Pool Pictures

Here are some pictures of the Club we go to. Today it was about 85 degrees. This is only the pool though, the club also has a futebol field and beach volleyball.

From Left to Right: Gico, Bernardo (on bottom), Nicolas, Me, "Ale" (Alesandro).

More Pool pictures/Veranópolis

From Left to Right: Bernardo, Gico, Ale, Nicolas

Christmas Decorating

Yesterday we did our christmas decorating. We set up a little artificial tree, and decorated the rest of the house. Lala set up a small manger at the bottom of the tree. The whole town has already been decorated. It's so weird for me to see all this christmas stuff when it's sunny and hot outside. Plus it seems very early for christmas things right now. But it's nice. Here are some pictures.

SCHOOL'S OUT

I was wrong about 3 days left. School got out today, and it doesn't get back until March. I'm very happy.

Life Story/Summer

I just finished a big assignment for Philosophy class and it was all in Portuguese! It was short story of my life and it was about 13 pages long. I'm very proud of myself because I didn't think I could do it. I did get a lot of help from Nana though. We spent a lot of time translating and editing so I'm very thankful for her help. It was our final assignment for Philosophy class since the school year ends on Tuesday! I'm really happy. Summer here is going to be amazing.

My Health 2

Now I am feeling totally normal again. The doctor says that it's ok to go back to playing soccer and everything. The only problem is that I hurt my foot today tossing around a football at Guto's. I hurt the bone in my heel, but I think I just bruised the bone so it shouldn't be too long before it gets better.

Summer!!

Today felt like a real, legitimate summer day. It was in the high 70's Fahrenheit, around 27 Celsius, blue sky and sunny with a nice breeze blowing in the palm trees. We woke up at 11 and then went to Guto's house for a Churrasco lunch. We ate, played with Guto's dog Pongo, tossed around an American football and finished editing a movie for a school project; all in Guto's garage with the garage door open. Then we went to a place called "Clube Caça e Pesca" which is sort of like a small country club with two pools, one outdoor and one indoor, a waterslide, futebol fields, churrasco pits, volleyball, futsal, and a snack bar. In the summer everyone goes there almost every day and today was the opening day so it was filled with people. The weather was perfect. Later we walked to the town square, relaxed in the shade and had some water and a plate of french fries. Veranópolis is so beautiful in the summer and everyone tells me it will only get better from here.

Halloween Party

Over the weekend New Age English had a Halloween party. Here are some pictures:

Piano Lessons

I'm going to start having piano lessons on Wednesday. Two of my classmates play piano and they both go to the same woman. Her name is Regina de Moraes. I met with her on Saturday and I played some things for her. She said I was a bit too advanced for her because she didn't study piano in college, she just teaches and plays for fun. But she is still a good teacher and I'm happy that she's willing to help me. She has two upright pianos. It was so wonderful to play a real piano again and not just a little keyboard. She says I can come back when she's not teaching and play for fun. She's a really nice woman. So far what I'm working on is a Chopin piece from the romantic book I brought, Rhapsody In Blue, the Gershwin Preludes, and a book of classic brazilian pieces. They are easy to play but they sound really good, and they're fun to play. She says she will find me some Samba and Jazz to play too so I'm excited for that.

My Health

So now I pretty much feel completely normal. No more sore throat, swollen tonsils, fever, weakness, and I can hear now! The only thing left is that I can't play soccer or go to the gym until the monday after next because the doctor says my spleen and liver are swollen and a blow to my abdomen could cause them to rupture which could be lethal. So I might gain some weight until then but that would actually be good since I got pretty skinny from having Mono in the first place. I'm eating all my good food groups and drinking healthy fruit juices and everything. By the way Mom I tried Açaí juice and it is horrible. haha. But thanks for the suggestion anyways.

Day Of The Dead

Today in Brazil it was Day of the Dead or "Dia dos Mortos". In the afternoon around 5 we all went to the cemetery where about 250 people were gathered to hear the Catholic Priest give a sermon. Then everyone went their separate ways to look for the grave sites of their family members. Grave sites in Brazil are very different than in the US. They have little "houses" of different sizes depending on how many coffins are inside but they are roughly about 8 to 11 feet high and about 10 feet on each side. They have shelves to put pictures of the dead, flowers, candles and other things inside the house with a window and metal bars to protect them. Sometimes they have doors to walk in. The actual coffins are embedded in the cement, of which the house is made. Each house has a plaque telling the name and birth/death dates of the person. We visited Nana's family gravesite which held her father, brother, and mother; and later the site of Paulo's grandfather, and Bernardo's cousin who was tragically hit by a drunk driver in 2006.

Formula 1 Racing

Today Paulo and Bernardo watched Formula 1 Racing which happens to be really popular here in Brazil, I had no idea. A Brazilian guy named Felipe Massa won first place as he usually does. Just a random note of something I didn't know about Brazil and maybe you didn't know.