Chuva, Chuva, Chuva.....

Asha and I at Bohemia!

The past 4 days have been pretty action packed! We have all officially been in Brasil for a week, and have done a lot of things in just one week. This first week went by so fast, and I keep thinking how fast the next three weeks are going to go. Unfortunately this week has been raining EVERYDAY, ALL DAY! There have only been a couple hours here and there with no rain. I really hope the next three weeks have better weather because I have been in Brazil for 8 days and have only been to the beach once!!!

Thursday morning we had a lecture with Professora Angela Gordilha about issues with urban planning in Salvador. The lecture was pretty interesting. She showed us pictures of the progress of housing developments, and architecture throughout history in Salvador, other parts of Brazil, and in the United States as well. It was interesting to me because the development throughout time in Brazil often mirrors that of the United States. Most people started off in the countryside, but eventually moved to larger cities hoping for a better life, and more opportunity. That is how the Favellas developed. Eventually people started moving closer to the coast, which became more of an area for rich, or middle class families, while the inland remained majority favellas.

After our lecture I went to have lunch at Asha and Christelle's house. We had omolette's with beef inside, and the eggs also had some sort of grain mixed in that I have eatin on top of the beans here. They were AMAZING! we also had rice and beans, fish (which I did try and sort of liked!), and for dessert we had ice cream and flan. The meal was very good! Luckily we had the afternoon free because of the weather, and to our surprise the rain ended up clearing for the afternoon so a group of us went shopping for our outfits for the Brasil v. Holland game. The shops we went to were all VERY cheap, and a great place to bargain as well. Every single shop had plenty of things to buy for the game the next day. In Brasil, everywhere you go seems to be so prideful of Brasil. Everything you see is in green, yellow, and blue. We bought Jerseys, and horns for the day. Some people used the opportunity to start buying gifts for people back home. We shopped pretty much all day and got back home around 6:00.

All of us decided that we wanted to go out that night, and would be leaving around 8:00. Because I live further away from everybody I decided to stay over at Asha and Christelle's that night so I had to call my mom, and her know what was going on.... This was pretty difficult. I had Christelle help me figure out what I needed to say, but unfortunately my mom wasn't home when I called, so I had to figure out how to tell the maid to let my mom know I wouldn't be coming home that night. The conversation was a little bit choppy, but I managed to get my message across. We ended up going to a karaoke bar near Barra. I was a little skeptical at first, but it turned out to be a great time! The girls went up and sang Maria Maria, and the boys sang Roxanne. I think the Brasilians thought we were a hott mess, but they cheered us on anyway! There were about 10 birthdays going on that night. A cross dresser went up to the stage at midnight to pull all the people who had birthdays up on stage to sing happy birthday and dance. She was HILARIOUS, and a very good dancer! After the Karaoke bar we walked around on the beach, and got some fried cheese from a vendor on the street. Maybe it wasn't the healthiest thing to be eating at 1 in morning, but it was delicious!

Asha, myself, Sara, and Christelle at the German bar before we headed out to the Karaoke bar.

Shannon, Katie, Christelle, myself, and Asha at Bohemia!

Dancing Foho before the birthday recognitions!

The next morning I got up bright and early to head home and get ready for the game that started at 11:00. This day, Friday July 2nd, was Salvador's Independence day. There was supposed to be a parade at 9:00 in the morning, but because it was raining, like every other day this week, the parade was postponed until later that night, but on my walk home there were men racing along Campo Grande. I am not sure exactly what the race was about, but it was interesting to see. At 10:30 a group of us headed down to Barra to watch the game on the big screens by the beach. Unfortunately it was POURING! not just a small drizzle, or a quick shower. More like a giant monsoon! Everybody was soaked! We were standing on the bleachers for about 45 minutes getting drenched to the bone, and finally decided to go find some shelter. We tried to walk into a bar where some of our friends were, but the bar owner wouldn't let us in, not to our surprise, we were dripping wet. We started walking down the road some more, and a group of guys let us come in to the entrance of an apartment complex. The guys were very funny, and charismatic to say the least. It is very true when people say that men in Brasil are very forward..... We watched the rest of the game with them, and even though Brasil lost there was still a concert back at the beach when the game ended. The rain had let up by then so all of us, including our new friends, headed down to the beach for some music and dancing. Brasil is great, even when they lose there is still a party somewhere!

That night we all decided to go out to Bohemia. I told my mom right before I left where I was going and I got a big thumbs up and a smile so I assumed we were going to a really fun place. We all managed to get there pretty dry despite the pouring rain. It was pretty expensive to get in, and the drinks were expensive as well... The place was very nice, but there weren't too many people there. We all figured with the combination of rain, and a big loss to Holland that most people stayed in that night. Around 11:00 the place started to be a little bit more fun because the live band started to play. We also made friends with people who had a VIP booth and hung out with them for a little while. Again, the men here are extremely forward! They go for the two kisses on the cheek and try to sneak in a third on the lips. SAFADA!!

On Saturday we left at 8:30 in the morning to go to Praia do Forte. Again, the weather was terrible, and it was pouring the entire day! Our first stop was an old fort. It was very pretty and had the most amazing artwork up. I wanted to take every painting home with me. We also tried this fruit whose juice is supposedly alcohol, but all I tasted was nastiness. After we all succeeded in getting drenched we headed back on the bus to go see the turtle project. The turtles were pretty cute, and the project was right by the beach. The area had little shops all over the place, and would be absolutely beautiful on a warm sunny day, but because there was a monsoon, we were all pretty miserable. We got back on the bus, and some people were ringing out their shirts in the isle of the bus. Even those of us who had umbrellas got soaked because the wind was so strong.

The painting of this little girl was my favorite out of all of the paintings. I am not really sure why, but the artist seemed to have captured some sort of look in these girl's eyes that captures my attention.

For lunch we ate at Clara, the program director's house. The cooks started making us homemade pizza with a wide variety of delicious toppings. They would make the pizza in a matter of minutes, and literally every two minutes another pizza was ready. We were all like scavengers trying to grab for pieces of pizza as soon as they were cut into pieces. What we failed to realize was that the pizza was just the appetizer! After about 15 minutes of gorging ourselves with pizza we all sat down and got ready for the actual meal. They served us rice and beans, beef, lasagna, fish, coleslaw, and cashew juice. For dessert we had passion fruit pudding things with cocoanut bread on top, watermelon, and of course a cup of coffee! Everything was wonderful! We were all trying to figure out how we were going to tell our parents we wouldn't be able to eat dinner!

I got home and took a nice hot shower, and changed into my pj's. I thought I got it across to my parents that I wouldn't be eating dinner, but maybe my portuguese is even worse than I thought! My dad asked me if I wanted wine, which of course I did! I asked him if we were drinking now, and he laughed and said "Calma! Calma!" That means easy tiger in portuguese haha!. About 30 minutes later my mom comes in to my room and brings me out to the living room. She had dinner set up on the table and a movie ready to watch! It was very cute and sweet. I could not resist, especially when they started piling the food on my plate! It was a very nice relaxing end to my long, cold, and wet day!

Sunday we finally got some sun! Asha, Shannon, Shana, Dezie and I all laid out by the pool a couple apartment buildings down from Asha's. It was wonderful! What a relaxing, warm, and SUNNY day to end the week!

Meeting my host family and our first day of classes!

One of the many beautiful streets in Pelourinha.

I just thought this looked nice!

my favorite wooden carving of the Gods from the Orixas religion

Description of the Gods.

Our first day in Salvador was a wonderful success! We got to see so much in one day, but we had so much more to see and experience. Monday morning we had an orientation with Clara Ramos, who is the foreign exchange coordinator for ACBEU, which is the school that we are studying at. Clara was hilarious! She made all of us feel so much more comfortable, and at ease about our home stay situations. She also went over a list of do's and don'ts for us to keep in mind while in Salvador, and with our families. She also told us a bunch of very interesting stories about some experiences previous students had while living with home stays. To say the least, she made us feel like no matter what happened our family would always do their best to make us feel welcome and safe.

Right after the orientation we went outside to meet our new mothers for the first time. Clara gave us each half of a postcard, which we then had to take outside with us to walk around and search for our mothers who would have the other half. My host sister found me, and at first I thought she did not speak English, but it turns out that she was a student from Texas enrolled in the same program as the rest of us. She would be staying in my home with me until Friday because her program was coming to an end. I tried speaking to her in Portuguese, but it didn't really work out and I got really excited when I found out she spoke English. Anna, my host sister, brought me to my mother who came up to me and welcomed me with a big hug, and a kiss on both cheeks. Meeting new people here is very different from when you meet new people on the United Sates. Everybody here is very affectionate, and even when you speak with a person you stand much closer, and your faces are much closer to each other during conversation. When you meet somebody for the first time, say hello to somebody, or goodbye it is always a kiss on each cheek. I like that way of greeting much better than the way a formal greeting in the United States is done.

We ate lunch with our new families before we left the hotel to go to our new homes. My host sister warned me about how Brazilians eat compared to people in the US. Clara also told us about this, but it was interesting to hear it from my host sister as well, and how much she emphasized the importance of eating properly here. You do not eat anything with your hands! Even bread and sandwiches are eaten using a napkin told hold the food with. You tend to eat slower, and smaller portions. Even the utensils are smaller here in Brasil! It was very difficult to have any form of communication with my mother. Everything we said to each other had to be translated through my host sister who speaks Portuguese very well. Having Anna there did make things a lot easier, but it was definitely awkward. After lunch my new father came to the hotel to drive us all home.

When I walked into my house I was pleasantly surprised. The first thing I saw when I walked in was a huge entertainment center in the living room. To the left of the living room was a balcony, and then you walk to the back of the house passing the kitchen, and computer room. My room was very nice! I even had my own bathroom, but the best part was that I had internet! I was not expecting to have internet, and I even had a plug in my room that could use American electronics! Such a pleasant surprise! I didn't spend more than 20 minutes at home before Anna brought me to Porto de Barra, the beach near where we live, to watch the futbol game with Brazil v. Chile. It is almost impossible to explain this event. Right next to the beach there is a stadium for concerts with a huge flat screen television to watch the game. When we got there all I could see was thousands of people all dressed in yellow and green with horns, whistles, hats, etc. People of all different shapes, colors, and sizes all together in one place dancing witch each other, talking, singing, and cheering. The only thing that comes remotely close to this sight in the US would be the celebrations that happened in different cities after the election of Barack Obama. People in Salvador seem to have a much stronger connection to each other, family, and culture than in the US. They all seem extremely proud to be from Brasil, which is more than you can say for many people in the United States. After the game was over there was a concert. Everybody was dancing all over the place! Even when it started raining people continued to dance and celebrate the win. I can only imagine what the next game will be like! The game also takes place on Salvador's Independence day so it will be like a double celebration.

After the game my mother had a birthday party for Anna. A lot of people came from her program as well as some students from Northeastern. It was so much fun to interact with a lot of different people with different levels of speaking Portuguese. Anna's friends also told us a lot about what to expect while we are here, and also great places to go out and have fun. The party was full of dancing, and eating, but around 1:30 I could barely keep my eyes open and headed to bed.

Tuesday we all took a tour around Pelourinha which is a historical center in Salvador. Unfortunately it was raining which made walking around the center cold, and wet, but I guess it did add to the experience. The center is very beautiful. All of the streets are cobble stone, and very narrow. The building are very colorful, and there are a lot of people around selling things on the streets, and there are also a lot of shops around where you can buy just about anything. My favorite part of the tour to Pelourinha was the exhibit that had huge wooden carvings of the different Gods from the Orixas religion. All of the different Gods have their own story, and significance in the religion. I am very excited about the lecture coming up about this religion.

That night a huge group of us went back to Pelourinha to go to a Salsa club. The club was so much fun, and when everybody left there was a gathering of people right outside of the club doing capoeira. It was a great night to spend in the culture with our group as well as some people from UCLA and Texas.

Wednesday was our first day taking classes at ACBEU. In the morning we had a two hour Afro-Brazilian, and Samba dance lesson. That was so much fun, and a great work out! I noticed that here in Brazil as well as other Latin American cultures, or African cultures, dancing is a huge part of life, and everybody dances! In the United States you often see guy standing on the wall while the women dance. If you go to a club in any Latin American country EVERYBODY is dancing together, both men and women. I love dancing so being here is great for me! After our lesson we all went home for showers, and lunch. I ate lunch with my dad who speaks English pretty well. It was very nice having lunch with him because he would tell me how to say things in Portuguese that I would then repeat back to him. we talked about the difference between Brasil and the US in terms of family meals. I asked him if he always came home for lunch, and he explained to me how lunch is a big and important meal in Brasil for the whole family to be there for. We also talked about the difference in food. I explained to him how I liked the food here A LOT better than in the US. It is more fresh, and better for your health. This was the first time my dad and I really sat down for a conversation, and it was very nice to be able to make a connection with him.

After lunch it was back to ACBEU for the first Portuguese class! We were all very excited about our first class because we could finally start understanding more Portuguese and hopefully communicating with our families. The lesson was great! We are all beginners of course so we learned the alphabet and common phrases that we will need for the class. It was a lot of information at once, but very fun, and helpful. Our professora can speak in English, but teaches the entire class in Portuguese except for some moments. I wasn't able to go home and speak to my mother like I hoped, but I think that overtime I will be able to have simple conversation with her, at least I hope!

This was a boy in Pelourinha who was doing a little show for us hoping for money... There were A LOT of people in this area asking for money. After I took this picture he practically ran after me begging for reals.

There are street vendors like this all over the place in Salvador.

A beautiful church in Pelourinha

Our tour guide Freddy. Such a funny guy! Here is showing us the popular music in Brazil. My favorite was an artist called skank!

So, this is one of many statues right by the beach in Salvador. These statues represent the ideal body! Too bad the US can't appreciate this kind of beauty!

It Starts!!

So, I have officially arrived safe and sound in

Salvador, Bahia! The flight was a little to be desired, sleeping in a tiny little chair squeezed between two people was not very fun! Our flight to Miami was delayed... BOO, but I did get the chance to sit next to a girl who was from Rio, and she told me how beautiful Salvador is! Once we arrived in Miami, we got some food, and only had to a wait a little while until we boarded the plane to Salvador! We landed around 6:30 AM, and got on the Mariah Carey (our bus), and drove to Sol Vitoria Marina, our hotel. We got there too early to check in so a group of us walked to a local market, and attempted to use some portuguese for the very first time to buy some water, and food! The streets in Salvador are beautiful! There is artwork all over the cement walls, and even the sidewalks have beautiful designs. Nothing like our boring old gray sidewalks! Also, the traffic lights countdown the seconds to when the light is going to change!

We all thought that was pretty cool! When we made it back to the hotel, most of us were extremely tired, and burnt out at this point. There were very comfortable red couches in the lobby of the hotel. About 8 of us all passed out for about an hour, perfect power nap! Finally our rooms were available and we could all take showers, change, and relax! My roommates and I walked into our room, and it was pretty much perfect for me! Orange EVERYWHERE! We also had a beautiful view of the ocean.

The view of the ocean from our hotel was gorgeous! There was a dock at the bottom of the hill from our hotel that also had a water slide. We took the chance to take in some Brazilian sun, and went down on to this dock to sunbathe! No, we did not just walk down the stairs, we took a gondola! Yes, I said a gondola! You get to glide down to the bottom of the hill watching the scenery pass by as you go. Once you get down there you can see that there is actually a bar, and small restaurant at the bottom as well to order food or drinks. We all laid out for the first time on the dock, contemplating whether, or not we wanted to jump off..... We agreed the water was too choppy, and dangerous.

Some other girls from the group came down to join us, and told us about the beach that was about a 20 minutes walk away, and so we decided to make the journey, nothing else to do! We did get a little bit lost, and managed to walk into somebody's private property, but luckily everybody in Salvador is so nice, and they attempted to explain to us, in Portuguese, how to get to the beach. Once we got there the beach was PACKED! Beautiful people EVERYWHERE! What were they wearing? Well, practically nothing, after all we were at the beach in Brazil!

After taking a dip in the extremely salty, but warm and beautiful water, we decided to try and buy some food. This turned into us spending about 15 minutes trying to communicate with one of the street vendors what we wanted. We couldn't understand the options she was offering, and we couldn't get her to tell us how much the food cost. After a lot of back and forth pointing, and gesturing we all managed to get some food. None of us got what we actually wanted, but we did get food! We also figured out how to ask a few people to take a group picture of us by the ocean. When we got back to the hotel it was about time to get ready for dinner at Boi Preto, the most amazing brazilian steak house to ever exist!

Overall, the first day in Salvador was a huge success! We explored the area, got to try out the language on the local people, got some sun, and ate amazing brazilian food!