There is so much that happened this week, I'm not sure if I'll be able to remember everything. At school, the students were finishing up exams, which meant that I was able to work on my Portuguese books during classes because I can't read or write well enough yet to do the written tests. I tried the multiple choice tests, but I had to use my dictionary to translate each question and answer, so I couldn't make it through most of the test in time. It was difficult even if it was a test in a subject that I really enjoy, like literature, because it would be about books written by Brazilian authors. Even the English class test was really hard. The questions were in Portuguese so I didn't understand what they wanted you to do. My brother got a better score than me because he's been going to English school for a long time. My host dad thought that was really funny, and laughed almost the whole way back from school :) Even though I have a hard time trying to understand what is going on in class, I really enjoy school. I have become friends with everyone in my class, they're super welcoming, and kind to me and have helped me a ton with my Portuguese. Now that testing week is over, they said that we will be able go out more after school. I am really glad that I was put in their class, I have something in common with everyone in the class, and the things that they enjoy doing after school are exactly what I love to do. It is amazing how fast you can become close to people, I've only been here three weeks and I already feel like I have known some of these people for years. Yesterday I tried to thank all of my friends at school for being so nice to me and helping me with my Portuguese. My friend Isabelle said "Linda, pode sempre contar com a gente, voce d muito querida por todos nos." Which means, "Beautiful, you can always count on us, you are very dear to us all." I haven't been the new girl many times before, but I was not expecting to make such good friends so soon.
Last Saturday morning, my host parents and I went to the morning market. It was so busy and I absolutely loved it! There were a ton of different stalls set up selling all different types of things. There were tables just piled with fruits and vegetables, a lot of which I've never seen before. Stalls with buckets of different spices lined up, homemade tamales, different fruit drinks, and tables filled with different flowers. Those were my host mom's favorite.
Then later that day, my host mom took me around the city to take pictures because the trees that are in the middle of the roads were all flowering. She said that she always likes to go to take pictures during this time of year. We drove around and took pictures all around the city. It was so much fun, and I was able to see a lot of the city that I hadn't been able to before. That night, I made my family dinner. I made stir fry (surprise) and they really liked it! I even made the sauce that I love, and they liked it so much that now they make steamed veggies and the sauce for lunch every day.
Then later that day, my host mom took me around the city to take pictures because the trees that are in the middle of the roads were all flowering. She said that she always likes to go to take pictures during this time of year. We drove around and took pictures all around the city. It was so much fun, and I was able to see a lot of the city that I hadn't been able to before. That night, I made my family dinner. I made stir fry (surprise) and they really liked it! I even made the sauce that I love, and they liked it so much that now they make steamed veggies and the sauce for lunch every day.
On Thursday, my host dad took me and Leah, the exchange student who is in Tangara from Canada, to the local dance and exercise center. They gave us a tour, and I think that we will be taking a dance class together, and that I will be going with my host mom a lot to exercise. I am really excited because I haven't been able to dance for a while, and I can't wait to start! Me and Leah also have a lot in common, and when we are able to see each other, we spend the whole time laughing and talking about the funny and embarrassing things that we've done or said. When my host dad and I first got to her house, she showed me her room, and we were trying to talk but were having a really hard time. After about two minutes we realized that we were still speaking in Portuguese! We had completely forgot that we could speak in English. We laughed about that for awhile, and then tried to communicate in Portuguese, but we got to excited to have to work that hard to talk to each other, so we switched back to English.
Friday night, my friends and I went out to a restaurant for dinner, it was for Brazilian grilled meat. They call it Carne Asada, and it is meat grilled on a stick, and then served with sauces, rice, and salad. It was really good. A lot of the restaurants here have completely outdoor seating, it's really nice to be able to sit outside. After eating, we walked over to my friend Isabelle's house where we played karaoke, and then two of us slept over. It was a ton of fun, and I found that I was able to participate without having to focus only on the language. It was a really good feeling to be able to just focus on having fun, and not trying way to hard to figure out what to say.
Last night my host parents and I went to the Circus. It was amazing! I had forgotten how much I love the acrobatics. My host dad let me get a Maca de Amore, apple of love. It was like a caramel apple, except instead of caramel, it had a red hard candy around it. It was really good! My host mom said we could try to make them at home. The circus was all acrobatic and humor, and I found that I was laughing at the jokes, it was a really good feeling to be able to understand what was going on! The acrobatics were amazing! And the company was really small, everything was done by about 12 or 15 people. They each did a few different things, and it was absolutely amazing! At the very end, they did this amazing thing where three people on motorcycles got in this wooden ball. I can't even try to explain what it was like, but they were all going around really fast, upside down and weaving around. They had to duck their heads because they were so close to each other. I couldn't even imagine trying to do that. It was terrifying and amazing to watch! That was a really good end of a great week!
Today we are just taking a nice day to relax, it's really nice to be able to have a day to just think about everything that happened the last week, and to get excited for the next one. Tonight I am going to make them Honey-Lime grilled chicken, I hope they like it! I think that I am going to be able to cook every Sunday night. I am really excited to be able to cook for them. I'll write again soon!
Today we are just taking a nice day to relax, it's really nice to be able to have a day to just think about everything that happened the last week, and to get excited for the next one. Tonight I am going to make them Honey-Lime grilled chicken, I hope they like it! I think that I am going to be able to cook every Sunday night. I am really excited to be able to cook for them. I'll write again soon!
Love from Brasil,
Liv
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