Back to the Cold

Well my dear friends! It has been forever and so much as changed in this time!!

First,

I moved families. I moved on March 1st to the Scholz family. In the house I was an only child, however I have 2 brothers that are 19 and 23 that live in Curitiba. My parents are owners of a chicken butchering operation, I imagine similiar to Golden Plump. Although I didn't have siblings, I got to know the godson of my mom and his family quite well. I also went to church a bunch more. 0:)

Second,

I celebrated Carnaval, which I loved!! I entered a group for people around my age that my friends were in and we went to a farm before to hang out and dance and then to the Tangará Tennis Club for the big party. This was 4 days in a row. Normally we started at about 9:30 ish and got home about 5 or 6. It was some of the most fun I've ever had because of the pure energy and exciement everyone had.

Third,

I traveled to Sinop with Maristela and Nildo. Sinop is a city in the Northern part of Mato Grosso, where the Amazon Rainforest is. I visited a park there where I got to feed monkeys, which dropped down close to my shoulders (they perferred bread to bananas). I also fed huge fish and turtles, and saw exotic birds. While I was there I met the Brasilian MotoCross Champion on the street and I stayed in a house with Divina and her husband who have 6 kids, 4 dogs, and 1 mexican. :)

Fourth,

I went to the Rotary District Conference. Here I met another exchange student from Colombia named Andres. We hung out a lot with the interactianos and I sold my bonbons. I had to make $100 for a project called Shelterbox, to give to my district. From selling my bonbons (which I made) in the rotary meeting, at school, and at the conference I ended up making about $170. After the conference ended, Alejandra and I went to the Jorge&Mateus concert, which was wonderful!!!

Fifth,

I moved again. I moved in with Maristela and Nildo, a little before the first of June. I will stay with them until the end of my exchange. They live very close to my first family, to the center of town, and Isa's house. I live there with them and their son Andre. They also have two other children who don't live at home. We live in an apartment that is two apartments, one on the second floor and one on the third, and they added a staircase to connect them both.

Sixth,

I had to say goodbye to Alejandra. Alejandra has been a big part of my exchange, she arrived about a month after me and she just left. Her family came to see her in the end of her exchange and she returned with them. It was wonderful to get a chance to meet her family, I greatly enjoyed getting to know them! I don't think I had cried so much on my entire exchange, imagine when I have to say goodbye myself.

Seventh,

I am currently traveling. I went to southern brasil with my second host parents. I left thursday with my pai carlos and I arrived that evening in Curitiba. I finally got to meet my host brothers, Gustavo and Felipe. We all went out for pizza and the next day we left for Pato Branco where the 70th birthday party of Marcia's dad would be. I also went to a FUNERAL. Now This was the strangest thing I had yet to do. I'll try and explain it more in detail some other time. Then I met my aunt and uncle and cousins (heloisa and matheus) who are super nice and I went and stayed in their house for a few nights. We all played a buch of videogames and watched a lot of movies, it was nice and reminded me of our family get togethers. At the party which was a lunch one day and then a smaller lunch the next we spent a lot of time outside lighting off fireworks or just hanging out, which reminded me of the way my cousins and siblings and I are during family gatherings. I ate pinhão (?) which is a typical snack in Paraná, that is cooked pine cones (not like our pine cones) that you open and then salt them. They are good! BUT here is the kicker, IT IS WINTER HERE. IT IS COLD. Well, it feels a lot like fall anyways. It's about 50 degrees here everyday and I am wearing sweatshirts and long socks and I love it! I don't know how to explain it, but cold has a certain smell, a certain feeling. I stepped off the airport and into the cold air and I was immediately back home. It was great!

Well I won't be home until Monday I think, but I'll try and update again soon!

Beijos:*

Aletha

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY YESTERDAY DADDY-O!! Hope it was a great day!!!

The Perfect Ending.

I had the most wonderful day today. I found it so enchanting I decided it deserved it's own blog.

First, my sister and I stayed up until 5:00 in the morning, talking about things, watching movies, and joking around. At about 4:30 we went to the fair in front of our house and I used my traveling boots for this adventure. My parents didn't say we couldn't, and we had mentioned it but never really directly asked, so it had a slight thrill of sneaking out, even though it wouldn't have been a big deal. We went there and I bought a coke, and she bought a typical juice (which I don't really like). We laughed the whole way and then we quickly returned home. We went to bed and woke up about 9:00.

I started my day kind of bummed out. I was hoping to spend the day with the interact kids visiting a orphanage for people ages 10-18. However my dad told me we were going to the farm, and I wasn't mad or upset, but I wasn't expecting it to be so amazing. I had been to the farm many times before and it is really nice and relaxing, but not exactly the fun volunteering I had planned for that day.

We took off for the day and my parents were talking about how I was going to teach them how to clean chickens the American way(because I have done it for as long as I can remember in the States). I laughed it off. We pull into the place and my dad sets up some of the hammocks. The dog my parents had once brought home and then we had taken to the farm has gotten so big! Laura and I spent some time laying in the hammocks, and it was wonderful.

Then they were preparing things for lunch and my dad said something and my mom said, "Aletha will help you kill them [the chickens], she knows how!" and my dad asked me if I really did. So he went and killed two chickens, and brought them back for us to clean. My mom cleaned the first one in a strange brasilian way. Then the second they left for my sister and I. We plucked off the feathers and my job was to clean out the insides, I thought I had gotten out of this job for a year. HA. I did my way and my father was very amused and proud that I actually knew what I was doing.

A little while later we ate lunch; chicken, rice, and beans. They taught me a different way to clean the chicken feet, it is supposedly decent tasting (we didn't cook them, just cleaned them for a lesson) and good for women's skin. They also cooked up the one heart, one liver, and one gizzard. I had already fallen in love with chicken hearts, but I didn't have that one. They had me try the liver and the gizzard, which I have smelt cooking in my Northfield kitchen many times before but NEVER had the courage to taste. Liver I could live without, the gizzard was actually very delicious, it reminded me a lot of the heart.

After that we hung out in the hammocks, on the porch, for our afternoon naps and it rained and rained. It was so peaceful and wonderful. We spent the afternoon joking around, my parents, my sister, and I. I wish I could better explain how perfect that was, but it is impossible to put my feeling of tranquility into words. I also wish I could explain the jokes to you, but some only make sense in portuguese, and the others relate to traits of people in our family down here, both of which I don't think you would find the least bit funny, it is kind of a "you had to be there" kind of thing. Everyone was happy, stressless, and it was as if the world was at peace.

We went to my uncle's farm, down the road, to drop off our mare for breeding. My mom wanted to stand there and see if the job was going to get done, but the mare was playing hard-to-get. We soon left there and went back to our farm, where we packed up our stuff, and we began our drive back home as the sun was setting. It was beautiful and peaceful, and my dad was playing his country music CD, so the sounds of Alan Jackson and Keith Urban filled my ears.

We got home and I spent a little time talking to some people on skype, and we all drank tereré together. Then we put in a movie and my mom brought out the pizza. The pizza was rotten (the cheese on it or something), so she made up the leftover chicken and mixed it with rice, and we ate that for dinner. I showed my family a video of me when I was a toddler, and we watched the rest of the movie.

It was nothing exciting, but it was perfect. I remember in my Rotary interview being asked the question, "If you had been invited by your friend to go the beach with their family and you really wanted to go, but that weekend was your host-mom's 50th birthday and there was a huge party...what would you choose?". I said that I would probably choose my mom's birthday party, because family plays the biggest role for me. As I was going to the farm I realized that I had chosen family over friends, and in the beginning although I wasn't overly thrilled, I was looking forward to spending time with them. In the end, it was one of my best days in Brasil so far. I get a little sad from time to time thinking about leaving my family for my next. They are truly irreplaceable, and without them I think my time in Brasil wouldn't be as wonderful. I have absolutely no doubt that I'll shed a few tears, I start to tear up just thinking about leaving. However, I also have no doubt that they will be a part of the rest of my life.

I think my sister and I are going to drink tereré now, and then we are going to sit around and chat. We have been sharing my room (sometimes my bed, sometimes she brings in a mattress), for the last week. I missed sharing my room with my sister, it is nice to have that again!

Until Next Time!

Até Mais!

Beijos:*

Aletha

Life as of Late

I have been a very busy person over the last month and a half. I spent all of January traveling the Northeast Coast of Brasil on two buses with 100 other exchange students. It was absolutely amazing! We started in Brasilia, which was a 25 hour bus ride away from my city. Then we made our way over to Maceió, our first city on the ocean. We went to Lençois in between, which was a wonderful place to hike and explore. From Maceió we made our way up the coast, spending 4 days in Fortaleza. After Fortaleza we begin our descent hitting cities such as Recife, Natal, Porto Seguro, Porta das Galinhas, until we arrived in Rio de Janeiro. I ended my journey crying, but in a good way. I had made amazing friends over the month from all over the world and all over Brasil.

I got back home and the first night went to a graduation party with my parents. The next day my brother arrived from the city where he was moving to, to go to college. He passed in a university for Civil Engineering. After about a week (I started school again), my sister and her boyfriend came up from the same city where my brother was moving (they live there [Campo Grande]), and they announced their engagement. They are getting married in July of this year, they've been dating for 7 years. Then as they were all going to Campo Grande (even my mom to help my brother set everything up) they invited me to come. Literally they invited me about 9:00 that day, they were leaving at 2. Of course I accepted.

We spent the week there together and visiting family. My brother was moving there and my sister (whom got offered a great job in my city) was moving back with us. It was emotional saying goodbye. Within my first 6 months in Brasil (apart from January traveling) I have spent maybe 1 week away from my brother. I would consider him my best friend, we do everything together, and I feel like I've known him forever. It was hard saying goodbye, because the next time he comes back to visit, I won't be in their house anymore. We used to spend all of our free time visiting about things, joking around, drinking tereré at 2:00 in the morning, watching movies, going to the gym, or hanging out with our friends together. We were even in the same class in school. Brasil isn't/won't be the same without him, but I'll adjust.

We went to Campo Grande by bus, we came back by car with my uncle driving. Travel was long because there was a lot of traffic, but towards night it thinned out. The only problem was that the roads in every state except mine, are wonderful. My state's roads are full of potholes and rough patches, especially the part between my town and the capital (the last 3 hours). Our time changed back from the summer hour, so it got dark very early. We ended up hitting a couple pot holes and got a flat tire in the middle of nowhere. My uncle ended up changing it and we went slowly the rest of the way to not hit more pot holes and end up stranded. We also had some problem with bad connection with the battery of the car and it would throw sparks whenever we hit potholes, so we had to fix that. We should have arrived at 6:00 that night, we got in at 11:00, but we got there safe.

I went back to school today which was normal.

My english is worsening everyday, but my family considers me fluent in Portuguese, which is a good thing. I'm making new friends everyday and I switch families soon. My new family has a stay at home artist mom, two sons (one was an exchange student to Germany and they both are taking classes in a town far away), and my new dad who owns the largest chicken butchering company in the area (ironic, né?). I'm excited to experience this new family but I'm devastated to leave my family, the family that welcomed me into their home for the last 6 1/2 months. I also find it weird to call someone else "mãe" or "pai". You may be thinking, but hey Aletha you already had your real mom and dad and you had no problem calling someone else mom and dad for 6 1/2 months, what's the difference now? Well my dear readers, the difference is that I have one mom and dad, one madre and padre (costa rica), and one mãe and pai, I'm sure I'll get used to it, but in the beginning it'll be strange to have another mãe and pai, especially to have two in the same city. I feel like I'm going to be cheating on my first family.

Through all of this I've realized that I'll be home, at the latest, in 5 months. I don't want to go home, not now anyways. I'm nowhere near emotionally ready to leave. I mean don't get me wrong I can't wait to see my family again and eat home cooked meals. I can't wait to start working again and to study things I can completely comprehend. However, I can't imagine my world without Brasil. I'm having a really hard time thinking about having to go back, and of course I will, but I can promise you that I'll be visiting Brasil every time I get a chance.

Beijos:*

Até mais.

Aletha Duchene

NORDESTE'11

Happy 2011 Everyone!

I don't have much time to blog you all about my New Year's experience. As we are speaking I am trying to put together my bag to leave on my one month trip to explore Brasil's northeast coast! I will be riding on buses with about 100 other exchange students for the month! I'll meet up with Mia who is also from Northfield, Killian and Ruby who are from MN, and Alejandro and Alejandra (From my district) are going as well!! It should be a fabulous experience and I can't wait for it to start!

As for New Year's we celebrated by having the same people we celebrated Christmas with over at our house. We watched the New Year's eve show, although I refuse to believe it's New Years without Dick Clark's rocking eve and the ball drop. Then we all went outside and waited until it was January 1st. At midnight fireworks went off from all around us, we live in the center of town and there were shows at just about every edge of town. It was amazing! Then my brother and sister and I got ready and we went out for the night to a New Year's club event. It was a good time with good music and lots of people, some I hadn't seen in a very long time!

Other than that I've been getting ready for my trip, which I'm going to finish doing. If you are interested in what I'm up to, follow me on Twitter @leetha2010 . That'll be easiest for me to update, and quickest as well! Talk to you later!

Beijos:*

Aletha

Wow. Update.

Wow!

Sorry. It has been FOREVER! I have gotten so bad at this and you want to know what, I haven't really been up to that much! Well in a way I have. It's weird to me. For example I don't do a whole lot of different things, but I do so much.

I spend lots of time watching movies and walking around with friends, eating new food, exploring the city, visiting shops, or hanging out in homes talking.

To catch you up a little on my life:

December 4th was my birthday. I spent my whole birthday weekend hanging out with my best friends here from 12:00 a.m. until 12:30. then 3:30 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. the following day. My brother was traveling and so he felt really bad about leaving me for the weekend. When I returned home after going to church with my friend Isa, we were going to go out again. Then she invited me to help her get tereré ready to drink. I complied of course and we walked into the kitchen where my family and friends had set up a surprise birthday party for me! It was wonderful, I don't think I've ever been so surprised in my life and I couldn't sleep or stop smiling from pure happiness!

I've spent most of December hanging out with my friends in the morning, afternoon, and evening. I have been to a lot of "Secret Santa" holiday parties with my parents as well. These are always interesting! I've been learning to play Truco, the very popular card game here.

December 22nd we had a 50th birthday party to attend. I invited Alejandra to come with me, she accepted. We arrived there and there happened to be another exchange student there, not from our district. He happened to be from the United States, and when we talked to him, I found out he's from IOWA! What a wonderful coincidence!! It was a nice evening and it was wonderful to know another exchange student!

My sister and her boyfriend arrived here December 23rd to celebrate Christmas with us. We spent a lot of time visiting and drinking tereré. Most of the time we stay up until 3:00 in the morning just talking to each other and enjoying each other's presence. My sister and her boyfriend have been dating for 7 years and have talked about marriage together, but my "brother-in-law" had to ask my dad's permission. That was interesting to watch because he never gave them a for sure answer, he just talked around it, in circles.

Christmas without snow and without normal holiday baking definitely didn't feel the same. I didn't feel the Christmas spirit that is impossible to miss back home. It just seemed like another day to me. As much as I missed the Christmas lights on every house, the snow, the cold, the smell, the feeling, I had a pleasant Christmas/Christmas Eve.

Christmas is celebrated basically at 12:00 a.m. Right when it changes. We had a dinner with a bunch of family friends and we ate, played UNO, and talked. Then it turned midnight, we all wished each other a Merry Christmas and about 10 minutes later everyone went home. When we got home we all exchanged gifts in the home, it was a nice time! It wasn't a materialistic thing where people were upset or disappointed with their gifts, it was just pure contentment.

Christmas day we slept in, ate lunch with the same people in the same place, played BINGO, and then the "kids" (my sister, her boyfriend, my brother, a son of a family friend, and I) left and drove around drinking tereré before we returned home to watch a movie. I got the chance to call my parents and grandparents back in the U.S. via skype! That was a nice treat!! For dinner we went to the same place with the same people and when we left we picked up my friend Alejandra and at about 12:30 we went to a club to go dancing.

Mateus, the boyfriend of my sister, left on the 26th, but my sister is staying until January 3rd. I'm loving having her here!!

Overall, this was a really crappy update, but I've had a wonderful December without snow, and I'm really content here. I couldn't have asked for more!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that the New Year brings only the best for you!

Beijos:*

Aletha

Almost A Year Ago

Today is December 1st. I've been thinking lately that a year ago I was getting excited to go to the Country Fair and District Interviews and get one step closer to my exchange year. Now I'm here and I still have a hard time believing it. It all seems so unreal and yet so normal at the same time. As I've been thinking, I remember the night before Saturday December 5th, 2009. It was my birthday so my family and I were eating our traditional homemade chicken noodle soup and Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake. I don't remember if I had candles on the cake or anything, but I do know that before I went to bed, the only thing I wished for was that my interview would go well and I'd be on my way to any country that following summer.

When I woke up, I don't remember being nearly as nervous as I should have been. We loaded up in the car–Mom, Dad, and me–and I remember Mom and Dad asking, "Are you nervous?" and I told them, "Not really, I should be, but if I'm not the type of person their looking for I'm not that isn't going to change now."

This seems so much truer now. The interviews people are about to have this Saturday aren't like a chapter test where you can cram the night before and pass with flying colors. It's not even like a final where if you put in a good two weeks effort and you do almost perfectly. These interviews about being yourself and who you have been for the last 15-18 years of your life. Of course there are better ways to speak to people and treat other people, but there is no reason to be nervous. We'd all been training for this day, without knowing it, just by being the type of people we'd always been.

My life here isn't something I could have prepared for. Of course I learned a little of the language, I made myself aware of some of the customs, I learned a little bit about the history, but I couldn't prepare myself for how I was going to interact with the locals, how I was going to deal with people that dislike me, or how I was going to represent my country. Sure there are times when I am more aware of what I am saying and doing and I do it more correctly and politically correct, and of course I could always fake liking people, being happy, and being perfect. However faking things tires after about a day, imagine a year.

In the end, by being here, I've realized that I'm still me, I still get frustrated by the same things. I still put my family (new and old) before just about everything, I still am horribly optimistic, I still like to do things independently, I still procrastinate too much, and I continue to make the same faces at friends sitting across the room from me. There are somethings I've adapted to, but there are some things that I can't change in the blink of an eye even if I'm aware it's a bit of a problem. I guess it's becoming more about who I was and that becoming more prominent, than some big dramatic change of being for me. I'm noticing some of the characteristics I've always had and I'm becoming happy and comfortable with them.

So I guess what I'm thinking as I think about a year ago is that I hope you guys don't get too nervous, it's not a big deal. Be true to yourself, because Rotary isn't looking to lecture you on your values, but they are looking to see if you would make a successful youth ambassador and have a successful exchange. Imagine passing every interview and orientation and arriving in a new country and not enjoying yourself because you just weren't ready as a person. Everything is going to go great and picture it: in a year, you'll be in a different country, excited for, yet slightly envious of, the people that are about to start their exchange.

Good Luck!! Boa Sorte!!

I look forward to hearing where you are all going next year!

Beijos:*

Aletha

p.s. Brasil is by far the best country... soo, put it as you're #1. Just saying. :P

Swimming with Alligators and Piranhas

Like I promised, here is what I did last weekend:

Thursday: I graduated from high school again, it was a big ceremony (but not even the fun day, that was the next day when they had their dance, similar to prom/a club/a feast) where we sat around and listened to people talk, we received our diplomas and chocolates, lots of people cried (I teared up a little because when I go back to study it won't be with any of these people again!), and we went on our way. I walked in with Alejandra and my dad here and we were introduced specially as intercambistas. After the ceremony a large group of us went to a restaurant to eat and joke around more. It was a good time, just hanging out and eating pizza and not worrying about anything.

Friday: I woke up at about 9:00 and got all packed up for my weekend trip to Cáceres (about 3 hours away by car). In Cáceres we would have an orientation for all of the exchange students. We picked up Alejandra and Clovis (my chairman) around 1:00 and after running back to my house and Alejandra's to pick up our rotary blazers, we began our journey. Everything is Green now so I didn't sleep much, instead I just watched the scenery and when Alejandra was awake we talked about random things. We arrived in Cáceres at about 4:30 ish, and we met up with the other cochairman Fránsergio (who lives in Cáceres). We were early because Clovis had to be there to prepare some things, the event didn't actually start until 8:00. We ate some ice cream while everyone was visiting and then we headed out to the hotel boat where we would be staying for the next couple of days.

We were it's first trip (imagine Titanic, but in the Pantanal). We joked about it and I got to be Rose, because of my middle name, which is slightly different then my normal Jack role with the diving girls. :). We even had a moment where the kitchen windows were fogged up and a Brasilian made the car scene reference! It was amazing! Anyways we arrived on the boat. I met two journalists that were there for the event, one 20 years old and the other 21. They were a couple and they were really nice and fun to get to know. Then slowly other people and other exchange students began to show up. We had a Rotary meeting on the ship at about 10:00, took some pictures, and spent the rest of the evening playing uno, eating supper, playing uno again, and getting to know each other.

There are 7 intercambistas in my district. Starting in the back row we have Fránsergio and Clovis. Front Row: Claudio from México, Alejandra from Colombia, Alejandro from México, Darren from Australia, Patrícia from Brasil but spent a year in México, Aaron from The United States (Detroit Michigan), Marie from the United States (Eden Prarie Minnesota) and me from the United States (Northfield Minnesota). All of us are fairly new except for Darren, he's been here for roughly 9 months and will be returning to Australia in January. Aaron is the newest, he's been here for a little less than a month.

Saturday: We went to bed about 4:00 in the morning after playing uno. The boat left to start traveling down the river about 9:00 and this was also when breakfast was supposed to end, so I got up at about 9:00 (the first one from our room/first exchange student, go me!) and I went to start eating breakfast. We eventually came to a beach where the boat stopped and docked for a good amount of the afternoon, we ate lunch here and spent almost all of our daylight here. Before lunch we went down to the water and the beach to explore a bit. This area is a very wild part of Brasil, there are lost of exotic animals and lots of snakes and other things. In the river there were piranhas and alligators as well as other strange fish and snakes. Here we found these really cool plants that close when you touch them and we played a little in the water. However the little taste of water we got wasn't nearly enough for us, it was just a little teaser of an appetizer, leaving us starving to jump in completely. However we hadn't eaten lunch yet and we didn't know if we had to wait until after. So we got on the boat again and were sitting around visiting, getting really antsy for lunch and swimming, when we saw a guy checking the depth of the water around us. It was probably 9 feet deep. One of the journalists looked at me and said: "Wanna jump from the boat." and without even hesitating I seriously replied: "Lets." Of course we had to get permission, so we all changed into our swimsuits and everyone asked me to ask permission because I'm from Clovis's club and these girls always get their way easier :P. Darren and Marcio (the journalist) jumped in first from the boat to test it out for us, then it was our turn. I am pleased to say that Minnesota represented well, Marie and I were the first two girls and first two people after Darren and Marcio to jump in. We did it quite fearless, I might add without hesitation or squealing. Everyone hit the bottom but the sand was so soft and wasn't sticky at all, it didn't give us any problems.

After a few people jumped from the second floor (shown in the picture above) we decided we wanted more of a thrill. There again I was sent to ask Clovis for permission, which he granted. Then we went to Fránsergio who was a little more hesitant. He first told us no because the other rotarians would get angry, then he told us we could, but only once. I sought out my dad to make sure that he didn't have any problem with it, because after all he is the most responsible for me. He told me to be careful but he gave me permission to do it. Here I had another proud moment, where I was the first girl (3rd person) to jump from the 3rd story (after Darren and Marcio). I jumped more with excitement than fear and it was SO much fun! Marie followed shortly after and eventually everyone did it. Everyone jumped in from every level with the exception of Aaron, who doesn't know how to swim that well so he just waded in and stayed near the beach.

After we jumped in Darren, Alejandra, Marie, and I went for a boat ride around the river (think Minnesota fishing boats) to see if we could find any cool wildlife, we were mostly looking for alligators. The scenery was beautiful and it was relaxing, although we didn't have cameras to take pictures. When we got back it was time for a meeting where the owner/creator of TerraBrasil (a program that sells trips for rotary students) talked about all of his trips, and I got even more excited for the Northeast trip I'll be taking with them the whole month of January. I will for sure be with 3 other people from Minnesota and more than likely Alejandra AND ≈94 other exchange students!!!!!! After this we went on a cruise to an old farm site and we were there just in time for the beginning of the sunset, the rest we got to watch from the boat. This was the first time I had seen such a colorful sunset in Brasil, it was beautiful!

As it got dark the boat docked on a different beach for the night. We had dinner and began to play UNO again. We played with different rules that were a lot more fun than regular UNO. I'll explain it someday when I get back in the states. We played lots of music and joked around until it was midnight.

Sunday: Midnight came and the birthday of Marcela (an ex-interactian) began (the 14th, the same as my host-mom Ederly, and my beautiful sister Quinn). We celebrated by singing and people brought her a cake, which wasn't cooked, and I never saw it again. I just know I didn't get to eat it... After that all of the exchange students, the two journalists, and the 3 other people our age went down to the beach to play night games and visit. It was nice. Alejandra, Marie, and I explored the beach a little searching for animals and found a dead fish skeleton, but the fish had pointy (resembled a chainsaw) fin bones that stuck straight out and made a cross with it's spine. It was strange. Then we all got back on the boat and began to play English music and sing and dance. We played some more games, and by now all of the Rotarians had gone to bed. Alejandro was shining his flashlight into the wilderness to find animals and when he saw some glowing eyes looking back at us a couple of us got off the boat to explore. We only found a small bird, but I don't believe that was the eye that we originally saw. After that we played more games, looked at the sky, we couldn't find the southern cross which made me a little disappointed because it had been a long time since I had seen the stars and I HAVE to see that before I go. Then about 5 in the morning we made our way to bed.

7:30, 8:00 the next morning I woke up and tried to take a shower, we were out of water for a little bit. So I went to eat breakfast. Once again I was the first person from our room up (and the first young person), I'm sure my host-dad was proud because I sleep very late in our house here and they always make fun of me, but I was not that lazy on our trip. I had all my stuff packed up before breakfast and we (Alejandra, Clovis, my host-dad, and I) left at about 9:00 after the boat docked in the original location, to head for home, before anyone was really even awake.

We went straight to Tangará's RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, I think...) when we got back into town. We ate lunch there and gave a little speech about ourselves first in our native tongue, and then in Portuguese. Then we headed for home to shower, unpack, and take a nap.

I woke up to the power out and rainy cold weather. I said "oi" to my parents and they sent me to the kitchen to eat dinner. When I was eating my brother walked in and said "I'm going out to eat pizza with some people from interact, if you want to go, I didn't tell you because I didn't want to wake you." I said, "nah, that's alright, go ahead without me." He came back in 2 minutes later and asked me again and I decided I'd go. I need to be more social anyways. So we ended up going to Tia Cida's house and visiting with people from Ryla who were still in Tangará. We ate pão de queijo and pizza and people played the guitar and sang.

Monday: At about 12:30 a.m. we loaded up in a couple cars and we went bowling, this was a lot of fun as well. Although I'm awful at bowling and so was my partner, we never took last! We almost won even!!! At about 2:00 a.m. my brother and I went home and went to bed.

About 10:30 the next morning my brother woke me up and told me we were going to a churrasco (BBQ) with the same people as the night before. So we went there and got everything all set up and ready to go. The only weird thing was that the people that weren't there were my girlfriends from my interact. I did get to visit with the other people from other areas as well. The food was good and we had some entertainment from people playing music on the computer and singing and dancing. At about 3:00 we all loaded up again and took them to the house they stayed at to pick up their things. They loaded up in their van, and they were off for their homes. A lot of people were crying because they had been so united all weekend and would part for an undefined amount of time. Once they were gone we went to the casa de amizade to clean up and put everything back in order. Then we went home and watched a movie and visited.

That's all for now although I do have a highlight: I MADE BRIGADEIRO (it's not hard at all) SUCCESSFULLY ALL BY MYSELF YESTERDAY! :) and I was dubbed the translator during the intercambista trip. My family here and my friends are so proud of my portuguese, although I have my moments I'm so much better than I was. My dad told me that it is getting better every day, and my friends always tell me when people talk about me behind my back and talk about my portuguese being good (i.e. their mom's, or the guy at the post office today to the other guy after I left). I think they are all so happy because they are the ones that have been working with me everyday and it's as big of a success for them as it is for me. My parents also love the fact that I'm forgetting my English. One quick example besides the many times I forget words was when I was giving my speech in English at our RYLA. I said: "I am staying with the Ribas fa..(to start família)..[pauuuuuse]]]]]...family. :)

I'll try and update again soon!

I've been having a great time!

Take care,

Beijos:*

Aletha