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.

5 things I wish someone had told me.

So I know most people who read my blog are friends and family but when I was wondering whether I was insane to go on an exchange I read as many blogs as possible from my future host country. So if you're wondering if you're insane, this post will shed some light on what you can expect if you make the decision to move around the world.

1.You'll be more tired than when you're cramming during finals week.
Or whatever you're version of exhaustion is. It's not even close to how tired you'll be on an exchange. You'll develop the unique ability to fall asleep doing anything anywhere. You'll fall asleep leaning against a wall, during any type of test at school (and you'll wake up with lines all over your face, not this happened to me...), and you'll even sleep during breakfast. Think of it as your new superpower. You are now the girl that can sleep through anything, no plane, train, or demanding teacher can wake you.*

2. Everything about your food and appetite is gonna be wonky.
When I first got here my host mom had several conversations with my counselor about how I wouldn't eat. If you know me, you know how strange that is. I love food! The only reason I wake up in the morning is breakfast. I keep hoping that someday I'll wake up and mom will have made pancakes, no dice so far but I still wake up to see if today is the day. It's not that the food is bad, in fact the food is delicious, but I had no appetite at all. None. Zip. Nada. Even thinking about eating made me feel ill. Once I got my appetite back I still didn't eat much. I still don't. They say exchange student gain weight but I lost ten pounds in 5 weeks. Just make sure you're eating enough that you're not hungry and I'd call it good. 

Acai. My new favorite food!

3. You're new family won't immediately feel like your family.
There's a bit of an unrealistic expectation that everything will immediately be butterflies and rainbows. Well let me tell you, my first act as host daughter was to burst into tears. Everything is overwhelming when you first arrive. If you're like me, you couldn't sleep and had been up for 30 hours straight and it suddenly hits you that you won't see your mom for ten months. And this new family,that speaks little to no english, is staring at you like you're a trained seal about to bounce a ball on your nose.  No ball just sobbing. Even after the first day, they're not going to automatically be your family. Don't expect them to. You just met them and like any other strangers, it'll come slowly. Your siblings will be easier than your parents. Haven't you ever wished your bff was your sister? If you're lucky, like me, that'll be the case. 

  

4. You'll dream of being popular will come true, unfortunately.

Seriously, if you ever wished for this, take it back right now! I'll wait while you do. Now that you've taken it back I can tell you that automatic popularity is not all it's cracked up to be. Everyone stares at you and talks about you. Of course because of the language barrier, you only know they're talking about you based on the pointing (Brazilians love to point) and the words "Texas" and "Americano." Now a whole school is staring at you like you're a seal that's going to bounce a ball on your nose. You will be invited to everything. Everything.  I was invited to spend the weekend at someones beach house, I didn't even know their name! It's nice that you'll get to attend all the parties but because of the exhaustion ( see #1) you'll pretty much just want to stay home and sleep or binge watch netflix. 

5. You'll make the best friends ever. 

These weird, crazy, foreigners you meet will become some of the best friends you've ever had. They tell you not to hang out with your fellow exchange students but just ignore them. I hang out with the other exchange students and we each bring our friends and siblings and just have a grand old time shouting over and at each other in different languages. The other exchange students are some of my closest friends and they've introduced me to all of my best brazilian friends. You form a group made up of exchange students and the brazilians willing to put up with having no clue what you're saying. Some how you still manage to have a great time despite not always knowing what anyones saying. 

Me and this crazy German. 

      Almost all the exchange students and our Yoda.
This photo includes people from Hungary, Italy,
Germany, Brazil, and America, 

My weird Brazil friends and one weirdo from Hungary. 

Someone told me before I left that it would be the best and the hardest thing I've ever done. They're right. So if you're wondering if you're insane, yes you definitely are and you should do it anyways. Tchau!
*FYI this post was originally supposed to be 10 Things but I was just too tired. More proof for #1.

Party time.

Hey y'all. Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been here almost three weeks now and things are finally starting to fall into a routine. On Mondays and Wednesdays I have school from 7am to 5:30 pm. Yes, you read that right, 10 1/2 hours of school! It's insane! On tuesdays, thursdays, and fridays, I only have school from 7am to 12:30. On tuesdays and thursdays I have Portuguese classes for an hour. Generally AFS has some type of activity planned for us every other week. For example, this friday we're going to the Chocolate festival and a Samba concert.

I went to an amazing 15th birthday party. 15th parties are pretty much the same as Quinceaneras but they're not called that. It was the most amazing party I've ever been to and since a picture is worth a 1,000 words, here are a few.

We didn't get home until 3 am but the next day we were up bright and early to get ready for my sister's party. It was another amazing party! If there's one thing I've learned, it's that Brazilians love a good party.

Lastly, I went to a third party this weekend. It was a 3 year olds birthday party. It was pretty awesome!

The Hulk later proposed to me but I was forced to turn him down. Green just doesn't do it for me. So that's what I've been up to. I hope everyone is having as much fun as I am. 

Down south

Hey Y'all,
   I'm officially here in Brazil! It's amazing! The plane ride down was long but I made friends with several of the other AFS students and that helped to pass the time. Immediately after I got here I was picked up by my family. It was so confusing and overwhelming. I was running on almost 2 days no sleep and suddenly I was with a new family and had no clue what was going on. My first act as host daughter once we got to the house was to break down and sob. Not the best start. On Saturday my counselor came by which led to more crying. Homesickness is a very real thing which is manifesting in the form of extreme tiredness and no appetite. Before I got here I was naive and didn't think I'd be homesick. I was so wrong! All the exchange students I  talked to said the first few months were some of the worst of their lives but after that it was amazing. Some days I'm so homesick I would cut of my right hand for a plane ticket home. It's tough because I speak so little Portuguese so often I have no clue what's going on. I'm slowly starting to understand more Portuguese. My family is incredibly sweet! My host mom Sandra is diligent in teaching me Portuguese and my sister Iza helps translate when I don't understand which is often. Everyone I've met in Brazil is unbelievably nice. They're very friendly and curious. They ask questions like, "have I been to Hollywood? What is my favorite animal? What American football teams do I like? and Do I like Justin Bieber and Demi Lovato?"
       Sunday was father's day. We went to Sandra's brothers house to celebrate. We barbecued food and two of my cousins played Samba music. Iza taught me to dance Samba! They played a little bit of soccer and I played with the youngest cousin who is 5 years old. She's so adorable! She likes to jump up in your lap and babble in Portuguese. She told me I look like Cinderella. It was so much fun and a great way to spend the day.

Iza, Iago, and I playing with Marley.

A new Brazilian friend I met on Saturday.

Fathers day!

Today I started school. Everyone was very nice and willing to help me when I didn't understand. When I said I was from San Antonio they would reply, "Go Spurs!" Then ask about the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers. The school is different from American schools in that it is K-high school. I and the other three exchange students (from Hungary, Germany, and Italy) were led to each classroom to be introduced. The little kids were especially excited to try their english out on us. Class was confusing because I don't understand a lot of Portuguese. I have no clue how to do my homework so for the most part I just worked on my Portuguese during class. On Mondays and Wednesdays school is from 7-5:30! But on the other days it is only 7-12:40. I already made some new friends and was invited to do something for the weekend. Overall, not a bad first day, even if it did last forever. I hope everyone back home is doing well. Tchau!

Moon over Miami.

Hey y'all! I'm officially here in the sunshine state but unfortunately it's not too sunny right now. Yesterday at 6am my mom and brother dropped me off at the airport. Seeing them waving at me as I walked through security was a little heartbreaking. It still hasn't hit me yet that I won't see my family for 11 months.

I then flew from San Antonio to Dallas. It was an incredibly short flight and I spent most of it staring out the window amazed. My next flight was from Dallas to Miami. That was almost three hours and I was able to finish a book during it. I had a minor panic attack at the baggage claim when I couldn't find my bag. So of course I called mommy freaking out. Thankfully they were able to find my bag and I got to the hotel okay. I was assigned my room and told to go up and meet my roommate. My roommate D. had not been told she was getting a roommate and was sleeping half naked diagonally across the bed, her stuff everywhere. LOL.  Notice the emphasis on the, because there was only one bed! After she woke up and realized she had a roommate and got dressed we made friends. She's also going to Brazil with a BP scholarship. I met several other people going to Brazil. I believe there are about 12 of us. 

We went to dinner and at dinner I was able to ask the AFS volunteer about the bed situation and it turns out we were put in the wrong room so we were able to get moved to one with two beds.

At the orientation, we went around and introduced ourselves and why we decided to be exchange students. Then we just played a quick trivia game. My team won and got gift cards to starbucks. Yay! Then we were dismissed. Today, orientation starts at noon and we have to be check out before that. Up until then we can do whatever we want. The students going to Brazil leave for the airport at 4 and our flight is at 8. We arrive at 5 am in Sao Paulo. I'm not sure what happens after we arrive because several people have given me different answers, but pretty much we either go straight home with our families or go straight to orientation for three days. We'll see. I hope everyone back home is doing well. I already miss you! Tchau!

Countdown

       Hey everyone! I hope you're having a great summer. It's officially 8 days until I leave. I'm sorry for the lack of updates but things here have been busy. So back in the beginning of July I was lucky enough to attend one of my favorite people's wedding. Stef and Dan got married on July 5th at a "Red, White and I Do!" themed wedding. It was amazing! We all had an absolute blast and it was great getting to see Stef and Dan. Congrats to the wonderful couple!

Bachelorette party

Mini pies should be at every wedding.

      On July 7th I turned 17. Yay! We celebrated by driving home through Mississippi so that we could walk around Ole Miss. After we returned home, mom and I immediately went to Houston to apply for my visa. We were rejected. Uh Oh! The Houston consulate is one of the strictest and we didn't have enough of the right paperwork. Don't worry though, AFS sent us the paperwork and we're driving back on August 1st to get my visa. I also attended my pre departure orientation shortly after that. I got to meet students going to The Netherlands, Turkey, and Switzerland. I was also fortunate enough to meet a girl that had just returned from her year in Brazil! Sarah was awesome and answered so many questions. For example, it takes about 3-4 months to become fluent and don't worry about school, you're not expected to do great. She also taught me a bunch of Brazilian hand gestures and shared funny stories from her trip. At the orientation we discussed things we are worried about such as making friends, learning the language, and fitting in. I had a great time and it only made me more excited to go.

 This week I finished up my shopping for gifts for my host family and for things I'll need while there like converters. It's just starting to occur to me that I leave in a few days and I expect to start panicing any moment. Well that's all for now. Tchau!