20 & 21 May 2016 Sete Lagoas

The past few of days I have been getting over a cold, and because of that the days got progressively more exciting as I felt a little better each day.

On Tuesday we went to get açai. Açai is a berry that grows a lot in Brazil. They make it into a sort of sorbet and there are shops just about every block selling it.

I thought it was good. The one I got had chocolate and whipped cream on it, but I would've rather had it plain. There were all sorts of things you could have with it though. 

Wednesday I still wasn't feeling the best so we stayed in most of the day. In the evening, Anna Luiza and her friend Camila were going to the movies and invited Felipe and I to come along. We went and saw the new Captain America: Civil War movie. We watched it in English because apparently having Portuguese Subtitles is just as popular in Brazil as having the movie dubbed in Portguese. They don't like how the lips don't match up, and how the voice actors' expressions differ from the real actors. 

Yesterday, we traveled accross town to met some friends using public transportation. We haven't done that vert much, and after yesterday I'm starting to understand why. It was really long and kind of expensive. 

Anyway, we met up with our friends and went to a fair. It pretty much turned into a double date because one of the friends was Felipe's girlfriend and the other was Roberta, the girl that taught me the Brazilian dance last weekend. 

As we paired off I noticed that Felipe and his girlfriend would stray away from us several meters, and I started wondering why. Then I realized it wasn't their fault, but mine. I had a cultural learning experience as I remember Brazilian personal space is not as big as Americans. Turns out I was subconsciously trying to give Roberta her personal space, while she was trying to fill the gap to what was normal to her. As a result we tended to walk in a slant. 

Today was a really exciting day. We went to Felipe's home town about an hour outside of Belo Horizonte. It's called Sete Lagoas, which means, seven lakes. The city was built around these lakes, which was really cool. I liked Sete Lagoa a lot better than Belo Horizonte, mosty because it was smaller and not as crazy. If I had to guess I'd say it was about the size of Provo. 

We hiked up a hill that overlooks the city. I loved seeing the countryside, not only on the hike, but also on the drive over. There are a lot of trees here.  They remind me of trees that would be found on the African Savannah. Felipe said he heard once that they were related. There were also palm trees in the mix and patches of redish colored earth. It is really pretty.
After, we went to see some of the lakes in town. Then we got lunch and headed home.
Also, last night Felipe said Ana Luiza had a party. There were a lot of people over. It was a lot of fun, and everyone was really nice trying to involve me. I've gotten pretty good at understanding when people talk to me and I can almost always say what I need to say. The only thing I couldn't participate much in was a game they played that's kind of like Charades. They wanted me to play, but I didn't know most of the words on the cards, and let alone how to get them to guess it.
Anyway, the party was really fun, but it went on for a long time. I was super tired from the hike, and I didn't get much sleep the night before, so at 230 I ducked out and went to bed. The party went on for another hour or two. Latinos just don't like to end their parties. 

17 May 2016 Capela Curial de São Francisco de Assis

On Saturday we went to this reservoir they have here in Belo Horizonte that's kind of the center of tourism. They had a lot of different things you could see as you walked around the lake. We went to A Capela de São Francisco de Assis (the Chapel of St. Francisco of Assis). Oscar Niemeyer (the architect of the chapel) liked to design nontraditional buildings. The chapel has many curves and looks almost like a wave. I wish I could get the pictures to post so I could show you. Anyway it was very neat. We didn't get to go inside though because there was a wedding going on.
The Soccer stadium is also located around the reservoir. Felipe said they had a museum there that we could check out, but it was closed because they were having a concert in the stadium. We just had bad timing that day.
We were going to go to LDS institute class right after, but since everything was closed we went to get a quick dinner at Subway. Subway has also become kind of a tradition for me when I travel; I like to see how they differ. The Subways here have a few options that we don't have in the States. I got one of them. I don't remember what it was called, but it was kind of a hamburger type meat. It was really different from anything I've ever gotten at Subway before, but still really good.
After we went to institute. It was a lot like institute back home, but it also seemed to be popular hang out place for the LDS young adults. After class they started playing music, and there was a group of girls that asked if I knew how to dance. I told them I didn't know the dance they were doing, but I wanted to learn. Then one of the girls taught me, and I had a lot of fun.
Sunday I started to come down with a cold. I really was having a hard time staying focused at church and a dinner we went to. I felt bad because a lot of people seemed interested in talking with me. I also feel back sometimes because people in Brazil are a lot more touchy than Americans. I hope I don't offend them when I don't know how to respond to all the touching.
When we were at dinner on Sunday, there was one annoying kid that kept asking people if I spoke English. After he said something to me that I didn't understand. When I asked Felipe what he had said, he said it was just gibberish. Maybe that's what he thought English was.
Sunday evening the girl that taught me to dance invited Felipe, his Sister and I to have dessert at her house. We went, and it was fun, but I was so out of it because of my cold.
Monday I mostly just stayed in bed sick. Today is looking to be the same thing, I hope I get better soon.

14 May 2016 A Vida Brasileira

When I was in France last year, I was a little disappointed that I mostly did tourist stuff, and as far as normal French life went, I didn't get as much exposure as I would've liked. Now I'm here in Brazil and it's quite the opposite. I'm really enjoying experiencing normal everyday life as a Brazilian.
I'm really getting to know a lot of traditional Brazilian food living with the Ribeiro's. I'm going to have to have them write them all down for me, because I don't remember all the names.
The other night a senhora Ribeiro asked me if I liked tapioca. I told her yes, thinking that she meant pudding. I was surprised when they gave me a white crepe like think. The texture was very different though and it with a flour that came from a root called Mandioca. The tapioca was really good, and a lot sweeter than you'd expect.
Also, the other night we had something called pastel. Now pastel in Spanish means cake, but it's completely different here. It was kind of like a deep fried taco, with various things inside. Some had beef, others ham and cheese and others had bananas. All of them were really good.
Yesterday I got my haircut; it's become kind of a tradition when I travel. My Brazilian haircut turned out a lot better than my French haircut, for those of you who remember that.
The more I think about it, the more I realize I'm learning here. I had an interesting thought yesterday. I'm sure most people who read this won't be surprised when I say I'm a little quirky. However, my Portuguese isn't good enough for me to be quirky here, so I come off more shy. It's almost like I had to leave part of my personality home, and I'm discovering a new side of me. It's interesting how much language affects our personalities.
Well that's what's been going on here. Even though I'm enjoying living Brazilian Life, I'm excited that we're going to do some tourists stuff now that ours Saturday.

12 May 2016 Os Cruzeiros

The past few days haven't been too eventful. To get a good souvenir of Brazil we've been trying to find a Cruzeiro's jersey.  The Cruzeiros are a very popular soccer team here in Minas Gerais. We've been looking in malls and even a flee market. We've found quite a few, but Felipe said they weren't the official kind. We finally found one that was official, but it was more than I was willing to pay, even with the big difference between U.S. dollars and Brazilian Reais right now.
While we were at the flee market, we saw two monkeys in a tree. Apparently monkeys like that are like squirrels back home. I got a picture of one, but it's hard to see because the lighting is really bad. I would post it, but I'm having a hard time getting pictures on the blog.
As everyone knows, soccer is very popular here. Still I was surprised one of my first days here when fireworks were going off and the entire city cheering just because a goal was made. I'm not exaggerating, I could hear cheers from all the neighbors!
Brazilian politics have been taking a lot of attention right now. Brazil is in a really bad recession, and they're upset with the president. All week they've been working on the impeachment process, and today she just got impeached. Hopefully things will start to get better now.

10 May 2016 A Praça de Libertade

Yesterday was pretty fun. The day started out pretty slow, but in the afternoon Felipe and I went to A Praça de Libertade (Liberty square). Felipe explained to me that A Praça de Libertade was where the city offices were until about five years ago when they built another one across town. Now all of the buildings are museums, but they were closed yesterday so we didn't get to go in.
We also went to the city library (I find libraries so much more interesting after having worked in one). There were a couple of workers there that were very excited about showing us what they did. I understood half of what they said, but knowing about libraries, I was able to fill in a lot of the gaps.
Belo Horizonte is a lot bigger than I thought it was. I think it might be the biggest city I've ever been in (if you exclude cities that I've only been in the airport). We took the bus and walked yesterday afternoon, and it took a lot longer than I thought it would, but I got to see a lot of the city. Belo Horizonte is a lot like the other big cities I've been in, except the roads aren't very well maintained, and it makes that traffic seem even crazier. Also the poor and rich here are all mixed together, and there aren't really physical boundaries of socioeconomic class.

8 May 2016 Travel

I made it to Brazil, but it wasn't easy. My first flight got delayed and that messed up all the others. By the time I got to Rio de Janeiro I missed my flight to Belo Horizonte and had to wait 8 hours at the airport for the next flight.
My phone was almost dead when I got to Rio, so all I had to do was walk around. I was hoping to be able to see the Cristo Rei from the airport, but if you can see it from there I sure didn't. There was a cool looking chapel up on the hill though.
I got some reais from the airport in Atlanta, so I went to a few of the shops. It was great practice for Portuguese. It kind of reminded me of the activities in language classes when you pretend to go to different parts of a town.
Finally I got to Belo Horizonte, and my friend Felipe was there waiting for me. At that time, I was so tired I wondered if it was even worth it to come, but as we were driving through Belo Horizonte to the Ribeiro's home, I quickly decided it was. Belo Horizonte is so pretty (it lives up to its name of Beautiful Horizon). The Ribeiros are so nice as well. I feel very welcome here.
Felipe is the only one in his family that speaks English, so my Portuguese is always being tested. For the most part I feel I get about 50% of what they say. Enough to get the gist of it, but between that and my very broken Portuguese we lose each other from time to time. I'm learning.
Coming here I expect the culture to be similar to Mexican culture, which I'm used to, but it's not. Naturally I act in the manner a Mexican would find polite, and sometimes they seemed confused.
There's a miss conception we have in America that I want to clear up. Spanish and Portuguese are not practically the same. They have similarities, but I am now a witness that just because you can speak Spanish, it doesn't mean you'll fair well in Portuguese.
Anyway, I'm getting settled in and excited about this trip. Tomorrow we're going to explore.

2 May 2016 Anticipation

I'm setting up this blog to record my adventures in Brazil, similar to the one I had last year when I went to France. However, I doubt this one will have as much detailing because I'm blogging from a phone this time instead of a laptop.
I leave in four days. I'm going down to visit my friend and old mission companion Felipe Ribeiro. He and his family live in Belo Horizonte which is about a six hour drive north of Rio de Janeiro.
I'm excited to see Brazil, and also to learn Portuguese. I've been studying almost a year to be ready to speak with Brazilians in their language. Unlike any of the other languages I've learned, l haven't ever taken a class for Portuguese. In fact I didn't spend any money trying to learn it. I leaned a lot on my knowledge of Spanish and French, and then practiced using apps, websites, the library and friends. I'm a little nervous immersing myself in Portuguese already, but I feel I can handle it. I guess we'll see.
Feel free to follow my blog as I go forward from here.
- Spencer