5 Months in Brazil and Counting

My fifth month mark has passed today as you can tell from above. Nothing amazing has happened this past month because it's been the holidays and mostly everyone just hangs around the house and sleeps, watches TV or plays on the computer.

I did switch families successfully two days ago. All my stuff except my bike which I have to go get before I start school. I was going to go today but it looked like it was going to rain (and then did rain) and I ended up falling asleep for three hours (oops!) My new family is nice though. I have an older brother and sister. My host brother, Murilo, likes to tell jokes and plays the guitar really well. He plays like all day long and he knows lots of songs. My host sister is quiet and tends to keep to herself. She is on break from college but she wil be returning there at the end of the month. She goes to college in the state south of São Paulo which is quite a long ways away. I haven't met my host dad yet because he works in a city far away as well and only comes home on the weekends. My host mom is nice and calm. She works as a teacher for one of the local elementary schools. She still works during the day even though there are no students. Tomorrow is her last day of work until August when classes start up again. We also have a maid that comes and cleans on mondays and thursdays. Her name is Lucilia. She loves to talk about anything and everything. She was really excited to meet me mostly because I bring a new chance for talking about new and different things. She is really nice  though and a great conversation partner which is good for learning portuguese.

Sadly my classes start up early this year. I go back to school on the 23rd of July. I think it's a good thing because there isn't really much to do in Palmital. None the less, all my classmates will groan about going to school even after a nice three week break. But I guess everyone at Medina High school does the same thing after a shorter two week Christmas break. haha

I wish I could share some recent photos but sadly my computer had a little accident and now I can't see anything on the screen. Just a few black dots, a black line down the center of the screen and smaller colorful lines that blink. My mother nicely enough got me a replacement computer but still waiting for it to ship. So far it's been three weeks now. Which is a good lesson for any exchange student who has stuff being sent to them. Depending on the country and contents of your package it can take a while for your package to reach it's destination. Always account for the longest amount of time that the post office says or even longer. Always plan for a few weeks delievery.

Ate Mais,

Cori

4th of July

So just like I said, I'm writing a post from a normal day but today in the United States is an important day in history when we became the United States of America and not the colonies of Great Britian. It's a day we remember our history and of course have parties and fireworks to celebrate. Thinking about a great day in U.S. history made me have a lot of pride for my country. I really enjoyed remembering the U.S. flag waving and the national anthem being sung and played. I missed it a lot but I sang it in my head all day. And luckily enough for me, I even got to experience fireworks as well. Lots of people in Palmital just light off fireworks at night for fun and there happened to be some people near my house lighting them off.

Today was also the start to the winter holidays so I didn't have school today and I won't for the next three weeks. It's time to relax and hang out with friends. Many people have off work as well. July is known as the month of breaks here in Palmital. Of course a three week break is nothing compared to the summer break you are having right now but its better than nothing.

I also find out the I'm going to be switching homes because my host grandfather is sick and will be coming to live in my host family's house. So there wom't be room for me as well and so sadly my family has to give me up. I'll still be living in Palmital so I can still visit them. I'll also be going to the same school as well which is good because I'm already used to the teachers and the materials and I've made friends. It would be difficult to start over again.

Tchau,

Cori

4 months

So I've been in Brazil for 4 months now. It's crazy to think how time flies. I also have learned that I'm really bad at keeping blog posts. Sorry about that. The semester is almost over and all the semester kids will be going home next month while new exchange students will be arriving in August. There is going to be an Italian girl coming to my town and I'm pretty excited to meet her because I'm really the only exchange student in Palmital. Elke is going back to Belgium and Julian is going back to Germany at the end of the month. I'm going to miss them but I'm sure they'll be happy to see their families agaim even though it means leaving their families here.

On a better note, life here has become normal. I realized it a few days ago when I was thinking about everyone going home. I saw how comfortable I was here and how I wasn't ready to leave Brazil yet because there is still so much I want to do and learn yet. There are still places I want to go and I'm so glad I decided to do the year program instead of the semester. I feel like kids who only do semesters because of school or parents only get to scratch the surface of their host country. A year is so much better and so much more worth your money. Go for a year!!!

Events in Palmital: Festa Juninha! The June Festaval is a big celebration where every week during June a different catholic saint is celebrated. On the weekends there is a party called a kermesse at this large church with music, dancing, and food. People will dress is country style clothes also. There are special banners made and are hung all around the festeval. They look similar to the flag of ohio only shorter. There are even small parties in schools as well, usually celebrated on fridays.

Other than that school has been pretty normal. The weather has finally become "winter" weather. It's nothing compared to a Cleveland, Ohio winter but it got pretty cold. Equal to around 40 or 50 degrees farenheit which is really cold when there is no central heating or heaters at all to make your house warmer. Usually it will only be cold in the morning but by 11 or 12 oclock it will get up to 70 or 75 degrees with the sun shining. I know it's odd for some people to think of Brazil being cold but in Rio Grande do Sul it even snows sometimes! But I should also mention that people in Rio de Janiero typically don't own coats because it never gets cold enough for one. It just depends on the region of Brazil.

I also started playing futesal like I said before. It's a lot more difficult than I thought! It's much faster than I'm used to. I've gotten much better but still need some improvement. I have also been dubed the nickname Americana. Mostly because Cori is too difficult to say and the first time I went they thought I didn't speak or understand any Portuguese. So everyone there just calls me Americana. It's fine by me though. Its's kinda cool having a nickname.

So that's all for now on my life here in Brazil. I'm going to try and write more posts more often but it's hard to find the time to just sit down and type. If you have anything you want me to specifically write about, leave a comment.

Ate logo,

Cori a.k.a "Americana"

3 months already?

So I'm a little late but my three month mark for living in Brazil was May 12th. I also understand why it's so difficult to update blogs. You just don't have time, but I can't believe how fast time is going. I'm already a quarter through my program. And what a better way to celebrate than going dancing! Because Palmital is so small, Dub's Disco Club is the place to go and hang out with friends and to go dancing on the weekends. Each week there is a new band that comes and plays. No it's not disco music like you think. Disco clubs are what Brazilians call dance clubs. They play all sorts of music. This weekend there was a rock band playing so my older sister Bia invited me to go with her and her friends. It turned out to be great and I got to meet new people as well as see some of my friends as well. I've been to Dub's two other times and only stayed on the floor where it's packed with people but this time we bought tickets to go to the camarote. The Camarote is this balcony above the floor and it's less crowded and there are more places to sit and enjoy the music if you don't want to dance. It cost a little more but it was cool and I really enjoyed it and getting a chance to hang out with my sister. We have gotten very close but she is always working or going to college so I don't get to see her that often. It was a Saturday to remember for sure.

The following day was Sunday, of course, and it also happened to be Mother's Day as well. After trying to regain some of the sleep I lost from the night before, I woke up to wish my host mom a Happy Mother's Day and then go to my grandmother's house for a big lunch. Afterwards, I went back home and skyped with my mom to wish her a Happy Mother's Day as well.

This week I have made so new friends. I really enjoy seeing them in school and there is always something to talk about. They try and teach me words in Portuguese and in turn I teach them some words in English. I have also started sitting with them in my classroom and they help me understand some of what is going on because the teachers all talk really fast and sometimes I don't always catch what they are saying.

I also got to experience my first futebol celebration. Santos, one of the favorite teams here, won an important game on sunday. Of course Brazilians are known for their crazy soccer fans but from what I have seen its pretty similar to what us American football fans are like. They are just excited about their team winning and in turn celebrate. My town celebrated by driving around in cars blaring the favorite music of the Santos team players and honking their horns, waving flags, dancing in the streets, blowing off fireworks and fire crackers, and wearing their favorite teams sports gear. My sister and I walked around town and watched all this and I have to say it was really great to see how spirited everyone was. They are not the crazy fans that you think and from what you see on TV but they are happy when their team wins and celebrate! Who doesn't love a celebration? I was happy for Santos as well because my family cheers for Santos but Palmeiras is my family's favorite team.

Also this coming month I'm going to start playing soccer on the team here in Palmital. I won't be playing on an actual field like I'm most used to. Instead it's more common to play on an indoor field similar to a gym floor used for basketball except the lines are made for soccer. I'm excited because I have missed soccer so much and seeing so many people playing soccer makes me really want to play. My host parents and AFS are going to talk to the team and see if I can join. Hopefully I can start right away. I really want to play and hey, maybe I'll learn some cool new moves.

Tchau & Beijos

Cori

Rodeio Weekend

So last weekend here in Palmital we celebrated the city's 92nd birthday. To celebrate such a wonderful occasion we have Rodeio (Rodeo). I have to say that it is most similar to county fairs. Nothing but fried food, candy, ice cream, and junk food. There are rides and games but the main event happens on the weekend. That would be the rodeo of course. There are two contests. One is where two people on horse back have to rope a sprinting calf on the head and one of the feet and bring it down. The other is the bucking contest. You have to see how long you can stay on a bucking bull and let me tell you, most of them don't last long. Everyone gets really into the spirit of everything. Most of the people that go to the rodeo get dressed up. Like I'm talking plaid shirts, cowboy boots, jeans, hats and even fancy belts. It's a big deal and they talk about it weeks before it happens. They even have a queen and king of Rodeio. To go along with the country theme, música sertaneja (country music) is very popular. They have performers everyday. I have to say though that it is not my type. Besides the music it was a lot of fun. I did dress up as well because why go if your not going to participate? I would have stuck out like a sore thumb if I didn't anyways.

This is was a week long celebration so there were cultural things at different times during the week. There were films you could see and demonstrations to watch. One of the days my sister Flavia, my host mom, and I went to watch Capoeira. It's a Brazilian martial art. It was very cool to watch. They put a lot of work into perfecting it. I give them an A+.

Hope you enjoyed reading,
Tchau
Cori

 This is me and my host sister Flavia on the first day of Rodeio

 This me and my sister and her friends on the big opening night of Rodeio

 This is us at the Rodeio watching the contests. Lots of people showed up to see it as well

 This was the contest where you had to rope the calf. It's much harder than it looks.

 This is the stage at the front of the ring.

 This is the other side of the ring in which the contests took place.

This was the starting place for the bucking contest

Here is a video of the bucking contest. My camera refused to take a good picture and besides you get more action from a video. Enjoy!

 These two pictures are of Capoeira. Pretty cool right?

What is Easter without chocolate eggs?

Today was a great day. Today I learned how to make homemade chocolate eggs or Ovos de Chocolate. My host mom showed me how and I have to say I did a great job. Of course there was a little bit of taste testing involved too which I took part in as well. First we melted chocolate in a pot. Next we took the egg molds and spooned in enough chocolate to cover the sides of the mold and put them in the freezer to set. After a few minutes in the freezer we took them out and repeated the process two more times. Afterwards we wrapped them in tin foil and filled one half with candy and covered it up with the other half. Finally, to finish of the work, we put another layer of colorful wrapping and sealed it with a bow. We had to make a lot for the family we will be visiting tomorrow for Easter and it took all day but overall it was a lot of fun.

Feliz Pascoa Todo Mundo!

Cori

This is what the eggs look like before and after they are finished.

 Above: My nephew wanted to help but more or less wanted to just eat the chocolate.

Below: My Host Mom making a chocolate egg

Above: My nephew with the egg my grandma bought for him. These eggs are common to buy for your family members. You can buy them at like any store.

Below: Bis are these wafer chocolate bars that we filled the eggs with. They are very good.

 Above: Again my host mom making chocolate eggs.

Below: This is me helping make a chocolate egg. I did pretty good for my first try. :)

And of course the finished product. Tomorrow we get to eat them. Yummy Yummy!

Life in Brazil

I have finally had a few weeks break from traveling which has been a great relief. Traveling all over the state of Sao Paulo can take a toll on you, but on the bright side I learned how to sleep on a bus.

I have almost reached my two month mark. (April 12th!) and am finally starting to fit into life here. I have my school schedule worked out and what I do at home. Everyone comments on how much better I speak but I'm still so far away from being considered fluent. While I have been learning my new language though, I have started to forget some of my English speaking skills. My Portuguese teacher thought it was hilarious. I have gotten so used to Portuguese that I speak English the way everyone here does which is not very well and with an accent. I have also started to talk/think to my self in Portuguese as well. I don't say "I need my notebook". Instead I say "Eu preciso minha caderno". I have also been using my dictionary a lot less as well but still carry it around to important places just in case I need to look up a word.

Here is my Horario (Schedule) for a typical day:

6:10 Wake up and get dressed
6:30 Eat breakfast of bread and butter
6:45 Leave for school on my bike
7:00 Arrive at school and walk to get ready for class
7:10 Teacher arrives and get class going. I have three periods each 50 minutes long before intraval. I'll have one class for no more than two periods.
9:30 Go to interval and eat a small snack and chat with classmates
9:50 classes start again. I have two more 50 minute class periods
11:30 Ride my bike home for lunch
11:45-12:30 eat lunch with my family before my sister's and dad leave for work
12:45 Start the afternoon. I usually sleep, read, do homework, watch TV, go on the computer, go out with friends or help my mom bake. On tuesdays I go to my portuguese course and Tuesdays and Thursdays I do dishes.
5:00 Everyone comes home from work. They do the similar things I do like watch TV or go on the computer.
6:30 My nefew comes home from school. He likes to play with me. This is also when my older sister and my dad leave for college.
7:30 Time to eat dinner that my mom cooks. Afterwards is free time spent with my family.
9:00 Take a shower, brush my teeth and get ready for bed.
9:30 Time for bed. I go to bed early here because I get up so early for school.

So that's pretty much what I have been doing the past few weeks.

Cori

Barra Bonita

I had an AFS conference in Barra Bonita last weekend. It was great because I got to meet other exchange students from around the world and that live near me in the next city. There were 8 of us total that were newbies to Brazil. 1 girl from New Zealand, 1 boy from Germany, 1 boy from Japan and 2 girls and 2 boys from Thailand. Later we met up with a boy from France and a girl from Italy and another girl from Thailand. During the day we went over culture shock, rules, and such. We got new information about different things we needed to know with AFS. Later that night, we were allowed to go out to a music concert that was playing near where we were staying. The music and singers were really bad so we ended up just walking around and seeing the town. We chatted a lot about Brazil and our home towns and countries. Afterwards, we met up with our AFS volunteers and ate pizza. Now I have to tell you that it's not the pizza you are used to. It's the same concept but it looks and tastes very different. Oh and it's very common to find chicken and corn with the light amount of tomato sause. Also whole olives and whole slices of tomatoes are usually on top as well. So if you ever visit Brazil, Pizza is not as good as you think. You are better off buying Brazilian style food because it tastes much better. : ) After sleeping and having a nice typical Brazilian breakfast, we left to go back home. It was a great experience and I'm so glad AFS does things like this.

Sao Paulo!

On Tuesday I went to São Paulo with my class. It was so much fun. We left the school at 11:30 pm and we drove on a bus for six hours to São Paulo. I tried to sleep but of course like in any group of teenagers, there are the ones that just don't want to sleep. So instead they sang all different types of songs. It was funny because they were very much off key but it was frustrating too because I was trying to get some sleep! So we arrived at our first destination which was the Museo de Futebol. We were too early to enter so we walked around in the Stadium for a bit then we went to this little outside Mercado (market). It is really cool to go to markets here because there are things I have never seen before. Lots of exotic fruits and of course some familiar fruits as well like Morango (Strawberry), Abacaxi (Pineapple), and Maça (Apple). They also had "Fair" food that you could buy. I tried a Pastel for the first time. It was really good. It's a filling of different varieties of meats, cheeses, and vegetables fried inside two pieces of dough. When it's done it has a flaky outside and it's warm on the inside. You can even get ones that have chocolate or bananas inside. The one I tried was carne com chedder. It was delicious. I also got to try a fruit called a Kaki. It looks like a tomato but its got a really sweet gooey inside. Very good and sticky!

So once we were finally inside the museo de futebol, we got to see all the exhibits and we were pretty much alone because we got there first thing in the morning. It has all sorts of exhibits tell the past about Brazilian futebol (Pronounced Fu-chee-bol by the way). It talked about the different players and history of soccer. It even talked about the different crazy moves that players do and how to do them. I'm probably not gonna try them though. haha. At one point we got to see how fast we kick a ball into the goal. I kicked 77 km/s. Yeah that's a good score! When left for lunch at around 11 am we went to this huge mall (and I mean HUGE) for lunch. We got to walk around afterwards and you'll never guess what I saw...A store called "Cori"!!!! Spelled just like I spell it. I was so happy that I took a photo to remember how awesome I am. lol

Afterwards, we went to a large university and walked around the science fair they were hosting. It was pretty cool. There were lots of different exhibits but sadly I wasn't able to understand anything. Well from what I saw, the people put really hard work into their projects and they were very professionally done.
Finally we started our journy home and you'll never guess but all the boys slept the whole way home. haha. I slept too a little bit. It was uncomfortable on the bus but that's okay. I could sleep in the next day because my class did not have school tomorrow. All in all it was a fun trip and I'm glad I went on it.

Tchau,
Cori

 Museo de Futebol

 São Paulo Skyline

 My class up above and below

                                               Yes the store named after me really does exist!

1 month already?

So I have officially been here for 4 weeks. It still seems like a couple days ago I finally landed here. I have gotten a lot better at understanding Portuguese. I am really bad at speaking still. I started taking lessons and they are helpful. In my course I'm going to start working on conjugating verbs which is the hardest and yet most necessary thing to learn. Carnaval was fun. It's like one big dance party in the street in Palmital! I watched the Parades in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janiero on the TV. They were very cool and very elaborate. The costumes and floats were large and very detailed. I enjoyed watching them Samba. I don't think as Americans we really understand the work that goes into these elaborate events but it is so worth it in the end. Very cool! I wish everyone could watch and understand Caranval.  Tuesday I'm going on a trip to Sao Paulo with my class. We are going to visit a big college that is going to be hosting a science fair and we will go to the soccer museum. I'm excited. School has been getting better. It is still hard to understand but things but I can mostly figure some classes out by reading the books like math and physics. Portuguese, sociology, and history are hard because there is a lot of writing and reading and it's hard to catch on to what the teacher is talking about.

When talking about Brazil, you can't forget to mention the food. The food here is very different. I eat lots of bread, meat of all kinds, beans and rice. I eat rice and beans everyday and least one meal a day. I eat some kind of meat several times a week. I also have gotten to try Suco. It is the best juice I have ever had! We have this place called Coco Suco in my town. I love it! It's my favorite place ever!

I finally went to the Federal Police station and applied for my ID card. I am now allowed to live in Brazil! I had an issue with one paper not being Authorized and I freaked out a little but lucky enough for me there was a place in town I could go and get it done. Literally every single document I brought to the Federal Police had stamps and signatures all over it. I'm surprised they could even read them with everything scribbled and signed over and over. After that I could breath a little easier though. It was a long bus ride to Marilia and then back again but I'm just glad it is over. No more worrying about papers and time limits. Now I can relax.


Here are some pictures of my new family and friends:

Top Picture: Meeting my host family for the first time. Bia, Marco, William (Jessica's Brother), Jessica's mother, Jessica, Flavia, Me, My mother, and my father.

Bottom Picture: My New Friends. Me, Bianca, Julian (AFS German Exchange Student), Flavia (My sister), and Miriam (Bianca's sister).