Dia onze no Brasil...
Ive now been in Brazil for a week and a half. Yesterday I found this cute internet cafe run by really nice people who are helping me learn the language. I figure a new lj just for this is a good way to keep in contact with everybody while I´m a full days plane trip away.
Manaus is in the amazon, close to the equater and of course is MUITO QUENTE!! (WICKED HOT). The city is kinda dirty and is surprisingly not green. I can see the Rio Negro out my bedroom window and I live down town. There are tons of little cheap shops here and of course there are malls with American shops and McDonald´s. Its a pretty cool town and the people are incredibly friendly.
Im taking 4 hours of Portuguese a day at UEA (amazonas state college). Its a bitch to actually try to speak a language your not that familiar with with native speakers...but I think Im getting better very slowly.
We have 3 young female teachers who are extremely nice. We´ve been taking a lot of field trips and they like to go out and party. Friday a bunch of us saw a Bon Jovi/Pearl Jam cover show. It was crazy. Its cool to be able to drink legally. They never card anywhere and you can by beer at the little lanches on the street and walk around with it like it was a soda.
The other 2 students are boys from Fairfield (in connecticut). They are both northerns too! (one from Springfield, the other from Nova York. They are pretty cool.
Im living with a host family. The father runs an international language exchange program and the mother runs a lanche(she is 30, he is 50) They also have an 8year old adopted son named Junior who is my best friend here. We watch a lot of Bob Esponja. The little kid is a very good teacher. The food is great and the family keeps stuffing me because theyre worried Im not enjoying everything.
During the weekend we eat lunch at the grandmother´s in a very poor neighborhood that we can see out the window of our extremely nice condo. The income discrepency is shocking. She cooks really good food and the whole family is there. They enjoy poking fun at the gringa who doesnt understand a lot of what they say when they talk fast.
I also found out since Ive been here that my eyes are not brown...apparently they are green (*shrug*) lol. Also, people ask me all the time if my hair is really this color. My answer now is YESSSSSS. I died it 6months ago slmost the same color it was and I dont have any roots, altough it is a lot lighter after Costa Rica. But everyone here has dark brown hair if its not died, so I guess its understandable....Sorry for the girly digression.
The class has been going on a lot of field trips lately because Lawrence left for Rio this afternoon. We went to the teatro downtown which was GORGEOUS and took a tour. We also went to the natural history museum yesterday, which is run by the Japonese. There were spiders much bigger than my hand and tons of scary fish in tanks. We saw a stuffed turtle that they have here. It looks more like a mini dinosaur than a turtle with a really wierd shell and mouth. Its supposed to be really agressive too. We also saw a lung fish which looks like an eel, but its known for killing cows during the dry season.
Leave comments and send me emails! 6months is such a looooong time away from meus amigos en Lex.
Tchau for now :)
Manaus is in the amazon, close to the equater and of course is MUITO QUENTE!! (WICKED HOT). The city is kinda dirty and is surprisingly not green. I can see the Rio Negro out my bedroom window and I live down town. There are tons of little cheap shops here and of course there are malls with American shops and McDonald´s. Its a pretty cool town and the people are incredibly friendly.
Im taking 4 hours of Portuguese a day at UEA (amazonas state college). Its a bitch to actually try to speak a language your not that familiar with with native speakers...but I think Im getting better very slowly.
We have 3 young female teachers who are extremely nice. We´ve been taking a lot of field trips and they like to go out and party. Friday a bunch of us saw a Bon Jovi/Pearl Jam cover show. It was crazy. Its cool to be able to drink legally. They never card anywhere and you can by beer at the little lanches on the street and walk around with it like it was a soda.
The other 2 students are boys from Fairfield (in connecticut). They are both northerns too! (one from Springfield, the other from Nova York. They are pretty cool.
Im living with a host family. The father runs an international language exchange program and the mother runs a lanche(she is 30, he is 50) They also have an 8year old adopted son named Junior who is my best friend here. We watch a lot of Bob Esponja. The little kid is a very good teacher. The food is great and the family keeps stuffing me because theyre worried Im not enjoying everything.
During the weekend we eat lunch at the grandmother´s in a very poor neighborhood that we can see out the window of our extremely nice condo. The income discrepency is shocking. She cooks really good food and the whole family is there. They enjoy poking fun at the gringa who doesnt understand a lot of what they say when they talk fast.
I also found out since Ive been here that my eyes are not brown...apparently they are green (*shrug*) lol. Also, people ask me all the time if my hair is really this color. My answer now is YESSSSSS. I died it 6months ago slmost the same color it was and I dont have any roots, altough it is a lot lighter after Costa Rica. But everyone here has dark brown hair if its not died, so I guess its understandable....Sorry for the girly digression.
The class has been going on a lot of field trips lately because Lawrence left for Rio this afternoon. We went to the teatro downtown which was GORGEOUS and took a tour. We also went to the natural history museum yesterday, which is run by the Japonese. There were spiders much bigger than my hand and tons of scary fish in tanks. We saw a stuffed turtle that they have here. It looks more like a mini dinosaur than a turtle with a really wierd shell and mouth. Its supposed to be really agressive too. We also saw a lung fish which looks like an eel, but its known for killing cows during the dry season.
Leave comments and send me emails! 6months is such a looooong time away from meus amigos en Lex.
Tchau for now :)