Rotary, Visas, Bikinis, Nautico: Brazilian Experiences of the Week

I haven´t had much time to write during the last few days because I´ve been pretty busy, but things are still going well here. In between burst of rain (frequent in winter here) my family have been doing alot of swimming in the pool at our appartment. We came to the realization that I needed to buy a brazilian bikini, both for now and for later when we go to tamandare beach during vacations, so my host mom and sister and some friends went to buy one for me. Bikinis here are very small. The one I ended up buying is small by my standards, but big by brazilian standards... you get the picture. :)

We´ve also been watching alot of movies. My family likes movies alot, and so in the past week we have watched several. The first one was "American Gangster" this was dubbed in portuguese, and I liked the movie, but to me, the fact that I was watching it here was hilarious. We also watched a brazilian movie called "Meu nome nao e John" about a middle-class kid who becomes a drug dealer. This was a very interesting and good movie. My family also likes to watch soccer games on TV and in person. Usually, lots of friends and family come over to watch them and hang out. This is what we did last night. It was alot of fun, and I was better able to talk to everyone in portuguese. Soccer is very very popular here. The city of Recife has two professional teams: Nautico and Sport. There is a big rivalry between these teams and their fans. My family likes Nautico, and they bought me a Nautico Jersy to wear when we do eventually get to go watch a game. Brazilians like to joke about soccer rivalries, but they really mean it too. :)

Today I went through the rigamarole of trying to get a Brazilian Identity Card. First, my host mom and I went to the Hipper Bompreço, a Brazilian store owned by Walmart, to get an official photo for the card. My shirt was the wrong color, so I had to buy one at the store in order to take a photo. Even so, it worked out, and I got the photos. Later in the day, my host father and I went to the federal police headquarters with all the neccesarry documents to get the card. We filled out forms, had my fingerprints taked, waited, and finally saw one of the agents. Unfortunately, the agent found that my passport had a mistake in it. Someone from the Brazilian colsulate in chicago accidentally stamped it with a visa for 90 days instead of one year, even though the other visa papers say one year. After all that, we couldn´t get the card! It should be ok, though, we just have to go through a couple of extra steps before we can get it, but it was kind of crazy.

The other thing I did today was attend my first Brazilian Rotary meeting. I went with Gustavo and Bruna, my eldest sister. The meeting went well. I introduced myself to the club and presented the club banner to the president. We ate lunch, and various people spoke in portuguese about the Rotary, but I didn´t really understand anything. Afterwards, I spoke to many of the Rotarians. My counselor wasn´t there today, but I did get to meet Leandro and many other people. There was also one other exchange student; a girl from Mexico.

Another activity which has come up is basketball. I have the opportunity to play on a club team run by Nautico, which is really cool. I went to my first practice yesterday and it was alot of fun. I go back tomorrow. (practices will be monday ,wednesday, and friday) Unfortunately, I didn´t bring my basketball shoes with me because I didn´t know I´d need them! I do have other tennis shoes, though, so it´s ok for now. Vamos Nautico!

Ta aqui no Brasil!

Well, I´m here! Today is Sunday 27th July and it is my third full day here in Recife. Things are going well so far. Right now it is "winter" which basically means that it rains alot. Today however, the weather is beautiful. Although it is difficult to be so far away from home and from all of my family and friends, I am happy to say that my family here is very nice and alot of fun. We live in an apartament in the Casa Forte district of the city, and the family consists of the two parents; Gustavo and Maria Clara, daughters Bruna and Eduarda, and Bruna´s son Gustavo (Gustavinho). The house is very lively as there are always alot of people here other than the family. Friends and relatives often come over and spend time with us, and I have met many people in the last three days! Today I went to church with Gustavo and Clara, which was very nice. The mass is the same everywhere in the world, except for the language. I admit, I didn´t really understand very much of what the priest said, but I did understand some things and I was glad to be able to go. After that, we went to pick up Bruna from a friend´s house and we drove around the city so that I could see different parts of it. We went to see the church where Gustavo and Clara were married, which was very old and beautiful. The musicians of the church were practicing when we went there, which was neat, too. Then we went to have lunch at a lanchonette (?) kind of a cafeteria place. After lunch, we drove to Olinda, which is a city adjacent to Recife. It is very historic and very beautiful there, with lots of colonial buildings and many colors. There is a beautiful view of the sea from there, and also a view of the city of Recife. Unfortunately I didn´t bring my camera or anything else, because I thought we were just going to church. :) Oh well, Clara said we would go back another time. Olinda has a beautiful cathedral from the 1600´s which is very famous and is in all of the guidebooks, it really is very nice. next to this is an open air market with local crafts, and also tourist-y items. There are alot of very old things here. It is interesting, because historic buildings are protected, and so they often stand alongside modern appartment buildings (are surrounded by them) Also, there is alot of poverty here. Unfortunate, but true.