Paulista

Hahaha sorry I haven't posted on here in a while! Well I am alive, and everything is wonderful! Today I went with an exchange student, and one of her friends to Paulista. Which, is basically São Paulo's time square. They have all of these stores, and since it is Christmas they have a ton of lights up! It is so pretty I really liked it. They had a ton of street performers too. They had, Elvis, Michael Jackson, and those statue people O it was very cool. Another thing that I think is cute about Brasil is that they sell corn on the street. Like ligit corn with butter, and salt; and they take it off the cob and you eat it. One of these days I really want to try it hahaha. Also, every Sunday they open up a bike lane on big streets, and today while walking down Paulista we saw Santa in a sleigh being pulled by guys on bikes! hahaha it was sooo funny, and we also saw a Santa riding down the street on a skateboard. O Santa's you are so crazy ;).

Shopping

I did it!!!!! I faced my greatest fear today........ going to the mall by my self. I was so scared that I wouldn't understand anyone or someone would ask me a question and I wouldn't know how to respond, but everything went perfect!! I bought a pair of sunglasses cause my other ones broke. I had nothing to worry about it was a piece of cake. Now that I know I can shop without any problems, look out mom and dad my credit card is going to loss some money cause I'm going shopping!!!!!! hahahaha

Ultimo Dia de Escola

Today was the last day of school!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhh it was fun. The only reason I went to school today was my friends and I had a party. We also did secret friend, which is basically secret santa only this wasn't for Christmas it was for the last day of school. Guess what I got.............. the Hunger Games book in Portuguese!!!!!!!!! Yayyyyyy, now I can read it, and help with my Portuguese! And, the best part is it is mine forever; so I will also have a book in Portuguese :). I will make my kids read it mwahhahahahahah. O also Brazilians apparently love, no love is a too weak of a word to describe this; there is not a strong enough word for this, but they ADORE brownies!!!!!! O my god I made them to bring for the party cause we were all in charge of brining something, and next thing I know they were gone! They all said they loved them though hahaha so that is good.

Ibirapuera

Today I went with my friends to Parque do Ibirapuera. It was a ton of fun I liked it! We meet at my friends store, then we took the bus to the park. By the way that was my first time ridding a public bus, and I am not much of a fan hahaha. O also on Saturday I moved to a new family. I really miss my old family, but I do really like it in my new house (it is right next to the mall ;) )

Português

Today I had an interesting day of Portuguese. Today at school I was playing can-can (it is like uno only some rules are different), and I laid down a wild card. I had all red cards left I was for sure going to win, then when I said what color I wanted I said "amarelo"............. then once the person laid down the next card in my head I was like "droga" (dang it). For those of you who do not know amarelo in Portuguese means yellow, I wanted to say vermelho for red cause I had all red cards -_-. O well, I guess I learned my lesson. Also, today I was invited to a host Rotary Club to present my time in Brasil so far. O did I mention it was all in Portuguese, yeah well that actually went really well I think!!! :) I was kind of proud of myself for doing that. Well, that was the Portuguese adventure for today até logo!!! BJS muahhhh

Natal!!!

I went to a friends house today, which was tons of fun! Cold Stone just opened up here so we went to that. It was her first time going, and she loved it haha, but then again who wouldn't. Then we went to the mall because she wanted to show me the Christmas decorations, and they were so cool!!! It had a theme, which was Christmas Circus. They had elvis flying from the ceiling (fake ones obviously), and Santa was giving out popcorn, and he was tight rope walking hahaha it was very cool.

Chuva

O my god when it rains here it really rains! Like so much rain is falling at one time that the streets are flooded, with rushing water, and it covers the street. It's not like there is poor drainage it is just that so much comes down at once that there is no where for it to go. Also, this all happens with in 10, 15 minutes!!! It is crazy!!!

Holiday

Today was a holiday so I didn't have any school!! This, morning we went for a bike ride. In São Paulo since there is no safe place to really ride your bike they have made these bike lanes on the street. It is actually really cool! It feels like you are going to get hit by a car though cause you are riding right next to the fast moving cars, but it is still a really good idea. I had fun riding my bike today, but my legs hurt so bad haha.

Jogos Vorazes: Em Chamas

I just watched Catching Fire for the second time today!!! Hahaha I have seen it twice already, and it hasn't even come out in United States yet :) The first time I watched it I was in Itanhaem, so the movie was completely in Portuguese. Since I had already read the book, I kind of understood what was going on, but I missed a couple things. Today I watched it in English! O it was like watching it for the first time haha. O I just love the movie so much. I went today with some friends. School got out at 11:30 today so we went right after school. We took the subway to the shopping mall, where we watched the movie (cause the theaters are inside the malls). There were 11 people including me. Yeah I know that is a lot of people we basically took up an entire row. But, I had so much fun! Also, it was Paula's birthday today! We went to this really cool Italian restaurant. They made it look like you were walking through Italy. They had you enter through this fake ally, and I felt like I was in Italy. O was soo cool. Well, I am going to bed cause I have done a lot of walking today. Tchau boa noite!!!

Fun Facts!

You wanna know some fun facts about Brasil!! Ok!!! First off here it is not common to have a middle name. Yeah I know how different. Usually they have both the mom's maiden name and the dads sir name. Yeah that is why sometimes names can get really long cause they just keep adding the names to the kid's name. Most people will take away one when they get married. How cool is that! haha ok next fact! Here they eat dogs with mayonnaise and potato sticks.... you know the potato chips that are in a shape of a stick. Yeah I remember when I ate my first hotdog I was so excited cause I hadn't eaten a hotdog in a while and I thought you know hotdogs were a universal taste, but I was so confused when I got this hotdog with potato chips on it. Haha it was ok. I prefer my hotdogs chipless, but I will still eat it. Also, they do not have hotdog buns. Yeah instead they use like french bread. It still taste really good, but since the bread is wider usually people will have 2 hotdogs inside of one bun!!! So, as you can see basically everything is different here even hotdogs haha. But, I love all the different stuff it is exciting, and is always surprising me. Well, that is all for the fun Brazilian facts for today have a nice rest of your day tchau!!! :P :P  

Speech

So I had a speech today in Philosophy. I was extremely nervous cause I had to do it in Portuguese, and pronouncing is an extremely hard thing to do. But, I just love everyone in my class it made me feel less nervous. My friend and I spent like a whole class period just going through the speech, and helping me pronounce things. Then when it was time my class was dead silent, and if you don't know my class it is never silent. I guess everyone wanted to hear me speak in Portuguese. The beginning was hard with some confusing words, but the end was easy. Everyone said I did really good! Yayyyy!! Today I also played (well more like tried) to play soccer. Haha I did ok. It wasn't like a real game we were just trying to get in the goal on one side. We didn't want to play a real game because it was so freaking HOT!! My god, and they told me that it is just beginning to get hot it apparently gets worse! Well I wanted hot so I guess I got it. Enjoy the snow Wisconsin!! :) Tchau

Updating

Well hello I kept getting yelled at for not posting anything in a while, so I will give you some updating. First, I went to Hooters with them some friends, which was so much fun! I ate chicken fingers and I really missed chicken fingers so that was nice. Then another day I went shopping for some balada clothes ( balada is the club) because I was supposed to go this weekend but that didn't end up happening. But, I bought 2 outfits, a pair of high heels, and a little purse to care with me. I am so excited to go (when ever that may be). It's Brasil everyone parties a lot, so I can't wait to be part of that everybody. Other then that not much has really been happening. I have discovered I can kind of have a conversation in Portuguese if it is just me and one other person. More then one person talking I get lost, and tired cause I am trying to translate it all, and it just isn't working. So, yayyy that's exciting. Summer break is almost here! Well that's it for not tchau tchau!!

Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!! Today I had a party for Halloween at school. I didn't really have classes either today, so it was a lot of fun! We played some classes games you know against each others classes. They were a lot of fun! There was this one where we had to fit in a box, then the box kept getting smaller and smaller, until it was just this tiny little thing; so in order to fit everyone in my friend Melissa, and I had to get on top of someones shoulders. -_- I didn't like it hahaha, I thought I was going to fall, but we all made it in somehow so thats all that matters. I also got a bag of candy at the party. I was kind of missing Halloween, and just eating candy all day, but I felt better once I got the candy :).

Festa de Halloween

My Rotary club had a Halloween party last Saturday. It was a lot of fun, and we got to dress up!! I went as a German girl. I really liked my costume is was really cute. Sometimes I think they like Halloween more here then we do in United States haha.

25 de março

Today I didn't have to go to school!!! Because... I went to 25th street! Ahh 25th St. the dirtiest, smelliest place in Brasil....... I almost stepped on a hobo. The street is so crowded I started to get really stressed out because you know I really am not used to all those people in one area at a time (unless it is black friday). But this place is a shoppers dream. Everything is sooo cheaper (well at least compared to everything in Brasil). I went because I didn't have a costume for Halloween, but the ironic part was I didn't even end up buying one haha. But, I did buy a new phone case because my other one was so broken it wasn't even funny haha. But, for my Halloween costume, I went to my friends house to try on some of their costumes cause they have a lot. And, that is how I came across the belly dancer outfit. It is just a bra, and like this skirt thing. It was actually really cute, but I would never wear it in public hahaha. But, I thought it would be the funniest thing to send to my dad. So, I did hahaha. Ahh but no worry's that isn't my actual costume. My real costume is a german girl. It is really cute o my god I love it!!! The minute I tried it on I was like it is this one. Also, it isn't like extremely short too, it is perfect length!! I am so excited to wear it!! Also, today I went to a Halloween party at my sports club. I had a lot of fun. There was a haunted house and stuff, but honestly it wasn't too scary, but this is also coming from an American. Our haunted houses are extremely creepy...... I have seen people coming out of them just bawling. So, my opinion doesn't really count here haha. O but it was a lot of fun. I tried to get my friend to come into the haunted house with me by saying I won't ever get to go with you again, and it worked for a little bit, but then she went back. hahaha o well! Well I am going to go to bed cause people back home keep yelling at me to go to bed tonight for some reason hahaha Boa noite xoxoxox

Interact

I am now officially part of my Interact Club. I got a pin and everything!!! Yayyyy

Time Zone Difference

Hey everyone heads up the time between Wisconsin, and Brasil is now different. It is 3 hours ahead instead of 2. Starting on November 4 it will be 4 hours ahead. Sucks but o well. Ok just wanted to let people know Tchau!!!

Jota Quest

Had an amazing night tonight!!! First off I rode the subway for the very first time. It got kind of sickening going back and forth, but I was very excited! I have only seen subway stations in movies I have never actually seen one so that was really cool. The part that made it amazing though was I went to a concert tonight with some friends from another school. Their school has a lot of other schools, so each year they have a concert where a famous band plays. The band that was there this year was Jota Quest. They are a pretty popular Brazilian band. Before going to the show I only knew one song now I love Jota Quest!! O it was such a great concert I had some much fun. It was on the ground so everyone was packed together, but I didn't even care it was so much fun. I met a lot of great people too that I will find on Facebook later. Well that's it; it is late and I have to wake up at 6 for school tchau gentes :*

Dia de Crianças (mais ou menos)

Today for Children's Day my interact club went to a poor children's school at did stuff with them. There was cotton candy, popcorn, ballon animals, face paint, and some clowns came. I did face paint, and it was a lot of fun. I was honestly quite impressed with my Portuguese haha. But, I now know what a borboleta is (it is a butterfly). My god I had to draw so many butterfly's. The worst part was everyone wanted a pink butterfly, and the pink sucked so it sometimes didn't turn out so well hahaha. Also, today someone from my Rotary club invited me to there house to eat Paella, which is a traditional Mexican meal. O it was so good! It was rice with pork, squid, clams, shrimp, octopus, and meat. O yeah I really liked it, but it made me full so fast hahaha. But, the family was soo nice. I had a lot of fun, and they had little kids who were just adorable haha. One thing I have noticed about more formal diners is first you have a salad, then you have the main dish, next is fruit, then it is dessert, and finally it is coffee hahaha. Yeah it is a lot you get pretty full, but it is all so good you just want to keep eating. Except coffee I have to put like 5 spoonfuls in the coffee before I can drink it because it is just so strong.  

Nickname

I have a nickname at school. I don't know how this name came to be, but my friends call me kaylao. Now for you American's how you are pronouncing it in your head is not the correct way to say it. It would sound more like this kay lao, but your still won't be able to say it right cause you probably don't know how to correctly say the ao part. But, anyways that is what I am called at school sometimes. Also, I don't know how people can already tell I am not Brazilian even when I only say a couple words. For example today at volleyball someone asked me that I have never met before (in portuguese) "Is that your water?" and I answered "Sim" (yes), and then she asked me your are not brazilian are you, and I said não. But, how could she tell I said one word! I think cause the type of water bottle I have they don't have in Brasil. But, here is another example. We were eating diner at volleyball when some guy came around, and you know saying oi and giving everyone a kiss on the check then he gets to me and says "How are you" in english!!! Like I had never even met or seen this guy before, so how on earth did he know I was American. I guess news travels fast in Brasil.

I have learned something today. Never play hand ball when both of the teams are being made up completely by girls. You know why? Because honestly we don't want to be playing hand ball; so no one is really trying haha. At least you get the ball passed to you though. I know this has nothing to do with Brasil, but it does show that we really aren't all that different. I Guarantee the same exact thing would have happened if I was in United States. Also, my friends at school keep saying that I am learning Portuguese very quickly. They make fun of me and say I know everything already haha. I can't wait till the day when I do know everything though. Speaking of that I forgot to mention while I was on vacation I had a dream in Portuguese :). It was half Portuguese half English. At first I thought O well it was still half in English, so that doesn't really count, but actually it does. It is an amazing thing; it means I am actually learning Portuguese. It is one thing to do while being awake, but to be able to do it subconsciously means I am starting to get to the point where I don't have to think as hard to try and come up with words. I don't know it is hard to explain.

Vacation

Ok so prepare yourselves for a long blog because I was just on vacation for 10 days doing a lot of stuff. So last Friday my family and I went on vacation to Itanhaem. It was sooooo nice just imagine it 10 days on the beach ooooo it is paradise. The first day we went to the beach me being a naive Wisconsinite totally forgot to put any sunscreen on my stomach, and guess what color it turned RED. It wasn't a light red either it was fire hydrant red. It looked like I was still wearing my swim suit. So yeah for now on I am covering my entire body with sun screen. The crazy part was it was only from 9-11 not even the hottest part of the day, and it is only spring. I am going to die in summer. O speaking of swim suits I bought my first Brasilian bikini. I was honestly kind of nervous cause you know that was all people talked about before I came here that the bikini bottoms are really small. And let me tell you the stories are 100% true. So, ok I am a small in United States, so hearing all of the stories I think o well I will try on a medium so it won't be as revealing. Yeah that plan did not work out. I come out of the dressing room and say " I think I need a bigger size", but nope they said that was how it was suppose to be. :O yeah there was no way in heck I was going to wear that. I need to ease myself into making the bikini smaller; I can't just go to thong right away. So, I ended up getting a large, which by the way is still smaller then my small bikini from United States. Yeah it doesn't completely cover my butt let's just end it at that before my dad has a heart attack.

O I got to do some nature stuff too last week. First nature I saw since I got here hahaha. We went to Mata Atântica. Which, is a really beautiful rainforest in the south of Brasil. We first went to see some Indian tribe, but that was a waste of time we didn't even do anything or see any of the Indians. But, the next thing we did was hike through the forest. It was suppose to be like a bird trail where you got to see toucans, and parrots, and other birds, but we never saw any. But, I did get to go swimming in a waterfall, which was amazing! The water was sooo cold, but it was very refreshing. It was kind of dangerous though cause the rocks are soooo slippery, but who cares it was still awesome. Also, while we were hiking through the forest a tiny, blue, cobra snake popped out of the ground. Yeah that kind of freaked me out, and when we were driving home a huge snake was just on the road. O but the forest was soo beautiful I liked it.

I was so sad to leave the beach, but I didn't have to go to school today (Monday), but the rest of my family did :P. So, today I went over to someones house I don't know just to hang out I guess. Well, that is it for now tchau tchau  

Well we have 2 new students that came today, so that is a total of 3 new kids. Haha well I have a funny story. I didn't really talk to much during first hour today I don't know why I just didn't and when I did it was usually in Portuguese, but then I started talking to someone who sat next to one of the new kids in Portuguese and quite honestly it wasn't going to well. So, then I said the sentence in english, and the new girls face was just priceless cause she didn't know I was an exchange student yet. It was a look of complete shock! hahaha so that made my day.

New kid

Ahhhhhh I am officially not the new kid in school anymore!! :) Someone new started in my class today. It is an amazing feeling cause I finally feel like I fit in with my class :) :) I don't really know how to explain how nice it feels, but just trust me it is a good feeling!

bargin

How to get things cheaper.
1. step one telling them you are an exchange student
2. step two if you have blue eyes make sure that they see them

If you follow these steps it should go a little like this
Paula (I will write in English, but they were talking in Portuguese) : Excuse me how much is this pin?
Seller: 20 reais
Paula: can we get it for 10?
Seller: no how about 15
Paula: O come on it isn't for me it is for her. She is an exchange student.
(I turn around and look at the seller)
Seller: oooo your eyes are blue! They are so pretty. Ok you can have it for 10 reais.

:) and that my friends is why you should all be exchange students.... it works every time ;)

color festival

Today was one of my favorite days while on exchange! I went to this color festival, which is like a Indian thing to celebrate spring by throwing colors at each other; only it had a little Brasilian twist to it :)  I went with some exchange students, and some rebounds. Also, some of the rebounds friends were there too. But, it was sooo much fun! We threw colors at each other for hours, then there were bands playing all day; so we danced all day too. There were so many people here too like thousands of people. It was awesome because this was the first year São Paulo did it, and I got to be apart of it :). O I had colors everywhere cause it is just a powder; so it feels like sand, and it sticks in your hair like sand too lol. Literally, I probably had an inch thick of paint in my hair when I got home. The best part is you just throw colors at everyone even if you didn't know them. Like people would just come over and dump a full tube of paint on your head haha. O I love so much Brasil :)

Futebol

So, I had a major Brasilian moment today. I didn't have to have algebra class today because we went and watch the guys play futebol :) hahaha soccer always comes first ;). But, it was between 2nd year (my year), and 3rd year. 2nd year won cause you know we are the best year. But, meu deus was this game ever intense. People are screaming, and swearing everywhere haha. Even I was getting into it (I wasn't swearing), but here what you say is vai! Which, means go! So, it goes like vai, vaI, vAI, VAI!!! hahaha it's a lot of fun. I love it!! :)

Zoológico

Today I went to the zoo!!! It was so much fun! I love the zoo, and seeing all the animals. There were some Brasilian birds, and cats; there were some other animals too, but they had the common animals you find at the zoo. They had elephants, giraffes, and monkeys (they also had apes Dad lol) :). But, it was a very nice zoo; I liked it very much. On a totally unrelated note it is raining really hard outside right now......... I guess it is because spring started yesterday :)

Festa da Primavera

So, today I went to festa da primavera (spring party) at my school. It was soooo much fun!!!!! I mostly liked it cause I got to hang out with my friends, but they had games, food, and some kids were dancing. There were these little girls in flower dresses dancing to beauty and the beast, and it was the most adorable thing ever! They even had flowers to dance with lol. Also I eat a crepe, which is like this well I don't know how to describe it really it is a brasilian thing. But, it is this fried coating over either cheese or chocolate. I had the chocolate one of course. It is kind of like a pastel only sweeter I guess hahaha não sei, but anyways it was good. For supper today I made my family kraft mac n cheese. I miss it soooo much!!!! I though for sure they wouldn't like it, but they loved it!!!! I will make them homemade mac n cheese sometime cause that stuff is 10 times better!!!!!

churrascaria

Well first off on Friday I went to my first party!!!! It was fun. Then on Saturday I went to this video game thing that Rotary was hosting and won 200 reais. There were these competitions in Just Dance, and Mario Kart and I won!!! Well I guess my obsession over those 2 games finally paid off. Lastly, today I went to a churrascaria!!! Ooooooo it was soooo good! They bring these slabs of meat out to you, then just cut you off a piece. I was so full afterwards I felt like I just ate a Thanksgiving dinner. But, I loved sooooo much. O I also ate a chickens heart there :/. I tried it and thought it tasted really good. Then when they came around again to give it to us they actually told me what it was; so when I ate it I felt a little freaked out and it didn't taste as good lol.

Writing

So, my two friends are going to try to become exchange students!!! They are twins so they will be going at the same time. Bless that mom she is brave haha. So, for some odd reason they have to write introductory's about themselves in English even though they speak Portuguese....... really doesn't make sense, but o well. Anyways, since they have to write it in English I was helping them correct it! :) haha it was a lot of fun. I like writing, and I miss doing it so it was nice be able to do it again. It was hard though this whole time I am trying not to think, or speak in English then all of a sudden I have to come up with all these words. I can't even remember some words to be honest haha.

banana maçã

Today I ate banana maçã, which is a banana, but it kind of had an apple taste to it (O by the way maçã means apple). But, the banana was a little harder then usual. I think it is some genetically engineered fruit where they pollinated a banana, and apple together to make this fruit. It was good, but I like regular bananas better lol.

English

When your english teacher is teaching you a sentence that is so wrong you just want to leave the class room. Here I wrote it down so I won't forget it. Ok this first one the girl's car is broken ok so here was the next sentence she wrote "She hasn't to go to work" -_- oy vey. O this one is my favorite. The girl didn't have any money, so here was the next sentence " I need take some more to buy bread" I am not making this up this is quoted. I want to say something, but I don't want to seem like a know it all you know? What ever on a happier note I got presents from home today!!!! I got a box of pancakes, syrup, 3 box's of mac n cheese, and an American flag! Yeah I got the flag cause apparently me and the other girl in my district from United States didn't get the memo about bringing your countries flag with lol.  

Itanhém

So I just spent the weekend with my family at their beach house in Itanhém!!!!! Ahhhh it was soooo much fun, and thank god for us it was nice, sunny, and hot this weekend! So we went to the beach, and me and Paula walked along the shore. We were looking for shells to take home, and o my I have a lot of shells now haha. They are so pretty, the shells are pink. I have never seen pink shells before!! Also we found a coral, and a sand dollar but we accidentally dropped it lol o well we found plenty of other cool things! We had sea food for lunch, like actual sea food. This stuff was probably caught that morning. I had fried squid, which surprisingly I really liked. I also had this small fish thing. It was fried, but you could still see the outline of where the eye used to be, and it still looked like a fish. Then when I bit into it you had to eat its tiny bones too, and at that point I was just done. It creeped me out so much I couldn't do it.  I also eat fried shrimp, and different kinds of fried fish. Which wasn't too bad; not my favorite thing in the world, but I will still eat it. Also, I got to drink coconut water....... out of a real coconut!!!!!! They had the coconut then they put a hole in it, then they put a straw inside, then you just drank from it! OOO it was soooo awesome, and it tasted soooo good. I can now check that off my bucket list. Then when you are done drinking from it they cut it, and you eat the stuff inside! I wasn't a huge fan of the taste of that, it was just really plain. Paula and I went to see Despicable Me 2. I love minions they are so cute. I must say though I am a little sunburnt :/ ouch. I swear I put sunscreen on too, and I didn't even get in the water, cause it was freezing!!!! O well it doesn't hurt that much, but if I get burnt from the winter heat imagine what the summer heat will be like. I will have to reapply sunscreen every 5 mins lol.

Today when we got home we went to eat at my host dad's mom's house. We had this really good pasta thing. It was Italian so of course it was delicious. After that we went to a family friends birthday party. But, it is nice cause she is a friend from Rotary, so my Rotary friends were there too, so I got to hang out with them!!! :) I love hanging out with them they are so nice. I wished we went to the same school haha. We played Call of Duty, Mortal Kombat, and Scattergories. Only the rules were a bit different, and in Portuguese so I just watched, and kind of helped my friend with hers lol. I was also informed that the Packers lost their first game :( O well, good news is Giulia cheers for the Packers at her house yayyyyyy :). We were going to have some troubles if that wasn't the case hahaha just kidding. Whew long blog sorry. A lot happened this weekend, and I probably forgot something lol. Tchau  

language

For those of you who don't know how listening to converstions in another language goes here is a pretty accurate example. ljashoehjkahdfkjhsojehowahfjs Taylor Swift lkajsadhf;oasdjo;hgooasjl......... So you hear something you know listen, then while listening you have no idea what they are saying, and go back to spacing out.

Bahia bracelet

Sorry I have neglected to tell you about this, but there is this thing here that I love. There are these bracelets from Bahia that you tie 3 times and with each tie you make a wish, and once the bracelet falls off naturally then you wishes come true!! Almost everyone here has one, they are muito legal! Also someone has to give it to you, and each color means something. Mine is multicolored and I tried looking up what it meant but I could not find anything. But, I think someone told me at one point it means luck. Also, on another note there is this thing that 2 kids in my school do that I think is hilarious, and I have no idea why. They have tape, and they take peoples stuff and tape it together. Like they have done pencils, bags, erasers, and water bottles. Hahaha I seriously think this is the funniest thing ever.

Police

Today I had to go to the police station to officially be able to live in Brasil. Of course it was insane, and things were difficult, but that is how all these things end up like right! haha O it was fun though I had a good time. I saw a girl from my district 4420 there too getting her documents too, so what are the chances of that happening. We also went to star bucks and I drink a Brigadeiro coffee!!! O the best thing in the world!!!!! I loved it so much!!!! Also, one other thing I love watching soccer (futebol) here! I do not know why, but it is much more exciting, and people are a lot better at it. No offense but hey we are really good at football in United States, so you can't be good at everything right.

woodchuck

So today I taught people in my class how to say "how much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood" then they taught me some tongue twisters, and hahaha it was so much fun! Today I gave my short speech in Portuguese, and I really did not do that bad I think. I was the first to talk, and of course everyone clapped when I was done because that is just what Brazilians do haha. I have decided that you will have to drag me back home because I am never going back :)

Filme!!!

First off today I went to a Rotary Kids meeting. Rotary Kids is a Rotary group for well kids. I am in Interact, which is like a Rotary club for teens, but I decided to come check out what the Rotary Kids meeting was like. I also thought we were going to talk about the Halloween party but we never got to that hahaha o well. Usually the Interact and the Rotary Kids meetings are together, but I don't know why they weren't today. O well next Sunday we have it with both groups!!! Today I also went to a movie with some friends!!! We went to see Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters!!! It was really good, even though it was in Portuguese. There really wasn't much talking that went on since it was an action movie, so I understood it pretty well. But, for the talking parts someone helped translate what was going on for me lol. It was a lot of fun! My first Brazilian movie how exciting!!!!!!  O also I have to give a small speech in Portuguese tomorrow :/ yikes!!! Wish me luck!!!!!!!  Ahhh well I am going to go to bed cause I have to wake up at 6 -_-..... boa noite!!!!!!

Museu

We went to a Museum today!!!! It was a really cool museum. I don't remember what it is called, but it was a science Museum. My favorite part was the physics exhibit. It had all of these experiments to show you how physics worked. Like there was this one room where everything was slanted to the left, but they had a ball, and it was rolling the other direction! I didn't understand why that happed but it was cool! Also, I got shocked by this electrical thing. It actually kind of hurt hahaha. There were so many cool things that this would be a really long blog if I explained it all so I will stop there. After the Museum we went to eat pizza at a friends house. It is strange cause they like cut their pizza when they eat it. Like I don't mind I am able to cut a pizza, but it takes so long!!! Also, once you get to the crust I just want to pick it up because it is harder to cut!!!! Aaaa o well I will get over it.  

Clube

So, today was a really good day. I went to this club it is like the YMCA, that is where I play volleyball. Afterwards though I stayed with some girls, and we just hung out!!! O it was so much fun!!! I don't even know what we did really, but I can't wait to see them again. I hope we could all hang out again sometime!!!! I keep getting yelled at here for liking Palmeiras haha everyone tells me to like Sao Paulo. (for those of you how don't know these are soccer teams). But my family are Palmeiras so I have to cheer for them ya know!! haha I can't wait for the World Cup to start it will be quite interesting.

German festival

Guys I just hit 1,000 page views. That is a lot I don't even know who reads these, but it is people from all over the world so yayyyy. lol. Today I went to a German Festival. It was so cute it was 4th graders, and they were singing in German, and dancing. But, I was kind of scared these 9 or 10 year olds were walking around with candles inside these paper bag things :O. I do not trust little kids with that. One even caught on fire, then they started jumping up and down with it. Yikes o well the school is still there so that is a good thing. O then I got really confused cause the band started playing, but it was a song form Les Mis. Like I didn't mind I love Les Mis, but I was confused cause Les Mis is about the French, and it was a German party. O well. O I ate this really good egg thing today for lunch!!! Once again I am cold!!!! Please warm up eu nao gosto!!!!!!

Voleibol

Today during school I had another test. It was in geography, but someone helped me with it which was amazing cause trust me doing that test would have taken me 3 days to do if I didn't have help. Also, today I started playing volleyball at a local club. The club is like the YMCA it is really nice. I liked playing volleyball today I kind of missed it to be honest. The coach said he liked me too, which is amazing!!! It is nice having something to do now lol. Two girls I already knew that I met at Giulia's going away party play there too!! They are really nice I like them!! :) Wow these are getting shorter and shorter seems that things are started to relax a little in my life. Hmmm I guess we will have to see if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Tchau

Rotary International President

Today at my Rotary club Gary Huang came!! He is the 2014-2015 International Rotary President!!!! Weird part is I saw him at my Rotary meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan, so I talked to him about that a little bit. From my last blog I said he was American, but no he is not. He is actually from Taiwan. O so great to meet him, and what a small world that I saw him in Grand Rapids; so the chances of him coming to my Rotary club in Brasil is just insane!!!!

Rotary meeting

Oi!! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. This weekend I went to a Rotary conference in Magic City!! Magic City is a water park, so we got to go swimming. Even though it was cold it was still tons of fun. Everyone there is soooo nice I love them!! A thing that sucked though is on Friday when we got there I was was feeling terrible. I could hardly stand up without collapsing. So I went to bed really early, so I missed some pins being exchanged, and meeting people. But it was all good the other girl from United States told people to save some for me, because I was in my room not feeling well. Which, was really nice of her to do. The good part is I felt a ton better the next day. The whole conference was about us meeting with Rotex, which is a group of past Rotary exchange students. Weird part is a girl I meet in my Grand Rapids meeting was there!!!! I already knew she was going to be there, but still it was awesome to see her again. This meeting also made me think of the inbounds, and outbounds from district 6250. I miss everyone soooo much!!!! No one can understand the friendship, and bond we all made, and what we only saw each other 4 times. I think we need to have a district 6250 reunion some day haha.

Enough about my Rotary now to the daily life stuff. Giulia left on Friday :( sad day I miss her!! I wasn't able to go to the airport to say goodbye cause I had to go to my exchange meeting, but I took the day off of school to hang out with her a little bit. I think she likes her family too, which is a good thing! She also started cross country lol ahh can't wait to see how that went. Today I had an english test (yes), but wait half of it was in Portuguese....... yeah I don't know; at least the teacher translated it for me. O guess what I get to do tomorrow...... no you guessed wrong. The Rotary International President is coming to my host Rotary club!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhh so excited!!!!! I can't remember if he is this years president or next years president, but I don't care!!! Best part is he is American too!! So we can bond together lol. My host mom will be translating stuff for him. Can you imagine that is amazing!!! I am going to wear my blazer tomorrow at the meeting. Yayyy go Rotary!!! Whew I think that is it have a good night everyone! Sleep tight don't let the bed bugs bite :)

Restaurante

So that awkward moment when you try to say pare (stop), but you end up saying perry (as in the platypus)............. yeah I was close. Also, that confusing moment when you go to a Japanese restaurant, but are reading Portuguese, while speaking Portugish (Portuguese and English).Yeah well, we went to a Japanese restaurant today. It was a different one from the first time, but it had like the same exact food. It was good, I am just not really used to sushi, but like I said in my last Japanese restaurant blog I liked the fried sushi, and the salmon. Also, I watched this really sad movie today :( It was called Olga. It is a Brazilian movie, so it was in Portuguese, but I some how understood everything that was happening. It was a about a girl who was a communist, and married like the head communist guy, but they eventually got caught and thrown into jail. This is all happening during World War 2, and this Olga girl is a jew, and since the President of Brasil didn't like here she sent her to Germany. O it gets better, then she has a baby!!!! But, once the baby got older they took it away from her (thank god it went to some people she knew), but she then got sent to a concentration camp. Then she freaking died :O just no no no no it was horrible. Such a good movie, but horrible; since it was based on a true story. It kind of reminded me of Schindler's List.  Just to remind you that this is all in Portuguese too, so I am quite proud of my self for understanding all of this. Well that is enough for today tchau!!

pedicures

When you have to write half a page about your self in Portuguese<<<<. O my god that was so hard!!! My brain hurt so much afterwards, but it was really helpful to help me learn. Hopefully the teacher doesn't correct my grammar cause that would be just mean, since well I don't know any of the grammar.

Today Giulia and I went to go get pedicures, and manicures!!! It was a lot of fun. I love getting my nails done it feels so good, but getting your nails done is different here. In United States when you get a pedicure you put your feet in water then they work on your feet, but here you get put your feet up on their lap. They do the same exact things to your feet just that your foot is on their lap. At first it felt really weird like my leg was shaking so much; then the lady said just relax and I did and it felt like how it is usually done.

O my I need to stop eating!!! The food here is soooo good and my host family just keeps offering me more and more food!!! If I keep this up they will have to roll me on the plane back home hahaha. Well I am also in this thinking of one side of me says don't eat any more you are going to get fat; then the other side (the exchange side) says eat eat eat you want to roll back home as a ball!!!! Usually the exchange side wins ;) But I do miss going for runs, or walks around my neighborhood. It feels nice to get exercise, to be alone, and clear your mind. But I just don't think it is safe to really go for a run here, and I would probably get terribly lost lol. Well my food baby and I are going to go to bed. Boa noite Tchau beijos xoxoxox.

test :/

I had test for real today. You know you are screwed when you look at your geometry test and are not even sure where you should put your name haha. O well I also had a grammar test, which the teacher helped me a lot with even though I only finished three questions. Had another Rotary meeting tonight, and I have one this weekend where I get to meet all of the inbounds!!!! So excited well I am going to bed since it is late and I have to wake up at 6 tchau!!  

test??

So today in Biology we were I think we took a test, but apparently it was not a test so I am quite confused about it. Anyways, we were dong a Biology game on the I pads and I had done a level in Portuguese and I just completely sucked at it. But, once I got back on the home screen there was an option to switch to English!!! Which of course I did, and since it was Biology and I just took that class I did really well on it!!! It felt nice feeling kind of smart again. You know that feeling in school when you actually know something or remember something using your brain. Yeah haven't really had that feeling in a while. Which, is a weird feeling not being able to help out when we are doing homework in a group. I actually feel bad about it sometimes lol. In United States I was pretty smart at school, and not knowing anything here just kind of sucks lol. O well only 5 more months until I will understand!!! haha Boa noite!!!

Festa!!!

My morning started out with us going to an antique fair. It is on the street, and people sell old stuff. I got a bracelet like the snap bracelet's that go on your wrist that says Brasil. I haven't seen one of these since I played with it at Grandma Grace's house when Dylan was being born. O speaking of Dylan he broke his wrist (face palm) by falling off a tree. Poor thing :( I skyped him today I hope I made him feel better I heard he was pretty sad. For lunch today I had the best thing in the world. It was this Italian pasta, with cheese that kind of made an alfredo sauce ooooo I swear this is the best thing I have ever eaten I love it soooo much!!!! Today we also had Giulia's surprise going away party!!! It was so sweet a lot of people were there!! I met some kids from Rotex. They were very nice, and I loved talking to them. I sometimes feel bad though when people are telling a story in Portuguese then I am the only one who doesn't understand, so they repeat it in English; then I am the only one awkwardly laughing lol. O well I will get there!!! :) before you know it I will be speaking fluently :) Well that was all for this eventful day. Tomorrow I have to go back to school :( I think this week is test week too yikes this maybe interesting..... well tchau!!!  

loco dirigindo

O I have been meaning to make a blog about this, but I just keep for getting. Driving here is insane. Like motor cyles don't have to be in the lane with the cars they do what ever they want. For example they drive between the cars, and they go really fast. Also I think some times when we are driving I am not sure we are even in a lane I think we kind of make our own lane haha. Lastly, the word stop is not really in their driving vocabulary haha. It is probably just really bad cause it is a big city, but still it is insane. O I also have another food confession I love pineapple here!!!! O meu deus it is soooooo good!!!! it is juicy, sweet, and not out of a can ;). Nothing really exciting happened today. I watched Charlie St. Cloud (in Portuguese), and Hunger Games. Then we went to a birthday party of someones. They had a band, but it was all in Portuguese so I didn't know any of the songs, but they were a really good band :). Well that is really it for today tchau for now :)

Pizza

Hello international readers and welcome to my blog lol. Today I didn't do much. I went to school, and I had an english class yayyy!!!!! Hahaha, it feels nice to have a little break from Portuguese. My friends at school are so nice. We had to read these conversations in English, and when we were done they would translate it to Portuguese and make me say it to them. They really are helpful when it comes to school. Like helping me with stuff when I am just staring blankly into space. Well since I have finished my first week of school some may ask what is it like, or what have you learned. To answer your first question imagine staring at a blank wall for 6 hours that is basically what school is like in another language. I might as well be starting at a blank wall cause I am no idea what they are writing on the board. To answer you second question I have learned how to pronounce Palestinos in Portuguese......... well it's a start right?

After school Giulia and I went to to the mall. Haha it was a fun time I decided that when I come home I will probably be broke cause I am going to buy so much clothes!! Everything is so cute here. Then we went out for Pizza at Charlie's. You know like Charlie Chaplin. O it was sooooo good!!! My favorite was the chocolate with strawberry's pizza ooooooo sooo good! This place reminded me of Pizza Doctors (if you know what this place is) only their pizza's are more fancy. These people come around with different pizza's and you can either try it or say no. But yeah definitely a place I will have to go back too :) Well that's all for now até amanhã!

Frio!!!!!

It is sooooo cold here!!!! I thought Brasil was suppose to be hot!!!! But the good thing is this only lasts for like a week or so, but the bad part about that is since this only happens a little it no one bothers to buy heat. So, I am walking around the house in a blanket, and 2 sweatshirts on and pants. Ahh it sucks. Pe wasn't that bad it was hardly even PE haha. Half the people didn't even do anything. I played volleyball with some people, which was tons of fun. I had Giulia watch Mean Girls today haha. I told her thats not what high school is really like, but some things were like how different groups are separated in the lunch room. I always think that part is pretty accurate. During school today my Geography teacher had me pronounce some words that were on the board, and when I was done everyone started clapping hahaha. It was so funny kind of made my day. Well that's all for now Tchau!

Amigos!!

Ok to start off my blog I have a confession to make. Now listen cause this maybe the last time you hear this from me. Ok here it goes....... I love rice. I don't know why but the rice here is sooooo good!!!! I eat it everyday for lunch and dinner. oooo just so good. ok next on my blog agenda sorry I didn't post anything last night I had a Rotary meeting and got back at like 11 so I just wanted to sleep. But the Rotary meeting was soooo awesome. Everyone was so nice and welcoming. I had to give a speech :/ o meu deus I didn't know I had to give a speech I just stood there blank it was soo embarrassing haha but it was all in Portuguese (the 2 sentences I said) so it is a start right.

Ok so now for what happened today. School was amazing!! Everyone is so nice I even started to make friends!!! You know how I know this?? They gave me some of their food. The true testimony of friendship. O they love glee, and this one girl loves pandas!!! It's just perfect. haha I love my geography teacher! He is so funny, and nice! Everyone here writes in cursive so to help me out he started writing in normal writing, haha but then he made me speak it which I probably butchered but o well. O speaking of butchering words thank you so much for who ever sits behind me in redação class for not making me read. I don't know what your name is but thank you. Honestly if I had to read we would have been there all day haha.

I Skyped with Mom, Dill, and Tipper (o and I saw Dylan's friend Nick for a little bit) today. It was nice to see them. I miss everyone, but also I am having an amazing time here in Brasil. But also I am scared to Skype back home sometimes, because maybe it will trigger that culture shock thing people have been telling me about since September of 2012, when I signed up to attend the interviews to become an Exchange student. Wow time fly's. Well sorry this was so long was in a typing mood. I was practicing Portuguese basically all afternoon, so I think my brain needed a little English. Well I am going to head to bed soon, guess who gets to have PE at 7 in the morning tomorrow -_- yayyyy ( I said sarcastically) aw well maybe it won't be that bad. Ok Boa Noite! Beijos xoxo

Escola

You have not understood the meaning of difficult until you have taken a Biology class.... in Portuguese. And to top it off the teacher wrote in cursive so not only could I not understand what it was saying, but also I could not read it if my life depended on it haha. I was literally writing gibberish. A o well the people were very nice according o Giulia lol. Giulia came to school with me today to help translate because well I don' know Portuguese. It was very nice having her there with me today it made it less scary. I am still a little scared though; I don't think anyone speaks very good English. Which is fine cause I should know Portuguese anyways, but it makes it harder to make friends since I can't really have a conversation with them. But I think they will help me a lot (from what I can tell). They already invited me to be in their group for a project. Brazilian school is very different. First, the classes don't change just then teachers. So, you are with the same people the whole time which would be nice to see other people more so I can get to know more people, but this way is nice too. O btw my english teacher looks exactly like the girl from grown ups. It is the old lady who Rob Schneider marry's. It is hilarious. 

Giulia's friend Letícia came over today. We just hung around, and they played music on the guitar. It was really cool, and fun! I taught Giulia some knock knock jokes today cause she didn't know what they were. She loved the interrupting banana one my uncle Jim made up. Well I have another early morning tomorrow so I am going to go to sleep. Boa noite!!!!! Beijos xoxo 

Churrasco

Today I ate a lot lol. I had my first Brazilian churrasco (barbecue) O it was soooo good. My dad would be soo jealous on all the meat I had. I don't think I have eaten that much red meat in my life!! Everything was seasoned perfectly, and just oooo sooo good. Also I had this chick candy things. They were yellow and looked like a chick. They had sugar all over them oooo they were delicious!!! Well I start school tomorrow yikes :/ really nervous wish me luck. Tchau!!!

Parque!!!!

Ahhhhhh I had an amazing day today!!! Me Giulia, Paula, and Renato went to ibiraquera park. It is huge, and sooo pretty!!! It kind of reminded how Central Park would look, or how I imagine it would look considering I have not been there yet. Well we had some interesting things happen at the park. We saw all of these people dressed in black and orange (reminded me of people at West Salem's football game during homecoming lol) but these people were holding swords, and shields. So, Giulia went to go ask what was going on and this girls exact words (in a way) "It is a meeting of the half-blood gods"from Percy Jackson. So what do we do.... we take pictures with them haha. I mean this was insane people were fighting, and everyone was completely serious. They had war paint on their face!!!! Then they would run screaming at the other team. I think they were trying to get the other peoples flags, but I don't know I have never seen Percy Jackson. Hahaha I seriously laughed so hard. I really like it here in Brasil!!! My family is sooo nice! I already feel like I am part of the family, and I have only been here for 3 days! Haha everyone is so crazy I love it! Also, I think I am starting to get this whole when you meet someone you kiss them on the cheek thing. Giulia went to a party for when you turn 15. O my it is like homecoming or prom! This party is huge apparently like 300 people were going to be there! She was all dressed up like she was going to homecoming. I thought that was neat looked like it would be fun! Hopefully I will get to go to one sometime! Well tchau tchau for now I get my first Brazilian barbecue tomorrow sooo excited!!!!!! Tchau!

Food!!!

Oi! Well considering on my last blog I said I am tired, but it translated to English as I am married I will now be writing these in English until I know Portuguese a little better! Today was an amazing day! I went to Giulia's school. It was huge o my. While she went to go take a test I hung out with her friends, and we went to history class.... I think. Well it was all in Portuguese so I didn't understand a thing, but it is good it helps me learn how to pronounce things, and I learned a few words along the way. O by the way I loveeeeeee bife o my mouth waters just thinking about it!!! It is beef but it is fried so good! For dinner we went to a Japanese restaurant. I surprisingly really liked the salmon. It was cooked, but I don't know why I liked it so much must have been the seasoning. Also tried sushi and of course what does the American like the most....... the deep fried sushi. Wow that made me feel hungry; thats must be a good thing! Well that is all for today tchau tchau!!!

Chegada!!!

Wow I really don't know what just happened. Um minuto meu amigos estão na minha casa dezendo tchau and the next eu estou here after meu primeiro dia em Brasil. Sim, Eu vou falar português e inglês. Meu último dia em estados unidos fui triste, mas it got better. While, espera para meu vôo para São Paulo eu met an estudante de intercâmbio named Matt. Ele viveu em Denver, Colorada, and was going back to Brasil. I swear the entire country of Brasil met meu at o aeroporto. Minha casa esta muito bonita!!!! Eu estou quite proud of myself eu did most of this without Google Translate!! Também hoje eu como bife, pizza, e sweet pizza with chocolate e bannas!!!! Eu fui para a minha escola. All and all was a pretty bom dia. Well eu estou casada. Boa noite!!!! Beijos xoxo

Introduction

Hello citizens of the planet my name is Kayla Adams and....... I am going to Brasil ahhhhhhh!!!!! I am going to be living there for a whole year!!! Still doesn't seem possible. I was reminded the other day by my friend Krystal that I leave in 7 days...... I really should start packing. Speaking of packing I was just told yesterday that I can only bring one suit case :o :o :o one!!!! I was planning on taking two!!! How is it even possible to leave for one year and only be able to have one suit case!!! On top of that I am a horrible packer :/. When my family and I went to Mexico we brought a suit case.... just of shoes. It wasn't even a small suit case it was the biggest one we had!!! So yeah I will keep you updated on how that packing deal goes.

Brasil is going to be an amazing experience!!!!! But I am going to miss all of my family, and friends :( I am just so glad to have them, and they have been an amazing support system through out this past year. I will make sure to stay in touch I don't know how much in touch I will be, but I will try my very best. Just please never get sad, or mad if I don't answer your Facebook message, or e-mail right away because that means I am out exploring Brasil with friends, or family having an amazing time!!! If I do answer you I am probably in my room crying, and being anti social, so remember that :)

This experience has completely changed my life, and I haven't even left yet! I have meet amazing people who have helped prepare me for my journey whether that be an inbound, outbound, rebound, or Rotarian. I am doing my exchange through the Rotary club, which is a great organization that I did not even know about until now. I never knew what an impact they had on the world or how many Rotarian's there are. I just knew about the Rotary lights that they do during Christmas time.

Ok lets talk a little more about Brasil. I am going to be living in São Paulo, Brasil. No not the state the city, which has 11.32 Million people who live there. I am coming from West Salem a town of about 4,000 people where everyone knows each other, and half the population are farmers. Yeah not only will I have culture shock from being in a different culture, I will have culture shock from being in a big city too. Yikes :/ O well I have heard São Paulo is such a fun city!!!

Well I think that is all for right now! I will try to update this as much as I can while traveling in Brasil. I will upload stories, pictures, and maybe even video blogs! If I can't do that I will upload those to my youtube account Kayla Adams.
Tchau Beijos!!!