First Days here...

Well…it’s officially my 3^rd day in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. So far I’ve done various things but I feel I am not fully enjoying myself. I think it’s because I don’t have my luggage and I kinda feel it’s keeping me back from having MORE fun! I love it here but ALL my things are in my suitcase that I NEED in order to feel a since of belonging. I’ve bought some stuff but it doesn’t feel mine. It sucks not having my stuff but I guess this is what you get when you travel…the chance of not getting your luggage! Hopefully, after the festival weekend here everything will be better AND my luggage arrives!

Anyways….instead of the lame stuff Ill focus on the things I’ve done. Yesterday was an exciting day. I went to an amazing breakfast at the hotel. It truly was like a 5 star meal. We stayed at this hotel called Hotel Tropical and it’s kinda a fancy hotel. Definitely expensive but thank goodness it’s covered in our fees. I had a room to myself because my roommate never showed up. She prolly encountered some delays but I guess I will never know who my roommate would have been. After breakfast, I brought my laptop down to the lobby so I could get on the internet. Then, we had our ACBEU Orientation with Clara and Professor Carlos Quicoli. SO far, Clara sounded amazing and I am excited to meet her personally. Gotta chat it up with her so I can do more things while I’m here. We got maps of Bahia but the most exciting thing was the paper with our names, our MOM’S name and our address. It was interesting to find out what streets we would be living at with our new families. There is a girl living literally the right across me but I already forgot her name but I hope to meet her so we can walk to school together. I am kinda still scared here so I only go out with money in my jeans and no purse. I’ve been terrified of taking my camera but I think ill let loose once I go to school and become more familiar with the area. SO at orientation, we got this postcard cut in half and we were supposed to leave the room and find our mothers in the lobby. So I step out and I see a whole bunch of moms and I was just thinking “omg…where is mine???” I couldn’t find her and I was scared because I wanted a home. I don’t know but it was a huge feeling of finding her and belonging somewhere. It’s hard to explain. I walked around asking “Você é minha mãe???” But no luck. When I found her she gave me a HUGE hug and totally embraced me. I felt to happy inside. It’s so cheesy but I love the feeling of being wanted especially since I am FAR FAR AWAY from home! After meeting her and talking to her for a lil while, we went to eat lunch in the hotel. A meal catered for us foreign students. Lunch was delicious…there were so many things to eat that I couldn’t believe my eyes. The deserts were breath taking. My favorite was this one that had Maracuya. I don’t know what that is in the states but it’s delish. A must try! I am not a chocolate lover but I’ll give it a try once in awhile. Although, I didn’t like the chocolate desserts and I think it was because I’m not a big fan. Oh well…we like some things more than others and I guess chocolate is not on my top favorite list! Of course I had GUARANA with my meal and it’s the Brazilian thing to do. I mean they weren’t serving alcohol so guarana was a real good choice! Then, it was time to go home. Mom went with me to my room and watched me pack like 3 things. Earlier in the morning (7:40am Brazil time) I went to the pharmacy to buy toothpaste, a tooth brush, and deodorant; just the essentials to survive and not smell. She saw this magazine and asked if I could take it. I was like I don’t know and she said ill take it and ill ask the front desk lady. She asked and she took it for me. I mean I didn’t want but she was like you will need it. I was like okayyyyy, whatever; I’m not going to argue. Most people were taking taxis with their Mães but my mom had a car. Came home and dropped my stuff in my room and took money because we were going to Shopping Barra so I could buy some clothes. It was a cool mall but a lil pricy. I mean in am not poor but I only exchanged so much money into Reais and I didn’t want to spend it all at one place because I still had 3 days to go before I could go to a bank. I spent like R$70. I was able to buy a shirt, underwear, shampoo, a PJ, soap, lotion, nail polish, etc. Survival things again! Walking at the mall, I was surprised to see what people wear. Please…like 80 year old women wear things here and massive wanna be cleavage is hanging out. Something you wouldn’t find in the US. So weird…

Mom is sooo cool. I am her 12^th American daughter. This is her job: hosting students. I guess it helps pay for the essentials here. I mean I think it must be a good money source but I love how she is SO understanding. I mean she has the experience. When I came home the 11^th daughter was here but she would be leaving at 1am to the airport. I did get to talk to her and she was here for 3 months. Her Portuguese wasn’t that good to me but I think she was over this whole thing and ready to go home. I liked her a lot and we did hang out and chatted. She also came to the mall with mom and I. My room is HUGE: 2 twin size beds, my own bathroom (shower, sink, and toilet), a reasonable closet, and a desk. There is another room where the computer is located and so is the TV.

Today, I got the house keys before I went out with friends. Mom is real chill about me going out as long as I tell her where I’m at and with whom. No restrictions but part of me will not abuse that trust. I mean I don’t want to be another “American” who comes and needs disciplinary action. Apparently, she has had some of those. Hopefully, I won’t be one of those.

Friends deserve a whole other paragraph. I already knew some people in the program so I was like yeah I wont have problem making friends and I don’t. I talk to everyone because that is just what I am good at. Although, I feel I found some really GOOD friends and it’s due to the fact that we met each other at the airport waiting for our flight to Salvador. (I had one for a class.) These two girls are graduate students and also 5-7 years older than me. SO I guess that makes them 25 and 27. I love hanging out with people older than me because I feel young lol but also because they are more mature. Just seeing some people in the hotel and how immature they were acting…I already placed them in the PARTY crew. I talk to this crew but I would feel queasy going out because they get drunk of their ass. I’m young and I know I will party but I feel like they expose themselves in a manner that is not favorable for the environment we are in. With my grad friends, we speak Portuguese because we are here to learn the language and culture. They party crew are beginners in leaning Portuguese therefore speak English in public. I don’t like that because I am not learning anything that way. Anyways, I haven’t met all the opople in our program yet but hopefully that happens Monday at school. Im excited for classes to start. OMG…im such a nerd! BUT that’s fine.

To be continued…

Enjoy these in the mean time!

This is the view from my room! :-)

Mercado Modelo! Amazing shopping center!

Me at a local beach here in Salvador!

Brazil!

I am Brazil!!! It’s exciting but I have stories to tell and it’s the first DAY!!! Ahhh....the stress of traveling!

So I had a flight at 11am from LAX to JFK!!! My flight was delayed therefore when I had to make the connection flight in NY I almost missed the plane...thank god I didn’t because I would have been stranded. Then I flew for like 9 and something hours to Sao Paulo!!! There of course we have to get off the plane and it’s in open air and buses take you to the actual customs things. To my surprise…I hear my name in the speaker phone thing AND I go to the counter. They told me my luggage was still in LAX!!! WTF…imma dieeeeeee!!! Anyways, they are supposed to deliver but I am pretty sure ill get my stuff like Saturday. Knowing how there are lots of strikes! Geez….I girl needs her LUGGAGE!!!

On my flight from Sao Paulo to Salvador (which was delayed like 2 hours) I had to sit in the middle of the TWO most awkward guys ever! The guy to the right of me (near the window) was frustrated because we were not departing! Please…simmer down man and I was just sit down and put up with it because there are like a 100 people in your situation! The guy to the left…did nothing but just observed. In between all these, I had gone like at least more than 24 hrs of no sleep. So it’s hard to sleep in the middle but I managed to take a nap. THEN…the crazy to the right wakes me up because he wants to go to the BATHROOM!!! Ugh…so pissed! BTW...ever since the flight from NY ALL I have been speaking is PORTUGUESE...no one near me spoke English. It was a good thing and they even complimented the way I speak it. They told me it was very nice! Yay for class and school! Anyways…so this crazy to the right tells me I can stay by the window…and I was like YES because my 2 previous flights I have been near the window seat. It’s nice because you can lean and sleep. So he comes back and lets me stay there…and pretty much he STARTS talking to me! He is so intrigued with the fact that I am American and my Portuguese is so good. He asked me how long I have been learning it and I say 8 months and he was like WOW!!! Yeah, I'm cool like that and he just LOVED me!!! HE started telling me his life story. Name, age, marriage status (single), and my friend thought he was kinda cute. I DID NOT agree. Eww…he smokes. HE asked me why I was going to Salvador and I told him. He was on some business internship. Kinda reminded me of ghetto boy and his job. Oh yeah…this crazy also loves Capoeira and that stick thing used. Lol. He was writing stuff for me down on paper and giving me suggestions of places to visit and things to eat. I really appreciate his friendliness. When our flight was about to arrive, he gives ME all his contact information…name, cell phone, home phone, email, where he works, etc. Umm…buddy I didn’t ask for this but I took it because I didn’t wanna be rude. AND then he gave me a kiss on the check and the people behind me were starring. I guess it’s a culture thing here! Oh well…lets see how these 6 weeks go and how many contacts I get. He wants me to email him and write to him frequently. HE is like….if you EVER come down to Brazil or even while you are here wanna hang out then you know how to reach me. I was like yeah COM CERTEZA…in my head I was thinking YEAH RIGHT YOU WISH!!! Nice experience though and I think I freakin learned Portuguese and spoke it like no other!

A group of us take a bus ride to the hotel which cost us only 4 Reais. My friend paid for me because I only had big bills. Gotta change those! Checked in the hotel and it’s a really nice one. A while ago I sent emails to my family saying I had arrived and I HAD to pay to use it! Hey…I ONLY sent IMPORTANT emails and had to PRIORITIZE! I didn’t know the hotel had wireless but that’s what I am on right now. I am about to die because you can smoke here and it’s killing me but there is NO WHERE else to go. Only place that gets wireless.

Oh yeah…I was starving so I went with 2 other girls (they are Graduate students, 25 and 27 yr olds). There is a BIG age difference but it’s not a big deal because I feel we are so mature so some people in the program here already. When we got here…there were these kids in our program like “party in our room at 9:30pm with the stuff in the fridge!” Way to make it obvious DUMBASS in front on the hotel check in staff! Ugh, some people just don’t get it!

Dinner…so we went to this restaurant called Camarao de Sujito. WE had camarao coquette…dunno know the spelling BUT it was sooo good!!! Oh man…if my first day eating here was AMAZING…imagine all the days to come. I know it won’t be like this but I like it so far! Despite the fact that it’s raining and humid!

Yeah…by battery is about to die so I will have to go. Dunno where I'll charge the battery but I hope it’s soon!

Ps – I have pictures from my flight but I need to upload them!!!

A First...to Knocked Up!

omg....so I know I'm not in Brazil yet BUT i have definitely enjoyed the past 16 hours that I've been home! I have done so much and it really was exciting!

Oh the college life is sooo hard...chatting it up with friends means NO SLEEP! which is kinda of a bad thing since I LOVE sleeping! Long story short, slept on my bed for 45 minutes (the last time in the dorms) because mom was going to pick me up at 6am. Had to pack even though I just wanted to sleep. ZZZzzzZZZzzz...sweet dreams...

So tired but no matter how tired I am I absolutely love hanging out with friends. My day started off great...came home and took an hour and a half nap to be woken up by phone calls. Mmmm....stress. It's great really! NOT!

I had to do Sushi lunch with a friend. It was real nice. So, pretty much I'm pretty new to this sushi ordeal. It's really complicated but thank goodness my friend knows soooo much about it! He even speaks Japanese...and as a lover of languages I get frustrated when I don't understand what is being said. I hate it because I feel incapable of understanding but I guess that is how people feel when I bust out my AMAZING Portuguese! Anyways...so it came time for this thing called an Oyster Shooter...oh but wait it comes with SHOWTIME! Seriously, I was real nervous because I didn't know what to expect. Obviously, everyone around me knew what SHOWTIME meant, except ME!!! ugh....scary feeling! It was great though. I must admit it was my first experience of that sort! Now...it makes me want to bring friends so they can experience it! It's a must! Thanks friend! I enjoyed it a lot! (Disclaimer to friend: lets be friends on Facebook, no?)

I just got back from the theaters....I went to watch KNOCKED UP!!! OMG....it's really an awesome movie and I highly recommend it! I need to go watch it again! Great plot, great comedy lines, awesome development of plot as in the guys and girls perspectives on pregnancy, and its just real. LOVED it! :-)

Before I went to the movies, I was home sleeping and when I woke up my family was gone! They were out shopping at South Coast buying me a present before I leave. Too bad my mom didn't exactly remember the name of the perfume so she had to call me. My parents got me Jean Paul Gaultier perfume with the lotion set which I LOVE! I was soooo happy! Today was just AMAZING!

4 more days in Costa Mesa before I depart for 6 weeks to Brazil! Yay me! Yay adventures! Although, so many things to do before I leave...nasty packing, shopping, hanging out with friends, & nasty packing stress!

Oh gosh...

So this will be my attempt to write about my experience in Brazil!!!

Let's see if it actually happens....