Praia

Today was good...finally went to the beach and I´m going out with friends to watch the Mexico Brasil soccer game...should be fun.

Homesick

I´m really homesick...I miss my friends and family at home so much, sometimes it can feel really lonely here because there is just so much going on all the time and it´s hard to get used to. If you´re reading this send me an email or a message! But Brasil is great and I´m trying to enjoy it. The rain/wind is out of control. Last night we went downtown to the historic district to a couple plazas and had a traditional Bahian dinner (Bahian food is not that great if you don´t like beef or meat in general, so it´s not my favorite). I tried the national drink (basically straight sugar cane alcohol with some lime and sugar) and could only handle three little sips...if I had the whole glass no doubt I would have been pretty drunk. I don´t know how well the little lightweight thing is going to work here for me. The culture downtown is amazing...there is music and food and dancing. It was a lot of fun until it start pouring so we called it a night early. I don´t think I´m going to be able to post pictures for a while sooo you´ll have to wait to see how beautiful some parts of Salvador are ;). Tchau Tchau!!

Better

Today has been so much better. I was late to class but it was fine...I have kind of a long walk. I met some really nice girls that are American too and we explored the city today...I´m starting to like it more after seeing how beautiful the beach is. It gets so windy and rainy though! There are some really weird people here. I think some of them are just a little cracked out...kinda scares me. I´m getting used to all the stares too I guess. I just try to ignore it and pretend that I´m European or Canadian or something because being American is such a target. I need to stop speaking English with my friends too because it attracts a lot of attention. They all know Spanish too so if we can´t say something in Portuguese we try to just speak in Spanish.

I gave my host parents the books I bought that have pictures and stuff of the Southwest, which they have never seen before and they really liked it. And I found out that the other night when I heard all those gunshots it was probably just stupid kids shooting off fireworks. That makes me fell a little better (even though shootings are not a rare occurrence). I went to the mall today and I finally felt at home haha and I got a pair of Brazilian Haivanas at this cute little surf shop by the beach.

I´m going to a beach near Salvador to learn to surf with the groups of friends I just met this weekend...I´m excited! I definitely miss my family and friends and feeling safe but I´m starting to love Brasil.

Oi gente

Sooo...it has been a looong couple of days to say the least. My flight to Sao Paulo was ridiculously long and probably up there on the worst experiences of my life list. Flights like that make me not want to travel. The airport in Sao Paulo is another list topper...it was horrrible. It took us over an hour to get our luggage and check it for our flight to Salvador. Our flight was set to leave at 9:05 and we weren´t even done with the luggage disaster by then and we still had to go through security and customs. Luckily our flight took off late...we were the last ones to run on. Thank God for Brazilian time...everything is very relaxed and nothing is on time.

The very first parts that I saw of Salvador were beautiful...so green and tropical. Once we got further to the city it started to look more like a third world country. Emily and I checked into our hotel by the beach (which was so nice) and just slept. Today I got up early to get a taxi and get to my language school for orientation. Of course I called to get the same guy that took us from the airport and he said he could come and 20 minutes later when I asked the fromt desk he had called to say he had to cancel. So I just got another taxi but he had no idea where he was going so I was a little late.

I really like the school and my teacher and there are other Americans there!!! Yay I was so glad because I feel like the only American here. After class my host mom took me to her apartment where I will be staying and showed me my room. It´s nice but it´s a really small apartment. She´s really quiet but her husband is more friendly and not as shy. It´s kind of awkward trying to communicate with everyone here because they can tell I´m not Brazilian by the way I speak, so I´m just trying to get by.

Right now it´s raining hard and probably will a lot because it is winter. It´s so humid! Honestly from what I´ve seen so far, Brazil is not the exotic vacation place that most people think. There are lots of slums (favelas) in Salvador which I wasn´t expecting and I would definitely not go out at night anywhere unaccompanied. Last night I woke up around 7:30 (Brazilian time) to what sounded like all sorts of gunshots and explosions. My best guess is that there must have been something going on in a favela related to drugs. It lasted over an hour and sounded pretty close. Emily slept through it so I just stayed in bed scared to death. It´s so sad that that kind of thing happens on a normal basis and no one can do anything about it because the drug gangs have the most power and they will do whatever it takes to keep it that way.

I´m hoping that I will get to know the city better...I feel so lost all the time and it´s hard to understand what´s going on. I am the typical gringa...all I want to do is improve my Portugese so people don´t stare at me and give wierd faces when I try and speak. I´m definitely feeling a culture shock and it will take me a couple weeks to feel more comfortable. I´ll try to put up some pictures of Salvador and the Barra district (where I´m staying) soon. Tchau!

So exciteddd!

So I am done packing and starting to prepare for the 20+ hours of travel ahead. I will get to Salvador at 11am on Sunday and I start my Portuguese classes on Monday! I hope the family I'm staying with is welcoming and friendly...I can't wait to meet them and spend the next month with them. I'll be trying to update everyday and post pictures and I'll try to answer emails too! Ate logo!