12:30 PM

I apologize for the abrupt endings to each log. I write for as long as I can, but when I have to go, I have to go. I found out that luckily I do have Internet access at my house. I will have to be careful not to abuse it b/c it is certainly a rarity to have and Conchita’s daughters need to use it also. There is an Internet café close by that will cost R$4/hr to use my own laptop and R$2/hr to use their computers. I want to try to use the café and the university as much as possible so that I don’t become a burden on the family. One difficulty is that the sun starts setting around 5 and that is only 3 TX time. If I want to talk to anyone at home on skype I’d need to wait until after 7 PM Bahia time and it is much too dark then. Yesterday I had my first chance to use the Internet and I apologize if I haven’t answered your e-mails because I haven’t had an opportunity to read most of them.

Yesterday I checked out of the hotel and moved into my home stay around 8:30 AM. I’ve posted the pictures of my room and various parts of the house. I met her daughter Luciana at lunch time and thankfully she eats much like I do. She told me that she is excited to have a companion to eat whole wheat bread and vegetables with. For lunch we had fish, chicken, rice, a vegetable mix in a milk sauce, lettuce leafs, slices of tomatoes, and lime to sprinkle on top. It was light and very enjoyable. For dessert we had guarana as you can see in the picture. They sliced it thinly and ate it with milk cream. Everything was delicious and I am so relieved to know that there will be Amy-friendly food here.

My house has an empregada, or a house maid, named Berna. Almost all empregadas are black women- an accurate reflection of the racial constraints and prejudices that persist in Brazil. The director of the study abroad program told us that 70% of these empregadas don’t have work cards, so they have no security if they get sick. Berna does the cooking and helps Conchita with things around the house. When I came in last night she was cutting Conchita’s toenails and left the house around 6:30 PM. I think she starts in the morning around 8:15-8:30 and she stays all day. She eats with us at lunch and my family treats her very warmly, although I have heard that sometimes the empregadas are treated very poorly.

After lunch yesterday I went to the Faculdade de Letras for my written Portuguese placement exam. I took a bus with a few other students that live near me. The bus fare is R$1.80 and comes every 10-15 minutes. I had trouble finding my way out of the university and back to the bus stop, but with the help of some other students I made it back fine and did a little exploring of the neighborhood near where I live. There is a park called Parque Grande close by with a huge bronze statue in the center. I learned today in my Modern Brazilian Culture class that the statue is in commemoration of the independence day of Brazil which was July 2^nd, 1895. Part of the statue depicts an Indian that is driving a lance into a dragon (the dragon represents Portugal).

I got back to the house around 6 PM and tried to find an Internet café. Unfortuately the one that Conchita directed me to was busy and didn’t have wireless for laptops, so I decided to come back to the house and take some time to write yesterday’s journals and read through some of the program material. Conchita left around 7 and showed me that there was vegetable soup on the stove that I could have with some bread or left-overs from lunch. Her daughters came home close to 8 and I sat and talked to them for a while. They asked me about a reality TV program that they have here that is based on a show in the US. The objective is to select a business associate for a business and the host is the judge of the various tasks they have to perform. I’ve never heard of it so if anyone knows the name of the US program, they wanted to know. I watched it with them last night after I got online to post my blogs and talk to whoever I could.

This morning for breakfast I had fruit and bread. I was surprised when Conchita pulled out peanut butter and asked if I wanted it for the bread. She said her sister gets it at a special market. I had the first of my cultural classes this morning and we talked about the history of July 2^nd because we are going to the parade Monday, which is a national holiday. Right now I am back at the house for lunch and I’m leaving at 1:30 for my interview for the oral portion of the placement exam. We have the weekend free and I’m still unsure of what I want to do.

6:00PM

My oral interview went fine. They just asked me a few questions and asked me to read a short article about gossiping being good for your health and discuss it. Afterwards I went to Centro Barro which is a shopping area along the beach. As you all know, the beaches are absolutely gorgeous here. There is a lighthouse on the shore here that is the oldest lighthouse in South America and I also saw a statue of Jesus up on a hill overlooking the ocean where couples go to make-out. I bought cell phone credit that I can use to make local cards after I buy a chip made by the same provider. Oh! And I tried several new foods today. At lunch Berna cooked an assortment of tubers and veggies. I tried a batata dulce which is a type of potato that is sweet, another tuber that is potato like but with a more grainy texture, a fruit called pina that is super sweet (you cut it open and scoop out like kernel-shaped sections of white/clear fruit with black slender seeds in the center), and a pasty, gooey dish that is made out of some type of grain powder that is typical of the northeast. I was also served spinach greens, cooked carrots, and cabbage at lunch. Woot for gooooood eating!

As for the culture shock, I think that I’m doing pretty well. I understand about 70% of what I hear in Portuguese and though I know that my accent isn’t perfect, everyone seems to understand me. I haven’t had much of an appetite but I think that is natural when you are in a new environment, especially if you have to ask permission to eat. I asked Conchita if there is a place where I can run and she gave me a few suggestions of where her nieces run when they are here. I know at least how to get to Parque Grande so I can run a little there tomorrow and hopefully get a group together to join me exploring later. I’m also thinking about buying a bike because the bus fare is the equivalent of $2 to go both ways and that can add up pretty quickly over a semester, especially if I need to go several places in a given day.

I don’t feel unsafe, but I am definitely very cautious everywhere that I go. I only bring with me as much money as I know that I’ll need and I carry it in my front pocket with maybe a little in my bag. A lot of women walk with their backpacks in front or with their purse across their chest so that it can’t be taken. All the women dress very well here and are very comfortable and confident with their bodies. One of the girls in the program told me that her host mom left the door open to the bathroom and talked to her completely naked while sitting on the toilet. Another told me that her mom walked in and handed her the phone while she was in the shower. My family seems to respect my privacy and I haven’t seen any nudity yet but apparently it can happen.

As for the streets, there are lots of stray dogs around and cats near the university. The girls I went shopping with today told me that they’ve seen squirrel/monkey creatures in the trees but I haven’t seen any yet. You can of course find your typical street vendors and friends are constantly greeting in the street. When I walk with other girls in the program we attract a lot of attention for being white. In Brazil instead of gringo, they say alemão which means German. Apparently at some point there was a lot of German immigration and they started calling all white foreigners Germans.

If anyone wants to know about anything specific, just let me know. When everything you see and do is new, it can be difficult to filter through what might be interesting to others. I miss you all very much. Até amanhã.