Acai and Parties

I'll start at last Wednesday. I took the bus alone to my friend's place so we could all go out for acai together. I was dying of the heat of course because it was 37 degrees outside yet when I looked out onto the street, the majority of people were wearing jeans. Brazilians...
So I finally arrived and we met up with Romain (Belgium), Sandra (Canada), Eli (USA), Mateusz (Poland), and Paul and Manon (France).
After the acai, Eli and I took the bus back to the Diamond Mall because we both live ridiculously close to it which is AWESOME!
Her and I just walked around and then we heard music so we ended up having dinner at a restaurant where there was a jazz band playing. It was a very lovely date :)

Thursday I went to this country club type thing with my grade at school. This place was amazing, it had like 5 pools, 6 courts for tennis/soccer/basketball etc, a mini zoo, a bunch of little concessions that looked like huts, and a waterslide! It also had a huuuuge mango tree where I got to pick a mango and eat it right there. I died of happiness.
We took a bus to get there (yes you guys, it was a bus. A bus. Yep.. a bus) and on the way there, one of the guys brought his guitar and everyone was singing along to the Brazilian music. One of my friends told the guys that I sang so they tried to find songs in English so I could sing too.
So we got there and everyone changed into their swim suits... something I still have to get used to. I've kind of gotten used to the girls but I don't know how long it's going to take to get used to the boys. Many of the boys wear those little speedo shorts and maaaan, I would've loved to have seen my face when I saw the guys come out. Oh yeah so I also got my first ever burn that day because I was smart and didn't really wear enough sunscreen (by 'enough' I mean none).
My friends told me that the club had monkeys in it so I got really excited! But unfortunately I didn't actually see any. I haven't seen any monkeys at all in Brazil yet and it's to the point where I might even just walk down the street waving a banana in the air until I find one!
That day I also drove a swan boat around in a big pond, almost fought an emu, and watched an old man belly flop into the pool. Twas a great day.

Friday I didn't have school so I slept in then went out for acai with Sandra, Lucas (an outbound student going to Holland in February) and the new exchange student that just arrived and is staying in his house. Her name is Haley and she is from the US. She has a very nice name.
After the acai, Sandra and I went back to her place to get ready for this big party. We got all dressed up fancy and took a taxi with her brother to Savassi to meet others. There was a giant van that picked us up and we drove a half hour to get to the party. This building was huge and so fancy! Once you gave your ticket, there was a photographer waiting there to take your picture. Then everyone we were with wanted a picture with the Canadian girls. I felt like a celebrity.
The inside was beautifully decorated, had two stages, a giant open bar, open food, dance floor, lounge area and an upstairs VIP area. Everyone looked amazing as well.
The band was really awesome and they played some really famous Brazilian music that I actually knew! I also danced Forro with one of my friends because I took classes so I know the steps.
I've never been to a party like that before, I was really impressed with everything. I didn't want to leave.

Saturday I slept in a lot, got up and made apple cake with my host parents. We made oatmeal raison cookies as well. It was really nice to spend time with them in the kitchen for the whole afternoon.
Saturday night was pretty chill, I was going to go out but then kind of decided not to until Clarice was just about to leave but then said 'Hailey change your clothes, we're going to a party!' So I ran into my room, got dressed, make up, hair, boom gone. It was a goodbye party for one of her friends who was moving to the US.

Sunday after lunch I went with my host family to visit my host dad's aunty who is 96 years old. Nossa!
It was a really nice visit and I was proud because I was able to follow the conversation for the most part.
Sunday night was nice because I got to Skype my family for a good 2 and a half hours.

I forgot the mention this before but the other day, I Skyped my family and then introduced them to my host family. It was really cool but really confusing at the same time because the only way anyone could communicate was through me. My host parents would say something in Portuguese and then I would translate it to English for my Canadian family and then vice versa. I kept accidently speaking Portuguese to my Canadian family so it made things really difficult and my brain was confused. But overall it was a really cool experience. I was weird talking in another language in front of my family, knowing they don't understand me. HAHA it's my superpower now.

Until next time, Beijos.