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.