Day 15 pt II: the sibling rivalry

TOO MUCH BICKERING! Everyday Flavia and Fernanda have gotten into at least one verbal altercation about something stupid. And I undestand thats what siblings do sometimes, but for crying out loud! Its getting so ridiculous but I don´t want to put my voice into it becuase I´m a temporary resident. I´m sorry for the outburst :( I just had to get that off my chest. Today after all the tests were finished, there was a school assembly about the dangers of the internet. Not too fun becuase they discussed all the things I already know. Like don´t give your password out. And don´t put all your personal info out on the web. This week we might go see a movie at the cinema. I´m hoping for Wal-e cuz that looks like a cute movie. That or Iron Man (yes, sadly I still haven´t seen it) Still knitting and what not. I think tomorrow I wanna go downtown and look for more things to take home. Maybe a gord for chimarrão (pronounced shim-a-how, but the how is like in the back of your throat) which is a traditional grass tea. I tried it once and it was pretty good. The straw is made of metal and has this filter so you don´t drink the grass. Trés legal (leg-ow) (for those who don´t remember or are first time readers, that means very cool)

again, keepin it short,

Zora in Brazil

Day 15: counting sheep

Lately I´ve been experiencing something like a delayed jetlag over the weekend. I´ve either been sleeping, knitting (So far I´ve been doing well with my purple scarf), eating, or once again sleeping. Though I did go to the town market and bought something special for my little sister :) I´m not telling what because I´m not sure if she´ll read this. I´m still loking around for gifts and other things. The reason I´m blogging so early today is because of testing. For the next two weeks, Flavia and all my other friends will be taking tests (even on Saturdays) and studying like crazy. Minuses: NO TIME TO HANG OUT! Pluses: More time to read "Life of Pi" which is a pretty good book. I´m thinking that there´ll probably be a part two of day 15 later on this afternoon, so keep your eyes open :)

Beijos and lots of love,

Zora in Brazil

I don´t really feel like talking today so I decided to just post some pictures

Flavia took me to the cathedral



This is the military school, CMPA







Friends from school!

I took this photo on my way to school on morning

Day 11: How classic

Ola folks! Tudo bem? Cuz all is good in Brazil. Well, almost all. It´s so weird for me becuase I see ALOT of poverty everyday and its starting to become normal. For example, seeing people sleeping on benches or asking for money in the streets. MANY people have shopping carts full of cardboard and cans because the garbage system pays money to people that recycle. Today was calm once again due to rain. Flavia and I went to the art museum and then we went to the salon. I got my nails painted and Flavia cut her hair (it looks really good) Today in school we learned about the anatomy of plants which was rather hard to understand olnly becuase the lesson was in portuguese. Speaking of, Flavia is teaching me more portuguese so it´s easier to understand what people are saying.

Keeping it rather short today,

Zora in Brazil

Day 10: becuase 7 8 9

I´m really sorry for all those who have been patiently waiting for another post. Things have been pretty busy lately. Lately I´ve been hanging out more with Ale than with my Brazilian friends so I´m trying to find a way to balance the two. Today Flavia, Ale, and I went to the mall and laughed about everything. I like that about Brazil, I can laugh even at the stupid things. Lately I´ve been VERY tired and have fallen asleep as early as 6 or 7pm, which is why I haven´t really been updating my blog. Sadly, I still haven´t heard about where I´m going to volunteer so I´m just waiting for a phonecall or something :( School has been pretty ok lately. Now that I know people, alot more students are asking me to come the their classrooms. Its kinda cool except for today when I found out that this kid(no idea what his name is but he annoys me soo much) was in John´s class. This kid has been trying to talk to me since about day two and everyday I ignore him not to be rude but because he´s crazy! For example, he comes out the classroom today looks at me and the first thing he does is say "touch my body" repeatidly. Quite irritating. On the other side of the spectrum, I´ve been having ALOT of fun hanging out with Artur. On Monday, Flavia, Ale, Artur and I all hung out in downtown, where I bought some cool earrings. I think I wanna go back and buy some other things. Today I watched my friend John make biodiesel which was sooo cool. It took a long time but sadly I didn´t get to see the results :( It was still pretty awesome though.

TTYL,

Zora in Brazil

Day Seven: BBQ, Brazilian style

As you know I went to a party at Artur´s apartment yesterday, which was LOTS of fun. What you didn´t know was that is was a cheesy bread party. Artur and his mom made baskets and baskets of a traditional cheesy bread while a few friends, Mello, Mari, Julia, Felipe etc listened to music and danced around like 6-year-olds :) no shame in that though. We danced until the early morning and today I went to a BBQ at Anna´s house, she´s the girl who´s hosting the other American, Alejandra. Since BBQ´s are mostly about beef, Flavia´s dad was nice enough to stop at the store and pick up some chicken. At the BBQ, I got to hang out with Ale and eat chicken sausage (YAY). I had ALOT of fun just chillin and eating and talking about all the different stuff thats been going on this week. Like how last night I taught Flavia and others how to crank that soulja boy lol After the BBQ, Flavia and I went to Nai´s house where we just sat down and talked and watched "The Golden Compass". I tried Chimarrão today and it was pretty good. I tasted like a tea at home, but I can´t remember what kinda :( oh well. Tomorrow is school and then afterwards Flavia and I may be going downtown with Alejandra!

Beijos(kisses),
Zora in Brazil

Day Five and Six: Busy Busy Busy

Sadly I was unable to tell everyone of my Brazilian adventures because of a very special event...FESTA!!!! Yesterday it rained which apparently happens EVERY year on the day of festa. Luckily, by around 3 or 4pm, the weather lightened up and we just got lots and lots of wind. At the beginning, it was kinda weird becuase i didn´t really know anyone around. Only Flavia and Pati . But after a little while, more people showed up and the party got better :) They played ALOT of funke, which is kinda the same as hip-hop. I danced ALOT and learned some cool dances which I can show to the chosen few when I come back lol I danced with this one boy named Cicero who said I dance REALLY well which made me happy becuase I had only learned the dance a few minutes before I danced with him. lol once again I have proven mysself to be a true Brazilian :) Once again I wiil be out and about partying like a rockstar :) a very polite, well behaved international rockstar

Once again I must go,

Zora in Brazil

Day Four: Guess What!

Update on the birthday party last nice. WOW I had absolutly no idea how cool Brazilian pizza is! So, last night at the pizzeria, waiters came around the table with what was known as salt pizza. Some of the flavors were broccoli, palm flesh, tuna, salmon, onion, and chicken heart. At first I was REALLY REALLY REALLY scared to even know that people eat something like that, but I decided that every country has different types of food. For example, someone may think that becuase I like wheat thins with vanilla yougurt, I´m disgusting. And so I tried a bite of the chicken heart, which actually didn´t taste so bad. It didn´t taste like chicken though. Then, out came "sweet pizza" which had flavors like chocolate, white chocolate, banana and cinnamon(SO GOOD), etc...So yes all who are reading, I dared to try! And I survived :) so today was very calm. It rained today which made everything kinda different. Alot of people were surprised when I said "tudo bem?" which kinda like saying "how are you" or "Everything´s good?" lol ALOT of girls said " OOOOHH QUE LINDO!" (oh how cute) which actually made me feel good becuase everyone could understand me. It seems so odd that in almost a week, I have learned the basic words to strike up a conversation, so I´m hoping that when I come back, I´ll be able to talk in portuguese. Speaking of, I used the word ba! hoje. it´s a funny word. Like for example, if someone gets dissed, in the US, people would say OOOOOOOOOHHHHHH! In CMPA, the military school, people say Ba! Another word that is pretty legal( pronounced leg-ow...it means cool) is Meza! which is used only when something is REALLY REALLY excited. For example, I got invited to a party today and I said Meza! It was funny becuase everyone turned around and smiled and lauhged. One boy even said I was a true Brazilian :) I´m liking Porto Alegre and CMPA more and more each day...Mom, I´m I´m moving in with Flavia (just kidding, I love you too much) Tomorrow is festa!!!! so I am extre excited about that!

hungry and going to eat something yummy,

Zora in Brazil

Day Three: Portuguese and the awkward welcome

Today has been a very interesting day for me. I got invited to way too many parties, I´m going to festa junina on friday(ajune festival where men dress like women and women dress like men), AND some teacher asked me to talk about what its like to live in America. But, that is not what made it so interesting. The interesting day began around 9:00 when I woke up with my dried contact in my bed (Flavia and I were watching ´The office` last night and I fell asleep and then Flavia´s mom woke us up and I forgot to take them out) After eating 7 boys, which is like a mini hot dog bun, and mango (YAY) I went to school with Flavia. Today she had a test, so I ended up going to Patricia´s class ( reference in day one and two...I think) where they discuss today´s crisis, the modern world and its lack of values. Though I didn´t understand a word that they said, it was interesting because it all made sense when Patri translated. Afterwards, there was a geography class where they watched a video about WWII (world war two)...I decided not to watch after the two men in the video got shot...don´t ask :( After listening to my Ipod when the movie was playing, I went out for a walk when some kids that wanted to know more about me. One kid was pretty rude and said things like "We speak portuguese here, not spanish" and "do you think carnival is all about girls and butt?" It made me uncomfortable that this kid had engraved in his mind that all Americans were not internationally informed. Another kid, who walked with me and Artur´s sister didn´t speak english, so it made it hard to understand anything he said (it was a nod and smile moment for those who understand) I´m off to a birthday party so I have to go.

tchau (this is how to spell caio in portuguese)
Zora in Brazil

Day Two: Popularity

Today was my first day of actually attending school with Flavia. there were SO many people that wanted to meet me. To be honest, it was overwhelming at first because I´m not used to hundreds of kids staring, pointing, whispering, and talking to me in portuguese. All of Flavia´s friends are really nice especially Patricia, Ana L. , Hanna, Felipe, Arthur, and others (unfortunately my brain´s memory card is full) Unfortunately today Arthur called someone the N word today, but I think in Brazil it´s used as a diffrent term. To Americans, it´s a racial slur and I´m not sure if it just means idiot in Porto Alegre. So, I explained to him that it was an insult and he apoligized :) ALOT of people have questions about American politics and all of the people I have met have said that they want Obama to win. I don´t really wanna talk about American culture though becuase I want to learn about Brazil. Hoje(today) I learned bits of portuguese which made is SOOO much easier to understand what people are saying. Some things I learned

Falar: To speak (many people say speak english when I´m around)
Amor: To love
Agustar: To like

As I learn more portuguese, I´ll write less in English, so beware lol


I have to go,
LOVE,
Zora in Brazil

PS: FLAVIA´S MOM COOKS CHICKEN!!! (that is a joke for my vegetarian mother whom I love with all my heart)

Brazil: Day one

Today is my first day in Porto Alegre. It was kinda cold in the morning but luckily I was well prepared for that. I woke up at about 12:00pm and had lunh with Flavia, her mother, and her older sister Fernanda. It was really cool because I got to practice a mix of spanish, french and portuguese because Flavia´s father speaks french, her mother understands spanish, and in Flavia´s school, english is common, but not used very often. I got to go to Flavia´s school, which is BEAUTIFUL. It´s over 100 years old and is still in a good condition. At school I met some of her friends, Patricia, Lucas, Anna, Nathan, Strada, etc. So after visiting the school, Flavia, Patricia, Anna, Alejandra, Lucas, Nathan, and I all went out paddle boating (it was my first time) and then we went out to a small cafe in a public college. I can´t remember the name of the college right now, but Fernanda and her boyfriend go there together to study law. In the cafe, I tried passion fruit juice, which was really good. Afterwards, we went to a library in the school and from there we went home. Day one has been amazing and I think I´m going to really love it here.

Ciao,

Zora in Brazil

The Day Before!!!

Today is going to be EXTRA busy...no lie. I've got this play I have to do, called Disguise the limit, and immediately after that I'm driving up to New York with my family so that I can take a plane at 9am to Sao Paulo. AND THEN, I take another plane, where I'll finally be in the lovely town of Porto Alegre. Yesterday Alejandra came home (she's the girl I'll be traveling with) and sadly, I didn't get alot of time to talk to her and hang out because of my absolute favorite thing, tech rehearsal :( I'm so excited about going to Brazil for more than one reason. 1: If I get to volunteer in hospitals, it'll be an awesome experience(unless they have me in the morgue on something...that'd be just be terrible lol) 2: I have some friends who live in Sao Paulo. I met them years ago with this program called Children's International Summer Villages. 3: This will be my first time in, not only Brazil, but South America in general! So I'm super excited and I'm hoping for the best.


Crossing fingers,
Zora

AKA Queen B