Feliz Natal!

Ola!

Feliz Natal! Merry Christmas!

It is almost eleven here and well, my host brother is still asleep and I wish I was. That would be the problem with staying up until three am last night. It wasn't just me! The whole family did it! Last night we had the family over. Which includes both grandmothers, one grandfather, several aunts, one uncle and quite a few cousins, along with a few neighbors.

We played several games. One involved reading a story and every time you heard a certain word, you would pass the gift. It ended up becoming very amusing watching the gift go back and forth. Another game had a bunch of balloons and inside the balloons were pieces of paper with either names or instructions on it. I popped several balloons and one time I had to dance the samba! It was very fun. In the end of that game the two people who were left got presents. The last game we played was bingo! We wrote down nine of the names of the people in the group and when you filled up your board you would win a present. I never won any of the games but I had a lot of fun!

Feliz Natal!
Kiki

Photo Dump!

Here's the photos, as promised...

I haven't fallen off the face of the planet! Honestly...

Ola, pessoas!

Ah yes, another day has come and gone. I can't believe we are already more than halfway thru the trip! My camera is being charged right now and well, I'll be doing a large photo update when I get back to Sao Luis. At the moment we are spending are last night in this hotel, which means I have to pack my stuff and get up really early tomorrow. Ónibus azul, estou indo! Blue bus, I'm coming! I hope you have been following my adventures on http://northeastdec2012.blogspot.com.br/ .

Kiki

PS I had this written up ten days ago but I had no access to the Internet. It wasn't fun (don't get me wrong, I loved the trip but now I have insane amounts of emails to go through *wince* not looking forward to that...) Anyways, I am in Sao Paulo now, I have an early morning flight, like 0:15 or 12:15 am type of early. I should arrive in Sao Luis around 2:30. The good news is I slept in the bus on the way to the airport so I should be able to last that long, key word being 'should'. For those who know what I'm talking about, picture this: a twenty day long period at Hulbert and you got less that six hours of sleep every night. I swear, if it wasn't for the time we spent on the buses, we would have passed out about halfway thru. As it was, I'm still wiped. Anyways, at some point tomorrow or the day after I should be doing a photo dump.

PPS Did you know that you can get tattoos on the beach. I got three! And before you start freaking out *cough* mom *cough*, they're henna. And yes, I took photos.

PPPS Tomorrow the world ends. I won't even be in my host city, I'll be on a plane.

PPPPS Amor, paz e felicidades!

PPPPPS I'll shut up now...

Nordeste Terra Brasil! And happy birthday Dad!

Ola!

I would like to dedicate this post to two people, my original Portuguese teacher, Percy, who lived in Belo Horizonte and my Dad, who turns fifty years old today! Percy, thank you so much for inspiring me to come to Brazil, I am having a wonderful time. Dad, I told you I would be sending you your 'happy half a century' card from Brazil and well this is it! I love you, Dad!

Okay, so on to your regular programming...

I flew into Belo Horizonte with a bunch of other exchange students and after grabbing my stuff, was told to get on a small bus to take me to the hotel! That had no Internet, now you know why I seemed to drop off the face of the planet for a few days.

I had two roommates, Marie, from France and Maria, from Mexico. I went swimming with six other exchange students before going back for dinner. After dinner there was a small dance party that lasted for quite some time. The next day we all went swimming and I went on the water slide that they have there a few times before I got cold. After lunch we went to another place for the official start of the trip. I got a backpack, water bottle, hat, shirt, patch and pen with Terra Brasil on it.

Today, I woke up at five and packed my things before leaving the hotel at seven. We only just got to our hotel and it is now about midnight. The bus was really nice but I am really looking forward to walking around. I have three roommates tonight, Melissa, from Mexico, Leandera, from Switzerland and Pinja, from Finland.

Boa noite! Bom dia!
Kiki

Sao Paulo

Ola!

I have time for a quick update before I get on my plane to Belo Horizonte. This morning I woke up at 3:20 and went to the airport with my host father. The plane took off at 6:40 with no trouble and I landed here, in Sao Paulo, at 9:50. I will be arriving in Belo Horizonte shortly after 14:00 and then the real fun will begin! While I was waiting for the flight to begin boarding I met up with a bunch of other exchange students who are going on the same trip I am! My only problem is that they want me to speak English because they 'love your accent!'

I'll speak Portuguese anyway!

Paz!
Kiki

Let's go!

Ola!

So, tomorrow, very early, I will be getting on a plane and flying to Belo Horizonte! Yea! I can't wait! I will be going on a twenty day bus trip that goes to Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and several other cities! It is going to be so much fun. I'll still be posting but the company has a blog for the trip. Here's the link: http://northeastdec2012.blogspot.com.br/

I am really looking forward to having a great trip!

Eu amo voces!
Kiki

New Dress

Ola!

On request from my mother I am posting pictures of me in the dress I bought yesterday!

Beijos!
Kiki

A minha rua!

Ola!

Here is an early birthday gift for my dad!

The green doors are showing the view from my door and the girl in the picture is my host cousin.

Paz!
Kiki

Can you say...

Give me a C! Give me an H! Give me a... What am I thinking? I don't have time for this. I was going to spell chaos because that describes my week but I'm not evil (most of the time heheheh, why did I write that? Now everyone knows my super secret plot to take over the world and ban all rice krispies. What? I never said I was sane and after the week I had...). Moving on... My week has been crazy, from exploding pens that make you miss an important announcement (long story) to missing a test because my host mother turned off her cell phone (again long story but don't worry, I have a make up test sceduled).

And after all that, happy Thanksgiving! I am in another country and I still remember! Yea!

Anyways, I hope you American types all have an awesome holiday and don't eat too much!

Paz!
Kiki

Rotary Orientation

Ola!

No, I haven't dropped off the face of the planet, but thanks for asking.

So it has been a long week, I have been going crazy getting together the paperwork and other stuff that I need to go on a tour in December. I'm really looking forward to it! On top of that insanity, this weekend was also the Rotary Orientation. I had a blast! On Friday we walked around the historic district of São Luís and then went to a restaurant to eat. On Saturday, we woke up early and had breakfast before going over Rotary rules. Then we had lunch at another restaurant. After lunch we all walked to the beach and played in the water. We were taking pictures as a group, standing in the water, when a wave came up behind us, that photo showed all of us with very shocked expressions on our faces, sadly it wasn't my camera. After lunch we all talked to David about how our exchange has been so far, I know this may be hard to believe but one of the students only got here two days before! Talk about cutting it close! We then were driven back to the beach where we proceeded to go crazy with pictures starring the Brazilian flag. That night we went to dinner at the Rotary building and they had a DJ! I was voted 'Dancing Queen' of the night because I out danced even the Brazilians! I really hope they send me the photos because I don't have any from the dance onwards. This morning, after getting back really early that morning, we were supposed to go to the beach but no one could drag their butts out of bed, I'm still recovering from last night, I have blisters from my shoes!

Well, now you know all about the weekend. I'll leave you with an onslaught of pictures. Enjoy!

Kiki

Happy Halloween!

Olá!

Happy Halloween one day late! I had a very busy day yesterday that involved getting up early, going to school to take some tests (inglês, filosofia, física e literatura or English, philosophy, physics and literature). I may not have gotten a ten, the grading system goes from one to ten, ten being the highest, but I think I did fairly well. After I finished my tests, I went back to the house and had lunch. Then I went back to school for class. As I said, it was a long day but I had a lot of fun.

I would now like to take the time to offer my wishes of safety for those who were affected by Hurricane Sandy. It is on the news even here and I, along with the rest of my host family, are hoping that everyone in the storms path comes out safely.

Paz e amor!
Kiki

PS I realized that I forgot about my challenges! Here's the answer to last week's challenge:
In the United States, the lakes are very cold.

And the challenge for this week:
O mar aqui é não frio.

The Day that never ends...

Ola!

A few days ago, (Saturday to be exact) had one of the longest days in Brazil yet. Early that morning I woke up and went to school so that I could take that week's tests. The tests started at eight and I left the school around ten. That afternoon I had the pleasure of going to the movie theater and watching 007 Operation Skyfall, in Portuguese, of course. The movie was really good and I had a lot of fun. That night I went to David's house for a Rotary Club dinner. It was very fun. All the kids sat at one table by the pool and talked in a mixture of English, Portuguese and whatever else has happened to be on our minds (including but not limited to Mandarin, Danish, Japanese and German). We all had a wonderful time and everyone started laughing at my expense when my host mother and David got into a 'fight' over whose house I would be staying at next. At least someone found it amusing.

After a very long day, my host family got back to the house past midnight but I wouldn't trade it for the world (but a few hours of sleep is up for debate).

Eu amô vocês!
Kiki

Fun in the Sun

Oi! That means hi in Portuguese.

Well, first I think I should tell you that the Internet has been acting funky and if you sent me an email in the past few days, well I just got it. I'll work on responding to all of you but it might take a bit.

Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way... On to the good stuff, the sunburns! I, in my infinite wisdom, failed to bring extra sunscreen with me to the pool and I'm paying for it now. My host brother, Julio, finds my day glow skin really amusing but hey, I had a lot of fun that day. Because my host father is a retired militant the family can go to the military pool. My host mother and I go almost every weekend (but I usually remember sunscreen). The water is really nice but every time my host mother goes in she always says 'frio', which means cold in Portuguese. I always tell her that it is colder in the United States. I am really enjoying my time here in Brazil and I hope all of you are have an awesome time back home!

Beijos!
Kiki

PS And the answer to last week's challenge is...
Today I'm going to Rotary.

This week's challenge:
Em Estados Unidos, os logos são muitos frios.

Orientation: Try Number One

Bom dai!

Funny thing happened earlier this week, I had been receiving emails telling me about the Rotary Orientation that was scheduled to happen this weekend, 'was scheduled' being to important part. I got an email on Tuesday that stated that the Orientation had been cancelled because two students couldn't come. It has been rescheduled to the 9th thru the 11th of November.

I was really looking forward to it!

Another amusing thing happened last night when the power went out for about fifteen minutes and speaking as someone who lives in the Adirondack Park, that wasn't all that long. It was rather amusing watching my host brother's face when he asked me if I was alright, the only thing about the lack of power that bothered me was that the fan wasn't working. I told him that at my home the power goes out all the time, it was nothing to be worried about. Now if I had been taking a shower at the time, that might have been a different story... :)

Paz!
Kiki

PS the answer to last week's challenge was: I like to eat shrimp and fish here.

This week's challenge: Hoje vai na Rotary.

Dias de Crianças

Olá!

Happy Dais de Crianças or Children's Day!

Today, I woke up early and went with my host mother and another woman, named Isabelle, to a small school on the edge of São Luís so that I could help the Rotarians there to hand out presents to the kids. They got candy, cookies and if they were a boy, they got a truck, if they were a girl, they got a princess doll. It was very cute.

After we finished handing out gifts and the kids went home, we went to another set up for Children's Day. This one had activities for the kids along with dancing dolls that showed different types of dances in São Luís.

Then we went to the center for the arts in São Luís! After eating in this open air restaurant, we did a little shopping in this market that reminds me a lot of Daytona's Flea Market. I am now the proud owner of a São Luís t-shirt and a flower hair band. During our shopping expedition, Isabelle pointed out a group of blue tiled buildings that were beautiful.

It was a really fun day! I had a great time helping out with the kids!

Beijos!
Kiki

PS Here is the answer to the challenge I gave you last week: Today, I do not have lessons. Today, I have a test.

This week's challenge: Eu gosto comer camarão e peixe aqui.

Tinker Bell

Ola!

So, has anyone watched a movie in another laugage without using English subtitles? Well I went to the movies with my host cousin, Taisa, and we watched Tinker Bell. I may not have understood every word but I understood the plot: Tinker Bell, a fall fairy, gets curious about winter and breaks some rules to go visit it. Once there she meets her sister and they do everything to stay together. It wasn't a bad movie, it was really cute.

I really am looking forward to being able to understand everything in Portuguese, as of now, I'm well on my way!

Beijos!
Kiki

Go Bananas

Ola!

Tudo bom? That means 'how are you' in Portuguese. I am having an awesome time here below the equator!

So I was eating lunch at casa de avó, that means my host grandmother's house, when I got an idea of what I should put up on my blog, bananas! I literally eat two or three of them every day. And that's not all, I am experimenting (okay coping the natives) with the different foods that taste good with bananas. I have yet to come across a combination that doesn't taste good! One of my favorite things to eat that is now fried banana! Don't make faces it is really yummy and if it is done correctly, not a bucket of grease.

I would recommend trying some!

Beijos!
Kiki

PS I have decided to start a small challenge for my Portuguese class back home. Comment after you translate it without using an online source!

Hoje não tem aula. Hoje tem prova.

Photo Update!

Ola!

So I realized that I haven't posted many photos lately so here they are.

They include:
São Luís at night (from several days ago)
The pool (today)
And the small water park (also today)

Eu amo vocês!
Kiki