highlights of my year;

items that put a smile on my face that happened "só aquil no Brasil:"


*successfully learned the language of português ..and successfully forgetton english.
*had a picnic on top of a waterfall.
* became a local ..not just a tourist.
*been pampered and made into a princess
*had dreams in different languages
*celebrated an American holiday, Thanksgiving, with Brasilians, rice and beans.
*walked (climbed) 17kilometers within 2hours and later saw a sky full of stars.
*became best friends with a Danish boy, two American beauties, and an Austrailian mate.
*held a sleeepy sloth in the Amazon Rainforest.
*learned to become a futebol fan.
*saw the capital of Brasil, Brasília.
*became a human mosquito bite.
*lived off rice and beans.
*learned to sleeep in class ..so deeeply that sometimes i have dreams.
* had a picnic in the midddle of Belo Horizonte with 20 other exchange students.
*slept in a hammock for 5nights in the Amazon, falling asleeep to stars so big and so bright that i almost wanted to turn them offff
*had a "White Sandy Christmas."
*went (and didnt catch) piranha fishing.
*ran around Rio de Janerio, a week before my eighteenth birthday.
*tried every food put into my mouth.
*learned to not underestimate brasilian sun.
*repelled down a waterfall.
*held an alligator that looked mean enough to bite my thumb off.
*saw Rio Amazonas and Rio Silmões meet. (the meeting of the two rivers in the amazon.)
*skipped class with little concern.
*swam in the warmest ocean water in the famous & fabulous Salvador, Bahia.
*learned more than what they teach you at school.
*became a brasilian
*became "uma mineira." (a person from my state, Minas Gerias.)
*became part of my family: a daughter, a sister, a cousin, a niece, a granddaughter.
*became happy and content in life.
*learned about myself and to love myself.


the more i think about it, the more i cant leave this place. look at all these memories. to you, these are just fun stories to hear and cool adventures to read. this doesnt really mean anything to you and why would they? theyre my memories, my adventures, my stories that i want to remember foreverr. this is my life. i have a life here, everything that i could want and more. i just wanna stay in this moment, being young and freee and have everything ahead of me. all the world before me, all the possibilities...

rambling

i've beeen here for exactly 10months
10months of language barriers, cultural confusion, unusual food, new introductions, living out of suitcases, and jumping head first into situations.
in less than a month, this will be over.
i'm almost ready to go home. (i say this very losely and depending on the day)
i'm ready to be normal again!
i havent felt normal in the past 10months ..because of my accent, or becasue of where i've come from, because i'm not a typical brasilian or because i cant relate to my peeers. because i'm different.
i wont be called the gringa (foreigner) or the ameican or the exchange student.
just ariana.

and then theres a part of me that is holding on to each day ..because i know that each day that passes, is one that i wont get back here. my families here mean the world to me, without them i know i woulnt have fallen in love with brasil. they've shown me everything i know here and taught me the language and culture. telling me, "you probably shouldnt wear" and "dont say that to people" ..sparing me embarrassing moments.

but here in brasil, it has turned winter.
winter here is around 60F ..some days are warmer and some are colder.
a perfect example of "winter:" i went to my country clube on sunday afternoon with my dad ..it was cold in the early morning with the clouds hovering above but as it came closer to noon, it became reallly hot. i came home and later realized, that yes, i got sunburn. that stuff only happens here.
but i know in the south of brasil, it actually snows. yess, snow in brasil. you dont see shovels or school delays ..but there is a little frost on the ground.
houses here dont have heaters, why would they need it when it doesnt have negative temperatures and this cold lasts for only 2months. so ususally during the day ..i am bundled in clothes and layers and blankets, drinking tea and eating lots of soup.
i'm not sure in all of brasil, but in my houses here, all the water is solar heated. during the winter, you have to switch the knob so that you can have actually heated water ..because if the day isnt very warm, youll be taking a very freezing shower (i did that once before school and my teeth were chattering the rest of the day.)

another fun fact: there is another brasilian holiday this week:
Corpus Christi.
It is a Catholic hoilday that celebrates the Body of Christ or Holy Communion. It is celebrated on a Thursday ..giving everyone a four day weekend to travel or relax.
i asked some people why they celebrated this hoilday and a lot of them didnt know. all they knew was a four day weeekend was approaching and they were about to sleep in. although most of these people werent Catholic ..shows you how excited and much they love their hoildays even if they have no idea what it is.

other typical brasilian things: during the month of june and july (their winter months) all over brasil celebrates "Festa Juninha" or "Festa de São João" Wikipedia has told me that it was first introduced my Portugal during the colonial period. Men dress up with large straw hats and checkered shirts and the women have pigtails, freckles (with you rarely see here) and country-type clothing. The Northeastern part of Brasil is the most famous and has some of the most richest traditions. Among the schools, each class dances a form of squeeze dance with their partner.
i will be dancing this with my friend ..and embarrassing myself :)

another random fact: my family is leaving in less than two weeks for Germany to pick up their daughter, Laura, who went on exchange. Meaning i have to say goodbye to them soon..which i dont want to ..and i have to move houses, again. i'm either going back to my second family (good possiblity) going back to my third family ..or you know, living out of a suitcase somewhere on the streets. anything is possible.

just a little recap of whats going on :)

minha familia

somehow i managed to squeeze my entire life into two huge suitcases, one carry-on bag, a backpack and one purse. i don't know how it happened ..but it did. i had my fingers crosssd the whole time.
all the suitcases, spring cleaning and goodbyes only mean one thing: it's moving day.

i changed families, again. i came back to my first host family to spend my last month with them ..since i was only in their house for barely 3months.

i dont care how many times i change families, or how they live just down the road or how we promise we'll see each other soon ..it doesnt make it any less easier. of course it was raining that day (i swear it has to rain every time that i move) i sat on the sofa ..waiting, of course since brasilians are always late, and thought i want to get this over with. i want to say goodbye and i want to stay a little longer. i want to stay but i know i cant. i tried thinking of things to say, how to express my graditude, how to say i love you in a "host daughter/sister" kind-of way. how many times i could say thankyou without it becoming annoying. but when the time came, i didnt say much of anything ..just squeezed extra tight with my hugs and gave extra kisses ..and hope that somehow they already know how much they mean to me.

i felt like i just moved into this family ..i still remember what we had the first day for lunch (lasagna) and how my little sister took my hand, saying "vem ca" (come here) and showed me my room.
unlike all my other families, i adjusted really quickly here; within days i felt at homee. i moved in and the next weekend was Carnaval, the holiday i spent with my father's side of the family ..a family more out of control than "a bunch of clowns." we did nothing that weekend but bond ..i got to know my "new" family better. my brother took me to my first futbol (soccer) game days after ..and i realized how much i love brasil and their ridiculous fans (people literally had "tramp stamps" of their team's mascot.) for my sister's birthday, i watched as my father made homemade pizza ..and then later ate it the next morning for breakfast. all the weeekday nights with my parents going out to bars and all the sunday afternooons at the club in my bikkini. the weekend where i just spent with my mom, having our nails done and eating what felt like 3kilos of sushi ..how much our bellies ached afterwards and how we swore we would jog the next morning ..which of course didnt happened. that saturday afternoon by the pool with my sister and her friends, when i learned i could relate more to her than i thought. how often my mom embarrassed my sister and how often i thought my brother loved the dog, megan (pronounced meggie) more than he liked me. learning how my mom talks about food as if she is a culinary artist ..when she simply loves to eat and all the times i heard my dad snoring on the sofa. easter holiday was spent in the city of my mother and i felt at home at my grandma's house ..doing nothing but spend time with my sister. i dont know how many times i came home traveling and foundd myself being dragged along to this party or this show ..becasue here in brasil, it just doesnt stop. all the times i heard my mom speak english and know that her accent is the cutest thing possible. the week of school that i didnt go to class because of testing and i stayed up hours and hours just talking to my sister, showing her my world and learning more about hers. and i'll always remember how my mom promised to come to pennsylvania for my college graduation ..and then my wedding ..and then later to see her "grandchildren" ..i giggled in delight and knew that i would always have a home in 118 rua treze de maio, barrio dás águas and they'll always have a home in pennsylvania ..or wherever in the world i end up staying.

minhas americanas lindas

i find it quite funnny how i came to brasil expecting to find relationships &frienships from people from all over the world.

i didnt except i would have two bestfriends from the same country.

carly & grace

two american girls that couldnt be any similar than peanut butter &jellly ..but somehow it fits.

these girls have beeen my bestfriends since the beginning ..since our first orientation ..until now, until forever.

carly leaves this weeek and then soon after grace

shortly after, i have to pack my bags tooo

i could always imagine the beginning ..and all the struggles in between ..but never in my life could i imagine the end.

but now its here

it sits before me

and every goodbye i say, all the "tchau , beijos, até mais." seeem a little more hard each time.

sometimes impossible.

carly ..a girl from minnesota ..the grandmother of our group

we posed for "an american photo" on september 11, our first meeting and later ran around BH together. i had my first açai with you &your cousin in the shopping ..and cachaça that night too. you had your 19th birthday with 20 other exchangestudents by your side, something no one, especially fatima, will forget. i came to sete lagoas, met your city, your family, and your way of life. that friday night was full of laughter, luisa, & lucky strike.. its bettter left at that. in tiradentes, we explored the city together and felt at the same time, the perfect moment of the night, of the people surrounding us and of the city that glows inside out. araxá with the wedding & goodbye my loverr. we talked of college, our disappearing friends and our fears of going home. then i came back to the city of 7lakes for that one last time..

youre so american to me. you have confidence and knowledge of our country that i lack. i am positive that in whatever field you study, economics or international relations, you will be "having a meeting one afternoon in New York, and then the next day be off to Japan to meet with their prime minister."

like you said at the busstation, youre like my sister. youre one of my bestfriends that i have ever had. i know ill see you soon, carly. (and being 40minutes away from mall of america just gives me an excuse to do that ;D)

grace! amazing grace; amor da minha vida

i knew that when you told me the story of the alien and then later revealed "the face of grace" those few first days ..you would be my bestfriend. no matter what, fatima will always be our worst nightmare & that yellow rainjacket will always be in fashion with you. numbers dont matter to you in men or should i say boys, and frozen will never agree with me. teddybear& bernardo want you, dont worry. all the rotary conference would be utterly boring without you. your português is perfect because you just dont shout up, i say that with all the love. i laugh until i cry when i am with you.

bring back brasil to american high school. you have no other option but to study on the east coast so that you can be just a little closer to mee. and when the money is good, your house in michagen will be my home too; we'll be exchange students once again for that one weeek.

i'll be seeeing you sooon grace :)

the three american girls from district 4520

i'll miss you

i'll always love you

and God Bless America that we are in the same country

Amazônia

indescribable.

the maddening adjective that simply is used to describe something that one cannot describe.

because no other adjectives are significant

indescribable:10days in the amazon rainforest.

i dont know how to describe it for you ..dont know where to start even.

10days in one of the most indescribable places ..with 87 other people that i could never forget

87 exchange students from 21 different countries.

we literally had the world in one rooom

i learned a whole new meaning of, "it's a small world afterall."

USA. Canda. Mexico. Venezuela. Denmark. Norwary. Sweden. Germany. Austria. Holland. South Africa. Austrailia. New Zealand. India. Russia. Taiwan. Japan. Thailand. Hungary. Poland.

i have too many stories that i wish i could tell you ..too many emotions that i wish i could describe without using the same "amazing" and "wonderful" type adjectives ..too many people that i have learned so much from ..its too much for one single blog.

i wanna wait

i wanna wait until i get home

and i can sit down with you

and show you my photos (all 457 of them)

i promise i wont forget a thing

these places are too incredible for me to forget

these memories are too fond for me to forget

these people too wonderful for me to forget

ooh and i am really lazy at this point and cant be bothered. ( i know the amazon would take up atleast 15posts if i got into detail)

and plus, wouldnt you rather have ME telling you all the stories :)

so yess i will continue bloggging ..just saving the amazon for later.

i know you're horribly annoyed ..but you can wait a month.

yeah a month..