olá! so ive figured out that we are pretty much in september weather right now, summer is "over" and all the students have gone back to university, and its getting cold, but its still mostly nice. so weve been taking advantage of every sunny day and going to the beaches. i hung out with hennia from holland and jeremy from san diego for a little while, which was nice. strangely enough they are both gone now, but such is the way of the school down here. i met a couple canadian girls, we went out the other night with my friend jim from minnesota to see a jazz-ish type trio, the music was amazing, and they were so nice! and we drank strawberry caipivodkas, dangerous! we also all went out dancing one night at a club that plays forró music only. so it was interesting, i was expecting it to be super fun, but it really just made me miss salsa, cuz really forró itsnt as fun, and the guys that i danced with werent really all that great. but whatever, when in rome..
i also went out with ariana and hennia one night to dance samba, it was samba de raiz, i didnt even know i could dance it, but the steps are all pretty similar, and wow, that made the forró seem awesome. i think i just found it boring, cuz the guys werent even twirling me around, how boring is that! but the band was really good. its all about the experience. so i think were going out dancing again this weekend, but now i guess i know what to expect a little more.
as for school, luckily (because shes awesome) we got the same teacher 2 weeks in a row. by the end of the second week we had gone through every single verb congujation, like how to say "if i were you, i would.. and i would have if i could have..." stuff like that, which usually comes after like 2 years of language study. awesome! so now were practicing vocab and conversation and using what weve learned. i gave a presentation in class yesterday about the history of brazil from discovery to independence, and it was actually really cool. i only talked for like 5 minutes or so, but i never hesitated or anything, it was easier than i thought it would be, so i was excited:) i almost feel like i speak more portuguese than italian now, but i think thats cuz its really hard to switch between romance languages since theyre so similar, i even speak portuguese when im trying to speak spanish, so i dont think i need to worry. i just need to go back to italy!
so one thing that has been kinda stressing me out lately is my trip after i leave here, we found out that since december of 2007 bolivia is requiring visas ($100 visas- ouch) for US citizens, so now amanda and i are tyring to figure things out for that. and my route to la paz so far doesnt exist, im tyring to figure out which way to go, cuz paraguay requires a $50 visa too, buses take days and arent the safest, but theyre cheap, and anyone ive ever talked to about bolivia has warned me not to go there alone- i thought, yeah right! like i would! and guess what... now im pretty sure i am, so im trying to be positive about it, im finding out good things that are starting to outweigh the horror stories, so im sure itll all work out. but i only have another week! i cant believe ive already been here almost 3 weeks, actually its not even that, its that i only have a week left. weird. im gonna be in peru before i know it. with amanda! im so excited for that.
so this week its been pretty cold, so i started running again (im training already for the ridge run daryl!) and thats been really nice. near my house is the big highway-type road that goes along the water, its all lit up at night and has ample space for runners, walkers, and bikers, so its super safe and theres always tons of people running, its awesome at night. ive also really taken time to talk to ariana, its so fun. shes probably my best friend here, its just like having a great roommate, we can talk about all sorts of things, and hang out, like girls should. and our director at school has taken some of us out lately too, us being me and some other brasilians, so i always am speaking portuguese. and thats really the reason im here, so by the end of next week im sure ill be able to say im more than satisfied with what ive experienced here. its a lot for a month.
oh- james youll be proud of me, i bought new flip flops, and they work in the rain! and theyre red:) i also got another pair of brazilian sandals, a new sarong and some shirts, oh and i did buy a brasilian bikini top..but only the top, the bottoms here are missing a lot:) im definitely gonna have to send a bag home with amanda, but thats okay! so anyway i think the ice cream in my freezer is calling my name.. next time i write hopefully ill know where im going in a week! hope all is well!! tchau.. jaque (thats how they spell my name here..)
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