de mamão (papaya cream) and it was heavenly. 

When we got home, I decided to try out the many different functions on my camera on our own view of one favela. Belo Horizonte is so beautiful, and the biggest city I have ever been in!

Favelas by day

Night shot... favelas in the back left, skyline in back middle

I am so excited to come back for a 4 day language camp in September! Tonight, I will go to centro with the other intercambistas (exchange students) and enjoy life as a "brazilian" teenager. I am still loving everything! To all teachers and students back in Appleton, have a great start to your school year!!! 

Meu Aniversário!

So yesterday was my birthday, and it was probably my most memorable moment of my exchange so far. Despite the fact that it was an early Monday morning, I was greeted by a singing classroom when I walked in the doors for school. Everyone was cheering, singing and clapping and just having an amazing time, and it made me feel really great! Throughout the morning, I got hugs and ´Parabéns!´ from random people that I don´t even know, so I must be more well known than I thought! Then, when I came home for lunch, I got two amazing presents from my host family (a box of Brazilian chocolate, and my first pair of Havaiana flip-flops). They really went out of their way to do that, and I was extremely grateful.

Later that day when I went back for afternoon classes, the day was going normally. Then, during gym class, I got taken out of the volleyball game because I was told the principal wanted to talk to me and another exchange student, Kari. When we arrived, though, I was extremely surprised when there was a group of my friends singing the Happy Birthday song in Portuguese, again! It was an amazing surprise party! We ate tortinha and drank Guaraná, and it was really special. They even got me a Brazilian flag with happy birthday messages written all over it, and a box of AMAZING Brazilian candy. Everything was just so great, and I can´t thank them enough for making me feel so special.

My surprise party!

Even at the Rotary meeting that night, we had an amazing cake and everybody sang to me again. It was just such an amazing day, and I won´t forget it. Thank you to everybody who made me feel amazing! Everyone is so wonderful in Brasil! 

Ouro Preto

After a long, but great, week of school, the weekend finally came! Instead of sleeping in, I had the privilege to wake up at 6 am to go to Ouro Preto through a school trip. And I am SO glad I did it!!

First off: the bus. Oh my god. It was a coach bus, but the fanciest coach bus I have ever seen in my life. All of the chairs, I swear, reclined! It was like we were in a living room! Although the chairs were amazingly comfortable, we didn´t use them much. Most of the people were standing singing random Portuguese songs, and it was amazing. I even knew some of the songs, and all of the Brazilians absolutely loved when I knew the lyrics!

When we arrived about 2 hours later, we checked in at the college we were touring. We didn´t do much touring, however. We spent most of our time walking around downtown and going to random cafés for açaí, guaraná, or pão de queijo (all of the above are amazingly delicious). In fact, the only classes we toured were the Medical ones where I got to see a fake woman give birth to a fake baby. It was really strange.

Ouro Preto is probably the prettiest city I have ever seen. It is surrounded by lush mountains and filled with many historic cathedrals that are stunning. A picture simply does not cut it, but I took many anyways. I can´t wait to have more of these amazing experiences..... exchange is truly life changing!

View of one part of Ouro Preto and the mountains behind it.

One Week

Well, yesterday marked my One Week in Brasil. Everything is absolutely amazing here. The people are great, the scenery is gorgeous, and the food is to die for. I am so glad that this opportunity was offered to me, and I would not trade it for anything else.

School is going really great, and I am really learning a lot of Portuguese. Even though everything is difficult (especially for me), I am really trying to listen in class, engage in conversation, and even do my homework! All of the Portuguese gives me a headache at the end of the day, though.

Today I had my weekly trip with the other exchange students to Point Do Açaí, and it was just as good as ever. It seriously is one of the most amazing things you will ever taste. Today, I had my açaí with banana and abacaxi (pinapple), and it was so good! Then, I went out with some of my Brazilian friends to a pizza place and oh my god. American pizza can not compare. I´m not even sure Italian pizza can compare. It is like chewing literal heaven. After pizza, we just hung out in centro (downtown) and they taught me how to dance all kinds of different styles and it was super fun! Tomorrow, I am going to one of the most beautiful cities in all of Brasil: Ouro Preto. It is so full of history, and I can not wait to go!

Amazing night with my friends!

First Day Of School

Today was my first day of school...... and it went surprisingly well!! Everyone in Brasil is SO nice and I instantly made friends. Everyone came up to talk to me, and at first I didn't understand ANY Portuguese, but by the end of the day, I understood what they all said. School here starts at 7 am and ends at 11:30 am. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, however, we have afternoon classes also that go from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm. I actually really enjoyed everything! My schedule is very busy.... I have Chemistry, Physics, English, Spanish, Portuguese (Literature), Math 1, Math 2, Sociology and Phy Ed., and there are others that I will have tomorrow! Each class is 50 min. long like in the USA, and we have a 20 min. break at 9:30. I also have a school uniform! It is not much.... just a t-shirt that I had to buy and some jeans. I still like it, though.
*As a side note, my Spanish teacher in the USA was obsessed with U2, and now my English teacher is obsessed with U2. It's like being back in the USA for that class!

Today was also the first Rotary meeting of mine! There, I introduced myself (IN PORTUGUESE :) ) and exchanged flags with the Rotary here. Also, I got my first pay day woooohhoooooo!! I really haven't even spent much money yet, only a 'show' ticket and some açaí. Maybe it will all just accumulate. My good exchange friend from Australia also performed at the meeting! She was SO good!

Marlee singing in Portuguese!

 I still am in my 'honeymoon' phase of the exchange.... I absolutely love everything. I hope this feeling never goes away!!!

Many New Experiences!

First off: The Show. It. Was. Amazing. Not at all what I expected when they said "show." It turned out to be a massive concert with over 15,000 people. Not only was it a concert for a Brazilian group that I really like (Jorge & Mateus), but it was so much more! I met a ton of people, but I don't remember any names. I also got to know what the teenage culture was like. I was fore-warned about the culture, but all I can say is wow! Everyone knows how to live! There was also a large bull-riding competition which was very exciting to watch, and was a new experience for me! We ended up getting home at 3am, and I was very tired! Today, I had a really laid-back day. It started with me spending a lot of time talking about my live in the small town of Appleton, Wisconsin with my host family. I actually really enjoyed sharing my life with them! They were very interested.... and excited that I said everything in Portuguese! I am really feeling comfortable with the language. Then, I went to a picnic with the exchange students from Australia (Marlee) and Norway (Kari) along with some friends from another girl's school. Everyone was so nice and talked with me! Everything was very chill and that is what I really needed after the long travel and concert! Again, I have to say, I absolutely am in love with the culture and way of life in Brasil.

Day 1

Well, I arrived safe and sound in Belo Horizonte, Brazil at around 9am yesterday morning. I was met at the airport by my host grandma and grandpa, who are both amazingly kind people. After all the welcomes and hugs were given, we started the two hour drive to my new home city, Itabira. The drive was very interesting. We went right alongside Belo Horizonte, which is one of Brazil's largest cities. I even got to see the favelas, which were so beautiful in the strangest ways. About one hour into the drive, we stopped for a quick drink. I got a mango juice, which was SO amazing! When I finally arrived in Itabira, I was greeted to a city literally beneath a mine. The streets here are so steep, I thought we were going to fall backwards while driving up them! My house here is very beautiful, I love all of the food...... and the people are so kind! Everyone is always happy! I love it! Tonight, I will try açai, shop for my school uniform and go to a show! I am excited for everything! I even can understand a lot of what people say in Portuguese, but I have trouble speaking in Portuguese. It will get better, I hope.