First 48 hours

Well well well


Here I am, sitting in my new home in Brazil, wondering where to ever start. I don't reallllly know how to blog..like what the protocol is....but I guess I will just say what I would be telling you all individually if you asked how is it so far..


So the day I flew out, the 20th, was quite literally the longest day of my life..I left the gold coast at 2am..and then after driving and waiting and flying we left Sydney at 1.30 pm and after a ten hour flight to Argentina the local time was only 3.30 pm..the other exchange students from Australia to Brazil were quite awesome and we all agreed that we chose the best place :D
Finally we got to Sao Paulo airport at 9.30 pm, and we were greeted with all our host families. As all these young Australians anxiously looked out to the sea of strangers, they yelled out to me "Sarah, I think we know who your host family is!" I emerged from customs to find a big screen printed sign held up by my host parents that said "Welcome to Brazil Sarah King" in this bright yellow and green. It was such a beautiful gesture!


The drive from Sao Paulo to Santos, my city, was full of questions to my host parents about anything..everything...! I was just so excited and happy that after all the time spent looking forward to this year...it was actually HAPPENING!


The next day we went to the local shopping centre and I got some yellow and green havaianas with the Brazilian flag..yes I know..the ULTIMATE tourist (for those that don't know, Havi's are from Brazil!) They were about $10..a price to be enjoyed. Then they took me to the beach of Santos, a place that I will be going to frequently this year. Then we went to meet the extended family, like aunties, uncles, grandparents, cousins etc.
It's funny because some speak english, some speak a little and many speak none at all. So, I have been using lots of Portanolish...limited portugese, a little bit of english and the rest in spanish. Usually I just try to say it in Spanish and see if they understand..many words are the same so that's good. But sometimes that just doesn't work out and there is just this silence coupled with raised eyebrows..quickly followed by a look to my sister or mother who both speak both languages. So, it is a bit of a trial and error system. But it is only day 3 or 4 and already I am not using much english in the house...I just want to throw myself into it because the quicker you can communicate the better the times will be! But yesterday I met some Exchange students from the US and I just spoke in Portugese and they were like errrrm we do speak english...! But I have become so quickly influenced..gone is the Australian accent...now I speak english in the way that my host mum and sister do...a little bit jolted and with this weird italian/american accent. So, I AM ALREADY FORGETTING ENGLISH


Which is weird...
Anyway, the next day the family went to the next city called Guaruja which is the only beach in Brazil to be awarded with the blue flag, which is certified by the Foundation for environmental education. To get one, the beach has to have super super high standards  for  water quality, safety, environmental education and information, the provision of services and generalenvironmental management. On the weekend, everyoneeee from the hustle and bustle of Sao Paulo city come to Santos or Guaruja to have a day at the beach. And man do they enjoy the beach. If you look at the photos on facey you will see how crowded the beaches are...and here they don't just go to the beach to swim and then leave. They spend the whole day here...sitting, sleeping, eating, drinking, swimming, walking, playing and just generally relaxing. There are hundreds and hundreds of umbrellas and chairs for everyone to use and they all stay til the sun goes down...about 8pm. 


Now, if you thought that the Brazilian bikini was just a stereotype, you are SO WRONG. Here, allllllllll the girls wear skimpy, cheeky cut bikinis. Often just straight up g-strings...No matter how young, old or fat you are, you still wear them. The sights aren't always pleasant but here they are just so comfortable with their bodies so it's just kind of like; good for them ! Also, the guys only wear speedos...well..they are more like boyleg cut undies but yeah there are certainly no boardshorts in sight. I felt like the absolutely crazy one in my regular joe swimmers!


I get along reallllly well with my family, and their extended family, even with the language barrier we are always joking and laughing. My host brother is so cute, at first he was shy, but now we are like sister and brother. I showed him you forgot the blueberries on youtube (thanks joanna!) (if you haven't seen it look it up and then fastforward to the end..it's the goods) so that won me a few kudos. We generally just bond over random things like American music and playing football together. Sometimes our conversations have a 2 minute delay because we type what we want to say into google translate and then pass the computer over..then we repeat..it's a great little system. The first thing he said to me was 'you eat ALOT' haha


That night we left at midnight to go out to a club that was playing samba music, my cousins friend taught me how to do it and we just went wild! It was so much fun. Here, the people don't go out to get drunk, they go out to dance! I loveeeed it! We didn't get home until 4am,,


It's like everything you could ever hope for when you go to Brazil i have already experienced...like the beaches, the samba, the food (ahhhhh soo good!!!) the welcoming people..everything! Quick note on the food, when you visit people they always offer food and get offended if you don't eat it, so my host mum said that I will be loved because I am always hungry haha


But on a sour note I think I went a bit too hard too fast because today I had a lil vom..and by little I mean ten times...awks..because it's such different food and it's so hot and I was overrrtired. After all the years of bragging about not vomiting since I was 7 ..I think I have made up for it all..hahah


oh sweet jesus


this has been TOO LONG
if you made it this far
congratulations..I am sorry...next time it will not be this much..it's just because everything is new and exciting that I want to share it :D


I hope you are all doing well in Australia!! Lots of Brazilian love xxxx