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.