It's Been A While, Hasn't it?

          I know, I know... I've been slacking off a little (okay, alot!) when it comes to posting. So much has happened in the past few months that I don't even know where to begin, so I'll just dive in somewhere and roll with with. On June 14th I found out what city I will be living in for the next year, as well as who my host three host families are! I found this all out when my host sister, Marcela found me on Facebook. Within 24 hours it seemed as though all of her friend extended family members had also sent me friend requests, and suddenly I had 20 new people messaging my in Portuguese! As to the city, I will be living in Itabuna, a medium sized city about 20 miles inland. It's sister city, Ilheus, is right on the coast, so there will be many beach trips in my future! Here's a picture of Itabuna, isn't it wonderful?! I get more excited to go every day.

          So there you go! New friends, new family, new city, new life. Now that school is over I find myself thinking more and more about everything that Brazil holds in store for me. I've really been trying to get a head start on the language, spending about 1 to 2 hours a day learning Portuguese via Mango Languages, a great language program that is offer free through my local library, and feature every language imaginable, from Spanish to Czech! I think that my biggest fear of going there is the language. For a while I even had this reoccurring nightmare: I had arrived in at the Brazilian airport, and my family was there waiting to pick me up, but when they came up to greet me, I couldn't understand anything and completely choked on my words! On the ride home they kept asking me questions, but I couldn't understand or answer. Ahhh!

          After skyping my host family and talking to many welcoming friends however, my fears have subsided, overshadowed by my excitement to meet all of those people who have been so sweet and supportive in Itabuna. My host sister know fairly good English and is herself a returned exchange student in Germany, so she knows what I will be going through, and is there to help me when I need it.

          This is getting a bit too long and rambling, so I'll save the rest for another day. Hope you guys are all having a great summer, or winter if you're in brazil! See ya later alligators!

*This is more of a cultural note: when brazilians laugh, they don't say hahaha. They say kkkkk. They also say beijo(s), meaning kisses, ALL THE TIME. Tchau! Beijos!