relaxing day.

watching the european soccer cup semi-finals-spain vs. portugal. 

Today we got up at our usual time around 7, got ready for school and checked facebook before leaving for school at 8. We had a post in our facebook study abroad group that the buses were on strike today. Considering we ride about 5 buses a day in total, that was BAD news. Or was it good news? It ended up being good news :) Vanessa decided that due to the lack of transportation, we wouldn't be able to go to Peixinhos for our internship in the afternoon. It was funny how happy people were with that news..even though we love going there, I think everyone wanted a break of the buses.

Luckily, our host dad gave us a ride to school so we didn't have to take a taxi. We had such a good class too & we watched a movie called Behind the Sun (Abril Despedacado) about a family in the dry lands (sertao) in northeast brazil.  The story behind this movie is that there are two families in a family feud-the breves & the ferreiras. They have this ongoing war going on between the two families and it is this never ending cycle of killing. One family kills one member of the other family and then the other family seeks vengeance and kills the killer and so on and so forth. Basically an "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" kinda idea. When Tonio, the 20 year old son, kills the killer of his brother Ignacio he feels so much pain for what he did that he goes to the family during the funeral and asks for a truce. Well, he is not granted one. They hang the shirt of their dead son, covered in blood, on a line, and when the shirt turns yellow it will be there turn to seek vengeance.

Basically, its a story of this boy Tonio trying to break this cycle by fleeing and leaving his family in order to avoid his fate which is to die as well.

There was so much symbolism in the video that it was so amazing to watch...after we watched about the first half we stopped and discussed all the symbolism in the movie. The colors, the shapes, the oxen, the pictures, the doors, etc it was amazing. We get to finish the movie tomorrow & I'm excited.

We usually have lunch every day together as a group, and today we went to Shopping Recife and had lunch at a place called Chinatown. Vivan's dad is the owner of Chinatown so he gave us all 50% off discount (its normally 42R a kilo) & it was really good!

After, we were going to go on a water tour on a boat and to recife antigo but it started to rain so we had to cancel all our plans! Oh the boys were so happy (and cristina) to be able to watch the spain and portugal match. So that's what we did!

Now, we have to make like a hundred cookies for our little carnival tomorrow!

until tomorrow!

first day of class.

today we started our first day of classes at ABA.

this morning, our host mom bonnie was nice enough to drive us to our classes so that we had roughly an idea of where we were going (so that we knew what bus stop to get off at) & even though it's not that far away from our house, it was still a 45 minute drive. There is crazy traffic in recife & I always tell bonnie how brave I think she is to be driving in this madness! I'm pretty sure you couldn't pay me a million dollars to drive in Recife. People don't understand the concept of lanes or space or using blinkers or swerving or creating new lanes for themselves, etc. It's total madness. Plus pedestrians do not have the right of way here so it's a tad dangerous & people get run over a lot. Anyways, driving here is crazy! 

After we got to our building we received an orientation from the employees of ABA and a quick classroom lesson from our professor vanessa. They showed us around the building & then we talked for a while about our families & what it's been like so far. We also talked more about the committees we are being put in and our responsibilities. I have a presentation already on thursday! 

After we finished our class, we decided to walk from ABA to Recife Shopping Mall for lunch so we ate there & spent way too much money on a small amount of food. Oops! We learned our lesson. do not eat at the shopping malls. We then waited for the rest of our group while we watched danillo eat an entire pizza & a half by himself. That was entertaining. Afterwards we went to the VIVO store to get our cell phones figured out with our new SIM cards & it took roughly 2 hours for all of us to get our cards! By that time we were all dying of boredom & ready to enjoy some sun.

A few members of our group suggested that we walk back from the recife shopping mall to our apts. They figured since it was a nice day, that a walk along the ocean would be fine! Jordan said it was roughly 3 miles home, so we thought OK! I suggested we take the bus home today so that we could get home, change and actually go and enjoy the beach..but some other people wanted to see how the walk went. I figured since we've been eating so much a 3 mile walk would be good.

We finally got to the beach & the beach of boa viagem is amazing. It's so beautiful, with tons of huts and stands selling food. There were tons of people walking around down there exercising, playing volleyball, "namorando" and everything else. It was a nice walk until we realized our calves were beginning to hurt from walking on a sand hill, so we went to the sidewalk. After a few miles, michele got a blister and we went back down onto the beach so she wouldn't have to wear her sandals. After some more miles, we went back onto the sidewalk in order to find our apt. Well this walk was actually 7 miles!!!! & with 4 blocks left from home, the rain started POURING and we all got soaked!

But it was a fun time anyways! 

When we got back all we wanted to do was shower & relax. Which we did plenty of :)

Our wonderful host mom had a beautiful dinner of lasagna, bread, and salad for us.

and for dessert...

pizza de doce!

we are tired & exhausted from our long day of walking.

& tomorrow we will be taking the bus

:)

until next time!

ps; today we saw so many african people with BLUE eyes. Not kidding. I didn't even know it was really possible, but it is. Vanessa told us that the reason for this is because of the immigrants that settled in recife who were from holland who mixed with the people here. It's not uncommon to see africans with blue eyes. It's so cool!

pss; this is for my mom! today I learned that if you eat mandioca without cooking it first you will die! did you know that?!

the view on top of ABA

me, cristina & michele at ABA

irlaine, this picture is for YOU! that is me drinking graviola drink. :)

there are warning signs for sharks EVERYWHERE! SO DANGEROUS!

having more coconut water with michele & cristina after being soaked & walking many miles.

love my husband!