Day 15- Terca 31/5/11

Today was one of those days where I really missed my friends. The littlest things I wanted to share, but I couldn’t and I have to remember not every day is going to go perfectly…

However, there was this market today that was showcasing fashion designs created my certain labels. This was the most exciting thing for me, considering I want to be a fashion designer one day. I wanted to ask them so many questions, but I couldn’t with the language barrier. Instead, I just soaked in everything that this place had to offer. From what I could see, all of these designs were individually made by each person attending the event. There was one boutique that I spent the most time at. Her designs inspired me completely because it is exactly the kind of designs I want to create. I bought one of the shirts and I love it because it is different. I love styles that are different and she created clothes that I have never seen before. It is going on until Friday, so I may return just to look more at them. As for the fashion here in Brazil, people are very comfortable with their bodies. There are not that many bigger people here, so when the girls dress up they really get dressed up. They don’t care about the judgment of other people, and nobody seems to judge anyone in that way. There are these tights that girls wear all the time and they are vibrant and something I could never pull off, but it is a different style.

Today I went to Rio with two other volunteers and it was a relaxing day. We just looked around the markets and got an Acai (the best Acai I have had thus far). We sat by the water for a little bit and talked, but other than that there was not much to today. By the way Rio is a lot like New York City, it is chaotic with people selling stuff everywhere, and it is busy.

I got to Icarai beach early today, so I took pictures of the beach. I had fun with the 16 year old boys and I shot the ball! It was a good shot, but right at the keeper, so I guess that is not a good shot, but rather a hard shot. Baby steps. Playing on the sand is not getting any easier; it is a challenge every single day for me. Not many girls showed up today, so it was mas o menos (so, so). The best part of today was watching the two other guy volunteers embarrass themselves. I am laughing while writing this because it was so funny! One of the guys was talking to me and completely ate it. Lol wow I can’t even type this because I can’t stop replaying it in my head. He fell over the sand, there was nothing there. His face was priceless, and he just lay on the sand and slightly laughed. I could not stop laughing and I don’t even remember what he was telling me, but it was a laugh that I needed to lighten things up. The other volunteer was playing defense and the goalie punted it straight into the back of his head and he fell to the sand. Wow… just be glad I am not telling this in person because I can’t stop laughing replaying both of these incidents. Anyways, it was really funny and it was the highlight of my day.

On another note, I am going to start working at another place tomorrow. I don’t know any information about it, but I have to meet one of the projects abroad representatives tomorrow morning at 8 for my induction. I am excited to see what else I have in store for me… :].

Pictures in Rio:

Acai: (muito bom)

 Niteroi: (the second picture is Rio across the Bay)

Icarai Beach: (where I work)

The hill structure in the center of this picture (below) is the sugar loaf. You can see a small light at the top of it. You can't see the Christ Redeemer because of the clouds, but it is usually on the hill structure to the right.

Day 14- Segunda 30/5/11

For the first time since I have been here, I showered with warm water!! Wow, can I just say that I have missed warm water. My host dad put it in a new shower head, which actually had water coming out of it. It would take forever with my hair being so long to rinse anything out and it was cold, so I just had to tough it out. I still had to turn the shower on and off during the shower, but the warmth was quite refreshing.

I met up with another volunteer for food at the plaza. It was a buffet, and I had filled my plate with so much food that someone would think I had been starving for days. I can’t help but to over eat here because the food is just so good. I will get the picture she took on her camera of the plate full of food and put it up here soon. We went looking around the market to see what stuff they were selling.

Something I forgot to mention… yesterday Icarai beach had bigger waves than normal and I have a video to show (thank you YouTube). This morning I saw a newspaper headline that said “Niteroi Tsunami”. The beach that I work on was being covered by the waves, which is not normal. The waves went up to the sidewalk and making awesome splashes onto the concrete. I did not think much of it until I went to work today. The tide was a lot higher, and there was debris from the water scattered along the beach. The sand was not as fluffy and it was more packed down from the water. It was interesting to see how nature had changed the surface of the beach. Anyways, soccer just gets better and better as the time goes. Today I played with the 12 and 13 year old boys and about half of them showed up since it was a colder night (Brazil definition of cold: a slight wind). I had to mentally prepare myself to play with them because I did not want to come out timid again. I played a lot better today with them, but my coach told me that I need to shoot more because I pass too much. How many times have I heard a coach tell me that?! Sheesh. My next challenge is to start shooting, which is not as easy in the sand. My coach has warmed up to me now. It was a relief, because he could not take me seriously until he saw me play. He is one year older than me, but I have to remember girls playing soccer is not as common here (I know I am a coach too, but I am just going to call him coach since he runs all the practices). When I got home I spent a couple hours talking with the family and I always enjoy communicating with them. I learn something new every day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTpfhekuF98&feature=related

By the way… after the movie last night I told my roommate how I have never watched a movie with subtitles before. The movie last night was spoken in English, but there were Portuguese subtitles. Everybody in the theater did not care that they had to read the movie and they were cracking up through most of it since the movie was funny. Since English is the primary language, I have never had to read subtitles. She was shocked to hear this because many countries have to do this. I guess I just never even thought about it and it is another thing I have taken for granted.

Day 13- Domingo 29/5/11

I have had a lot of people tell me that I am going to be super tan when I get home, but that is incorrect. Brazil is in winter now, even though there is lots of sun, there is rain too. I am here mainly for volunteer work, which means my volunteer work is the focus of this trip. There are some days when it would be the perfect beach day, but I would rather be surrounded by the culture. I wish everyone could visit Brazil at some point at their life and just see everything that I am seeing. I can say that I have a home here now. My host family said I am always invited here and they have invited me to return back for the world cup… cough hint cough hint. :-D. Looks like I need to get a job! After being here, this just makes me want to travel even more. I have had the travel bug in me since the day my parents put us in a van and travelled the USA. Now I can see how much I value all those trips crammed into a van with brothers and how thankful I am to have seen the places I have seen. It motivates me to do more of this on my own and explore my independence in ways that will challenge me completely. I have friends all over the world now, which means I always have good company where ever I may travel one day. I could not ask for more.

Today we went to just hang out and eat an Acai. Acai’s are my favorite thing to eat here, and on countless occasions the thing to meet someone for. We bought tickets to go see “Hangover 2” tonight in the theater. There will be Portuguese subtitles, which may be a good way for me to learn a little more.

Here are some pictures of Icarai beach in the daytime…

Here is a picture with me and my purse. This is proof that I bought a purse and I am not just saying this to see how many people will believe me. Haha… cough Kelly cough J.

Day 12- Sabado 28/5/11

A birthday party! Somebody in the family was throwing a birthday party, so I got to experience a birthday Portuguese style. It was different than what I was use to because I felt like I was the one having the birthday. The birthday girl was the one bringing all the guests food, drinks and etc. She was not having people shower gifts on her, but she just wanted to keep her guests happy. Everyone was so nice! We ended up talking a lot about our homes. I showed them my houses on google earth and we used google translate and I told them all about the states. They had a million questions and I learned a lot. One of the guests was so interested in my culture, and we ended up having a long conversation through google about everything. He explained a lot about the Brazilian culture such as the festival, and the most famous cities to visit. Basically, it was a ton of fun to learn new things from each other. Everyone was shocked when I said that I have been driving since I was 16 years old. Most of them don’t even have a license to drive. In Brazil, parents are very protective of their children. In Europe and America we are a lot more liberal and encourage independence. This was one of the topics that we discussed. I learned a lot about the differences of both. The birthday song I could not follow, but it sounded like a lot of fun to sing. It was all so interesting!

As we were leaving they gave us tons of desserts and food to bring home. I was getting showered with food, it was overwhelming, but I love being overwhelmed with food. I had no idea how popular desserts are in Brazil. I can’t tell you what any of it is though, but it was all so good. My host dad asked me what food is native where I am from. To be honest, I drew a blank and I am still drawing a blank. So maybe one of you guys can help me… what food in America is native to where you live?! Everything that I can think of consists of fast food, or restaurants that are incorporating a different culture. I told them burgers were something that a lot of Americans eat, but other than that I could not give him a solid answer. I am ashamed of this. I know so much about the food everywhere else, but not at home.

Later that night I went out with a volunteer to eat and we just talked for a really long time at the square. It was mellow and just what we needed. The clubs were packed tonight because of the championship soccer game. We did not join in the festivities, but it was a crazy night to be out for sure. ESPN here is all about soccer and I love it.

Day 11- Sexta 27/5/11

Today was an adventure to say the least. We meet up with all the volunteers for Pizza in Rio de Janeiro with the representatives and it was nice and mellow. Afterwards some of us went out and it ended up being one of the worst nights. Funny though. My roommate lost her phone, so we had to go to the police station and they made her go to a tourist place at 2 in the morning to make sure that it was her phone. We had to wait in Rio for her, so we all went and got some food. Another volunteer lost his camera. Basically, everything went completely opposite as we planned. It was raining most of the night and we had to wait at the ferry for a really long time until the police escorted her to the ferry. They were beyond nice to her. My first night in Lapa (big hang out spot) and I don’t want to return lol. For this being probably being one of the worst nights, I was surprised that we thought everything was so funny. It was almost as if everything was so bad that all you are left to do is laugh about it. We got home at 8:45 in the morning and it was a night to learn from. On the bus back from the ferry to our house, my roommate turns to me and says “this night can’t get any worse.” Wrong. About 5 minutes later it starts to rain. At this point we just started cracking up and probably did not stop laughing for a good 20 minutes. It was just a reminder that life never goes as planned and everything depends on your attitude…

Day 10- Quinta 26/5/11

This host family is amazing. My host dad brought me breakfast this morning and it just made me smile. I tried some food today that was delicious. The fruit I was talking about that is white on the inside is called Aipim. It is absolutely amazing! I also tried something called Mariola, which is like a sweet fruit. Brazil is the country with the most fruits and I have never heard of a lot of them. Bananas are really popular here, and I eat a banana almost every meal. I eat it for dessert too by putting leite condensado on it. There is a soda like drink called Guarana that I tried, and it is beyond tasty. I am not a big soda fan, but I do really enjoy Guarana!

I live in a state of Brazil called Niteroi and within Niteroi there are sections of the town. I live in Forseca and I learned today that it is the poorest town in Niteroi with lots of favelas (the generally used term for a shanty town in Brazil). To me this was a surprise, because I guess I expected people who were poor to be miserable and bitter. These people are some of the happiest and most friendly people I have come across. It just shows that money does not matter to them. What I love about this place is that there are not a lot of chain restaurants like America. Everything is a private business and it is all different.  

Soccer. Ok, if you don’t already know this, in 2 years the world cup will be hosted in Brazil. This is a big deal especially since a famous soccer stadium has been closed, so they can get it ready for the world cup. Yes, it is closed now. The Maracana Stadium, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, has been chosen for the final match and they are working on fixing it up. I definitely want to come back to Brazil during this time and experience this. Another thing, I have had people trying to persuade me to become a Vasco fan and a Flamingo fan. Both are huge rivals. Flamingo is the team that Ronaldinho plays on, but my soccer instructor insists I become a Vasco fan. It is a HUGE deal. No matter what answer I say, half the people hate me for my answer, and the other half love me. When I was in Rio there was a bus full of Flamingo fans singing and chanting; this is their passion here in Brazil. As for work today, I had an amazing time! I am a little timid with the guys team for some reason, but I am starting to warm up to them because they are beyond nice kids. I love playing with the girls team here. We did penalty kicks at the end and I won… yesssahhh. They were trying to teach me to dance Brazilian style and I have a lot to learn. Lol. I absolutely love going to work…

Day 9- Quarta 25/5/11

“You were given life; it is your duty (and your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight” –Eat. Pray. Love.

That is a quote from the book that I am reading “Eat, pray, love.” This quote stood out to me because this quote has so much meaning in it that I think sometimes we forget to see it. I think sometimes we look too much at the flaws of something that we are not truly seeing the beauty of things. I don’t know what it is about Brazil, but I can’t seem to find any flaws. It’s almost like I have found something beautiful in every flaw. I have found a place that inspires me completely. I almost feel like I have been living in a bubble in America. I always knew that we had a good living environment in America, but once you actually realize how much better we have it and, I hate to say this, but how spoiled we really are, you discover so much. I would honestly prefer living in a place like this over all the luxuries of living in America. Every single person that I volunteer with knows at least two languages, some know up to five languages. Then there is me… and all I can say is that I have taken three years in Spanish. It is almost as if every single country is trying to unite each other through languages and understanding the cultures, and America just prefers to not join in.

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” –Leo F. Buscaqlia

Today was soccer with the 12 and 13 year old boys, and I was a little more timid to play with them since I did not want to hurt them. I was juggling with two of the coaches, and it took me a little bit to get the hang of it. The coach kept laughing and saying “English ball”, pretty much translating that I am not accustomed to this style of soccer. I admit it; beach soccer is a lot harder. I got sand burns on my feet, but oh well. It was a long day.

Here is a picture of the sunset outside my window!

Day 8- Terca 24/5/11

My goodness, the animals were throwing a party last night and I was not invited. I have never heard so many different animals, but they obviously did not want me to sleep. There are roosters, pigs, dogs, and other animals all making noise at once. Yes, there are random pigs walking the streets here, and they are huge. There is one animal I can’t name the sound, but it sounds like a little girl screaming. Ah.

Wow… I had an AMAZING time playing soccer!! It was dirty, tough, and filled with fun. My first day of work was today and I thought it would be a lot of coaching, but mainly I just play soccer on the beach. I thought I would be doing the teaching, but the roles are reversed because they were teaching me so much. Oh my goodnesssss did I have my work cut out for me or what! The first group was 16 year old boys and we had to run on the beach for a little over five minutes. Then we had to do a bunch of sprints down and then back pedal back. I dare you to back pedal through the sand. Sheesh. I played soccer with the boys with two of the other guy volunteers and I felt like I had never played soccer before because it was hard to adjust to the sand at first. I can’t rely on a quick pivot because the surface is so hard to play on. I started to get use to the surface a little bit and started increasing my play. The next group was the girls ranging in ages, but mostly my age. Right away they welcomed me and we were all laughing and messing around with the soccer ball. I have never in my life felt so welcomed by a team like I did with these girls; they were right away becoming my friend. Some of these girls are really good too! One of the forwards was a quick small girl that definitely gave me a run for my money, ah. These people are living off of very little, but that does not even slightly matter to them. They come to play for the love of the game and surround themselves with a fun environment. I admire everything about them. I surprised myself with how well I adapted to the environment. I made a good play one time, and the people watching were chanting “American” and it was an amazing moment. I can’t even put into words how amazing the first day of work was. The best part about it was proving me worthy enough to play. I could tell that the people running the program doubted me and I think it’s because not many girls volunteer for this. It gave me a push of motivation for sure. By the end of the night, the guy in charge of the soccer club loved me! He asked me to come play with them every single night. I was only supposed to work three out of the five days, but now I get to play soccer everyday! What more can I ask for?! J. I am still waiting to hear about the other soccer club I was going to work at, so I may even be working soccer in the morning somewhere else. I can’t wait to share more stories in the future because I can already tell that I am going to get attached to these people, if I haven’t already.

I would trade my life any day to live here off of nothing with these people, they left an impression on me.

Day 7- Segunda 23/5/11

If any of you know me, you would know that I don’t prefer a purse, rather I don’t even like carrying one. Instead I prefer a drawstring bag. Apparently drawstring bags are not as popular here, and I am the minority. With that being said, I have discovered it’s not smart to have one of these bags due to the chance of theft. What did I do? Yes, I caved, and I bought a purse at the market. I must say, that I actually like my purse a lot and it does add a stylish vibe to my soccer look. Anyways, today was a day to be independent. Me independent? … noooo. I found my way through Niteroi by myself and learned more about the bus routes. It’s actually really safe in this town, I mean it’s just like any other town, there are going to be thefts anywhere. During my little excursion on my own I just observe my surroundings and take in everything that is different. I have noticed that Brazilians are probably some of the warmest people I have ever come across. With that in mind, I have discovered here that you can’t judge a book by its cover. Every first impression that I have had has been wrong. Example: the house I am staying at doesn’t look like much from the outside, but once I stepped inside it was a whole other world. I will provide pictures, it’s a beautiful casa. Instinctively humans judge other humans on their first impression, but every time I “judge” (I like the word analyze better), “analyze”, I find out that they are opposite of what I thought. If you smile, they smile. If they see that you are trying to incorporate yourself in their culture, they catch you a break. I nearly ran this old lady over, and thinking she was going to give me a mean look, I smiled and gave her an apologetic gesture. To my surprise she gave me a big smile and went on her way. I will never forget that moment of gratitude. When I am sitting alone on the bus, some people have tried to talk to me and I just laugh and smile pretending like I understand. That is, until they ask me a question and I willingly give up my secret that “Eu nao falo Portugues” (I don’t follow Portuguese).  

Now for the BEST PART. I finally went to Icarai Beach at night to learn about where I will be coaching! IT’S AN AMAZING VIEW!!! Rio de Janeiro is across the bay and you can see the sugar loaf and a small outline of the Christ redeemer. The city is reflecting off the water and there are mountains everywhere around me. Pictures won’t even do this view justice. One of the projects abroad representatives lived at this beach when she was younger and said that Rio is known as the wondrous city. She said that the view is known as a mial (sp?) because it is the best view of the wondrous city. The beach has lights lighting the whole thing up, so people can play futebol at all hours. I am in soccer heaven. For this placement one of the representatives bought me a uniform. GUESS WHAT?! The best sign I have ever had in my life…! I tried on a jersey and it was the number 39 (my old soccer number). I did not even know that I got a number on my jersey, and later when I looked to see what number I got… number 19. I was jumping with happiness, definitely a sign. I am really excited! My first day is tomorrow eekJ, but the pressure is on for me to learn Portuguese. I started to slack, but I got my motivation back. I spent about two to three hours speaking Portuguese with my host dad and we had a conversation about a lot, but mostly sports and what is good to have for soccer. Like bananas, Gatorade, and chocolate milk after. Milk= leche. We are both teaching each other, and it is so much fun. I have never had so much fun learning something or had so much motivation to learn something. Patience: word to live by this trip.

Ok… let me give a little bit of background information. There is a hill (well two technically) that I have to walk up to my casa from the bus stop, and let me tell you this hill is torture. I get tired walking up it, but I am going to have the strongest calves because it is very steep. (I know I am athletic because I am one of the few that does not stop for a break halfway up the hill lol). I have created a challenge for myself. Here it is: after every session of futebol that I coach on the beach I have to run up this hill. My hope is by the end of these 2 months, I will be able to make it up both hills without stopping. If you have not encountered this hill in person then you can’t see how hard this challenge is. To be honest, I don’t even know if I can complete this challenge, but I am confident and I will let you know as time goes by.

Day 6- Domingo 22/5/11

I went to Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro and it was awesome. People are always walking around selling stuff such as food, clothes, and accessories. One person was even selling shrimp on a skewer, it looked delicious. What I love about the beaches here are all the sports going on! Besides soccer being everywhere, there are a lot of volleyball games going on as well as a game I have never seen before. It’s similar to racquetball, but there is a net behind each player, and each player is facing each other. It’s some sort of paddle that they hit the ball back and forth to each other, I believe when the ball hits the net behind the player then the other gets some kind of point. Who knows, but it was fun to watch and they really got into it. Also, you know you are a tourist when your swimsuit covers your entire butt. I have never seen so many butts in one day, because the girls wear thong bikinis. The guys wear Speedos, just proving they are open people. We took the ferry over to Rio de Janeiro, so the view was amazing to look at during the day and the night. We learned the hard way that to get good sun we need to get to the beach at least by 11 o’clock. The sun sets really early in Brazil, which means three o’clock is more when the sun is starting to set. Overall, a mellow dayJ.

Day 5 Sabado 21/05/11

Internet!! Yayyy, the internet was fixed this morning.

I feel like everything is amazing in its own way here. It was a beautiful day today, about 25 degrees Celsius, which in Fahrenheit would be about 75 degrees. I went to the roof of the house and laid in the sun with my computer. Denise and Beto (host mom and dad) took me to the beach today. Denise and I walked down to the most amazing sight. It’s the water below the Christ redeemer. I have never seen a more beautiful sight. I forgot my camera, but when I go back I will be sure to post the pictures. Beto was fishing with all the other men lined up at the ocean front, it was one of those moments where you are in a movie and you don’t want it to end.

Everyday my Portuguese is improving, and we understand each other more and more. Before you know it, I will be speaking fluentlyJ. The food I tried today was o belo (cake- unlike any cake I have tasted- it was sticky, but I must find more of it), and a fruit that was longer with a white inside. It was boiled and served with butter spread on top of it and parmesan cheese sprinkled on top as well. Don’t even ask me to describe it; America lacks creative tastes such as this. The best part of the day was all the laughter at dinner… MUITO LEGAL. This means very cool, but the conversation was very funny. I showed them my I-pod touch and Beto turned into a little kid at a candy store. We played with the app “google translater” (which has been extremely helpful thus far), and began teaching each other our languages. Basically, a perfect way to end the day.

Day 4 Sexta 20/5/11

Today was a challenge, but a very fun challenge! I got to speak Portuguese with no help at all. It was great to be able to watch two and a half men with my host mom. It was silent at first, but we started slowly speaking to each other in Portuguese. She realized that I can speak a little more than she thought, and I showed her my Portuguese book. It was awesome because I could understand her and I am sure I am not making complete sentences, but I am making words that she can understand. We both love chocolate too, so we bonded with our addiction to chocolate (saying chocolate in Portuguese is probably one of my favorite words to say, it rolls off the tongue perfectly).

Marita and I then went out on the town to get snacks with an Australian volunteer. We took the bus over to the square, which is a big hang out spot here in Niteroi. It is pretty much food and drinks for as long as you want to stay up. We met up with a lot of the other volunteers and it was a lot of fun to engage in small talk about each of our cultures being different. There are 3 guys here that are also volunteering for the sports program, so we got in a big sports talk. I swear I am like a guy sometimes. We talked about soccer… oh I mean futebol… in their words “you are the only country to say soccer, so you have to say it right, its futebol.” Every time I said soccer one of them would correct me. Overall, it was just a lot of good conversations and fun times.

It is about 2:30 in the morning at this point, and naturally I think it’s time to go home and sleep. No. These people are party animals that stay out all night and sleep all day. Considering I did not want to ride home on a bus by myself I joined them at this nightclub. I am glad I did, it was unlike any nightclub I have seen. Brazil definitely knows how to party. It was one of those nightclubs that were so prestigious that they had a dress code. One of the guys in our group even went and changed pants with someone because they would not let us in with him wearing barramuda shorts. EVERY single girl in this place was dressed up in a tight and short dress. I am not kidding. I have never seen every single girl wearing the same dresses pretty much, but different designs and high heels. Keep in mind, I was wearing a soccer shirt, jeans, a ponytail with pre-wrap and my worn out sneakers. Ba ha. We are all from different countries and every one of us was not carrying the proper identification, apparently you need to carry around a copy of your passport (which I knew, but I had no intention of going to a nightclub at a time where nightclubs close at home). Confession: I was not carrying any form of identification; I just think the body guard felt sorry for me, so he let me inJ, yesssahhh. This night club reminded me of a music video, one that Usher would probably be dancing in. It was huge and had this blue light that was crazy awesome, it is really hard to explain, but I was in awe of this place. Let me just say it was a muito longo noite (very long night) with some funny interactions to say the least and we got home at 7:00 in the morning…

Day 3 Quinta 19/5/11

Oh man… to start off this morning, I must say that I am really glad I am able to laugh at myself. For some reason I can’t figure out the shower for the life of me. It’s a very nice bathroom, but the water is not something that is always available like in America. You have to turn the knob to get drops of water out and turn it on and off until the water comes out. I showered in cold water with a little bit of water coming out and I just dealt with it. Just when I finished, there was more water coming out and the water had warmed up, I am still confused as to why that is. For breakfast I had an avocado juice (yes, avocado) and let me say that it was actually very good. I am just glad that I am willing to try any food and that I am probably the least picky eater, because I don’t think a picky eater could take this risk. Anyways, today is the day that my roommate from Belgium leaves for home. She has been here for about 3 months and it has been fun talking with her and seeing how she interacts with the family. This also means that my translator is leaving, so I know everything is about to get a little harder for me. The family adored her and it was a tearful goodbye, and not going to lie, it made me tear up watching them say their goodbyes. The other side of my room is now empty, which is kind of an odd feeling, but I think with her leaving I can now challenge myself fully. I guess you could say I had been dependent on her to help me out the first 2 days, but now I am pushing myself to learn Portuguese and interact with the family in my own way. Being here is unreal and I remind myself how lucky I am to be able to experience all of this, but there are moments when I get overwhelmed with the challenge and I have to take a few steps back. Blogging is a way for me to gather my thoughts and focus solely on me. All I can say is that I really wish I pushed myself harder to learn Portuguese before I got here because then it would make things a lot easier. Sometimes I am silent and try to interpret their conversations in my way. I watch their gestures and make up stories in my head, in my head it is pretty funny to translate. Sometimes I can actually understand the basic idea of the conversation, so I am able to catch on and engage myself a little more. I went to an internet café with one of the other volunteers in the house and we ended up just making gestures with the sales person and laughing at each other. It lightened the mood a bit considering we both realized that with the language barrier there was no telling what the other was thinking. But this is one of the many challenges that I am going to have to face, and there is NO running. This is exactly what I needed.

Throughout small talk I am learning a lot more about the culture differences. Marita, from Denmark, does not have a microwave, so she learned how to use that when she came to Brazil. Driving is not a common thing for a young adult; usually the age for them is about 18 years old. They don’t have school buses like we do, they take just the public buses to school. Here in Brazil people drive around small vans, but they are known as buses here (onibus).

Ohhhh… there is one huge culture shock and something I know I won’t ever get over. Toilet paper can’t be flushed into the toilet! You put the toilet paper in the trash can next to the toilet. It is something that is very different and I miss toilets that flush toilet paper.

The Beginning (Day one and two)

I have officially made it through 24 hours in Brazil and let me say that I have learned more than I imagined in such a short time. Now that I am the foreigner, I see things at an outside perspective. Brazilian people are warm people that always say or act how they feel. They kiss you on each side of your cheek as an introduction to show their warmth. There is no covering up their emotions, they let everything out. I admire the way they live their lives because they don’t hide behind anything. Brazilians are real; they don’t mask behind stylish clothes, fancy hair-dos, perfect make-up, tanning salons, or require any plastic surgery. I know hard to believe?! Granted Brazil is pretty much an outdoor tanning salon, but so is Florida and California and people there would rather go to a tanning bed. Americans are consumed by aesthetics and the ideal image of “perfection”. Not here.

One word to describe Brazil… NOISE. I don’t think there is one quiet spot in Niteroi or Rio de Janeiro. Everything around me here is completely different than what I am use to (which is what I wanted). If you are a light sleeper than you won’t be able to sleep here at all, I wake up multiple times through the night from the town not sleeping, but luckily fall back asleep fast. The roads are chaotic and dangerous. Besides everything being fast paced on the roads, I have discovered that people here are slow people. I am not talking about physically slow, but rather they don’t rush through life, they take baby steps and enjoy everything along the way. They walk slowly, eat slowly, and do everything at their own pace. Being raised in America, I am accustomed to big portions for meals and a fast paced life. I almost feel like a monster compared to how these people eat, I consume my meals way faster than they do as well as eat a bigger plate than they do. Keep in mind; I am a small eater in America. Something that I learned, and on more than one occasion I have embarrassed myself by doing, is that everything here is drank out of a cup. If you get a water bottle at a restaurant or a beer at a bar you don’t just sip out of the bottle, you poor it into a cup and drink it from there. I felt like a rude slob that did not know how to be polite. It is a feeling I am foreign to considering I have always had the best manners. I am not only learning about the culture of Brazil, but also many other countries! I live with a girl from Denmark and a girl from Belgium. The other volunteers that I met are from France, Japan, Australia, Germany, South Korea, and more. Did you know that in Belgium and Denmark the government pays them to go to school?! Can you imagine not paying for loans and not needing jobs? Each one of us comes from a different background, but we all have one thing in common and that is that we all love Brazil.

Food. WOW. I have been here two days and I have started a relationship with the food. It’s AMAZING! The first thing I tried when I arrived here was this slush type of drink called Acai. My goodness it is delicious! It’s got real fruit mixed inside of it with a bunch of other wonderful ingredients that I can’t name. You can add toppings such as sprinkles or gummies or chocolate or anything. Also, there is this type of condensed milk (not like America, it’s a sweet dessert milk) and it goes on crackers or pancakes or bananas and such. It is by far the most delicious dessert that can go on anything… it’s like ranch, but for dessert. By the way… nobody here has heard of ranch. I know, my jaw dropped and my heart hurt. Ranch is good to me and knowing that these people have lived without ranch is almost saddening. Almost as sad as me living without this milk stuff for so long.

Family. I could not have asked for a better family to live with for the summer. I am living completely outside of my comfort zone, which can be scary. This family made me feel at home right away, and I already know that saying goodbye to them is going to be really hard. Even though we have a language barrier between us we have found ways to communicate. My roommate speaks English, and learned Portuguese while being here. She has acted as a translator, but she is leaving tomorrow, so the rest is up to me to learn. The mom is short with long hair and probably the sweetest woman ever. Despite not understanding each other and using gestures, she is always smiling and laughing. She is going to take me to get a manicure and pedicure next week (it’s about 6 dollars for both to be done- cheap). The dad is just as friendly and always smiling. He absolutely loves watching fighting on television and he is more built himself. The brother speaks a good amount of English and he is very nice. He works in the air force here, so he wakes up really early and I see him every once in a while. The sister I just met last night at her church. She rarely comes over to the house, because she lives at the church since she is very religious. We visited the church at night, so that my roommate can say goodbye to her. She is a very good singer and the church environment was different than what I was use to. They had two girls who were dancing during the songs and I enjoyed watching it. I got to know the family a lot tonight and it was a lot of fun! I even watched “The Last Samurai” in Portuguese and I was still entertained by it. Basically, I can’t put into words how much I love this family. I can’t wait to get to know them more and I am determined to learn Portuguese. J.

The second day was my induction day, a Projects abroad representative showed me around the town and went over paperwork. The basic stuff, but it was nice to get a local perspective on what to do and where to go. OH… beach soccer is EVERYWHERE!! I picked the perfect country. It was 9:00 at night and all along the beach people were playing soccer. She said something about how I can join a team while I am here, so I am going to look into doing that. I love this country.