Catch Up Time

Welllllll....its been 3 days so far in Brazil and I've already done a crap job in keeping this thing updated. So much happened this weekend that it feels like I've been here for a full week or even two. Lol. My airplane experience was terrible. Omg...Lol...but more on that in a bit. The day I left for Brazil was on Friday and my mom, Sawyer, Tess, and me went to the airport (along with little Ember who was safe in mommy's belly :) and Kailee and Wes met us there in order to say goodbye. It was sad, and my mom cried....but for some reason I never seem to cry when I'm at the airport....at least not about being sad because I'm going. I always cry when my plane is taking off into the air because I'm always so thankful and feeling so blessed that I'm getting the opportunity to do what I love, again. The first time I came back from Brazil after being gone for a month, back in 2008, I cried when I saw my mom for the first time in the airport not because I had missed her....but because I knew that when I saw her....I really was back in Oklahoma...back in the U.S.....back from my trip....and I didn't want to be... Lol. She was so angry with me, haha.  She always cries at the airport....and this time was no different, but she let me go and told me she was proud of me. We loaded the plane in Oklahoma and after sitting there for half an hour, the pilot gets on the intercom to tell us that the left engine isn't working and they will need to call for a mechanic while we unload. UGH....so we all get off and I'm thinking....I only have a 2 hr layover in Dallas to catch my flight to Brazil and if this takes much longer, I'm going to miss it!!!!! We all sit around for half an hour more and then they tell us that the flight is cancelled....I get a sick feeling in my stomach and everyone starts lining up in front of the flight attendents in order to get help. Luckily I was one of the first ones in line bc even so....I waited for another 45 minutes before I even got help. At first the lady tells me that there are no other flights that can get me on a plane to Brazil tonight but after a few minutes she finds a flight with another airline (Continental) thats leaving in just half an hour for Houston but she will need to get my luggage out of the AA airplane and I will have to RUN and get them from the baggage area and then recheck everything in through Continental. Man....I've never rushed so fast in my life....and I seriously barely made it on the flight. After landing in Houston I went to my next gate.... and it always brings me so much happiness everytime I wait at these gates on the flights to Brazil. Brazilians fill up the whole area...Portuguese is everywhere....and I feel like I'm right where I need to be. I love it.  :)

-GRU

After a longgggg day on the plane, I finally arrived in GRU....the huge airport in Sao Paulo....happy and ready to get out of the plane and into my new home. Fernando met me at the airport and we headed into Taubate to check on my housing. Even just the the hour and a half drive from Sao Paulo to Taubate will open your mind more than any Geography or History book could ever try to. The roads, the cars, the bikes, the hills, the trees....everything is so different from the U.S. It makes you question everything about your life when you see it. It's amazing.

-maid room

We got to the house I would be staying in for the next 7 1/2 months. In Brazil, it's very common for middle class families to have maids who will do all the housework (cook, clean, wash and dry the clothes, etc...) for almost no pay. For working nearly 50 hrs. a week, they making roughly $400 per month. Often, the family will have a small apartment located behind the house, usually no more than 40 square feet with a bedroom and bathroom combined. I'm no maid :) but in one of these "maid houses" is where I will be living for $200 a month. I really love it though, it's perfect for me and in a third world country....you can't expect much more. My family is really nice as well, they welcomed me with open arms and were actually excited to know that I was American (In Brazil, learning English is a pretty big deal and any opportunity to do so is usally taken).

(this is an old photo of Fernando's weekend house...before the lake and the kid's playground that they added about a year or so ago)

After housing was settled, it was off to the "weekend house" we go, lol. Fernando's dad has a really nice house about 20 minutes away from Taubate that the family likes to go to during the weekends. It's out in the country and it has a pool, a sauna, a soccer field, a basketball court, a barbecue pit, and 5 bedrooms. It's the perfect place to go and relax....hills surround the whole area....exoctic plants and animals that will make you wish you lived there. In Brazil, everbody is very welcoming....talkative...relaxed....open....its something to adjust to for sure....considering the Individualism that runs rampant in the U.S......but with my 3rd visit to Brazil....none of this comes as any shock to me and appreciate all the differences between the cultures of Brazil and the U.S.

-Brazilian beers!

That night was a night for celebration....and Brazilians know better than anyone how to have a celebration, Lol. I'm pretty positive that they party more than any other group of people in the world...with at least (and this is no exaggeration) 2 parties per week....EVERY week. They make Americans look like a bunch of recluses. Lol. It was a great night...I drank quite a bit of Brahma and Itaipava and Skol (the popular beers of Brazil), and ate quite a bit of Habib's to sober me up (Habib's is a famous Arabian fast food chain in Brazil....one of the very few fast food chains that Brazil has). I don't think I've ever slept so well in my life....ah, Brazil. ;)

(a night time photo of the place that was rented for the game)

Sunday was the big game!!! Soccer is a religion over here....seriously....in fact...I think some Brazilians are more passionate....more defensive....and more in love with their soccer team....than their God. A very wealthy friend of Fernando rented an entire party building, complete with a band, a bar, a dancefloor, catered food,  2 ponds, 3 acres of beautiful scenery, and a projector screen TV just to watch the event of Palmeiras vs. Corinthians. 2 rival soccer teams in Brazil. People decorated their tables with shirts of their team and screamed louder during a foul than any American even screams during a goal made at the Super Bowl. Lol. I couldn't do anything more than laugh to myself and be happy that I was somewhere as colorful and as animated and as full of life as I was. Corinthians won, of course :) Which is my team now, I guess, but only because Renato said so. Lol.



Okay....are you caught up yet? Gosh....I'm going to remember to write on this thing everyday, I swear....bc this much writing for a single post is simply ridiculous...and I actually left a lot of details out. But...we are finally at TODAY. And today is the most important day of all because today was the day that I got my very first overseas job!!! My interview with Exacta (my English teaching school) was a 2pm. Ana is the name of the girl who interviewed me, a lady who has spent the past 14 years of her life studying English and has never even had the chance, or the money, to travel abroad. She liked me so much that she asked me to come back at 4pm to start training.

I'm so happy. This is everything I've been working for, for the past 3 years of my life. I'm watching my dreams unfold before my very own eyes and I could not have done this without the wonderful family that has done whatever possible to help me reach my goals. You guys have no idea how thankful I am....and how blessed I feel. Thank you for everything....I look forward to sharing more of my experiences over these next 7 months with you and with myself.