Feliz Natal Atrasado (Merry Late-Christmas)

Christmas this year was definitely very different than that of any other I have ever had-but I had a fantastic time! My host dad has a very large family, and lots of them don't live in the same city. So, everyone came here for Christmas and lots of people stayed in my house. We had such a good time together! On Christmas Eve, we had a churrasco and just hung out. And then at midnight, everyone told everyone "Feliz Natal", and then about three hours later everyone went to bed. And Christmas day wasn't really a big deal. My family didn't exchange gifts and didn't put up any Christmas decorations or a tree. I don't know why but Christmas just isn't as strong as it is in the United States. And one of the weirdest things was the weather-it was hot, sunny, and snowless. And the day after Christmas, I went to the pool and got sunburned. That same day, I went over to an "uncle's" house and when we got there, we decided to eat dinner. And so I was eating and someone offered me a chicken's head, swearing it was delicious. So, I decided to just go for it, and I bravely accepted. And once I could finally eat it, it was actually very good-tender, flavorful, all-around yummy. And so I happily went along eating, until I came across this black, mushy, slimy thing. And stupidly asked, "What is that?!" And when my uncle told me it was the chicken's eye, I could barely keep down the chicken I had just eaten. But, I was able to forget the eye, relax, and calmly finish my rice and beans. :)

On Thursday, I'm leaving the state for the first time and going to Sao Paulo(which is not just a city, but the state, which is what I am referring to). I'm going to the city of Franca, where lots of my host dad's family lives. Here, for O Ano Novo, or Revellion, New Year's, people wear white. And the coming year is determined by the color of underwear you wear. If you want love, wear pink, passion-red, money-yellow, peace-white. And if you live near the beach, and you want to have good luck, jump seven waves.

If you have the time or desire, check out these three songs. They're my favorite right now.
Madri
Fudiginha
Sutilmente

Tchau.
Beijos.

Verão (Summer)

my host mom got a puppy!

my host grandpa turned 75 (but, oops! the candles say 77. hehe)

my host grandpa and his grandchildren

my host grandparents

my host grandparents and their kids (my host mom is in the blue)

the girl in this picture made the cake!

me and my host grandparents

I have no school! Eba! So, to pass the time, I have been getting my nails done regularly (just one more way to become more brazilian), and going downstairs and hanging out at my host parent's supermarket. A couple people my age work there so I have made some new friends and the customers are sometimes quiet intersting. And my host grandpa comes there a lot so we get to talk to. I have already learned two super-hard Portuguese word from one of the girls that works there. etiquetadora (eh-chee-kay-ta-door-uh), which is "price-gun" and paralelepípedo (pah-dhah-lay-lay-pee-pay-doh), which is some sort of geometric figure. And lots of Brazilians say, one of the hardest words to say. It's sort of a tongue twister.

I cannot believe its only eight days until Christmas! Christmas just isn't very "strong" in Brazil-most people don't decorate, say Merry Chirstmas, or anything like that. And its getting hot. It just isn't Christmas without snow. But, to celebrate, my host dad's nine brothers and sisters are all coming to my house. So if I can be sure of anything, its that on Christmas I will not be lonely. And I think for New Years I am traveling to Franka, a city in São Paulo. It will be my first time in another state in Brazil! Eba!

And then on January 4th, I leave for the Northeast! I'm so excited!

Well, I guess that's all that's new with me-just hanging out and enjoying my summer-in December. How wierd.

Tchau.

Ultimo Dia de Aula (Last Day of School)

me and Cintia

almost my enitre class. one girl is missing.

does this look like the face of someone who is learning?

ahhh. who did her hair? hehe

My last day of actual class was the last Friday of November. On which, we didn't actually have class. It was kind of a sad day. Now, everyone is taking the vestibular and preparing to move away! :(

Lots of people have already taken two, actually. And, three or four of my friends passed the first one. So, in order to celebrate, we are going to throw a party. But we don't have any money. So, what do we do? Well, in Brazil, we throw smelly food on the people who passed, then, go stand by a stop light, and ask for money from the people in the cars when the light turns red! It's called trote (troh-chee). It was so much fun! We did it for about four hours and got almost 500 reais! That's almost $250! And all we did was simply ask! Sometimes, peoples' windows weren't rolled down, and so we would knock, and they would just look and slowly shake their head "no". And sometimes people would see us before they got to the stop light, and would stop way far back just so we wouldn't ask. But lots of people were happy to give their spare change for the people who passed the vestibular. And now, we can have parties until it's time to go back to school! And this was such a blast and so effective, I think I might try this when I get home in order to raise money for college. Jefferson City has a lot more stop lights than Sao Gotarrdo. Hmmm.

Well, Christmas is approaching. Although, it doesn't quite feel like it. I have seen like two strings of Christmas lights, four Christmas trees, and heard one Christmas song. I haven't had a single cup of hot chocolate, eaten a single chocolate-covered-pretzle, wrapped a single present, or done anything that feels remotely Christmas-y to me. I think this Christmas will be mostly just sad for me. But, its just one out of the many I will have. And it will be interesting to see how another family celebrates Christmas.

My Northeast trip is coming! I leave January 4th! Whoo hoo! I love the beach and promise to take tons of pictures and only put about five on here. :)

Tchau.
Um beijo.
Ate mais.

Missa, Churrasco, e Formatura :)

watch my "homenagem" in very bad portuguese :)

Titi, Me, Mariana America

My two host dads

Cecilia and Me

Mariana America, Me, and Leticia Yasmin. And let me just say, I look like a box.

My entire class at the churrasco

This is such a cute picture. And look at Titt´s face. It makes me laugh every time. We were singing "Rebaixei" when I took the picture.

Mariana America's sister. She's so cute! And she loves me so much. Haha.

She hates this picture.

Me and Cecilia.

I graduated on Saturday! Woo hoo!

To start of the celebration, we had mass on Thursday. And after we ate dinner at a resteruant.

On Friday, we all rode a bus the one of my classmate's farm where we had the churrasco. I ate way to much and danced a little. It was so much fun, too! I love my classmates!

And then, on Saturday, we had the grand, unforgettable, incredibly fun Formatura. It's like graduation and prom put together in one night. Only, it was very different from my graduation. First of all, you don't wear a cap and gown, you wear whatever you are going to wear to the prom. And it didn't even start until nine o'clock at night. And lots of my classmates gave little speeches about the students, teachers, and parents. And then the dance started. And the had appatizers and drinks while we waited for dinner. And then around eleven dinner was served, but I didn't eat so I do not know what it consisted of. However, I heard it was very good. And, since I live in Brazil, the most shocking difference, is that at a school function, there was open bar all night. And people walked around serving beer to people-they even squeezed their way through the packed dance floor to see if anyone wanted more. And there was a band called Nova York. They performed other artists songs, both Brazilian and American. It was so incredibly fun! I danced almost the entire time! I even danced forro-a type of Brazilian dance. I don't really know how to describe it. I didn't dance it incredibly well, but I did dance it.  In fact, I danced until 5:30 in the morning! By the time four o'clock rolled around, I was running around telling all my friends, "OMG! It's four o'clock! I've never been out this late before!"

And now after this week finishes, I only have one more week of school. Which, very surprisingly, I'm bummed about. When I start back to school in February, I'm going to have a new class. Vou morrer de saudades! And the video you just watched or are going to watch, is me giving my "homanagem". Which I guess is like a little good-bye, thanks-for-everything speech. It has a word in English but it escapes me at the moment. And my Portuguese is very bad. Note how many times my class bursts out laughing. And I was so nervous. Queria sumir! But, I did make one person cry and Cintia said, "Que linda!" "How beautiful!". So, I guess, over all, it went decently. But I can't wait until I get even better! And not to seem big-headed, but I think my Portuguese is better than what you see in this video. The pressure of everyone looking only at me didn´t really make the speech any easier.

Until next time.
Tchau.
Beijao.