Brazil, Chapter 3: In which we Go to Many Markets

Today the school was closed, and we had the whole day to relax. I got up and went running, which was probably good for me but not for my self esteem, since I was tired and sweaty after one block, and since everyone looked at me like I was crazy. I'll stick to the gym from now on.

Diane and I went to pick up some things at the supermarket later in the morning. (It's the only place we know how to get to in Lins, so we thought it was a good option.) We got water, shampoo, and a completely ineffective bug-zapper, on which our mosquitoes have riotous dance parties. We also loaded up on some of that famous Brazilian fresh fruit:

We've got a lot more to try, but this was a good start. We already ate the caqui fruit, and the green, bumpy pinha. We also ate some of the candy. The one was like a peanut-butter fudge, sort of, and the other was like a weird spongy whitish block that tasted like rainbows and unicorn dust. It was so good.

After lunch we went to another market, one that sells lots of cheap souvenirs and fake name brands. I might buy a cheap camera there, but today we just wandered around. We asked one vendor how much a pair of sunglasses was, and when we didn't understand the price and he had to write it down, his little sister started laughing hysterically. I'm not sure she's ever met someone who doesn't speak Portuguese before; she must have thought we were either idiotic or just bizarre.

We wandered around Lins for a while. There isn't much to do, but I think it's a beautiful place. I love the bright colors they paint all the houses, and the plants are all so cool! Bougainvillea is one of my favorite flowers, and it's everywhere. Apparently it's native to Brazil. I also like that there are so many hills here, so each street curves down and you have a great view of the red roofs and trees. This isn't a very good picture, but it's the best I've got for now, and you, my favorite Lone Follower, have probably been wondering what it looks like here:

After exploring, we thought about going to a movie, but it's really, really hard to look up movie times in Lins when you don't know the name of the movie theatre, the location of the movie theatre, or the language of the country of the movie theatre. So we talked for a while, lesson-planned, and then ate another delicious dinner.

Suzie and The Roommate that we Forgot Her Name

This is Donna Katarina's pet Shih-tzu. I'm not sure how they spell her name, but it sounds a lot like Suzie. Holding her is our other roommate, whose name Diane and I forgot, but who is really sweet. In the background is the lady who came today and cleaned. I'm not sure if she's a friend, a maid, or a relative, or where her head is in this picture.

Brazil, Chapter 2: In which We are Introduced to CCBEU, Lins, and the Only Likeable Shih-Tzu I Know

It's only my second day in Lins, and already there's so much to talk about I don't know where to begin. Yesterday I awoke to Suzie, Donna Katarina's shih-tzu, licking my face. It was already 11:00, so we got dressed, ate the first of many Donna Katarina meals (saboroso!) and went to the school.

Here's our bedroom. When I get braver and more able to speak Portuguese, I'll ask Donna Katarina if I can videotape the rest of her apartment. She's obviously a devout Catholic, and she's got rosaries and crucifixes and Virgin Marys all over the place. Yesterday we came home to her praying and watching a Catholic mass on tv. Anyway, our room:

After learning our schedules and planning some lessons, we went to a little cafe, and I tried a pastry and this little coconutty-jelloy concoction. It was good. And I really like the other teachers. Erica is probably in her late twenties. She's really friendly, and her English is great. Actually, they all speak well. Carrol seemed shy at first, but she's sweet and really helpful with lesson planning. We talked about San Francisco, the Brazilian elections, soccer, and some cultural differences between Brazil and the U.S., my least favorite being that here, you can't flush toilet paper down the toilet. That's a hard habit to break.

After we ate, Rita dropped of Diane and me "downtown." It was funny, because she said, "Lins is really safe. But don't be out after 7:00." That's partly because it gets dark so early, though. Downtown wasn't that exciting, and we were worried about being out too late, so we came back home. I spent the evening blogging, emailing, swatting mosquitoes, and fishing toilet paper out of the toilet.

Brazil, Chapter 1: In which We Arrive in Brazil

Hello, single follower. I know you've been eagerly waiting for me to write more since March. Ha-ha. But now I'm in Lins, Brazil, so maybe this will get more interesting than my old asthma machine. Maybe not. We shall see. Maybe I'll at least include some pictures, although I've never been much of a snapshot person.

So, I guess I'll start at the beginning. After obtaining my Brazilian visa in the most expensive way possible, I started my journey on July 27 at 3:00am. We got to the SF airport around 5:30, and the lines were so long that I boarded my 7:00 flight as soon as I got through security. I slept aaaall the way (a whole hour!) to Los Angeles, and then I had a delightful 7 hour layover. My flight to São Paulo wasn't bad, because I was right by the bathroom. Yay!

I was a little nervous--ok, a lot nervous--about being picked up, because Rita was sending a driver, who would then take me to a hotel for the day to wait for Diane to arrive. So basically, I was coming to a strange country, getting picked up alone by a strange man and then going to a hotel. But what choice did I have? Luckily, things turned out ok. I've never been greeted at an airport before with a sign, but it was kind of fun. I felt so important. And the driver immediately made me feel comfortable, even though he couldn't speak any English or Spanish at all. He gave me a letter from Rita that explained about the hotel and everything. It turned out that the first two hotels were full, so we spent a long time together in the car looking for a place for me to stay. In between dozing off and jerking myself awake, I attempted to communicate with him using the remnants of my high school Spanish.

--"Como se llama?"

--"Aaa..." and a head shake with a regretful smile

Silence.

--"Everything," with arm motions and vigorous pointing to the landscape, "is very green here. Green. Alles. I mean Todos. Uh, everything. Verde. Verde? Like this"--pointing to a green bottle cap.

--"Ah! Agua?"

--Sigh. "No, no, nevermind."

Silence.

I liked him, though, and we finally found this teeny hotel. He bought me lunch, too. And then I slept and watched TV, trying to absorb some Portuguese. Maybe when he drives us back in 6 months, I can ask him his name.

He and Diane came back at about 10:30 to drive to Lins. I liked Diane right away; we have a lot in common, I think. We're both trying out teaching as possible future careers, we both love traveling, we both know no Portuguese at all, we both have boyfriends back in the States. The drive to Lins is 5 hours from São Paulo, so we talked for a while and then fell asleep. We finally got here at about 3:00. Donna Katarina let us in and then we unpacked and went to sleep. Boy, there's a lot of sleeping involved in my first day, for all the excitement.