Thursday-Friday, Jan. 29-30, 2015

Day 6

Thursday I switched host families from my 1st family to my 2nd family. My second family lives in São Vicente, a city adjacent to Santos and on the same island. I went to lunch at a pay by the kilo restaurant called "The Tower". We then spent the rest of the day getting ready for my oldest host sister's graduation ceremony- her "colaçao de grau". She is graduating in the first class of international relations from a university in santos affectionately called “Unisantos". Afterward we all went out to eat Brazilian pizza (with a fork and knife of course!)

Day 7

Friday I spent the day at home as everyone in the family was working in the morning and ate a traditional lunch of rice, beans, salad, meat and French fries. It started raining during the day and is projected to rain the rest of my time in Brazil. That afternoon I made PB cookies and brigadeiro with one of my host sisters. At night I went to a Japanese restaurant for a late dinner with friends and then hung out with my host sister’s friends in the evening.

Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015

Day 5

Wednesday I hung out at the house while a repairman came to fix the shower that my host dad somehow managed to break the night before. After it was fixed me and my host sister, Isabella, went to meet up with Krystal, a Rotary exchange student from Florida, at a Japanese restaurant. We spent a few hours chatting and talking about how her exchange was going so far. Afterwards Isabella and I walked around some shopping centers and had afternoon coffee before going home. 

That night I went to my friend Isabelle's house where she had put together a mini party with pudding (a brazilian version of flan), brigadeiro, coixinhas (battered & fried soft bread with chicken inside), bolinhos de queijo (battered & fried balls of cheese), guarana (Brazilian soda) and novela watching.

Monday/Tuesday, Jan. 26-27, 2015

Days 3 and 4

Day 3 (Monday):

Monday I spent the day with my host sister Isabella. We ate lunch at my host grandmother's house and then went from there to walk around the malls and get mexican popsicles. They are the new fad in Santos and there are all different flavors with different fillings. I chose açai with sweetened condensed milk inside. 

That night I went to dinner with my friend Isabelle and her mom at a nice pasta restaurant. 4 cheese pasta and dessert left me stuffed that night. 

Day 4 (Tuesday): 

Tuesday morning I walked to my friend Thati's house and spent the morning there with her and her older sister. We then went and picked up a friend and went to one of the best Japanese restaurants in town called "Temakaria Santista". From there we went to a Brigadeiria where I tried Brigadeiro that was banana flavored and another one that was churros flavored. Brigadeiro is normally a chocolatey sweet made out of sweetened condensed milk that has the consistency of softened fudge. After all the food we drove to a mall on the other end of the city that I had not been to this week and met up with a few friends there. 

When I arrived home my host family was waiting for me to go to eat pastel which is Brazil's version of an empanada. That night my host sister and I decided to teach each other how to properly make sweets from our countries so she showed me the proper way to make brigadeiro and I showed her how to make peanut butter cookies. 

Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015

Day 2

Sunday I woke up early to go to the beach with my host parents and host brother. We met up with my host aunt, uncle and their 2yr old daughter. For lunch I met up with two of my Brazilian friends, Isabella and Isabelle, and we ate a late lunch of sushi at a place called Haru where you pay by the kilo. 

Later that day I went over to a different Brazilian friend's house, Thatiana, and our friends Mariana, Tatiana (and friend) all got together to go to a "barzinho" called Dusk which is a restaurant that stays open late. 

Saturday Jan. 24, 2015- Late is better than Never!

Day 1 in Brazil 

Saturday I arrived in São Paulo at 9:30 in the morning after an overnight flight from Orlando. Customs was extremely easy (I am pretty sure the woman just didn't want to have to speak any English) and baggage was a pain. A flight from Miami had come in at the same time and they had put both flights on the same carousel. Miami and Orando being the hot places for Brazilians to go shopping, everyone had at least two huge suitcases full of stuff and with many families have at least four people, the madness of getting all the luggage was pretty crazy. After waiting almost an hour for my bag to appear, I was able to escape the crowd and finally got to see my first host family for the first time since I had left my exchange. My host dad, Carlos, and my host sister, Isabella, were waiting for me and we quickly got my stuff and headed to the car to make the hour and a half drive back to Santos. 

In Santos my host mom, Pri, and baby brother, Gabriel, who is now 3 were waiting for me at the apartment. We dropped my bags off and headed out to a traditional lunch of feijoada. After lunch me and my host sister went off on foot to walk around a popular area of my city called "Gonzaga" which has 3 malls in close proximity and a lot of shops and restaurants in the area. 

That afternoon we stayed at home, one of my host grandmothers came over for an afternoon coffee/snack/dinner and then my and my host sister turned in early having been exhausted from the busy day.