Gilbues

June 13, 2013

I'm not sure how far I will get in this blog posting tonight because I am very sleepy. But I will type some things out real quick.The main thing I need to say is that I love this country. This is a really great place. I want to type about my day in town... But it is so complex, so I need a clear mind to write. So for right this second, I will talk about Portuguese.I have been trying to learn this language for a month now. It is hard. And scary... Because if I didn't have Allison or other translators here... I really don't know how I would survive. All I can think about right now is how scary it must have been for my little Brazilian friend Leticia to move to the USA. Leticia is a student in my little sister's high school. Savannah (sister) met Leticia and is now her best friend. Then I met Leticia... And now I am her friend too!! Leticia came to America with no English. I cannot imagine how terrifying it would be to start high school here in Gilbues knowing no Portuguese.... I'm getting anxious just thinking about it!! However, Leticia can speak English now. And you know how she learned??- MUSIC! So that's what I'm gonna start doing. The point is- she is tough. And I wanna be tough and smart like her. So tomorrow when I try to practice more- I'm gonna think about Leticia!June 14th, 2013Sorry, I slept. So now I will continue. Wednesday we went to Gilbues. That is how I got to text some of you and Facebook and Instagram and tweet!! We went to the community college there in town. They had FREE WIFI what's uppp. But the connection was cut off randomly on accident, so we eventually left. But it was fun checking you all out for a little bit. I was happy to be able to upload some pictures too. Even better than that though: I got to text my family. It was fun to hear about my sisters! My little brother is starting firefighting school. My little sister is running cross country. Also- shout out to my best friend Danielle who has a growing fetus in her belly who is my GODCHILD! After the Internet excursion we went to go eat! Gilbues is bigger than Sylvester. So I was happy to hop up on Marcio's dirt bike with him for a ride to the restaurant for lunch. Omggggg the town is so cute. Dirt and cobblestone roads... Colorful houses... Trees and animals. Well, wait- I tried to take a photo of a sweet sleeping dog on the street corner... But I was too loud and I woke him... And he freaked the flippp out and started barking like mad at me. I was slightly scared. Lol won't happen again.Anyways, back to the moto-ride. It was so fun and pretty. It was suchhhh a sunny day. My skin was turning pink immediately. But, I was ok! We rode over to the restaurant, passing other motorists and pedestrians and sweet dogs. I had fun on that bike. Then, we ate! It was an open-air restaurant (like most every building in this area, it seems). I had two boiled eggs, rice, beans, some salad, and a beer... For $5. Boiled eggs are my favorite food. So.Then- we walked around the town! Mara and Marcio have birthdays soon, so we spent some time looking for presents. I bought myself some "world famous" flipflops. $15 Havaianas! Black with a little Brazilian flag on them. I love them... And my Chacos are getting jealous. Then we went grocery shopping! I love foreign grocery stores. The only thing I ever recognize is CocaCola. All I got was a bag of candy.... LolI had an extremely great time in town. It was so happy-feeling. Everyone was so beautiful. That is a dead serious comment. Brazil is a country FULL of gorgeous humans. I can't tell if this is true, or if I have just been secluded from the entire human population for a month... But I am pretty dang sure this is true. I cannot emphasize enough how fun our day was in Gilbues. I got a banana Popsicle. The ride home was brilliant. We rode in the back if that old beat up truck again. The sun was setting. The clouds were incredible. The scenery was beyond inspiring. Omg, I think nature is kinda growing on meeeee! But for real- the ride home was one of my favorite moments of the trip.Tomorrow I will write about how great these past two days of data collection have been. I'm sure some of you are wondering what the heck I'm doing here, lol. So I will explain.Quick shoutout to my abdominal muscles- you guys are a little upset with me right now... But this is how it's gonna be for now on. Ab workout sessions have been added to me and Allison's daily schedule. Brought to you in part by: Nutella.