I wrote this on August 8 and I've just gotten around to posting it. It seems like so long ago already!
It's been a bit warm here the past couple of days, which makes me VERY happy that I'm not here in the summer. We went to Ubatuba last weekend for our last weekend together as a group party thing. Ubatuba is in the northern part of the São Paulo state, or maybe the southern part of the Rio de Janeiro state. I don't know. When we got in we were concerned because it was really cloudy and that does not bode well for the beach. It was evening so we all just hung out by the pool and dipped our feet in. The dinner was provided with the hotel and it was really good. One thing that is weird here is the napkins. They are awful. They don't absorb anything. This is just a sidenote, the napkins there were cloth and very good.
The next day I woke up and it was still cloudy outside, which was a bummer because Saturday was our only day on the beach. Luckily, however, it cleared up as I was eating my amazing omlette. We took a boat to a couple of remote beaches in the area that you can only get to by foot or boat, except one was on an island, so clearly only a boat would work. The beaches were so nice and I told myself that that day would be my warm memory for the cold winter ahead. Rebecca, Erin and I made a sand castle and I explored some boulderish area with Orrin, Bret and Steve. At the next beach Orrin, Brittany, Ashley and I explored the various beaches. That island was a nature preserve, so we couldn't leave anything or take anything off. At one point we decided to swim from one beach to another. Wow. I'm in awful shape. My arms were a bit tired, but it was really nice to exercise again.
That evening a couple of girls and I went to an open market that was there. It was really small, but they had some great stuff there. I bought some earrings and necklaces made of açaí and fruit type things. They are great.
The next day we went to a small branch for church. I think we doubled the church attendance. I was so impressed with the people there. They wore whatever they had that was nice, whether is was jeans or a suit. As it was fast Sunday, and since we were small in number, I was able to bear my testimony in Portuguese. That was such a rewarding experience. I will certainly remember that when I go on my mission. The missionaries taught Sunday School, and we were pretty much the whole class. They had to move chairs up to the room.
The past couple of days we've been working on our final exams and getting things ready to leave. We watched a karate class Monday night and that instructor was INTENSE wow. We were three minutes late and he was miffed, whihc is weird for Brasil. The class was a bit boring, but interesting. At the end however, he asked five of us to go down to help the students practice defending themselves. Bret, Brian, Orrin, Jenny and Diana went down. It was HILARIOUS! The boys got thrown down to the ground. Orrin looked like a chicken and Jenny and Diana didn't really fight. It was so funny. Wow.
Last night Nicolle, the granddaughter of the lady we live with, was in our room for three hours "helping" us study. We sang a bit from High School Musical and I gained a better empathy for people with little sisters. Today we went to Applebees, yes they have one here. Crazy, right? They even had free refills!!! The waiter did not understand, like everyone else, that separate checks are okay. That took forever.
Okay, gotta run. Time's up. This will be my last email from Brasil and I guess I'll talk to you all when I get home! This has been such an amazing experience. I am so glad that I came. Best decision
20 August 2007
Life on the Bus
I wrote this on August 3.
Well this week has been VERY full. Let's see, after I wrote you last, we went to Pizza Hut for dinner and for an all-you-can eat promotion. I ate way too much and too much cheese. It did not settle well at all. The walk home was interesting and suffice it to say that I'm glad that we left Porto Alegre the next day. It was far too cold, but I do like wearing beanies.
The next day we went to Florionópolis and the bus ride took a really long time. I was really nauseated from the Pizza Hut I think and spent the whole bus ride trying so hard to keep everything inside my body. The bathroom door was tethered shut, so that was not an option for me. There is a law in Florionópolis as well that a tour bus cannot go through the city without a tour guide, so we had to wait around for an hour to get a tour guide, who ended up being REALLY peppy. Wow. She had a really difficult accent to understand as well. We went to a couple of sites including a beautiful beach. Florionópolis is like the Rio of the South, so it has a lot of beaches. The city itself is situated on an island off of the coast of Brasil.
The next day I was feeling much better and we had a great day. We went to a fortaleza (fort) and went on this fun boat thing to get across the river to eat. That boat was a lot of fun for us because the driver guy had this really fun music playing. We were all dancing in our seats as the breeze blew by. We ordered our food from this little restaurant and then went on a hike! Really, a hike. We went all the way up the mountain/hill thing and that was a workout! Parts of it were really slippery too, so we had to be careful on the way back. I almost fell at least four times. It made for an interesting climb. Also, the view was beautiful! The food was great, except Jenny and Orrin accidentally ate our chicken, not realizing that it was fish, and we got stuck with their fish. Sick! There was luckily still some chicken left so I ate that. We then dared Orrin to eat the rest of the paste stuff they put on the fish, which he did. Don´t worry, I got pictures. Then we saw another little island that had cows grazing on it. the island was tiny and reminded me of England, with the rocks and the water rushing around it.
Then we left for Curitiba. We arrived that night and saw some parks the next day. It was pretty there, but the highlight was seeing the temple there. It isn´t finished yet, but they are working on the façade right now.It should be finished in a year.
We got back to São Paulo yesterday and a sinus infection hit me really hard, so I´ve been trying ot take it easy. We leave for Ubatuba (THE BEACH!!!) in less than an hour. We´re going to just hang on the beach for the weekend and it´s supposed to be perfect weather. I´m so excited!! I can´t believe that I only have a week left here! Time flies.
29 July 2007
Freezing Fingers
So right now I´m in Porto Alegre, which is the capital of the southernmost state in Brasil. It is FREEZING here. Probably in the 30s or 40s.
Okay so we embarked on our journey throughout the south on Tuesday. We spent the entire day on the bus, from 6 am until midnight. I read Harry Potter 7 and we watched movies. The countryside here is so beautiful. Rolling hills as far as the eye can see. I´ve been taking pictures, don´t you worry. I just had to put on my beanie. Yikes it´s cold!
The next day we went to the Brasilian side of the Iguaçu Falls, which was beautiful and wet. We walked along this trail on the side of the cliff thing to a point down at the bottom of the Devil´s Throat, which is where the huge waterfalls is and the precipitation got us all so wet. I look hideous in my pictures. Really. I´m not in many of them for this reason. (Right now I´m using the McInternet at McDonalds for free! Keane is playing right now. You´ve got to love McDonald´s, really.) There were rainbows everywhere you looked. There aren´t really words to describe it. Sorry. Niagra Falls does not even begin to compare.
Later that day we went to Itaipu, which is the energy plant where they use the falls for electricity. It was pretty boring and I stopped listening to the tour guide. I don´t even listen when it´s in English, so Portuguese is much harder. We crossed over into Paraguay while we were there, because they share the plant. It´s weird because they have to speak some type of Portanhol to communicate there. I would think that that would be difficult. The fun thing about this place was that we had to wear orange hard hats with little hairnets underneath. A couple of the guys broke out and did the Village People dance, which was hilarious. One of the guys, Bret, is growing out a moustache and always wears a bandana and aviator sunglasses. He looks like he stepped right out of the 70s. José also wears the aviators as well. YMCA will never be the same for me.
The next day we went to the Argentine side of the falls. I got my passport stamped again. We walked so much but it was great. I felt like I was in a tropical paradise. It was funny because I didn´t know what language to speak to other people to be polite. I just stuck with Spanish, Portuguese and English depending on the circumstance. Ordering lunch was an adventure. We could pay in reais, so I did, but I had them break a real to give me some pesos. That night we went to a churrascuria and they had these two guys playing for the restaurante. One was playing the harp and the other the guitar. They were Argentinians and so they sung in Spanish. They were so funny and sold a bunch of CDs to our group.
The next day we had an even longer bus ride to get here to Porto Alegre. I should mention that our bus is a bit ghetto and smelly. The bathroom door doesn´t stay shut, so we had to use a blanket to tie to the handles to keep it shut, but it still smells so bad. I try to stay toward the front because of this but it still smells and that gets mixed with the ammonia smell of the air freshener that they spray when it gets bad. always an adventure. Oh and heaters don´t exist here. Down here in Porto Alegre they might, my room does (YAY!) but no where else really.
Church today was good but cold. We started out with sacrament meeting, which was a change. We doubled the attendance there. I think the chapel had a heater, but sunday school was freezing. I really really appreciate the conveniences that we have in the US. I can only imagine how miserable it must be here during the Winter.
Well I think that´s about it. Life is good here. My love for Brasil grows with every day.
Okay so we embarked on our journey throughout the south on Tuesday. We spent the entire day on the bus, from 6 am until midnight. I read Harry Potter 7 and we watched movies. The countryside here is so beautiful. Rolling hills as far as the eye can see. I´ve been taking pictures, don´t you worry. I just had to put on my beanie. Yikes it´s cold!
The next day we went to the Brasilian side of the Iguaçu Falls, which was beautiful and wet. We walked along this trail on the side of the cliff thing to a point down at the bottom of the Devil´s Throat, which is where the huge waterfalls is and the precipitation got us all so wet. I look hideous in my pictures. Really. I´m not in many of them for this reason. (Right now I´m using the McInternet at McDonalds for free! Keane is playing right now. You´ve got to love McDonald´s, really.) There were rainbows everywhere you looked. There aren´t really words to describe it. Sorry. Niagra Falls does not even begin to compare.
Later that day we went to Itaipu, which is the energy plant where they use the falls for electricity. It was pretty boring and I stopped listening to the tour guide. I don´t even listen when it´s in English, so Portuguese is much harder. We crossed over into Paraguay while we were there, because they share the plant. It´s weird because they have to speak some type of Portanhol to communicate there. I would think that that would be difficult. The fun thing about this place was that we had to wear orange hard hats with little hairnets underneath. A couple of the guys broke out and did the Village People dance, which was hilarious. One of the guys, Bret, is growing out a moustache and always wears a bandana and aviator sunglasses. He looks like he stepped right out of the 70s. José also wears the aviators as well. YMCA will never be the same for me.
The next day we went to the Argentine side of the falls. I got my passport stamped again. We walked so much but it was great. I felt like I was in a tropical paradise. It was funny because I didn´t know what language to speak to other people to be polite. I just stuck with Spanish, Portuguese and English depending on the circumstance. Ordering lunch was an adventure. We could pay in reais, so I did, but I had them break a real to give me some pesos. That night we went to a churrascuria and they had these two guys playing for the restaurante. One was playing the harp and the other the guitar. They were Argentinians and so they sung in Spanish. They were so funny and sold a bunch of CDs to our group.
The next day we had an even longer bus ride to get here to Porto Alegre. I should mention that our bus is a bit ghetto and smelly. The bathroom door doesn´t stay shut, so we had to use a blanket to tie to the handles to keep it shut, but it still smells so bad. I try to stay toward the front because of this but it still smells and that gets mixed with the ammonia smell of the air freshener that they spray when it gets bad. always an adventure. Oh and heaters don´t exist here. Down here in Porto Alegre they might, my room does (YAY!) but no where else really.
Church today was good but cold. We started out with sacrament meeting, which was a change. We doubled the attendance there. I think the chapel had a heater, but sunday school was freezing. I really really appreciate the conveniences that we have in the US. I can only imagine how miserable it must be here during the Winter.
Well I think that´s about it. Life is good here. My love for Brasil grows with every day.
22 July 2007
Brasilians, Pancakes and Syrup
Things have been going very well here. We had the great privilege of going to Campinas earlier this week to attend the temple. That area was so beautiful. It sits about two hours north of São Paulo and has all sorts of rolling hills and beautifully colorful houses. I didn´t see any favelas there either. Everything was very clean as well. The temple was BEAUTIFUL. It reminded me of the Timpanogos temple with the architecture. There were six girls who were baptized by José in our group, who sacrificed doing the session to baptize us. While I was waiting for the other girls to be ready to leave, I began talking with a boy in the baptistry chapel. It was his first time at the temple ever. He went for 14 hours in a caravan to come to the temple. He was a recent convert to the Church and is planning on serving a mission in December. I am so amazed at the dedication of people here. They are truly incredible.
After we left the temple, we went to a churrascuria, which is basically an eat all the meat you want while we bring it around on giant skewers. It was SO good. Everyone ate so much, some people ate a little bit too much and they felt it the next day in the form of a meat headache.
Friday Farina and I went with our friend Talita to the Japanese part of town called Liberdade. We went with her sister Thalmydes, her brother, Zeno, and their friends Victor and Marcel. Farina tried a bean popsicle, which actually had beans in it. Needless to say, she didn´t like it. Everyone was really cool and I enjoyed hanging out with them. The radio in the car was all American music and I asked if they have Brasilian music on the radio. Zeno tried to find some, but got frustrated and just whipped out his iPod. Most of his music was American, but at least he speaks English so he can understand what they are saying.
Yesterday we went down to the Mercado Municipal, which is basically a huge indoor market for food. I found a Pastel de Nata and ate one for you, Jen. It was really good. Yum. (Oh, we also had caldo verde again, and pudim again. Ick. My gag reflex finally reacted. I´m going to not have to eat that anymore.) Then Heidi and I split a huge slice of watermelon, which we bought for R$1.50. It was tão bom! There were no seats to be found here, but we ended up finding a little table attached to a group that was vacant. The group happened to be American and they were SOOO excited to find English speakers. They didn´t speak a word of Portuguese. Then we wandered over to 25 de Março, which is a street that has the cheapest shopping in São Paulo. It was so crowded and I felt like I was in NYC again.
After we went and I bought the new Harry Potter book. Luckily, I live in a Portuguese speaking country and the English copies weren´t sold out yet. The portuguese ones don´t come out until September. We saw Transformers, which was really long, but the boys liked it. The cheesy parts were certainly appreciated as well. Something I ate didn´t settle right so I was a bit ill. However later, when my body emptied out my stomach, I felt a LOT better.
Today we sang in church. Ryan Farina AJ and I sang together and Brady played the piano. AJ and Brady were nice enough to come to our ward and help us out. We wang Mais Perto Quero Estar (Nearer My God to Thee). Don´t worry, just forgot the name in English. I think it went well. It was so inspiring to see the members mouthing the words along with us. So many people came up afterword to tell us that that was their favorite hymn. I will really miss the ward here. I ended up staying afterword talking to Zeno, Thalmydes and Marcel for about an hour after church. They all want to practice their English. Tomorrow they want me to try açaí, which is a seed of some sort they mash up into...something.
Right now the family here is making pancakes for the first time. Ryan and Rebecca are teaching them how. They tried syrup for the first time too. Guillerme had THE funniest expression on his face like, `` what is this stuff you are trying to force on me...oh wait...it´s sugar!´´
Life is good here. We leave for our huge trip on Tuesday at 6:00am for our first leg of a mere 18 hours. Wish me luck!
After we left the temple, we went to a churrascuria, which is basically an eat all the meat you want while we bring it around on giant skewers. It was SO good. Everyone ate so much, some people ate a little bit too much and they felt it the next day in the form of a meat headache.
Friday Farina and I went with our friend Talita to the Japanese part of town called Liberdade. We went with her sister Thalmydes, her brother, Zeno, and their friends Victor and Marcel. Farina tried a bean popsicle, which actually had beans in it. Needless to say, she didn´t like it. Everyone was really cool and I enjoyed hanging out with them. The radio in the car was all American music and I asked if they have Brasilian music on the radio. Zeno tried to find some, but got frustrated and just whipped out his iPod. Most of his music was American, but at least he speaks English so he can understand what they are saying.
Yesterday we went down to the Mercado Municipal, which is basically a huge indoor market for food. I found a Pastel de Nata and ate one for you, Jen. It was really good. Yum. (Oh, we also had caldo verde again, and pudim again. Ick. My gag reflex finally reacted. I´m going to not have to eat that anymore.) Then Heidi and I split a huge slice of watermelon, which we bought for R$1.50. It was tão bom! There were no seats to be found here, but we ended up finding a little table attached to a group that was vacant. The group happened to be American and they were SOOO excited to find English speakers. They didn´t speak a word of Portuguese. Then we wandered over to 25 de Março, which is a street that has the cheapest shopping in São Paulo. It was so crowded and I felt like I was in NYC again.
After we went and I bought the new Harry Potter book. Luckily, I live in a Portuguese speaking country and the English copies weren´t sold out yet. The portuguese ones don´t come out until September. We saw Transformers, which was really long, but the boys liked it. The cheesy parts were certainly appreciated as well. Something I ate didn´t settle right so I was a bit ill. However later, when my body emptied out my stomach, I felt a LOT better.
Today we sang in church. Ryan Farina AJ and I sang together and Brady played the piano. AJ and Brady were nice enough to come to our ward and help us out. We wang Mais Perto Quero Estar (Nearer My God to Thee). Don´t worry, just forgot the name in English. I think it went well. It was so inspiring to see the members mouthing the words along with us. So many people came up afterword to tell us that that was their favorite hymn. I will really miss the ward here. I ended up staying afterword talking to Zeno, Thalmydes and Marcel for about an hour after church. They all want to practice their English. Tomorrow they want me to try açaí, which is a seed of some sort they mash up into...something.
Right now the family here is making pancakes for the first time. Ryan and Rebecca are teaching them how. They tried syrup for the first time too. Guillerme had THE funniest expression on his face like, `` what is this stuff you are trying to force on me...oh wait...it´s sugar!´´
Life is good here. We leave for our huge trip on Tuesday at 6:00am for our first leg of a mere 18 hours. Wish me luck!
15 July 2007
Public Transportation is My New Best Friend
Hello all! Rio was so amazing. I loved it so much and would definately go back there if given the chance. I loved going up to Cristo Redentor and seeing the view of Rio, but my favorite thing by far was Pão de Açucar, which is a huge rock boulder thing that the discoverers first saw and said it looked like a Sugar Loaf. From the top you can see another, and better, view of Rio. We went up at night and it was incredible. I felt so small. Rio is quite the beautiful city.
So life after Rio has been great still. I really am starting to hate the pollution here. I feel so dirty all of the time. Ick. Farina´s nose won´t stop running because of the pollution. Our Dona continues to make fantastic meals and I really am getting fat here. Really. I´ve started sneakily eating less. All of us are getting fat though. It´s really funny. Did I already mention how Diana only eats desserts here? She´s so predictable at meals it´s hilarious.
I believe I left off on Thursday...nothing really happened then, we all just hung out and ended up walking around a lot.
Friday we had an adventure with public transportation. We planned on going to the São Paulo Zoo, and that was an adventure. We had to take one bus, then the metro and then another bus to get to the Zoo. It took an hour and a half to get there! Ay yai! But the zoo was really fun. Of course, the boys took off without us, which was fine. We walked around the zoo for an hour and then ran into the boys and Dr. Fails. He stopped to talk to us and the boys left him, so he went around the rest of the zoo talking to us and telling us his safari stories of when he went to Moçambique with Study Abroad. He has some great stories. Then we left and it took another hour and half to get home. All standing. Ick. I got really bad motion sickness/headache from it, so I had to lay down the rest of the night and sleep it off, but after that I was just fine!
Yesterday we went to Ebu das Artes, which is basically an open market with all sorts of things to buy. I ended up going around with AJ and Brady the whole day which was really fun. They are both really nice. I think that was my first time ever shopping with boys and they were really funny. They would keep gravitating towards buddhas and samuri swords, etc., when I was looking at necklaces and earrings. Then last night some of the group got together and played some games. Really, it hasn´t been super eventful.
Oh, Wednesday I was able to go do baptisms at the São Paulo Temple. It was our stake´s night and the baptistry was PACKED. At least 100 youth were there. We had to shower before we were baptized, and only did baptisms because other people did the confirmations. There were just too many people there and not enough time. Not the worst problem to have. I am so impressed with the members here. They are incredible.
One thing I am looking forward to is being able to fully understand church again. My comprehension is improving every day and I really can understand most of what people say to me, I just need to expand my vocabulary. Learning another language is HARD! Wow. I had no idea.
So life after Rio has been great still. I really am starting to hate the pollution here. I feel so dirty all of the time. Ick. Farina´s nose won´t stop running because of the pollution. Our Dona continues to make fantastic meals and I really am getting fat here. Really. I´ve started sneakily eating less. All of us are getting fat though. It´s really funny. Did I already mention how Diana only eats desserts here? She´s so predictable at meals it´s hilarious.
I believe I left off on Thursday...nothing really happened then, we all just hung out and ended up walking around a lot.
Friday we had an adventure with public transportation. We planned on going to the São Paulo Zoo, and that was an adventure. We had to take one bus, then the metro and then another bus to get to the Zoo. It took an hour and a half to get there! Ay yai! But the zoo was really fun. Of course, the boys took off without us, which was fine. We walked around the zoo for an hour and then ran into the boys and Dr. Fails. He stopped to talk to us and the boys left him, so he went around the rest of the zoo talking to us and telling us his safari stories of when he went to Moçambique with Study Abroad. He has some great stories. Then we left and it took another hour and half to get home. All standing. Ick. I got really bad motion sickness/headache from it, so I had to lay down the rest of the night and sleep it off, but after that I was just fine!
Yesterday we went to Ebu das Artes, which is basically an open market with all sorts of things to buy. I ended up going around with AJ and Brady the whole day which was really fun. They are both really nice. I think that was my first time ever shopping with boys and they were really funny. They would keep gravitating towards buddhas and samuri swords, etc., when I was looking at necklaces and earrings. Then last night some of the group got together and played some games. Really, it hasn´t been super eventful.
Oh, Wednesday I was able to go do baptisms at the São Paulo Temple. It was our stake´s night and the baptistry was PACKED. At least 100 youth were there. We had to shower before we were baptized, and only did baptisms because other people did the confirmations. There were just too many people there and not enough time. Not the worst problem to have. I am so impressed with the members here. They are incredible.
One thing I am looking forward to is being able to fully understand church again. My comprehension is improving every day and I really can understand most of what people say to me, I just need to expand my vocabulary. Learning another language is HARD! Wow. I had no idea.
06 July 2007
RIO!!!
Well, Tuesday and Wednesday proved to be incredibly busy as well. We went to the Ibirapuera Park in São Paulo, which is like their Central Park. It was so beautiful there! Farina and I planned the excursion and I think it went pretty well. We decided to ride bikes, so Jenny and I thought it would be a good idea to ride a tandem bike...yeah right. We had the hardest time getting on that bike. Oh my. It was so funny! Of course, there was a group of young adults watching us attempt at wielding this machine. They laughed so hard at us, but I thought it was funny, so I didn´t really mind that much. Then I was so worried about crashing into things that I didn´t really see the scenery, but, from what I saw, the trees were really tall and skinny and the lake was beautiful. I had a great time there. I took some great photos, but yet again, the internet here is too slow. Oy. I also went to The Human Body exhibit there at the park. It had some really neat things to see. They only used male cadavers, which I found interesting, and the displays were put in a very interesting and educational manner.
After two very long bus rides, we made it home to find out that we had been invited to a pre-game party at our friend Talita´s house. She picked us up and we had some great little snacks (that was our dinner) and went to the São Paulo Futebol Clube game. São Paulo won 1-0 and the only goal was off of a penalty kick, which the goalie made. The fans were so energetic there. The stands were pretty empty for the most part, but the ones who were there were singing chants the whole time and yelling at the refs. I´m very glad that I don´t know Portuguese swear words. Let´s just put it that way. Ignorance is bliss.
Wednesday we went to the city center and went to an art museum. I was a bit too tired to appreciate it, though. They wouldn´t let us sit on the steps or lay down on the huge benches. It was a little odd. After wandering for a bit we went on the bus. Wow. That bus got SOOOO crowded. It was seriously body-holding-body up so that we didn´t fall over. I feel like my personal bubble has greatly diminished. At one point I ended up face-to-face with this guy and that was a bit uncomfortable for me. Always and adventure here.
Thursday we left for Rio at 6:00am, which meant that we needed to leave the house at 5:15 in order to get there by 5:45. The bus ride went from 6 until 3, when we arrived in Rio. Then we were allowed to get out and do whatever. We all went to Copacabana beach, which happens to be only a block away from our hotel room and from the internet cafe I am using right now. That beach is BEAUTIFUL. Wow. Fortunately, I remembered to bring my frisbee, so a bunch of us played Ultimate. That was so much fun for me. I was able to dive for the 1st time. That was a milestone for me.
Today we went to Petrópolis, which was where the Imperial family lived while Brasil was still under Portuguese rule. We went to the palace there and we had to wear these funny slipper things under our shoes. They made it so we were basically sliding around on the floor. Don´t worry, I did some twirls like a figure skater. Then we went around to a couple of different places and saw the house of the man who invented the airplane (no, it wasn´t the Wright brothers). That was something cool that I learned today. We then got stuck in traffic for about 2 1/2-3 hours and now I´m here. I´m so ready to eat!
After two very long bus rides, we made it home to find out that we had been invited to a pre-game party at our friend Talita´s house. She picked us up and we had some great little snacks (that was our dinner) and went to the São Paulo Futebol Clube game. São Paulo won 1-0 and the only goal was off of a penalty kick, which the goalie made. The fans were so energetic there. The stands were pretty empty for the most part, but the ones who were there were singing chants the whole time and yelling at the refs. I´m very glad that I don´t know Portuguese swear words. Let´s just put it that way. Ignorance is bliss.
Wednesday we went to the city center and went to an art museum. I was a bit too tired to appreciate it, though. They wouldn´t let us sit on the steps or lay down on the huge benches. It was a little odd. After wandering for a bit we went on the bus. Wow. That bus got SOOOO crowded. It was seriously body-holding-body up so that we didn´t fall over. I feel like my personal bubble has greatly diminished. At one point I ended up face-to-face with this guy and that was a bit uncomfortable for me. Always and adventure here.
Thursday we left for Rio at 6:00am, which meant that we needed to leave the house at 5:15 in order to get there by 5:45. The bus ride went from 6 until 3, when we arrived in Rio. Then we were allowed to get out and do whatever. We all went to Copacabana beach, which happens to be only a block away from our hotel room and from the internet cafe I am using right now. That beach is BEAUTIFUL. Wow. Fortunately, I remembered to bring my frisbee, so a bunch of us played Ultimate. That was so much fun for me. I was able to dive for the 1st time. That was a milestone for me.
Today we went to Petrópolis, which was where the Imperial family lived while Brasil was still under Portuguese rule. We went to the palace there and we had to wear these funny slipper things under our shoes. They made it so we were basically sliding around on the floor. Don´t worry, I did some twirls like a figure skater. Then we went around to a couple of different places and saw the house of the man who invented the airplane (no, it wasn´t the Wright brothers). That was something cool that I learned today. We then got stuck in traffic for about 2 1/2-3 hours and now I´m here. I´m so ready to eat!
I wrote this on Monday 2 July.
Sorry it´s been so long! I promise to get pictures up soon, but the computer here is too slow, and I haven´t had time to go up to the Shopping to get internet time there.
Let´s see. Friday I took a nap!! Yay! I´ve not been getting sleep because of the crazy amounts of reading I have to do every day. Oy veh. Then we went to the opera! It was SO great! I loved being able to see such a good performance. It was really funny too. We were in the cheapy top top top top balcony seats, so I couldn´t really see the first Act, but that´s okay. The music was great. The opera was in Italian and the supertitles were in Portuguese, and I was thinking in English. Puxa vida! I was surprised at how much I understood.
Saturday we went to Campus do Jordão. It´s a kind of Swiss town up in the mountains (yes there are mountains) in Brasil. It was beautiful up there. We went up to the very top and you could see for miles! Of course there were a bunch of little shops to rip off all of the tourists there, actually the whole town was a tourist trap, but it was so pretty that it made up for the exorbitant prices. Then when we got down from there we ended up all splitting into groups. It´s been funny because the boys split off from the girls, it´s like we´re in middle school. Seriously. I had a great time with just the girls though.
I ended up spending the whole day with Lauren, Jenny, Diana and Hiedi. Lauren and Jenny both served missions so they were giving me all sorts of advice. Remember to bring handkerchiefs if I go somewhere really warm. I don´t remember when I´ve laughed so hard in my life than with those girls. Really. Our food was so gross at this Italian restaurant we went to. AND they charged us 4 reias per person for this horrible guitar player/singer who was background music. Apparently they like to rip of people at restaurants, because some other people in our group had a similar experience.
Campus is famous for sweaters and chocolate. So I ate some gooood chocolate. Diana kept packing in the sweets. I don´t think she ate anything heathy the whole day. We just laughed at her. Lauren got a bit annoyed because all the food she had the whole day was really disappointing. It was a great day. Although the bus smelled really bad on the way home. That does not bode well for our big road trips...
\n\u003cp\>Sunday church was great. The ward here is amazing. Then we ate lunch and I don´t know what I ate, but I got REALLY sick, and I think the ice cream had some really finely chrushed up nuts in it, so I was both sick and I had an allergic reaction. Don´t worry, I took some Benadryl and everything was under control, but I was really sick the rest of the day. When my Dona found out I was sick she rushed right over and made me some tea for my stomach (she also made some more for today). That woman is a saint, really. I am constantly amazed at the goodness and kindness of the people here.
Sorry it´s been so long! I promise to get pictures up soon, but the computer here is too slow, and I haven´t had time to go up to the Shopping to get internet time there.
Let´s see. Friday I took a nap!! Yay! I´ve not been getting sleep because of the crazy amounts of reading I have to do every day. Oy veh. Then we went to the opera! It was SO great! I loved being able to see such a good performance. It was really funny too. We were in the cheapy top top top top balcony seats, so I couldn´t really see the first Act, but that´s okay. The music was great. The opera was in Italian and the supertitles were in Portuguese, and I was thinking in English. Puxa vida! I was surprised at how much I understood.
Saturday we went to Campus do Jordão. It´s a kind of Swiss town up in the mountains (yes there are mountains) in Brasil. It was beautiful up there. We went up to the very top and you could see for miles! Of course there were a bunch of little shops to rip off all of the tourists there, actually the whole town was a tourist trap, but it was so pretty that it made up for the exorbitant prices. Then when we got down from there we ended up all splitting into groups. It´s been funny because the boys split off from the girls, it´s like we´re in middle school. Seriously. I had a great time with just the girls though.
I ended up spending the whole day with Lauren, Jenny, Diana and Hiedi. Lauren and Jenny both served missions so they were giving me all sorts of advice. Remember to bring handkerchiefs if I go somewhere really warm. I don´t remember when I´ve laughed so hard in my life than with those girls. Really. Our food was so gross at this Italian restaurant we went to. AND they charged us 4 reias per person for this horrible guitar player/singer who was background music. Apparently they like to rip of people at restaurants, because some other people in our group had a similar experience.
Campus is famous for sweaters and chocolate. So I ate some gooood chocolate. Diana kept packing in the sweets. I don´t think she ate anything heathy the whole day. We just laughed at her. Lauren got a bit annoyed because all the food she had the whole day was really disappointing. It was a great day. Although the bus smelled really bad on the way home. That does not bode well for our big road trips...
\n\u003cp\>Sunday church was great. The ward here is amazing. Then we ate lunch and I don´t know what I ate, but I got REALLY sick, and I think the ice cream had some really finely chrushed up nuts in it, so I was both sick and I had an allergic reaction. Don´t worry, I took some Benadryl and everything was under control, but I was really sick the rest of the day. When my Dona found out I was sick she rushed right over and made me some tea for my stomach (she also made some more for today). That woman is a saint, really. I am constantly amazed at the goodness and kindness of the people here.
28 June 2007
My ability to spell in English gets worse every day. I´m learning the language better, I guess. Some days are good and some days are less good, but I´m really enjoying my time here. The family I live with is really great. I love my dona. She makes the BEST food! (and it´s all Portuguese food.) I´m definately not going hungry here. She is so cute too, she lights up every time we come home and talk with her. I´m starting to get used to her dialect, and I hope that I can understand her better soon. She´s so sweet and totally a grandma, there´s even a corner full of goodies that I like to pick at sometimes.
So some funny things have happened in the past two days. First, Tuesday night Rebecca called me up from the living room to come talk to her. She was SO excited because she discovered the hot water in the shower. Before this, we were all (except Ryan, her husband) taking cold showers, which did not make me happy at 6:30am. Oy. She figured out that you had to turn the nobbie from Verão (Summer) to Inverno (Winter) to get hot water. This was the happiest news of my life. Really. We told Irmã Maria this, and she gave us this look, as she was trying so hard not to laugh, that said ´´oh you silly girls´´.
Then the next day when we were eating lunch at a Brasilian buffet place, Ryan and Rebecca got these little cups of Brasilian lemonade. Then Ryan took a swig and then he kind of pursed his lips and we soon discovered that it was not, in fact, Brasilian lemonade, but an alcoholic beverage. It was so funny. It´s so weird that they have alcohol out for the public. We told Maria this and she laughed SOOO hard.
Things are going well here. Classes are hard, but I´m learning a lot. Everyone in the group is so great. Today we played basketball and soccer at the institute building. I´m really tired now. Okay, that´s it!
So some funny things have happened in the past two days. First, Tuesday night Rebecca called me up from the living room to come talk to her. She was SO excited because she discovered the hot water in the shower. Before this, we were all (except Ryan, her husband) taking cold showers, which did not make me happy at 6:30am. Oy. She figured out that you had to turn the nobbie from Verão (Summer) to Inverno (Winter) to get hot water. This was the happiest news of my life. Really. We told Irmã Maria this, and she gave us this look, as she was trying so hard not to laugh, that said ´´oh you silly girls´´.
Then the next day when we were eating lunch at a Brasilian buffet place, Ryan and Rebecca got these little cups of Brasilian lemonade. Then Ryan took a swig and then he kind of pursed his lips and we soon discovered that it was not, in fact, Brasilian lemonade, but an alcoholic beverage. It was so funny. It´s so weird that they have alcohol out for the public. We told Maria this and she laughed SOOO hard.
Things are going well here. Classes are hard, but I´m learning a lot. Everyone in the group is so great. Today we played basketball and soccer at the institute building. I´m really tired now. Okay, that´s it!
26 June 2007
Covered Feet and Crazy Weather
This keyboard is still weird for me. Well the past couple of days have been really busy for all of us here. Yesterday we started with classes and let me tell you, my comprehension is not as good as I thought it was. Wow. We meet at the institute building every morning at 8:30am and begin with a devotional, complete with hymn. There are a couple of people in the group who play piano, so it works out well. (The Brazilians don´t sing to well here...) Then I have my Phonetics class, which is a subject that I enjoy, but the concepts are so abstract and the language as well, that it´s a bit challenging, but I learn better that way. Then we have our culture class. I´m already behind on the 6 chapters I´ve had to read in the past two days, all in Portuguese, by the way. Tomorrow I´m going to try and dedicate myself to studying, because I have a phonetics test this weekend. Dr. Fails is a great teacher, with the ability to speak very clearly and slowly. I think I´m really going to learn a lot.
After class, we ended up going to the Shopping Butana, which is the local shopping mall, complete with Wal-Mart type store inside. We met Lauren and Ashley´s ´´little brother´´ Guitano, who is really nice as well. Seriously, the kids here are amazing, they have so much patience with our horrible pronunciation and grammar. Then we had FHE at Brady, AJ and José´s apartment. It was AJ´s birthday as well, so we all celebrated. In all we walked over 6 miles yesterday.
Yesterday it was a bit chilly and overcast, today I wore a skirt and flip-flops because it was so hot. We have class until 11:00 and then the rest of the day is free. So today we went to the center of São Paulo and went up this huge building where you can see a view of the whole city. This city is HUGE. For the entire 360º there are skyscrapers and buildings as far as the eye can see. Then we made our way back by bus. The ride up wasn´t a big deal, there weren´t too many people, but on the way back, during rush hour, it is SOOO crowded. You need to be careful of pick-pockets, but the people are really nice. They will tell the driver to hold the bus because people need to get off and will help you in any way. Latin american public transportation is really different from European and American transportation.
We´ve learned some cultural things here, such as you need to always keep your feet covered by something, because the ground could hypothetically hurt your feet, but this is just an old wive´s tale. I´m still having a great time and I can´t wait to go to Campus do Jordão this weekend.
After class, we ended up going to the Shopping Butana, which is the local shopping mall, complete with Wal-Mart type store inside. We met Lauren and Ashley´s ´´little brother´´ Guitano, who is really nice as well. Seriously, the kids here are amazing, they have so much patience with our horrible pronunciation and grammar. Then we had FHE at Brady, AJ and José´s apartment. It was AJ´s birthday as well, so we all celebrated. In all we walked over 6 miles yesterday.
Yesterday it was a bit chilly and overcast, today I wore a skirt and flip-flops because it was so hot. We have class until 11:00 and then the rest of the day is free. So today we went to the center of São Paulo and went up this huge building where you can see a view of the whole city. This city is HUGE. For the entire 360º there are skyscrapers and buildings as far as the eye can see. Then we made our way back by bus. The ride up wasn´t a big deal, there weren´t too many people, but on the way back, during rush hour, it is SOOO crowded. You need to be careful of pick-pockets, but the people are really nice. They will tell the driver to hold the bus because people need to get off and will help you in any way. Latin american public transportation is really different from European and American transportation.
We´ve learned some cultural things here, such as you need to always keep your feet covered by something, because the ground could hypothetically hurt your feet, but this is just an old wive´s tale. I´m still having a great time and I can´t wait to go to Campus do Jordão this weekend.
24 June 2007
the church is the same everywhere...
Today has been a great day. Church was good, but I found it REALLY tiring to try and understand what everyone was saying. There´s even a YSA sunday school class here. I was really surprised about that. The building here is really really nice. It reminds me of the building in Seixal that my family and I went to in Portugal. It has two floors and NO air conditioning. Celia was telling me and Farina that the building gets unbearably hot during the Summer. I´m so glad that I came during the Winter. Seriously, it is so nice outside. We walked to church and it was perfect outside. Right now it´s a bit chilly, but the sun´s set so it´s totally fine with me.
My house sits on a piece of land that has three houses on it. Irma Maria´s is in the middle, and her son´s is in the front and her daughter´s (Celia) is in the back. There is no grass anywhere, and the trees come out of the crazy sidewalks and break up the cement. The sidewalks are all slanty, which made it very difficult to walk to church today. I´m just grateful that I was able to walk to church and that there are sidewalks. Everything here is gated. Every house, business, everything. The Augusto families that we live by have to unlock the gate manually before they can drive in or out. I´m sure that it must be very frustrating to do that by yourself all of the time.
The family here is SO nice. Irma Maria takes care of us and makes all of our meals, which are excellent. It´s hard to live in a culture where the amount you eat is indicative of how much you like the food. I´ve never eaten so much in my life, but all of it is SOOO good. Irma Maria is from Portugal and is so hard to understand. She speaks really fast and doesn´t know English, so I´m going to improve a lot when I´m home with her. The whole family is wonderful. I´m very blessed. The son Deigo was playing Guitar Hero last night. It was so hard to concentrate on what Celia was saying with Queen in the background.
Earlier today when I was in my room reading, Celia´s niece, Irma Maria´s granddaughter, Nicolle, came into my room because no one was at her house. She is HILARIOUS. Seriously. She´s the only girl in her family, even on her mom´s whole side. She is like a little princess. She wrote me a note with hearts on it and then we proceeded to play MASH. According to that game, my life is going to be...interesting. I did her life and she´s going to be rich and a personal trainer. She stayed in my room for about two hours. I feel like a have a little sister. It´s fun for me to pretend that I´m 11 again.
I´m understanding a lot more now and I´m excited to feel more comfortable with the language. Tomorrow we begin our classes and hopefully I´ll be able to see more of the city. Oh I crossed over the Tropic of Capricorn yesterday! Yay!
My house sits on a piece of land that has three houses on it. Irma Maria´s is in the middle, and her son´s is in the front and her daughter´s (Celia) is in the back. There is no grass anywhere, and the trees come out of the crazy sidewalks and break up the cement. The sidewalks are all slanty, which made it very difficult to walk to church today. I´m just grateful that I was able to walk to church and that there are sidewalks. Everything here is gated. Every house, business, everything. The Augusto families that we live by have to unlock the gate manually before they can drive in or out. I´m sure that it must be very frustrating to do that by yourself all of the time.
The family here is SO nice. Irma Maria takes care of us and makes all of our meals, which are excellent. It´s hard to live in a culture where the amount you eat is indicative of how much you like the food. I´ve never eaten so much in my life, but all of it is SOOO good. Irma Maria is from Portugal and is so hard to understand. She speaks really fast and doesn´t know English, so I´m going to improve a lot when I´m home with her. The whole family is wonderful. I´m very blessed. The son Deigo was playing Guitar Hero last night. It was so hard to concentrate on what Celia was saying with Queen in the background.
Earlier today when I was in my room reading, Celia´s niece, Irma Maria´s granddaughter, Nicolle, came into my room because no one was at her house. She is HILARIOUS. Seriously. She´s the only girl in her family, even on her mom´s whole side. She is like a little princess. She wrote me a note with hearts on it and then we proceeded to play MASH. According to that game, my life is going to be...interesting. I did her life and she´s going to be rich and a personal trainer. She stayed in my room for about two hours. I feel like a have a little sister. It´s fun for me to pretend that I´m 11 again.
I´m understanding a lot more now and I´m excited to feel more comfortable with the language. Tomorrow we begin our classes and hopefully I´ll be able to see more of the city. Oh I crossed over the Tropic of Capricorn yesterday! Yay!
23 June 2007
First Day!
Well, the past couple of days have been a whirlwind. I still can´t believe that I´m here. This country is beautiful and the people are just as wonderful. However, the traveling part is not so wonderful. 12 hours on a plane and about 20 hours total in airports is not my favorite way to spend time. My host family here is so great. They are the kindest people in the world and are so welcoming to all of us. I live one mile from temple! It´s amazing. I went to a ward party today and the people kept trying to feed me the whole time. I think that this is a glimpse of things to come. The people in the ward are so great, and the Bishop knows where Allen is! The sister missionaries are so nice and Sister Paulo even told me that I speak like a Brazilian. That was a great compliment. The party was like a hillbilly type theme. the people dressed like they were from the Northeast. it was great. Well, time´s up. More to come later!
Tchau!
Tchau!
16 June 2007
Going to Brasil
Hey all-
I leave for Brasil in less than one week. I can't even believe it. My flight leaves on 22 June 2007 at 2:59pm. This whole trip has sort of crept up on me in the past month. I have already done so much this summer. I started out by going to London and Portugal. Portugal was absolutely beautiful, and the history and architecture in London was incredible. I hope that Brasil will be a similarly wonderful experience. I also got to see the *ahem* beauties of West Texas when I helped my sister's family move from San Antonio to Lubbock. I was very impressed with the hospitality of the people in Lubbock. I also got a lot of time with my nephews, Ben and Adam. Last week was Girls' Camp here in my home ward. Those girls were great and though the bugs were swarming, I made out alright with only about thirty bug bites...
My friends here in Allen have kept me quite busy when I haven't been out of town. Already I've been to the Dallas Zoo, the Norah Jones concert (which was amazing), the Mesquite rodeo and Romeo and Juliet in an outdoor amphitheater. I will be sad to leave these great friends, but Brasil awaits!
I leave for Brasil in less than one week. I can't even believe it. My flight leaves on 22 June 2007 at 2:59pm. This whole trip has sort of crept up on me in the past month. I have already done so much this summer. I started out by going to London and Portugal. Portugal was absolutely beautiful, and the history and architecture in London was incredible. I hope that Brasil will be a similarly wonderful experience. I also got to see the *ahem* beauties of West Texas when I helped my sister's family move from San Antonio to Lubbock. I was very impressed with the hospitality of the people in Lubbock. I also got a lot of time with my nephews, Ben and Adam. Last week was Girls' Camp here in my home ward. Those girls were great and though the bugs were swarming, I made out alright with only about thirty bug bites...
My friends here in Allen have kept me quite busy when I haven't been out of town. Already I've been to the Dallas Zoo, the Norah Jones concert (which was amazing), the Mesquite rodeo and Romeo and Juliet in an outdoor amphitheater. I will be sad to leave these great friends, but Brasil awaits!
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