Mato Grosso Do Sul: Another epic vacation

Goodness,
I go long in-between these entries...
Well, I have reason..
I've been traveling Brazil with my host mom. (Not the whole country...but a good portion of it).
I went to Mato Grosso Do Sul 2 weeks ago, and got back to Montes Claros last Tuesday. It was an interesting trip. Really showed me the diversity in Brazil.
The region that I'm living in now is considered the central north-east, known for being dry, poor, and slightly dull (all though I dont think so). The south, where Mato Grosso Do Sul is (more south center, but it's the same...), is known for its richness and abundance of water and forest (hence the name of the state: mato grosso, thick forest).
I remember arriving in Campo Grande, the capital city and the place I spent most of my time, and seeing the streets, big and clean, the shopping mall, full of big $$, the ton of restaurants (including McDonalds, Pizza Hut, and Subway), and the lack of beggars...poverty has become something I've become accustomed to, and I could really feel it with the awe I'd felt seeing this wealthy other side of Brazil.
Along with the difference of wealth, there was the huge difference in climate. In Mato Grosso Do Sul, it is the tropical climate Brazil is known for. In this state, there is the Pantanal, which is a tropical forest about equal to the Amazon, only a little smaller and less famous. I wasn't fortunate enough to explore any 'mato grosso' but I did make it to a city near the Pantanal called Bonito.
I went into a cavern that has a lake at the bottom the color of that New Mexico sky. The bluest water I've ever seen. What surprised me about this excursion, was that it was extremely unprotected. I've been in the Carlsbad caverns for example, and there were railings the whole way..well lighted. There was none of that in this cavern, just a silly helmet to protect you if you slipped on the dew covered, worn rocks. Funny the difference in concern..
After the blue lake cavern, we went out to lunch. An all you can eat Brazilian classic. Lots of meat, rice and beans, and of course, some sweets of coconut and mango. After lunch we explored the city, doing what every good tourist does, buying trinkets and taking photos. And then, were off to cool off in one of the many rivers running through the city.
One of the big things in Bonito are these fish that are in the rivers. They literally have no fear, and will swim right up to you, even brush up against you. The water is crystal clear and clean, so it's great to watch them.
We spent just one day in Bonito, after, going back to Campo Grande. In Campo Grande, I pretty much just lived the life of my host uncle, aunt, and cousin. Going to the shopping mall, hanging out by the pool, picking mangos from the trees (which still amazes this little New Mexican), doing arts, and of course eating (its what I do).
The trip was really great for me. I got to see that other side of Brazil, and all though the bus ride was 28 hours, yes that's right, 28 hours, it was worth every minute to know just a little more about what this amazing country has to offer.

And guess what? Tomorrow I'm off on another Vacation!
Please, let this life never end.

Tomorrow, 4am, I'm heading out on a trip to that same beach I went to in October. My first host family was generous enough to offer to take me back to Porto Seguro, and I'm extremely excited.
Here, January is the time for the beach. Everyone (almost everybody, because the country can't completely shut down), are on their month long vacations starting today. And that's right, even adults get a month off from work each year in amazing Brazil. So the beach is crowded with tons of people and felicity. Lots of parties and good food, coconuts and ocean and sun.
Can't wait to get there.

More to come!
photos of Mato Grosso Do Sul: http://picasaweb.google.com/sommerbrazil/MatoGrossoDoSul

Beijos!

O ano novo. 2008!

Happy New Year!
Well, it's 2008...pretty crazy. And I suppose it is time to reflect on the year.
The first event of 2007 that comes to my mind is leaving my country, on an adventure of a lifetime..one I will never forget.
2007 has been the most exciting year of my life. And I can say that without doubt.
I remember writing a list last new years of things I wanted to accomplish in my life. Off of that list I have already accomplished learning another language, and living in another country. 2 huge goals.
I have found that I have grown immensely this year. Beyond what I thought was possible. I have achieved an understanding of the world that some don't ever encounter. I have come to understand better my place in the world, my desired path in life, the things that are important to me...and I can say, without questioning, that I spent this past year of my life in the best way possible. I didn't waste one minute. And that makes me glad.
One thing that I have found I fear is losing time. I have a fear of not living my life to the fullest. Of not seeing everything there is to see, not being everything I can, and I can say that I have lived to the fullest this year, and I know the next year to come will be the same. Full of excitement, changes, growth, realizations...
2007 brought a lot of changes. 2008 will bring even more.

Felicidade é o contrário

A long while since I wrote...
Well, I've moved houses successfully, all though it was just as difficult as I had expected, if not more so.
My first family was really great. They were there with me throughout all of my development since I arrived here, they taught me a lot, and that is something to remember.
I suppose you discover the importance of people in your life when you separate from them...
They have been a huge part of my year here...the first four months are probably the most shocking. The time when you need to most support. And they gave it to me. But I know I will still see them, visit every once and a while. I plan on passing Christmas with my first family, and traveling with them in January to the beach. So they have not been lost, its just a change.
I've adapted to my second family..almost. Its been about a week and a half since I arrived. Eating their food is not so strange anymore, or having moments when no one is talking is not so awkward. I think this family may be more fitting for me then the first...just because of my lifestyle before I arrived. Here it is only me, my host mom, host dad, and the maid...so in other words, I'm the only kid, and I now can go back to my more solitary, independent life.

So Christmas is coming up, and I'm sure you are curious about what it's like here now.
Well, I dont really know at this point, I'll have to tell you after to be more accurate...
Right now, there are Christmas lights up all around the city, everyone is going crazy buying gifts, just like there...they have Christmas trees, wreaths, and garlands of pine, all fake of course because they don't have pines here...not even close.
One big difference is that it is like 90 degrees or hotter here..and I'm thinking, I dont know yet, but I'm thinking that Christmas here is more...cheery. More parties, more socializing...it's less organized...it's beautifully messy, the Brazilian way.
Brazilians like felicity.

Yesterday I went with my Rotary club to spread some felicity. They bought bunches of gifts for kids, and we went to 3 of the hospitals in the city and a children's center in one of the favelas in town. It was both amazing and horrifying.
We had a fire truck and 4 or so cars in the caravan, tons of presents, 3 santas, 10 'elves' and the token American. The 3 santas, 2 elves, and I rode on the top of the fire truck with the signal blaring, waving, and the others drove behind.
We stopped at each hospital, entered, gave the gifts to the kids there, and left just as 'quietly' as we had come in.
I was close to crying many times. These kids... The faces of their parents, sitting there at their sides, I've never gone through anything like what those children, or just as painfully, their parents are going through. I've never seen things like I'm seeing here...
I remember one little boy... I couldn't tell what had happened to him, but his father was standing at the side of his bed, the nurses applying bandages, and there was a rosary necklace on the pillow above his head...In the hopes of some kind of help.
I remember one boy who couldn't even bring himself to look at me or the gift I'd given to him.
But then I remember one little boy who had a smile from ear to ear when he saw Santa come in and give him a little toy truck, and I remember the kids from the favela running after the fire truck, yelling and laughing, with their soccer balls and sand buckets. And the way the kids waved goodbye, huge smiles on their faces...and the grateful expressions of the parents, for bringing some kind of happiness into a place of such suffering...
Its easy to forget that things like this are happening every day...as no one wants to know, but seeing it...its impossible to avoid. And you just want to help, even if it's just one person, even if it's just one smile...one moment where they forget...and you begin to resent the unfair luck you've run into. You resent how one person can have so much, and another so little...
I was walking through one of the hospitals, and I saw a man, obviously very poor, stretched out on a hospital bed, and I resented the $200 camera I held in my hand...

pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/sommerbrazil/FireTruck

move em' out

My bags are packed, it's my last day with my first host family...
Time to move again, time to adjust again, to adapt again, learn again, grow again, suffer again....do everything again.
I dont really know what I am thinking right now. Part of me is excited to be changing, for what is to come with the new family, but also, part of me is sad about leaving this family that has gone through so much with me already. I fit into my first family perfectly, I have everything I need, even some nice commodities (Wireless, guitars), and I mesh with their personalities well. I'm worried with the other family, things will not go as well, that I will continually think how much better my first family fit with me, but I suppose an exchange student can't think like that...
I have to keep an open mind, realize that it's not going to be the same thing, it's going to be different, some things will fit better, others will not fit as well, and I will learn to adapt.
I keep finding myself thinking how hard it will be to learn the ways of another family. My first family already knows me, what I do. They were there from the moment I set foot in Montes Claros, completely elated and scared. They were there my first night to open their home... they patiently waited for a mode of communication, which only arrived a couple of months ago... for the moment portuguese clicked...they were there to see me adjust to everything, there for the home sickness, for the awe...
this next family and I will have to learn and adapt to each other, and we'll have to go through that awkward period of seeing what is what.
I'd love to take the easy way out, stay with the family that has known me from the beginning, who saw me go through the hardest parts, and were there for me when I had troubles, who taught me so much...but with exchange life, there is no easy way out.
I knew from the beginning I was moving, and in reality, this move is anything but a big deal in comparison to what I've already done. It's really good for me in the bigger picture.
Today is another day for shock and growth. I've just gotta keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep my eyes open.

O Mercado

As I go deeper into this exchange I find even more things I love about Brazil.
Today I went to the huge market with my host dad and brother. A place where no tourist would ever go...It's like a flea market, full of everything. There are loads of fruits, veggies, honey, cheese. And all of the sellers are the ones that make the products. It's like a natural market in the US only HUGE, and there are all kinds of people. Rich, poor... the whole world mixes there. There are little restaurants in the middle of the markets, with authentic food from Minas...it's real, and that is what I've found I like.
In Brazil, there is an obsession with cleanliness because of the poverty that people here encounter, but it's turned everyday life somewhat sterile. I can see the culture being lost..which is why today was so neat.
The market was Brazil. There was not one element of the US there. Not one brand name, not one packaged good. Just what people made themselves. There is a grace in that.
Lately, I just think what an opportunity this is. To be a Brazilian for a year. To know what it is like living thousands of miles away from home, virtually alone, completely uprooted, surrounded by millions of new things...so many new things to learn. Few, very few people have this opportunity, to see a country as those that live there do. Because the more I look, the more I realize that tourism is not a way to see anywhere. Tourism's objective is to cater to the wealthy Americanized palate. You can never see the world if your blinded by your own culture.

pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/sommerbrazil/OMercado

habits

Not a lot new going on here now.
Life has become normal...
The language, just for the normal update, is going better. Now I'm taking some Portuguese lessons to better my conjugation, because Portuguese is crazy...and so that is helping. But I can have conversations now, I can use the future and past tenses, which is a big step.
I've learned to sing some songs in Portuguese, which is neat.
Guitar is still going...I'm practicing more now, which I need to be doing, learning some samba and things like that. Singing lessons are still happening too...but I dont know how well they are going. Singing is much harder then I'd thought.
I'm feeling more Brazilian all the time, I guess that is something that comes with getting comfortable in the other country. I've noticed that I've picked up their cultural habits without knowing it. Just little things that I had noticed were different in the beginning like...when they are eating, they dont change the knife and fork from hand to hand to cut food, they leave the knife in their left hand, which I've picked up now. And when I got here, my host mom thought it was so strange that I didn't wear shoes in the house, and now, when I walk around, I automatically put something on my feet. I've picked up the cultural 'warmness', the clothing style, I've started wearing more jewelery...Just picking up new habits which is strange.

:D

Over the past weekend I had 4 of my school friends over to make chocolate cookies and watch a movie at my house here. It was really great. One of the first times I've actually felt like I have a solid group of friends. Now I feel like I can say they are my best friends here, and I like them a lot. We started the day messing around on my pretty little laptop, I was showing them some photos, and thought it would be neat to take some with the photobooth program, and we ended up playing with that program for like 40 minutes. After that we watched a little of a concert and then started with the cooking. They had never eaten chocolate chip cookies before. Never seen them before....Chocolate chips dont even exist here, so I bought a couple chocolate bars and cut them up.
So, we made the cookies, and they turned out good...not the best cookies I've ever made, but they thought it was awesome. The problem was that i couldn't find brown sugar here, I later discovered that it does exist here... but I just used regular sugar for the cookies, so they were just a little bland or something. But my friends have not stopped raving about them.
After we made the cookies, I made some iced coffee, a friend of mine brought a pizza, and then we watched the movie and ate. haha. sounds gross, but it was really neat. after the movie we just stayed talking. I can understand almost everything now. I can converse, participate in the conversations. Its really good.
So that was really neat. To have my first little friend thing here. I'm liking here more all the time. Getting more accustomed all the time.
I have the pictures from the day up on the photo website. take a look! :D