Exchange Students First Haircut

Hey Y'all,
    So here is a quick rundown of my weekend so far;

• On Saturday I presented a science project at school. At my school every student in every grade is required to work for months on a science project and then present it to teachers. I was in a group with six of my friends. They'd already been working on it for months and I only joined earlier this week, so to be honest I did pretty much no work. My only job was to deliver the introduction. I guess I did it pretty well because at the end I was engulfed in hugs and kisses from multiple teachers and everyone congratulated me. It seemed like a lot of fuss considering I only spoke three sentences but apparently I spoke them very well. Our project went great and from what I understood we got the Brazilian equivalent of an A! Congrats to the girls in my group for all their awesome work! 

In other news, I'm a giant.

•  We went to the Holi Festival in Sao Paulo! After the science fair, my sister and I met up with her friends at the Holi Festival in Sao Paulo. I'm pretty sure this was nothing like the actual Holi Festival in India. It was pretty much just a giant party/concert in the park with people throwing colored powder at each other. Iza's friends were nice and it was pretty amazing to see all the different colors. I also got to buy presents for my mom and brother and a beautiful flower crown for myself. When Iza explained to one of her friends that I was an exchange student he said, "Hi!" So I of course replied in Portuguese. He looked shocked and asked me if I spoke English. Ummm yes, but to be honest I've lately been forgetting random English words. We arrived pretty late and were hanging out on the sidelines so we remained clean for the first few hours but after awhile we waded into the main concert crowd to hear the band. That's when we actually got pelted with colors. I also got red wine spilled on me from someone in the crowd. Oh well, I didn't expect to leave the part clean anyways. I was glancing around looking at all the different colors when suddenly there's this guy coming at me and speaking Portuguese to me. He was tall and covered in green powder, tattoos, and piercings. He was saying, "Hug me!" I was a little surprised but,as he was already leaning in, I went for it and hugged him and added green Holi powder to my already colorful clothes. Iza and her friends were cracking up at the poor exchange student being taken advantage of.  We had a great time and left there covered from head to toe in Holi powder.
  
  
  
   So finally, we're at the story of my first haircut here in Brazil. When I asked where I should get my haircut my host mom told me that their neighbor cuts all of their hair. I was surprised mostly because she's my younger sister's age but she works in a salon so I'll go with it.  I'm incredibly spoiled when it comes to my hair. I've always had the same people that cuts my mother's hair cut mine. We're talking more money spent on a haircut than on a whole outfit. Haircuts are serious business. But when in Rome... besides it's just a trim. So I go over to the neighbors house around 8:30 and they're still getting set up so I hung out in the living room with her dad. Now her dad speaks no English and I, for some reason, have more trouble understanding men than women. Her dad's a big talker so he talks and I nod and smile. Good thing is, he uses tons and tons of elaborate hand gestures. I'm not quite sure they go with what he's saying. Anyway, after he gets tired of talking at me he turns on music, specifically Rihanna, and starts dancing. I'm cracking up and he's gesturing for me to dance but I'm just laughing too hard to dance. He's grabs my hand and we start waltzing around the room. His daughter comes in and starts laughing and dragging me out of the room because it's time to start my haircut. She and I discuss what I want. It's hard to communicate cause I don't know hair cutting words and she doesn't understand all of my English. So we're mostly using hand gestures and demonstrating on my hair.We go into her bathroom and she has one of those chairs that hairdressers use to wash your hair. It's in her shower and it's hot pink. We climb in the shower and I get in the chair and she starts washing my hair. There's a problem with the water, it's coming out ice cold and there's not a lot of pressure. I assure her that the temperature doesn't bother me. So my hair is full of shampoo when suddenly the water stops. After much discussion in Portuguese, she declares,"The water is finished." Brazil's in a drought and there are water restrictions. Their allotted water was finished. I just immediately start cracking up which of course makes her laugh. Her mother comes in carrying a giant bowl of water, ice cold of course, and dumps it on my head. This happened several times and then my hair is clean.We go into her bedroom, I sit at her desk chair, and she begins cutting my hair. People wander in and out of the room throughout the haircut to chat. After the cut, she blow dries and styles it. When I finally got to see it I was really impressed. It looks every bit as good as when I go to my master hairstylist at home. What's even more impressive is she did such an amazing job and she did it at home and she's even younger than me! After the haircut was finished I said goodbye to her mom and her and exited. When I got to the living room we ran into her dad. So of course there was a lot more waltzing and then a half hour of conversation also known as charades. Overall, the haircut and dancing took three hours and I got home around 11:30. I loved the haircut and all the dancing just made it more fun and memorable. I'd post a picture but I'm in pajamas and no makeup... My next blog post,about a trip I'm taking to Bonito, will have pictures with my new hair so you'll just have to wait for those. Until then just take my word that it's a fantastic haircut. Tchau!
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Party on, Wayne.

Party! Party! Party! This past weekend I went to my first real Brazilian clubbing experience. It was amazing! Everything you could want and more. I'm not going to go too much into my experience but I know that one of my main questions about Brazil before I came was about the nightlife. So for future exchange students, I'm going to tell you what you can expect and give you some advice. If you're interested in what party I went to here is the link for last  years video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeRVzseS2js
Basically, it's a giant costume party in a three story club. Ah-Mazing!

*WARNING*
So Brazilian men are a lot more aggressive than what most girls are used to. Guy's literally just grab you and kiss you. There are four ways that this happens; guys who dance with you and then try to kiss you, guys who ask (or in my case mime), guys who reach out and touch your arm and like cock their heads in the universal gesture of, "Wanna go?", and men that literally just grab you (around the waist or unfortunately by the back of the head/hair) and start kissing you. So keep your eyes open and remember to give a firm, "No!" if you don't want to. They're good about backing off when you say no. If you're someone who this could be a trigger for I'd suggest just not going to these kinds of parties/clubs. You can say "no" once they grab you but you can't really stop them from grabbing you in the first place. Stick to school parties, birthday parties, friends parties, and family parties if this is something that will upset you. I chose to take it as a compliment and just laugh it off and turn them down as politely as possible.

Tips and Tricks
1.) Stay sober. Hey now, don't look at me like I'm a buzz kill! You'll thank me by the end of the night when you're one of the only people not vomiting or you can simply walk in a straight line and avoid the puddles of drunk people vomit. If you truly find it so hard to be sober (you're probably from Europe) they gave out free waters and even some free snacks like cotton candy. You can also purchase heavier food such as Chinese food. Either finish your drink before you hit the dance floor or put a hand over the top so that no one puts anything in it. Be smart and stay safe.

2.) Wear flats. I swear to God I'm not a buzzkill, but this was the best decision I've made quite possibly during my whole time here. It was a seven hour party and Brazilians love to dance during all of it! Also there are very, very  few places to sit down and rest. And by that, I mean I didn't sit down once in those whole seven hours. I fell down once but it wasn't really the rest I had hoped for. By hour two almost all the girls on the dance floor were barefoot because their heels hurt so much. They then had to either decide to carry their shoes around for another five hours or risk them being stolen. Also, they had to navigate their way in the pitch black on a dance floor with cigarette butts, spilled alcohol, vomit, and pee (this will be explained later.) Remember, that your parents are picking you up from this and kids have been sent home because their parents complained they were drunkards.

3.) Be rude. This was the first thing my friend told me when we got there, "If you don't want to kiss a guy be as rude as possible as you can about it. Just be a b***h. That's the only way he'll get the message." I swear to God I can be rude (just ask my mother) but I have a problem about giggling at the wrong times and an inability to be rude to strangers (curse my mom for instilling manners). For example, a few weeks ago I fell downs the stairs in a short skirt in front of all  my friends and several teachers and administrators and immediately I started laughing so hard I cried,to which my friend laughed and said, "Thats how the Americans do it." So clearly I laugh at inappropriate times. So of course none of my No's were taken very seriously because I was laughing like a loon and rambling in English. Some of them spoke english, one as he was holding my face and I was dodging his kisses says to me, "But I speak English!", so not even the English speaking one's will take you seriously. You've got to be firm to the point of rudeness with most of them. Just give a very firm No and a shake of your head. And absolutely no laughing! Just remember that you're in charge of what happens. Lots of men will try and kiss you but you get the final say. Overall the men are nice and respectful about it. I never felt unsafe, uncomfortable, or like I was being forced. Only do what you're comfortable with and you can choose to stop at any point and Brazilian guys just are like, "Okay, cool. Bye," and walk away. It's no big deal. Just follow your instincts and do what is right for you.

4.)If you do want to kiss them have at it.  The Brazilians I know kissed between 6-10 guys each. Which seriously shocked me as a puritanical American, but is no big thing in Brazil. So go craz,as long as it's what you want, no one will judge.

5.) Go prepared.  We had a signal with our group so that if we were finished with a guy and they weren't letting go our friends could yank us away. But I would suggest having a hand signal (like a peace sign or something) ours was an upturned wrist but sometimes your wrist is simply upturned and some girls unfortunately got yanked away from guys they actually liked. Oops. Also walk through the crowds in a chain holding hands so that no one gets lost (like kindergarten all over again just with more booze). If you do separate from the group take at least one other person with you and have one meeting point that you all know about. Keep your friends in sight, even the ones necking with random guys, so that no one is dragged off and you can see their hand signals. The girls pretty much end all the kisses so you'll use that hand signal quite a bit. It's also good to have a friend that speaks English if you're not yet fluent so she can explain to random guys grabbing at you to leave you alone because you don't speak Portuguese. This will result in them miming kisses, speaking English to you, or (my personal favorite) replies like, "I don't care. I don't want to talk to her. I just want to kiss her!"

6.) There are certain things you shouldn't do (Boys I'm looking at you!) No licking faces, sniffing hair, or peeing on people. Unfortunately all of these happened to me *shudders*. 1) Licking. Unless you're comfortable enough with a girl that you're a 100% sure she'll be ok with you licking her face (hint, most aren't!), just don't do it. My first thought was, "Wait, did my face just get licked? Was his tongue just on my cheek?! Why did this happen?!" 2.) Sniffing random people hair is usually a no no. I got yanked out the crowd by a guy who, though he took my no kissing thing well, then felt the need to stick his nose in my hair and take a big whiff. Now, I know I smell like rainbows, sunshine, and unicorns all in one but please, please keep your nostrils to yourself. 3.) Peeing on people. This is really just never ok. Unless you've asked and they've agreed (weird but hey, whatever floats your incredibly twisted boat) don't pee on other people! I don't care that you're that you're wasted and the bathroom lines are ridiculously long! This is no excuse to scar people by whipping it out and peeing right there on the dance floor. I am now scarred for life! I have been peed on!! This is horrifying and I had to dance through several more hours telling myself that if I pretend there wasn't pee on my foot there wouldn't be. So please boys, unless otherwise asked, when it comes to girls you don't know, it's best to; keep your tongues off of cheeks, nostrils out of hair, and boy parts in your pants. From all women, we thank you.

So there's my advice for all of you coming to party in Brazil. I would highly suggest it. I had an amazing time! Probably the best night I've ever had in Brazil and definitely a top 5 in my life. Come party in Brazil, it's the best! Just try not to be licked on the face, sniffed, or peed on. Or do any of those things to unsuspecting things to girls. Besides that, just be safe and have the time of your life! Tchau!

AFS Orientation Otherwise Known as Free Time Part 2

So where did I leave off... Oh yeah, we'd just arrived at the Orientation site. The AFS email we received said that we would be staying at a hotel in the city of Americana. AFS is a big fat liar. What they meant by "hotel" was cabin and by "city of Americana" they meant farm behind the city of Americana. Thanks for that heads up, AFS. Even though it wasn't what I was expecting, I was thrilled it be there. It was gorgeous

These pictures don't truly do it justice. It was a gorgeous property with a lake, several soccer fields, and basketball courts. Our leader informed us that lunch wasn't for an hour so to take our minds off of it we played soccer. Most of the girls sat on the side lines but Germany and I jumped in much to the chagrin of our teammates. We were really no help at all. I'm pretty sure I ran away from the ball a couple of times. Oops. Clearly I'm not going to be the next Hope Solo. Next we had lunch and moved on to orientation activities. These activities pretty much consisted of talking about the differences between Brazil and our home countries and debating who had the best beer. America gracefully bowed out by saying,"We just import ours," and Denmark won by declaring, "We have the best milk." So go to Denmark for the milk and Belgium and Germany for the beer. Which do you think is better Belgium beer or German beer?

Remember how I said we had six Italians? Only two of them spoke any english so they formed their own little gang and interacted as little as possible with the rest of us.The leader actually talked to the rest of us in english and then went to the Italian group to talk to them in Portuguese. So in return we might have made a lot of Italian jokes. For example, why do Italian men grow mustaches? They want to look like their mothers. It was all in good fun. There was holocaust jokes for the Germans and dumb jokes for the Americans. Somehow the Belgium and Denmark kids escaped being made fun of. Most of the weekend was free time, hence the title. The leader was like, "Free time for the next three hours!" To which we'd reply," Well duh, we've already had free time for the last three hours."

The night before we left, we were told we couldn't leave the camp site. We were all disappointed because former AFSer's had told us they'd been allowed to go dancing. To make up for it our leader gave us woods and a lighter and told us to have a bond fire. I was slightly concerned about giving a bunch of teenagers matches but I guess he figured we were next to the lake and hopefully smart enough to jump in if something happened. There were a few close calls but nobody actually caught fire. We just hung out and talked and sang around the bonfire. The next day we had ,you guessed it, more free time! We played some soccer and then were taken to the bus station. It was an amazing weekend and I can't wait to see everyone again in June. Tchau!

AFS Orientation Otherwise Known as Free Time Part 1

Last weekend was our first AFS orientation at Americana. So at 6 am on Saturday everyone from ABC chapter arrived at the bus station half asleep and ready to get this over with. Of course something immediately went wrong. Everyone except Germany, (FYI I'm going to be referring to everyone by their countries), had a large bag or a medium bag and a backpack but Germany just had one small backpack. So I asked her how she had managed to pack so little especially when we were told to also bring sheets, pillows, and towels.
Germany says, "We don't have to bring bed sheets."
Everyone else, "Umm.. Yeah you do."
G," I read it three times!"
Me," You got it wrong three times."
G," But I put it in google translate and its says sheets of paper... So I just have paper."
Instead of sheets and blankets to sleep with she had brought just sheets of paper. Oops. Oh well, what can we do? So, we board our bus and everyone immediately falls asleep. Except me cause I can never sleep on anything moving. Not buses, cars, planes, boats... Nada. After three long and incredibly boring hours I start seeing signs for Americana. As soon as the bus stops at the next station we all immediately run for the exit. Mistake #2. Our first sign should have been that it wasn't really a station, It was more of a shack in a tiny town selling drinks but we'd been on the bus for three grueling hours and just wanted off. So I didn't give it much thought. We collected our bags and then our senses and had Italy #1 ask the bus driver if it was Americana. Nope. Next exit. So Hungary, Germany, and I all jump back on the bus with our jumbo bags and her small backpack. The bus starts pulling away and I look out the window and see Italy #1 and #2 just standing there at the drink stand. Whoops...
Me, "Um.. You guys we just left the Italians behind..." (Starts laughing hysterically.)
Everyone else freaks out. Germany calls the Italians and I text our chapter President (AKA Yoda.)
Me: Don't panic but we left the Italians at the wrong bus stop.
Yoda:WHATT?? U WANNA KILL ME???!!"I AM HAVING A HEART ATTACK! THE ITALIANS ARE ALL TRYING TO KILL ME!!"
Yoda happens to be in the middle of teaching a class and immediately stops to call the boys who of course don't answer. So he's freaking out and Italy #1 calls to say,
"It's ok. There's this guy who's offering us a ride."
Yoda: "WHATT???!!! DO NOT GET IN HIS CAR!! DO NOT GET IN HIS F*****G CAR!! I'M COMING TO GET YOU!!"
It's important to know that the first rule of AFS is no hitchhiking and you will be sent home  if you do. So Yoda cancels all his classes and meeting and calls his wife to tell her he's making the three hour drive to Americana because, "THOSE DAMN ITALIANS ARE TRYING TO KILL ME!!" Thankfully, the Italians called him back to tell him they caught a bus to Americana and he doesn't have to come get them. The rest of us that were able to get back on the bus have arrived at the bus station. We've been given the instructions to retrieve the boy's bags. The problem is that they have the tickets that we have to exchange for their bags and we don't speak enough Portuguese to explain (ironically, the italians are the only ones that speak portuguese.) Germany is freaking out,
" How are we gonna get their bags?! We don't have tickets!! We can't explain!! (begins to hyperventilate)."
So here's how we did it,
Me: "Shut up and smile and follow my lead." We go up the guy passing out the bags.
Me: *Smiles, tilts head, and points to the two bags.*
Guy:"Portuguese (asking for tickets I assumes)."
Me: *Shrugs* "No Portuguese." *Begins to pout and points at the bags again. German stands behind me smiling.*
Guy: *Looks conflicted for a moment but then smiles and hands over the bags.*
Me: *Smiles big* "Thanks!"
German: "That was amazing."
Success, but it doesn't say much for the security in Brazil. Thankfully it worked in our favor this time.

Sad faces cause we lost the Italians.
I love that Hungary looks like he's trying not to smile!

We waited around for about an hour before the AFS volunteer showed up with the other exchange students. There were a total of fourteen of us, 6 from Italy, 3 from the USA, 2 from Denmark, and 1 from Belgium, Germany, and Hungary. Then we had to wait for the Italians and at this point we weren't in contact with them and didn't know how they were getting here. And did I mention that a woman on the bus told us that the place we left them at is very dangerous? Double whoops. Thankfully the Italians show up without any visible wounds and we quickly departed for the orientation site. We weren't even there yet and already I was done for the day. 

Stay tuned to find out how crazy it gets once we arrive.