Its Sundays the 28th and I am amazed at how time flies. So I just completed my first full week, well plus a day, but a full week with my host family. So my goal is to try and recap each of my weeks goal it one a week but realistically probably one every other week.
So I landed in Salvador the 20th and then I me my host family the 21St, very scary experience I must say. Especially when your family knows no English. My host mother name is Remunda that’s pronounced ( hi-moon-do) and she looks like she could be in her late 60’s maybe 7-‘s not sure. Because here in Brazil its hard to determine a person age. I was discussing this with my friend and we came up with a few conclusions, one is that life here is less stress full, there is stress but Brazilians do not allow the stress to be who they are. Secondly, there is so much African blood running through all these Brazilian bodies I believe strongly black does not crack. And as my friend Ashihah put it” black people age so lovely” I could agree more.
But ya… Remunda came and picked me up with her neiece ( think) Mariana and she is 23 years old. She is blind but very smart and enjoys singing. At the house I am greeted by Elizabeth( which is pronounced Eliza betch che) who I think is Mariana mom and her sister Eliana. Eliana is 44 years old I just discovered un married and no kids. So all women live in the house. So after we ate at the welcome reception at the hotel we took a taxi to Remunda house. I got settled into my room and put away my things. I don’t know barely any Portuguese so I said the simple things that I knew, “oi tudo bom, eu leslie, estou Minneapolis,MN, muito prezer. Obrigada.”
After getting settled in a few more words were exchange between Eliana and I the most and here and there from Mariana. But most of the day was kept in silence, we all just watched television I let the televison watch me, I don’t remember the last time I straight up watched television that long. Novella after novella and some silly tv show were a man just gives out money to the audience member who guesses the right answer. All women are in the audience and the host looks like an old rich man with his mic taped comfortable on his chest..lol. old school guy I guess. Here I am in the country were my heart has been kept and I’m stuck in a house watching television. I should have took Portuguese class this year, I might have been able to ask to go see the city. Lol. Oh ya, also during that day I gave Remundo my gift which was a picture frame of a post card from Minneapolis, creative and cheap! Also it a lil card that Luara and Gabi help me write in Portuguese saying this is my city and I’m happy that your family will share your city with me. She liked that a lot.
So this is getting pretty long I need to not bore my readers by the length of this blog and more so engage you all with the content, so Monday 23 class optional, tell me why I went like an excited foreigner who thought it was going to be a language class, got so played I got there and it was a Brazilian history course.
Later I hung out with friends talked about what we had planned to do since no school Tuesday and Wednesday! San Jão holiday! So Monday night came and Pelurinho it was.. me and my friends from the program dance the night away. Forró of course! I was with Kitrina and her family..oh ya another interesting thing.. to make a long story short..her mom and her mom boyfriend got into an argument this is before Pelurinho, were at this small place where everyone has a couple and a wedding reception is chilling here. So Kitrina, her sister Mariselo, and I are sitting at the table bored out of our minds talking about how we look so cute and now we are about to waste a cute outfit. So Kitrina mom sister and there exchange students come and were like we need to leave this place we are not having no fun.. so before we know it were on our way to Pelurinho but the mom really doesn’t want to go. So that’s were the attitude and her and her boo fighting start. So we walking through Pelurinho you can feel the tension in the line that we are walking in. once we find her sister sitting at a table and our friends are up dancing from the program we join our friends have so much fun. But wait the story gets better… its about 2am or something and me and Kitrina are like ok lets go home, I left my purse in the car because I didn’t want to get it stolen at Pelurinho so I’m like lets find your mom because its in her car. Now in my purse is money, cell phone, id’s, and house key. We find out that her mom left us!! I’m talking abut didn’t say anything! Im like dang that’s bogus.. so we catch a taxi and go to Kitrina house, no door man!! How are we suppose to get in? Kitrina has no key? No cell phone? So im like we need to stay calm, stay calm..cause I so just want to freak out and scream. So im like lets just walk to my house. So we walk to my house, I’m super scaried! But ya we make it safely to my house and the doorman is there thank god! I’m feeling like my lil brother when he comes home late, yet I’m 19 years old and in college you don’t sneak in your own house. So get to my door I ring the door bell, a few times, I say im really sorry and then I explain the story the best I can with my little Portuguese my acting skills and a pocket dictionary. So ya they understand we try to call Kitrina house to tell them were she is no answer. I’m just happy we got to my house safely. So night number TWO crazy.. right? Well mom and family members who like to freak out.. I’m alright and that’s the most important thing and I promise I am always carrying my phone and keys on me.
The next few days Tuesday and Wednesday I chilled with friends from the program. I met Kenyatta and her family. Kenyatta just finished her sophomore year at UCLA and is a poli sci major, super coo! And so is her family. Her family reminds me a lot of my own family, with her goofy brothers and a hip mom. I see bits and pieces of my own family in them like aunty Tanya, Dominick, and little bit of my own Mom when it comes to the kitchen. The mother is a phenomenal cook, oh my god! She made this cake…umm so good! Then she made some pizza ( like São Paulo pizza LuJ) it was so good, I had to contain my grittiness.
Thursday 25th, I had class in the morning, we took the practice test and then ate lunch at host family house. Then came back for the second class which is suppose to be afro-Brazilian history more like politics and a little bit of Brazilian history. But we shall see I only had one class. Lol..Oh why did I go to class in the afternoon? we did the same thing as on Monday!!
Friday, 26th got test results and e how ended up in intermediate Portuguese. I guess from the years I studied Spanish, because Spanish and Portuguese are very similar, too bad I barely know any Spanish. Or at least I can’t speak it, seems class is full of grammar, reading, and writing. But ya class went well, I have professor Carlos, real cool guy who seems to actually like his job. So with him giving off great energy I am sure I will do the same to him! I can understand Portuguese when it is spoken to me slowly but speaking it not so well, I always go to Spanish and many words in Spanish are the same as in Portuguese they are just pronounced differently. Or they are completely different and I just look crazy. Lol that happens the most.
So that afternoon we have our city tour with Freddy or teddy ( cant remember).but it was beautiful day, sun shining and we traveled around the whole city of Salvador. Its so much more than I could ever imagine! Loving all the brown skins I witness, so many different shades! So during the tour we actually went into a really really old church that took 20 years to build and another 20 for all the art work painted in the inside. Some of the paint had gold in it , so one room is full of gold paintings. Another thing I found interesting, amongst others, was a church they built for the slaves that took 100 years to built. It was in Pelurinho, historically known for the slave trade. Salvador use to be the capital of brazil, it brought in over twice as many salves America received. There was a whipping post in the middle of the street, but the whole area has been captivated by afro-brazilian culture. Every were you look you see brown skin or face, many selling “carajaes” which is a traditional brazilian dish that has a huge west African influence. Here in Salvador are many stands sell authentic African dishes.
Saturday 28th was the best! Had to wake up early tho, I am no fan of that, but woke up early and met up for the boat trip on a skonner. ( really big boat) Students from Dartmouth were having a goodbye boat trip and ucla program that I am in joined them and so did UT. It was such a great time, I met some amazing people, like met Kayla’s roommate and one of Adam friends, so that was coo. Another reinforcement that I can be in another country and realize how small the world is!! But on the boat eating lots of fruit! And dancing! We got to an island and we jumped in the water it was fun. We all swam towards the island then I go half way and I began to rationalize, hm.. the skonner is anchored, were going to have to swim back, I’m tired already. So I swam back..lol. it was fun though to get in the water. I mean OCEAN! Late we went to another island for lunch, I played volleyball and splashed a little it was al lot of fun! Just the sun and us! Then on the way back whch took like 2 hours we blast some music and everyone just danced on the back of the boat! It as difficult because the skooner was going so fast we swayed side to side so we would dance and then everyone would be like “wooo” and slip to the right and then five minutes later is a “wooo” to the left!
Later that night after eating a nice dinner got dress and ready for Uji’s house, a women from the program, she was throwing a party for her friend Christina birthday. When we got to her house it was on the rooftop, an amazing view. I was really tired from the boat, so I dance a little but was lost with my own thoughts. Looking out at the beautiful view realizing more and more about myself. About life. And about happiness.
Sunday 28th I literally didn’t go outside at all. I was in the house the whole day!!! Crazy right.. ya it was to me to once I like at dinner and realized I’m not going anywhere.. it was coo. Felt more like home..lol except I wish I had went to church at F.O.L. I have to check out the website and get my sermons messages to go! My pastor Alex Gee is more than magnificent. But ya I did homework, tried to do some more intensive Portuguese studying and relax. Thinking of home and people that I miss and of my crazy traveling future.
