Tuesday, May 5, 2015
It´s May??
Where does the time go?
Once again months have flown by without me stopping back to update, but in my defense, it feels like I wrote my last blog post just yesterday. Things have quieted down a bit since carnaval has been over. I´ve been back in school and the weather has gotten a bit cooler again. My sister came to visit for 10 days in March and that was amazing for me. It was like my two worlds coming together. Getting to show her around my town, introducing her to my friends and family and just spending some time with a person who has known me for more that 8 months was priceless. We also were lucky enough to get to go on a trip to Iguaçu Falls with my host parents. The waterfalls were absolutely incredible... Definately something everyone should put on their bucket list. Just so everyone has an idea, it´s more than twice the size of Niagra falls. The trip was also great just to get to soak up some sun and get away from my routine for a bit. I was really sad saying goodbye to Emily after the 10 days, but I´m forever grateful that I had the opportunity to share a little bit of my exchange with someone from home.
In April the rodeo took place here in Palmital. In my city, this is the biggest event of the year. The rodeo goes on for 5 days during which there is no school and no one works. In many ways it is similar to the rodeos I´ve experienced at home: fair food, rides, games, and of course the actual rodeo. But one huge difference here is the events after the rodeo each night: the show and the dance. When the actual rodeo competition ends each night, the gates of the arena are opened and thousands of people rush in to watch the show. By show I mean concert, each night by a different and very famous country singer. If anyone has ever heard the song Ai Se Eu Te Pego, which was an international hit and one I was singing before I even got here.. Yep! That singer came and sang in Palmital. I even got within a few yards of the stage that night! The shows start around 11-midnight and go on for a couple of hours. The best part is that all of this..the rodeo and the show, is completely free and put on by the city!
The only part of the rodeo I had to pay for was the dance which happens each night after the show. So yes, the party starts around 2-3 AM and lasts until 6-7. I´ll never forget walking into my house at 7:30 AM when it was totally light out already and thinking "Wow, normally I would be starting school right now". Brazilians, man.
Anyways I can feel how quickly my year is winding down which can only be described as bittersweet. I think leaving Brazil will be one of the hardest things I ever do. I have gotten so attached to my life here and the people in it. On the other hand, I have begun to feel like I'm just sort of spinning my wheels here, and I know that I have new and exciting things ahead of me back in the US. It doesn't hurt either that I have such a wonderful place and people to go home to :)
Of course, I can see both sides of going home now, but at the airport I'll probably be clinging to my host parents sobbing and begging for them to legally adopt me.
I know I keep promising pictures but technology is just so much work sometimes, ya know? I'll try to put up some pictures this week though!
Beijos
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Well, it's safe to say I have failed as a blogger. Partly this is because I've been without a laptop, but honestly I've also just gotten so caught up in life here that it's hard to pause sometimes to update everyone. Anyways here goes. Seeing as it's been over 3 months since I posted I'll do my best to explain what I've been up to without this getting too lengthy. Bear with me!
In November summer began (I know who weird that is..) so my host parents and host grandma took me on a 10 day vacation in the south of Brazil where we visited several different beaches and did a little sightseeing. We were in the state of Santa Catarina and visited a few different towns. It was absolutely beautiful and blew me away. What I was most impressed by is that all of the beaches are totally public and accessible but were still 10X cleaner and less crowded than any beaches I've been at anywhere else. Another thing is that almost everyone on vacation there was Brazilian rather than foreign so there is no "touristy" atmosphere. The cities we visited also impressed me because despite being big urban centers they were extremely clean, quiet, well organized etc. Remember, this is because I was in the South of Brazil which is the richest part with a lot of European influence, I've heard very different things about the Northeast.
I had summer break from school from December until the beginning of February. Soooo much happened in that time! Brazil seems to come to standstill in the last/first months of the year with most adults getting holidays from work and kids being out of school. There were lots of parties surrounding the holidays, some with family and some with friends. It doesn't seem to me that most brazilians have very formal christmas traditions, mostly everyone just gets together christmas eve and christmas day for meals, drinking, present exchanging, and lots of good conversation and laughter. Christmas was definitely very informal and laid back. For New Years, my family all got together to eat dinner, then I went out with some friends. First we hung out in the street where there was some live music and a stage and just tons of people in the street. At midnight there were fireworks, and instead of kissing your significant other, the tradition here is just to hug everyone around you. After all of that we to the club here in my town. One cool tradition is that everyone here dresses in all white for New Years to symbolize a fresh start.
Another thing is that the school year here starts in February and ends in December, so everyone graduates around the end of the year. Graduations here are crazy. The graduates each get a certain number of tickets to sell, and they sell them for around $30. They take place in a sort of place you might have a wedding reception. They are all you can eat buffets and open bar all night. They start around 10 pm and end around 6 am (although most of the adults and families leave much earlier). There is a dance floor and DJ all night as well. I went to one and as you can imagine, it was a really good time.
Then of course, in February, came carnaval. There are a variety of ways that Brazil celebrates carnaval, but in my town we have "street carnaval" (which in my opinion is the best). For 5 days there were DJS, live music, lights, and thousands and thousands of people dancing in the street. One night it was even pouring rain all night but the streets remained packed with people. There are things going on all during the day as well but most people go out into the streets from about 10pm and the music stops at 5am. The cool thing is that all of this is completely free and organized and put on by the city. You don't have to spend a dime to enjoy carnaval and I think that's awesome. There was also a small parade which showed off my town's two samba schools and a few floats but it really wasn't a big part of the festivities here.
Well, as you can see I've been having way way too much fun. Brazilians just love to celebrate and party and enjoy life and I absolutely love that. Now I'm back in school and my "normal" life which is slightly depressing, but I'll never forget all the crazy memories I made during my "summer" break. And I still have something to look forward to: my sister Emily is coming to visit in 3 weeks! And as if that wasn't exciting enough, my host parents will be taking us to vist Iguazu Falls, one of the 7 wonders of the world and something that has been on my bucket list forever.
By the way, since I can't (unfortunately) stay here forever I recently had to pick my return date, so I'll be home June 16th!
Ill post some pics in the next few days when I can get them all off of my phone and onto my laptop.
Beijos!
In November summer began (I know who weird that is..) so my host parents and host grandma took me on a 10 day vacation in the south of Brazil where we visited several different beaches and did a little sightseeing. We were in the state of Santa Catarina and visited a few different towns. It was absolutely beautiful and blew me away. What I was most impressed by is that all of the beaches are totally public and accessible but were still 10X cleaner and less crowded than any beaches I've been at anywhere else. Another thing is that almost everyone on vacation there was Brazilian rather than foreign so there is no "touristy" atmosphere. The cities we visited also impressed me because despite being big urban centers they were extremely clean, quiet, well organized etc. Remember, this is because I was in the South of Brazil which is the richest part with a lot of European influence, I've heard very different things about the Northeast.
I had summer break from school from December until the beginning of February. Soooo much happened in that time! Brazil seems to come to standstill in the last/first months of the year with most adults getting holidays from work and kids being out of school. There were lots of parties surrounding the holidays, some with family and some with friends. It doesn't seem to me that most brazilians have very formal christmas traditions, mostly everyone just gets together christmas eve and christmas day for meals, drinking, present exchanging, and lots of good conversation and laughter. Christmas was definitely very informal and laid back. For New Years, my family all got together to eat dinner, then I went out with some friends. First we hung out in the street where there was some live music and a stage and just tons of people in the street. At midnight there were fireworks, and instead of kissing your significant other, the tradition here is just to hug everyone around you. After all of that we to the club here in my town. One cool tradition is that everyone here dresses in all white for New Years to symbolize a fresh start.
Another thing is that the school year here starts in February and ends in December, so everyone graduates around the end of the year. Graduations here are crazy. The graduates each get a certain number of tickets to sell, and they sell them for around $30. They take place in a sort of place you might have a wedding reception. They are all you can eat buffets and open bar all night. They start around 10 pm and end around 6 am (although most of the adults and families leave much earlier). There is a dance floor and DJ all night as well. I went to one and as you can imagine, it was a really good time.
Then of course, in February, came carnaval. There are a variety of ways that Brazil celebrates carnaval, but in my town we have "street carnaval" (which in my opinion is the best). For 5 days there were DJS, live music, lights, and thousands and thousands of people dancing in the street. One night it was even pouring rain all night but the streets remained packed with people. There are things going on all during the day as well but most people go out into the streets from about 10pm and the music stops at 5am. The cool thing is that all of this is completely free and organized and put on by the city. You don't have to spend a dime to enjoy carnaval and I think that's awesome. There was also a small parade which showed off my town's two samba schools and a few floats but it really wasn't a big part of the festivities here.
Well, as you can see I've been having way way too much fun. Brazilians just love to celebrate and party and enjoy life and I absolutely love that. Now I'm back in school and my "normal" life which is slightly depressing, but I'll never forget all the crazy memories I made during my "summer" break. And I still have something to look forward to: my sister Emily is coming to visit in 3 weeks! And as if that wasn't exciting enough, my host parents will be taking us to vist Iguazu Falls, one of the 7 wonders of the world and something that has been on my bucket list forever.
By the way, since I can't (unfortunately) stay here forever I recently had to pick my return date, so I'll be home June 16th!
Ill post some pics in the next few days when I can get them all off of my phone and onto my laptop.
Beijos!
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