More Updates from Recife!

Well, the last few days have been fairly uneventfull. Just when you think life is starting to settle into a little bit of a pattern, then a flurry of activity happens. :) Today was one of those flurries, but it was definately a good thing. As an exchange student, it´s nice to have activity, because you don´t have time for saudade (this is the brazilian word for missing someone, or a place, etc. I think it is very appropriate) It is really only when nothing is happening that you have time to feel sad. This is why I am gratefull that my family is very active. There are generally alot of people over, and they are fun.

An overview of the last several days...

On Sunday, my family attended church at this little church which is inside the Parque da Jaqueira (park where we went running before). I understood somewhat more this time because they had programs with the liturgy of the word in them, and because it was a mass for children. I still did not understand the homily at all, but hopefully this will get better as I am here for a longer time, and take language classes. That afternoon, various friends came over to watch a football match, and I went to the grocery store with my host parents and Eduarda,. We bought food for me to make an American lunch for everyone that day. I made salmon, cheesegrits, and salad, and although there were difficulties finding everything, it all turned out well, and they liked it. :) The maid does not work on the weekends, which is why I made it on Sunday... I think I may do some more weeked cooking in the future, since it went over well. :) Then, that night, my family and I and Eduarda´s boyfriend went on a 'tour' of the city. All 7 of us piled into one of the family´s compact cars and drove around the old part of the city for a while to look at various historical things. Then we went to get dinner at an arabian fast food restaurant. This was very fun and the city is beautiful at night. Even so, there is also alot of poverty in the old section of the city, and going out at night, we saw many people sleeping on the sidewalks.

Monday, I continued with my basketball practice. I also went to the mall with my host sisters. This is a popular activity, and people go to hang out, not neccasarily to buy anything. Yesterday was Bruna´s 21st birthday, so she had a party with us and all of her friends last night at a sushi restauraunt.

Today was a whirlwind of activity! This morning, Bruna, Eduarda and I went to the mall to exchange some of the gifts that Bruna got for her birthday yesterday. I also bought some sandals which look very brazilian compared to everything else I have, which does not. :) After this shopping experience, we returned home and ate lunch, then ran over to our meeting with some of my teachers at the UFPE. We talked with multiple people about my schedule for the university, and some of it is now worked out, though not exactly crystal clear. I will start my portuguese classes on monday, I think, and will also take painting, sculpture and lithography (probably) but I do not know when these will start. I will also want to take some other classes, but we will see what happens. It was really cool to see the college and meet some of the professors, though, and I feel somewhat better about it now. This evening, I had another basketball practice, which went well. Before hand, I was talking with some of the other girls on the team about the U.S, my life, etc. Everyone was surprised to know that I have never been to disney land, do not live in New York city, and do not know Michael Jordan or Beyonce personally. :) They also tried to teach me some slang. It was a fun time. When we returned home, there was a Nautico game on tv (they lost again!) and guess what... relatives! Yes... Life here is very different from life in Springfield, but both are good.