2 MONTHS TODAYYYY, but let me backtrack a bit(:
Soooo, when I was still considering becoming an AFSer, I read blogs of exchange students abroad at the time. And I never understood why most wouldn't update often! But now that I'm the one abroad, I get it, because you get so used to your life here that you don't remember that for other people its still very different! And thats my semi-apology for taking so long to update again, sorry everyone!
But anyways, its been a pretty eventful month for me, and for so many reasons. I'll start off with attending my first "churrasco," which is preeettyyy much the best thing the brazilians ever invented :D Its a delicious meat tasting party, and this was an extra special occasion, because it was one of my good friends from school's birthday celebration (parabens outra vez ana, ameiii!!:) It was held at her grandparents house, which i absolutely adored, and there was one moment where Ana presented the first slice of cake to her "Vovo" that I will never forget :3
Later on, David, Takaya, and I visited a good public school (ETEC) for the day in the neighboring city of Sao Vicente. It was a very rewarding experience, because we got to see another side of the Brazilian educational system, and we were really warmly welcomed by the students and staff there! For everyone back in the states, public Brazilian high schools, or "Ensino Medios," tend to have a bad reputation for being easy, unorganized, etc. But this was a really nice school with a demanding curriculum, I was very impressed! Later on in college, or "faculdade," the system switches, and the public schools are the best ones to be in, the private colleges tend to be the worse ones.
A couple weeks back, I also had the opportunity to visit Sao Paulo for a weekend! While I was there, I could not believe the immensity of the city, and decided that "megatropolis" was the only right way to describe it. My sibling's dad showed us around the wealthy residential area (Brooklyn), the SPFC stadium (Estadio Morumbi), the most expensive street in Brazil (Oscar Freire), their "Central Park" (Parque Iberopuera), and the famous "Avenida Paulista," the street where most of Brazil's economy is managed/bought/traded/etc. I loved sightseeing there, but decided I like Santos' feel more, SP is so spread out that you almost feel insignificant in the scheme of things!
This is a good time in my blog post to just like entirely shower my host family in the praise and thanks they deserve! From the beginning, they have been nothing but welcoming, loving, and understanding people, and I feel the luckiest AFSer to be hosted by them. My sister and I have become really close, my brother is always open and joking around with me, and my mother is one of the most kind and caring people I have ever met. I love them very much, and I thought things couldn't get any better! Until a few weeks back when I was mysteriously pulled out of school during the afternoon for a "surprise"I knew it had to do something with Santos FC, because my siblings were dressed in their "torceador" gear, but you could not imagine my amazementttt when we pulled up to the "Rei Pele Training Facility"! In case you're not a soccer fan, let me give you a quick run-down. Santos has produced some of the best players from the South American league throughout it's history, but no one compares to Pele, who played for Santos before going to America. He is the king of soccer, undisputed. And this training facility, which is named after him, is where the Santos FC players go to practice their stuff and is CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC. Except for ussss, because somehow, my sibling's dad was able to get his hands on inside access to watch the entire team practice and meet them later! I was soooo happy to have the privilige to be one of the few allowed inside, and loveddddd taking pics with the team later. Even though I still don't know "futebol" that well, it was still amazing! Unfortunately, my favorite player Neymar, got injured during the practice, and was the only one who wasn't able to take pics afterwards! :( But not all hope is lost, I'm sure I'll meet him some other day!
In other news, I keep enjoying going to school here, and keep getting to know everyone better! I just want to talk a little here about the amazing girls that I have become friends with, I don't know how I would even begin to enjoy my experience here with out them: Fefinha! She and I have bonded over our love of food since day one, she's super funny, and she makes a wonderful man in portuguese lit projects ;) Bea! She's been so helpful and understanding with me getting adjusted to school/life here, and she has great taste in books and picking awesome boyfriends (oi Du!:) Erica! She has a dangerous laugh when there's food involved, the best hair ever, and is great company at the beach. Aninha! This girl makes me laugh so hard just by twitching her eyebrows at me, and don't even get me started about when she starts saying things! She also laughs sooo much, and you feel better after hanging out with her!:) Giovannnaaaaa! Even though I met her a little later on, she's probably one of the most grounded, coolest people I have ever found, and totally gets what its like to be an exchange student! Ana! She's so sincere, loves her little Diva & MJ, and has the coolest family (and cutest Vo ever!:D) And lastly Clara! She's super sweet and a good student, always laughing with Ana in the back, and a great video editor(: There are so many other people I wish I could name and thank, but that would take an eternity, so just know that eu amo voces! :D
So after all that excitement, I just also want to let everyone back home know that I really do miss them, and think about them every day (there was a huge tear stain on the couch to prove this a few weeks back, the first and only time i ever cried here haha) But as you can see I'm doing good, and so thankful to be here!! Hugs from Brazil, until next time!
~Nikita <3
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