mistakes in Portuguese haha.
The next day Sofia came to pick me up bright and early with all of my things. It was sad saying bye but I know I will visit them often (they let me keep their house key so I can return when I want)
It is bittersweet saying bye because I really felt like that was my home! I knew how to make coffee and use the oven. I even knew how everyone likes their coffee! I was very comfortable. I am now looking forward to learning how everything works in Sofia's house! It will be easy because I am already pretty much a part of the family.
The day after arriving in Sofi's house, Sofi and I travelled to a city about 6 hours away called Escarpas Do Lago. Prior to arriving, everyone had told me that Escarpas is a beautiful city where pretty much only rich people live. I arrived and every.single.house. was gorgeous. The city was surrounded by multiple lakes and cliffs. The house we stayed at was about an hour outside of the city. It was a beautiful, house with a pool, a bar, jukebox, pool table, ping pong table, multiple rooms, tv room, beautiful kitchen, and it was all located right on the lake. They had a seadoo and two boats as well. I was living in paradise for those few days, my goodness. This was only the main house, up the hill a little more there were a couple other houses just for sleeping. In total, there were probably about 30-40 people who came to the 'main house' during the day. We stayed there because Sofi's friend, Paula, was there with her family as well.
We spent our days soaking up the sun by the pool, boating, drinking fresh juice, and swimming in the pool. It was so relaxing. On the Sunday night it was the birthday of two of the kids who were staying there. They decorated the whole house, made those little chocolates, and made tons of other food as well.
On New Years Eve, Sofi, Paula, and I after a long relaxing day by the pool, got up and started getting ready for the big night. Everyone was dressed up beautifully and the house was decorated with candles and lights. Once again, the food was amazing. All 40 people gathered outside near the pool and cheered for the new year. Everyone hugged everyone and said their wishes. There were tons of fireworks and music and happiness. A little while after midnight, we hopped in the car and headed to the party. It took about an hour to get to the party so we didn't arrive until almost 3 am. This party we went to is famous in Brazil for being awesome at New Years. The venue was decorated full out in white everything. There was an outside section as well that overlooked the lake. We stayed there until about 9:30am when Paula's dad came and picked us up by boat. It was such an amazing party, I will never forget that night.
Something to know about New Years in Brazil: every colour that you wear on New Years, has a meaning. White= peace, blue= responsibility, pink= love, red= passion, purple= mystery, gold= money, green= hope, grey= changes/innovation of life, and many more. Basically you don't want to wear black. If white is peace, you can imagine what black is.
The most popular colour to wear is white so it was really beautiful to see the whole party in pretty much white.
After lunch that day, we headed back home to BH. It was a long 6 hour drive in the heat and everyone was exhausted but my oh my, it was so much fun.
Escarpas is a really beautiful city.
I am now all settled into my new home. Jane (my new mom) taught me which buses to take to certain places. And woohooo, guess what? There is a huuuge mall right near my house. Oh happy days!
I went quite some time without seeing my exchange friends which is kind of good in some ways because I didn't speak English for over a week. I am often finding myself thinking in Portuguese; it's super cool. It only keeps getting better!
Packed my bags to move to Sofi's. I collected a lot of things in 3 and a half months!
