It's That Time of Year

Last time you heard from me I was getting ready to go on vacation with my host brother, switch families, and start a whole other portion of my exchange here in Brazil. That has all passed now, quite quickly in fact, which is partly why I haven't had much time to fit in a blog post.

For vacation, my brother and I went to Maceio, a coastal city in the northeast of Brazil. We were there for about ten days. We took day trips to visit cool tourist locations nearby, rode little carts on the beach, went snorkeling, played frisbee on the beach, got sunburned, got more sunburned, and all in all just had a great time. We stayed in a cheap hotel, about a block from the beach. The hotel wasn't by any means fancy, or expensive, but ended up being perfect for us. Not only is the landscape there different, with the beach, the tall apartment building and hotels, but the people are different as well. I was told that their accent was different, but it was SUUUPPPPERRRR different, much more than I had expected. They people seemed to be a little more laid back as well, and unfortunately I saw a lot more people living on the street. I didn't know this, but Maceio has 120 favelas. For those of you who don't know what a favela is, favelas are 'shanty towns' often located outside of big urban areas. They are very poor, very dangerous areas. Maceio has 120 of them! On a brighter note, the food in Maceio was great. I got to eat a lot of fresh seafood. Yum right? 

After getting back from vacation, it was time to switch families. Switching families turned out to be a little more difficult than I had thought it would be. Imagine that. But after a couple of weeks in my new house I am beginning to warm up to the new surroundings, the new schedule and rhythm of this family.  I am excited to build relationships with the people here at my new home, but I am definitely missing my first family, and I don't think I will ever be able to duplicate the relationship I made with them. 

Three weekends back, the Rotaract club here in my city helped out at what was a essentially a 'publicity fair' for the Federal Deputy here, Neilson Leitao. There were a bunch of games for kids, free ice cream, bands playing. It was located in a poor neighborhood here in my city. Our club went and helped hand out ice cream and popsicles and it was a really nice event to be a part of.

Two weekends back. the Rotaract club had another activity for us to do. We drove into a different poor neighborhood here in Sinop with a couple trucks full of toys, tents, trampolins, cotton candy machines, popcorn machines, and a buuuuuuuuunch of pop, water and cups. We set up our own little christmas fair for the kids and families in that neighborhood. It was a very enlightening experience. We handed out little dolls, painted flowers on the cheeks of cute little girls, and tried to keep the bigger boys from knocking over santa with their hugs when he arrived. The smiles on some of those kids' faces as Santa (our rotary club president) picked them up and handed them a little $4 soccer ball was something I will never forget.

Last week we had our second exchange student gathering in the capital of our state. Unfortunately, not all of the exchange students were able to make it, but the majority of us were there. I am not able to explain with words how much fun we all have when we are together. We have grown into an extremely diverse, slightly immature at times, family that is constantly laughing. We stayed in a mansion that is owned by a rotarian who lives in Cuiaba (the capital city). We had two pools, a sauna, a whole team of chefs and cleaning ladies, and most importantly, 17 of our best friends from all around the world. If the Mayans had been correct, and had the world ended on December 21st, I don't think I could have asked for a better, more fun, or more interesting group of people to spend my last days with. 

While we were all in Cuiaba, we went to a "Casa de Papai Noel" or "House of Santa", which was full of lights and christmas decorations. Christmas doesn't seem to be a super big deal here in Brazil, or at least not as important as it is in the US, so I haven't seen very many houses with lights, or decorations, etc... We entered the house and were surprised to see reporters there, ready to interview and film us. They interviewed one person from every country, and had us all say "Merry Christmas" in our native language. We were filmed by the channel GLOBO, which is a nation wide channel, and the special on us was on tv this morning. Unfortunately the interview I did wasn't in the special, but they did include a clip of my me saying "Merry Christmas". Yay I made it on tv!

I arrived home a couple of days ago and have been trying come to the terms with the fact that I will step outside christmas morning and be bombarded by a wave of 95-100 degree heat. I was swimming in my pool this morning, got out, and was reading by the pool, gettin' my tan on and all, when I realized that it's christmas eve day. It's christmas eve day and I was swimming, trying to COOL DOWN. I have to admit that this time of year, the holidays, is proving to be a little difficult. I'll log on to facebook and see a bunch of friends reuniting back in MN, back home from college for the holidays, while I'm still trying to create a relationship with the family I am living with. I am also definitely going to miss waking up with my family christmas morning, opening presents together, and then all heading to my aunts house for the huge family reunion with all the extended family. 

This next paragraph doesn't only apply to me, but I think to a lot of other exchange students as well. When I speak to people back in the states, almost everyone says "Oh my gosh! Your pictures make it look like you're having such a great time in Brasil!".  Exchange is full of great times and great experiences, and those experiences are normally what I write about here in my blog, or post pictures of on my Instagram, Facebook or Flickr. But along with those moments when you think to yourself "I am NEVER EVER leaving Brazil, EVER!", come the moments where all you want to do is go into your room, lie down, sleep and hope tomorrow will be better. At our Rotary orientations this past spring, we (the exchange students) were told that we would experience somewhat of a "roller-coaster of emotions". Turns out what they said is true. We, as exchange students, don't write about the hours we spending reading alone in our room, or the moments where we wish we were back in the states, speaking english with our friends and family.

I am absolutely loving my exchange, but I just wanted to give you all a little insight on the fact that the great moments; the vacations to the northeast coast, the parties, the exchange students gatherings, etc, don't come without the difficult moments. 

In order to not end on such a serious note, I would like to say CONGRATULATIONS to all of the students back in Northfield who just received their Rotary acceptance letters. Most importantly, Elise Hanson, WHO IS COMING TO BRAZIL NEXT YEAR!! WOOOT!! I remember the day I got my letter. I was standing in my kitchen, next to the front door, opening the letter with my Mom. The second I realized I got my first choice, Brazil, I was overwhelmed with excitement and of course had to send a text to every person I had ever met, ever, telling them that I had just become a future outbound. haha. I wish you all the best with your preparation for your upcoming year abroad, and as always, my email and facebook inboxes are forever open if you have any questions!

Coming up.

For New Years, a couple of exchange students from the south of my district are coming up to visit.
On January 8th, I am headed on my Northeast trip where I will be traveling from city to city in the northeast of Brazil for 22 days with 103 other exchange students. Sofie Scheuerman is going to be on the same trip, which is really exciting. It will be nice to see a familiar face.

Until next post. 

A Change of Role

First, I would like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my little sister Sophia. She turned fifteen yesterday and is getting old so fast I can hardly believe it. She is turning into such a mature young woman. I'm proud of you Soph!

Last Friday my two host brothers and I began the seven hour car ride south to the capital of my state, Cuiaba. There were sooooo many semi-trucks on the road between here and Cuiaba, it was crazy. We must of passed hundreds during the trip. At the airport in Cuiaba we picked up my friend Annika Hanson who some of you may know. She came to visit for about a week and experience Mato Grosso (my state), a state which is hugely different from her location up on the northeast coast. We headed out early Saturday morning for a location near Cuiaba called Chapada dos Guimaraes. It's a national park area in my state with a bunch of beautiful plateaus and waterfalls. We spent all day Saturday driving around the park, sightseeing, taking way too many pictures and going swimming in the waterfalls. It was really an awesome experience. 

Chapada dos Guimaraes

It was an interesting change of role to be the 'host' instead of the 'guest' while Annika was staying with us. We talked a lot about the differences in our exchange experiences so far and also about the differences between where we are both living. Telling Annika about my life here and about the culture that I have learned to live in gave me an interesting sense of pride that I had never felt before in relation to Brazil and my city/state. Because she lives so much farther north than I do, our Portuguese accents are very different and we had a fun time comparing our different ways of speak and comparing the different slang that we have learned.

As Annika is a much better cook than I will ever be, we decided to cook a few american things for my family while she was here. On Tuesday night, I made omelets (again, because that's the only thing I know how to make) and she made pancakes and we had a very typical american breakfast for dinner. Then on Thursday we both woke up early and made a Thanksgiving lunch for my family. It didn't compare to the average Thanksgiving potluck provided by the Surratt family back in MN, but it was something. We made mashed potatoes, cornbread, brownies (for dessert with ice cream) and my host mom helped us make a turkey. It was really delicious and definitely made me crave the jello, stuffing, gravy and the tiny little bacon wrapped hotdog thingys that usually go along with my Thanksgiving meal back in Minnesota. 

Thanksgiving Lunch

All in all, the week was very enjoyable and provided for a lot of good conversation about our different exchanges and many other things as well. My host family was overly helpful and amazing in allowing Annika to stay here and in making room for an extra person in the house. Obrigado Mae, Graciano, Gabriel e Belinha kkkkkk.

Thank you Mom and family for the awesome package I received in here Brazil last Friday. I love receiving letters from you guys, and of course, MORE BOOKS! Woo!

Coming up:

I'm off to the northeast coast on Tuesday with my host brother for ten days of getting sunburned and playing frisbee on the beach. I am really excited to travel and spend some quality time with my host brother before I have to switch families in December.

Until next post

1/3 down, 2/3 to go.

Hello all,
It's been over a month since my last post so I am forcing myself to sit down and grind something out. I am almost a third of the way through my exchange and I can barely believe it. The last time you heard from me I had just turned 19 and was still in school. Since then a lot has happened. Here is my attempt to fit 35 days into a couple paragraphs.

The weekend after my birthday, the Interact club from my city hosted a camping trip event at a small farm a little ways out of town. Interact is Rotary's service club for young people ages 12-18. The larger Rotary organization can offer support and guidance, but from what I understand, Interact is self-governed and self-supporting. I was dropped off on Saturday afternoon at the place where Rotary meetings are held and was introduced to Celso, who would be the adult in charge of supervising the trip. We arrived at the 'campsite' at about three o'clock in the afternoon and my goodness, I swear you could have fried an egg on the sidewalk, had there been one. There were plenty of little kids there, and thankfully some older kids who were 17 and 18 years old. It took a while to become comfortable with the kids there. It's not always easy to jump right into friendships, especially when there is somewhat of a language barrier involved. But after a while we were all smiling and getting along just fine. One thing I enjoyed about this group was that they weren't constantly battering me with questions and allowed me some time to ask them a lot of questions and learn more about life here in Brazil. Our conversations felt more like, well, conversations and not interviews. As night crept closer we had churrasco (Brazilian barbecue) and sang while someone played the guitar. I learned popular card game played here in Brazil called Truco, which reminded me of Bridge a little but had its differences. After cards we played 'Verdade ou Consequencia' which is the Brazilian version of 'Truth or Dare'. Before we knew it, it was 4am and we headed to bed. Keep in mind it was still probably 80 degrees Fahrenheit and completely dark. I crawled onto my pad, stripped down to my boxers and tried to sleep... Zzzzzzzzzzzz.... I woke up at about 5:30am exhausted and absolutely DRENCHED in sweat. Yes, I know it's disgusting. It's really really hot here. I woke up just in time to see the sunrise which was pretty stunning, especially since of a couple of friends were up and we watched it rise together. After every one had woken up we ate breakfast and I taught them how to play a couple cards games from back in the states. We took a quick dip in the pool, took a few pictures, and then all headed home.

My Portuguese is coming along bit by bit. The most exciting part of the process right now is that I am getting a lot better at writing and reading. I started reading the first harry potter book in portuguese which has proved to be quite a challenge, but the accomplished feeling I get from finishing a couple pages is well worth it. As far as writing goes, it is still the worst aspect of my portuguese, but it's coming along as well. I've started having more in-depth conversations with my Brazilian friends over Facebook and have started trying to discuss topics such as politics, economics and social policies.

Speaking of politics, I would like to talk a little bit about the election last week. I regret not sending in an absentee ballet, but I would have regretted it much more if everything hadn't turned out exactly how I wanted it to. I am very proud to be Minnesotan, not only because we are masters of the harsh winters and are all practically professional ice fisherman/fisherwomen, but also because the majority of us voted NO and kept Referendum 74 from passing. It was cool to see some Brazilians get excited about our presidential election back in the United States. I got a couple of 'Parabens!' (which means Congratulations) texts right after Obama was declared the winner because a lot of my friends knew I was rooting for him. I had an interesting realization because of the election. Everyone down here knows who the President of the United States is, but how many of you reading this blog know who the President of Brazil is? I understand that the United States is a very powerful country, and I am proud to be American because of this. But as much as this realization made me proud, it caused me to become a little embarrassed. Why does every kid here in Brazil know who our president is but only a fraction of kids (if any) in the states know who Dilma Rousseff, the president of Brazil, is? Do we deem it as unimportant? I get the vibe sometimes that we, as the United States of America, have this thought in our heads that we are better than everyone else. I mean sure, there are aspects of the US that might be considered 'better' than other countries, but we definitely have flaws. Being in one of those 'other countries' has helped me realize that a couple of us Americans could maybe learn a thing or two from becoming a little more educated on how people do things around the world, in countries that might not be as advanced as ours, as rich, or as arrogant. Maybe the way we do things isn't the best way. Just some food for thought.

School ended last week for me. Thank the lord. I enjoyed school, but mostly because of my friends there. Well actually, just because of my friends there. Waking up before 6am just really isn't my thing I don't think. My last week of school was full of a bunch of fun things. Last Tuesday we had this sort of party in class all day with cake and pop and a bunch of food. We just talked and ate and took pictures all day long. It was kind of an interesting situation. A lot of my classmates were crying and hugging and at times I felt like I didn't belong. They had been studying together for who know how many years, a lot, and I had only been there for two and a half months. We watched a video one of them had made about all the good memories they had all had together, and I couldn't help but think of my friends from back home and all the good times we have had. Mates4Life. It was definitely a fun day, but also a little difficult when it came to the 'missing home' category. After school we played a game called 'Futebol de Sabao' or 'Soapy Soccer'. We laid out these huge tarps on the soccer field and sprayed a bunch of water and soap on them, and then played soccer on them. It was essentially just a giant slip'n'slide without a hill and with soccer goals on either end. It was quite the fun time. Thursday morning my entire class, all 75 of us, woke up early to go watch the sun rise together. We drank coffee and little breakfast goodies as we watched the sun come up over a lake. Then to finish the week off, we had a party Thursday night  for our class. It was a nice send off, but I am definitely going to miss my friends from school. I won't be going to school with them next year because I was in 'senior year' here so all my friends just graduated. I also might be attending college here in Brazil next year instead of high school. Hopefully I can pull it off with my rotary club. It's an exciting possibility at least.

The Sunrise

'Soapy Soccer'

Class Party

Last weekend I was on a hotel boat for 3 days with all the other exchange students in my district. Since I live in a very rural part of Brazil, my district, district 4440, is composed of my entire state, the state of Mato Grosso. Mato Grosso is twice the size of California and has a population equal to Iowa, about 3 million. What I am trying to say is that our district is pretty spread out so it is hard for us exchange students to see each other very often. The weekend was SUPER fun. It's amazing how little time it takes for exchange students to become best friends. Our district has kids from the US, Mexico, Turkey, Slovakia, Denmark, Canada, France, Italy, Columbia, Ecuador and Germany. So it's quite the collection of culture and language when we all get together. I spoke english face to face with someone who speaks english as their native language for the first time since I've been here. A lot of my friends on exchange have the luxury of having another american exchange student in their town, but I do not, poor me right? It was really fun to finally be able speak english to someone besides a screen with a face on it and not have to worry about whether what I was saying was making sense or not. We slept on this hotel boat type thingy that had three levels. The bottom level was all rooms. The middle level had a big party/dining room, a bar, a kitchen and the captains quarters. Then the top level was just a covered deck with a mini bar. None of us slept very much over the course of the two nights. We took millions and bazillions of pictures with our native flags which was fun and provided for some pretty cool pictures. I was in a room with the boy from Turkey and one of the boys from Mexico (there are four), and in the room next to us was the other american boy and another Mexican boy. The five of us became really tight over the three days, not to say that I didn't become close with any of the others. At the end it was like we were all a big huge family. On the second night, we tied off at a big farm and received a presentation of all the different types of dance they have here in Brazil. Brazil really is full of culture and this dance demonstration reminded me of this. OH. We traded pins too. I finally have more pins than the three or so I received back in Minnesota from rotary. I am no longer embarrassed because of my lack of pins and am excited to trade and receive more. It was hard to say goodbye but hopefully we will all be able to see each other soon.

The clan

The three americans being nice and civil

The hotel boat

A presentation of Brazilian Samba

The mexican girl on exchange here in my city just about exploded from excitement yesterday because yesterday was 'Mexican Night' at one of the clubs in town. We all went, decked out in our Sombreros and danced the night away. There is a girl in my city who was on exchange in Mexico last year who came with us as well. It was really cool to see how excited she was about Mexican culture. She was speaking Spanish and loving every minute of it. Mexican culture had become part of her during her exchange last year and it was awesome to see how it stuck with her even though she is back in Brazil now. I hope Brazilian culture sticks with me when I return for the states like it stuck with her. Towards the end of the night, they started playing some more dance/party type music that I knew the words to. The DJ noticed this and called me up to the stage with him. I pretended to spin those DJ disk things (or whatever DJs do) and the whole crowd got a big kick out of it.

"Mexican Night" with our sombreros

Me, doin' what DJs do. 

Coming up:
My friend Annika from Northfield who is currently on exchange in Joao Pessoa, Paraiba, Brazil is coming to visit for about a week starting tomorrow.
Towards the end of November I am traveling to the northeast coast of Brazil with my younger host brother to spend 10 days on the beach in Maceio.
When I get back from that trip with my host brother I will be switching host families. I really like my host family I am with right now and I really don't want to switch, even though I know it's part of the whole 'rotary experience'. I'm sure it'll provide for an interesting blog post though!

Thanks for reading. Until next post.
Tchau

Sao Paulo, Two Months, and Birthday #19

Just as many others have before me, I would like to apologize for the lack of frequent blog posts. My american laziness has finally kicked in again, and the urge take a nap instead of write a post or do anything else productive prevails almost every day. Speaking of habits, I have definitely abandoned some old habits and acquired some new ones. For example, I have overcome the yearn to check Facebook every night before I go to bed, I no longer leave dirty clothes all around the house, I am not constantly on my cell phone, I wear jeans every single day, I have coffee every morning with breakfast, and speak of breakfast, I eat breakfast every morning. One that will really stick out to my Mom is that I always keep my clothes extra, super, organized and put away. If you happen run into my Mom after reading this, she will tell you that this is definitely a new habit. I can still hear her voice saying "Make sure you put your clothes away in your closet Avery! I'm not going to wash them again just because you let them fall on the floor!" :) Love you Mom. Hopefully I'll bring this habit back with me! I can't think of any more new habits at the moment, but every once in a while, I'll realize I did something "Brazilian" without thinking about it, which reminds me of how I am constantly growing and learning about a new way of life.

Speaking of growing and learning, I just finished a fantastic book called The Happiness Project. This book tackles the abstract concept of how to make yourself and others happier, and how to "change your life without changing your life". Now don't worry, just because I really enjoyed a book about how someone changed their life and made themself happier, does not mean that I am depressed and having a terrible time here in Brazil. I really am enjoying my time here and I am learning so many new things about myself. The book allows for a lot of self-evaluation and really gave me an opportunity to take a full circle look at what my exchange has done for me so far, and how I can conduct myself to make it as successful as possible in the many months to come. During our orientation back in the US, Rotary used the phrase "the roller-coaster of emotions" to describe the change in emotions almost every exchange students experiences during their year abroad. Of course every year is different for all the different exchange students, but I am certain that everyone's year is filled with a wide range of emotions. I am confident that all the things I learned from this book are going to help me with my own "roller-coaster of emotions", making my difficult times easier and my amazing times even more enjoyable. I ABSOLUTELY recommend this book to everyone, especially all you other exchange students. Download it on your kindle, read it online, read it in French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, I dont care, but read it. 

I mentioned in my last post that I would be traveling to Sao Paulo with my host mom and host sister, so here's the story.
Last Monday night at about 11pm we hopped on a double decker coach bus for an eight our bus ride to the capital of my state, Cuiaba. The seats reclined to an almost horizontal position and ended up being quite a bit more comfortable than the average airplane seat. The eight hour ride really wasn't too bad, considering I slept almost the entire time. I was kinda bummed that it was dark for the entire ride since I was hoping to get to see some of Mato Grosso's countryside, but I guess I'll just have to go on another trip soon so I can see it. Shoot, what a bummer. We arrived in Cuiaba at about 7am on Tuesday and waited for a while at the bus station until it was time to grab a taxi and head to the airport. We checked in and after a couple hours of waiting, boarded our plane to Sao Paulo. We arrived in Sao Paulo sometime during the afternoon on Tuesday and all took nap the second we got to our hotel. DEEP BREATH. Unfortunately this trip was a work trip and not a sightseeing trip. My host mom sells clothes from home. She travels to Sao Paulo about 6 or 7 times a year to buy clothes and then bring them back to Sinop and sell them for about twice as much as she bought them for. Clothes are a lot cheaper in Sao Paulo. The shopping frenzy began Wednesday morning at 3am (I guess that's when shopping time starts in Sao Paulo?) when we exited the hotel and headed to the Feira da Madrugada, which translates directly to "Fair of Dawn", which makes sense since we got their at about 3:30am while it was still dark and didn't get back to the hotel until about 9am. I won't go into too much because you are probably already bored, but essentially, for the next day and half, my host mom and host sister went absolutely nuts and did more shopping than I have ever seen anyone do in two days, I just tried to keep up. Keep in mind, they are shopping as part of their work, not just for fun. Fortunately, I was not shopping for work haha. I bought a good amount of stuff for myself including some jeans, a couple shirts, a backpack, some cologne, and some other little miscellaneous items. It's absolutely crazy how cheap everything is there! Anyways, after lugging seven huge sacks of clothes from the hotel, to the airport, to bus station and then back to the house during our voyage home, we were all exhausted! But it made for a very exciting adventure and provided for a lot of new experiences, so no regrets.

I received my first package here in Brazil last week. Thanks Mom! The package consisted of some new books, peanut butter MMMMMM, an american flag, my glasses I forgot at home (classic forgetful Avery), some M&Ms, and a special thanks to the Olstad family for sending along some frisbees. When Ultimate Frisbee become the national sport of Brazil, we will have you to thank!

October 5th marked two months in Brazil for me. At times it feels like it went by super quickly and sometimes it feels like it has 365 days instead of just 65. I have already learned so much about Brazilian culture and traditions, not to mention heaps and heaps about myself. Here are a couple things I have really enjoyed about Brazil and couple things I am especially missing from home. I could add more to both lists but here is a little taste.
Fav's in Brazil:
Everyone is always laughing
I really enjoying learning Portuguese
THE MEAT AND RICE
Riding on the back of my brothers motorcycle
My host family
The soccer
How I have started reading again

Things I miss from home:
Cold weather
Wearing sweatshirts
Not waking up at 5:30am
The Fam
How easy it was to spend a day with my best friends
English
Using a comforter when sleeping

Today is my 19th Birthday which makes today a little special, especially since it is my first birthday away from home. My first birthday away from Dairy Queen ice cream cake and dinner of my choice cooked by the one and only Janine Nelson. Although I'm missing my family at home a little more than normal today, my host family here in Brazil held a surprise birthday party for me last night and has done an amazing job making this a birthday to remember. I got home from playing volleyball last night with my younger brother, and my host mother told us we needed to go to the market to grab some things for her to make dinner. When we arrived back home after our trip to the market, my entire extended host family, consisting of my host mom, 4 host siblings, 2 host brothers in law, my host brother's fiance, 2 host nieces and 2 host nephews, were all waiting for me. I was TOTALLY surprised. They had set up the computer and were skyping with my family back in Northfield, which was a special treat. "Happy Birthday" was sung to me in both Portuguese and English and I was was able to introduce my entire family here in Brazil to my entire family back in Northfield. It was really a special night and I really am thankful for all the work that everyone from both of my families put into making it such a experience for me. Not to mention the cake and all the delicious little finger food!

Ive got a bunch of pictures from my trip to Sao Paulo and the surprise birthday party last night. So check them out on Facebook or Flickr if your interested!

Until next post. Tchau.




 

Oh my god, Avery cooked something?

Well hello again.
I know I titled my last post "Settled In" but I have been here for almost two months (doesn't that just automatically make me half Brazilian?) and am even more settled in and very comfortable with my situation. Life is pretty normal here so there isn't too much to talk about, but I'll try and hit on some things that I haven't told you about yet.

Life here is a lot simpler than my life back in the United States. I say this for a couple of reasons. Here, people aren't constantly running around trying to cram as many things into their day as humanly possible. Most nights, at about 6 or 7pm, we decide what we want to eat for dinner and then one or two of us walk about a block down to the little market to buy just what we need for dinner and breakfast the next day. We live on more of a day by day basis. Here, I spend more time at home, more time reading, more time doing simple things that I didn't leave time for while I was in the US.

Speaking of reading, I used to be quite the reader. I probably read all of the Harry Potter books at least three times each, and if you go waaaaay back, I used to be a huge Magic Tree House fan. Unfortunately, when I entered High School and started filling my free time with friends, girls (shhhh), soccer, and all the other freedoms that come with being older and having a car, I stopped reading for pleasure. Here in Brazil, my downtime has increased exponentially compared to the downtime I left for myself back in Northfield and I use a lot of this downtime to read. I am really glad I have this opportunity because I absolutely love it. I forgot that when I read while laying on my back and holding my book above me, my hand gets sore after a little while. I forgot how my contacts get dry after about 50 straight pages. I have been reunited with my love of reading, and I am fairly certain that this wouldn't have happened if I had moved straight from my busy lifestyle in Northfield to a busy college lifestyle. Just another fantastic thing about Rotary Youth Exchange.

IT FINALLY RAINED. So, after about five weeks of living in sauna-esque heat all day every day, I was about ready to evaporate. But one day, I think it was a Saturday, it just started POURING. It was fantastic. It was super windy and stormy and finally a little bit cold. My favorite part was later that night when the air was so wonderfully fresh and brisk. Now it rains a little bit every couple of days and I am pretty sure the average daily temperature has dropped a little.

My family here is still fantastic. As always. I have created great bonds with my family, especially my host mother and two host brothers. They are always super willing to help me with my Portuguese and are just very helpful in any and every possible way. Another great party of my family is my unbearably cute little niece. I a box of brazilian chocolates in my room and every time she comes over to our house she pays a visit to my room to have a little chocolate and listen to some music.

I went to an american football game here in my city. To be honest, it was quite hilarious, and i'm pretty sure our good ol' Northfield Raiders could give both Sinop (my city team) and Sao Paulo (opponent) a good whoopin. There was no admission cost and there were only about 50 people at the game. But it was a good experience and I am glad I went. It gave me a chance to practice my Portuguese while trying to explain all the rules to my two host brothers.

Last weekend I made Pao de Queijo with my host mom and host sister. Pao de Queijo is a very popular brazilian food. It's like a little cheesy, doughy ball of goodness. Anyways, it was super fun and it was a fun way to help out and build more of a relationship with my host sister who I don't get to see very often.

Just a little background information about myself. I'm pretty much useless when it comes to cooking anything besides cereal or a cheese tortilla. BUT last Sunday, I went outside my comfort zone (YAY! Rotary!) and made ham and cheese omelets for my family. I cut the ham and the peppers, mixed the eggs, shredded the cheese and to my surprise, actually succeeded in making three, edible omelets. My next adventure in the kitchen will be to make chocolate chip cookies with the little bag of cookie mix that I brought with me from MN.

I leave for Sao Paulo on Monday for a short trip with my host mom and sister. Sao Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the Americas, and the southern hemisphere. We have an 8 hour bus ride to Cuiaba starting at 11pm on Monday night and then on Tuesday we fly to Sao Paulo where the adventure begins!

Until next post!
Tchau

Settled In

I can now confidently say that I have settled into my life as an exchange student here in Brasil. I have a pretty basic daily schedule of school and then after school either soccer, volleyball or the gym.

The daunting task that is my mission to learn Portuguese is coming along slowly but surely. I learn a little more every day. My friends from school who speak both English and Portuguese are my most useful tool. The most difficult part of Portuguese for me is the phrases in English that don't have a direct translation into Portuguese or vice versa.

My host father visited last week and it was really amazing to see the whole family together. The whole family came over for dinner and we all skyped Giane (my host sister who is in Mexico with Rotary). It was really a fantastic moment, everyone was so happy as they gathered around the little laptop and skyped their sister/daughter/aunt in Mexico. Not gonna lie, it made me miss my family a little bit :) Below is a picture.

Last Friday was "Sete de Septembro" or Independence Day here in Brazil. This day celebrates Brazil's separation from Portugal which occurred on September 7th, 1822. Unlike in the United States when we see american flags everywhere and hear fireworks going all through the night, nothing really changed here except we didn't have school. I guess my city is a considered fairly small by Brazilian standards, so maybe we just aren't large enough to have a big celebration, but I was still kind of surprised at the lack of national pride. Many Brazilians that I have met seem to be filled with national pride, but I think the thing that is slowly taking away from that pride is the discontent many people have with the government here.

Tomorrow(September 14th), we will celebrate the founding of my city, Sinop. The city was founded in 1974. Yes, that means that my city will turn 36 tomorrow, which is not very old at all. Not only is tomorrow the birthday of my city, but it is also the birthday of my host sister Grasiele. I've been to a couple birthday parties while i've been here, but they have all been for kids turning three or four years old. I'm excited to go to one for someone a little bit older. My host father's birthday was yesterday, but it is kind of a sad topic because he was planning to make the 6 hour trip down from the state of Para to celebrate with us here at home, but work got in the way and he was unable to make it down. I could tell that my family was excited to see their father, since they only get to see him a couple times a year. It helped me realize once again how fortunate I am, not only to live with both my parents at home, but also to be able to celebrate holidays with them.

Unfortunately, my host nephew is sick, so my trip to Sao Paulo that was I planning to take with my host mom and sister next week has been postponed until October. I signed up and paid for the trip I will be taking for about 22 days in January, traveling the North East coast of Brazil with other exchange students. I also plan on traveling to the South of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay in March with other exchange students. Meeting and getting to know Brazilians has been a whole new adventure for me, so I can only imagine how interesting it will be to meet people from all around the world and be forced to ride on a bus with them for a month.

What else... Oh, did you know we have a maid here? Everyone has a maid to do laundry, clean the house, and do other household chores every day. My room is cleaned and my bed is made for me every day when I come home from school. Clean clothes just seem to appear in my closet all nicely folded and organized. My shoes are washed on a regular basisThis is something I definitely enjoy, but I'm trying not to get used to, as I'll be on my own at college next year.

This week it has been SUPER hot here. It's honestly like living in a sauna. Right now it's 5:03pm and it is 40 degrees Celcius (104 degrees Fahrenheit!). When I sleep, I am literally sprawled out on my bed like I'm making a snow angel, trying to let as much air from the fan touch me as possible. The scary part is that the months of September and October are considered the Spring months, so Summer is still to come!

I finished another book while bored in school! Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer. I really enjoyed it and it gave some interesting insight into the corruption within the United States Army. I recommend it to anyone looking for another one of Krakauer's best sellers. I'll tell you more about the book I'm reading now in my next post!

But yeah, as I said before, I feel pretty settled into my new life here. Nothing too exciting happens on a day to day basis, but I've got to save some exciting days for later right?

Until next post. Tchau

Traffic, Monkeys, and Siri

As usual, the past few days have been filled with some exciting new experiences! But before we get into the fun stuff, I want to tell you a little bit about regular life.

Everyone else has spoken a little bit about traffic in their city, so here is my evaluation of driving in Sinop. To be honest, it is not as crazy as I was expecting it to be. Most people follow normal traffic rules and I don't see very many accidents. A large difference between transportation here and transportation in Northfield is that almost half the vehicles on the road at any given time are motorcycles or mopeds. It doesn't even come close to getting cold here, and there will never be snow in a million years, so why not drive a cheaper vehicle that gets a lot better gas milage? Makes sense to me. Anyways, there are very few stop lights and mostly just roundabouts. Stop signs are obeyed most of the time, but are ignored if there are no cars around. Most cars are very small, hatchback type vehicles, as the bigger cars are not really necessary are mostly just owned by wealthier people. Most of the time, I am driven around by my older brother in his Volkswagon Golf, but from time to time I ride on the back of my younger brother's motorcycle. I really enjoy cruising around town on the motorcycle, and yes Mom, I ALWAYS wear a helmet :)

Last night I played volleyball with my younger brother for about two hours at this local volleyball court. You just show up and play with random people. We played on a sand court, which was actually a really good work out for my calfs and ankles. Volleyball or "Volei" is very popular here in Brazil and holds a pretty strong second place position after soccer or "futebol". For the past two summer olympic games, the Brazilian women have earned the gold medal.

Today I gave my presents to my first host family. Victoria Secret perfume for my host mom and Twins Baseball shirts and caps for my two brothers. Also, some peanut butter for the entire family and a promise that I will eventually TRY and make them chocolate chip cookies and omelets. I think they really enjoyed the presents and it was really nice to be able to give them something in return for all that they have done for me over the past month and all they will continue to do for me in the future.

After lunch, presents and a little relaxation, my two brothers brought me to the "Parque Florestal" here in Sinop. I was able to walk right up to a bunch of amazingly colorful parrots, see a bunch of turtles, get relatively close to some monkeys (my favorite part), and walk around in some very amazon-esque underbrush. -- I want to thank my parents for my wonderful graduation present of my new camera because I had such a great time taking pictures of animals today!

School has been getting a little better as I am continuing to understand more and more Portuguese. Wednesday in class I read an entire book, A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard. It is about how Jaycee, the author, was abducted at the age of 11 and held captive for 18 years. It was a fantastic book and and I recommend it to anyone looking for a quick but moving read. Not that my situation here is anything like Jaycee's 18 years of captivity, but it really helped me understand that I need to make the best of my year here in Brazil, even when times are hard and things aren't going exactly how I expect them to. 

My older brother got his new iPhone in the mail today, which really isn't helping me get over my withdrawal from my addiction to my old one (here I have a simple, "non-smart" Nokia phone). But honestly, it is really surprising how addicted I was to my iPhone! I can't believe I am saying this, but I am glad I didn't bring my iPhone here. I spend a lot more time reading and just sitting outside in the hammock. This is time that, if I had my iPhone, I would be spending swiping my way through FaceBook, Twitter, or Instagram. No hard feelings though Siri, I still miss you. 

Thinking about electronics makes me think about how much I adore Skype and the ability to connect with people via internet. I don't want you to think I spend all day cuddled up in my room on the computer, as I am rarely even home here. I really enjoy reading the blogs my friends write, but being able to see them face to face and hear about the experiences is something that I am really thankful for. Not to mention being able to skype my family and friends back in the US. Whether it's Mom and Sophia telling me about Mizuki, Ethan telling me about his first Varsity soccer game, or Mats telling me about how it feels to be under 24 hours away from his departure to Italy!

Today marks one month exactly since I departed from MSP on my adventure to Sinop, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Thank you to everyone who has made this year possible for me, especially Vicki, Rick, Christine, Katie, and most importantly my Mom and Dad.

Until next post!
Tchau

Three Weeks Disconnected

Oi!
I apologize for not posting for the past two weeks! I have been super busy! But I have so much to tell!

I'll begin with talking a little more about the food here. Almost every day for breakfast I have a Panini-esque ham and cheese sandwich with some coffee and yogurt. It's interesting because here, eating sausage or bacon or even eggs for breakfast seems not normal by any means. The coffee is a lot stronger here so I can't just inhale a 16 oz. cup of coffee here like I could back at Blue Monday and the Hideaway. For lunch, it's always juice, rice, beans, a salad or some greens, and the days choice of meat. The meat here is FANTASTIC. I live in a very agricultural area so I am pretty sure there is a lot of fresh meat readily available for purchase. We eat pork, lamb, beef, steak, ribs, chicken, and a bunch of different cuts of all of those things that I really don't understand when they explain it to me in Portuguese. Lunch is always freshly cooked by my host mom when I get home from school around noon, and is a big step from the greasy cheese pizza I would always buy in the lower caf at NHS. Dinner is the meal that varies the most out of the three. Since lunch is the biggest meal of the day here, dinner is usually fairly small, which has taken a little getting used to. We go out for pizza sometimes, have left overs from lunch, or cook a little bit more meat but it's really not a huge meal and a lot of time we are eating dinner at Rotary meetings or at the houses of family friends.

I thought that May 25th, 2012 would be my last day of high school. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Here I go to a school by the name of Colegio Cristhiane Archer Dal Bosco, or CAD for short. It the best private school in my city and most of the kids who attend are pretty wealthy. Because both of my brothers are unable to give me a ride to school in the morning, I have to wake up at 5:30am in order to catch the van to school after a shower and a little breakfast. I live about 10 minutes away from my school by car, but the ride in the van is about 45 minutes because of all the stops we have to make to pick up other kids. On Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, I have school from 7am until 11:30am, which is really not too bad. But on Wednesdays and Thursdays I have school from 7am to 11:30am, then a lunch break and then more school from 1pm to 5:30pm. My school day on Wednesdays and Thursday is essentially 12 hours long because I have to wake up at 5:30am and I finish school at 5:30pm. The reason I have so much school is because I am a third year student here, which is the equivalent of a senior at a high school in the USA. At the end of their third year, students here have to take a big test called the Vestibular which will determine which college they are allowed to attend, etc, which is why they have so much school. In my mind, I don't see the need for me to go to all this school because I have learned it all before in English and have already been accepted into college in the USA, buuuuuuuut Rotary and my school here think differently. I'm not a huge fan of school here at the moment, but I think once I learn more Portuguese and can understand a bit more, I'll enjoy it more. For those of you that know me well, you know that I was never a huge fan of math class back in good ol' MN. But here I can't get enough of it! Because my Portuguese is still coming along, it's still different for me to understand what the teachers are explaining a lot of the time. When it comes to math class, when the teacher is writing an equation on the board or assigning problems as homework for the next day, I CAN ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND IT! I am probably the best at math in my class here and helping other people in class with the problems is the best part of my day some days. It's hard to be seen as intelligent when I have the Portuguese vocabulary of a two year old, but when it comes to math, I can actually understand and explain a lot of things with numbers, which I really enjoy.

Although I'm not really enjoying the "school part" of school. I LOVEEE the people I have met. They are constantly asking me if they can help me, whether it's with understanding what the teacher said, or completing the assignment for the next day. Every school day they ask me if I can hangout with them after school or during the upcoming weekend. They are always smiling and laughing together and have been so hospitable towards me as they have invited me into their little groups of friends. It's impossible to better my best friends from back in Northfield, but here in Brazil, all my new friends are fantastic and I don't think I could have asked for better :)

I have started going to the gym to work out a couple days during week, which is paid for by Rotary. I really enjoy the gym. Along with playing soccer, it's a good way to relieve stress and get some exercise. I have to thank my trainer back in Northfield, Jeff Woods, for teaching me how to create a sensible work out schedule because otherwise I would be completely in the dark. I am still playing soccer a couple times a week as well, both Futsal (inside on a court) and Futebol(outside on the grass).

I have also had the pleasure of meeting the other two exchange students in my city. Barbara Mendez from Mexico and Domenica Toro from Ecuador. They are both amazing and speak Spanish, Portuguese and English very well. They have been so helpful both in helping me learn Portuguese and helping me learn what the Rotary people are actually telling us when they are giving us important information. They are both super nice and funny and make great company at the gym. Unfortunately we all go to different schools, so it is hard to share that part of our experience. Although initially I wish we went to the same school, I think in the long run it is a better choice because it forces us not rely on the comfort and company of other exchange students and make more Brazilian friends. Below is Domenica (Left), Barbara (Middle) and Me out on the river.

If you haven't yet seen pictures, I had my first experience on a Brazilian river last weekend. A client of my older brother at the bank owns a boat and took us out to swim and have lunch. It was a great time and a great way to meet some more people and connect with the other exchange students. The river looked very "Amazony" with a bunch of crazy vegetation, etc. I can't even imagine what the Amazon river is going to look like!

This past weekend was pretty eventful. On Friday we had a very fancy Rotary dinner with the Governor of our Rotary district and his wife. On Saturday, I was invited to my friend Talitha's house for lunch and a day by the pool. I honestly don't know if I have ever laughed so hard and so much over the course of 6 hours. The company at her house was fantastic and I had a great time. I had a wonderful, long conversation (in Portuguese! yay me!) with her father, a journalist here in my city, about his experiences traveling the United States. It is really interesting to speak with people here about their opinions about the USA, because they have a completely different understanding about the US because they grew up in Brazil.

After Talitha's house on Saturday, I went to this festival thingy at a school in my city with my host mom and some family friends. I met up with Barbara ( the exchange student from Mexico) there and had a good time with her and some of her friends from school. I learned a lot more about Brazilian culture at the festival and also just a lot more about the Brazilian way of life. After the festival, I went to a super fancy black and white dance which started at midnight. Yes, STARTED at midnight. Here in Brazil, parties and social events start late at night and end at five or six in the morning. I really enjoyed the black and white dance. I met up with some friends from school there and got a few quasi dance lessons (which I desperately need). On Sunday, my family spent the day at the house of a family friend on the river. We played soccer and went swimming and had a nice relaxing day.

A scary little tid-bit. I learned yesterday that in Castelo de Sonhos (the city to which I traveled two weeks ago to visit my father at work), a man killed his son and drank his blood and was then lynched and burned by the townspeople. Kinda nuts huh?

On a happier note. I have become a lot closer with my little host nieces and nephews here. They LOVE Photo Booth on my computer. If you aren't familiar with it, it is a picture program that distorts your face and makes it look all funny and stuff. No one in my family has ever seen something like that before and they could not stop laughing at all the funny pictures we took. Below and left is me, Gabriel, and my host niece Isabella. Below and right is me, my host nephews Joao Peter and Helluan, and their friend from down the street.





As usual, my host family is amazing. I get closer and closer to them every day. I now feel like a true part of the family instead of someone who is just very welcome in their home. I think sometime soon, I'm going to attempt to make omelets for them. We'll see how that goes. I'll be sure to tell you about it.

Apparently my family back at home doesn't miss me too much because they already replaced me with an exchange student from Japan :) I'm kidding of course. Mizuki Oeda arrived in my house a couple of days ago and is in very good hands! I wish her the best of luck on her exchange in Northfield!

Make sure to check out my Flickr page for some more pictures!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/averynelson/

I will try and post more frequently from now on!

Tchau!

A Weekend in Pará

Friday night I played soccer with some friends from school. We played a type of soccer called “Futsal” which is played with a smaller, heavier ball and on a court (a little bigger than a basketball court) instead of a grass or synthetic turf field.  After I came home and had a bite to eat, I went out with Gabriel and some of his friends. The “thing to do” is to go downtown Sinop and park your car and just hangout on the streets. It is called “Avenida” and it is sort of the main street of Sinop, which has all the clubs and bars, etc. We got home around 1:00am. 

After about three and a half hours of sleep (~4:30am) we began our drive to Pará. Pará is the state directly above Mato Grosso. Fortunately, Rotary does not allow me to drive while on exchange, so I got to sleep in the car while Graciano drove. I rode shotgun (leg room! Woot woot!) while Gabriel and my host Mom rode in the back. The drive to Pará was about six hours long including a stop at a beautiful waterfall by the name of Cachuera de Curua (“Cachoeira” is “Waterfall” in Portuguese). The waterfall was in the middle of nowhere and was everything but a popular tourist location. We hiked down to the base of the waterfall on a sketchy trail through amazon-esque vegetation.

Our final destination was a town called Castelo de Sonhos (Castle of Dreams). The town really didn’t live up to its name. There wasn’t a single paved road besides a major highway, which divided the town down the middle. We arrived at our hotel and I experienced a very important introduction. My host father works up in Para, driving large machinery for a lumber company. This was the first time I had met my father since I arrived. I guess it has only been a week, even though it has felt like a month. I wish I could understand more of what my father was saying, because he is constantly making everyone laugh and smile. Since my host father works six hours away from Sinop, my host siblings only get to see their dad maybe three times every month. This made me realize how fortunate I am that I get to live at home with both my parents all year long.

After we ate lunch, we took a quick nap and headed to the beach. We are wayyyyyy inland, so going to the beach meant going to the side of the river. We went on a walk as a family up the river a ways, jumping from rock to rock and trying not to fall in. Then Gabriel and I went for a swim, which was super fun and a good test of my swimming abilities as the current was fairly strong. The sun went down shortly after we dried off and we went back to the hotel room to shower before dinner.

Dinner was fantastic. We ate at a small restaurant in Castelo do Sonhos, where the only thing they served was fish. I really do not know what kind of fish it was, or what was on it, or anything about it really besides the fact that it was fish. Although I probably spent 15 minutes picking little tiny fish bones out of my mouth and food, I still enjoyed it and it was extremely tasty. After that, we dropped Gabriel off at the hotel because he was exhausted, and the four of us (Mae, Pae, and Graciano and I) went to watch some live music and experience some more of the nightlife.

This area of Brazil (rural Pará) is completely different than anything I had ever seen before. The people appear to be very poor and live in tiny little houses that look like they could fall apart at any moment. But they all seem happy and content with their lives. Everything is dirty and dusty and most everyone drives little dirt bikes as their mode of transportation. It is very different from Sinop, the town I live in, which is very different from Northfield and most of the United States. This weekend I realized that I am definitely in a different country, with different people, different places, and a different way of living.

We also visited the place where my host father works in Castelo de Sonhos. He works for a lumber company, driving large machinery and cutting down trees. Castelo de Sonhos lies on the south edge of the amazon, so deforestation is somewhat of a popular profession. 

The following morning, we said goodbye to my host dad and headed home to Sinop. On the way back, we saw a little white car that was all smashed up on the side of the road. It had been in a terrible accident. We learned a little more about the accident once we got into cell service. It turns out that the woman driving the car was the mother of a friend of Graciano’s fiancé, and had died in the crash. Below is a picture of the car.

After our trip to Pará, I feel even closer with my host family (have I mentioned how much I like them?) and feel more comfortable with my Portuguese as well.

I added a bunch of pictures to my Flickr page from this weekend so check those out!

Until next post!

Tchau

A Basic Understanding

The past week has been full of new sights, places and people that I never could have imagined!

My Portuguese has gotten much better. When I landed in Sinop, I knew very little. Now, I have had countless dreams in Portuguese and can converse with my host family and others using basic vocabulary and sentences, etc. I am able to make conversation with kids at school, even though they laugh as I mispronounce word after word. It is still very overwhelming when a bunch of adults are spitting question after question at me in Portuguese at the dinners I attend. My family and friends have been very patient with me since the second I landed. They repeat things for me all the time and have to tell me multiple times how to say certain things.

Let me tell me about my family. My mother Milanea is fantastic and very understanding and helpful. I have yet to meet my host father, Adimir, as he is currently working in the state of Para. I have two host brothers. Graciano, my older brother, is 26 and works at a bank in town. He is very helpful and is always driving me places and helping me with my Portuguese. My younger brother Gabriel is seventeen and is the only one that lives at home with me and my host parents, the rest live elsewhere in Sinop. Gabriel has taken quite a liking to Ultimate frisbee, which is not a popular sport down here. I doubt there are any for sale in Sinop. I have three host sisters. I had dinner last night with my oldest sister, Gisele, who has the cutest little daughter named Mariana. My other older sister, Grasiele, has three children. The oldest, Helluan (above) is 12 and is the featured in many of my flickr pictures. She then has one younger boy and another cute little girl named Isabella. My youngest host sister is named Giane and is currently on exchange to Mexico through Rotary. --- I couldn't have asked for a better host family. They are above and beyond what I expected. 

Futebol-Graciano learned a while ago that I enjoy playing soccer and brings me to play with his friends from work multiple times during the week. It gets dark here around 17:30 so when we play at 18:00, we have to play under the lights. We play on a smaller 6v6 field that is covered with synthetic turf. Playing soccer with these Brazilians has been one of my favorite parts of my exchange so far. If you know anything about Brazilian soccer, you will know that the coined phase is "Joga Bonito" or "Play Beautiful". They definitely play beautifully. Their passes, their tricks, and their laughs all contribute to the understanding I now have of Brazilian soccer.

Escola-I had my first day of school today, and it didn't go without judgement from some of the students. Apparently they had two students at their school last year from the United States who acted like they were "all that" and really didn't gain the respect of anyone at the school. I go to an expensive private school in Sinop, so most of the kids that go there are fairly wealthy. What I learned from current situation is that not only do I represent myself and my family, but also my rotary club and the USA. People from Sinop and greater Brazil will use me as an example for all the the people in the USA, and I need to conduct my self accordingly. 

Travel Plans-This weekend I am traveling to the state of Para with my family to visit my host father. We are planning to stop at some beautiful waterfalls on the way up there. That is all the information I know about this weekend but I will blog about it after!
My mother is taking a trip to Sao Paulo is the middle of September and has just informed me that I will be accompanying her! I am very excited to go to Sao Paulo! It is supposed to be HUGEEE. 

I have had a little taste of Brazilian night life, but not enough to blog about. Not much goes on at night during the week. After soccer tonight (Friday) I am going downtown with Gabriel and will hopefully experience a little more. 

Food-I will wait to tell you about the food until I know a little bit more about what I have been eating :)

Thanks for reading! 

Until next time!.... Until next post?!

A long day

Here is the story of the longest day of my life--

p.s. you might want to grab some popcorn

I woke up on the morning of August 4th and began to finish my packing. It still hadn't really hit me that in only 30 hours I would be in Brasil. My parents helped me finalize my packing and paper work and then we picked up Grandma and headed out to the airport as a family. We made it to the airport with plenty of time and were checking my bags when we ran into Laura Kuehn's parents, who had just left her as she went through security. We then continued up to where I would have to pass through security and ran into the Hanson family. If you did not already know, I was on the same flight out of MSP as Laura Kuehn and Annika Hanson. We then went through the security line as a family and as we were reaching the end of the line, it was time to say goodbye to my family. I think we handled the goodbye as a family pretty well, but who knows what went on after I went through security ... *cough*cough*mom*cough*cough* I made it through security fine and walked down the terminal to my gate where I met Laura. We chatted for a while and waited for Annika to show and then we all boarded the plane together. Unfortunately, we were not able to get seats next to each other. 

I found 30A, put my wallet and book into the seat pocket in front on me, and settled down into my seat. After that, the flight went by quickly. I was lucky enough to be sitting next to a kind old man by the name of Doin (which is a name I have never seen/heard before). Doin and his wife had just finished a cruise which ended in Alaska. I spoke with Doin about my plans for exchange and after a while he began to tell me about his experiences as an ROTC participant right out of high school or college. He said he really needed the money, so he was sent to Germany and was getting paid $27/month! I took German for a couple of years in high school so it was fun to exchange a couple of phrases with him as we compared his experiences abroad to what we though mine would be like. Not only was Doin a well traveled fellow, he was also very thankful for every thing that he had. He wouldn't go five sentences without saying "...and I'm just so thankful that....". Listening to him be so appreciative helped me settle my nerves a little because I began to realize how thankful I am for all the support and help that I am getting with my exchange. Unfortunately, my conversation with Doin had to come to an end as we landed in Atlanta. Annika, Laura and I exited the plane and began our walk over to the tram station where we are going to catch a tram to Terminal E and the food court. 

We had probably been walking for ten minutes when I did the casual "feel up my left butt cheek" maneuver, just to check if my wallet is there. I froze as I realized my back pocket was empty, which means I had to have left my wallet on the plane. "WHY DO YOU ALWAYS DO STUFF LIKE THIS" I screamed to myself inside my head as I skipped steps back up the escalator to try and get back to my arrival gate as fast as possible. I did the best speed walking I could as I raced back to Gate A3. Just as I got there, a lady walks out of the "plane exit walkway" or whatever it's called, with a wallet and a book. OOFTA, I thought. She smiled and chuckled softly at me as she handed me my things. By this point, I was dripping with sweat and had already endured enough embarrassment to last me a couple of days. I found Annika and Laura and they giggled at me as we walked our way to Terminal E (again) and then the food court. My last meal in the United States was a $7.95 burrito with a bag of chips and some apple juice. After almoço (lunch), Annika and I had to say goodbye to Laura because Laura's connecting flight brought her through Sao Paulo and Annika and I would be traveling through Brasilia.

After saying goodbye to Laura, Annika and I found our gate for our departure to Brasilia (E14 maybe?). We were hoping to get seats together, and Annika still had not received her boarding pass for that flight out of Atlanta. Apparently, we had some good karma coming our way because after speaking with a man at the check-in counter, he got us seats 35A and 35C, with no one in between us. What this means, is that on a full flight, Annika and I had somehow managed to get 1.5 seats each. We had the back right row of the plane all to ourselves. It turns out that we had to sit on the plane an extra hour and a half because there had been too much baggage loaded onto the plane (an extra 2700lbs). As we were sitting on the plane, the flight attendant announced that they would be unloading some baggage because the plane was overweight. That was just an added stressor because now we don't know if we were going to meet our bags in Brasilia or if they were going to arrive in our cities MAYBE within the next couple of days. Finally our flight departed from Atlanta and we were on our way to Brazil! It was a looooong flight and I got little to no sleep at all. Annika helped me with some of my portuguese and we played some sudoku and eventually we made it to Brasilia.

Now that we were in Brasil, we had to re-check our bags, and since we were using different airlines for our connecting flights, Annika and I had to say goodbye to each other. After a little bit of confusion as to which company we were each supposed to be with, we said goodbye and went our separate ways. FUN FACT: Because the flight from Atlanta to Brasilia was delayed 1.5 hours, I now only had 25 minutes to make it through a long baggage check line, security, to my gate and onto my plane (while speaking Portuguese). After skipping ahead in line and rushing through security, I made it to my gate with less than a minute to spare and got a nice scowl from the woman at the Gate 1 information desk. This flight was only two hours and went by quickly because I just drank sprite and watched "Crazy Stupid Love" the whole time. Go ahead, laugh. Maybe I enjoy romantic comedies, maybe I don't, you'll never know.

I got off the plane in Cuiabá and had to re-check my luggage again. I got to the desk and showed the woman my passport and itinerary and after a while she looked at me and said "Não". She then mumbled some Portuguese that I did not understand and I came to the conclusion that she could not find my name on the flight list. So she called a supervisor over to give it a try. Meanwhile, I'm freaking out on the other side of the desk because I had no idea what I was going to do if they came to the conclusion that I am was supposed to be on that plane. To my relief, they eventually figured it out and I began to my luggage on the scale. First bag-good. Second bag-BEEP BEEP BEEP. Apparently, I had not looked at the luggage restrictions close enough and when traveling with TRIP, your second bag is only allowed to be 18kg, mine was 20.5kg. So after more broken english on their part and terrible Portuguese on my part, I ended up having to pay an extra 74 Reais (about 34.5 US Dollars). I had plenty of layover time so I waltzed through security and grabbed some Pao de Qeuijo (Brasilian cheese bread), which was absolutely delicious.

I boarded my last flight of the day and ended up sitting next to a wonderful, attractive, Brasilian woman by the name of Valquiria. She was flying home to Sorriso from Rio de Janeiro and had been doing some lab work on genetically modified cattle. She was extremely nice and smart and helped me with my Portuguese as we talked about Rotary Exchange and how her father owned a bunch of land in Mato Grosso (the state in which I am living). The flight was only about 50 minutes so we had what felt like a quick conversation and we were already in Sinop. We walked off the plan together and into the baggage claim area. I found my bags and as I was exiting the area, I was confronted with a huge sign that read "AVERY Bem Vindo ao Brasil" or "Avery Welcome to Brasil". Not only was there a huge banner with my name on it, but a bunch of smiling Brasilians waiting to hug me or shake my hang and say hello.

I hopped in the car with my host mother, Milanea, my oldest host brother, Graciano, and his wife. We drove to a churrasco (barbeque) and had a wonderful meal with fantastic meats and a bunch of lovely people. We then drove home, or to what I will be calling home for the next few months. A small green house, half of which is essentially outside. I immediately loved the place. They showed me into my room, which included a bunch of little gifts laying on my bed, then the shower and the bathroom, then the wifi, etc.. By this time I must have said "Obrigado" or "Thank you" enough for an entire army. Partially because people had been doing things for me all day and partially because it was one of the only words I knew. We hung out at home for a while and drank some Brazilian pop. After that, Graciano too me on a tour of my city, Sinop. We drove past the church, my school, downtown, and eventually ended up in a town square-ish area where we sat on the grass and drank Terere, which is an infusion of yerba mate prepared in cold water, and must be drank out of something similar to the size of a regular coffee cup. After that we went out to dinner at a local pizza joint and then headed home to rest. Finally. I had a wonderful conversation with my younger host brother, Gabriel, where he told me all about the family and showed me a bunch of family pictures and videos. After that conversation ended, I began writing this post.

I have now been awake for almost 42 hours. I have met so many great people and it has been one of the longest days of my life. It has also been one of the best days of my life.
But this day has really taken it out of me. I'm off to bed.
Thanks for reading! Boa noite! Obrigado!