March

It's been more then a month sense I wrote. I don't have an excuse....
Tons of things have happened, and I dont really know where to start...

The normal day to day things are going on still. School and such.
We apparently have gone into autumn...however, there has been no temperature change at all whatsoever. Still getting up into the high 80's and rain is rare (seems to only occur the moments you realllllllllly dont want it to)
School is still good. The last time I wrote I sounded kind of excited to do the work. That has passed a little...but I'm working on my Portuguese writing skills, and learning some things as I go along.
The Portuguese is going well. I can understand well now. Speaking is still shaky, conjugation is difficult, and this thing of masculine and feminine isn't working out so well because I'm not customed to think about the end of a word to begin it...

Sense I wrote last, many events have happened...
-I met my host brother, who now has gone back to his college in another city.
-I (FINALLY) had my exchange student weekend to meet all the kids in my state doing Rotary exchange. It was amazing like I had expected. There is always an immediate friendship that happens with Rotary exchange kids...In the US, when I met the New Mexico group, everyone clicked right away. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone. And I continue talking with the group, and have places now, all over the world that I could visit.
The group from Minas is cool. There are about 60 kids from all over the world. Asia, Europe, Mexico, Canada, Australia...all over.
We went to a city about 3 hours away from Montes Claros. We stayed one night, had a meeting, went on a boat ride, met each other and such.
In April we have the district conference, where all of the exchange students will be reunited again, and I cant wait!
-I painted a mural for my school the other week, which was pretty cool. This year, each classroom was assigned to paint a mural, so my classroom asked me to do it for them. I, of course, said I would be glad to do it, drew up a plan, and after a LOT of confusion, got the final drawing done and painted the mural. It was a bit stressful, because all of the people that said they would help me were lazy and I ended up having to do almost everything myself...but I am proud of what I did. I drew the design, went to the paint shop, bought all the things I needed to, organized the class to bring money in to pay for the materials, and in the end, painted the mural. It was a lot of fun, and now my mark is in Brazil, on my school, for hopefully a while.

Now, I'm preparing to go to Belo Horizonte, the capital city to go to Axé Brasil, which is the nation wide festival of a popular type of music called Axé. It will be in the huge soccer stadium, and it is the most famous artists in Brazil playing for 2 days strait. I'm excitedddddddd
I'm going with the girl from Finland and the boy from Poland, along with a few of the exchange students that live in Belo Horizonte. So it will be the group of foreigners, and it will be great.

My living situation has changed a little. I'm still with the same family, but I'm now living in an apartment close to the center of town. I really like the proximity to the center, as I just have to walk 15 minutes to find whatever I want to. I can get ice cream with friends, or go to my school, or go shopping super easy. So now, I really dont stay in the house much at all. Always walking around, trying to enjoy these last 3 months of my stay here.

The time to leave is arriving, and I have mixed feelings. Last week I entered a homesick faze, but that has passed a little as I remembed how many super cool things I have done here, and wont have the chance to do again when I go back to the States.
Mostly I am missing family and friends, but also I miss culture of the United States. I feel a like Montes Claros lacks individuality. I miss having the diversity that the US has. Of people, lifestyles, customs. Here it's rice and beans, and Ivete Sangalo, and the Avenida, all the time.
But I know I will miss these things when it's not my daily life anymore.

This month (April) I'm entering an exciting time. First Axé Brasil, then the exchange weekend, then my mom comes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So from now on till May, good things.

I can't wait for my mom to be here. It will be the perfect way for us to travel, because I already know a lot of the culture, I know the way the country functions, so I will know where and how to go, what to do...it will be good. I've already met a lot of Brazilian people, so she will have the real view of Brazil, not just the view of a tourist. She will see the families I've lived with, the places I always tell her about, and it will be greattttttttttttttt
I think it will also be the perfect way for me to see the real first reaction to Brazil. Because in the beginning of my exchange year, I was so super overwhelmed by everything, I dont remember what I thought about the little things that are so normal to me now. The customs are already embedded in me, I dont even know what is strange. And I think it will be interesting to see what she thinks of the styles and foods, of the differences in city structure, family structure, school....

I'm looking forward to the next month.