A lesson hard learned...

So, for some reason this post vanished on me, I'm reposting it now.

Ola.

So, yeah, first things first, don't expect anymore pictures, I'll explain why in a bit.

Okay, yesterday, Celina (from Germany), Andriea (a Brazilian who lived in the states for a while) and I all went shopping at the Historical District in Sao Luis. We were dropped off at the bank there to meet up with Andriea (Celina spent the last week at my house). We walked around and looked at lots of things, eventually finding ourselves in a store that sold everything that had anything to do with hand care. It sold every kind of nail polish you could think of. (It even had camouflage nail polish! I kid you not!) We spent some time there, picking up lots of polish (Celina got upwards of twenty bottles... I got six.) We then walked around some more and picked up some paint (I also got a couple of hair clips that were kind of cool.)

We walked to the other side of the district and then, sitting in front of a police outpost, painted our faces to look like the Brazilian flag. (We looked ridiculous...) Just as we finished painting our faces (and were taking pictures) and bunch of other people came up to us and asked if they could take their pictures with us. We took the photos (much to our amusement...) and then using the two cameras that we brought with us (mine and Andreia's) we took lots of other photos. Eventually we decided to go home and called our families to come pick us up after washing the paint off of our faces. We crossed the street and sat on some benches that were close to the bus terminal.

They say hindsight is 20:20 and now, looking back, I rather wish we had gone INto the terminal, or at least near the entrance closer to the police. Andriea was painting her nails, Celina was looking at photos on Andriea's camera and I was telling them about the Hudson River Gorge and rafting, when three men came up and took our stuff before running across the street. I ended up with the only 'injury' (though you can barely call it that...) as I had been pushed down and had ripped my jeans and scrapped my knee. The police showed up rather quickly but they needed one of us to go with them to help point out the robbers. Seeing as I was the one who was the calmest (something I'm rather proud of myself for...), I jumped into the SUV with the four policemen and we took off after the men. If I wasn't so freaked out it would have been rather cool, considering that I was being involved in a police chase but I was a little bit freaked at the moment. The three men split up, one (the one holding my bag, of course...) ran towards the interior of the island, one (holding Celina's bag) ran towards the shore (which was near the bus terminal) and the last one (with Andriea's bag) ran a bit further before heading the same way. One by one the three policemen that weren't driving would say pare (which means stop) and one would jump out of the car to go chase a robber. Soon it was only me and the policeman who was driving in the car, he drove to the area behind a restaurant and after telling me to go to the restaurant, took off to help the other policemen.

I went to the restaurant and explained what happened in rather poor and panicky Portuguese. (I must admit to saying things like 'Eles tem o meu bolsa!' which means 'They have my purse!' along with the one that I think anyone would say, 'Eu quero a minha mamãe.' which means 'I want my mommy.') They got me a bottle of water and helped my calm down a bit. The officer soon came back and drove me back to the terminal where I went to the small guard station where Celina and Andriea already were. Andriea was crying and claiming that it was all her fault, to which I forced her to look in my eyes and told her that it was not her fault it was the robbers fault and we we just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Celina was also crying and I gave them both hugs and sang a little bit (okay, I sang a lot, but it seemed to help them and it passed the time...). Andriea had her phone, it was the only thing of value that wasn't taken because it was in her pocket, and she called her mom asking her to come and get her, originally she was going to go home on the bus but none of us wanted to be alone for that long.

It took a while but eventually my host parents came, they weren't aware that we had been robbed, Celina's phone had been taken and no one remembered their number, so they had to be told by people who had seen the robbery that we were in the guard station. When we saw my host mother, Celina and I gave her a big hug and then she went to go and get my host father who was still in the car. We were very happy to see both of them. We then waited for Andriea's mother to come on the bus.

While we were waiting for her, the police brought a man in that they had caught and asked us if he was one of the robbers. However, because I had only caught a brief glance of them, I couldn't be sure, it was a rather nerve-racking experience. We then sat just outside the station, in the terminal waiting for Andriea's mother.

After she arrived, all of us (including Andriea and her mother) piled into the car and went to the nearest police station (that was not an outpost or a guard station) to report what happened. Of all of us, Celina lost the most, including her exchange student ID, along with her phone, nail polish, credit card and money. Andriea lost her camera, money and nail polish. And I lost my nail polish, my hair clips, my boater's license (which I have never used...), my money, my credit card, (my library card, too, now that I think about it...) along with my camera which is why I won't be able to upload all of the stupid photos that I took of me with my face painted. I really wish I could redo yesterday but no such luck...

We took Andriea and her mother to their house before going home ourselves. When we got their, Celina said that she was seriously considering going home, I told her that I would be staying to finish out my year, even if it was just to prove to myself that I could. And when I Skyped with my family earlier today, my dad had a good point, I shouldn't allow one bad experience to ruin what has been an awesome time so far. She has since then decided to finish out her year, I have to admit I'm proud of her, she is only fifteen and it is a powerful experience to go through at that age. (In fact, now that I think about it, I was the oldest one of our small group yesterday. Andriea turned seventeen in December.)

Later that day, we went out to Pizza One for dinner and we had a good time. We then went home and went to bed, but due to the shock that was just starting to really catch up with us, we weren't able to sleep for a while. It had been a very interesting day.

It was a lesson hard learned but learned it we did: never stray from the beaten path, danger haunts the edges. I could have easily found myself on the way to the hospital yesterday and the realization that I'm all right, that neither my friends nor I was hurt, has taken a while to sink in. I am proud of myself for keeping my head in that situation and not breaking down. It was a scary experience but now, I'm safe at my host families' home and I am a fair bit wiser than I was before.

This is Kiki, signing off.
Tchau.

Visitors

Ola!

Sorry about not posting for a while, I've been busy preparing for my family's arrival in Brazil. On Friday, we met up with each other in Rio de Janeiro and spent the rest of the day relaxing in our hotel room, recovering from our flights. On Saturday, we went and saw the Christ statue and Sugarloaf Mountain. On Sunday, for Mother's Day (which is celebrated here as well), we walked almost the entire length of Copacabana beach. It was beautiful. On Monday, my birthday, we took a plane to Sao Luis where we are now staying with David's family. My family will be here until next week Monday, the twentieth of May. We are going to have a lot of fun together this week!

Tchau!
Kiki

Wait... You're Brazilain, you're supposed to know these things

Ola!

So, funny story, Celina will be staying at my host parents house for the week and yesterday, she was going to go and spend the night with Andriea at her house. However, Paulo, my host father, is sick and he's the only one who knows where Andriea's house is, so they decided that we would all go to Sao Luis Shopping, which is the biggest mall in the city meet there and then hang out before going back to my house and sleeping. It was not to be.

The mall was closed, only the bathrooms open. The reason, apparently it is a holiday, something that no one (Brazilians included) seemed to know. So we went to a different mall, Rio Anil Shopping, this time the food court and the theater was open so we thought 'hey, let's go see a movie!'. So we went inside and looked at the different movies that we could watch. Celina wanted to watch a nice, non-violent movie in English, there weren't any of those available. So we called Mardone, my family's driver, to come pick us up, got Bob's burgers (think MacDonald's) and went to my house were we all crashed around midnight, despite the fact I had to get up at six the next day.

The three of us (Andriea, Celina and I) seem to have the most random adventures everytime we try to meet up.

That's all for now folks!
Beijos!
Kiki

Writing

Ola!

So, I am officially totally awesome because I wrote an essay, in Portuguese (*does victory dance*) and a poem (okay so that wasn't entirely in Portuguese and more than half of it was in English but rhyming in another language is very hard!)! Go me! (*does epic victory dance*)

Okay, so I'm mostly posting so that people know I'm still alive down here and having a great time.

I miss all of you! Eu saudade voces!
Kiki

PS if I hear from enough people about it, I'll post either the essay, the poem or both, depending on what you guys want. Comment and tell me!

And then only four remained...

Ola!

Today, is a sad day *cue wildly overdone tears* Marie has returned to France. We will all miss her...

Major bummer. Marie had to go home so that she could study (which caused a few laughs from the exchange students because that is the exact excuse the Brazilians use every time!). We are all going to miss her, a lot. Marie will be remembered by her awesome comments and her ability to make everyone laugh almost instantly!

For other news, well actually I don't have anything abnormal to report, just school. Oh, I should probably mention that my favorite teacher's name is Alexsan and he teaches physics. I like him because he continually attempts (please note the word 'attempts' to speak in English with me, fails miserably and then says what he meant to say in Portuguese instead. It is quite funny.

Eu amo voces!
Kiki

I found my camera cord!

Ola. Eu tenho muito photos por voces!

Or in English, if you prefer...

Hello. I have lots of photos for you!

It starts with Carnival and goes until the birthday party that I went to last night with my host sister.

Kiki

Photos in Brazil, Featuring Anna, Marie, Julio, Bea, Madon, myself and various others!

Picture Day

Ola!

So, when I say picture day, I don't mean that I'll be posting photos today (sorry...). What I mean is that it was picture day in school! It was very different than what it was like in the states, mostly because of the set up. In the US they have a professional photographer come in with all of his equipment and take the photos with an elaborate backdrop. Here, on the other hand, it was far more simple. They called each class out to the room they were taking the photos and one of the professors snapped a shot with a normal camera. Nothing fancy or elaborate, just one quick shot and back to class.

Eu amo voces!
Kiki

Surrendering to the Truth

Ola, todo o mundo!

So, I have a confession to make. *shuffles feet nervously while looking at her feet* Mom, Dad, Caroline, Grammy and Papa, you were right and I was wrong. Seafood does taste good when cooked correctly. It tastes very good when you have it lightly battered with rice and beans. My host father had me try some (translation: he put some on my plate after saying 'prova' (try) and made sure I ate it...) and I really liked it. Caroline, stop laughing, I still don't like shrimp!

Anyways, I am having a great time here in Brazil and as soon as I manage to find my camera cord when my iPad is not out of battery, I will be posting my pictures!

Te amo!
Kiki

But Baby it's Cold Outside (and inside because someone won't turn off the air conditioners at school...)

Ola!

Yeah, yeah, I know, I shouldn't be complaining, it's below freezing up north but please consider the fact that I am now very used to warm weather and it is not warm here now. I am currently in my room with the windows and doors closed (it is cold out!), in warm clothing, underneath a blanket. I'm just thankful I'm no longer at school because the air conditioners run twenty-four seven and you freeze inside the classroom. I spent most of the day taking notes with my arm as close to me as possible because my seat is close to the AC.

But anyways, I wish all of this cold and wet weather on you guys so that you can have lots of snow!

Beijos!
Kiki

Carnival

Ola!

Whew! Carnival is over. Now I can get to sleep before three in the morning. Only part I disliked about it. But anyways, Carnival was a blast. I would upload the pictures but I can't find my camera cord right now. (I'm fairly certain that it is at the bottom of the bag that is in another bag in another bag... and well, you get the idea? Knowing my luck, I probably put it in a really good spot that I 'knew' I would never forget. Isn't that wonderful! :P

But anyways, Carnival... yeah. So, for those of you who need a mental picture to subsitute my sever lack of, picture Mardi Gras with lots of skin showing, loud music and samba. That about sums it up. For those of you who don't know what Mardi Gras is (and have yet to Google it...), picture a five day costume party (like Halloween) with the above mentioned. Now, take all of that knowledge and add the word Brazil to it. Instant party. It was crazy and my host family wasn't even in the thick of it! I loved it! I mean, really, who wouldn't want to basically celebrate Happy Thursday for five days straight? (Note: For those who have not been exposed to the awesomeness that is Happy Thursday, please proceed to the nearest Hulbert Homeschool week attendee and ask them. Obrigada.) I mean, come on!

So, yeah, back to Carnival... My host sister and I got spray cans of foam and sprayed each other with it (it's a tradition...). That is something that I really need to bring back with me to the states (glances at photos of fellow homeschoolers and snickers, they won't know what hit them...)

Cue evil music

I probably should mention the powder we throw at each other either, should I?

Music fades out

Naw, I'm just kidding about using it on my best of friends whole would never (insert sarcasm) do that to me... I'll just bring it up for Exploroptionals at camp (once again, please refer to the nearest Hulber Homeschool week attendee near you...).

But despite, (or perhaps because of) the flying powder and foam, I had an awesome time!

Tchau!
Kiki

Note: sleep deprivation may cause extreme amounts of sarcasm and bad humor to occur. If this happens, please direct subject to the nearest bed.

Ola!

Ola!

I hope everyone is okay and all of that! I'm sorry about not posting, I haven't been feeling the greatest but I'm better now. So in my school literature class I came across a saying in Portuguese that is rather interesting. Olho por olho e dente por dente. Can anyone translate it before looking at my translation? If so, good for you! If not, well here is what it means, eye for eye and tooth for tooth. The importance of that phrase is that I understood it without trying to translate! I'm still not completely fluent, mostly because Portuguese is very hard to learn but I can get my point across fairly well!

Paz!
Kiki

PS This is the result of sleeping less than I should... The Dark Side has chocolate chip cookies and I'm allergic to chocolate. lol

Let's do the time warp again!

Ola!

So, I have been kicked out of Senior year, and before you ask, no, it was not my fault. They needed more space for people (not to mention that senior year is extremely difficult) and so, I, as one of the exchange students, was asked to go to a lower year. I asked to have class in the morning because while it does mean that I have to get up early, I have more time to do things with my friends, like go to the movies.

Unfortunately, the only class opening they have available in the morning was first year (they have three years of high school, third year is when you graduate) and so, in the interest of being able to see my friends during break, I have moved to first year. Thus the time warp, I'm going back to sophomore year!

Yes, anyways, a few days ago I took a test, this test was for Portuguese! And I wrote an entire essay in Portuguese! Yeah go me! It may not have been a long essay but it wasn't bad and I did get credit for it!

Anyways, that's all folks!

Abraços!
Kiki

Off to another family and other misadventures

Ola!

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

Don't mind me, I'm just banging my head against the wall.

Thump. Thump. Thu...

Why? Oh, good question. It is a rather intriguing story. (cue flashback music)

I was going back to school. Yes I had to get up early but it wasn't that bad. I got to my classroom and saw a friend of mine. It was Karoline! She told me a few things...

One, every Monday we have a test at 3:30.

Two, every weekday that we have school (not including Tuesdays which goes until 12:30), school goes until 13:20.

And she saved the worst for last, we have school every Saturday until 12:30!

Noooooooooooooo!

(fade out flashback music)

The good news is that I moved to a new host family. Here is my address now:

Tv. Coronel Euripedes Bezerra número 13 q17 Turu
São Luís, Ma. Brasil CEP 65066260

There you are!

Boa noite!
Kiki

Wait! You mean I have to get up early!?

Ola!

So, um... Funny story. *laughs nervously* So, I told you that school was starting and I would be going soon. Well, I, um, didn't go. The reason? Well, several different reasons. The yesterday no one could drive me. My current host sister had to go to the dentist that was on the other side of the city and my host parents weren't home, thus, I did not go. Rational from my host family: it is only the first day. Today, my host sister drove me into school and was going to help me find my classroom when we saw one of my old classmates coming out of the school. Long story short, my class is now in the morning and no one told me. Then as we are heading back to the car, my host sister realizes that I will be missing the first few days of school because my host father, David, isn't home and unless I arrive at o' dark thirty in the morning, neither my host mother or sister can drive me. They work on the other side of the city. Once I get to my second official host family (or David returns), I can go to school. Now I need to get an alarm clock. Mine doesn't work.

Eu amo voces!
Kiki

Back to School

Ola!

So, today I am going back to school. Yea! (not really) I wish I could spend more time on vacation but all good things must come to an end. Thankfully, I have class in the afternoon, which means I can sleep in! It should be interesting for me to see how much Portuguese I have picked up over the summer. I think I learned quite a bit.

I just spent the last weekend at my previous host families house with Marie, from France, and Anna, from Denmark. We had a good time hanging out but I got slightly ill during a concert that we went to and proceeded to feel terrible almost the entire weekend. Not my idea of fun but hey, it could have been worse. As of now, I am at David's home and I still don't know when I'm going to my next host family.

I'll keep you all updated!
Amor e paz!
Kiki

Photo Dump!

Ola!

So, a lot of things happened and I keep forgetting to post the rest of the photos from my trip in December. So here they are.

Kiki

(I had this ready yesterday but the Internet doesn't like me here)

House of David

Ola!

So, I am moving to my next house in a few days and am currently at David's home. I got here yesterday. Anna is also here. Today we went shopping together at one of the malls. I got an awesome shirt, two pairs of jean shorts, a jean skirt and a pair of stilettos! I really like my new bottoms, they are very comfortable. We were picked up by Damira, David's daughter and then we went home.

What happened when I got home was a combination of horrifing, disgusting and hilarious. I was in the bathroom changing out of my dress when I saw a lizard. Now, Anna loves lizards, so I told her to come and look because she was in the room. She laughed as she saw it and cracked a joke about being glad it wasn't a huge spider that I wanted her to come see. Less than five minutes later I'm in the bathroom and I look under the sink on the wall and there, what do you know, is a huge spider. I freaked and left the bathroom and my attached room ASAP to tell Anna. She, at first, thought it was a joke before I showed her said huge spider. After describing it as huge and disgusting we went and got Damira and showed her the spider. She told us to get David. So, we went and got David, who was watching tv in his room with his wife. Then all of the people in the house went down to my room to look at the huge spider which David then killed with his shoe. I left my room and have yet to go back in for a period exceeding five minutes since. Honestly, can you blame me? It was a BIG spider. Enough said. I took a picture. My camera is in my room, you'll get it tomorrow.

Felicidades!
Kiki (The-Girl-Who-Freaked-Out-When-She-Saw-A-Huge-Spider-When-She-Was-Sitting-On-The-Can)

Feliz Ano Novo!

Feliz ano novo!

That means happy new year!

So last night at around ten o'clock my host family met up with two other families and went to an open air restaurant on the beach. We listened to music and talked for a little bit before having some food. Then, we listened to a live band and waited for the new year to come. We counted down the last few seconds and then sent streamers into the air, blew plastic horns (one guy brought an air horn and proceeded to give it to a young boy, I wasn't the only one giving the guy death glares) and danced. My host mother, one of her friends and I went down to the beach and hoped waves for luck. Then we all danced some more while listening to the band.

At two am, it started to sprinkle and after moving to important things under cover we continued dancing. Everything was alright, for about five minutes, then it started to pour. There is nothing, nothing! That can break up a party at two am on New Years Day faster than buckets of water coming from the sky. We then had to experience the wonders of traffic at two am, while the streets have four inches of water on them. I took a shower and went right to bed!

All in all, I had an awesome time and I am looking forward to living in dois mil e treze!

Muitos felizidades!
Kiki

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...