Brazil post 2

Arriving in Sao Jose do Rio Preto was interesting because the airport is so small, you get off the plane onto the tarmac. I felt cool walking from the plane into arrivals on the ground. Then Gustavo and his father were there to pick me up and we went for a snack. Coxinha! Since I hadn't slept all night, when we arrived to his house I took a short nap. When I woke Gustavo took me on a walk around his neighborhood and around a little lake. Surroundin the lake is blocked off because it is over run with Capybaras! Capybaras are the size of a medium dog and are adorable! They have the second or third largest mouths in the world on any mamal so you should not get very close. They are like giant rodents and are the modt adorable creatures I have ever seen. We explored and saw many Capybaras and pretty birds! He took me to an Acaí shop and we had kiwi and strawberry acai. That evening we went for burgers and I tried a brazilian style pulled pork burger. It has three types of cheese, BBQ sauce and I added tomatoes! They serve it with fresh potato chips (not fries), they are so good! I also had Gaurana, of course. In the evening Gustavo and I were watching comedies, big mouth was one, but he didn't understand many of the references in the English version. So we also ended up watching That 70s show, Two and a half men, and Brooklyn 99.
On Friday we woke up early and headed to Olympia, a huge water park! We spent the day on extreme water slides and in huge wave pools! It was not all that sunny of a day, which is good when you are as white as I am! Most of the rides were with tubes and for two people, so it worked out quite nicely with the two of us. His parents continued to remind to to reapply sunscreen, and I don't have any more burns! The most fun ride started out by blasting you both (on a tube) up a huge hill then going in loops and bumbs till the bottom. Another one was like a U and you get dropped from one side and flown up the other then back and forth until you reach the exiting part. We tried lay down surfing as well, I only lasted a second, literally. There was also a part of the park with a small petting zoo. There were many adorable animals, lhamas, peacocks, a donkey, mother and fawn deer. My favourite though was the few tucanos! They are beautiful creatures with orange and yellow beaks and their eyes are very intense. One had deep blue eyes and the other had gorgeous purple eyes. I am obsessed, I wish I could stare at them forever, they are so mesmorizing.
We had lunch and dessert, our dessert was an ice cream cone, but inside was bregadeiro and chocolate! No ice cream! Delicious but very rich. That night we ate delicious stroganoffe with rice and strips potato chip. Soo good! I love stroganoffe, every kind!
Saturday morning Gustavo had to go to his school and afterwards his parents and I picked him up. We then went to a famour restaurant in his city, known for very Brazilian dishes. I had lemonade, which is slightly different than ours, and steak with beans, rice, tomato, onion and other Brazilian topping to which I do not know the name. We began talking about Feijuada, a traditional Brazilian meal and said it was si.ilar to what we were eating. We went grocery shopping with his parents and explored all the Brazilian things in the store and they bought me the cutest Havianas (Brazilian flip flop brand) that have a small Brazilian flag on them. For the rest of the day we relaxed, watched movies and hangout with his adorable dog, who is terrified of rain. Gustavos mother made us a yummy noodle soup dinner, again with a topping that I do not know the name of.
Sunday morning we woke up early and went to a breakfast buffet where I had many delicious fruits and bread. Pao de Queijo was one of my favourites. As well as a sour dough with very good cheese. For lunch we headed to Gustavos Grandmothers house. She has chickens that lay eggs every morning, but the monkeys always try to steal them! There were many tiny monkeys stealing food from the chickens and we got to feed them bananas! They are so cute but obnoxious it seems. His cousins and aunty and uncle were also there, his family is so sweet. Some of the nicest most welcoming people ever. I only met them once and already miss them. For lunch we ate Feijuada, and it was so good that I ate way too fast and got so full but only wanted more! I hope I will eat it again while I'm here.
In evening Gustavo and I went to Giovanas house to hangout and have drinks. Giovana is so sweet and incredibly smart. She will move to another city in March to start studying at a medical school to become a doctor. Her brother though, seems like he should move to the Kootneys and start a farm, if you know what I mean. It was so fun getting to know them. I hope to see them again one day.
The next day Gustavo and I spent some time together and then had to say goodbye. It will never get easier.

First weekend in Brazil

I am in love with Brazil already. I flew in and one of my best friends was waiting for me at the airport. We drove 2 hours from Sao Paulo to her city, Indaiatuba. We stopped for a snack at a bakery, which sold everything from sandwiches, ice cream, alcohol, groceries, everything you'd need. Much better than other convenient stores in my opinion. I had a fancy grilled cheese on a French bun, you know the ones Canadians have on the side of pasta bowls? Very similar. We arrived in her gated community and I fell in love. It is the cutest area, like little Cabana homes side by side. Yet all unique to themselves and very green. Grass and plants and palm trees everywhere! Beautiful. Bia started university my first evening here so I relaxed and tried to catch up on sleep... I was not successful. I didn't fall asleep until 5am the first two nights in Brazil. Jet lag sure is a bitch. 
I woke my second day and video called my mom to update her. Bias mother made delicious pasta and meat balls with a tomato sauce for lunch and then we started on our errands. I needed sunscreen, Off, which I don't know how I forgot considering what I experienced in Taiwan, and a sim card for my cell phone. I bought $50 reais of data, hopefully that will last me the month. The rest of the day we relaxed and started packing for our roadtrip! We were off to Guaruja, a city with a beautiful beach! Bia and her family own an adorable beach house with 5 bedrooms and a pool in the back. The walls at the front slide open and the windows are made of wood and very old, they open like barn doors. The keys for the rooms are also very old style keys, very long, I have never actually seen one used until now. Everything is vintage, the whole house! All around the beach house there are hand painted plated and pottery, dried gourd art, knit lamp shades, its adorable.
After waking up for breakfast we changed and walked two minutes to a gorgeous beach. On the walk I noticed that the roads were torn up and the cars use cardboard to keep the sun from going through the windsheild. The beach is big and full of people and umbrellas. People walk around carrying hand fulls of various things to sell, sun glasses, beach blankets, paintings (I bought one for like $15), and all kinds of food. We relaxed and drank Gaurana which is a delicious Brazilian pop made from red seed fruits. I swam for my first time in the Atlantic and got pushes and swept around by the current and the giant waves. We had to swim back to the left of the beach since the current took us further right. I like the ocean, it is very warm, though i could do without all the salt. The sun is so bright I need to be wearing my sun glasses all the time. Thank goodness they have uv protection. Bia and I then went back to the beach house to relax and swim in the fresh water pool. The pool was warm on the surface but got chilly the deeper you went, to me this was very refreshing, though Bia prefers warm water. Not sure I will ever understand that, cold water it just so refreshing in comparison. In the evening we had a BBQ, which was absolutley delivious. There was beef, chicken, sausage and my favourite, BBQ cheese! I'm not sure what kind of cheese it is, since they just call it BBQ cheese in Portuguese therefore I cannot translate the name to find out. Either way I am in love with it. Most similar I have seen in Canada would be cheese curds I believe. We ate a ton of meat, cheese and salad while we were rocking out the The Who, and various other english rock bands! After a fun day we head to bed since we were up for the beach again in the morning. And if you're wondering, yes I am already sunburnt. Aloevera is my best friend.
Sunday we spent at the beach, roaming, snacking and drinking Gautana! I learned that when a child gets lost, a helpfuk adult will put him/her on their shoulders and clap and everyone around them will clap until their parents are found. We ordered the most delicious Calimari I've ever had, with onion rings and a delicious sauce, similar to Big mac sauce actually, but fresh and better. We also ordered deep fried pockets, one kind full of ham and cheese, the other with ground beef. We relaxed and lazed at the beach for many hours before heading back to the house. Another interested thing they have on their beaches are giant trucks that go inti the water to pull boats in and out. They have huge wheels and are extremely tall so they are able to drive into the water. When we got back to the house I decided to jump in the pool since I was hot, so was the ocean, but the pool was not. Everyone else joined before heading to the shower and packing up. After packing up the cars we went to a small market where I bought a cute necklace (very inexpensive) and I finally got to try rolled ice cream! Rolled ice cream is made in front of you. They poor ice milk and which ever topping you choose onto a freezing flat plate, then they chop and mix and chop and mix and so on. At the end the spread it all evenly and make sure its all frozen, they roll it up into different pieces and off you go! It was delicious! Very fresh ice cream. I got fresh strawberries and chocolate in it. Currently we are driving back to Indaiatuba and when we arrive it will be time to hit the hay. Cheers!

The Last Three Weeks

These last three weeks me and my friends have done quite a few things. The first week all the exchange students went with together to a vocational school to learn two things. How to plant rice and how to make something called Tangyuan. We spent the morning with bare feet and up to our knees in mud. We were in groups of two and we supposed to plant a full square of rice. Some of us were very fast and I was almost finished my long line of rice but then some of the other students decided it was a good idea to start a mud fight. I got out of there as sson as I could even though it does take a while to get through all the mud and back to solid land again. Some people were absolutely covered in mud before they got out of the area. Luckily the school had showers to wash the mud off. Many people had to use the showers inside in and change into different clothes. We then ate a reallt delicious lunch, we had a lot pasta and many kinds of fruit. In the afternoon we were taught how to cook Tangyuan, a very common Taiwanese dessert. It has sticky balls inside, similar to the ones in bubble tea but different sizes and colour. There are different kinds and we made my least favourite with red bean soup. I don't like red beans or grean beans if they are used in a dessert. Taiwanese people think of then as sweet, which to me they are not and the tecture in a dessert is just awful. Although, there is a peanut tangyuan which is much better in my opinion. I would suggest that over all of the ones I've tried. Later that night, an amazing rotarian invited us to his restaurant for dinner and for their rotary meeting. We went as a big group to Jhongli, a city just south of Taoyuan. We enjoyed a small tour around the area and saw a cute old Japanese home/tea house that had been there for a very long time. We went back to the restaurant and enjoyed a delicious dinner with dishes specially made for us. They made fried chicken, fried pork and my absolute favourite, a delicious cheesy mashed potato dish. I ate so much mashed potatoes. I loved them. There was also the restaurants most famous dishes, such as bull penis soup. Many of the students tried it and were pleasantly surprised. In Taiwan people believe that eating a certain part of the animall will help your same part work more efficiently, so there are many interesting soups, like chicken testical soup. We stayed late at the meeting and many students were out past cerfew but as long as we're with rotary its okay.
That same weekend I got a cold that gave me massive headaches. The weather here changes very drastically, just like in Canada, so many people get a cold when the seasons change. Many friends and I got colds. Bad timing for me though as I had a busy upcoming couple weeks.
The Thursday after, still stuck with an awful cold, I was to head out with my rotary club and our sister club from Korea. We went to a gorgeous site on the north east side o fhte island on a peak of land which is surrounded by the ocean. It was beautiful and there were famous rock formtions as well. I was more impressed by the ocean though. As always we took many group photos and selfies. I video called my parents from that site and showed them what I was doing for that morning. Many rotarians love saying hello to my parent when they are on the phone with me. They often try to speak Chinese to them even though they don't understand any. They would always do that to me at the beggining of exhcange also, they think that if they speak louder it will somehow make you understand. Not true, I promise. We headed to the next location which I was most excited about. Jiufen, a town that the movie Spirited away was particially based off. There was only an hour for us to be there so it was a very short visit but I will be taking my sister there when she comes to Taiwan and we will spend more time then. Our next spot was a location I'm very farmiliar with, Shifen, the town where I stayed and volunteered for five days. We ate dinner and they all enjoyed karaoke for hours. At the end of the night everyone wrote on sky lanterns and released them into the sky. They are one of the most beautiful things. Just mesmerizing to watch them disappear into the night sky. We drove a couple hours to get back to Taoyuan and parted ways on our routes home. The next morning my current host parents and my first host dad came with the group and joined for the day. Driving for a long time led us more south and to a glass factory where we ate lunch and were able to keep all the plates and cups after we washed them. I only kept the cups because they are super cute and easier to get back to Canada than giant plates. There was a gorgeous temple made of glass, obviously named, The Glass Temple, where my awesome first host dad got me a charm which helps to pass all the tests I take. I chose that one because I am very nervous for the test I have in June. A Chinese proficiency test. I hope to do the best I possibly can. From there we drove to our hotel for the night, is was at a golf resort that reminded me a lot of West Kelowna because of all the golf courses we have. The hotel was very pretty and had a gorgeous pool that sadly I didn't have the chance to swim in. That night a fellow exchange student from Mexico joined me for a huge rotary dinner and birthday celebration of my club. It was a very long crazy night filled with alcohol and dancing. More boring for us exchange students though. I finally got back to our hotel room and was sharing it with my host mom and a new rotarian that was shocked that I knew any Chinese. She was also very drunk that night. Saturday morning came around and s always, there was a gorgeous breakfast buffet and I was craving bacon and peanut butter so I got exactly what I wanted, although there were much fancier foods, you crave weird stuff you know? We had one last day with the Koreans and a wonderful dinner buffet that night where my adorable first host sister and friends joined and I got to catch up with them which was super fun. While eating and drinking as much as we want of course. I drank so much hot chocolate and ate so much dessert that night. A lot of different types of cake and ice cream, and of course the ice cream was Haagen Dazs. Their cheesecake flavour is my all time favourite ice cream.
The next day I decided to stay home because I was still very sick and didn't feel well. Monday and Tuesday I went to school even though I probably shouldn't have. Tuesday all the exchange students in my district were to get together and do DIY activities for a charity event we will be at this month, we all painted posters and made cool key chains and bracelets. It's always a fun time when we get together. CJ and I by the end of the day we were just sitting there gossiping about the food we miss from North America and discovering foods that we do and don't have in common. Food is just a huge part of both of our lives so we often talk about it. Recently we have both been missing our food from home very much. While we were scrolling through foods on the internet I realized that I had forgotten that butter tarts existed! I love them and I just completely forgot they existed. Now I can't stop thinking about them and how amazing they are. Along with enchaladas, which have been on my ming for atleast a month, my mom makes the best ones. Oh I can't wait.
Wednesday I didn't have school so I just rested and tried to get better for the huge hike we had on Thursday, it didn't work. On the hike I was very unwell and ended up getting heat stroke and barely got to the top. I felt defeated because I love hiking but I haven't in a long time and it was three hours to get to the top of the very tall mountain. It was such a hot day and I was not prepared for the heat. It made me feel very ill. The elevation was 1500m so it was a good size hike, I got about a two minute walk from the top and turned around with friends that were on their way down. They helped me a lot to get down the mountain and back to the spot where we could get drinking water. On the way down we stopped at a pond and soaked our feet in the cold water. We saw these creepy little shrimp creatures that were niblbing on my friends dead skin. My friend from the states told me that they were crawfish, 'crawdaddies' he called them. I like that name better actually. When we got to the area where we could get clean drinking water we rested there and waited for the others that were still on the way down the mountain. All of us got peanut ice cream rolls when we got to the bus. A very refreshing treat but it is difficult to bite into ice cream, no matter how hot you feel. Our teachers that brought us on the hike then treated us to an early dinner/late lunch. After another two hour drive back to Taoyuan, group of us all went to the night market together. I wanted my favourite potato dish but they weren't there for some reason so we bought potatos from another stand. Not as good but potatoes are still potatoes. I then walked home with Bia and Sigurd, two of my best friends here.
The next two days were spent in bed recovering from heat stroke and the last of my cold. Now I am almost all better.
Two more things that I absolutely love about Taiwan, rice feilds and tombs. Rice feilds are so cute because if its just a small farm then you can see the footprints left in the mud from the farmers working so hard to plant the rice all day, the footsteps just stay there in the feilds and when you're driving on the highways over top of the towns you can see every step that the farmer took to finish his planting, I think that is suoer cute. Tombs, they are gorgeous small buildings scattered in the mountains. They are all different colours, shapes, sizes and meant for an individual, a tiny little castle where their body will rest forever. They are beautiful to see as you are driving through the mountains and they are just scattered around everywhere. In my opinion they are one of the most beautiful things in Taiwan and traditional as well.