Nana and Paulo's 21st Anniversary

Today is Nana and Paulo's 21st Anniversary. It is a special day for them so Congratulations to them!

Inauguration of Barack Obama

Today I feel so proud to be American. I watched the inauguration with Nana and Paulo as they got to see a traditional and historic american event. At first they weren't very interested, but seeing Obama's speach and watching the reactions of almost 2 million people really caught their attention and they stayed to watch it. This is a great day for people all around the world.

Yellow Fever

Recently in Brazil there has been an outbreak of Yellow Fever. I was worried at first until I remembered that I was vaccinated against it. No one I know has it, because it's only in the central and northern regions of the country. At the airport we saw a map of where travelers should be aware of potential danger. (I know this says 2003 but this is the map I saw in the airport).

Back from the Airport

We got back from Porto Alegre today at about noon. I was very tired so I took a nap and I woke up a little while ago. We left yesterday morning to go to the airport. Bernardo filled his bag to the brim and put it inside of my gigantic luggage bag because he plans to bring a lot of stuff back including a new computer. We got to the airport around 1pm and eventually we met up with the rest of the group.

Then everyone said their good-byes and the travelers went through security.

After that we all went up to the second floor where you can see the airplanes loading and taking off.

We waited for a while and we actually got to see the people get on the plane since the tunnel leading to the plane was glass. Then everyone left and went their separate ways. We went to our aunt Idilia's apartment. Then we went to a new mall in Porto Alegre. It was gigantic. We walked all around and ate McDonald's which was very good. The McDonald's had a huge line and the food court was packed. Everything about the mall was huge. I even got to see the new apple iMacs which are enormous. Then we went back to our aunt's house and had a pizza dinner while watching the soap opera, or novela "A Favorita". It was the final episode. Everyone in Brazil watches the novelas. When I went downstairs to get the pizza, the night guard for the apartments was watching it on a little tv. I don't like them because they are so overly dramatic, predictable and cheesy. They are really addicting though, even though I didn't like watching it, I couldn't turn away because I wanted to see what was going to happen. It was over and we all went to bed. The next morning we woke up early to go home. We stopped at a grocery store along the way and then we drove all the way home. The trip takes about 2 and a half hours but I slept a little along the way. We got home and had lunch and I took a nap. Yesterday and today I have seen that my family missed Bernardo very much. They have talked about him very much. They called him twice to see if everything was alright and he's doing good. He said the snow was taller than Lala. He is staying in a house with a mom and two sisters of 12 and 18. Our friend Gregorio is also living in the same house as him.

Trip to Canada

Tomorrow Bernardo and a few others will leave for their trip to Canada. They are going to stay there for one month. Today we went to mass at the local church, the priest blessed Bernardo and Sílvia, our cousin who is also going. Then Bernardo said good bye to Sílvia's parents and brother, and later to his other aunt. Tomorrow at 10am we are going to Porto Alegre to say good bye at the airport.

The Beach and New Years

Today we just got back from our two week long vacation to Capão da Canoa. We left on January 29th. The trip took about 4 hours by car. Me, Bernardo, and Lala all took anti-nausea pills which made us all really drowsy so when I got there I pretty much just wanted to sleep. We were staying at my cousin Guto's beach house which is two stories and is about 10 blocks from the beach. We were there with Guto, his sister Alice, and his mom and dad, Leonides and Ilírio. The weather at the begging was a little bit cloudy and overcast but we still went to the beach.

The beach was pretty dirty though. The water was dark dark brown with something but it wasn't just sand, I don't know what it was. I've never seen a beach like that before. There was also a lot of garbage on the beach. Guto was very angry at the condition of the beach. Apparently there was a new city mayor who didn't care for the condition of the beach or city very well. On the days when the weather was bad we stayed home and played cards or guitar. They played one card game "Canastra" almost non-stop. Guto's house also had a hammock, a soccer ball, a football, and a paddle game called "Fresco ball". When new years came around we celebrated at Guto's house for a bit until the power went out, and then we all went to our aunts house (tia idília) where the whole family was gathered to celebrate.

We had some traditional brazilian New Years food that is supposed to bring good luck, and then we all went to the beach to see a fireworks show. The show was really short but literally everyone was shooting off huge fireworks all around us all night long so there wasn't a shortage. There were so many people on the beach it was crazy. Brazilians LOVE New Years, everyone was so happy and enthusiastic. The entire city was outside partying by the beach. Then we walked around down town a bit more and later went back to Guto's house to sleep. On this trip I have discovered that I snore quite loudly, to the frustration of everyone that was sleeping in the same room as me. Guto and Lala even took a few videos of me. Each day was pretty similar, we would wake up late, eat lunch, go to the beach, then walk around down town, eat, and go home and play cards. Once while me, Bernardo, and Rafinha were downtown we went to the mall and there was a gigantic crowd around the escalator. All the glass from the handrails was broken and there were police and paramedics crowded together in the middle of the escalator. We went up to the second level using the stairs and what happened was a little kid, about 5, got his fingers stuck between the moving part and the side of the escalator. They had to stop the machine, break all the glass, and use a crow bar to pry the kid's hand out. The poor kid looked pretty bad but he was taken to a hospital and I'm sure he's fine. I never saw his hand though, it was wrapped in bandages but there was blood. There were tv crews there too and while some guy was being interviewed I walked behind the camera, trying to get on tv, but they never aired the interview. I was disappointed but it was a very exciting event.

Alice, Guto's sister left to go back to Porto Alegre to work, and my family and I moved out of Guto's house to live with our cousin Sílvia at her beach house. It is a really nice apartment that is only about 3 blocks from the beach. We got a great view from there.

We stayed there until the end of our trip. Each day we would get up early (9:00) and go to the beach. Then later we would go down town again. There are hundreds of food stands that sell a type of food called Kreps, which is like a hot pocket on a stick, with many different types of filling inside of a pancake-like shell, all on a stick. They were really good. Another thing they sell there, which I thought was really weird was corn. They just sell ears of corn on the beach and everyone buys them. It's weird. 

Pretty much the experience sitting on the beach is, your in the hot sun, sitting on a beach chair, surrounded by people, in front of you is the sea and all the people who are walking up and down the shore, and every 10 seconds a vendor walks by with his cart of ice cream, or cashews, or cheese, or popsicles, and he keeps honking his horn and yelling. The guys who sell cheese always yell "Olha o queijo!". I even saw vendors as young as 10.

We visited our cousin Marina's house in a small city not too far away called Machiné. She lives there with her husband Luís, they are both doctors. We also visited the houses of this really incredibly rich guy who lives in Capão. He has like houses all in the same place and they are amazing. He also has porches, a lamborghini, a ferrari, and many other cars on display. He even has his own turf soccer stadium on his property and a fleet of security guards. Then the next day we went to a go kart place and raced around the little track for a while. It was really cool and really fun. Everyone wanted to do it more and more but it was pretty expensive. The guys that own the track said that they have another location in Bento, which is a town pretty near Veranópolis, that is cheaper, is outdoors, and has a bigger track. We will definitely do that more often.

Going to the beach was awesome. I never went in the water deeper than my knees, but I got extremely tan, I played soccer barefoot in the sand with Brazilians, and I had a great time exploring Capão da Canoa. It's really good to be back though. Bernardo leaves for his Canada trip on the 16th and he'll be gone for a month. During that time Guto says we should go visit Porto Alegre for a few days. We could stay with his sister. Also "Planeta Atlantida" is gonna happen. It's like the biggest party on earth. It's basically two nights on the beach with tons of famous bands playing, and upwards of 60,000 people. Hopefully I can go to that with Guto or someone.

Here are some more photos of the beach:

Capão da Canoa

I haven't updated the blog lately because there is no internet here. Right now we are at the beach at something called a "Lan House" which is like an internet café. I will post when I get home. HAPPY NEW YEAR.