Rio De Janeirooo

Prepare... This will be a long one.

Before I go on telling about my fabulous few days in Rio, I must talk about the Monday before leaving. After school, I went to my friend Gabriela's house with a bunch of girls from my class to prepare a meal for our class the next day. We were preparing a dish with a name that I forget because it's hard to say. Anywho, it has lots of potatoes, chicken, and bacon. I am apparently a master at peeling potatoes so I am proud of that. After cooking for 3 hours, I took the bus home to meet up with Eli and Sandra. I was sitting on the bus and then an old man sat next to me and began to sing. He literally sang the entire bus ride in a higher pitched voice. I think I almost pierced my lip from biting it because I was trying to contain my laughter. I was tempted to sing along with him but all of a sudden he started shouting out random numbers, then resumed singing again.
I figured it was best to get off the bus.
I met up with Sandra and Eli, who happened to be waiting for me in my bedroom. The three of us went to get our first ever wax...
It was not pleasant. I hated it. The lady was really calm about it so I trusted her but to be honest, the room looked like I was about to get surgery. It was one of the most painful things I have ever done, I really don't understand why people do that to themselves! It was awful!
Anyways, I survived and I'm smooth.

Tuesday was pretty much the best day of school so far. My whole grade was assigned this cooking project and Tuesday was the day everyone got to eat everything. It was amazing. There was everything from little appetizers, breads, main courses, and desserts. After school, I went to Sofia's house. That day was the first time I saw her since the day in the airport. It was really weird at first because we immediately started speaking in Portuguese. She lived with me for almost 6 months and we just spoke English so now transitioning to just Portuguese was weird but it's cool! She showed me around her home, which is my future home, we went out for acai, and then I went to her dance class with her. I thought I was just going to watch but of course that is not an option. Instead I got to pretend like I knew what I was doing while looking pretty stupid; it was really fun actually.

Wednesday... destination: RIO !! It was honestly really strange to be in an airport again but I knew it was okay because I was on my way to the most amazing city ever. The flight was so cool, I got the window seat so of course my eyes did not leave the window for one second. Flying over top of Rio has got to be one of the most amazing views I have ever seen. I got to see a top view of all the beaches and mountains in Rio. We landed in the airport that is located in the center of the city (right next to the ocean). It was cool because it seemed like we were going to land right on the water. We got out of the plane and holy did that heat hit me good. Rio is hot, people. Muito freaking calor!
After an hour bus ride around Rio trying to find where to get off, we finally found the little hotel we were going to be staying at. It is literally a 2 minute walk from Ipanema Beach. Sofia, Jane (Sofi's mom), and I put our stuff away and immediately headed off to the beach. Since that day was a holiday in Rio, the beach was PACKED but we made room. After literally 15 minutes of relaxing on the beach, people started shouting. Sofi jumped up, and told me to run. Sofia, me, and literally everyone else on the beach started panicking, grabbing their stuff, and running. I had no idea what happened, I just immediately jumped up and ran for my life (leaving all of my stuff behind). Finally everyone stopped running and I asked what the eff just happened. Sofia explained that there was a group of guys going along the beach stealing everyone's things. The got caught or something because everyone seemed to calm down. Thankfully Jane grabbed all the things that I left behind for the thieves. I honestly thought I was going to die. Adrenaline kicked in and I ran super fast, I think. My heart didn't calm down for another hour after that. We found a new spot on the beach, I bought a sarong (which goes everywhere with me now) and a coconut, and we all resumed relaxing on that beautiful beach. It was seriously the perfect day, I walked along the shore collecting shells, the water was the perfect, refreshing temperature, the sky was clear blue, and the sun was shining beautifully on the surrounding mountains. I went swimming in the ocean for the first time since I went to Mexico and oh my lordy, those waves are bigger than I remember. I literally had to hold onto my bottoms every time a waved passed. I am completely certain that every person within view of me saw my bare butt. My bare, white, Canadian butt.
That night, Sofi and I took an evening walk all the way down both sides of the beach. It was so amazing. There were still people selling things all the way down the beach. Watching and listening to the waves crash against the shore is one of the most relaxing sensations. After our walk, we went out to a sports bar, watched a game of soccer, ate chicken wings and fries. It was quite relaxing as well.

Thursday was Sofi's birthday. Sofia, Jane, Vander (her dad who had arrived a little later by car), and I went to the beach bright and early in the morning. I lathered myself up in sunscreen (yes mom, I actually wore sunscreen), and put on my little Brazilian bikini...
We only stayed at the beach for about 3 hours but within those 3 hours, I burnt to a complete crisp. My whole backside was seriously lobster red. I have only really burnt once before but that was just a little on my nose and shoulders. I couldn't tell I was burnt, obviously, until it was already way too late. We left the beach, ate lunch, showered, and then headed off to go see the famous Cristo (Christ). I was smart and put on tight jean shorts over top of my burn. HAHA Hailey... bad choices.
I was fine on the way there but the way back is another story. After an hour of waiting to catch the train up to the Christ, we finally made it. Now, I don't want to sound like a broken record but that view, was THE most amazing thing I have ever seen in my entire life thus far. There were reflectors surrounding the Christ which made him glow even more with the sun. Every angle was magnificent. You could literally see every building, mountain, beach, and island in Rio. My words will never do it justice, my photos almost will but just the feeling of being all the way up there is incredible. I seriously felt like I was on top of the world. You really realize how small you are when you look at a view like that. I wish I could've stayed there forever. I am so thankful Sofi brought me there, and I am so thankful I have the opportunity to return there in January.
Later, we took a bus back to the hotel. The bus ride was about an hour long I think but it was really cool to see Rio at night. We passed by some really amazingly lit beaches. My burn started to really really burn so I couldn't actually sit on the bus. I literally burnt my entire back, legs, and butt. The butt is the worst place to burn. I'm actually still in pain as I am writing this.
That night, Sofi and I met up with her friend 'Dudu' (Eduardo) and we went to another bar/restaurant, listened to a band, and just talked the whole night.

Friday, I woke up in some serious pain. I almost cried getting out of bed. That morning, Sofi's cousin, Lorena, and her cousin's friend, Marta, came to stay with us. We all got up, ate breakfast, and went to the beach again. This time, the sun wasn't out. It was kind of clouded over which was nice because I was still in a lot of pain and having sun wouldn't really be good for me. The 4 of us took a walk down the beach to this really neat cliff type thing. I had a hard time even walking but I didn't want to miss out on picture opportunities. I wanted to cry every time I stood up. I literally was not able to sit or lay down. I walked like I had just got a prostate exam (I am assuming that is how I would walk if I got a prostate exam). Yeah, people gave weird looks because I moaned every time I sat down.
After lunch, everyone returned to the hotel and took a brief afternoon nap. That night, Sofi, Lorena, Marta, and I went out for dinner. I got caesar salad for the first time since I arrived in Brazil. It tasted nothing like home but still.

Saturday we all got ready and walked to Copacabana. It rained again but we still continued on. We did some window shopping along the way, and then ate a huge lunch. Copacabana is really beautiful. It is surrounded by beautiful mountains and buildings. It is also surrounded by many little restaurants/shops/food stands. Also, on every beach, there are people who go around selling literally anything. Ice cream, acai, sarongs, dresses, shorts, skirts, skirts, sandals, sunglasses, water, beer, bathing suits, jewellery, shoelaces, sunscreen, hats, bags, shirts, shrimp on a skewer, etc. There are also tents set up that sell drinks made with fresh fruit. People seriously walk around with huge straw umbrellas with 50 bikinis hung from it. You can literally find anything at the beach and you don't even have to get up.
After lunch we did some more shopping. I actually restrained from buying things I don't need which I thought was pretty impressive considering the level of temptation. But oooh my, I was standing inline for the change room and a little boy, who I am assuming was looking for his mom, came up and shoved me from behind right on my sunburn. I never wanted to punch a kid so bad in my life. Again, I resisted temptation.
Later, we went out for dinner at Subway. I felt so boss because I still know exactly what I want and now I know how to order it in Portuguese.
We then all got dressed up to go out to a club called 'Praia' which means 'beach'. Fitting name seeing as how it is located right across from the beach. We got in for half price because Sofi called ahead of time saying it was her birthday... 2 days before. The club was completely packed. I have never been pushed and rubbed against so much in my life. Of course I still had a really sunburn... lovely.
The club stayed completely packed to the point where you couldn't dance, or even move at all. It was a really nice club, good music, cool band, but we had to get out of there. We ended up driving around with Dudu then going home. It probably was for the best because we had to wake up at about 6:30 to head off to the airport.

Sunday, woke up bright and early and headed for the airport. It was at that moment where I had the biggest craving for Tim Hortons. I probably would've killed for a coffee and a bagel. I slept on the plane, Sofi's dad brought me home, I slept for a bit because my family wasn't home, ate lunch, and here I am writing this blog.

To anyone reading this, if you ever have a chance in your life to go to Brazil, do it. Stay for at least a month, you have to go to Rio, and you have to see the Christ.
Rio de Janeiro is the most incredible city in the world, you can quote me on that.

Weekend in Patos

So last Thursday I went to a soccer game with my friend named Artur, who did exchange in Kamloops last year. Cool hey? He lives in Belo Horizonte and he cheers for Galo. Now, I told you about how here in Minas Gerais there are two main teams: Galo and Cruzeiro. I am Cruzeiro, as I previously mentioned, and he is Galo. However, up until last Thursday I have never seen a live soccer game so I really didn't care which team was playing! Before the game I went to his grandparents house and met a bunch of his family. Of course in Brazil that means I got to meet mom, dad, aunt, cousin, sister, grandma, and grandpa. We headed off to the stadium, which I thought was huge but apparently it's the smaller one compared to 'Minerao'. I wore a Galo jersey and everything so I could fit in.
We sat in front of the people playing the drums and leading the Galo songs/chants. I've never seen anything like it. Everyone in the stadium was on their feet the whole time! It made me question why they even had seats in the first place. There was so much energy it was impossible to stand still. Then a guy in a giant chicken costume (their mascot) came running onto the field carrying the Galo flag. The crowd went insane. When the goalie from the other team walked across the field to his side, the whole stadium booed and cursed him out. I guess that is a normal and sports-like thing to do?
It was even worse when the refs came out. Again, the whole stadium stood on their chairs and booed the refs. The game started and the crowed, once again, was insane; the whole game. Galo won in the end and everyone left the stadium at the same time so everyone was on the street still screaming Galo music. I really enjoyed my first game, I cannot wait until I get to watch one in the big stadium!

Last Friday was a holiday here in Brazil so my family took me to Patos de Minas again for the weekend. They were so nice and let me bring my friend Eli (USA). We talked in Portuguese and listened to Brazilian music the whole 6 hour drive. When we arrived, the had lunch all waiting for us. Lourdes (my aunty) is an amazing cook. We went to her house were she literally had a buffet set out. We visited with many of the family members for a good 6 hours and then after went and met up with two other exchange students: David (Hungary) and Tucker (Upstate New York). We have only met them once before at the orientation but instantly started talking like we never left. I love exchange students. The next day, my host parents brought us out to lunch at a cute little buffet restaurant. (Another thing I love about Brazil, all the restaurants for lunch are buffets and are cheap!)
After lunch, Eli and I went shopping, ate acai (of course), and then got ready to go to Tucker's family's farm outside of Patos. I am telling you, that place is amazing. They have a beautiful house with an outside kitchen/bar area right next to a pool surrounded by palm trees and fields of horsies. It was a wonderful afternoon of laying by the pool with friends, cooking churrasco (BBQ), and listening to Brazilian music. I love my life.
After the farm, we went back to Lourdes' house for her birthday and once again, more food. Always so much food. Eli and I made a band with my little cousin, Alise. She is two years old and she is the cutest thing I have ever seen. We talked all night with the family and watched Brazil win in one of the games leading up to the World Cup. (omg)
Sunday was average, Eli and I woke up at noon (oops), ate lunch, said goodbye to the family again, and headed on home to BH. This car ride was a little more quiet because everyone was tired and fell asleep.
It was such a nice weekend, I really feel like I am part of the family. Not just my family that I live with but my whole extended family as well. They all told me that I need to return with them even after I change families.

Brazilians + Soccer = No Sleep

I last left off my blog post at the 'Hug an Exchange Student' day. That night (a Friday night) I went out with a group of exchange students in Savassi. We just hang out at a pastel place for basically the whole night. For those of you who don't know what pastels are, I will explain. It is a deep fried pastry with literally anything you want in it. It can be sweets, it can be savory, salty, just cheese, meat, ANYTHING. My personal favourite is the banana filled one coated with sugar/cinnamon. It's practically Jesus. This particular night was quite interesting because it was the night that began all the noise in Belo Horizonte. I arrived home at around 1:30, went to my room, tried to fall asleep but then I kept hearing car horns going off like crazy, people shouting, etc. Then started the firecrackers, and bombs. Some of them were so close to my house, I actually thought I was going to die. I had no idea why people were setting off firecrackers and chanting at 2am until I asked in the morning. My family explained to me that on Sunday there would be a huge game in BH for their soccer team called 'Cruzeiro'. The fireworks and chanting were the fans. It went on like that every night leading up to the game.

On Saturday night, I went out with Eli (from Florida) and some of her friends from school. It was one of their birthdays and since he plays for the other team, he decided he wanted to go to a gay club. I kind of just went with it because why not? Everyone in that club honestly looked like they were having a blast. I honestly wouldn't say that I would go back there again but it was an experience.

Sunday, I watched the game with my family and all of my friends from school were snap chatting me being all excited. It was really cool because every time Cruzeiro got a goal, the whole city was celebrating. Finally, Cruziero won the game and once again, there was no sleep that night. People went all night long screaming on the streets, setting off bombs, and honking car horns. That game wasn't even the final game! I tried skyping my family and they could even hear the loud, thundering noises in the back ground. The whole city literally stopped for that game.

Monday after school, I went shopping with Eli in the center of the city where everything is cheap. We discovered an amazing place that makes juice, coffee, acai, and pao de queijo (my 4 favourite things). I have probably mentioned this before but HOLY the juice here in Brazil is the BEST. This place had a menu full of different kinds of fruits so basically you can choose as many different kinds as you want for your juice then you choose either milk or orange juice as the base then they take the fresh fruits, blend it up, and there you go. It is the best thing in the whole world and it is so freaking cheap.

Tuesday, Eli and I took the bus to Sandra's house to dye her hair for her. I knew which bus to take, which was good, but then Sandra told Eli that I knew how to get to her house and which stop to get off at because I have done it before. HAHAH bad mooooove, I don't remember things like that so Eli and I had a little adventure but thank the lord above for Google Maps. Sandra has a lot of trust in us because she let us dye her hair in her bedroom... but it was surprisingly successful.

Wednesday, Sandra and I got our nails done for the first time in Brazil. We got our hands and toes done for only R$30 (that's equal to $15). When we walked in, the lady gave us these packages that I had no idea what to do with, and told us to sit down. We sat there for about ten minutes until someone told us to actually open the package and put on the gloves with the mushy stuff inside to soften up our nails. They couldn't believe that we had never gotten them done before. The lady doing my hands began cutting off my cuticles and she asked if I have ever done that before. I told her I didn't even know what cuticles were until like 4 months ago. Everyone laughed at me.
The hands went well I think but once she got to my feet, I kind of freaked out a bit. I am ridiculously ticklish so she had a hard time doing anything without me squirming. I just about kicked her in the face at one point. Overall, it was successful. After that, Eli and Sandra came over and I made fresh passion fruit juice and pao de queijo by myself. My host mom told me that I can marry now because I know how to do those things. So that's a plus.
That night was the big game (to be honest I forget what the name of the cup is called but all I know is that it is a huge deal in Brazil and Cruzeiro has won it twice in the past), Eli and I went down the road to a sports bar to watch the game because the city was full of energy and excitement. The fireworks, bombs, car horns, and people screaming was 10x worse that night. Every goal we got the whole bar would roar with excitement. I've never experienced anything like it. People drove around the city with Cruzeiro flags hanging out their windows while screaming 'CRUUUZEIROOO'. When Cruzeiro won, the whole city (other than the Galo fans because Galo is BH's other team), was ecstatic. The parties went all night long because now Cruzeiro is 'Tri-Campeao' which means 'Tri-Champions' of this championship. It literally went all night, morning, and the rest of the next day. My classmates even decorated the classroom with jerseys and flags. It was absolutely insane!

Brazilians are crazy for soccer. I thought I knew that before, but holy I did not know the extent to it. I cannot even try to imagine what the city will be like for the world cup next June. But I am so excited to find out.

My Sick Week

It feels like forever since I wrote here so I thought it was time to do some 'catch up'. The last week and a half has been interesting. Interesting in the fact that I actually was sick for a lot of it. It started last week, I woke up feeling kind of off but I still went to school hoping I would shake the feeling. At school I began to feel worse and worse so I decided to take the bus home. I thought it was pretty easy, you know, feel sick-leave class-take the bus home-sleep. Apparently not.
Schools here don't let you leave unless you have a parent come pick you up. Of course, I didn't know that so I got up, told the teacher I'm sick, and then tried to leave the school. They actually have security guards at the doors at all time to make sure you don't leave. Once you are in the school, there is no leaving until school is over. I tried to leave, not knowing I wasn't actually allowed, but then one guy took my shoulder and directed me the other way and told me to go talk to the office. I called my host dad telling him I was going to take the bus home so he didn't have to leave work and come all the way to get me. Oh and I also wasn't even allowed to use my own phone to call him. In the office, the people kept telling me to talk to different people which was really frustrating because no one would actually listen to what I wanted! They all kept wanted to take my temperature and give me water but I kept telling them I don't have a fever! They thought it was best to take my temperature anyways. I had a stomach ache and a sore throat.. that's not a fever. Long-story short I ended up staying at school until the little kids were done so I could sneak out with them. It worked.
So I went to take the bus but then ended up on the wrong one so I ended up on the other side of BH. Luckily it was the right bus number, just the wrong one. WTF!
The driver helped me out and got me on the right one so it was okay. I finally got home and slept.
I have to say, when I am sick I really like my mommy coming and taking care of me so when I was sick here I started to feel a bit sad for the first time on my exchange. But then my host mom came home from work that night, brought me tea in bed, made me really yummy soup, and also brought me other things to help with my throat. I was so thankful for that. It really helped with not thinking about home.
I stayed home the next couple days from school because I really wasn't feeling good. I went to school on Friday of last week because I was feeling much better. It was so cute because all of my friends were so happy to hear that I was better! They are so sweet.
Friday night was the surprise birthday party for Sandra (the other Canadian). Previously, we had told her that we had reservations at this certain night club called 'Chalezinho' but secretly we were planning a surprise party for her in the lounge area below her building with tons of exchange students and Brazilian friends. She honestly didn't suspect a thing, it was perfect.
We had a ton of fun that night, dancing, taking pictures, singing, etc.
That morning I woke up without a voice. It was awful. I thought I had gotten better but the party made it worse. I literally couldn't speak. When I got home I tried to explain to my host family but I literally couldn't speak, only whisper. I left Sandra's house and headed for the bus stop. On the way, I passed a man sitting outside his house drinking beers and listening to really cool Brazilian music. He called after me when I was walking but I didn't stop (obviously). He kept saying 'wait, wait! I have something for you'. I kept walking but eventually he caught up, handed me a four-leafed clover and said 'Today is going to be a day full of happiness and luck for you. Take care."
It honestly made my day. I thought he was going to come after me with a knife, asking for money, or trying to sell me rugs like most people (minus the knives part). But no! How cool.
Sunday, I woke up still without a voice. It was so frustrating because the only thing I could do was sit and drink tea. My host dad took us all out for lunch, the sad part was I had no voice to even say 'thank you'. I tried my best so he understood.

I returned to school on Monday and I have been better ever since. Tuesday I made cookies with Eli (from Florida) and we hung around my place. Wednesday was nice because Sandra and Eli came to my house with CHIPS, pasteis, and other food. It was a really rainy day so the three of us had a movie day.

Today is Friday, November 8th which also means it is 'International Hug an Exchange Student' day. I told people in my class and next thing you know, the whole class came and gave me hugs and kisses. We took lots of pictures, goofed around, and just had a good time. I think telling people they have to hug you because it's a rule of that day creates a whole new bond with people. They are Brazilian so this wasn't even weird. They seemed amazed that that's an actual day.

All in all, I love my sweet, caring host family. I love my hilarious and interesting Brazilians. I love my exchange students, I don't know where I would be without them.
I really love everything.

P.S Rio in 2 weeks!! :)

P.P.S I am running out of Canadian candy... this is an enormous problem that needs attention asap ;) Christmas is coming!!