so gente, i´ve FINALLY gotten back from the northeast, and now theres just the task of unpacking, doing my virtual MOUNTAIN of laundry, and settling back in.
the northeast was really great, that region of brasil, first of all, is really beautiful:

this is a beach in Ceará, which is the farthest north we went. to give you an idea, the capital, fortaleza, where we actually stayed, is four degrees south of the equator, and about three fourths of the year is sunny. We didn´t actally go to this beach, but looked at the sand here, because the sand is colored naturally. plus the view was mighty pretty, as you can see.
all and all, we actually spent time on the beach in eight different beaches, all of which were amazing. my favorite was probably ipanema, in rio, because the waves here were crazy, AND you could go topless, which was an...interesting experience.











so, the trip was really really long, we covered 12,000 km of brasil, all by bus, we probably spent about....twelve or thirteen of the twenty nine days on these two massive! buses, which got both tedius, and long, and uncomfortable. HOWEVER, we managed to find ways to pass the long long hours inside the bus. for example, on the way from maceio to fortaleza (which was a really long leg, two FULL days of driving) my group and the green group (we had four groups that rotated) were on the crappier of the two buses, because that bus had an air conditioning malfunction. SO we were all on this bus in our underwear, to stay cool. THAN we started dancing, and THAN we convinced some of the boys to CROSSDRESS!:

from left to right, it´s florian (from france) mads jensen (or tall mads, from denmark), gunnar from wyoming, max from germany, jon from minnesota, and bence from hungary. This stunt earned us the name naked party crossdressing bus. But it was quite funny, so yay!

for those of you who are interested, the exact layout of the trip was this: we drove from belo horizonte, north to brasilia, than east to lençois, in the interior of bahia, that northeast to maceio, the capital or algoas, THAN up the coast to fortaleza, in ceará, than we descended the coast, stopping in Canoa Quebrada, also in ceará, natal, in rio grande do norte, recife, in pernambuco, salvador, in bahia, porto seguro, also in bahia, and finally to rio de janeiro (obviously in rio de janeiro) and our last stop was a little town called parati, also in rio de janiero (the state, not the city), until finally, last thursday, we drove back up to bh.

hello all!
i´m currently halfway through the northeast trip, and it´s utterly fantastic!
so far, i´ve been to the capital, brasilia, this grand canyon-y mountain thing in the interior of bahia, called chapatta diamantina, and to beaches in maceio, fortaleza, and natal. they are extremely beautiful, i feel so lucky to be here. i´ve also gotten really tan, which is nice, because i´ve never really been tan my entire life, and i was getting tired of being the palest person in brasil.
the trip really is great, i love all the exchange students here and when i actually have time, i´ll put more details about it, and lots of pictures, as i´ve taken heaps!

UAI

Lexi Butler nasceu 10 do julho no ano 1991, no Bendigo, Victoria, Austrália. Os pais dela são Leonard Neil Butler (Neil) e Leonie Josephine Sloot (Leonie). Neil trabalhava como um paramédico, e Leonie trabalhava como uma corretora de movíeis

O êxito da carreira da Lexi começou quando ela tinha seis anos. A mãe dela estava no shopping em Bendigo quando, de repente, um rapaz tirou um foto dela. A mãe, no momento, não ligou, mas foi um pouco perturbada. Três semanas depois, o foto apareceu no jornal local de Bendigo. O rapaz ganhou 10.000 dólares australianos por esse foto, e na hora, Leonie recebeu chamada pedindo se Lexi podia trabalhar mais como um modelo.

Há nove anos, ela tinha feito os mais fotos do qualquer modelo menos a idade de dez anos na historia da Austrália. Mas, os estudos dela sofreram. Alem de êxito dela, a doze anos, ela ainda não completou a quarta serie, e apesar de o pai da Lexi querendo para ela enfocar nos estudos dela, a mãe insistiu que ela continua com a trabalha de modelo. Então, a inteligência dela diminuiu ate ela se tornou na pessoa mais estúpido no mundo, com um IQ mais baixo das garotas de quinze anos. Isso contribuído para a morte infelizmente da garota mais amado do mundo.

Nas férias no 2006, ela viajava para o interior da Austrália, pra Uluru. Ela escalou, mas, infelizmente, ela caiu, morrendo na hora, e dentro um hora, um dingo comeu o cadáver dela. Disso, temos o frase “ talvez, um dingo comeu seu bebe”


that´s what i do here in timoteo. i stay up all night with lexi, and eat watermelon, and then we decide to write a life story for her to publish on wikipedia. BASICALLY, lexi was discovered as a model when she was five. then, her mom made her focus so hard on modeling, she never made it past fourth grade, and became the stupidest person in the world, and went to uluru (rock in center of australia) climbed it, fell down, and was eaten by a dingo. from this, we derive the phrase "perhaps a dingo ate your baby" because legend has it, her agonized father yelled in agony, and her mother shouted this in response.
yay brasil!

Without further ado, where i´ll be spending my first month of summer vacation...

During the day, our staff will be ready to receive the students from other cities at the Belo Horizonte bus station and take them to the hotel (EXTRA COST). (Check General Condition 3). 18:00 – Dinner (extra cost) and overnight stay.


Nov/22 – Thursday Belo Horizonte/Brasília

Before 7:00am, our staff will be ready to receive the students from other cities at the Belo Horizonte bus station/airport and take them to the boarding place. 07:30 – Boarding at Terra Brasil Headquarters: Afonso Pena Avenue, 4321 – Mangabeiras. 08:00 – Departure to the National Capital of our country: Brasília, inaugurated in 1960, by the former president of Brazil, Juscelino Kubitschek. It is a very modern and beautiful city, planned by the famous architect Oscar Niemeyer. Brasília will make you breathless with its modern architecture and wide green areas. The city plan has an airplane shape with its “wings” a little curved, surrounded by a huge artificial lake. Between the “wings” and the lakes, there are the embassies, the Ministeries Buildings, the “Praça dos Três Poderes” (the National Congress), the Palácio dos Arcos (Arches´ Palace), designated to Foreign Affairs Events, the Metropolitan Church… And you will have the chance to visit all those places! 18:00 – Arrival in Brasília from Belo Horizonte, check in and dinner (included).


Nov/23 – Friday Brasília

For the exchange students who will start the trip in Brasília, during the morning, our staff will be ready to receive the students at the airport/bus station in this city. (Check General Condition 3). 12:00 – Lunch (not included). 13:00 – Trip’s General Orientation. * All the participants must attend. *During the orientation, you will meet our coordination team, which will be with you during the whole trip. There will be monitors/coordinators, Rotary chaperones and a doctor. At this time, you will be given important information about the trip, and tips to enjoy the best from these days. We will approach the most important subjects, such as health, safety procedures, behaviour, food and expenses. Beginning of our official visit to the National Congress (headquarters of the legislative power, composed by Câmara dos Deputados and Senado Federal) and to Palácio do Itamaraty. At Praça dos Três Poderes, you will also see Palácio do Planalto (executive power) and Supremo Tribunal Federal (judiciary power). You will be visiting Brazil’s political and administrative center, therefore, you must wear the trip’s t-shirt and long pants. 19:30 – Dinner (included). 21:00 – Forró Class. In order for you to prepare and take advantage of the inumerous opportunities that we will have to dance during the trip.


Nov/24 – Saturday Brasília

07:00 – Breakfast 08:00 – Beginning of our visit to Esplanada dos Ministérios, Palácio da Alvorada (official residence of our president). In the Praça dos Três Poderes, we will also see the Palácio do Planalto (executive branch) and the Supremo Tribunal Federal (headquarters of the judiciary branch). Then our official visit to the National Congress (legislative branch, composed by the Câmara dos Deputados and Senado Federal) and to the Palácio do Itamaraty. You will be visiting Brazil’s political and administrative center, therefore, you must wear the trip’s t-shirt and long pants. 12:30 - Lunch (included). 14:00 - Visit to Catedral de Brasília, Museu Juscelino Kubitscheck and a little of Brasília’s mysticism: LBV ecumenical temple and D. Bosco church. 19:00 – We will spend the rest of our day at Brasília’s shopping mall. Dinner (not included). 22:00 – Return to the hotel, meeting* and time to rest. *Today, we will have our first meeting, which will become a constant habit on our tours. In these meetings, we will talk about the program, do Lost and Founds, Jegue Porreta Election** and to evaluate how the trip is going. **Jegue Porreta is a very funny joke, one of the trip’s greatest hits, which will be taught to you.


Nov/25– Sunday Brasília/Ibotirama

05:30 – Breakfast and check out. 06:30 – Departure to Chapada Diamantina National Park and the beginning of our great adventure. We will cross Goiás state and get into the heart of Bahia, where there are incredible geological formations and an unbelievable chain of mountains, canyons and hills. Among those formations, there are clear water rivers, waterfalls and caves, surrounded by Cerrado and Caatinga vegetation, decorated with orchids and other typical flowers. You will never forget this place! 20:30 – Arrival in Ibotirama, where we will stop to rest. Check in, dinner (included) and overnight stay.


Nov/26 – Monday Ibotirama/Lençóis (Chapada Diamantina)

06:00 – Breakfast, check out and departure to Lençóis, Chapada Diamantina’s most important town, where we will stay. 10:00 – Before we get to Lençóis, we will visit Gruta da Pratinha, located in the Pratinha Farm, where you will have a lot of fun swimming in Santo Antônio River, which comes from inside the cave and has the region’s most clear waters. 12:30 – Lunch (not included) at the Fazenda Pratinha. In the afternoon, you will have the opportunity to know one of the most beautiful Brazilian caves, Lapa Doce. With speleotems of rare beauty, this cave has been theme for Brazilian soap operas and documentaries. 16:00 – Departure to Lençóis. 17:00 – Arrival, check in and free time to rest. 19:00 – Meeting*, Dinner (included) and SURPRISE!!!


Nov/27 – Tuesday Lençóis (Chapada Diamantina)

07:00 – Breakfast and departure to the tours. Nice walk along Serrano River, passing through Salão de Areias (Sand Saloon), a rocky grotto with several colours of sand. In the end, we will swim by a nice waterfall. 12:00 – Return and lunch (not included). 15:00 – We will get to know Mucugezinho River’s beautiful waterfalls and Poço do Diabo (Devil’s Well). And after, get ready to have your breath taken away by the beauty of Pai Inácio Hill (from where you can have the best panoramic view of Chapada Diamantina), and also hear the legend that gave name to the mountain. 19:00 – Return to the hotel, dinner (included), meeting and free time to take a walk around Lençóis town.


Nov/28 – Wednesday: Lençóis (Chapada Diamantina)/Aracajú

07:00 – Breakfast and departure to Ribeirão do Meio. After a nice walk, we will reach an amazing attraction: A 60m natural water slide. Bring an old short with you, because you might have it damaged. 11:30 - Check out, lunch (included) and incredible visit to Poço Encantado, one of the most visited places by those who go to Chapada Diamantina even so it is not within the limits of the National Park. It has a great hall and a huge lake with incredible blue water. The ancient inhabitants of the region say that they are able to hear inexplicable noises coming from inside the cave, such as roosters cackling, children crying and metal chains being dragged. For those reasons, Poço Encantado is not only a beautiful, but also a mysterious cave… 16:00 - Departure to Maceió, one of the most beautiful capitals of the Northeast coast, also known as the Water Paradise, Maceió is the capital of Alagoas state. Those who arrive in the city are usually enchanted by the colour of the sea, which goes from green to blue; and with the temperature of the water, always warm due to the constant presence of the sun. Arrival in Aracajú, where we will stop to rest. Check in and overnight stay. (Time to be confirmed).


Nov/29 - Thursday Aracajú/Maceió

05:00 - Check out and departure to Maceió. Arrival, Check in and visit to Pajuçara´s natural pools*. We will sain in Jangadas (typical boats)towards incredible reefs, two kilometres offshore. There we´ll swim in calm and shallow waters with coloured fishes. *The time is subjected to changes according to the tide schedule. Lunch (not included) and following, a visit to Pajuçara’s handicraft fair. 19:30 – Meeting with all the exchange students. 20:00 – Dinner (included) and leave to enjoy Maceió’s nightlife. Tonight we will go to a Forró*, a typical Brazilian dance. *FORRÓ comes from the mixture of African and European influences. The couples usually dance really close to each other, but there are also steps apart, always with a lot of body movement. FORRÓ was born in the Northeast region and introduced to the South of Brazil in the 40’s. Some people say that the word Forró comes from English “For All”. The phrase was written on the doors of the balls promoted by the English in the state of Pernambuco, in the beginning of the century. If the sign was there, everyone could join the party. A second version says that the word Forró comes from the African term Forrobodó, which means “party”. It was only in the late 90’s that forró began to be appreciated by the young Brazilians, who have rediscovered a romantic and harmonious way to dance, with the forró universitário. New bands have been formed during the last few years, some of which are nationally known today, such as Falamansa and Rastapé.


Nov/30 – Friday Maceió

08:00 – Breakfast. After, we will visit Barra de São Miguel, a small village surrounded by reefs forming natural pools, sand benches and waterways in order to board on a boat to the beautiful Gunga beach, a place with good entertainment infrastructure, where we will have a lot of fun. On the way back, we will visit Marechal Deodoro, a historical town where Brazil’s first president was born; and Feira do Pontal, a good place to shop for items designed by local artisans. Following, we will experience an unforgettable sunset. 19:30 – Meeting with all the exchange students. 20:00 – Dinner (included) and leave to enjoy the nightlife at a dance club in Maceió’s historical center (extra cost).


Dez/01 – Saturday Maceió/Natal

Breakfast and free time to say good-bye to Maceió. 14:00h. – Check out. Lunch (included) and departure to Fortaleza, one of the greatest and lively Nordeste cities. Fortaleza, unlike Maceió, is a large metropolis, with over two million residents. Located in Ceará’s north coast, Fortaleza’s main attractions are also its beautiful beaches and the kindness of the local inhabitants. Before, we will stopover in Natal to rest. 22:30 – Arrival, check in and overnight stay.


Dez/02 – Sunday Natal/Fortaleza

05:30 – Check out and departure to Fortaleza. Arrival and check in. 15:00 - City tour, when you will have the opportunity to buy hammocks with the best price and highest quality of the entire northeast region, visit Ponte Metálica (Metallic Bridge) and enjoy the end of the afternoon at the coast line. Following, we will visit to Dragão do Mar Cultural Center, a space reserved for regional, national and international culture. The center has several different sections, such as museums and theaters. 20:30 – Dinner (included), meeting with all the exchange students and Talent Show.


Dez/03 – Monday Fortaleza

07:00 – Breakfast. 08:00 – Departure to Cumbuco Beach, where you will be able to ride horses and take buggy rides through the sand dunes that surround the small village (both additional cost). The biggest attractions of the region, besides the sand dunes, are the lagoons. The Parnamirim Lagoon, for example, is a mandatory stop during the buggy rides, where the tourists slide down a sand dune practicing esquibunda, and for the experts, sand boarding. Return and free time to rest or visit the handicraft fair, excellent to buy souvenirs. At night, after dinner (included), we will have a lot of fun at the most crazy party on Monday’s night. The Festa do Pirata (Pirate’s Party). * It happens at Bar do Pirata, inaugurated in 1986. It is a thematic bar that reminds a Pirate Ship. The party is a kind of "movement" against sadness and daylife frustrations. It starts at 8 p.m. sharp, every Monday. It begins with the traditional forró music, but, at midnight, the party becomes even more exciting. That’s when the band begins to play electric forró music and everyone dances all kinds of rhythms. Bar do Pirata transformed Monday nights into the official day of happiness in Ceará State. For that reason, The New York Times considered it the best option in the world for Monday nights.


Dez/04 – Tuesday Fortaleza

10:00 - Departure to Beach Park, the best water park in Brazil, located in one of the most beautiful beaches of Ceará: Porto das Dunas. There we will have a lot of fun in many attractions such as INSANO (Insane), the biggest water slide in the world, as high as a 14 floor building, where you go from zero to 101 kilometres/hour (around 63 miles/hour) in just four seconds. 20:00 – Dinner (included) and meeting with all the exchange students.


Dez/05 – Wednesday Fortaleza/Morro Branco/Canoa Quebrada

07:00 - Breakfast and check out. Departure through the coast to Morro Branco Beach, where we will be able to see different sand colours used for the famous local handicrafts. 12:00 – Lunch (included) and a visit to Canoa Quebrada Beach (which means “broken canoe”, in English), an old charming hippie village. Its symbol is a new moon beside a star. The place is really beautiful and warm. Nowadays, native people still preserve the tradition of fishing using jangadas (typical boats) in the sea, although the village has been transformed in a touristic place. The most beautiful aspects are sand dunes and low cliffs, from where we can watch one of the most beautiful and unforgettable sunsets of Brazil’s coast. It is pure magic. Free time to Know the Canoa Quebrada Village. Check in and time to rest.


Dez/06 – Thursday Canoa Quebrada/Natal

07:00 – Breakfast and check out. 08:00 – Departure to Natal. 13:00 – Arrival in Natal, lunch (included), check in and free time to rest or enjoy the hotel’s swimming pool. 19:00 – At night, Luau (beach party). We will have the opportunity to enjoy one of our most special nights by the ocean under the stars.


Dez/07 – Friday Natal

08:00 – Breakfast and visit to the beautiful Genipabu Beach, located a little more than 20km from downtown Natal. This beach is famous for its huge sand dunes, some of them up to 30 meters high. There, you can repeat the buggy ride from Fortaleza or make an exotic tour on a dromedary (both additional cost). 14:30 - City tour, when we will visit the biggest cashew tree in the world and Reis Magos Fort. 19:00 – Dinner (included).


Dez/08 – Saturday Natal/Recife

07:00 - Breakfast and departure to Recife, one of the biggest capitals of Nordeste. 12:00 – Check in. 14:00 – City tour to the most interesting places the city has to offer. We will visit the atelier of the exotic artist Francisco Brennand and following, Casa da Cultura, an old prison transformed into a handicraft market. You will find out why Recife is known as Brazil’s Venice. 20:00 – Dinner (included) and a visit to the Old part of Recife, bustling historical area with a lively nightlife. Night program. (Additional cost).


Dez/09 – Sunday Recife

09:30 – Breakfast and leave to visit Brasília Teimosa.* 12:30 – Lunch (included). 15:00 - Visit to the historical town of Olinda, Frevo’s (typical dance) world capital and World Cultural Heritage Site. 19:30 – Return. Free time to go shop in the Recife shopping (optional). * BRASÍLIA TEIMOSA, one of Brazil’s most destituted slums (favelas) made with palafita’s houses (archaic habitations with small pillars, on the surface of the water). This community has been chosen by President Lula to receive resources from the government program Fome Zero (Zero Hunger). This neighbourhood is a symbol of the struggle and resistance of the Brazilian people, mainly the Nordestinos. In 1934, the state of Pernambuco bought a large empty area called Areal Novo. Some years later, during Brasilia´s construction in 1957 and 1958 and the extensive dry period experienced in the interior of the Northeast, Areal Novo was invaded and renamed Brasília Teimosa, which means ”Disobedient Brasília”, due to the people’s resistance to the threats of evacuation and destruction of the poor huts. The population now is around 36 thousand inhabitants. The neighbourhood has a privileged location on the coast of the south part of Recife, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Capibaribe River and the sophisticated Pina Neighbourhood. It will be a great opportunity to experience the life of the local residents.


Dez/10 – Monday Recife/Porto de Galinhas/Aracaju

06:00 – Breakfast and check out. Leave for a very special day: we will go to Porto de Galinhas, Pernambuco´s most famous beach. There we will find a marvelous landscape formed by natural pools, perfect for snorkelling. Free time to enjoy the beach, take walks and swim. Lunch (included) and departure to Aracaju, Sergipe’s capital, where we will rest. 23:30 – Arrival, check in and overnight stay.


Dez/11 – Tuesday Aracaju/Praia do Forte/Salvador

06:30 – Breakfast, check out and departure to Forte Beach, where we will visit Projeto Tamar (Sea Turtles Protection Project). 13:00 – Lunch (not included) and free time to shop in the village’s fair and/or stores. 15:30 – Departure to Salvador. Arrival, check in and rest. Salvador, capital of Bahia state, is one of Brazil’s most exotic cities. It has a rich cultural diversity and is considered by the United Nations as a World Historical and Artistic Cultural Heritage Site. 19:00 – We will go to the rehearsal of the samba reggae band Olodum, where you will learn more about this group, famous throughout the world for the high quality of their enigmatic rhythms. Olodum has played with Paul Simon and Michael Jackson, a real “dream factory”. On the way back, we will stop by a fast food restaurant (included). Discover more about Olodum before the trip at www.olodum.com.br


Dez/12 – Wednesday Salvador

10:00 – Breakfast followed by a visit to Salvador’s coast line, Farol da Barra, Nosso Senhor do Bonfim Church, Cidade Baixa, Modelo Market, Lacerda Elevator. 14:00 – Lunch (included). Continuous our tour to São Francisco Church, considered to be the richest “gold church” in Brazil, Pelourinho Historical Center and Cidade Alta. 19:30 – Dinner (not included). We will go out to watch the spectacle Balé Folclórico da Bahia, considered by many exchange students the best cultural program of the whole trip.


Dez/13 – Thursday Salvador/Porto Seguro

07:00 – Check out and departure to Porto Seguro. This is not a large city. It has around 100.000 inhabitants. However, it is the most visited touristic place by Brazilians, where the choreographies of Axé (typical dance of Bahia) are created and spread throughout the whole country. In the evening, arrival, check in and free time to rest or enjoy the hotel’s swimming pool. Dinner (included).


Dec/14 – Friday Porto Seguro

08:00 – Breakfast and visit Axé Moi beach tent, one of the most famous in Porto Seguro. Axé Moi is a mixture of a beach kiosk, restaurant, snack bar, store, club, stage for shows and an open area. You will be in ecstasy with the sound of Axé, learning how to dance the music that will play in Brazil during all the summer, Carnival and throughout the entire year. 14:00 – Visit to Cidade Alta, first Brazilian city, and Santa Cruz de Cabrália, where the first mass was held in Brazil. 18:00 – Dinner (included). 21:00 – Go out to enjoy Porto Seguro’s nightlife* (included). *In Porto Seguro, in each day there is a different party, in a different place. The best parties happen from the thursday and in the weekends; and it is exactly for this reason that we opt to being here in these days**. **The night program in Porto Seguro is subjected to changes according to the city’s event promoting company.


Dec/15 – Saturday Porto Seguro/Vitória

08:00 - Breakfast and check out. 09:00 – Departure to Vitória, capital of Espírito Santo State. 19:00 – Arrival in Vitória, dinner (included), check in and rest.


Dec/16 – Sunday Vitória/Rio de Janeiro

08:00 – Breakfast and check out. 09:00 – Departure to Rio de Janeiro, the “Wonderful City” (Cidade Maravilhosa). Harmoniously spread out among the mountains and the sea, Rio de Janeiro is the main tourist destiny in Brazil and is responsible for our country’s projection in the world. According to EMBRATUR, our most important tourism institution, Rio receives every year around one million tourists from other countries. There are innumerous attractions they dream about visiting: Cristo Redentor (Corcovado Hill), Pão de Açúcar (Sugar Loaf), Guanabara Bay, Maracanã Stadium, Carnival Avenue and beaches… 90 km of beaches. 17:00 – Arrival in Rio de Janeiro and check in. Dinner (included).


Dec/17 – Monday Rio de Janeiro

Breakfast and free time to rest and visit the famous Copacabana beach, take a tour through Rio de Janeiro’s historical centre (extra cost) or take a favela tour around Rocinha, the biggest favela in the world (additional cost). City tour in the afternoon: we will visit Maracanã (the largest soccer stadium in the world), Sambódromo (where carnival happens), the Botanical Garden and other touristic attractions of Rio de Janeiro. 19:00 – Dinner (included) in one of Rio’s best barbecue restaurants. Right after, visit to Hard Rock Café Rio de Janeiro.


Dez/18 – Tuesday Rio de Janeiro

Breakfast. 08:00 - Tour to Pão de Açúcar (Sugar Loaf), a symbol of Rio de Janeiro. We will go up in cable cars (bondinhos), inaugurated in 1912 and renovated in 1972, appreciating a spectacular panoramic view of the “Wonderful City”. Lunch (extra cost). 14:00 - Tour to Cristo Redentor (Corcovado Hill), which has the most beautiful view of the world. We will go up on a train, through a trail in Tijuca National Park, part of the Atlantic Forest, an example of nature preservation. This is Brazil’s oldest tour. Return to the hotel and dinner (included).


Dez/19 – Wednesday Rio de Janeiro/Paraty

08:00 - Breakfast and departure to Paraty, where we will tour its fantastic islands on a boat. 20:00 – Dinner (included) and farewell LUAU in an island (subjected to confirmation)!!


Dez/20 – Thursday Disembark

Paraty/Belo Horizonte Paraty/São Paulo 08:00 – Breakfast, check out and departure to Belo Horizonte and São Paulo. 13:00 - Arrival in São Paulo*. 17:00 – Arrival in Belo Horizonte* and end of our services. *The arrival time may change according to the traffic conditions. If there is any unexpected problem on the road, the bus may arrive late. Therefore, we suggest your host parents contact Terra Brasil by calling the General Coordinator of the Trip, 2 to 4 hours in advance, and confirm the arrival time.



a holla of thanks (and the biggest thanks, at that) to my aunt lauren and uncle dave, who made this possible for me to do. you two are generous like no other, and i love you lots!


also, HAHAHA, it´s going to be the best month of december ever, far superior to your time up in glll-waukee

so, in the last week, nothing too exciting happened. i only went to school twice last week, because of holidays and traveling, which is always nice, because the only thing i truly hate about brazil is school.

i did, however, go to belo horizonte this past weekend, for a costume party. myself, lukas, and rianti, took the train there on thursday. it was a really long train ride, about five hours, because it goes quite slowly, and stops frequently. also, it was really uncomfortable. the train wasn´t air conditioned, and had leather seats, and it was about 95 degrees, and the wind was just hot, so it wasn´t too refreshing. the other weird thing was that once we got to the outskirts of bh, we had to close all the windows, because the favela kids will try and jump on the train, and throw shit at it and stuff. that just made it even hotter for the last half hour.

BUT, once we got to bh, it was really cool. it FINALLY rained, it was just sort of drizzling when we were on the platform, but once we got to the street, this torrential downpour started, which made me feel even grosser than i was (the train left me in a layer of sweat and dirt, so i was jonesing for a shower) but it was still nice, because it has rained ONCE since i´ve been here, so it was really dry. i got to the house i was staying at (with bette and rui, who are the people i stayed with when i was there a month ago for rotary) took a shower, and then sat around chatting with rui and his daughter, camila.

anyhow, the next day was a hectic one. the party that i came to bh for was a costume party, and it was open bar, so you had to be eighteen to enter. it made getting ready for the party quite hectic., because some people needed fake ids, and stuff for costumes, and so we (myself, pin, yoko, rianti and lukas) were scrambling around bh for about three hours, until we finally had everything we needed, and me and rianti went to get ready at our friend amy´s house. between all the showers, hair teasing, and crazy make up, it took three hours for the four of us to look like this:

for reference, i was a devil, rianti was an australian slut, and lexi and amy were stone age sluts.

the party itself was really fun. they had great music, and everyone was dancing and drinking (although i sat it out, i didn´t feel up to it) and the costumes added an air of fun that other parties haven´t had. there was even a guy who went as a penis, which was so absurd i could barely believe it.

and then finally, around four, or shortly after, me and a group of intercambistas left, and we were all starving, so we went to mcdonalds, which is the only place we could think of that would be open, and around five thirty, i took a cab to my apartment. (i could´ve walked, but everyone was saying it was too dicey), took a much deserved shower (the floor of this party quickly became covered in beer, vodka, dirt and mystery liquids, and i was wearing flat sandals, so my feet were black, not to mention my body was covered just like the floor was) and as the birds were chirping, went to sleep.

the next day, when i finally woke up, and ate and all that, a group of exchangers met at koyote, and we were all awfully subdued, we just sat around drinking water and then went to tosco burgeur, than saw a movie in savassi (super bad, it was ridiculously funny). we didn´t really do anything specifically, but i love the exchange students, so it´s just nice to get to hang out with them.

anyhow, the next day, i just came back to timoteo, so that´s nothing to hoot or hollar about.
so tune in next time for next weeks exciting brazilian adventures!

so, as claire requested, i´m writing more blogs, or will at least try.

i went to bh last weekend, with my host family. we stayed at my dad´s neice´s house, who lived fairly close to savassi, which is the neighborhood where people go out, since it has lots of clubs, etc. the weekend itself was nice, although one of the only flaws about bh is that the showers, for some reason, are always cold. that, and it´s slightly more expensive on some accounts, but in other ways it´s cheaper. i went out with all the exchange students that live there again, friday we went paintballing, and saturday, we went to a club because it was this girl from canada´s birthday, and after we went to her house for wine and pão de quiejo. the next day, max, luciana and i went back to timoteo. i really don´t like making this trip, because you can´t really sleep, and it always feels longer than it should. But, the bright side is we get to stop at this really nice canteen thing everytime, which has the best juice in the world, and they have good coffee too.

the rest of this week, i just had school. i followed the history teacher, marisa, so i learned a bit of brasilian history, which is nice, and since i am understanding more, school is less boring. my portuguese has gotten to the point that i don´t have to work so hard to understand, or to talk, but some words still stump me. it´s totally fine though, eventually i will be fluent, so that is all fine.

we didn´t have school on friday either, because it was Dias das Crienças, which is kid´s day? and it was also Dia de Nossa Senhora, which is like the day for the virgin mary. This meant going out thursday, to a really cool bar here, called Big Ben, which has a band from Bahia that plays there, and has really good beer, AND, it´s fairly clean, which is pretty rare for bars here. Before i went there though, i went with rianti to a dinner party at the wine store that our rotary counselor owns. (tip: chilean wine is crap, but argentinian is awesome) This was quite fancy, like..i had caviar, which i have never had, and never will again, because BOY was it gross. gallll.

anyhow, that´s really the haps here. i´m just sort of hanging out, and waiting, waiting, waiting, for the northeast trip, which will be awesome, it´s in about a month, so YAY! i hope you´re happy with the update clar!

some thoughts out of context

• timoteo is too small for my taste, but i find the perfect remedy when i get tired of being there is to come to the greatest city in the world, belo horizonte, for some good old fashioned exchange student fun, like i´m doing this weekend.
• pedestrians don´t have right of way in timoteo, or all of brasil for that matter, and this sucks, because it results in getting hit by a car on your bike because some asshole can´t look both ways before he turns, then having to deal with the driver shaming you for not being careful, on top of a broken bike. luckily, i knew enough portuguese to tell the guy that i´m not the one who should be more careful, as i´m not the one in a car that weighs however many kilos, that can kill somebody, and if you can´t look before you turn, perhaps you should go back to driving school.
• i want to be good at capoeira, because it is awesome. in bh, they have capoeira on the streets sometimes, it´s awesome.
• oh my god, the bugs here are far too large, and far too bold, because they have no problem crawling on you.
• portuguese is not that hard, except it stinks having words have gender, because i never remberer to use the correct possive pronoun or article for it.
• i really dislike school here, but at least it´s made me a master of ipod solitare, as that´s all i do for five and a half hours.
• pre-paid phones are the worst. honestly, i could kill whoever came up with the idea, or alternatively, my cell phone provider, TIM. i bought FIFTEEN reais worth of credit yesterday, because even though i just paid my bill last week, and have not used 45 minutes yet, i was out of minutes. i used my phone to call maybe three times, and then i was out of credit again. que isso!
  

so, as my darling mother requested, i just posted a bunch of pictures below, which i hope you enjoy. blogger only lets you upload one at a time, so it took forever. i should also say that i put pictures up on facebook.

anyways...

i have now officially fallen in love with brasil. i got back yesterday from a week in belo horizonte (called bay aga in portuguese, which actually just how you would say bh in portuguese) for the first rotary meeting. rotary here is much different from in the u.s., but i don´t care, because i LOVE the other exchange students. my district has about eighteen, but the cool thing about bh is that it has two rotary districts, so i met about thirty exchange students from all over the place. and with other exchange students, all you need is an introduction, and you´re friends. it was such a blast hanging out with them everyday, i miss them all already.

basically, everyday i´d wake up (a perk in brasil is that they don´t use alarm clocks, someone always wakes you up, either your parents or maids, so it´s much calmer) and go to my ridiculously easy portuguese class (i learned nothing i didn´t already know, but i did help people out, so it wasn´t a total waste), then returned home, ate lunch, took a nap, then met exchange students around three or four at savassi, and we´d just hang out, doing different things. tuesday, we went to praça liberdade and to patio savassi, wednesday we went to a bar, thursday we went to a different neighborhood, etc. it was so much fun. i also learned swear words in like...five rather obscure languages: croatian, greendlandic, danish, indonesian, and hungarian

saturday was also especially fun, since it was the last day we could all hang out (a lot of people don´t live in bh, like me). we had this really boring rotary meeting, but after, we had a farrol class, and after that, we had all met around nine (but in brazillian time, that´s ten, because they´re always late) at kayote, which is ¨the exchange bar¨ in savassi, meaning that every year, exchange students end up using koyote as a hang out spot. i had some ¨caprivodca¨which is a brazillian cocktail, and which is also delicious (vodka and lime with lots of ice), and we all were just goofing off for a long time. it was so much fun.

i also did some shopping here, since bh is so much cheaper then timoteo, and i didn´t bring enough shorts and skirts (like..three, and clothes here disappear for a long time when you put them in the laundry), and so now i have that out of the way. the cool thing about the shopping experience is that i went to this really cheap and famous sort of street bazaar called ¨fera hippy¨, which sells homemade crafts and also just a lot of stuff for very cheap. i spent fifty reias, and got a skirt, two pairs of shorts, a dress and some jewelry. plus, it´s just an experience to go, because there´s so many people, and there´s all these smells and street performers and stuff. i even saw those people who paint themselves silver, and pretend to be robot statues, but i forgot to take pictures.

the single greatest thing about bh is that it really has inspired me to push myself even more to make my exchange fantastic. my portuguese also improved a lot over the last week, which is really strange because i rarely spoke portuguese, since all the exchangers speak english. but really, i had such a fun time that i just want to keep that going, and make it even better.

and now that we´re getting into spring here, brasil is turning more into what i thought it would be climate-wise. when i got here, it was basically like may or june in milwaukee, and it was surprisingly cold at nights (i even used a sweater a couple of times!) but now it´s getting warmer in the day, so also still quite warm at night. it makes me so lazy, but i can´t do that, or else i will gain far too much weight! and more and more bugs are showing up, today there was this HUGE spider on the doormat outside, it was like bigger then a quarter, and scared the shit out of me.

anyhow, that´s it for news from brasil for now.

BEIJOS (kisses!)

mary

me and dayse, one of my host mothers!

my second family i stayed with in bh, lucas, me, sarah, adelle (who is CRAZY) and nora, whose hungarian


me and florian learning farrol, a brazillian ballroom dance



this intersection in savassi that owen (from new york state) said is the times square of brazil

a bunch of belgians...
THE ASIAN INVASION! me and our far east exchangers, plus eva, who is czech, but looks nothing like she is.


the croat, the german, the frenchie and our other hungarian, all at ¨mackers¨(what australians call it)


everyday, me and a lot of exchange students met at mcdonalds in savassi, and this is me with justine (our other belgian) frederique, ania, and cherry (from taiwan)
my fellow midwesterner, jon, from northfield minnesota!

brenden also plays basketball, so he´s also quite strong. i felt soo tall!

ben, me, rianti and brendon in the front, pin, frederique and ania in the back

brendon is really tall, where rianti is very short. it´s quite funy


eddie´s de novo, this time with ben from croatia as well


myself, brendon (who is a 5´8¨!) and owen...i.e. the north americans.
rianti, pin, ania and i. we´re all looking at different cameras, because with rotary, there is no such thing as just one picture. you take out your camera, and so do eight thousand other people.


a big group of exchangers in eddie´s, which is an american restaurant.


our district of exchange students eighteen in all. i won´t name each person, but there´s five people from the u.s., one from canada, one from greenland, germany, two from belgium, two from hungary, france, poland, indonesia, thailand, taiwan and austrailia


brazillian chairs aren´t too sturdy...bence from hungary was just sitting in portuguese class, and the the legs just collapsed

me and oda (norway)



more exchangers, from left to right: me, ania (from poland), frederique (belgium), rianti (indonesia) and pin (thailand)

me and florian rochet, from the south of france, after our first portuguese class


in praça de liberdade, there´s this fountain that is lined with paths on either side, leading to the gazebo. once again, the picture´s sort of dark...disculpa!

the gazebo in praça de liberdade

this is a corner right by my apartment, it has this really colorful building, and these beautiful whitish flower trees that line the street

another example of the beautiful city! that church is real old, and famous in brazil!


the capital building in bh, which is in front of this beautiful plaza, called the praça de liberdade. it´s slightly dark, sorry!


bh has a lot of cool art on the streets, this was on the side of building

belo horizonte (bh) as seen from the high rise apartment i stayed in. it´s a truly beautiful city.

a copla pictures

Since afternoons are a bit slow here in timoteo (school ends at 12:30, and most people rest in the afternoon, and go out at night) i thought i´d bring you all a couple of pictures!



This is Matheus, who lives in my neighborhood. obviously, i´m in the picture too.





In timoteo, it´s really common for people to have ranches on the outskirts of the town, since it´s somewhat rural here. This is the view from one of the ranches i´ve visisted (a rotarian´s). absolutely beautiful!



A couple of weeks ago, my friend ana flavia´s little sister, lais, had her tenth birthday, and i went, and they had a trampoline, which i went on three times. most fun ever!



last sunday, me and some friends went to a bar over by our school. from left to right: me, fred (who i adore!) diago, his girlfriend gabriela, bruno, lele (in the yellow chair) and roz (short for rodolfo)

i have now been in timoteo for three weeks, and i must say, i do like it quite a lot, overall, although at times it´s difficult. that´s to be expected though, so it´s all good.
since i´ve last posted, i´ve really just been doing the brazillian thing.
i started school, at a local university, unileste, but after a week, i thought maybe it´d be better to go to batista, which is a high school here, because the other two exchange students, lukas and rianti go there, and the people aren´t so far from my age (most of the people at the university were in the upper twenties). so, last week, i switched to batista, and now i´m there, and it´s great.
high school here is very different from milwaukee, first and foremost because it starts at seven o clock in the morning (eeeeek!), and ends at twelve thirty. we also don´t move classes, the teachers do, and the school is a baptist school, so we have religion class. but, the people are really neat, and i like the teachers, so it´s all good.
my portuguese is also already improving a lot, although it´s still a pain to use the phone, because i can´t see the person, therefore can´t see their hand movements or expressions, so i end up being like ¨what? okay...sure?¨. a perfect example is today, i called valeria, who is luciana´s grooming person. (that´s another difference, for things like manicures, waxing, etc, the people come to your house, you don´t go to them) to schedule a wax for my legs (aaaah!!! waxing!!!!), and as far as i know, she´s coming here at four today, but maybe she´s coming wednesday at noon...i never really know. (things like this are always confusing, because time and the days of the week are both numbers, i.e. quarta is four, and also wednesday) but really, my portuguese is improving every day, and so that´s really good.
i´ve also made some pretty dece friends in my neighborhood, Recanto. Recanto is different from the rest of timoteo, because it´s somewhat inclosed on three sides my big hills, so it´s like a teeny tiny town within a small one. This results in everyone knowing everyone (once people move to recanto, they stay for a looooong time), so everyone knows that i´m the american girl living with max and luciana. there are also several people from my class that live here, and a couple of other people who i met before i started school who are my age, namely my friends Matheus and Ere (a nickname for Igor). Ere went back to schoool in Viçosa last week (he´s two years older then me, so he´s already in school) but Matheus is here all the time, so we hang out a lot. I always really like doing this, because Matheus is really neat, but theres also the added bonus of Matheus knows NO english, so i have to speak portuguese.
Brasil has continued to surprise me in how fun it is. Every weekend, i do different fun things. Two weeks ago, I went to my first Brazillian party, which was at a hotel and was called Stand-by. It was ridiculously fun, they had good drinks and great music, and basically every young person in Timoteo was there.
Brazillian parties are also well known for this thing called ficar. Ficar is a verb that can be used instead of ser, or estar (Which both mean ¨to be¨) when you´re unsure of which to use. It also means ¨to stay¨, and it also, in the context of a party, means that if you see an attractive girl, you go and kiss her (with consent, obviously). It adds a sort of....element of surprise to parties, to say the least.
Last weekend, i went to another party, and i the next night, i went to Timoteo´s annual Cachasca festival. Cachasca is sort of like tequila, but stronger, and brazillians totally love it. The festival had all these different flavors (banana, mango, regular, etc) and i have to say, i tried several kinds, and i don´t really like it that much. The festival itself was pretty fun, i went with Rianti, and we saw lots of people from school,but towards the end, rianti and i both started feeling rather homesick, and rianti started crying, so we went back to my house and i made her tea (and reminded her that things aren´t always going to be horrible, and to be gentle with hersef, and all the stuff that you guys tell me to do in tough situations, mom and dad).
And earlier today, i participated in a fashion show! This girl from school, Samile, her mom owns a clothing store downtown called Roh, and she wanted to have a summer fashion show, so a bunch of people from school walked in it. Me and Lukas both did it, and i think that since we´re both foreign, that´s why they made us model swimsuits. (yes, brazillian bikinis are as skimpy as people say). But it was so much fun, and everyone was laughing and joking, it was really cool.
Well, i´ve got to get ready to go out, so i love you all! laters!!!

hello everyone!

so i´ve been in brasil for about two days now, and so far it is SO amazing, i can tell that i will totally love it here.
my family is totally wonderful. my sister, laura, is already in thailand, but i met my brother, leo. he is fluent in english, because he lived in parsons, kansas for a year, so it´s really helpful. however, he lives in belo, about three hours away (normally), so he´s only home for the weekend, he actually just left. i really like my mom a lot. first off, she´s very, very beautiful, like a lot of brazillian women, and she´s also very nice. she helps me out as much as she can, and is really anxious to show me timoteo. my dad is also very wonderful. a bit more soft spoken, but still really nice and really helpful. i also met my next two families, last night, at a birthday party, and they´re also very nice.
the houses are really really neat. they´re made more of brick and adobe and concrete, and they have many more windows, so they feel very open. the floors are also always tile, not wood or carpet, and all the houses are very clean. mom and dad, i wish you could see them, i think you´d really like them.
i should also say that brazillian food is very, very good. brazillian barbecue, or ¨churrasco¨(sure-has-coo) is exactly like sabor is. i´ve, so far, had it every single day. i´ve also tried several other foods, and several different juices and drinks, and i have yet to not like any of it.
and now, to summarize what i´ve done so far.
friday, when i got to rio, i spent a lot of time in the airport, exploring, etc. i was with one other girl, a girl from oregon, who was to live in belo horizonte, so we waited together. it was alright, although slightly boring. after i got to belo, i got my luggage, and right away, i found my family. we then drove back to timoteo. two things about our trip stuck out as very different: brazillian drivers are HORRIBLE, and much more reckless then americans, and also, there aren´t really sidewalks. unfortunately, the only part of belo i really saw were the favelas, which are much worse then the ghettos of the states, but i also stopped with the demazio´s at baby beef, a churrasco restaurant. after that, we started our drive back. initially, i thought it would take two and half, maybe three hours. well, we left the restaurant at four, and we didn´t get back to timoteo until ten. this is because there were TWO accidents on the road that completely stopped traffic. apparently, this is not common. but, once i got to my house, i showered, was shown my room and the house, and talked with leo and my mom a bit before going to sleep.
the next morning, i woke up at ten thirty, then had a bit of breakfast (bread, fruit, juice and coffee...all very fresh and tasty) then leo, max and i went to work on a project that interact (community service orginazation for aspiring rotarians) was doing at the police station. there, they were painting a minature road course that the police use to teach people how to ride their bikes safely. i met a lot of people; my next host family, my next host sister, her friends, rotarians, another exchange student (lukas, from germany, living right now with my next family) and so on. after that, we went back to the house, and i unpacked, then luciana, leo and i went to ipatinga, to a mall, in order to eat lunch. i had chinese food. we also bought a diary (10 reais) and ice cream. when we got back, i finished unpacking, and got ready to go to my next host family´s house for their son, guillerme´s surprise birthday party. before we went, the electricity went out for about an hour, but after it came back, we left. *the party started at seven. we left around eight. this is very natural.*
the party was very fun. once again, we had churrasco (big surprise!), and i met a LOT of people, including my host family after the soares. i was also invited to a party (i think...) next weekend by my new friend, ana flavia (like the ecco romani books nathan!). i also met a friend of the cousin of the family, mulina, who i smoked and drank beer with, she was very very nice. she said if i was ever in belo, i could stay with her, which i might do.
then, this morning, after breakfast, we all went to luciana´s family´s house. today is father´s day for brasil, so we went and met her whole family. they were all very nice, and i´ve also learned that my previous generation has very big families. luciana has eight brothers and sisters, max has i think ten, and they all have children and are married. everyone is so far very impressed with my portuguese, and i´m ver glad i studied before hand, because while i don´t understand everything, and i can´t always reply easily, i can get the jists of things, and everyone is really impressed i already know so much.
overall, brazil has been very good for me. tomorrow is my first day of school, and i´ve found out unileste is a university, not a high school, so that´s really nice. it means maybe this year can count for something, so that´s really cool (muito leal!)
i love you all, and miss you as well! and now i´ll go play with luma and latoya, luciana´s dogs!

In three days, i leave for brazil
that is exciting.

now i'm just trying to set everything up that i can.

In three days, i leave for brazil
that is exciting.

now i'm just trying to set everything up that i can.