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