Bowling

We went bowling yesterday for the first time. The nightclub that we go to, Soal, just got a "bowling alley". I put it in quotations because there are only two lanes. It's interesting to play there since the bowling alleys in the US are different. Here the lanes are shorter, a lot less smooth and greasy, and there's no bumper for kids. The way the pins work are different too. Each pin has a cord attached to the top of it so when you knock them down, the machine pulls them all up by their cords and sets them back down again. Sometimes the machine actually sets down less pins that it should, but there's a button you can press to add more pins. The good thing is that it's free to go play however many games you want as long as your a member of Soal.

German Couple

Today I'm still home from school but we had a cool surprise today. A german couple named Lili and Ingo. It was very interesting to talk to them. They spoke english very well. We talked about Their lives in Germany, German culture, American culture, Brazil, soccer, rugby (which Ingo plays), food, and school in Germany and the USA. It was very interesting. They are going to stay here for 5 more days in Veranópolis and then they are going to tour almost all of South America. We even gave them Chimarrão which they had never seen in their lives. Ingo said he liked it but it looked like Lili was having trouble drinking it since it was so hot. I think she burned her lips a little bit. But it was interesting to see another person being introduced to something I didn't even know very well until a few months ago.

Sick Again

I'm sick again, for the first time in many months. It really sucks but there's nothing I can really do except take medicine, which by the way was free thanks to the Brazilian healthcare system. I'm getting better slowly and maybe I'll go to school tomorrow.

Ronaldo

Ronaldo, the Phenomenon, top world cup goal scorer and one of the best forwards in history, has been contracted by the Brazilian team Corinthians after playing on the worlds best teams including Barcelona, Internazionale, Real Madrid, and Milan. He hasn't played for a year because of knee complications but right now he is on the reserve bench and he will most likely play later on in the game being played right now (2-0 for Corinthians). This is a very important event because Ronaldo is a huge icon for Brazilians and his return to Brazilian soccer is very special. Bernardo and Paulo don't have any ties to Corinthians but we are watching this game even though it's 11:20 on a school night.

Right at this moment he is warming up. The cameras aren't even on the game anymore, just him warming up.

Water Problems

For the past few days we have been having some water problems. You turn on the faucet and it there's no water. The same thing with the shower. But it's on and off, I can't take showers in my bathroom but I can in Nana and Paulo's bathroom. It's a little annoying but we are gonna get a guy to come and fix it today. Hopefully it'll get all fixed.

School Is Back

Monday, school is back. This year is going to be different since I understand a lot more portuguese. I think I'm going to be graded normally now too, unlike last year where I had an overall grade based on how well I tried and payed attention. Now we're in the third year, which is the last year of Brazilian high school. All my classmates are now gonna be worrying about the "Vestibular" which is a big test to get into college. Here they have private and public colleges just like in the US except here public colleges are free. All you have to do to get in is pass the Vestibular. The school year doesn't end until December so I'll be leaving half way through and year, and I don't have to take the Vestibular. Plus today is my 7 month anniversary being in Brazil. Time went by so fast. It doesn't feel like 7 months at all, and I'm starting to feel like I'm leaving too soon. Maybe school will make time slow down a bit more.