All of the food around here is buffet style, it's kind of ridiculous. and instead of keeping in shape, I'm going to turn into a huge round ball of fatty brazilian food rolling around on the beach. Not a pretty site. Today we went to the Federal Police to register our visas, which when we pay pack SIT will cost about $100!!! Our books are also going to cost about an extra $200 which I think is pretty much overkill for what we get. (a bunch of photocopies nicely binded) but ...oh well, I'm finally oficially legally registered to be in the country. yay, they won't kick me out unless I do something illegal!!!
Well, but on a lighter note, today we're getting cellphones which will make it ten times easier to call each other to hang out. Not good for our portuguese skills, but good for our social skills.
I am in LOVE with Brazil! the Food is so good, the people are so nice...definitely much different than anywhere else I've visited. for example, on the bus, if all the seats are taken and there are people standing in the aisles, people that are sitting down will offer to hold their belongings instead of offering their seat. A little weird, and I don't think I'll be handing off my things to random strangers.
This saturday, a bunch of people from the group are going to Praia do Futuro to actually go swimming. I hope I can bring my camera so I can send lots of people pictures of the beautiful beaches and scenery around here. And also sometime this weekend, I'm going to shopping with Daniele for some better shampoo and conditioner, because the stuff I brought is terrible for my hair and I can't really look like a mess when everyone around here that is close to my age always looks very chic (sheekee). Which is why it bothers me that SIT tells us to dress down and dirty and no nice clothes while everyone around me looks really nice. I think I'll have to find a medium, but not at the cost of my family looking down upon me because I look so haggard.
Yesterday we had our first lecture and if it's any indication of what future lectures are going to be like, then count me out because I was falling asleep sooooo bad!
Another thing that I was really excited about is all the life and vibrant culture and vibe that we have over here at IBEU. There are lots of cool posters. One that found particularly interesting was one that had a photo of George Bush as Hitler and is name spelled with a swastika in place of an S. ONe that I loved is a poster of Phil Collins for the READ. campaign that they had when we were in elementary school. I'm kind of in love with it and want to take it home.
There is very much a lack of personal space and small town attitude that I am not accustomed to. Everyone here knows everyone else's business like, "Last night I saw the american and ***** go into a motel last night." And let me tell you that info like that spreads faster than a plague over here. The lack of privacy is noted by the fact that the bathroom for the entire house is located right next to the kitchen with everyone else being able to hear all of your business. (I also think they don't flush after every use of the toilet...but I think that is to conserve water.
So far, I think I've only spent $40 which is really good, but starting tomorrow I'm going to be living off of IBEU money, which is good because they give us R$10 a day for meals and tickets to use on the bus. I can get a meal for R$5 and pocket the extra which in the end can accumulate to a lot of money.
Everyone here is already starting to plan our trip to Rio at the end of the program. Which for me means that I won't be able to visit Iguacu or Sao Paulo, but there is always a next time. My visa is valid for one year for multiple entries...so I will definitely be back. but We'lll see how much the plane tickets cost for me to actually get there.
Either way, Fortaleza is amazing and soon we'll be visitin Salvador which I hear is even more beautiful.