Hi Family!
Sorry I havent been able to get this to you sooner, but so far, so good in Fortaleza. Today we met up with everyone and just finished dinner of some awesome rice and beans, chicken soup, steamed veggies, beef, bread, and ham, and had our first group meeting. I think Im going to LOVE our director. He's from Chicago, but has been here for 33 years, and seems EXTREMELY passionate about this place and his work.
backpackers went pretty well, and I definitely speak more Portuguese than when I got here but that's not saying much. LUCKILY nobody else in the program really speaks it, so I'm not alone. yesterday, I explored the beach promenade and WENT SWIMMING in the warm bath water that is the ocean down here. After I proudly made it through 2 meals with the help of my pocket verb book, I finally ran into Christine at the hostel and we went out to dinner and caught some really great music. The town is pretty dead, I'm pretty sure they're all still hung over from Carnival, so it's pretty quiet. Sadly, I missed a big parade and beach party, cause I hadn't met anyone who really spoke English, had NO idea what kind of neighborhood I was in, so I kind of slept through the whole thing.
Found out about my family!!! We move in on Sunday night! I have a mom, a sister who's my age and a poodle, so it's going to be COMPLETELY different than last semester, but Im so excited to meet them and get to know my new neighborhood. I'll be about a half an hour bus ride to school, but lots of other students are living pretty close to me.
That's pretty much everything, it's HOT AS B*LLS HERE and i feel like I need a cold shower every 45 minutes, but I'm already looking tanner :-D full-on latina makeover her I come! OOh! Also, sounds like a bunch of other kids are considering ISPs in Salvador.
I miss you guys, and I hope to see you all on this side of the equator before I leave.
BESOS! XOXOXOXOXOX
-erin
2nd email....
Boa Tarde Familia!
Tudo bem? Sorry I havent been in more contact, I should be getting a phone this week, but our days have been pretty packed. quick update, and hopefully I'll get organized enough to start up my blog again:
Been with my family for 2 nights s far! They moved me to a new one b/c I guess there was a medical problem with the other family, so I actually have a mom Ceiça, a 26 year old sister Karine, a brother in his twenties who's married and plays the violin (i think?), and another brother who's married w/ a 2 yr old son Gabriel (so cute!) Last night I went over to their house and played games with him and his 4 yr old cousin. Everyone is SO SWEET, but doesn't speak A WORD of English. Portuguese is SO DIFFERENT from spanish and the pronunciation is crazy, and our classes FINALLY start tomorrow. So far, I've somehow managed to communicate, though I can never be too sure if I actually understand what they're telling me.
The house is pretty small, but I have my own room with a bed, a little dresser, a mirror, and a fan and that's it. I love our neighborhood though, cuz there are always people hanging out on the streets at night and several other SIT kids live really close. One is like my next door neighbor Jacob and we hung out with the neighborhood kids and his family dancing around and singing lady gaga songs. There's an 11 yr old boy and a 15yr old girl that live across the street that are AWESOME and so much fun to be around. Also Jacob speaks some portuguese so he helps translate.
I'm signing up for Capoeira classes!! A bunch of us are doing it, and there's a free place right down the street from my house. There's also a dance school by our office, so I might sign up for some samba or forró dances (Fortaleza partner dance) for after school. Everyone is so outgoing and eager to explore, which is AWESOME and all our families know each other so we're pretty much one big extended family. Tonight, the Fortaleza futbol team is playing like the best team in brazil, so we're gonna try to get tickets :-)
So far, so great :-)
Ok, love you guys and hopefully I'll have a number to send you soon.
Tchau!
Eín (my family can't really pronounce my name so this is what they call me)
