Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Lately...

Opa ok lots of fun little things have happened since Easter...

  • Spontaneous taekwondo lesson 
  • Went to a couple of studio rehearsals of a friend's band...(they're really flippin good too!) 
  • Walked up a mountain here in Santos (really see the other side of Brazil up there..heavy shit) 
  • Discovered the goodness of Temaki
  • Started some casual hip hop classes (that always end in me and tshiamo bursting out our own krumping)
  • Getting heapppps tighter with my school friends who have saved me various times (that they aren't aware of) from little lame bursts of homesickness
  • Spreading my group's little weird words and sayings to Brazilians and exchange students from all over the world...this ding dangin' be goin global! 
  • Started drawing classes at school 
  • Partying extraordinarily hard
  • Doing 10km tribuna with my Rotary club on a few hours sleep (day was crazily good..the whole city really came together at 7am on a Sunday morning..hundredddddds of people doing the marathon..like for real real or just groups of friends walking it in gorilla costumes..then you've got the old ladies cheering in their fold out chairs on the side...people throwing down bananas from their windows in the wild mayhem...real nice community spirit day!)

  • Went to a random interpretive dance show of a friend (oh it was interpretive alright)
  • Being so tired that I fall asleep in meditation time at yoga (this has happened more than twice...)
  • Sitting on the steps of a shop at midnight next to a bar with a big group of  exchange students and a guitar ..singing and laughing the night away until 4am ...in true poor intercambista style...
  • Doing a wholeeeeee big bag of longboarding! My fellow Aussie here lent me his longboard (I'm sure I've already talked about it..like a skateboard but you kinda just cruise along smoothly..curving..not like jolty turns.. kinda surfboard on wheels I guess)  The other day I actually skated home on the bike track! A little scary, but I didn't die so that's a plus. I did however have my first fall the other day..was fairly hilarious..face plant into the garden type thing...got a sexy (read: horrible) battle scar to prove that I'm a true skater now haha
  • Going to crazy over the top expensive little kid birthday parties..like when you think little kid birthday parties I think back yard, some mild games and those little red sausage things...well that is NOT how these city kids roll. Probably I have already mentioned the Brazilian's and their love for parties..pretty much goes unsaid..well they have these what they call 'buffets' and 'salão de festas' (in apartment buildings) which are places just purely for parties.

    I went to a buffet for a 4 year old's birthday and inside it literally had dodgem cars, a mini rollercoaster, a pirate ship type ride that swings back and forth, an area to play football, a dancefloor, Wii, computers and a playground..more still. It was off the chain! Part of me really wished I was 5 again, or that it was socially appropriate for an 18 year old to go on a mini rollercoaster with 5 year olds haha. Plus like it had an endless supply of drinks/snacks/lunch/desserts/cake. The whole thing went for 4 hours and I think cost like $2,500
  • The other one would have cost the same or maybe more as it had a magic show and so so much alcohol (for the parents, keep your pants on rotary) and they rented a full on decoration setting thing..like we're talking extreme. Most of the mums at both parties were wearing amazing classy clothes and high heels and the catering was so ridiculously gourmet (let me remind you this is to a one year old's birthday party) as most of them were from my building; Costa Blanca.
  • Oh by the way I switched families/houses! I now live 2 blocks from the beach in a (I'm not gonna lie) really really gorgeously amazing building. Everyone who lives here has worked really hard to get here, (or are football players haha) like they're all doctors and important people. It has a pool, gym, sauna, playground, little football area, finger print ID in the elevator and yeah it's really nice. Being here and going to their social events is like stepping into a different world, like they're all chillin with their designer clothes and maids and overseas holidays and I'm like the intercambista who would rather walk places than pay the R2.65 bus fare haha.
  • But my new family is really really lovely. The dad is a cardiologist and the mum is a physiotherapist/uni professor/also doing a PHD. So um yeah they're pretty clever people. But since day 1 I've felt really welcome here..it's like we're real family already and it's only been a couple of weeks! I have an 11 year old host brother and another 17 year old that just came back from a year in Mexico! And we have a dog! A cute tiny little thing! 
  • My first weekend with them they took me to the grand final of the State competition to watch Santos beat the Corinthians...the whole city was had this vibe like tense but excited and positive..4pm EVERYONE was glued to their televisions..this game was a BID DEAL. I don't know if you know how much Brazilians love football (to be fair not all of them...) but like when they love it..they are just not kidding around. Every 2 minutes there would be a unified outcry of fierce portugese swearing and when our team scored goals it was like everyone was simultaneously winning the lottery. So electric. 
  • Also went to a theme park! And like the quality intercambista I try to be, didn't say no to anything..went on every ride even up to this crazy bungee jump/getting let go from 60m and flying over a river type thing. Was nearly crying with fear/cutting off my friends circulation with my terrified grip haha which seems dumb now that I've actually done it..but going throught that 'ahh I realllllllly don't want to..but I'll regret it if I don't, I'm only gonna come here once' type of thing is where some of the best experiences come from I think. Those ones where you kinda just dare yourself.....like push yourself through the unknown out of your safe sensible thinking (like..oh it would be so much easier if I just didn't) are the ones that make you feel so damn alive. Like when you just suck it up and hope for the best you're..I dunno..growing..finding something new..achieving something..making things happen. Splashing around some colour. 
  • In exchange you are always thrust into these new and strange situations where you are totally lost (like the other day I went to my friends school and spoke to about 6 different english classes full of teenagers I had never met before..but you know it turned out being completely fine..) and because we're on this constantly ticking time bomb to go home it's like we will accept every invite, say yes to that ride, grab any opportunity and see where it takes us because if you wait til later... before you know it your time's up! Saying goodbye to all the Northern Hemishpere exchange students really makes me realise..wow..this thing does come to an end..and each day it gets closer and closer...
  • SO, my little piece of wisdom that I seem to be giving at the end of each blog (unintentionally, but it just kinda happens with all this reflection haha) is: Reap the shit out of every day. If there's something you always say 'oh I wish I had time to do this'..just..DO IT. You have the time. If it's something you really want to do then you can make the time, it's only you that's stopping yourself using time as an excuse. Live like an exchange student and say yes to the random event even though you could be awkward anaconda there..you never know who you can meet or what you may learn (and at the very least there's the possibility of free refreshments). 
  • Donnnn't stay sitting home alone on your computer virtually watching your friends' lives, GO OUT and actually be living in those lives instead! Here in Brazil I have never come home from school and stayed there until sleep time. Literally every afternoon I am out doing something, not like crazy mind-blowing adventures..just you know..living...appreciating the time with those around me whether it's just going for ice-cream with someone or going long boarding, or even if it's just going outside for the sake of it being a beautiful day WHATEVER because in 7 short months it's all going to be taken away from me...this I know I can't change..so all I am left to do is make the most of every day, just squeeze every inch of life from them, and I've never felt happier.
Sarinha x

1 comment:

  1. loving that you value your experience so much! This is a great read and it sounds like you are having an absolute ball, keep living it up!

    Also loving the "awkward anaconda" image

    xx

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