Countdown to summer vacation: 2 months... sigh
Hello everybody!
Wow, so sorry for not blogging--- i always put it off because it takes the longest... but today I will do it!
Things in Sao Jose are going pretty well. Life is life; normal with a tedious routine of school, lunch, athletic club, lan house (internet cafe), eating, showering, sleeping. Repeat. School is so dull, and it's probably the hardest part of my day because it makes me miss home the most as I sit reading a book (in english you know) and think about Eisenhower and long for any class in english where i can participate and feel accomplished to soooome degree. School also really makes me miss my friends. But at the same time, school gets better each week as i learn to speak more withmy classmates...
Going to the athletic club makes me sound like im workin out all the time--- buuut im not. i spend a lot of time there, but my friends and i are lazy so we dont do too much. but i guess its better than nothing. I played tennis again finally, after having not played for like 3 weeks,.... and then i broke a string. :( and it costs $R2o to fix so I'm bummed about that, considering i still havent gotten my money from myrotary club! oops! The good part of breakin my racket was having this very handsome guy say, in english, "too hard" and pointing ot my racket. i was so shocked he knew any english i couldnt respond, just let my jaw hang open. this guy is someone my friend and i always talk about as being so good lookin and we always are speaking english in front of him in thefitness center but hes never said a word to me more than Oi. haha. well it was a big deal to me... haha
So since my last blog i've realy just been hanging out. Well, one sunday my family and I went to a nearby city where we did this thing where they tie you up to ropes and stuff and you lower yourself down through a waterfall to the bottom of a cannon, about 80 meters, or 300 ft. it was scary as hell but soooo fun with an amazing view. the following weekend we had a Rotary retreat thing in a city called Holambra. Holambra is a holland-inspired tourist locale where people come to see what holland is apparently like. it reminds me of what i would imagine Levenworth, Washington to be like, but i haven tbeeenthere os i dont know exactly. But , the main attraction of Holambra is the flowers. it is a huge garden with flowers everywhere and it was so so beautiful, somethingmy mom, grandma and paul and barbara and i guess a lot of our family would realllly appreicate. it was so fun to be with the other exchange students. oooh i love most the exchangers--- so fun! I spent my day with a girl from Czech and a gril from Swedin. I really wish i had more exchangers in my city!! This weekend Im goin to Mococa, a city nearby for my cousins birthday party--- so im really excited to see the cousins and to meet some more people i cant really speak with. yay. haha
Portuguese is getting better. I speak pretty poorly but im really trying to practice.. I can follow conversations for the most part until they are directed at me and then i slightly freak out and babble something that i usually regret. Everyone thinks i dont need classes so i guess ill just continue to battle it out. However i went to an english school yesterday because someone from Rotary told me to go there and help, andi met some realllllyy cool and fun brazilians who are fluent in english! i had a greattttt time there! they are realllly funny and were sooo interested in america and my view on things and speaking with me. They offered to help me with my portuguese anytime I need it, so i will probably be taking them up on that offer next week.
Its been pretty hot lately, and so yesterday Jenny(germany), Pri(brasil) and I (EUA.. estados unidos americano.. cool huh) spent the afternoon by the pool at the club. Its a really pretty two level pool with a REALLLY high high dive. Pri and i mustered up the courage to jump fromthe high dive with a bunch of boys from school and it was sooooo fun. It was crazy because you have sooo much time to just hang out in the air and wait to hit the water. The first time i jumped i yelled DESCULPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! reallllllly louddddd. and screamed. later i felt really stupid because desculpe is the word for Sorry. Why i chose this word in mid air i dont know. haha. the second time i jumped i more or less lost my top and decided not to go again that day. haha.
My bad hair cut is beginning to grow out--- but reallllly slowly, and quite oddly. so thats good.
In other news, i received two packages last week.. one from my momma and one from aunt amy and i was soooooooo happy to get both. my mom sent me M&Ms, an expensive treat hear if you can find them, so i have been hoarding themin my room not wanting to share. haha.
Im looking forward to going to Sao Paulo in October for another rotary get together, as well as Riberao Preto, a biigg city (found on maps so you should look!) northeast of my town for a career fair at aunversity. Im not especially interested in brazilian careers, but the field trip is on my birthday, my classmates are all going, it was only $R12, you get free-dress, and just the 2 oldest classes in school are going, adn we are going to go shopping and when we getback, its a friday, were going to have a festa (party) for my birthday! yay!!!!!!!!! brigaderos for everyone!! A brigadero is a chocolate bite-size candy eaten on birthdays that is similar to a ball of frosting. i love them and can eat like 20 of them in liek 5 minutes. did i mention ive gained 5 pounds? haha
Other things im looking forward to is going to Sao Paulo 2 times in November for 2 soccer games! yayyyyyyy! im sooo excited. Pri's dad is a futebol referee, and he just ref'd a game in Sao paulo, a huge rivalry, and he gave someone a red card and now the Sao Paulo paper is calling their house asking for an interview! craaazy. Just to put it into perspective.. the soccer league we watch is professional and can be compared to American football. or NBA or MLB or anything that americans are obsessed with sports wise. its really fun. and im learning more and more that although some of the players from the national team go to europe to play--- the people who play here are just as good. its awesme.
and then in december i get to go to the beach for 10 days with Pri and her grandma and probably my family too! yayy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! everyday i wish we were going to the beach. haha. and then in January im going to the northeast for a month to see all the best beaches in brasil, where the weather can reach up to 115 degrees! ay caramba! and then april i hope to go the amazon for 10 days. yay. thining about these things make school bearable knowing ill spend a month at the beach.haha.
well, id love to get emails with questions or anything else. Not sure what elseim leaving out.... I really like brasil. the people are amazing and the foods great imjust trying to stay busy aand trying to learn to speak.
thanks for reading. miss you all so much.
beijos,
Katie
Wow, so sorry for not blogging--- i always put it off because it takes the longest... but today I will do it!
Things in Sao Jose are going pretty well. Life is life; normal with a tedious routine of school, lunch, athletic club, lan house (internet cafe), eating, showering, sleeping. Repeat. School is so dull, and it's probably the hardest part of my day because it makes me miss home the most as I sit reading a book (in english you know) and think about Eisenhower and long for any class in english where i can participate and feel accomplished to soooome degree. School also really makes me miss my friends. But at the same time, school gets better each week as i learn to speak more withmy classmates...
Going to the athletic club makes me sound like im workin out all the time--- buuut im not. i spend a lot of time there, but my friends and i are lazy so we dont do too much. but i guess its better than nothing. I played tennis again finally, after having not played for like 3 weeks,.... and then i broke a string. :( and it costs $R2o to fix so I'm bummed about that, considering i still havent gotten my money from myrotary club! oops! The good part of breakin my racket was having this very handsome guy say, in english, "too hard" and pointing ot my racket. i was so shocked he knew any english i couldnt respond, just let my jaw hang open. this guy is someone my friend and i always talk about as being so good lookin and we always are speaking english in front of him in thefitness center but hes never said a word to me more than Oi. haha. well it was a big deal to me... haha
So since my last blog i've realy just been hanging out. Well, one sunday my family and I went to a nearby city where we did this thing where they tie you up to ropes and stuff and you lower yourself down through a waterfall to the bottom of a cannon, about 80 meters, or 300 ft. it was scary as hell but soooo fun with an amazing view. the following weekend we had a Rotary retreat thing in a city called Holambra. Holambra is a holland-inspired tourist locale where people come to see what holland is apparently like. it reminds me of what i would imagine Levenworth, Washington to be like, but i haven tbeeenthere os i dont know exactly. But , the main attraction of Holambra is the flowers. it is a huge garden with flowers everywhere and it was so so beautiful, somethingmy mom, grandma and paul and barbara and i guess a lot of our family would realllly appreicate. it was so fun to be with the other exchange students. oooh i love most the exchangers--- so fun! I spent my day with a girl from Czech and a gril from Swedin. I really wish i had more exchangers in my city!! This weekend Im goin to Mococa, a city nearby for my cousins birthday party--- so im really excited to see the cousins and to meet some more people i cant really speak with. yay. haha
Portuguese is getting better. I speak pretty poorly but im really trying to practice.. I can follow conversations for the most part until they are directed at me and then i slightly freak out and babble something that i usually regret. Everyone thinks i dont need classes so i guess ill just continue to battle it out. However i went to an english school yesterday because someone from Rotary told me to go there and help, andi met some realllllyy cool and fun brazilians who are fluent in english! i had a greattttt time there! they are realllly funny and were sooo interested in america and my view on things and speaking with me. They offered to help me with my portuguese anytime I need it, so i will probably be taking them up on that offer next week.
Its been pretty hot lately, and so yesterday Jenny(germany), Pri(brasil) and I (EUA.. estados unidos americano.. cool huh) spent the afternoon by the pool at the club. Its a really pretty two level pool with a REALLLY high high dive. Pri and i mustered up the courage to jump fromthe high dive with a bunch of boys from school and it was sooooo fun. It was crazy because you have sooo much time to just hang out in the air and wait to hit the water. The first time i jumped i yelled DESCULPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! reallllllly louddddd. and screamed. later i felt really stupid because desculpe is the word for Sorry. Why i chose this word in mid air i dont know. haha. the second time i jumped i more or less lost my top and decided not to go again that day. haha.
My bad hair cut is beginning to grow out--- but reallllly slowly, and quite oddly. so thats good.
In other news, i received two packages last week.. one from my momma and one from aunt amy and i was soooooooo happy to get both. my mom sent me M&Ms, an expensive treat hear if you can find them, so i have been hoarding themin my room not wanting to share. haha.
Im looking forward to going to Sao Paulo in October for another rotary get together, as well as Riberao Preto, a biigg city (found on maps so you should look!) northeast of my town for a career fair at aunversity. Im not especially interested in brazilian careers, but the field trip is on my birthday, my classmates are all going, it was only $R12, you get free-dress, and just the 2 oldest classes in school are going, adn we are going to go shopping and when we getback, its a friday, were going to have a festa (party) for my birthday! yay!!!!!!!!! brigaderos for everyone!! A brigadero is a chocolate bite-size candy eaten on birthdays that is similar to a ball of frosting. i love them and can eat like 20 of them in liek 5 minutes. did i mention ive gained 5 pounds? haha
Other things im looking forward to is going to Sao Paulo 2 times in November for 2 soccer games! yayyyyyyy! im sooo excited. Pri's dad is a futebol referee, and he just ref'd a game in Sao paulo, a huge rivalry, and he gave someone a red card and now the Sao Paulo paper is calling their house asking for an interview! craaazy. Just to put it into perspective.. the soccer league we watch is professional and can be compared to American football. or NBA or MLB or anything that americans are obsessed with sports wise. its really fun. and im learning more and more that although some of the players from the national team go to europe to play--- the people who play here are just as good. its awesme.
and then in december i get to go to the beach for 10 days with Pri and her grandma and probably my family too! yayy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! everyday i wish we were going to the beach. haha. and then in January im going to the northeast for a month to see all the best beaches in brasil, where the weather can reach up to 115 degrees! ay caramba! and then april i hope to go the amazon for 10 days. yay. thining about these things make school bearable knowing ill spend a month at the beach.haha.
well, id love to get emails with questions or anything else. Not sure what elseim leaving out.... I really like brasil. the people are amazing and the foods great imjust trying to stay busy aand trying to learn to speak.
thanks for reading. miss you all so much.
beijos,
Katie
posted by Katie at 11:07 AM
2 Comments:
Wow, sounds like you have a busy next few months! I hope you are having a blast, which from the looks of it, you are. So you've gained five pounds? well, it's better than the frosh 15 that college kids gain, lol. well, i hope you get a beautiful tan, or keep the one you might already have, and enjoy those M&M's.
take care
yay Staud! I love hearing about Brasil from you! I am going to get on that email to you and Colleen soon but I have been a bit lazy with the emails and I haven´t posted lately either...gaahh. Man I wish I could just speak Spanish...i know how you feel with Portuguese...it´s frusterating. Beach...mmm sounds soo nice right now...I think I´m going innn December or Jan. or something like that. Yay for a Rotary meeting today to finally start organizing some trips...I´m starting to know my city really well and want to see some more of Peru. Glad your getting to travel a lot! Keep having a blast bud. Te extrano mucho!
Besitos...
Court
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