a whirlwind.

So, this will be my first update since being here and that is because it´s the first real chance I´ve had to update. I guess the best thing to do is to give you some highlights from each day. This might be long...

Days 1 and 2 were travel. I met up with Grace, another girl from in my program in the Brasilia airport. She had been on the plane from Miami to Brasilia and I hadn´t realized it. That plane was delayed over an hour because of a leaking bathroom.... so we missed our next flight to Belem. After some fun times trying to figure out food, flights, and phones; we eventually made it to Belem and met up with our contact who took us to the hotel where we got some food, sleep, and AIR-CONDINTIONING!!!

Days 3 and 4 - We got to know each other and had some orientation sessions. We went out to the field behind the hotel where Gustavo, our program director, talked to us about learning to guess measurements because of what you know already. At some point we had some lovely Portugese classes where learned to speak and dance a little. We also went to a ´´pizzeria´´ where we ate fish, chicken, steak, and french fries. lol. I can´t really remember what day things happened but they happened one of the two.

Day 5 - This was drop-off day. The drop-off is SIT tradition of sorts. They take each student to an area, give them a task to do, and come back three hours later. I was dropped in a small town called Apeu and was told to find out the meaning of the town name and what the people did for a living. After having little success talking to a few people, I was finally taken to the town library. The librarian was SOOO helpful and super sweet. While she knew barely any English at all, we were able to communicate through dictionaries and hand motions. No one knew the meaning of Apeu, but after digging through some history books, we found it was named after a plant that´s about the equivelant of a lily-pad. And apparently the people there were mostly teachers, public servants, and vendors.

Day 6 - Today was AWESOME!!! We went to the mangroves and the beach. About 2 hours by van and an hour by boat got us to the mangroves. This is a place where salt water meets fresh water. The roots come out of the ground about 1-2 feet high and when you step you sink to your knees in sticky mud that is hard to get out of. The mangroves are really awesome and apparently Curaçu (where we went) holds some of the larest area of mangroves in the world. After we rinsed off, we walked about 2-3 miles in white sand beaches and arrived at a small hut of a fisherman. We ate the fish he had caught from the day and then swam in the ocean. We then had class on the beach learning about susatinable development efforts (and what that really means) and the lives of conservationists and local fisherman in the area. When the tide was high enough to fill a river,m we took a boat ride back to the vans and went home from there.

This whole day felt like I was in a documentary or something. Unreal does not even begin to describe it.

Day 7 - Today we got to sleep in and then we attended lectures about safety and culture in Belem. We then received out letters and pictures for our homestay assignments. I didn´t feel too well so it wasn´t a day I was super invested in.

Day 8 - Today we got up early and drove into Belem from our hotel. We went to the SIT office where we listened to a local police company and local doctor talk about health and safety in Brazil. Then we went to the mall! It was a lot of fun!!! We got food, ate ice cream,and shopped around. I got to try acai which tastes kind of like bananas.

Later we went to building where our homestay families met us and we had some snacks and talked with them. That night was the first night we stayed with our homestay families. My homestay family is a mom (Leila) and her son (Leonan or Leo). They are super sweet but speak NO english what so ever so I´m having to learn Portguese fast to even communicate with them which is good but a little exhausting.

Day 9 - This was out first day of class at the SIT office. We had three hours of Portuguese class and got the equivalent of 4-6 weeks of a college language class. That afternoon class was cancelled which is apparently common here and so I spent some time at my house. I´m still not sure what happened that night but I think my Leila´s mom was in the hospital so Adela came over to hang out with me. (Adela is another girl in the program who lives half a block away and our ´moms´are good friends.)

Day 10 - Today I got to sleep in. Leila told me too. :) Then we (Adela, Leila, Leo, and I) went to the Pharmacy so I could buy a cell phone (difficult task). We also stopped by the supermercado (supermarket) to look around and for Leila to get some groceries. That night (last night), Leo came in with cards for va pescar (go fish) and 8 maluco (crazy eights). I couldn´t remember how to play crazy eights so I made up a version of war where eights were special and taught him go fish as well. This was hard to do in Portuguese but I learned a lot doing it!

Day 11 - And now today. I woke up andhad some cous cous with coconut milk and sugar which was delicious but really rich and a little odd. Then Leila, Leo, and I went to the zoo where I actually saw a MONKEY EATING A BANANA!!!!!!!!!!!! I also saw a bunch of turtles, a toucan and a great big blue macaw. It was pretty awesome. I think Adela and I are going to go back so I can take some pictures. It only cost about $1.50 to get in. I´ve been a little homesick today but it´s not too bad. I think Adela and I are going to go across the street to get some dinner now.

I love you all!!!

Boa noite!!!
Sarah