Adventure Time in Rio De Janeiro!

          Well I suppose from reading the title of this post you already have a pretty good idea what it going to be about. I just went to the one and only Rio de Janeiro with about forty other exchange students from all over the world! We spent three thrilling days there and did so much that I don't even know where to begin! If I told you everything it would be just about the longest blog post ever in history, so I'll do my best to highlight the greatest moments, and if you want to know more well... I guess you'll just have to take a trip there yourself now won't you?!

Sugarloaf View at Sunset

Sugarloaf View in Daylight

Sugarloaf View at Night

         The first day was the most packed! We all woke up bright and early and headed straight out to explore downtown Rio! We saw historic churches, went to this huge and fancy cafe called Confeitaria  Colombo... I know this is terrible, but all of the americans went to the Starbucks across the street for frappuccinos... don't judge us we haven't had Starbucks for half a year!!! We went to this public art staircase that was completely mosaic and probably one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen! Then after lunch we went to the street where Rio's carnival is held and tried on the amazingly elaborate samba costumes that the dancers wear, as Rio's

Maracanã Stadium

carnival is known for it's samba! From there we went to Maracana Stadium, where the Fifa World Cup was held! We all stood in the bleachers and on the field and got to see Neymar's jersey! And finally we took the bus to Pão de Açúcar (Sugaroaf Mountain), the famous peak in Rio that will take your breath away! We went all the way up to the top and waited for sunset. It was one of the most magical views I've ever seen, with Rio, and the water, and mountains, and Cristo lit up overlooking it all. That sunset alone was worth coming to Rio for! We got dinner and everyone surprised me by singing happy birthday in all their different languages and giving me a card and cake! Oops, haha I guess I forgot to mention it was my birthday..! The best birthday one could ask for.

Flavelas

          The next morning we all climbed up an endless winding staircase through the Flavelas, the historic neighborhoods that sit on the hills around Rio. It was about 105°F and sunny and hot, but we made it to the top eventually, and from there we could see all of Rio below, which was pretty darn stunning. We went to Fort Copacabana which looks out on the ocean, and from there straight to Copacabana beach! It was a beautiful day, but unfortunately we didn't stay in the water for long because it was so trashy and polluted! I couldn't believe that somewhere so beautiful could be so dirty, it made me so sad. We ended our day walking down the beach at night to the Copacabana Ferinha (artist fair) where we bought some souvenirs and such. All in all another great day.

Cristo

          Our last day was incredible and bittersweet. It all felt so fast and short! We started right off with going to Jesus Cristo, one of the seven wonders of the world. We got there early in the morning, and it was so foggy we could only see the statue's sandals at first, but within five minutes of our arrival the fog cleared and we could see the whole thing! It was massive and looming and frankly pretty amazing! I snapped a couple photos with my boy Jesus and then we went down the mountain in a cute little trolly. From there we headed to another beach and then to dinner. After dinner we had a Samba and Funk dance class! It was SO fun we all got to learn how to samba like a boss, and dance with some serious attitude in the funk class, and after we had a dance party! We were surprised at the end of the night when a professional group of funk dancers gave us a private show! They were insanely good, moving in ways I never knew were possible for the human body!!!

          Then came the goodbyes. In just three days it's hard to imagine getting so close to a group of people. All of the exchange students were so wonderful, I couldn't have asked for better friends to share these experiences with. It's hard to think that I'll probably never see most of them again, and I hope our paths will all cross again sometime! And that's the end to my adventures in Rio. There's so much more to tell, but enough time or words to tell it. I'll miss you Rio!

Mosaic Staircase

*People living in Rio de Janeiro are called cariocas.


P.S. I have no clue why the fonts are so messed up here... oops!

Feliz Natal!

          Hey everyone! I know I haven't posted for over a million years now, so sorry about that! It happens to be Christmas Eve right now, so I decided I should probably post something in holiday spirit. Now, that being said it's felt like christmas time here since the beginning of November! Since they don't have Thanksgiving in Brasil, all of the shops and houses start getting ready for Christmas almost a month earlier than in the US. The bridges that cross the river here in Itabuna are all lit up and festive, the mall has a silly little nativity scene, and all of the buildings have strings of lights lining the windows. Happy Holidays!
          Christmas here is a bit different than in the States. For starters, it's summer now! Even thinking about it now, the concept of having christmas in the summer when it's 90 degrees and sunny out is pretty weird. We certainly aren't expecting a white Christmas now are we? The christmas trees here are all fake, which makes me a little sad, but I understand the shortage of evergreens here in the tropics. I personally have noticed that christmas here seems to be much more centered around family. In general, families are bigger here and live close together than back home. At christmas whole extended families get together to celebrate! I'm not talking about your parents and grandparents, I'm talking about uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, nephews, cousins of cousins, the WHOLE family. My host sister told me that sometimes it can be upwards of 100 people! Yea!
          Of course in all of the crazy preparation and fun, it's hard not to think of everyone back home. It's really normal for exchange students to feel homesick around the holidays, and being here right now is new and exciting, but it also makes me think about my family and our traditions back at home. I see the fake christmas trees and I miss going to the tree farm every year with my dad to find "the perfect tree" and bringing it home to decorate. I miss decorating snowflake-shaped gingersnap cookies with my family and best friend Anya, and I miss getting up extra early on christmas morning to bake pillsbury orange rolls for breakfast. Most of all I just miss seeing my family and friends for the holidays.
          All that aside though, I have a wonderful family here and a cute little tree and a whole lot of holiday spirit! Tomorrow is Christmas, and I couldn't be more excited to be exactly where I am, with people I love and new traditions to take in. Merry Christmas, and to my daddy "Cherry Mishmash!" Happy holidays everyone! Feliz Natal!

*Merry Christmas is feliz natal, as you probably already guessed from the name of this post haha!

Everything's Better with Butter

          Being an exchange student means making mistakes sometimes. As an exchange student, I've found thus far that it's better to just laugh and move on than to be self conscious about it. Before I talk about what happened today I want you all to know that I have no regrets, and I'm sitting here typing this and trying to stop laughing... and failing!
          This evening before dinner my mom asked me if I could go downstairs to our friend's apartment to get some butter, since we had run out earlier that day. I said yes, of course! I got into the elevator, excited that my mom trusted me and my Portuguese enough to send me on this oh-so-important mission by myself.
          I pressed the button for the first floor. The elevator began to  descend. The elevator stopped, a man got into the elevator, and I got out of the elevator. I went up to the apartment door and knocked.
          A maid answered the door, and I expertly began to explain my objective in portuguese.
          "Hi! I'm the exchange student living with the Araujo's. We live just upstairs. My mom is friends with the lady who lives here, and she told me to come down and ask for some butter, because we're all out," and I smiled sweetly at her, like every exchange student does in an awkward situation.
          She said okay and went into the kitchen to grab some butter while I waited patiently in the living room. As I was waiting I looked around and noticed that the decor of this apartment were different than I remembered... like completely different, which was weird because I had been over just the day before. I thought, eh, they probably just redecorated, whatever. The maid brought me the butter and I thanked her and said goodbye and left.
          I got back into the elevator, and looked at the floor number... I was on the 11th floor! I had gotten off to early when the elevator stopped for the man getting on! I HAD JUST GOTTEN BUTTER FROM A RANDOM PERSON IN A RANDOM APARTMENT! And what's more, she hadn't even questioned me! She just gave me the butter!
          I got back to our floor and couldn't stop laughing as I told my mom what had happened. She had a pretty hard time not cracking up as she called the other apartment to make sure everything was okay and explain what had happened to the slightly confused but also very nice maid downstairs.
          So, today I got butter at a random neighbor's house. I doubt my mom will send me on any more food missions for a while, but hey, if it hadn't happened I wouldn't have anything to write about! This definitely isn't the first mistake I've made here, and it probably won't be the last, but as long as I can laugh about it after I know I'm doing something right. Hope this story gave you the giggles! Tchau!

*The word for butter is mantega. I'm sure knowing that will come in handy for you someday, because everyone knows that EVERYTHING is better with butter.

The Old and the New

          Homesickness is something that many exchange students deal with at some point during their year abroad. In Brasil they even have a special word just for saying that you miss something or someone, "saudade." This being said, I feel like there's a difference between feeling homesick and just missing certain things from your home country. I don't think I've really been homesick yet, because at no time have I though that being here was a mistake, and that I want to return early. This is my home for the next year, right? There have definitely been things, people, cultural habits that I miss though, and I feel like the best way to deal with these are just to accept that I miss them, and then try to think about all of the amazing new things that I have here in Brasil. So I thought why not make a blog post where I list some things that I miss, and then list some new things that I like! Here it is then, and maybe if you're an exchange student reading this you miss some of these things too!

Saudades:

• Chocolate chip cookies... I don't even eat these that often in the US, but lately I've been craving them for some reason! 
• Walking to downtown or the water. It's not as safe for girls to walk around by themselves here, and because I'm white and not fluent in Portuguese it makes it that much harder.
• My family. I think this is a given.
• My friends and my school. School is really different here, and it's all in Portuguese!
• Silence, because here there is always noise! Brazilians are generally loud people, and even when I'm in my room there are these cars with speakers that drive by blasting Brazilian radio stations. It's a type of advertising that we don't have in the US, and they always play the same songs, and it drives me nuts!
• Starbucks... yea I know, typical white girl problems, but seriously!!!
• Hugging my dad and going window-shopping downtown with my mom.
• Going to the gym with my aunt.
• Driving...!

New and Exciting:

• Food. The ever-so-superior ice cream, the fruit, the traditional Brazilian dishes like feijoada and acaraje, BRIGADEIROS which will probably make me so fat this year... but that won't stop me from eating them.
• My family here, my parents and my amazing sister who I love so so so much!
• Brazilian music and dance! Everyone here loves to teach me new dances, and everyone plays guitar perfectly. All I ever want to do anymore is listen to music and dance!
• Portuguese, which is such a gorgeous language. I'm learning faster than I thought, too.
• The way everyone acts. I know that's vague, but people are so positive and affectionate and welcoming! They greet you with an enthusiastic hug and kiss on the cheek, which I know I'll miss so much when I leave:(
• Trying new sports like muay thai, kickboxing, and volleyball.
• Water that's warm enough to swim in even in the winter. Well, the Brazilians say it's cold, but they've never swam in glacial melt-off water, now that is cold.
• All of the green! There's just as much in my state I think as there is here (being as it's called "the evergreen state" and all), but it's very different. Here the green is much brighter and tropical. It's breathtaking!
• The other exchange students. Other people going through the same things as me,  who know how I feel and face the same struggles, adventures, and accomplishments. It's nice to be able to talk with people who are sharing this new and exciting experience with me!

          So there it is! Some things that I miss, and some new things that I love. There are countless other things I could add to both lists, but those are what came to me off the top of my head. If you're an exchange student reading this, it's okay to miss stuff from back home! It's natural! Don't think that it makes you a bad exchange student, or that you shouldn't tell anyone. Just remember that for everything that you miss there, there's probably something new that you love here. The year goes by so quickly! Try as many new things as you can, because when you go home after a year, you won't regret the things that you tried, you'll regret the things that you didn't try when you had the chance. My sister told me that (she went to Germany for exchange last year), so it must be true..! For people reading this back home, I miss you. I miss the little things that you do and don't even think about. Singing in the car with my dad, hearing my aunt say she loves me on the phone, my mom's art projects on the kitchen table. And I love it here, so don't worry about me, okay? I'll see you in a year, and I'll come back with lot's of great stories to tell! Til' next time, tchau!

*The word for rain is chuva. The weather has been rain one minute and sun the next because it's spring time here. In fact, today is the first day of spring, primavera, in Brasil!

Blazer Lyfeee

          Hey, so this is going to be the most random post ever, but I'm just sitting here in my room in Brasil staring at nothing in particular--honestly just zoning out--and my rotary blazer just happens to be on the wall right in front of me. So... I guess I just thought it would be a cool idea to post a picture of my blazer every once in a while, so over the course of a year you could see it get more and more pins! I'm not sure if this will even be interesting to those of you who aren't exchange students, but maybe you'll like it. I personally love seeing other exchangers' blazers and exchanging pins with people not only from Brasil, but from all over the world!

My second day in Brasil

Two weeks

          Now before I get any further into this post, I should probably explain what the significance of an exchange student's blazer is. For those who don't know, every rotary exchange student gets a blazer to take on exchange with them, and in most countries they are navy blue. When a student first arrives in their host country, it's traditional that they wear their blazer, so their host family can find them at the airport. The blazer sort of symbolizes the student's exchange year, and it gets covered it in pins that exchange students give them from their home countries, pins that they find in you host country, pins from back home, and whatever else they can manage to attach to it! At first my blazer was pretty bare, with some pins from my club back at home and pins that my friends gave me before I left... call it the minimalist stage, haha.
          Now I have been here over two weeks, and my blazer is looking more covered already! I exchanged pins with all of the other exchange students in my district, and my host sister gave me a couple, too. I also brought pins to hand out, and so the other exchange students all have a USA pin as well. Here are some pictures of how my blazer is looking now!
          That's all for this post! I hope you all found it interesting, and I'll try to update you on how my actual life in Brasil is going soon. Until then, tchau gente! Beijos!

*If you want to sound like a real teen in Brasil, you have to learn to say oxe! when something surprises or excites you, and beleza which means cool, great, awesome etc... they all giggle when I say these words, because they're Brazilian slang, and they think it's funny when gringas (Americans) like me use them.

Sunday in Salvador

          I told you that last Sunday was incredible and deserved its own post, right? Well here it is, and I hope you're ready for some pictures! On Sunday morning, all of the intercambistas (exchange students) and rotarians met up at the dock of one of Salvador's beaches. We boarded a super adorable little tour boat, and took off through the water.
          It was one of the most gorgeous days I have ever had the pleasure to enjoy, and spending it out on the water with a bunch of Brazilians only made it that much better! The sunny was out, and the sky matched the vibrant blue of the ocean, with nearly no clouds to be seen across the whole horizon! We sat and hung out on the prow of the boat, right over the water, took pictures, listened to music, danced etc... it was a good time for everyone.

Getting ready to jump...!

          We visited two islands. To get to the first one we all jumped off the boat into the water and swam ashore. The water was not too warm, but cool and refreshing after sitting in the sun on the boat.  The water here in brazil is bright blue, and so clear that you can see the sandy bottom even after the wave pass over it. It is literally like paradise!
          At the second beach we ate a little lunch and relaxed in hammocks that were shaded by palm trees.
          The boat ride back from Salvador was much colder than any of us expected! We all were tired, so we huddled together and wrapped ourselves in our country flags to keep warm, and we took a nap. I was sad to leave the boat when we got to Salvador again, because we had to say goodbye to all of the rotarians and intercambistas that live in Salvador. We all hugged and kissed and said "Tchau, beijos" and parted ways, at least for the time being.
          Then already it was time to leave Salvador. I felt like I had just got there and met my exchange friends, and before I even had time to say hello I had to leave! We drove to the bus stop, and left Salvador and its wonderful people. It was 10:00pm when we left, and the bus ride to Itabuna took eight hours! UGHHH! When we arrived my family was waiting to welcome me, but that's
another story that I'll save for another time. Boa noite!

*The word rodoviaria is bus station, and bus stop is ponto de onibus.

Ola Brasil!

Arriving at the Salvador airport! Finally!

          Okay! Since I last posted I 1.Got my visa, 2.Flew to Brasil, and 3.Met my first host family! I think I might as well just jump in then! So I got to the airport in Salvador, and Katarine of rotary picked me up and brought me straight to this restaurant downtown where all of the district’s exchange students were having lunch. They are all super nice and in the two days that we were all together we all got so close! I already miss them so much, but hopefully I’ll see them every so often. But anyway, after lunch we went walking around Salvador, looking at this little market next to the beach, buying sorvete (ice cream) which tasted amazing! I got this flavor called graviola, which is some tropical fruit I have never heard of, but was super delicious. We heard some drumming and saw a crowd of people, so we went to have a look and guess what… it was a group of SAMBA DANCERS AND DRUMMERS. So we hung out there and danced and listened for a while. It was so cool! In Salvador samba dancing is like flamenco is to Sevilla, it’s everywhere in the streets wherever you go. As we were walking back to the bus, we stopped on this cobblestone street surrounded by tall, brightly colored buildings. A huge crowd with drummers and people holding political flags was there and they were all chanting “Dilma, Dilma, Dilma!”… and then they started cheering! we looked up, and low and behold the Brazilian president, Dilma, pops her head out of a high up window and waves to us all. What?!?!?! Guess who saw the president on her first day in Brasillll! This girl!!! As she walked through the crowd, two of the exchange students even managed to shake her hand! AHHHH!

Right: Eva from France, Center: Tiffany from USA.

          The next day we had the orientation, and that concluded with a little rotary party outside at night, which we all got dressed up for. The party turned into a huge dance, and all of the Brazilians wanted to teach us the dances to each song! They tried to teach us some partner dances, too, and one guy who I danced with was amazed when I was able to dance one of the hardest partner dances, Foho (because it had the same moves as swing dancing) so we went in the middle of the circle and everyone was watching! So fun! I told him that next time we were in Salvador I would teach him how to swing dance, and he was very excited to learn!
         On sunday we went on a boat and visited two islands, one of which we had to jump the boat and swim to. The beaches there are out of a dream, sandy with the clearest water! It was like a vacation in paradise! and we danced more on the boat ride home. That day deserves its own post, so maybe I will write more soon.
          The bus ride that night was eight hours from Salvador to Itabuna, so we arrived around six on monday morning. My host family was there, and they greeted me with hugs and kisses! I went back to their apartment--or should I say our apartment--which is very beautiful and has a great view of the city, and I had breakfast and then took a nap as my parents went to the clinic for work, and my sister to school. around noon they all returned, we ate lunch, and Tiffany (from Florida), and Annika (from Germany) came over. Later we were joined by my grandmother and my host sister Marcela’s best friend Filipe, and we played songs on guitar and sang in English, Portuguese, and even Spanish. A very nice way to end my first day in Itabuna. I love my family, and I think they love me too. Marcela is the best sister in all the world and we get along so well! She taught me a song on guitar earlier!
          Everyone here is amazed that I can speak portuguese in full sentences already, but I tell them that knowing Spanish helps me, and that I still have a long way to go. I’m so happy I can communicate, more or less! Some of the intercambistas are struggling with the language, but I know that eventually we will all get the hang of it. I should go now. If I told you everything that I want to it would take all day! I miss all of you, but I also am so happy to be here and surrounded by so many loving people who I can already call my family. So for now, Tchau! Beijos!


*The word for beach is praia. Vamos para a praia means Let's go to the beach!