It's been a while

My latest adventure was by far the best. My awesome, wonderful host family took me to morro de são paulo (saint Paul hill) except it's a city on an island. It was what everyone dreams of when they think of a paradise island. Palm trees everywhere, perfectly warmed water, and of course awesome fish and wildlife. I did /2 things that weekend I thought I would never do because of my extreme fear of heights. 1) I rode a horse. This gives  an idea of how scared of heights I am and 2) I zip lined. 900 ft of pure awesomeness! I was terrified when I had to jump off of that rickety, wooden platform onto normal rope to slide over rocks and into the ocean. I had the guy push me. After that first very girl-like scream I opened ,y eyes and wasn't scared because it was so wonderful and beautiful. It was sunset. I also snorkeled and saw some really awesome fish. 

Next adventure: Baja grande. A beach that is allegedly better. I leave the day of my birthday.

soccer

I started playing soccer here. I had never played or seen a game in my life. This was probably not the smartest decision. Injuries up until now include but are not limited to bloody nose, soccer ball to the solar plexus, and a big hole in my shoe where my big toe is. I get beaten regularly by thirteen year olds and I still haven't scored a goal. I am quite awful. Hahaha

yummy chorrasco (barbeque)

They use actual charred wood and start the fire then use bellows to get it hot and ready for grilling. This is pineapple,filet mignon, linguiça (sausage), and chicken.

15th birthday

Here in Brazil a girls 15th birthday party is a big thing. If your parents are rich at least. I recently was able to attend one.... it was awesome! There were two parts to the 2nd floor of the building and one was for dancing and the other for the actual party part. A friend named Amanda made me come dance.... I'm awful at dancing as many of you know so that was interesting.. also I had this guaraná(best soda ever!) And strawberry mix that was sooooo awesome. There were tons of people there and big banners with her pictures on them and a short video about her and her life. Also chocolate. Sooo much chocolate.

food and chinese place

decided a food blog might be interesting...

Well the title bout says it all... today I had Chinese food... which I liked... which if you know me I have a slight passion for not liking Chinese food.  And another thing? Here at "buffets" they weigh your food and then charge you for how much you took.. its an interesting system that I like but I still prefer the U.S.'s "pay and eat all you can". Also the desserts here are fantastic for the most part... lots of chocolate (yay!) And here is how my meal schedule is. 6:30 breakfast, 9:00 snack, 12:00 to 1:00 ish lunch, 6 to 8 snack again (sometimes) and then anywhere from 8:30 to 9 supper.for breakfast its awesome bread and fruit with chocolate milk. Then snack is usually juice and crackers or bread or something. Then lunch consists of a meat, rice, salad, feijão sometimes (beans), and this yellowy powder that's sometimes good and sometimes not...oh and dessert... then snack (sometimes) is either a sandwich or pão de  Queijo with a chocolate milk shake. Then supper which varies... usually with rice and salad again.... more details and pictures if requested.

adventure in jequié part 1

So I took my first walking adventure in jequié today. It was a lot better than the boring nondescript car rides. I got to see the people and the houses and yes even the wildlife up close. Also I went to their version of a "supermarket" it was pretty small but it had what I needed. Chocolate. Schin cola. And razors. I saw 4 lizards and a scorpion while I was walking and a bird in the store. That is all for part 1 in my adventures of jequié

you should be able to figure this out except maybe which is gabriel and which is miguel

Me with the cacao my host father kindly picked me on the way home from Ilhéus. And then me eating it. Tastes sort of like watermelon without the texture.

my two week anniversary

Oi. First off let me warn you im kind of a dry writer ... with that being said I am not quite sure where to start... There's just so much that has happened in the last two weeks.I guess I should start in the Beginning. I arrived at Ihéus airport a very nervous and shaken up exchange student. That last plane ride was very scary but I survived to be writing this so it's all Good. I went in the room to wait for my bags to come in with my two new exchange student friends who were to be staying in Itabuna. One from France (Victor) the other from Idaho (Cassidy). There all three of our host families were waiting for us with big signs and smiles.. I was the only one with a friend already there though it was awesome. Then she (my friend teka) and her friends invited me to come hang out with them if I wasn't too tired... which of course I wasn't haha who has time to be tired on an exchange?! That's where I had my first Brazilian pizza and some more of my new favorite soda (guaraná) I'm not sure how I'm going to cope in the u.s. without it... its soooo good. So anyway the next day we went to the beach. Where it rained most of the day. Yay! But it was fun because I played with my host brother Pedro on the beach and in the ocean and we went on an "adventure" which consisted of climbing up the side of a mountain on a stream and that was pretty fun haha. The next day we went home and I got to see my awesome new room and house.So I just made that day lazy... the next day I went to school... which here is from 7:10 to 12:40 but I went at 8... when we checked in and everything we went to my classroom (teachers switch here not the students) and on the door on the outside it said "bem-vindo Bronson!" That's when I got a little nervous... dont ask why... I'm not sure just did haha..so I walk in and everything is crazy! People Yelling and running around (come to find out this happens most of the time) and then my host mom introduces me and tells them I'm a bit shy and I speak English with more Portuguese than she thought I would and that I spoke Spanish as well.. people were very happy to hear that haha so immediately people came up to me shaking my hand and one girl came up and did the whole kiss on the cheeks thing (my soon to be friend Amanda) she and Miguel (one of the guys that shook my hand and is now my friend) are the only ones who speak English and Amanda not nearly as well as Miguel. Thus I went to school. Well that's all the story I'm telling for now and I'll report back when I can.

Outbound camp

Outbound camp was a unique and fun experience. The first day I got there and found out that my essay was in the wrong format! Not surprising really since I had written it earlier that day... So they made me sit in a spot while I did it and an hour later they forgot about me and everyone left so I left with them haha. Afterwards I set my stuff down in the lobby since I forgot which room I was in. Later I figured out my room and went to sleep. The next day I woke up at 6 in the morning even though breakfast wasn't until eight... This was also my fault because I forgot an alarm clock so I had to rely on my roommate and he decided to wake up at 6. After breakfast we were told to go to the audiotorium... What I have neglected to mention until this point was that somewhere along the line I lost my purple folder we were supposed to keep with us the whole time... Needless to say I was called up Front first in front of the 70 some-odd people to get dressed up like a girl... Well me and a bunch of other guys so that was fun... What was even more fun was introducing myself to all those people wearing that still afterward haha I had to wear it until lunch. The day passed and it felt like 4 days but I made some friends and talked with my color group an our rotex... She went to Argentina. The rest of camp passed in a similar manner with lunch breakfast and dinner and tooonnnnsss of lectures about culture shock and diseases and rotary among other things... There were also games that were fun and more team building exercises and dealing with culture shock exercises... All in all I enjoyed camp and made lots of new friends and learned many new things I'm glad they taught us... Thank you rotary