So its been a little under two months since I’ve arrived in Brazil, and of course it’s been anything but easy, but I’m having the time of my life. I’ve made some amazing friends, some from all across the world, some from the united states, some from brazil. I’ve had conversations with people in English, Portuguese, and Spanish. I’ve eaten foods I wouldn’t have even wanted to touch back in the US. I get offended when somebody says bad things about the US, something I never really thought would happen. I’ve fallen in love with this country.
I’ve had some very hard times upon being here. Shortly before I wrote my last journal I was incredibly sick for a decent amount of time. It was a Tuesday night, and I was sick to the stomach with a throbbing headache and a fever of 103 degrees F. That night I got to have my first experience of a Brazilian hospital. It wasn’t too fun, they took blood and x-rays (not really sure why though) and around 12 AM they told me they believed it was a bacteria, but they weren’t exactly sure. So for the next few days I sat around miserably at home missing school, not really seeing anybody besides my host family (and I didn’t even see them too often due to the fact that I felt so bad I didn’t even have the ability to get out of bed really). By Friday the doctors said it was a bacteria and put me on some antibiotics and something else, which made me start feeling better so quickly. Friday’s lunch was the first food I was able to eat since Tuesday’s lunch, I was so starving! Friday was also the first day I finally saw one of my school friends again. A good friend of my class, Diego, came to see me. The first words he said to me? “Lauren! You’re so white!” I guess sitting around inside for several days straight not eating anything doesn’t really help a tan. Well later that night, we (my host family and I) left for Maragogi beach. That was a pretty great weekend, as I mentioned in my last journal.
Since then, I’ve had my ups and downs, but I’m just seeing the good in all of it. I went to the mall with my friends Laya, from Germany, and Andrea, from Mexico. I went to Laya’s house for the afternoon with another inbound from Maryland, Matt. I’ve gone to the beach with kids from my class and some of the inbounds.
Friday, the 25, was my youngest host sister’s 11th birthday party. That was interesting. I had never been to a party like that before. It was SO nice, I was jealous, but apparently this was a NORMAL party here! She even had a guy there cooking crepes for everyone, which I might add, were delicious! The party I think went well, my friends Laya and Diego came, so I wasn’t bored. However, at the end of the party, things started not going so well. My host sister had either lost her camera or her mom’s camera, I’m not sure which one because it was late and I was tired, so I couldn’t think too well. Everyone was frantically searching for it at around 11:30 while also cleaning up everything from the party. I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, and I’m not completely sure of the outcome, but I think the camera was found, or at least I hope so. I just remember later that night that my host mom coming in to talk to me to say how she was sorry and a bunch of things like this. I really didn’t know what she was apologizing for, I didn’t know if she had said something mean or anything like that, because honestly that night I was so exhausted that I wasn’t completely sure of anything that was going on or anything anyone said. I felt quite bad that night.
People here are constantly telling me how shy I am. I’m not like the Brazilians yet, I still enjoy my personal space. However, there isn’t such a thing as personal space here, honestly. When walking down a hall at school, someone will reach over and put their hand on your stomach to get your attention. When I first arrived here this always made me jump at least a little, now I’m getting used to it finally but not completely! You greet people with hugs and kisses on the cheeks. It’s very friendly and open, but very close. Boys often give you kisses on your hand, cheek, forehead, head, and its just common. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, these boys doing this are usually quite gorgeous J.
I’d have to say I’m really loving the life of an exchange student, every feeling is so much more strong. I’ve never felt more embarrassed in my life, I’ve never felt so confused, I’ve never been so bored, and I’ve never been so aggravated; but I’ve also never been this happy or had this much fun. I’m planning on writing a journal more often, to make it easier on me. There’s so much going on, and so much to write about, the longer I wait, the harder it is to write one
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Russia Group Three
Okay, so today in school was boring. Incredibly boring. However, I couldn't get one thing off my mind all day. In Maragogi, we played a game of Trivial Pursuit (In portuguese of course) and one of the questions was about two Russian terms that I had learned about last year in my history class. Oddly to say, I did actually learn something! Immediately I remembered a project I had to do on Russia and Stalin, so the first thing I thought of was this project. It has been bothering me since that night, I've been dying to watch it again. Today I finally found it! Here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6ZIhYTi3uc
Hope you enjoy it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6ZIhYTi3uc
Hope you enjoy it.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Eu entendi.
Sometimes it's quite great, other times its incredibly annoying.
Since I've been here, I've been slowly picking up portuguese.. I'm honestly surprised with how much I can understand by now. However, I think some of my friends and family don't quite realize it. It's embarassing to say, but honestly I can be incredibly slow at times. Its easy to see that my host family or my friends mistake when I didn't hear something for not understanding it. It's nice at times, because I know when they talk about me, I can understand what is all going on. However, I do feel it hurts my learning and it is very difficult for them and me when they are having to translate something. This is a topic hard to talk about, partially because of a language barrier, and also because I feel quite embarassed by it. Sometimes I'm here in person, but my mind is in its own world and I didn't catch a word of what someone says. I commonly turn to ask "o que?" or what, and then it is repeted in english. It's very difficult, and very frusterating, but I'm sure it will get better as things go on. [=
Today was a good day, though, it usually is :)
Since I've been here, I've been slowly picking up portuguese.. I'm honestly surprised with how much I can understand by now. However, I think some of my friends and family don't quite realize it. It's embarassing to say, but honestly I can be incredibly slow at times. Its easy to see that my host family or my friends mistake when I didn't hear something for not understanding it. It's nice at times, because I know when they talk about me, I can understand what is all going on. However, I do feel it hurts my learning and it is very difficult for them and me when they are having to translate something. This is a topic hard to talk about, partially because of a language barrier, and also because I feel quite embarassed by it. Sometimes I'm here in person, but my mind is in its own world and I didn't catch a word of what someone says. I commonly turn to ask "o que?" or what, and then it is repeted in english. It's very difficult, and very frusterating, but I'm sure it will get better as things go on. [=
Today was a good day, though, it usually is :)
Monday, September 21, 2009
FIRST FROM BRAZIL.
Oi! Tudo bom?
So I've been in Brazil for over a month, and I've done an AMAZING job at putting off blogging. It's not that I don't have anything exciting to write about, but its just that I keep putting it off, I'm a master at procrastination. Sorry about that (: So, how do I put the most amazing month and a half of my life into words? It's honestly not at all fully possible, its been so much more than I expected and over all just completely wonderful. I've had the best experience of my life so far, and I'm sure its only going to get better.I left the united states August 2, 2009 on a flight leaving Miami at 9:20 PM (I did have another plane from jacksonville to Miami before then, however). The 8 hour plane ride went by much quicker than I thought. I only was able to sleep for 30 minutes but I kept myself entertained by watching a movie and coloring, and I spent nearly 4 hours coloring in my Disney coloring book that I brought along. Landing in Salvador lead me to confusion. Almost no one in the airport spoke english and I had such a hard time trying to find where I go to check back into another flight after customs! But luckily I experienced right off the warm and friendliness of the Brazilians and someone showed me the way. 3 hours later, I was on a plane again on my way to my city! I hadn't really began feeling anything until I began to see the beach and the outline of a big city in the distance. I instantly knew I was going to fall in love with this beautiful beach city.Leaving the plane I was greeted by my host family waiting outside the doors for me. Exiting that airport was stepping into another world I was so unprepared for, so excited for, and so ready for.Sometimes, its so hard to believe I'm doing this. I've become so accustomed to everything that goes on in my life here, it's feeling all too normal! I have to remind myself sometimes that I'm in Brazil. I already can see myself changing, I know I will never be that same girl I was before I left. School here is wonderful. I don't understand a thing, but its good. Everyone here is so much louder in the US, and at times school is so much more fun. However, one thing I noticed upon reading my friend's journals was that most of them seemed to be really enjoying english class. Honestly, my english class is my LEAST favorite class. I don't understand ANYTHING! How, one might ask, can I not understand a class that teaches the language that I actually know? Well, to begin with, my english teacher does NOT know english, she's taught the class things that are wrong, I try to tell her and she ignores me because she doesn't know what I'm saying. Also, when people try to ask me a question on how to write a certain form of a sentence, I get so confused! These were things I learned maybe in the 2nd grade and do not remember a single thing about! My friends here are quite disappointed that I can never help them with their english work. On my first english test I recieved a mark of 7.3/10 on the test. That shows how well my english is, right? Well besides english class, I have a variety of other classes which I still can't remember what they are or what days they come on. I know I have 2 chemistry classes, 2 physics classes, 2 biology classes, a math class, a portuguese class, a gym class, an english class, a composition class, and I think maybe another one or two that I'm forgetting. Here, teachers switch classes instead of students, so I never had to worry about going to the wrong classes. Overall though, school started off great but now has just become school, but I completely adore it and the people inside!About my city? Rotary didn't tell me that I'd be living my year abroad in complete paradise. I live an entire four blocks from such a beautiful beach! I go at LEAST once a week. I love it. However, you can't swim in the beach here (or at least you aren't supposed to, but I have anyways) because of a shark problem they have in this city. It's so much more beautiful than the florida beaches I've grown up with. They are definitely much cleaner and much more lively here! Someone is always trying to sell you food or jewelry or clothes or anything on the beach, its neat. Since I've come to Brasil, I've already been on a few trips, but none of them outside of paradise. I've gone to the prettiest beach in the country, in my opinion the world, called Porto de Galinhas. I had never seen anything like that! It is the kind of beach you only see in pictures, yet it was completely real! I've gone to Maragogi, a beach in the state to the south, a few times as well. The first time I went to Maragogi was with rotary. Oh, that was such a wonderful trip! I got to meet the other inbounds in the Norbrex multidistrict, they are all such lovely people. This was our inbound orientation, and we honestly did little with rotary. We spent the weekend creating friendships, playing games, swimming in the ocean, building sculptures out of people burried in the sand, dancing, eating, feeding monkeys, turning guys into girls and vice versa, and overall just having an amazing time! I adore the other inbounds and cannot wait to see them again in December! I also went to Maragogi this weekend, but this time with my family and my sister's best friend to my family's beach house. I had a lot of fun (:Brazilian food is the best thing in the world, really. I was a vegetarian before coming here, and I hadn't eaten beef in YEARS. I just thought it was nasty. Now you wouldn't hear me say that or even anything close. I love the meat in Brasil. There is such a variety of meats and flavors, its all delicious! A fairly common food here is chicken hearts, and as disgusting as that sounds, its very good. Many of my friends here say that they prefer American (US) food more than Brazilian food. I am usually very confused by this statement and have to ask them what they mean by "American" food. This leads to disappointment for me, they respond with "Oh, my favorite is the Big Mac!" or just simply say "McDonald's." I then usually hear about how when they think of the US, all they think of is McDonald's and Disney. It disappoints me to hear this, I don't even like McDonald's, but I'm glad I can be here to make an impact and change their views on what they think of "All Americans". In being an exchange student, I realize there is a lot thought about me, especially when I am in a place that hasn't seen other exchange students from Florida. They look up to me, this is how they will think of Americans. It's a lot of responsibility, but I think I can handle it!One can easily see that I've changed, at least a little already, and will continue changing. I'm welcoming said change. I'm also helping change the world around me by "sharing the sunshine state with the world". Thank you rotary for giving me this opportunity, I'm going to make the most of it.
Beijos!
-Lauren Youngerman
So I've been in Brazil for over a month, and I've done an AMAZING job at putting off blogging. It's not that I don't have anything exciting to write about, but its just that I keep putting it off, I'm a master at procrastination. Sorry about that (: So, how do I put the most amazing month and a half of my life into words? It's honestly not at all fully possible, its been so much more than I expected and over all just completely wonderful. I've had the best experience of my life so far, and I'm sure its only going to get better.I left the united states August 2, 2009 on a flight leaving Miami at 9:20 PM (I did have another plane from jacksonville to Miami before then, however). The 8 hour plane ride went by much quicker than I thought. I only was able to sleep for 30 minutes but I kept myself entertained by watching a movie and coloring, and I spent nearly 4 hours coloring in my Disney coloring book that I brought along. Landing in Salvador lead me to confusion. Almost no one in the airport spoke english and I had such a hard time trying to find where I go to check back into another flight after customs! But luckily I experienced right off the warm and friendliness of the Brazilians and someone showed me the way. 3 hours later, I was on a plane again on my way to my city! I hadn't really began feeling anything until I began to see the beach and the outline of a big city in the distance. I instantly knew I was going to fall in love with this beautiful beach city.Leaving the plane I was greeted by my host family waiting outside the doors for me. Exiting that airport was stepping into another world I was so unprepared for, so excited for, and so ready for.Sometimes, its so hard to believe I'm doing this. I've become so accustomed to everything that goes on in my life here, it's feeling all too normal! I have to remind myself sometimes that I'm in Brazil. I already can see myself changing, I know I will never be that same girl I was before I left. School here is wonderful. I don't understand a thing, but its good. Everyone here is so much louder in the US, and at times school is so much more fun. However, one thing I noticed upon reading my friend's journals was that most of them seemed to be really enjoying english class. Honestly, my english class is my LEAST favorite class. I don't understand ANYTHING! How, one might ask, can I not understand a class that teaches the language that I actually know? Well, to begin with, my english teacher does NOT know english, she's taught the class things that are wrong, I try to tell her and she ignores me because she doesn't know what I'm saying. Also, when people try to ask me a question on how to write a certain form of a sentence, I get so confused! These were things I learned maybe in the 2nd grade and do not remember a single thing about! My friends here are quite disappointed that I can never help them with their english work. On my first english test I recieved a mark of 7.3/10 on the test. That shows how well my english is, right? Well besides english class, I have a variety of other classes which I still can't remember what they are or what days they come on. I know I have 2 chemistry classes, 2 physics classes, 2 biology classes, a math class, a portuguese class, a gym class, an english class, a composition class, and I think maybe another one or two that I'm forgetting. Here, teachers switch classes instead of students, so I never had to worry about going to the wrong classes. Overall though, school started off great but now has just become school, but I completely adore it and the people inside!About my city? Rotary didn't tell me that I'd be living my year abroad in complete paradise. I live an entire four blocks from such a beautiful beach! I go at LEAST once a week. I love it. However, you can't swim in the beach here (or at least you aren't supposed to, but I have anyways) because of a shark problem they have in this city. It's so much more beautiful than the florida beaches I've grown up with. They are definitely much cleaner and much more lively here! Someone is always trying to sell you food or jewelry or clothes or anything on the beach, its neat. Since I've come to Brasil, I've already been on a few trips, but none of them outside of paradise. I've gone to the prettiest beach in the country, in my opinion the world, called Porto de Galinhas. I had never seen anything like that! It is the kind of beach you only see in pictures, yet it was completely real! I've gone to Maragogi, a beach in the state to the south, a few times as well. The first time I went to Maragogi was with rotary. Oh, that was such a wonderful trip! I got to meet the other inbounds in the Norbrex multidistrict, they are all such lovely people. This was our inbound orientation, and we honestly did little with rotary. We spent the weekend creating friendships, playing games, swimming in the ocean, building sculptures out of people burried in the sand, dancing, eating, feeding monkeys, turning guys into girls and vice versa, and overall just having an amazing time! I adore the other inbounds and cannot wait to see them again in December! I also went to Maragogi this weekend, but this time with my family and my sister's best friend to my family's beach house. I had a lot of fun (:Brazilian food is the best thing in the world, really. I was a vegetarian before coming here, and I hadn't eaten beef in YEARS. I just thought it was nasty. Now you wouldn't hear me say that or even anything close. I love the meat in Brasil. There is such a variety of meats and flavors, its all delicious! A fairly common food here is chicken hearts, and as disgusting as that sounds, its very good. Many of my friends here say that they prefer American (US) food more than Brazilian food. I am usually very confused by this statement and have to ask them what they mean by "American" food. This leads to disappointment for me, they respond with "Oh, my favorite is the Big Mac!" or just simply say "McDonald's." I then usually hear about how when they think of the US, all they think of is McDonald's and Disney. It disappoints me to hear this, I don't even like McDonald's, but I'm glad I can be here to make an impact and change their views on what they think of "All Americans". In being an exchange student, I realize there is a lot thought about me, especially when I am in a place that hasn't seen other exchange students from Florida. They look up to me, this is how they will think of Americans. It's a lot of responsibility, but I think I can handle it!One can easily see that I've changed, at least a little already, and will continue changing. I'm welcoming said change. I'm also helping change the world around me by "sharing the sunshine state with the world". Thank you rotary for giving me this opportunity, I'm going to make the most of it.
Beijos!
-Lauren Youngerman
Monday, April 27, 2009
District conference - Daytona
Isn't it just sad, how one can become sooooo close to a particular group of friends, and then have to leave them again? This whole Rotary Youth Exchange program really is a butthead sometimes... Don't get me wrong, its the best thing that's ever happened to me; it just involves a lot of pain. Over the past few months I've met the most amazing people through rotary. Inbounds, future outbounds, and all over... It's really sad to say that I may never see some of those inbounds ever again, or that I'll see some of those really close outbounds maybe once or twice.
It's probably not the best thing to say, but I honestly think I like my rotary friends more than my school friends.
Don't get me wrong, I love them with all of my heart...
It's probably not the best thing to say, but I honestly think I like my rotary friends more than my school friends.
Don't get me wrong, I love them with all of my heart...
It's just that recently,
everyone has become soooo distant.
Why? I'm not totally sure, It might be because I'm leaving.... It might be because I'm changing, I have not a clue.
Looking at how some of my friends are acting now, I don't see how I"ll manage to stay friends with them when I return in a year, I'll be sooo much more different, and most of them arent' seeming to like any little change like that.
Change is wonderful, but it is definitely hard.
But I'm welcoming it with open arms and am ready for about anything to head my way :)
-April 27
103 days
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
the keys all look so friendly...
On a keyboard, the 80 keys or so look so welcoming and friendly
(Yes I did just count the keys on my keyboard...)
The last few days, honestly, have been anything but great. Feelings (with my mess going on at home, being sick, and feeling completely offended by teachers in classes) have been completely occupying my life and just sort of taking over. I could go on and on about these subjects, but this is the internet, not my personal diary, so I'll keep to myself.
Although, its tricky. The keys on the keyboard, they almost seem to have a gravitational pull to each individual finger, some stronger than others causing a simple tap of a key. I could probably write for hours about everything and still not be tired of typing. I can't do that however because no information I put on the web is safe, and I know that. And for example, right now, if you're some creepy sexual offender or just some creepy old man who likes to read teenage girl's blogs then come track them down and like kill or rape them, well you are a freak and you might as well leave my page. Keystrokes, are almost like a drug... Just do a few and you're hooked -- making it super hard to just simply stop. Contain myself I must, and with you the force may be.
Okay, So I admit, I'm a bit looney right now
I'm sooooooo tired and soooooo stressed, I even burnt cookies
I NEVER burn cookies...
My visa application.... It's almost done!
All I have to do is wait until friday and get both my parents to sign it... Fun, right?
Oh! And another step towards my goal, I also am now enrolled in flvs Spanish 2.
Oh How Exciting!
115 days until I leave.
:)
Excitement. Fear. Escape. Freedom. Experience.
Dang I just can't wait for Brazil!! :)
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Spring Break
Spring break has been definitely GREAT.... Just insanely busy!
Lets see... here's about what I did...
Lets see... here's about what I did...
- Monday : Zoo with grandparents/aunt/cousin ethan
- Tuesday: Clean room *that takes a while* and left for daytona... sat in traffic for hours, saw the speedway, and headed to orlando.
- Wednesday: Disney -- Self explanitory
- Thursday: Bowling & Shopping, a little less busy, but still pretty fulll day.
- Friday: Fairl, literally all day. got there before noon, didn't get home until a little after 10.
- Today;Saturday: I helped out with a Rotary Fun Run in the morning, then I've just been pretty much lying around since... I'm tired
My life Is pretty uneventful at the moment, But the closer time gets to brazil the more excited and more nervous I become.
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