Photos of Brazil

Oops!

I apologize once again for not writing sooner. I will really make an effort to start writing more now that things are getting more interesting.

I will start by talking about the trips I have taken

outside of my city. The cities I have visited are Maragogi, Aracaju, and Maceio. I have been to Maragogi only once but I frequently spend my weekends in Aracaju and Maceio. Maceio is the capital city and the largest city of my state and it is about an hour away from my house. It is located right on the beach and my host mom's best friends live there. I was fortunate enough to meet Claudia's daughters Debora and Marianna my first day in Brazil. I have seen them several times since and my friendship with them grows along with my portuguese. They live in the same building as Tina, an ex-exchange student to Illinois. Tina has become one of my best friends in Brazil so I go to Maceio often to see the three of them. (The picture above is me at my first Brazilian party with Tina -left- and Debora -right-).

I also been to my first competitive soccer game here. This has taught me that Brazilians are very serious about their soccer! I did not know what I was in for when I bought my tic

ket for the finals game: Asa v.

America! I wanted Asa to win because America was the team from my friend Sommer's old city and I knew she would be watching t

he game. When I got into the staduim there were p

eople crowding me and screaming all around getting ready for the game. Asa's colors were worn by every person in the crowd and everyone from my city screamed when Asa

came out. Then I watched the referees who were escorted onto the field by police armed with batons and shields and the game began. Asa started in the lead but was quickly outdone by America causing the Arapiraca fans to get very angry. I think I learned all of my portuguese swear words at that game. Asa ended

up loosing but I was happy I got to

see the game because I think it expressed the culture of the country.

One of my favorite

weekends in Brazil has been my weekend with all of the exchange students in Maragogi. My district for exchange has ten students but my Norbex multi-district has about fifty kids. So we could all meet they took us to the beach for a few days in my state (Alagoas) for a weekend of fun! The city was called Maragogi and it is almost nothing but beach. It was nice to be around people who understood how hard going on exchange was and could sympathize. I was very excited to go because of the hotel we were staying in. In New Mexico last year there was a Brazilian boy named Luiz (The photo above is with him) that I became friends with and his father owned the hotel we were staying at so I was going to get the chance to see a friend that I recognized. When we got there I was blown away by how amazing everything was. The water was the bluest I had ever seen and the palm trees made it seem like something out of a movie. We arrived before all of the other exchange students so we got to go to the beach and move into our new rooms before everyone else. I was so happy when all of the others got to the hotel though because I knew that I had just made fifty new friends from around the world. The strange thing about exchange students is that no matter who they are or where they are from they will normally get along wonderfully despite the fact that they are all very different.

The first night we all just swam and got to know each other and got a lecture on the 4 D's (rules for being an exchange student). I also met a boy who had been an exchange student in the US and when I asked him where he went he told me Santa Fe, New Mexico (It is amazing how small Rotary makes the world). The next day we just played around and had contests and I was really interested to hear the many languages that were being spoken. Many people from Europe could communicate through their languages because most are similar and everyone was more at ease hearing their home language. That night we got to see a capoeira group dance and we had a party not wanting to sleep knowing we would have to leave each other the next day. When everyone had to get into the buses and go home the next day we all said goodbyes and started counting the days until the Christmas party in Natal when we will see each other again.

All of the other exchange students in my district live in Aracaju.

I am the only Rotary student in the state of Alagoas so I am always excited to get to go see the other exchange students in my district.

I get to see them 1-2 times a month so I am not completely cut off from them, but I do miss them a lot. In a few days they are going to come visit me and stay the night in my city. (Photo: My district- Veronika from Slovakia, Lexie and Me from the US, Ville from Finland, Johanna from Germany, Erin from Canada, Lars and Stefan from Denmark, Narimane from France, Robyn from South Africa) We have been able to bond in so many ways since I have met them. We have been to the beach numerous times and a few weeks ago we went trekking to the top of this mountain where we got to repel down a waterfall! I really feel privileged to have met each of them and they have all taught me something new.

I will really try to update my blog more. I realize that this is how many of you are kept up to date about my year so I will keep posting with more pictures to come.

What has been happening, along with an apology for not writing sooner.

In an effort to please my family (and Krista) I have decided to start writing again. I am sorry I have been slacking but I am so busy and the task of writing all that has happened is daunting. I will try and give you the condensed version:

Since I got here i have eaten the most delicious food and made the best friends. 

The food- The food here is amazing. It is all so delicious, but if I see rice and beans one more time I might be sick. It is normally chicken and a small portion of beef with rice and beans on the side along with salad and a new fruit juice

 everyday. On occasion we have something different; for instance today we had shrimp, and beef. Three of my favorite things I have tried are Guarana (a popular soda) Coxinha (a type of snack chicken) and brigadeiro (a candy made from chocolate, condensed milk, and butter. Talk about fattening).

My friends- My friends here are great. All Brazilian people are very nice but

 I feel that I have found some very special girls to spend my time with. I am with them almost every afternoon so we all have gotten to know each other very well. They take me out and show me the city and joke around 

with me constantly. I thought at the start it would be difficult to find people who genuinely liked me but it was so simple. 

I have also had the opportunity to meet about half of the exchange students in my district (and I will meet the rest tomorrow at our meeting in Maragogi). They are all so kind and unique. None of us are the same and we all have different cultures to share! 

I'm Here

I made it to Brazil. It is great here and I love it already. I left NM late Friday and I have been busy ever since.
I left Albuquerque and the nice people let me take my second bag free. I then flew to Houston only to have to rush to catch the next plane to Sao Paulo. I have decided that I love international flying. The plane was huge and everyone was speaking portuguese on it. The hardest part were the visa documents that I had to fill out. Luckily the nice man next to me helped me understand all of the parts I was confused about. Once in Brazil things started to get complicated. I went to the wrong place to get my bags and a man that worked in the airport knew I was in the wrong place and directed me to the right one (I also saw another girl in a Rotary blazer and we helped each other out.). Then my host dad met me and we tried to talk for awhile but the language gap hindered us. Next the hard part began. Once I left my host dad all english stopped. I went to gate 7 like my ticket instructed me to. I did not see Maceio posted anywhere though and I started to get worried. I asked a nice young couple if they spoke any english. The woman responded yes and she told me I was in the wrong place. She looked at my ticket and told me to go back to gate one on the other end of the terminal. I walked back but gate one didn't look right either. I tried to ask some people who worked at the airport but they couldn't understand my portuguese. Then I heard people come running up behind me and I turned around to see the couple who had tried to help me earlier. They said that there had been a change in the gate numbers and that I did not know because all the announcements were in portuguese. The man noticed I was an exchagne student and it as it turns out he used to help manage exchange kids for AFS. He and his wife were from Rio but they had lived in NJ (thus the great english). They were sweet engough to walk me to my gate and wish me a safe trip. It was so comforting to know that there were kind people that were willing to help me without even knowing me.
When I got off the next plane my host family was there waiting for me. Along with another family I had never seen. They ended up being my host mom's best friends. We then went to there house where I had the strongest coffee of my life! I also tried some really good food that is typical to eat with coffee there.
We then left to Arapiraca (I did not know that I had accedentally left my camera in the other families car) and I came close to falling asleep in the car. We did not stop at home right away, instead we went to go visit a girl that lived very close that I had been talking to. I had in the corner and popped out to surprise Magda. She was not expecting me for a few days so she screamed and got really excited. I then went home and I knew I would not be content untill I unpacked. All of my clothes are now in their place and my room feels a little more like home. My little host sister helped me but it was still late when I got to bed (it didn't help that the people here do not sleep and there was music playing untill 4am and people talking in the street).
I woke up today at about 11 and went to the store to get some things for school and some shampoo. Then my host mom and I went and picked up Magda and Karol so they could go on a tour of the city with me and have lunch. After all of this they came back to my house to talk and teach me some portuguese. I intended to keep my arrival at school a secret but they told everyone (I am this towns worst kept secrect). I will tell you how my first day goes.

Beijos,
Erin

A Change of Plans:

I received news about two weeks ago that they were having trouble with my visa. I worked my hardest to get the issues with it solved but it didn't work quite as planned. I had hoped to leave August 8th but that is now no longer possible. Instead of leaving tomorrow I will leave August 14th (six days later). I am a little disappointed but life goes on and everything happens for a reason. I guess I have a few more days here in the states. 

-E

A Little More Info:

I wanted to let everyone know a little bit more about my host family and what my year should be like in just 17 days:

Unlike most exchange students that go through Rotary

 I will not have the customary 3 families. I will have one family the entire year that I am completely happy with. Their family dynamic matches mine perfectly. I will be living with my Brazilian mother and my 12 year-old host sister Aninha. I have one other host sister that is my age but she will be leaving to Finland for the year. My host dad works for a company that is based in Sao Paulo so I will not see him often or be living with him on a daily basis. 

Next comes my school. I will be going to a smal

l school in Arapiraca similar to the one I attend here. What is very different is the uniforms they make us wear. I 

have never seen anything similar here but apparently all schools in the northeast must have uniforms. I have been talking to a lot of my host sister Bea's friends online and they have been telling me all about Brazil and have also forced me to work a little harder on my portuguese. I think that talking to them will make me feel more comfortable so when I get to Brazil I 

will not be quite so overwhelmed. Everyone I have talked to is so nice and even I couldn't anticipate their excitement about my arrival! They are almost as excited as me and some are even right there counting the days with me! It seems crazy that I will be there so soon but at least I know I will be well received.

Beijos,

Erin

The start of my blog.

Hey guys,

As most of you should know I am about to leave on a yearlong adventure to Brazil. There I will face new challenges and it will be one of the hardest years of my life but also one of the most rewarding. I have created this blog to keep everyone updated and to let people know about my whereabouts. I encourage you all to e-mail me at blondie353_4@msn.com or add me on facebook. 

Love,

Erin