August 25, 2009

So, I haven't written anything in almost 2 weeks, so I'll try to write everything I've been doing since my last post!

I continued going to school all last week and this week.  I love it there.  It's close to impossible following what the teachers say, so whenever the teachers give handouts, my friends and I always take my Portuguese-English dictionary and translate everything.  The rest of the time in class I either attempt to understand what is being said or I study some Portuguese books that I brought with me here.  I think I'll start taking tests in a month or so when the language isn't so hard!

The Sunday before last, Marisa, Pedro, Lucas, and I went to church.  Most people here are Catholics, so everything at church was a lot different from what I'm used to.  After church, Marisa dropped me off at my cousin Lara's apartment.  About 10 of her friends were there because every Sunday she has a choreographer come for a dance class.  They taught me a dance that was a mix between Reggae and forró.  Pedro came and got me after the class and we went from there to his dad's apartment and then out to lunch with Pedro, his dad, and my 2 older brothers Lucas and Daniel.  When we came back home, Lara and her friend Amanda came over to the apartment because they wanted me to help them with English.  We went to Lara's house later and then went out walking with a bunch of friends along the beach at night.

Tuesday night Pedro and I and a bunch of his friends went out to a Japanese restaurant because it was his last night here in Brazil.  He's going to live in New York for the year as an exchange student like me through Rotary.  Afterwards we all went walking on the beach.  The next day we went down to Recife to bring Pedro to the airport.  

(Pedro's going away dinner)

Thursday I went to Cabral, Adriana, and Luana's house (the same people I went to Natal with) and I stayed there until this morning because my mom was in Belo Horizonte visiting her family.  My friend Kricia was supposed to leave for Canada on Tuesday, but couldn't go then because she needed something more for her visa, so she and her mom were staying at Luana's house too so the whole weekend Kricia, Luana, and I hung out.

Saturday a group of about 20 friends went to an island called Picaozinho.  It was about a 10 minute boat ride from João Pessoa and it was sooo pretty!  It's a place where people can go snorkeling and swimming, and there were so many fish and coral there.  Later that day the whole group went to a beach called Intermares where there is a windsurfing/kitesurfing competition.  When we got there, it wasn't windy enough for them to windsurf/kitesurf, so we all just swam in the ocean until it got dark.  Luana, Kricia, and I went home and showered quickly and then went out for açaí with the same group again.

(Kelsie (from New York), me, and Kricia in Picouzinho)

I just got home from Luana's house after school this morning, but even though I've only been here for 3 weeks, it feels nice to be home :).  

This weekend there is a huge Rotary conference in a city called Maragogi.  All the exchange students in Northeast Brazil will be there and it's held in a huge hotel on the beach.  I hear it's one of the best Rotary conferences of the year and that it's a lot of fun.  I'll let you all know how it goes!

I know I'm forgetting to write a lot of things in here, but I've been so busy that it's hard to remember everything! :).  To sum it up though, I love everything here.  The people, the food, the weather, the beaches, the school, the Brazilian culture, the language, my city, my friends, and my family. 

And even if you're not following my blog, you still can comment on it because I would love to hear from you all!  Also if you would like to email me, my email address is raethompson93@live.com.  And lastly if you want to send me letters, my address here is:

Rae Thompson

Rua Major Ciraulo, 745-Apt. #1302

Manaíra

João Pessoa, PB 58038-291

BRAZIL

Tchau Beijos :)