Starting to Notice a Language Improvement and School

Òla, tudo mundo! (Hello, everyone - literally 'all the world.' I like that phrase.) I hope that everything is well in the Northern Hemishpere. Down here it is still very hot, the toilets are still flushing the normal way, and I am still just lovely...

As always, a lot is going on. It's really weird for me to think that it is almost October already! Time here is sort of strange for me; I tend to feel restless and in a rush if I am not doing something, but at the same time that I really have all the time in the world. I figure one of these days, or one of these months, it's really going to hit me that I don't have all the time in the world - just like it did before I left - and I am going to freak out, but for now it's all good. I am getting concerned, though, because my mom sent my new bank card like 3 weeks ago and I have yet to receive it, and I need my insurance card in my hands by November 9th or I don't go on the trips and we don't get our money back. I am trying to be as on top of those things as I can, but really all I can do it wait. It's sort of frustrating. No, it is frustrating, period.

I have tended to feel a little bit more in limbo these past few weeks than I did before, and I think worrying about that stuff has a lot to do with it. Whereas for the first month I felt pretty much 100% disconnected from my former life, now that I am settled in here, I tend to dwell on it a little more, especially when something here is bothering me. I have some trouble here because I do not like living under such strict rules. I really like my host family, and I am grateful to have gotten them - It's all just luck, and I know some people with pretty bad families - but I do not necessarily like all the rules and the curfews. They try to treat me like a member of the family, which is what I want, but it also means that I don't get to live this year as I would like because I have to conform to their schedule and their concerns. I understand the rules and why they are there, and because I don't want to cause problems with my family I accept them, but I really don't like them. I have said all I can, though, I think, so I just have to live with leaving the parties early. I found out that I have 2 more host families following this one - both in the same neighborhood, so it will be interesting to see the change in family dynamic. I am very fond of my current family, but I think I will like the change, and since it is close I can/will still see them if/when I want.

Hmm, what have I done lately? I have hung out with the usual people, for the most part. The last exchange student finally got here (we have 10 in my city, now, which is all we will have until January when we get an Australian - they run on a different schedule because of their school year). He is from Taiwan, and his name is "Jack," which pretty much doesn't resemble his real name at all (he told it to me, but I forget what it is, exactly), so I am wondering how they came up with it, haha. I don't think I have mentioned that it is common for exchange students to have nicknames because it is hard for the people in the country to remember/pronounce the names. For instance, Johanna's family just calls her Jo ('yo'). We all have relatively simple names, here, though. My name is the same, but they pronounce it differently - it is very nasal. I can't really reproduce it - it's kinda like al-uhna. I actually think it's weird now telling people my name becaue I am not used to hearing it said like I say it, if that makes any sense, haha.

We watched a really good movie the other day called "If Only". I forget what the name was in Portuguese. It's funny, we are in Brazil, but the best thing we can come up with to do sometimes is watch a movie. It's really all a matter of transportation, though, and we try to get out and go to the park and stuff as much as we can. It's actually good for us to watch movies, though, because it helps with the language. When we are all together we watch them in English with Port. subtitles so that we can read along. It really should be the other way around, but they have too hard a time reading the English so fast, and I really have no room to talk so I give them a break, haha. When I am alone, though, I watch movies in Port. with Port. subtitles, and I understand them, yay. I have a hard time without the subtitles, but it's getting better. The other day, though, I was watching Mission Impossible 3 without subtitles, and I had like no idea what was going on, haha. I still don't cheat, though, and I think it helps to at least be paying attention.

I have noticed an actual difference in my ability to talk to people, lately, which is encouraging. One afternoon last week the teacher didn't show up for the last class of the day, so we were allowed to leave, so Gerardo and I went to the little place across the street where a guy sells churros he makes at his little stand (they are like fried, hollow, bread with caramel cream - dulce de leite - or chocolate in the middle, covered in connamon sugar, yum). There was another guy there, and he talked to me for like 15 minutes, and I actually pretty much understood all of what he was saying to me, and sort of talked back (he, like most Brazilians, didn't need much encouragement to keep going, haha). I had no answer when he was asking why the women's U.S. soccer team is really good and men's isn't, though, haha, so I told him it was because women are just always better than men :-D. A friend of mine told me that once I can cut out all the Spanish I will be one of the best speakers here, and that made me happy. I have been here for less time than a lot of them, too.

Last Thurday the other ex. students from here (excluding 2), a few rebounds, and I went to an English school to talk to a class about our homes and show them some stuff. I think they only understood about 30% of what we said, but they were really excited anyway (they were like 5-14 yrs old) , and the teacher translated the harder stuff. I took my WV flag, some large versions of coins that I have, and a map of WV, and they all really liked the coins in particular. I had to go around and show them to everyone and explain them. Oh, hahaha, this was so funny, I was showing them on the map that we live close to Washington D.C., and after I showed them the border states one boy asked where Count Dracula's Castle was because he though I said Transylvania, not Pennsylvania. I felt bad for laughing (we were all laughing really hard), but it was seriously one of the funniest things I think I have ever heard. I am laughing now, actually, just thinking about it. Poor guy, he was like 6 and 100% serious, but he took it well. They had all made Brazilian desserts for us, so after we talked for like 2 hours we ate for like an hour. It was a good time. The pic I put up is from the class - I guess I will name the people, just in case you care... ok, left to right on the top row is Jack (Taiwan), Ryan "Shaggy" (like from Scooby Doo, haha, from California), Gabriel (went to Lake Tahoe, CA last year), the teacher, Tania (Mex.), Diego (went to Thailand last year), Gerardo (Mex.); second row is Iván (Mex.), two Brazilian girls whose names I forget (they both went to the US last year), Johanna (Germany), Annia (Mex.), me, Guilherme (went to South Africa last year - Gabriel's twin). The rows kind of merge, but I think you can figure it out...

Last Friday I went to one of the other schools here, it was called Christo Rei (Christ the King), and was, obviously, a Catholic school. It was quite a bit different from my school, and I actually liked it a lot better. My friend Dayna (Canadian) came in Thursday night, and we stayed at a friend of her's house. Dayna stayed with me for the whole weekend, actually, because she lives in a tiny little town with a crappy family, which was cool. Her friend Adrielly, who we stayed with, and her friends are really cool; I liked them a lot. They are a little younger than me, but that doesn't matter so much here. School itself was school, but we got to go meet the principal and take a tour, so they, naturally, wasted as much time as possible. It was a nicer building, and it had a better atmousphere, I though, than my school. When I started school they never bothered to show me around or introduce me to anyone, they just sent me to class with my cousin, which, to me, was very rude. Gerardo didn't care, but I did. Plus, our class doesn't really care about us, and the class at Christ Rei was a lot more friendly (partially because they had a group English test that day, haha, so they kept whispering to us for help).

After school we ate at Adrielly's and then went back and has a little surprise party with her friends for their theatre teacher. It was just nice, clean, fun. There were some nuns there, which was kinda weird, but they were cool. They have a pool there, so her friend went and got us some shorts, and all the girls played water polo in the pool. We were all locked in the pool area and walled off, which made it more fun - very giggly and all that, haha. After that we watched the guys play basketball for awhile, and then went home. Did I mention that Brazilians can't play basketball? They can't, haha, but they kill us in soccer, so it's ok.

Saturday we went to Tania's and swam for the afternoon, and then Gerardo came and made everyone Mexican food. We were planning on having a party, really, but more people kept showing up, so we did. Tania's mom tried to teach her and me to Samba, which was somewhat successful, haha, but it's very difficult. Tania is better than I am, and Annia is better than both of us. She got there later, but picked it up a lot quicker. I am just really stiff, so I need to practice. Hopefully I will get it by Carnaval. Tania's mom is an excellent dancer, so we will have to practice some more. The Mexicans also taught us a dance of theirs, which is kinda like their version of the electric slide, but a lot faster, and you can do it with two people instead of just one. They also taught us how to dance 'banda,' the typical, trumpety Mexican music. We basically had a goofy traditional dance party, and ate food, and hung out. I had to leave earlier than everyone else, of course, but it was really fun. By about 10 it was Tania, Annia, Gerardo, Tania's parents, her sister, Johanna's sister, Julio, his friend Julianna, Dayna, and me, and the next day my feet were sore from dancing, haha. I got a bunch of videos, but my camera doesn't record sound, so it didn't really capture the effect.

I went to the neighborhood churrasco Monday, and I met one of my next host brothers, and he seemed nice. I think we will get along. In my next family I have 2 brothers, who are 17 and 18 (I met the younger one), and in the one after that I have a sister who is 17. I am moving to the next house after Christmas, and I think I will be there for like 3 and a half months. Sorry, I am thinking of random things to write on here - It's hard to keep everything straight.

Friday of this week Gerardo made us Mexican food again at my house (we are trying not to waste the tortillas his mom sent), and Tania, Johanna, Julio, Ryan/Shaggy, and the twins (his host brothers) came over to hang out. We played cards for a fwe hours and then went to their house and hung out for awhile with some more people. Playing cards is funny because we teach eacother games, and we are trying to explain in a mixture of 3 languages, haha. It took me a few hands to finally understand the Brazilian game we played, but I got it eventually.

Julio's birthday was Thursday, and last night he had a party at his friends house. I could only stay until 9, but it was fun nonetheless. He works for his uncle's company as a full time job, but he organizes parties professionally on the side. This wasn't one of his big parties, but he still knows how to do it. His last real one was in August before I got here, and it was almost 900 people at $15 a head. They, of course, had to buy ridiculous amounts of beer, but that's still pretty good. He has friends in London and Madrid who do the same thing, and he is planning to move in with one of them within the next year or two when he can get it together. I'm pushing fo Spain, myself, since I fully intend on sleeping on his couch, haha.

This week has been kind of weird because my host dad and most of my host mom's family have been in São Paulo for a big music festival thing. It's a musical instrument festival, really, and their business is selling musical instruments, so they all went to try and do that. My host mom said that my host dad was very pleased with the amount of sales, but that it's a very long weekend. The festival itself lasts for 4 days, I think, the first two are just for shop owners, and the last two are for the public - those are the bad days. My host cousin, Gustavo (Gu), who is 6, has been staying at our house some days, and at my host mom's parents with her mom the other days. He is fun, I like him a lot, but he is a little tiring, haha. We went to the mall the other day, and he told me like 5 ghost stories - it was really adorable, but I only understood about half of it, and by the end I was really tired, haha. Kids are so hard to understand, it's crazy. He's very patient with me, though, and if nothing else he's usually happy with a smile and a "nossa!" ("wow" - noh-sah). It's fun to have him around, though, I like him a lot.

Okay, I think I have hit all the high spots, haha, now I am going to explain the school system in more detail, which is very, very different.

School is only compulsary until, I think, the age of 14, and after that they can quite if they have to or want to. The publis schools are not very good at all, so most families try to send their kids to private schools. The one I go to is part of a system that is rather widespread, I think, it is called Anglo, and it is like $150 a month, I think, although for me it is free. My host mom said that they have a very good secondary school system, but it is not so good for the younger kids because they just started a year or two ago, so Gu goes to a different school. They don't have separate elementary, middle, and high schools here, all ages go to the same school, although I think a lot of the time the schedules are slightly different. The private schools are independently run, and, as far as I can tell, don't really work with one another in terms of scheduling and whatnot. They are similar, though.

My school starts at 7:20, and ends at 12:20. We have 6 classes, with 5 minute breaks between them, except for the long break in the middle, which is about 15 minutes. They do not have any options when it comes to classes - they all take the same things with the same teachers. Instead of changing classes we all stay in one room, and the teachers change at breaks. I honestly can't even tell how many subjects we have because the schedule is somewhat erratic. We have each subject 2x/week, so, lets see, if I have 3o classes then I have 15 subjects, right? It might not be. I'm really bad at math, haha. Speaking of math, I would say that math and science are about 75% of the curriculum, and history, geography, economics, literature, and Porttuguese share the rest. Monday is my favorite because it is almost all fine arts.

They don't have textbooks here, they have workbooks that are distributed and bought at various times during the year; I think we are on the 7th one right now. They have all the subjects in them, and the lessons are layed out for each day, including the homework and examples. The teachers do not spend more than two classes on one subject before they are moving on, which means that school here is harder. They have to cover all the material at the pace of the entire system, rather than their own class, so they can't afford to waste time. The students are largely responsible for making sure they inderstand what they are being taught, so they usually study for at least 3 hours after school if they are in their final year of school, because looming at the end is the dreaded Vestibular...

The Vestibular is the test every Brazilian has to take to get into college, and it is, from what I have heard, very very hard. The Vestibular determines whether you get into a public universtiy, which is what you want, because they are not only better, but they are free. The private schools here run at about $2,000/month, and they are not all that great, but anyone can go. The public schools are very competitive. I think only like 24 people from Anglo get to go, and there are proabably about 100 who will graduate. It's even harder if you have been an exchange student because you leave halfway through your second to last year and return in the middle of the next year, so you miss a year's worth of material. I don't think I would want to do that - not with so much at stake. If you don't pass a particular subject, though, you can re-take it the next year, so sometimes we have people i random classes because they have to test again on the subject. When you do get accepted to a public school there is a big party, and if you are a guy your friends shave your head for you. My cousin Pedru, for example, has his head shaved because he took the test early and passed.

My school is relatively large compared to a lot of them, and my grade is divided into 4 classes, which are A,B,C, and D. I am in the D class, which is the class of people who have the lowest grades. I don't like my class particularly well. There are some cool people in it, of course, but for the most part people sleep and don't bother to talk to me. I guess it's my job to talk to them first , but it would be nice if I were in a class like Tania, Annia, and Johanna, where everyone wants to know them. Oh well, I have made other friends, and I will be gone for a month anyway. When I get back this school year will be almost over, and we will have vacation then a new class, so I am looking forward to that.

They have some sports after school, I think, but school spirit really isn't a big deal, and the building is very austere. They have a sheet that everyone signs during the first and second classes to do attendance, and a hall monitor who is always there to keep track of people. She's mean, haha. They call the teachers by their first names, and they dress in nice looking jeans and a blouse or t-shirt and cuss in class (depending on the teacher). Needless to say, it is less formal. Whether a class is boring or not still depends on the teacher, but almost all of them just ignore people who sleep through the class. There is one guy, though, who just screams randomly throughout the class; like he'll be teaching and yell a word really loud to wake people up then laugh and keep going. Oh, and there is this other teacher, named Ademir, who says, "bom dia" like 10 times at the beginning of class (good morning), and he kisses girls on the hand or the head (namely ex. student girls, as the others and I have figured out), and he is always using people's arms or heads or whatever to talk about geography. He carries around this metal stick that he uses as a pointer or to whack desks with when he makes a point, and he is always punching the board while he talks. He is really weird, but I like him. He is like 5'3" and has a very impressive mustache. They even have a group on Orkut, which is the Brazilian and Asian/Middle Eastern version of Myspace and Facebook, for people who "love Ademir's bom dia." I'm in it, haha.

We don't have to do anything in school, and it's unsufferably boring. Gerardo has the newest workbook, and I asked him to give it to me so that I can have something to do other than pass notes/stupid drawings with him, read, write letters, and sleep. It took me awhile to get used to sleeping in school since I have probably only slept in school like 5 times in my life (all of which during Latin, haha, oh, no, I remember falling asleep in science in 10th grade once too), but all the people in my class sleep too, so oh well. I don't blame them, either, because all it is is lecute and note-taking. There is no class involvement and almost no interaction unless it's one of the cool teachers who teaches half the time and just hangs out with the guys half the time. I always pay attention in the calsses like geopraphy and history because I can understand them almost all of the time (they write the notes on the board while they lecture, which helps), but the physics and chemisty looses me, haha.

I think that's about it. Oh, quick funny story:

Today I went to the bakery with my host mom, and when we got back she got out first and yelled to me not to get out of the car. I was like all worried because I didn't know why, and she told me there was something there that I didn't understand (I didn't know the word), so I was all nervous. I looked and didn't see anything, so I asked her what it was and she said a little animal (uma animalzinha, haha), so I got out slowly, and there was this tiny little frog stuck on the wall by the door. I thought maybe it was poisonous because she told me to come to the other side of the car with her quickly, so I asked if it was dangerous, and she said no, it would (some word I didn't get), and then started making hopping motions with her hand, and I figured out that she was just really scared of frogs, haha. Then she threw rocks at it, but it didn't move, so we had to spray it with the hose out of the garage so we could go inside. It was really funny, I thought, but she was feraked out, haha.

Oh, and another thing. Rain - or a severe lack thereof. It has finally rained a little, but only a little. It hadn't rained for almost 3 months, and in a week or two they were going to start rationing water. It is so dry, and sometimes I wake up with a soar throat because the air is so dry. We need a really big storm, so hopefully we will get it; as of now it's just been a few drizzles. It has been cooler this week too, which is nice. They keep telling me to wait until summer when I complain about the heat, but I don't even want to think about summer. I am sad that I will come home to more heat next year, haha - I want some snow!

As always, I hope you are well. I have to go because I have school tomorrow. Blahhhhh. Being here makes me feel bad for people who always hated school. I have hated it for a month and a half and it's very tiresome to wake up and go do something you hate... It makes me want to write research papers.... Well, kinda. I write my fill on here, haha.

Muito Amoooooor!

Alanna

My First Concert Here and A New View of 9/11

Wow, I need to update more... Oh, and on a personal note: Mom, can you start printing these out so that I can have them when I get back, please?

Hello, all. I hope things in the states are well. I haven't read or watched the news once since I arrived, so the White House could have burned down, and I probably wouldn't know about it. I will be very poorly informed when I arrive in time for voting season; although since none of them tell the truth, I don't know how much it matters anyway, haha...

Things here continue to go well, although I am starting to enter the phase of homesickness/cultureshock where everything stops being so exciting and I get irritable. This, of course, is just by the books, but I have been a little bit more on edge lately than I was before. I feel restless when I am not doing something, and while I feel badly about wanting to be out all the time instead of at home, there is pretty much nothing for me to do here except watch TV, read, and be on the internet, which gets old. Plus, I am trying to cut back on my internet time, and the temptation gets too strong when I sit around for too long.

I'm still happy, though, no worries. That is really all I have to complain about. My grandparents were living in the house last week, which wasn't too bad, but I was very happy to see my parents again Sunday morning (as was my host sister, but she was rather more vociferous about it, haha). My grandparents are very kind people, but I prefer the normal life, for sure. However, I had to wait another week to go to the Tennis Club to sign up, and that was a little bit frustrating. We went today, though, to get a list of classes, times and prices, so tomorrow or Thursday I think I will be going in to get a small exam (weight, height, bodyfat %, etc) in order to start going to the gym in the afternoons when my host sister goes to English or ballet. The gym is $35 reals ($17.50) for the first month and $R30 for the following months, so I think that's pretty good. I have to pay another $30 for the initial start, but I have barely spent any money in anticipation of these costs, so it will be fine. They have a long list of classes, but I still want to do Capaoiera. They have an all women's class twice a week, so I hope I can do that starting here pretty soon.

Last week I went out and about every afternoon/evening (I have to be home by 10:30, which is a little bit annoying b/c it's earlier than pretty much everyone else - we don't have to do anything in school, anyway), which included a little pool party at my Mexican friend, Annia's house (the pic is of, clockwsie from front, Caio - Brazil, Gerardo - Mex., me, Tania - Mex., and Annia - Mex. after swimming), a birthday party/watch soccer party for Iván a Mexican guy (Brazil beat Mexico despite the 4 Mex. exchangers' yelling and waving flags around, though, haha), watching Little Miss Sunshine (my new favorite movie - it's so awesome), and general hanging out mostly with other ex. students, but with some Brazilians as well. Haha, our parents go crazy because the girls that I hang out with most regularly and I go as follows: Anna, Tania, Johanna, and Alanna, so when we talk on the phone no one can tell whose name we are trying to say. Friday was Presidente Prudente's 90th birthday, so I had no school, and Thursday night was the Babado Novo concert.

It was awesome!!!

I went with two Brazilian girls who are in my class and who both studied in the US last year with Rotary, Natalia and Marina, and we hung out with a bunch of other girls that they know and I recognized, mostly from school. It was an all girls sort of night, which was cool. They took very good care of me - making sure I didn't get lost, that I knew how to dance, that I was included, that I was happy, etc. I was actually a little bit irritated earlier that night because they went to Tennis Club to hang out before and I couldn't go, so I had to wait until after 11 for them to even pick me up, but in the end I was really glad I did. They definitely showed me a good time. We also ran into a few o my ex. student friends, including a girl from Cali. that I really like, and who I have been wanting to see ever since the initial conference. I think she is going to come in for a friend of mine's party here in a few weeks.

The concert itself had a different vibe from any that I've been to in the US. There were two areas, VIP and regular. I was VIP, which meant that I was allowed to go down onto the ground instead of having to stay in the stands - it didn't get anymore VIP than that. As I have learned about Brazil, schedules and organization are generally of very little importance, haha. The concert ticket said that it started at 9, but we got there at about 11:30PM, and the "show" didn't start until 1:15AM, haha. Up until that point they played dance music, sold drinks, and tried to shove everyone into the gate; it was, essentially, like a big outdoor dance party with 11,00 people. Actually getting in was a slightly different story. Back to the point about organization, this was how it was set up: There were two open doors with guys at each taking your ticket and giving you a wristband and a bandana, which denoted you VIP or regular. In front or those two doors was a giant mass of people shoving their way in. That was pretty much it. So, for about 15minutes, the girls and I all locked arms and slowly shoved our way toward the front, totally smashed into one another and the random people around us. It would have been rather uncomfortable had we not been laughing the whole time about how ridiculous it was, haha.

After we got in we ran into 50 people we had to stop and say 'oi' to (saying hi to people gets tiresome here because you have to keep your face tilted at this weird angle to give and receive cheek kisses, haha), and then we went down to the field (which was really the blacktop area) to hang out and dance. Oh, I think I forgot to mention that it was at the soccer stadium outside of town, and that 11,000 people filled about 1/4 of it, maybe. The dance music here, might I add, is far superior to American club music/radio crap (unless they play American club music, which they do about 1/2 the time). They have this genre called funk, which is like hip hop except way better, haha. I will see if I can put a playlist on here so you can hear some of it, although, I warn you, you probably don't want to translate most of it, haha. I have very serious trouble dancing to it correctly, but I will learn eventually. I think you have to be somewhat intoxicated to really get it, anyway.

Once the actual band came out nothing really changed. Brazilians are very social, and they tend to like to pay more attention to the people around them than anything else, it seems like. We only watched it about half the time. The whole thing had more of a festival feel than a concert feel, and although there were a lot of people there, it wasn't packed, which was nice. The band was very good, though, upbeat and fun, and they put on a good show. There was one dance where everyone held hands and ran really fast from side to side, and that was a little crazy, haha; I basically just held on and let them drag me. Actually a good bit of the music here has a specific dance you do with it that they tell you in the song, but, as I can't undersatand what they're saying and can't dance anyway, it doesn't do me much good, haha.

Hmm, I feel like there is more I could say, but I will stop there, I'm sure you can't get as excited about it as I can, haha.

The music ended at about 3:35, and one of the girls' dad took us al home. I got in bed at 4:20, and didn't wake up until 1:00 the next day, haha. I was sooo tired. I have been just a little bit sick anyway with a headcold, which makes me tired, so after we went and ate lunch I came home and went back to bed from 3-5, haha.

Saturday I went to a girl named Gabi's house; she goes to my school and lives in my neighborhood. Actually - I have to tell you about this real quick - I had gone to her house for lunch Tues. afternoon, and after that I went to the supermarket with her family, and it was the craziest trip to the supermarket ever, haha. There were four of us, and we each got a cart, and we each filled the cart completely, and basically ran through the store grabbing things we needed and looking at various lists and yelling to eachother in Portuguese. In the end we had 4 totally full carts and almost $R950 worth of stuff. It took us like 20 minutes to check out, haha, and the girl was about my age, so we carried on a borken sort of conversation. It was seriously insane.

Anyway, we had a little churrasco Saturday (again, Brazilian BBQ, but you better get used to the word because I go to them like 3x a week, haha) with her girlfriends and Tania, and that night Tania and a few other friends came to my house and we walked around the lake by my house and watched a movie...

Oh man, and on Sunday I blew up the glass cover on the stove! It was aweful! I didn't really think about lifting it up because I am used to glass-covered elexctric stoves, but this was most definitely a conventional stove, and you most definitely are supposed to move the glass thing, and, as a result of my stupidity, it most definitely exploded all over the kitchen. They didn't yell at me or anything, but I don't think my host dad was too happy. He spent like 1/2 hour cleaning it up. The kitchen was seriously covered in glass. It was really scary. It made this loud bang and glass pieces flew all at me. Luckily no one got hurt, though. I was the only one in the kitchen, and when my host sister came in because I screamed, we just looked at eachother with our mouths hanging open and started to laugh. I was like, "Eu não sei que falar!" which means, "I don't know what to say", so we just left and got our parents, haha.

Ok, I think I'm getting too in depth here, I know you guys just want basics and culture and stuff...

I saw my friend Dayna, who is Canadian, at the show, and she was staying in Prudente for the weekend (she lives about 1hr away), so we hung out a little bit. She introduced me to a munch of her friends, who all attend a different school, and one girl invited us to come stay at her house Thursday night and go to school with her Friday. I am looking forward to doing that - it will be cool to see what another school is like. Then Dayna is going to stay at my house for the weekend because her town is tiny and boring, haha, so hopefully we an find something to do. A lot of my friends went to a town called Londrina last weekend for a giant costume party (25,ooo people) called Metamorphosis, so there wasn't as much to do as usual. I wish I could have gone, but it was way too expensive, and we have strict travelling rules anyway.

Another quick funny story: today a few people came over and we ate a little Mexican food (the Mexicans and I all miss it soooo much, and Johanna - German -has never really eaten it), and when my friend Gerardo's aunt was dropping him off she locked the keys in the car wile it was running with a dog inside. It was really funny. We waited for like 20 minutes outside trying to get the dog to unlock the doors while her sister came with an extra key. She is Japanese, so we also got a little language lesson, haha.

Ok, now on to culture. I hadn't really thought about doing 9/11 on here, but then it came and I realized it would be sort of a neat idea.

As I said, I have not been paying any attention at all to what is going on at home, and that includes not paying any attention to the fact that it was 9/11. I never really need to know the date, so I didn't even realize it was until that evening at Iván's party. I said that it was weird for me to have gone all day and not heard a thing about it, and that it was actually kind of nice. I didn't realize how insensitive of a statement that was until the people I was talking to looked at me like I was crazy.

All the others remembered exactly where they were when 9/11 happened, and Johanna said that she cried when she saw the videos. Most of them had been let out of school, and had spent the evening at home with their parents glued to the TV. They remember it every bit as clearly as I do, and it affected them just as mush as it did me, I believe. I was the only one, however, whose principal had decided to make the whole school turn off their TVs and pretend like nothing had happened. I don't remember even seeing a video of it until a few days after it happened, and I didn't understand what it means until a few years after it happened.

We all did agree that we were too young to be overly-concerned, but the fact that they took it every bit as seriously as we do erally struck me for some reason. I knew that the world was watching in the aftermath of the attack, but I didn't realize how much it really did care - I didn't think about a bunch of 11 and 12yr olds in Germany, Mexico, and Brazil huddled around the TV with their families. They all had their moments of silence in school and their prayers in church, and they all understand what it meant just as much as I do. In fact, two of them had rather direct connections with people who worked in the World Trade Center (one is American, though, he lives in Calfi., the other was Johanna), although neither of them were killed.

Just to tell you, I know you already know this, and so did I, but just to reinforce it - the world really hates Bush. They don't blame it on me or anything, but they tell me, flat out, we all hate your government, and we all hate the war. I just tell them that I don't like it either, and that hopefully the new election will bring about some good changes. Although, just as a note, the Brazilians I have talked to here don't like their president, Lula, either - they don't like that he uses their tax money to give to poor people (sound familiar?), so he was elected becuase the poor people love him. Being American in a different country is interesting. It's like I don't feel as foreign as everyone else because everyone already knows about our problems. They've been to NYC, they follow our elections, and they love our movie stars. Sometimes I find the anonymity of being Hungarian or Swedish to be much more alluring than having to carry around the associations that come with being an American.

It's not that they don't like me, or don't like us, or don't like our country, it's just that I almost feel like our privacy is being invaded, or, rather we are constantly invading theirs. I am really not into this whole Americanization thing. I really don't miss Wal-Mart (we have none) or SUVs (I have probably seen under 150 since I've been here, and that includes São Paulo). I do appreciate our way of life, and that part of the reason we are so omnipotent is because we do a lot to help others, and that my ability to even be here is supported by the fact that everyone in the world drinks Coke, but having to watch MTV everyday in a country that has so much more to offer gets to me sometimes.

I know that I am not the first person to gripe about this. Not in the least. But now that I am here to see it I am startint to fully appreciate it, I think. Well no, not fully, but I am starting to. I think I will have to join the Peace Corps before I can make any serious statements.

Hmm, sorry about that, I didn't mean to go on so much, but it's on my mind. I appreciate every one of you, even if you are ignorant Americans :-P... JUST KIDDING. Sometimes I get myself into trouble with the sarcasm here, so I just thought I'd make it clear that I don't really think you are ignorant.

Thanks for reading, as always, and dealing with my verboseness. I hope you enjoyed. I will have more pics up on Flickr soon. I am in a little bit of trouble for going out too much, so I will have all afternoon/evening/night tomorrow to do it.

Beijos! (kisses)
<3 Alanna a Americana

Finally Staring to get into Life Here and Having a Maid

Alright, it's been awhile, but I'm finally starting to be kinda busy, yay! Let's see, the last time I wrote was Aug 30, a Friday.... Wow, a lot has happened since then.

School has been the same - rather boring, but it helps me with my listening. There's another exchange student in my class who's from Mexico, but he speaks very good English because he lives on the border and has gone to school in the US since he was a little kid, so I talk to him most of the time. A few of the girls in my class also talk to me on a regular basis; however, most of them talk to me in English, so I haven't been practicing my Portuguese as much as I should. We are going on a school trip to a big amusement/rollercoaster park later this month, and that should be a lot of fun. I'm excited about it. School is somewhat more informal than it is at home (teachers are called by their first names, and the class is pretty relaxed), but the students are expected to take a very active role in their own education, I think. At the end of the year the oldest students take a big test called the Vestibular, and they have to get a certain score in order to get into college. The state schools here are better than private schools, but they are very competitive, so you have to work hard to get in. I will cover the school system more thouroughly later.

Since my last post I have finally gotten a bit of a social life, and my first party was the Saturday night following my last post. It was, for better or worse, essentially the same as a party I would have gone to at WVU, I think. The drinking age here is 18, so it's pretty much a mix of high school and college aged people. Some people drink, some people don't - you just have to hang out with the right people, and you'll be fine. I hang out with other exchange students and some of their friends, so everyone is very cool, and no one cares whether you want to drink or not. Don't worry everyone!!! I'm just as safe here as I would have been in college - actually, since my parents are pretty protective, it may be even better. The people here just want to dane, talk, and have a good time, so it's nice. There's really no pressure.

That Sunday I went out to the family farm for a traditional BBQ (the pic of me on this post is at the Currasco - meat fresh out of the grill), which is called a Churrasco (chu-hass-ko), and learned why people like to eat meat. As some of you know and some of you don't, I really am not a big meat-eater; I will pretty much always choose fish or chicken, and I have never ordered a steak. In fact, usually when I have to watch people eat steak it grosses me out. However, they have this meat here called picaña, and it is delicious. I don't know if it's the way they prepare it or what, but I ate it until I was stuffed, haha. The farm itself was very beautiful; I took a lot of pictures, which I have to post on my Flickr at some point. It wasn't that big, but it was very cozy and well-kept. They had a lovely garden, lots of fruit trees and flowers growing all over the place, and a nice view of the countryside. My mãe (mom) and her sister and 2 brothers grew up there.

I went to the Rotary meeting for my host Rotary club, which was less than exciting, but it wasn't too bad. There are a few clubs in my city, and mine hosts me, a Mexican girl named Tania, a German girl named Johanna, a German guy named Tobias (Tobi), who was only short term and left Friday, and a French girl named Lucie. The Brazilian students who went on exchange last year were also there, and we all sat together and talked, it was nice to meet everyone again. I met some of them at the big Rotary conference, but there were so many people it was hard to really get to know anyone.

One of the Brazilian guy's dad got me a membership at an acadamia (a YMCA type-thing) called Tennis Club, where they have a lot of classes and stuff, so I will hopefully start going there this week to work out and maybe sign up for Capaoiera, which is a Brazilian martial art that I would like to get into. It is half dance, half martial arts; it was created by the slaves here because they weren't allowed to practice their old martial arts for fear of revolt, so they made it look like it was just dance. You can find lots of videos of it at Youtube.com - just search for capaoiera. I'm looking forward to that, although I might have to do something else because the class is from 6-7, and my sister's classes all end at 6, so my mom doesn't want to have to wait around for an hour after my sister is done. They might have a Samba class or something that ends at 6, and that would be cool too. I'll go check it out.

The only problem is the money. I only get $50, or 100 reais ($R) a month, and to go to the gym and take a class is $30/month, which is a really good rate, but when you have to live on $50 it's a bit much. I also really want to take Portuguese classes, but that will be almost $30 as well, so I'm not sure what I should do. I'm sure it'll get worked out, but it's a little bit frustrating. Actually, I am planning to ask my pai if he can look into the Rotary clubs paying for us to take Port. classes, becuase there are about 7 of us interested in taking a class together from the same teacher, and he will charge $R385/month (about $190) that we can all slpit between us. So, if the clubs are willing they could just aplit it between them, and I don't think that's too unreasonable. I hope they would be willing to do that.

I made chocolate chip cookies last week with a few of my friends, and then I learned to play a Mexican card game that is a lot of fun. My host family loved the cookies I brought with me, but the brown sugar here is a little bit different so these didn't turn out as well. They are still good though, and I think I will make some more today to sell at the neighborhood BBQ tomorrow. They have a churrasco every other Monday night for the neighborhood, and my mãe suggested that I do that to make some extra money.

I went to a few other parties last week - a going away party for the German guy, Tobi, a churrasco that was only for ex. students, and another churrasco at a Brazilian friend of mine's house and then stayed with Annia and Tania at Annia's house (two Mexican girls), so I have been keeping busy. Last night there was a mini-music festival here that I really wanted to go to, but it was $R30, so I decided to use the money for going to the gym or Capaoiera instead, and went to Tania's house to watch a movie. She lives in my neighborhood, about a five minute walk from my house, so that's convenient.

This week my host parents are out of town for my pai's (dad's) work, so his parents are staying here with Paula and me. He travels around, and my mãe usually stays here, but I think he is just very tired and lonely. I think he hasn't been able to take very many breaks lately, so he wanted some company. Both of my parents work for their fathers' companies. My avo (grandfather) on my pai's side owns a music store, so my pai travels selling their equipment and going to fairs, etc. I haven't been inside the store itself yet, but we've driven by a few times, and it looks very nice. My avo on my mãe's side owns several factories, but I can't remember what they produce. I think it's something rather industrial - rubber, or something like that. She is an accountant there, and she said it's very boring. Her brothers and sister also work at the factories. Everyone on both sides of the family is well-off because they are successful entrepeneurs, and I think they have worked hard to become so.

Hmm, I think that's pretty much what has been going on. This Friday there is no school because it is the city's birthday (there was no school last Friday either in celebration of indepencdence day, which isn't really celebrated here at all, except that there's no school or work - I think maybe they did fireworks in São Paulo, but that's it, haha), and I am going to a concert with a few girls from my class and a few ex. students. My host parents were kind enough to get me the ticket, and I'm really excited to go. It's a band called Babado Nova, and it's traditional Brazilian dance music. They told me it's pretty much country, but it's a lot of fun to go dance. I don't know how to dance, but hopefully I will learn. They keep trying to teach me at parties, but it's sort of hard. They say here that Americans have no rhythm (which, compared to Latinos, most of them don't), but that I will learn eventually, haha.

Actually, being labeled an American is one of the strangest things about being here. I'm definitely not accustomed to being a minority, and, eventhough it's not a big deal to them, it's a strange feeling. The weirdest thing is being called gringa, which can be offensive, but when I get called that they are just kidding. Mostly I get called that in school - they also call Mexicans that, so they say 'oi gringos' (oi is hey or hi) or 'tchao gringos' (bye) or whatever. I'm not offended by it. It's just weird.

Okay, here's my bit of culture for this post: having a maid.

Having a maid is one of the biggest cultural differences I have to face, which is mainly, I think, because a lot of the differences are subtle, and don't come into your room to put your clothes away for you and make the bed. In the morning, when we're leaving for school, you can see all the maids walking to our subdivision to go to work, and they have a special "service" entrance where they check in. I guess they are basically considered 2nd class citizens, but they told us before we came to think of is as their opportunity to support themselves and their families, and that most of the appreciate that. I'm not sure how easy is it to move up in social class here, but my suspicion is that their kids usually end up doing similar work as well. I don't know, but from what I've seen that seems most likely.

Our maid's name is Beth (bech). She's probably in her late 20s, is married, and is very nice; I like her a lot as a person, but she has messed up a few of my clothes in the wash, which is a little bit irritating. Actually, sometimes when I get bored I wish I had to do laundry just for something to do - I have pretty much no responsibilities here, and I get antsy because of it. When I try to help, though, she tells me not to - I think she just prefers that I let her do her job, though, so I stay out of it. It's still weird for me, though, to be sitting there reading or watching TV while she cleans my bathroom, and I am not totally comfortable with it. As I told my dad, though, if the worst thing I have to deal with is akward convenience I guess I don't have too much to compain about, haha.

She likes company, though, and whenever I'm around she talks to me. It's funny, because it takes us like twice as long to have a conversation as it would normally, and it's a lot of my smiling apologetically, leaning in closer, and asking her to repeat everything she says. We're getting there, though, and I appreciate it, really, because she's one of the very few people who speaks to me solely in Portuguese. She told me that she always wanted to learn English, but was never able to. I think that learning English is really a big key to success here, and I find that almost everyone my age can speak it well enough to carry on a conversation with me. This isn't always the case with older people, but they can all say hello. I love talking to my Brazilian friends on the computer, because it's always a funny mixture of my bad Port. and their bad English. Haha, my favorite thing is that instead of saying 'haha', they say 'uhauhauha' (that was directly copied from a conversation I'm having at the moment!), which to me really doesn't resemble laughter all that well. I just sort of imagine this weird sound, haha.

Well, I have to get to bed. As always, thanks for listening, and I will write sometime in the next week or so - I have to tell you about the concert!

tchao and beijos! (bye and kisses)

<3 Alanna