Brazil, Chapter 8: In which I Make a Friend and Throw Up, in Unrelated Incidents

A lot happened this weekend, so I'll be brief:

• Valeria, yet another kind friend and birthday-lover, threw me a party. Diane and I arrived early to help get ready, blew up dozens of balloons, and realized the guest list actually consisted of only us and Valeria's family. Valeria made some delicious food: those little fried chicken things, brigadeiro, and this beautiful chocolate cake that said, "Happy Birth Rachel" on it. I wasn't going to mention the unusual phrasing, but Valeria asked if it was right, so I squirmed around a little and said, "Well, I mean, I guess...usually...we would say 'Birthday,' but...well...birth isn't really wrong..." and then she was sad. But really, "Happy Birth" only made that cake more memorable.
• Some of the teachers play soccer--actually, futsal--and invited Diane to play with them. I invited myself to watch, and Patricia picked us up in her slug bug:

This may not be worth documenting, but it was my first ride in a slug bug, plus we rolled down the whole street before we could get it to go uphill again, so it was pretty exciting.

• One of my students, Rafaela (cool name, no? Don't forget the "R" makes an "h" sound) invited me to go out with her friends on Saturday. People are friendly and genuine enough here that I don't think she's brown-nosing, and I certainly hope not because I really like her. We went to a party and everyone said random, half-remembered English phrases at me, and then we went to a rodeo-circus thing where a famous Brazilian singer performed. I want to learn to dance here!
• On Sunday I opted to stay home from church and vomit potato salad, beans and rice into the toilet, so the morning was pretty boring, except for those suspenseful trips to the bathroom. By the evening I felt better, though, and Rafaela invited me over again to meet her family and eat some banana pie. Then she taught me the names of every food in her pantry, which I repeated and then forgot.