Observations

Right now I feel like the observations I've made and all of the things I've experienced here are like being handed a bunch of puzzle pieces. I feel like over the course of the year I will be able to start putting together a clearer picture of what Brazilian culture is like, but for now all I have is glimpses and clues. It would be impossible to turn all of these observations into cohesive paragraphs, so for now I'm going to make a list as they come to me and hope you can take something from it. :)

-- You greet EVERYONE with a kiss on the cheek (Unless it's two guys, then they sort of bro hug/handshake)
--The biggest meal of the day is at lunch and parents come home from work to eat with the kids
-- Almost everyone has a maid/chef
-- Very loose with a lot of laws such as traffic laws, underage drinking, ect
--No one wears a seatbelt unless they are on the freeway
--All of the cars are stick shift
--It's unheard of to ever be barefoot (even in your own house)
--People dress in jeans and long sleeves even in 80 degree weather
--They almost never eat with their hands.. Sandwiches, pizza, ect is all eaten with a fork and knife
--Music is a huge deal. The main genres of Brazilian music that i've heard so far are Sertanejo (sort of like country but wayyy better in my opinion. This music mostly originates from where I'm living, the interior of Brazil), "Funk" (More typical of the Northeast region of Brazil, tends to be more racy, and usually comes out of poorer areas), Samba (I think everyone has a good idea of what Samba is). Brazilian music is so diverse and there are lots of other kinds of music that I haven't gotten to know yet. 
--The food is incredibly healthy, natural, delicious, and unprocessed (and labor intensive)
--Houses don't have central heating so seeing as it's winter I sometimes wake up in a room of about 50 degrees
--Even though it's winter here, during the day its about 70-80 degrees and blue skies :)
--Brazilians LOVE to laugh!!! :) and they don't seem to worry as much about offending people with their humor. 
--People are very laid back about things. They don't get overly worked up when there are problems
--Timeframes are very loose. It's super normal to show up to something an hour or so late, and no one will be upset with you!
--No one worries about their appearance for school. Girls usually have their hair in a ponytail and no one wears make up.However, they get very dressed up when going out or going to a party
--every girl's nails are SUUUPER long (and real, I asked!)
--the soil here is a bright red color, and when it rains, it looks like tomato soup running down the roads 
--Cities and towns are pretty spread out
--Tons of security on houses. Every single house I've seen has an alarm system, tall walls/gates surrounding it, multiple locks on all doors. My bedroom window for example has a heavy metal shutter which is about 3 inches thick that i lock every night, that's followed by built in metal grating which doesn't open, and finally the actual glass which I can slide open or close and lock.
--The plants are so colorful, interesting and bright and there are palm trees everywhere!! Yesterday I also so a cactus taller than the house it was next to hahah
--This part of Brazil is fairly mountainous with lots of rolling hills and i can't say enough about how beautiful it is
--Modesty seems to be a bigger deal here when it comes to clothing, and parents tend to be stricter when it comes to dating
--It's rude and weird to ever be in your bedroom with the door shut
--kids can legally drive at 18 and this is also the drinking age
-- A lot of diversity in appearances. For example, in my class, there are about 3-4 people with lighter skin, eyes, and hair than mine but then there are also a handful of people with very dark skin. 
--Although school is very short, lots of kids take extra classes at night or on the weekends
-- super steep roads and sidewalks in places (because they don't have to worry about snow!!)
--I don't think carpet is a thing here
--Kids can vote at 16 and at age 18+ its obligatory
--they love their telenovelas (brazilian soap operas)
--schools don't offer extra curriculars, but most kids have jobs, clubs, sports, or night classes apart from school
--BRAZILIANS LOVE BRAZIL. Although sometimes you will hear them complain about the politics or prices of things here, ect, Brazilians in general are very proud of their country (as they should be!!)
--drinking among teens seems to be more common here that the US but they seem to do it in more moderation


So.. there you have a tiny glimpse of some of the differences that I can think of off of the top of my head! 
Everyday Brazil feels more and more like home and I fall more and more in love with the culture and the people here. Happy weekend everyone! :) 

2 Weeks!

Where do I begin?
I have done so much in these past two weeks that it's hard to believe it's only been that long. I have started school, done some volunteering, attended my first rotary meeting, gone on a rotary sponsored "camping" trip for kids my age, started yoga/meditation classes, met tons of people, learned tons Portuguese and so much more!

This past weekend I had to say goodbye to my host sister as she left for her own exchange in Germany. Early Friday morning we headed out to Sao Paulo city (about a 5 hour drive from my house). Everything went smoothly , and after some teary goodbyes she was off! I was so sad about her leaving because we spent so much time together (not to mention she was the only person I knew who spoke any English!). Maria's aunt, uncle, and cousin met us at the airport to say goodbye to Maria, and afterwards we drove to their apartment in a city about an hour from Sao Paulo called Jundiai (population 400,000). When we were going up to their apartment, the elevator stopped and it was probably the scariest moment of my life. The alarm and phone in the elevator didn't work but luckily my "uncle" was able to pry the door open and get the attention of someone on the ground. The electrician had gone home for the day so we ended up trapped in the elevator for what felt like about an hour until FINALLY they got the door open. In hindsight it's pretty funny, and seeing as that's the worst thing that's happened so far I count myself pretty lucky :) Anyways, we spent two nights in Jundiai and during that time they took me to a botanical garden, really nice mall, and to a movie (all things that we don't have in my city). It was cool to get a taste of urban Brazil!

I have really started settling into my life here in Palmital and everything has started to shift from being all new and different to more normal and everyday. I have school from 7-11:30 and the rest of the day is pretty much free for what I want to do! Sometimes I will go to friends houses to watch movies or do on school work together. On Mondays and Thursdays I take a yoga class with my mom. Once a month on Wednesday I have a rotary meeting. If I have nothing to do, I usually just sit outside and read or watch some soccer on TV. On weekends people usually go out with friends, go to parties, ect. and on Sundays the whole extended family gathers at my grandma's house for a big lunch and to hang out. The whole Brazilian lifestyle is very laid back and less scheduled than I'm used to and I'm learning to love it very quickly!

The language has definitely been the hardest thing for me. A lot of people are surprised by this because I speak fairly fluent spanish and they ask me things like "Well portuguese and spanish are pretty similar right?" Well, yes and no. I could go on for hours about the similarities and differences in the languages. The biggest for me difference is the pronunciation and accent. Here are some examples:
te:
In spanish it's pronounced like TEH. In portuguese it's pronounced like CHI
de:
In spanish is's pronounced DAY. In portuguese it's pronounced GEE.
ch:
In spanish it's pronounced just like english. In portuguese it makes the "sh" sound.
me:
In spanish it's pronounced MAY. In portuguese it's pronounced ME.
....The list goes on and on. Portuguese is spoken much more nasally and at a different rhythm than Spanish or English. Also, portuguese has several letters that spanish doesn't such as:
ã à â ç ê õ ô. 
I think people tend to group the two languages together because they have a lot of cognates (words that are the same) and have a somewhat similar grammar pattern. But again there are some HUGE differences in the grammar. Also, there are tons of "false friends" (words that are spelled and pronounced the same but mean totally different things). For example:
Pelo in spanish means "hair". Pelo in portuguese means "for the". Pronto in spanish means "soon". Pronto in portuguese means "ready". Mas in spanish means "more". Mas in portuguese means "but/however". Again... I could go on and on.
Despite all of this, I am still glad for my background in spanish, and I'm getting better every day. I really don't speak english to anyone here so I'm fully immersed in portuguese almost around the clock.

I have so much more that I could say about Brazil, so I'm going to do another post soon just about some of the observations I've made about the culture and about some of the big differences I've noticed. There is so much to cover that it's impossible for me to say everything I want, so if there's anything anyone wants to know more about let me know:)

I'll leave you with some of the pics I've taken so far.
Beijosss :)

View from relatives' apartment in Jundiai

Monkeys in botanical garden!

My house :)

Sao Paulo city!!

First Rotary meeting

More pics of my house

Sao Paulo

Volunteering

A few pics of my city