Street Fighter- Forrest Edition

My new host family and I went to a Soccer game at Morumbi stadium and had a great time. Then, when the game was over, we had to walk ten blocks to get to the car at the mall. We got about halfway there when two guys came from the street, one from a doorway, and one right in front of us. They all started shouting, and yelling, and separating us. I didn't really understand what was going on, all I knew was there was a guy trying to reach in my pocket. So I kept slapping his hand away and telling him no, that's not for him. and he started getting angry. He punched me in the gut, so I put him in a headlock and punched him back in the mouth. The punch made his top teeth go through his bottom lip and he started bleeding everywhere. He screamed, went to punch at me again, I ducked, and my host dad and I got together, and he said something that made the guys ran away. All they got was my host brother's shirt, hat, and a souvenir from a crazy Alaskan. hahahahaha. I love this story.

But.. There was a lesson to learn in all of this. Most of the robbers carry knives or guns here. And you can't just go around punching them. It was a pretty stupid thing for me to do, but now I know. And just giving them 10 or 20 Reais(The currency here) will make them go away. So now I always keep a R$10 in my front pocket. Just in case.

Very, very busy.

Sorry it has taken me so long to write. I have been really busy. I'm going to quickly run through everything that has been going on, add some pictures, and then I have to get some sleep. I'm leaving for the beach in the morning!

So far I have been doing Portuguese classes three times a week. They help quite a bit, but not as much as regular school would. Which I am not able to attend yet because I arrived too late. There is only a month left in the Brazilian school year until summer break, so there's not any classes left I can join. Starting February I will be attending regular school. Until then I will be volunteering to help teach english classes, going on tours of Brazil, and soaking up as much Portuguese as I can!

Last I told you about I believe I was headed to the Formula 1 race to help out Rotary. Well, I did not get to go into the race. But that was FINE with me! I had the time of my life! We were just outside the race to the point where the drinks would rattle as the cars went by. And helping out rotary meant watching the race on a huge TV while handing out beers to people with the right coupons. The true party was outside on the street where I ended up finding some crazy guy on a bike with a painted dog who really liked Ferrari (Yes, the dog liked Ferrari, not him. He was a Fiat fan...), VERY pretty girls, and Santa Claus. Apparently he comes to Brazil to vacation during the off season. After the race was over the Samba dancers came out and started putting on a show right next to the Rotary tent. So naturally, the guys went to investigate. The dance was really cool, and the crowd went insane over it. After they were done, they headed backstage to get ready to leave and I noticed a group of people trying to talk to the security guards, so I asked my friend Carol what was going on. She said,"They want to get backstage to take pictures with the dancers. They're really famous here in Brazil." So of course, I wanted to also. Carol and I got to the front and all she said was: "He's from Alaska and he wants to meet the dancers." And the guard waved us through! We got back there, I talked to them for a while, got some pictures, and then left. It would have been the perfect end to a perfect day, but the day wasn't over. It was only half way done. The rest of the day was spent with a DJ blasting Brazilian music for five more hours while we all danced. After three hours it started to rain, which I thought would end the party, but it just got crazier! The DJ started playing songs that had to do with rain. And everyone went nuts. After it was all over, we went back to Dagma's (My third host mom) house and watched Tropic Thunder. It just may be better in Portuguese because of Jack Black's squeaky translation voice-over.

The next day I went to a Brazilian birthday party. It was similar to an American birthday party, except for the fact that it's a HUGE deal here. Birthdays are very important and everyone goes all-out. The party was enormous. With lots of people, music, and cake, I don't think you can go wrong.

I've eaten many strange things since I've gotten here, most of which I don't think has an English translation, and I have not left my plate with food on it once (which has been very hard for me). Until I went to a Churrasco (Pronounced: shoo-HAS-koo), where the main course was, unbelievable as it may seem, chicken hearts. I ate salad, bread, sausage, fish and chips, and picana(steak). Then it was time for the main course. I was freaking out quite a bit as everyone started chowing down on the blood pumpers of chickens (even the cute girl across from me). But I started to think, 'this is what I'm here for, new experiences. And if the cute girl can stomach it I'm sure I can.' So I took a bite, as everyone there watched for my reaction, and I finished it. My reaction was to immediately reach for the plate to take some more. It was one of the most delicious types of meats I've ever tasted. Second only to bacon. After the Churrasco we went swimming in the family's pool where I sported my first sunburn in Brazil. The sun is very strong here and I'm still not quite used to it.

Other than that, it has been a lot of the same lately. But I'm still loving it. Wildlife is always a surprise though. I have seen more creepy-crawlys than I ever would have liked to. Bugs, spiders, and other many-legged things are everywhere here. Some are interesting to watch, and some are more interesting under my shoe. I currently have twenty-eight mosquito bites(to go with my sunburn), and for some reason I have a really bad reaction to them. I had a cut on my finger where I got bit by a Macaw, and I was attacked by a frog that was bigger than my foot. When you look at the pictures, the frog is easily ten times bigger than the slug. The birds are many different colors, and they all make very different sounds. And after a sleepless night of talking with the other exchange students, I finally saw a monkey. My back was facing the window and the girls saw a face in the window. Thinking it was a reflection they turned around, but nobody was there. When they looked back it was gone. They started freaking out, we all thought they were crazy, and then we all screamed. As we were looking out the window a turd hit it going mach one followed quickly by a screaming monkey that looked at us cowering behind the couch. It then took off through the trees and didn't bother us again.

That's pretty much my Brazilian adventure so far. I will have more stories soon because I'm leaving for Guaruja in the morning to go to the beach. Tchau for now!

Weekend Note

I am now heading out of the house for the weekend. I will be going to a birthday party tonight, followed by a barbecue. Then I will go to Dagma's house (My Portuguese teacher and third host mom) where I will spend the night, wake up in the morning, and go to the Formula 1 race in the morning. I won't get back home until late Sunday night. Have a good weekend everyone! Don't forget to comment! I'll read them all when I get back. Tchau for now.

Pictures and a Rainstorm

This is like a Brazilian barbecue. It's called a Chuhasco. (I think that's how you spell it.) On the forks are sausage and Picanha(Pretty much steak). I just had this for lunch along with rice(arroz), cheese (queijo), and tomato (tomate). I had thirds. Then for dessert, we had the jelly and cheese thing again. It was really good. Afterwards, we sat around for about 15 minutes drinking espresso and talking. I'm proud to say a lot of it was Portuguese!

These are just a few pictures of the night life of Sao Paulo.

This kind of storm has been going on for almost five hours now. Luckily, we are on high ground. But not all of Sao Paulo is as lucky. The lower parts are most likely flooded with over a foot of water. It does not look like it is going to let up for a while, but that's okay. The thunder and lightning show is amazing.

Tchau for now!

Taxes, Language, and Racing

The last couple of days have ultimately been paperwork, and not much else. I have spent over $350 US on necessary documents and we're still not done. It's really starting to tick me off that I finally got here and I was only half way done with paperwork. But, the bright side is, I am here.
Everything is very different here, but I love it anyway. The only car brands I recognize are Honda and Volks-Wagon. And there are no trucks either. Only small cars, buses, and the trucks you use to move goods like food.
Today I went to the post office, bank, and market in the morning. Then came home and had lunch (almoço), which was pork, rice, and salad. Pretty typical meal. But dessert was this melon jelly/jello stuff that was really good. You eat it with Quezo Fresco (KAY-jzoo FREZ-coo), which is like day old cheese fresh from the cow. It has a very light, very sweet flavor to it. Together it makes a creamy, fruity flavor that is very delicious. I will get a picture soon.
One other thing I have fallen in love with is a drink called guaraná.(The picture of the bottle in the last post). It's a flavor that I've never had before and I really like it. No alcohol, but it's not really like soda either. I'm not really sure how to explain it. I guess all you have to know is it's very good.
After lunch I went to my first portuguese lesson with my new teacher Dagma Ovca, who has been helping me out a lot since I arrived here. Today we learned to conjugate verbs, tell our address, tell our phone number, pronounce the different portuguese letters, ask age, tell age, ask how you're doing, respond to how are you doing, and an entire list of bad words was previewed once to be given to us and thoroughly studied next week. There WILL be a test. Best class ever...
After "school" I went to the gym (academia) and was there for three hours with the other exchange students from Denmark, Mexico, and Ecuador. It was a lot of fun, but tough work since everyone in the gym is assigned a complimentary personal trainer. I am glad that most of the muscles are the same in portuguese, only with a different pronunciation, varitation, or emphasis on the word. (Ex. Bicep= Beesep) I need to gain muscle fast, because I will hopefully be joining brazilian jiu jitsu class next month.
That was pretty much one day for me. This coming Sunday I will be going to the Formula 1 Race at the Sao Paulo circuit. I will be helping out by volunteering to sell drinks at the race for Rotary. It will be really neat because I get to meet the other exchange students and see a real F-1 Race! I will take lots of pictures. Here is a link to the sight. http://www.formula1.com/races/in_detail/brazil_822/circuit_diagram.html

Keep in touch and don't forget to comment! It really makes my day to hear from you guys. And thanks to those who already do. Tchau for now!

Pictures