feliz páscoa!

this past weeek, brasil had another celebrated holiday, páscoa.

easter.

a few weeks before easter sunday, supermarkets and all grocery stores, had hundreds of thousands of "eggs" floating above customer's head. these eggs, of any and every various types of chocolate, 12inches in height, were nothing but a hollow "egg" of chocolate with a little surprise in the middle. the supermarkets were FILLED and i felt like i found the golden ticket and walked into wily wonka's magical land of every child's dream.

when my family went to select our eggs, i looked around for awhile, marveling at all this chocolate in one small area, saw the most beauitful egg, wrapped in gold foil which sprakled under the artifical lighting, it caught my eye. who cares if i didnt like the chocolate..it was beauitful nevertheless. i knew that was my egg. easy as that.

my sister on the otherhand. she wanted them all and she didnt want any. she decided on one and changed her mind later. i think she just enjoyed wandering the store and dreaming of how much chocolate she could store in her belly.

i was thinking of how many belly-aches she would be getting within the next few days.

for the easter holiday, my family would be traveling to my mother's city, Oliveira, Minas Gerais. Just a little over 6 hours of traveling, we managed to pull off the journey in around 9hours, due to crowded roads, getting lost, and highways being down. ohh the joys of traveling in brasil..

we arrived in Oliveira on Thursday afternoon, being introduced to my mother's side of the family ..her mom, my grandma, are the exact same person, smiles, laughter, and pure love, the only difference is that my grandma has a few more years behind her

we got settled in and then ran off to our first activity ..thursday evening mass. although brasil is a catholic country, that night was the first time i ever witnessed a catholic ceremony here. the place was crowded ..seemed like everyone from this small town came to that one church for the dedication of the last supper. we could barely find a place to sit ..we were in the back behind a pillar, i couldnt see anything, but i could feeel it. the service was long ..especially since it was also foreign to me. i'm not catholic and have been to very few services in my life so the sitting, knealing, chatting, is as strange in portuguese as it is in english. but it was a beauitful service and it meant a lot to me; my family isnt religious, they spend their sunday mornings at the country club reading the newspaper in their bikinis, so just that they took me, knowing how important church is to me, meant the world.

friday morning, the light spilling through the curtains at 7am, i woke early and walked with my mom through town. by 11 we were exhausted and dripping with sweat and ready to clean up for lunch. lunch was grilled salmon and shrimp as big as my fist ..my belly was really happy afterwards :)

later we all piled into the car and visited everyone from my mom's childhood. i met so many people, so many names and faces that i cant remember, that after we would meet someone new, ..i would turn to my sister and ask, who was that? she would shake her head, she didnt know either.

my sister's friend also came to Oliveira so we all just hung out ..doing nothing but talking.

i love my sister i really do. ..i remember being so excited to have a sister in this family. my first house, my sister was in germany; my second house, my sister studied in a different city ...so finally, finally.. i had a girl. someone to relate with and to tell secrets and ..a sister! i think i needed a sister more than anything because i miss my real sisters, those two crazy girls back home.

saturday afternooon was lazy in every sense of the word.

that night, there was a huge party in the city which i went with my brother &some of his friends.

i had nothing to wear, literally nothing. wasnt informed of bringing nice clothes. but my sister insisted that i loooked fine. she did my make up for me. she is 15years old and knows more about makeup than i do ..way more. i put a little eye liner on and she said ..let me help you ariana.

after she was done ..i looked like i was going out to spend some time on the road, if you know what i mean. i could only imagine barbara carr's look of disapproval because of all the black smeared under my eyes. she forced me to use lipstick and eyeshadow and blush ..telling me that i was just beauitful!

the party was banging, absoluety amazing, and lasted until 7:30

i got home, took a shower, changed my clothes, and got into the car to travel back to Ipatinga. i thought that i would definitely pass out in the car ..being that i didnt sleeep the night before. OF COURSE i couldnt fall asleep ..only person that couldnt sleeep. i got so car sick! it was horrible! i think it was because of not sleeeping and everything in my stomach ..but i was wrecked and had to pull over a few times. thankfully the journey didnt last 9hours ..just the "short" 6hours.

so easter came and went without much thought. i missed family

when i was sitting in the backsit, miserable, silent tears came rolling down my cheek without me even noticing at first. holidays away from home are the hardest ..anyone can tell you that. but when you are busy, and moving and meeting new people ..youre fine. but when youre not.

when you start to think of everyone ..of all the things you do each year, the same thing, the exact same thing each year ..that sometimes seem boring and predicable ..it makes tradition. and thats what you miss.

CSFX, sala 330

sometimes i forget that i go to a brasilian public school.

&then something competely out of the ordinary happens.

like how there was a huge grasshopper sitting peacefully on the curtains 2feeet away from me during class ..and eventually landed on a desk.

or when, for a straight week, the boys collected bugs and put them in girls pencil cases just to see them jump out of their desks during classs &interupt the lesson for a good 5minutes.

(i like how both of these examples involve bugs)

these things you wouldnt find in an american public schoool ..and sometimes that slipps my mind.

on the attendace sheet, there is a total of 45 people.

45 brasilians in one classroom with one professor ..actually 46 people becasue theres me :) litttle old american, ariana, who sits in the back corner, last row everyday

i observed the class one day and here was the results:

there were 7 little conversations going on at once, some from acrosss the rooom

there were 4 people sleeeping

there were 2 people drawing litttle creations on their paper

there were atleast 5 people using cell phones in some: charging, texting, calling their momma

there were 8 people daydreaming

and then there were a grand total of 6 people struggling through the lesson

of course this varies from class to class, subject to subject, but overall, this is typical

class starts at 7:15 each morning ..the teacher wonders into the classroom at around 7:20 each day so the lesson usually starts are 7:25 ..usually. people leave the classrooom to go to the bathroom, drink at the foundation, or grab some food down at the "cafeteria" all while the teacher has their lesson.

you look across the room and we are a sea of forest greeen and faded white with our matching uniforms ..but hardly does everyone go according to the rules. like me for example. do i wear tennis shoes like the school states. absolutely not. does anyone say anything besides my peers? absolutely not :)

they take their headphones and wire them under their shirts and turn the music down to a whisper.

there are a total of 4 classrooms of 3rd year ..all with the same amount of kids. mine, sala 330, is almost without a doubt, the worst. weekly, the teachers have to remind us to get more serious for the vestibular (the huge test they have to take to enter college) the students stay silent for the little lecture, pay attention, and then literally 5minutes later, the murmur of voices slowly, gradually, increasingly grows louder until the whole process starts again.

i asked my first question in class last week.

yes it has taken me a whole 7months to bring up the courage to actually say something during the lesson, but it probably will be the last.

it was during geography, a class that i love, and i was hard.core paying attention during the lesson. its hard for me to pay attention when EVERYONE is talking at once, throwing in their opinions & their conversations, but i was focused.

i always sit next to brian, (they call him cow, which is pronouced "cou") the smartest boy in my class that never pays attention and always lets me use his book &explains everything to me :)

the class was doing exercises in the book & i didnt hear the one answer, so i shot my little hand up in the air & asked.

the teacher made everyone be quiet so she could hear my question ..making everyone peep their head over to stare in amazement that i am paying attention, let alone, asking a question.

the class clapped.

i was embarrassed.

sometimes i have the strong desire to throw my whole classroom into an american high school. just take them all and put them in the same room with an american teacher and see the look, the shock, and the amazement of both parties.

yes, i would find that very amusing.

and just for laura:

they have these little cards that they have to swip to enter/exit the school. i dont have one which really upsets me so i have to exit a different dooor. so one day, laura let me use her card and felt SO COOOL !

my usually actitivies during school hours: sleeep. read. converse. pay attention.

de novo

back by popular demand:

thee bikinni wax of all bikinni wax

(this is when all men close the tab)

i've been back to the same place 2other times. the ladies all laughed until they counldnt breathe when they saw me walk into the salon.

"thought you had enough fun the last time, ariana?"

"thought you said you were never coming back, ariana?"

"you wanna do this again, even though last time you cried & promised that i would never lay my hands on you again, ariana?"

yeah well.. you do what you gotta do in hopes of becoming brasilian.

i went a good 3months without a wax and when i told my new mom, she insisted that they next time my little sister went to wax her legs, i was going too. "this lady works magic!" she exclaimed to me.

we went last saturday afternoon, just me and my sister, and i am full on panicking. Glancing around at the door, peeping in on other clients, watching the clock tick away the seconds until it was mine turn.

i confess to my sister that i am ridiculously nervous, palm sweating, nail biting, foot tapping, nervous. she doesnt understand why, she does this all time and it obviously doesnt hurt THAT much if i am willingly coming back.

the women calls her name and she happily goes into the room. the women, with the name tag of Adriana, doesnt even shut the door! she doesnt even introduce herself, she just starts waxing away!

this does NOT look very promising.

my sister comes out a few minutes later and leads me in. I give her a half smile and walk in, like i am on trail for murder.

i walk in, drop my pants and just start laughing. can this situation be away weirder?

i start to get onto the "doctor's table" and she looks at me strangely. "aren't you going to taking off your underpants, too?"

this is when i have to draw the line and say, listen lady. we americans arent like this. as much as i would love to claim to be brasilian, i will always have a part of conservative american blood in me.

i lay down on the table and she hikes up my underpants. i cannot stop my uncontrolable gigggles. she tries to tell me that this is totally okay. she has down this for years and i shouldnt be embarrassed.

yeah well i havent been doing this for years. i am this stupid foregin girl that just likes the results and would like this to be over as quickly as possible.

i suggest that we have a good ol' conversation to take my mind off the pain. she layers on the first wax and i ask her what is her name, although i already know the answer.

i cant hear the answer through my screams. yes it is that painfull.

now she is the one laughing at me. the people in the waiting room are probably thinking someone is having a root canal by the way i am yelping. i was waiting for her to peek her head through the door and ask someone for backup.

i ask if she has away kids. she does, a boy my age that would just love me. ..this is not the time or place when you set your son up on a blind date. she tells me that i have the cutest little accent, obviously foreign, but nevertheless, adorable.

she continues to wax and the tears continue to roll down my cheeks. after each wax, i would hold my breathe, holding back my screams, and she would come up to my face and say, "doí, né?" ..hurts, doesnt it? no, i am secretly a comedian that is just wanting to get a good laugh for you.

after all the waxing is complete, she comes back with my enemy: tweezers. i refuse her, i would prefer the wax, god forbid.

she then instructs me to flip over and now its time for my buttt.

excuse me, i think i misunderstood you. did you just say my butt?

yeah yeah, please flip overr.

lady, Adriana, MEU BEM, you are not, will not, can not, do that.

of course i can and i will now lets go.

she literally pushes me on my side and waxxes away.

i will not discuss this part.

she tells me that its over, i can put my pants on. FINALMENTE! it literally took 20 mintues of struggle and sweat. i jump off the table, which the paper sticking to my butt, buckets of water were escaping my pores, better than screams right?

i wanted to hug Adriana, i wanted to invite her over for dinnner, heck i wanted to bring her home with me to The States and meet my whole family cause she did THE BEST JOB POSSIBLE!

i walk over to meet my sister. she is laughing, who wouldnt be. she just heard the whole thing.

"did it hurt?"

ooh, minha irmã, you have no idea.

bikinni waxes, what an odd relationship i have with you..