These last couple of days have been so cool! On Tuesday (June 17th), I went to the Belgium/Algeria game that was being hosted by my city.
The game started at one so Sandra and I had to leave super early to get to the stadium on time. We caught a normal city bus that took about an hour to get to the stadium but it was not even close to a normal bus ride. As more and more people got on the bus, more fans came on the bus. Next thing you know, the whole back of the bus is filled with screaming Algerians with air horns and waving flags. For the whole bus ride everyone was filming the back of the bus and laughing hysterically. I even learned how to chant with the Algerians! And of course since they came all the way from Algeria, they wanted pictures of everything and everyone! Every 5 minutes they were asking to take another picture with us.
After the bus ride, we had to walk another 25 minutes to the stadium with thousands of other people as well. There were so many colours and flags I couldn't believe it. Since I was wearing a Brazilian jersey, everyone thought I was Brazilian so they kept saying "Picture with the Brazilian!!"
It took us so long to walk to the stadium because every 2 seconds, there was another group that wanted a picture! The excitement of the crowd was phenomenal. It was impossible to not get happy and excited in that atmosphere.
Luckily, since Sandra and I arrived there early, we didn't have to wait in any line! We literally just walked right through and into the stadium.
Even inside the stadium there were people asking to take pictures. Everyone wanted pictures with everyone.
Another cool thing that happened once everyone was seated was the wave! There was a 56000 person wave that happened; it looked so cool.
I can't even begin to explain the excitement whenever someone scored. The crowd went crazy and the chants were so loud.
Since there were so many more Brazilians in the crowd, the Brazilian chant even started a bunch of times. (Brazil wasn't even playing)
Belgium ended up winning, which is great because all of our friends who went are from Belgium. The excitement continued the whole night.
Right after the game we had to rush out of there because the Brazil/Mexico game was about to start so we had to get to a TV as fast as possible.
When we got off the bus, we ran to the nearest TV and squished between people to watch it. Every single game that Brazil plays is emotional because 99% of the people around you are Brazilian. Brazil and Mexico are both really great teams so the game was so intense. I couldn't stop biting my knuckles! It ended up being a tie.
That night there was a peaceful protest that was happening in the same area where everyone watches the games. Hundreds and hundreds of police officers were there with guns, shields, gas masks, and bats. They didn't harm anyone but they were super scary. They made a wall around the area and marched around looking scary. It was literally buses and buses full of policemen.
The World Cup is seriously so incredible. Everywhere you look there are flags from all over the world and chants in every language. I've already met so many cool people and cheered for random countries. At this point in the World Cup, everyone is happy and is cheering for everyone. Once it gets closer to the end, it's going to get pretty emotional...
I am 100% team Brazil though! I am so lucky I get to stay for the whole thing!
About Me
- Hailey in Brasil
- This blog is for anyone to follow me on my journey to Brazil on the Rotary Exchange. I am from British Columbia and I will be living for a year in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais.
Friday, 20 June 2014
Monday, 16 June 2014
Festas e Despedidas
Another month has slipped by since I last wrote (in English) so I'll do a little summary of what I have been up to. To be honest, the last month has been just a bunch of parties-for many reasons though!
What I will have to explain about Brazil is that in the month of June, they have parties almost every week called a 'Festa Junina' or 'June Festival'. It's also known as Festa de São João for their part in celebrating the nativity of St. John the Baptist. They also celebrate rural life and feature their traditional clothing (almost how you would dress for square-dancing), food, and music. Every school does a 'Festa Junina' and the little kids dress up as old fashioned cowboys and square-dance. So like I said, every weekend there is a party. I was lucky enough to have the chance to go to the best Festa Junina in Belo Horizonte. An amazing couple from my Rotary club brought me with their family. It was the coolest party ever! There were ribbons strung all along the party making the lights even more amazing. The food and drinks were all included so by the end of the night I couldn't stand up because of how much food I ate! Every type of typical Brazilian food was there; it was incredible. The music, of course, was my favourite part because there was a live band playing all my favourite Brazilian songs (which I know the words too). It was a really cultural experience that I am so glad I got to take part of.
Festa Junina!
Another reason for all the parties lately is because exchange students are starting to go home. Every week there are goodbye parties/dinners/get togethers being held. It's super hard because it's basically just a count down now. I already went to the airport to say bye to one of best friends on exchange. It was a really weird feeling being there saying goodbye because it didn't feel real. No one cried because it just felt like I was going to see her soon. I've already said goodbye to more than half of the exchange students.
One of the goodbye parties I went to was really cool because the family hired a group of people to come to their house and make crepes. So for the whole night there were endless crepes; it was amazinggg!
Now for a little more recent news. As I am sure you are all aware: The World Cup has started!! Holy it has been a long time coming and now that it is here I am so excited! There have been many riots in the streets against the World Cup so we all have to be careful more than ever now. I thought the traffic was bad before but now it is literally insane. It takes hours to get across the city now.
So last Thursday (June 12th), was the first game of the World Cup. Every single bar/restaurant was packed and the streets were nuts. A couple of friends and I went to a neighbourhood called Savassi to watch the game. In Savassi there were 3 huge stages all with huge TV's. Before the game started, there was a band on one stage, and a DJ on the others. Basically it was just a huge party. They closed off the streets so they could fit everyone in there. It was so full of excitement that even someone who hated soccer would get hyped up.
Every time Brazil scored, the city just exploded. Car horns, whistles, air horns, cheering, fireworks, etc. In the end, Brazil won! So the party on the streets continued all night. It was such a great day!
I forgot to mention as well that the other day I went to a showing of this really old film called 'Humberto' with one of my friends from school. It was being showed in this huge theatre on a projection screen. It was a black and white silent film and it had a huge live orchestra playing the music for it. The music was incredible, I had goosebumps the whole time. It was not like anything I have ever seen before. My friend was always looking for someone to go with that appreciates that kind of music so I was really happy to go; I really loved it.
Since his dad plays the piano in the orchestra, we got to go back stage after the show.
And sadly last week was my last day teaching English to the little kids from that public school. We had a goodbye party with cake and everything. At the end, the kids all lined up to give me hugs! It melted my heart. I'm really glad I had that experience, I learned so much from those kids and I learned a lot about myself. That's one experience I know I will always remember.
So tomorrow is the day I will watch the FIFA World Cup live!! I will be going to the Belgium/Algeria game with a bunch of my exchange friends! That will be quite the experience!
xoxo
What I will have to explain about Brazil is that in the month of June, they have parties almost every week called a 'Festa Junina' or 'June Festival'. It's also known as Festa de São João for their part in celebrating the nativity of St. John the Baptist. They also celebrate rural life and feature their traditional clothing (almost how you would dress for square-dancing), food, and music. Every school does a 'Festa Junina' and the little kids dress up as old fashioned cowboys and square-dance. So like I said, every weekend there is a party. I was lucky enough to have the chance to go to the best Festa Junina in Belo Horizonte. An amazing couple from my Rotary club brought me with their family. It was the coolest party ever! There were ribbons strung all along the party making the lights even more amazing. The food and drinks were all included so by the end of the night I couldn't stand up because of how much food I ate! Every type of typical Brazilian food was there; it was incredible. The music, of course, was my favourite part because there was a live band playing all my favourite Brazilian songs (which I know the words too). It was a really cultural experience that I am so glad I got to take part of.
Another reason for all the parties lately is because exchange students are starting to go home. Every week there are goodbye parties/dinners/get togethers being held. It's super hard because it's basically just a count down now. I already went to the airport to say bye to one of best friends on exchange. It was a really weird feeling being there saying goodbye because it didn't feel real. No one cried because it just felt like I was going to see her soon. I've already said goodbye to more than half of the exchange students.
One of the goodbye parties I went to was really cool because the family hired a group of people to come to their house and make crepes. So for the whole night there were endless crepes; it was amazinggg!
Now for a little more recent news. As I am sure you are all aware: The World Cup has started!! Holy it has been a long time coming and now that it is here I am so excited! There have been many riots in the streets against the World Cup so we all have to be careful more than ever now. I thought the traffic was bad before but now it is literally insane. It takes hours to get across the city now.
So last Thursday (June 12th), was the first game of the World Cup. Every single bar/restaurant was packed and the streets were nuts. A couple of friends and I went to a neighbourhood called Savassi to watch the game. In Savassi there were 3 huge stages all with huge TV's. Before the game started, there was a band on one stage, and a DJ on the others. Basically it was just a huge party. They closed off the streets so they could fit everyone in there. It was so full of excitement that even someone who hated soccer would get hyped up.
Every time Brazil scored, the city just exploded. Car horns, whistles, air horns, cheering, fireworks, etc. In the end, Brazil won! So the party on the streets continued all night. It was such a great day!
I forgot to mention as well that the other day I went to a showing of this really old film called 'Humberto' with one of my friends from school. It was being showed in this huge theatre on a projection screen. It was a black and white silent film and it had a huge live orchestra playing the music for it. The music was incredible, I had goosebumps the whole time. It was not like anything I have ever seen before. My friend was always looking for someone to go with that appreciates that kind of music so I was really happy to go; I really loved it.
Since his dad plays the piano in the orchestra, we got to go back stage after the show.
And sadly last week was my last day teaching English to the little kids from that public school. We had a goodbye party with cake and everything. At the end, the kids all lined up to give me hugs! It melted my heart. I'm really glad I had that experience, I learned so much from those kids and I learned a lot about myself. That's one experience I know I will always remember.
So tomorrow is the day I will watch the FIFA World Cup live!! I will be going to the Belgium/Algeria game with a bunch of my exchange friends! That will be quite the experience!
xoxo
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