I have a new address! Take a note of it...I posted it on the right side! >>>

I start school next week, Monday, on the 25th. I will have all new classmates and I'm a little nervous.

My host family right now is okay. I have a total of 4 brothers and sisters, plus an annoying little nephew who is always here. The grandpa always sleeps here as well. Plus my parents. The house is always full to say the least. My host sister, Betina, is 14 years old...and she likes to go on the internet a lot and watch a lot of tv. My host brother, Felipe, is 19 and he likes to watch a lot of tv too. My older host sister, Roberta, is in her 20s and she likes to get out of the house and travels a lot. My other host sister, Deise, is in her 20s also and she is married and had a son...who happens to be the annoying nephew. But it's neat, her house has a pool and I take advantage of it. =D People call the nephew "Guga" but his full name is Gustavo. He likes to run around the house either yelling or crying.

Here's an interesting fact: I gained 4 more kilos during my January trip and afterward. This is equal to about 8 pounds. I am really sorta sad about this. =/

I have a exchange student friend from Germany now! I met her on the trip and she lives in a city about a few hours away. She visited me last week for 3 days and 2 nights. This made me sooo happy! =) We have a lot of good memories from last week. Ice cream, pool time, walking, going out for pizza, driving around at night, screaming at people outside....hehehe! =D I am planning on visiting her in her city, Santa Rosa.

My camera broke and my mom is sending me a new one soon. When I get it, I will take pictures of my new house and room...etc. =)

And after 1 month of traveling...

Wow...I just spent 1 month traveling all of Brasil with some of the best people I could have traveled with. I can't even explain! I left my hometown here in Rio Grande do Sul on the 3rd of January with a group of about 80 Rotary exchange students with a company called "Terra Brasil Turismo". I wanted to be able to see ALL of Brasil because I knew that the south of Brasil was way different than the north. And it sure was wayyyy different. First we went to Brasília, the capital of Brasil. It was a very pretty city. Before it was constructed, everything way planned out. From an airplane, the city is shaped like an airplane or bird. I saw the president's house there! After, we took a flight to Fortaleza...a gorgeous city! The temperature was SUPER hot (about 100 some degrees F) and it was perfect for the beach! It is one of the best cities in all of Brasil to buy things for cheap...so I definitely took the opportunity! =D After, we went to various cities including: Natal, Recife, Canoa Quebrada (broken canoe in english), Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Seguro, Lençoís, Parati. I saw my first SCORPION in Lençoís!! I went to take a shower and there was a little baby one in the corner...everyone was screaming! One of the roomates was brave enough to get a magazine and sweep it outside. In Fortaleza I went to one of the biggest water parks in all of Brasil: Beach Park. I went on the biggest water slide in the world! It's called the "Insano" and reaches as high as a 14 floor building, where you go from zero to 101 kilometres/hour (around 63 miles/hour) in just four seconds! I was the third person to go on it! The walk up the stairs was very tiring and very scary!!!! In Fortaleza we also went on dune buggies, where I burned my leg on the exhaust pipe of the buggy. I now have a huge scar on my lower leg!! (a natural tattoo...=P) My favorite cities where Canoa Quebrada, Salvador, and Riod de Janeiro. Canoe Quebrada is a verrrrry small hippie village. The little roads are all tiny and the roads are very bumpy. Ou bus couldn't even fit through the roads so we had to walk! The little shops there were so original and neat. There were sooo many hippies walking around and everyone seemed so happy to live there. The symbol of the city is a half moon with a star. Salvador was very beautiful. It is the BEST place for Carnaval in the entire world. It is very historical and is also a very huge party city. The beaches were gorgeous there. Rio de Janeiro was unexplainable. I was just so sad because the only 2 days that we were there, it was raining and cloudy. The mountains surrounding the city were so beautiful though. I saw the "favelas" or shacks where the poor people live. I recommend that you should watch the movie "Cidade de Deus" (City of God). It is in português but they have subtitles in English. It's a great movie about the poor people and favelas in Rio de Janeiro. (not a documentary) Our hotel in Rio was right in front of the famous beach "Copacabana"! (barry manilow!) In reality, this beach is pretty dirty and very very dangerous. I couln't take my camera out to take a picture because I was afraid someone would steal it!

I made so many friends on this trip from all over the world. I plan on visting them sometime on my exchange here! So many good memories and such a great time! I can't even sum up everything, really...

I arrived in the São Paulo bus station to take a bus back to my home town and waited about 7 hours there for my bus. So I took this bus about 14 hours to Cascavel, a boarding city. Then I waited there in the bus station (alone...with no one to talk to) for 10 hours. I couldn't walk around though, because I had about 3 huge bags of stuff to lug around. Then finally I got on my bus to my city...which ended up being late. That took another 14 hours until I finally got to Panambi, my city. =/ Oh my gosh...it was tiring. But I did manage to get my nails painted at the bus station. =)

As soon as I got to my first home, I went to sleep. When I woke up, I was alone and there was a note saying that I had to switch to my 2nd family now because the whole fam went to visit my host mom's mom because she's sick. So that was sorta emotional because i hadn't seen my 1st family in a month and i had to just switch families all of a sudden. So I'm now here at my 2nd family. And I don't know why, but my feet are swollen. And we went to this "Grape Party" or something and I fell and now have a scrape on my leg too. The grapes here in Brasil are gross. They all have pits inside. And the Brasilians eat them without chewing. (weird, right?) They just swallow the thing whole.

I think I will go to sleep now. I updated all of my pictures on my photobucket site!! LOOK!! and make sure to comment this blog if you read it! (please!)

Video of the "Insano": http://video.aol.com/video-detail/beach-park-insano-brazil/105490752
(it really is a lot more scary in-person)

Public Schooling

So all of those wonderfullll comments have motivated me to write more. Hehe!

So last week I decided to tag along with my host mom to the class she teaches at one of the public schools. (Adolf Kepler) She had told me earlier that she teaches the 8th grade, which is nearly equivalent to the 8th grade in the USA. (same work) That day she asked me to go along because it was near the end of the year and they were going to eat snacks and watch a movie. Well, to be totally honest, my host mom is an absolute workaholic. She is the owner of a store during the day and works there and during the night, she goes straight from the store to teach classes at 7PM and the classes end at around 10:30PM. So the day that I went with her to her classes she was running really late because she was working so hard in the store. (30 minutes late or so) So when I entered the classroom with her, everyone was already there waiting. And of course, I was expecting a bunch of noisy little 8th grade kids, ya know? Well, there was about 15 adults and maybe 2 kids, and they were noisy all the same. So I thought, okay...maybe I just misunderstood my host mom. So I just sat down and everyone in the room was staring at me like an alien, due to the fact that my host mom told them I was an American exchange student. After a while I was really curious about how this could be an 8th grade class, I honestly thought I misunderstood and that this was really some extra course for overachievers or something. So I asked the person in front of me what grade this was again. And he told me 8th grade. So then I just kept my mouth shut until the end of class. We watched "The 40 year old virgin". Then after class I asked my mom about it. So here's the story: Yes, it is 8th grade. Yes, they do the same work as 8th graders. And yes, the oldest person in this class is in his 50's.

And this is why they are old geezers in an 8th grade class...

-Some of them lived in the "interior" when they were kids. The interior is were few people live and there are no schools. So now they have moved to the cities and work in factories during the day and study at night. Some actually want to learn and graduate. Some.
-Some of them were in families that were very poor. When they were children they didn't have time to go to school. Instead, they worked for their family.
-The majority of them were just lazy and just didn't go to school at all. But there is a rule/law that says if you work in the factories here in the city you have to attend classes or something. So this is basically worthless, because these people come to class not wanting to study or learn...they go just because they have to in order to work in the city in the factories. So they are extremely distracting in class and they talk the whole time. And make noise. And yes, they are ADULTS.

The few people who actually want to study at the school I have A LOT of sympathy for. Many of them live outside the city and they walk every single night to and from class. They walk a verrrrry long way just to study and learn. Miles. In the dark. Every night. This is such a big problem I think.

During the break time countless "students" were drunk, smoking, or wasted. Completely normal, my host mom told me. And I'm not exaggerating.

My host mom gets countless threats from her students when they are doing bad in her classes. She has the authority to pass these students in her class, but students get mad when she is about to fail them. They make threats. About taking keys and scrtaching her car and hurting her family if she doesn't pass them. She has even received threats about them burning down her store.

But there are the students who want to learn. And make a living. And these people are the ones I feel very bad for.

Summer has arrived!

Well, it's been a while since I have written. But this is because I feel like no one reads my journals. =( Comment please if you read it! Then, I will feel inclined to write more often! =)

Sooo summer has definitely arrived here! A few days ago it was up to 104 degrees. Yes, you would think I died, but I really did survive. And this is the beginning of summer.

I will be traveling a lot this month. I will be taking a trip to the ocean with family and family friends after christmas for a week. Then, in January I will take the January Rotary Trip. I will get to travel to many cities all over Brazil...very excited about this. I'm sure I will return to my city completely black from the sun...haha! If you want to look at the trip program: http://www.terrabrasil.com/site/index_i.php?pagina=mostra_ingles/mostra_prog_viagem.php&cod_viagem=8

I did take a very short trip to Argentina a few weekends back. it was only for one day, but it was exciting! I went to a small city called "Obera". Very close to the border of Brasil/Argentina. My mom invited me along because she went with Christian to buy drinks and things because they are very cheap there. I have a few pictures on my picture site! (which by the way i did update this week)

-It's odd having Christmas in this weather.
-Brasilians always eat peaches with the skin pealed off.
-I called my mom and sister for the first time in 4 months a few weeks back. COOL!
-I have/use MSN Messenger here, so add it and talk to me! My MSN messenger address is: Rachasaurusrex@hotmail.com (just for messenger)

I'm scared of hail!

So last night I thought I was going to die. Either that or it was the end of the world and God was mad. We had the biggest storm ever. I woke up at 1 or 1:30 in the morning and I heard really loud bangs. At first I seriously thought someone broke into the house and was shooting my parents or something. But then I realized that it was storming and that frickin hail the size of half my hand was pelting the roof and everywhere. The wind was extremely strong as well. So I ran out to my parents room to see if they were there and they weren't. So I went downstairs and my host mom is burning palm leaves for a Catholic religious reason. And there were puddles and drips of water everywhere. (because the windows arent very sealed here) It was so incredibly loud from the hail. BAH, I took pictures of the HUGE hail and I'm uploading them now, so take a look in a bit! The same thing happened a few weeks ago in a very nearby city (Santa Rosa) except the hail was even bigger...BIGGER than your hand, and this is no exaggeration. People died because the hail went through the roofs. And this is why I was freaking out last night. My host parents said it's never happened in Panambi before. After the first storm passed (yes, there was two) I went back to bed, but another started around 4am and I had trouble sleeping because I thought the hail would come through the roof and hit my head and kill me. (i'm serious) So in short: IM SCARED OF HAIL NOW!

Halloween should be...sad, because they don't celebrate it here, so it's kind of weird for me. Plus, it's steadily getting warming because summer is close. (the seasons are switched) So I will be having Christmas in like, 90 degree weather, WOO HOO all you Michiganders, hehehe!

I've been a little sick lately. Sore throat a lot and stuffy nose today. But I hope it gets better. =/

BIG GIRLS DONT CRY!

Big Girls don't cry - fergie. Oh my gosh...I cannot get this song out of my head! Ahhhhhh...I hear it everywhere, I swear. And everyone is obsessed with the song too, so in class everyday, someone is singing it. That or 'beautiful girls' (by sean kingston, yes) People are obsessed with the Gwen Stefani/Akon song too. =) It's weird.

My Portuguese lessons were cancelled today...and so I have nothing to do until 4pm when I go to the academia/gymmmm!! WOO HOO! I'm not particularly excited though. since I have to go by myself...all alone...with a bunch of guys staring at me work out...understanding nothing...at all. But it's all good, I have to get used to going, since I'm signed up for Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays for 1 hour per day. Wooooop. W really need it though. Whe academia that is. The food here is just so frickin good I can't stop eating it. This is not good.

I think when I come back to the US I am sure to fail my drivers test. The drive extremely crazy here. Especially Christian...my gosh. He's a maniac. I will be used to this crazy driving and come to the US and...fail my test. Stop signs/'Pare' signs mean absolutely nothing here. You just basically drive right through them. And stop extremely abruptly if a car is coming that you just so happened to notice. There are actually bumps built into the roads that force you to go slow or else you blow your head through the top of the car. Ta loucoooo.

I think my hair is possibly starting to fall out. NOT GOOD AT ALL. My beautifulll hairrrrrr nooooo. I think I have emptied my hair brush, like 5 times since I got here. And normally I empty it never. =O Maybe it's just thinning out...extremely fast...or something.

It rained extremely hard the last 3 days. The whole weekend! =( I slept a lottttt. And today is gorgeous and sunny but very cold. On Friday Christian came to Panambi and we went to the pool bar with a bunch of people. And then headed to a street party. Which was a lot of fun. Good music. And fun people. =D I got home at 5am I think?

October 2nd= BLACK EYED PEAS CONCERT IN PORTO ALEGRE!!!! And yes, I am definitely going! I'll stay at christians apartment for I think maybe 4 days. A few of my friends are going to the concert as well, marina, remmo, marco, some guy that lives in porto alegre, felipe who lives in porto, and christian! I'm very super excited. xD

And that is my small chat for today!

Extremely exhausted!

The last couple of weeks have been extremely exhausting for me...I have been so busy and tired lately. It seems like everyday is a party and I never get any sleep! =) But it's all worth it. Last week I was sick for a few days...bad headache and stomach ache. Peptobismol seemed to help a bit though.

My birthday on September 5 was wonderful! On September 4 my parents threw me a surprise birthday dinner! =P I had absolutely no idea they were planning it. My friends were there and there were balloons everywhere...my parents got me a Rio Grande do Sul flag (its huge), along with a keychain with 'R' on it, a pillow shaped in a heart with brazils flag, and a caipirinha glass! (woo hoo!!!!) On my actual birthday they got me very pretty and yummy-smelling flowers. Of course at school on my birthday EVERYONE sang happy birthday not once, but i think 3 times. PARABENS PRA VOCÊ!!!! xD I am now 17...uhu!

My new favorite thing to do here is go to the sinuca bars! (pool/billiards bar) They are so popular here and its soooo much fun! I now know how to play pool with rules.

This week is "Farroupilha Week". It is when my state: Rio Grande do Sul gained independence. Everyone wears the traditional gaúcho clothes and drinks chimarrão. Wednesday there is a bailão dance...which is traditional. I have been to one earlier on.

I don't know how I will live without a housekeeper/maid when I come back to the US. They are the best!!! they wash your clothes, clean your room, make you food whenever you want. =)

Last week I made my parents pancakes!!! It didn't work out too well because the pans here are aluminum and have high sides. HAHA...my pancakes looked a little like scrambled eggs. But its okay, my parents loved them! They didnt know how to eat them...and they only put a tiny but of syrup on the pancakes. I kept saying "moreeeee syrupppp!!!!" xD

I have gained close to 10 pounds already...in one month. But, I cant help it...the food here is soooooo goood! I am joining the gym for 3 days a week and walking with my friend various days of the week though. Hopefully I will lose it, haha.

Here is a picture of what the traditional gaúcho clothes are: