1st Days in Salvador

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I had my orientation and met my host family. I have a Mom (Mary), Dad (Roberto), and kid brother (Leo). There is also a maid (Zilita) that comes by Monday-Saturday. I haven't had the courage to ask to take their pictures yet, so someday...maybe. I don't know what they do. My Portuguese isn't good enough to hold any type of conversation. My mom speaks English quite well though. I live 5 minutes away from school, which is really cool. I get my own room, which has a gorgeous view. I moved in Saturday afternoon and mostly just watched TV with my Mom. Leo likes to learn magic tricks through Youtube, which some of them he showed us. I had spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner. On Sunday, it rained. We were supposed to go to the beach, something my host family likes to do. So we went down to the shopping mall (Shopping Barra), where my cousin (Igor? I don't know his name for sure, can't understand Portuguese pronunciation), and Dad lined up for Fifa2010 tickets Brazil v. Chile. I don't know if we're (our school program) going to the game or not, I don't think so. My Mom doesn't like the noise and crowd so she isn't going. Anyway, they lined up for 8-9 hours to get the tickets (something was wrong with the machines, my Mom explained later). I was in the mall for 7-8 hours hanging out with my bro, even though we cannot communicate at all. There was this bubble ball game where little kids were put in clear plastic balls filled with air and they were pushed into a pool of water where they can jump and run around like Bubble-boy stuck in a pool (I didn't bring my camera, so next time, I'll get a picture). I tried to use the HSBC ATM there which didn't work. Then my bro and I went to see a movie (Os Normais 2)--it was for people 14 years and older--my bro is only twelve, but I think I was supposed to be his guardian. Anyway, the first time around, the ticket collector didn't let us in because he wasn't old enough and he had to get his father's ID and then we were able to go in. The movie is in Portuguese so I didn't understand the dialogue, but I got the gist of the story. There was a middle-aged couple trying to spice up their life by looking for a partner to have a threesome. (I was very scared they would have sex scenes, which my little bro next to me, and though I didn't understand the words, I know there were a lot of sex jokes...I was sitting there worried the whole time, but then--yup, Brazil is pretty conservative, no explicit sex scenes, they even blacked out the woman's boobs when she was standing there.)
Anyway...I'll upload some pictures of the view from my window.

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Photos

Outside my window1
I think it's around 4-5, the sun sets quick, around 6-7pm, because it's winter here? Or we're in the Southern Hemisphere?

Outside my window 2
Down and to the right

Outside my window 3
And back up again. (where I'm pointing my camera)

Pudding
I love desserts, is what I put on my questionnaire!

Comments

[Lucy]

Nice view!
That's from your window? That's really cool. Your family sounds fun. Are they Afro-Brazilian?

[docey101]

Is my host family Afro Brazilian?
That's from my window! Cool huh? I really like my family, they are very kind. I am very fortunate. The director of my program, Clara-when she was telling us tidbits about our host family, mostly about our host moms, she said the following about mine, "I guess YOU would consider her Afro Brazilian." I dont know what that means. I'm uploading pics of my family now so you can see. According to the 1999 census, only 6% of the Br. pop. is Black. The majority (+60%) of the people identified themselves as white, and a large amount identified as mixed. (note: the questionnaire asks which race does the individual identify him/herself). In my city, Salvador, there is 17.5% white and 82.1% black.