winter in Floripa

daí gente ("well, people"), the winter here got me. tuesday morning (after a night out at a boite ("night club") called O Santo where they play popular american hip hop music on monday nights), i woke up with swollen glands, aching shoulders, and a headache. (no, it wasn´t a hangover--i don´t drink as much as it sounded like in my last entry.) i spent almost the whole day sleeping, except for when we went over to a friend of alberto´s (luiz felipe) for lunch.

finally, wednesday morning, i felt much better, thanks to my mother´s cold and flu tablets and zinc/vitamin C cough drops... wednesday, i had lunch with my second host family (the Menegaz family) and visited with them. when i arrived, they said i hadn´t changed a bit--neither had they, except that my host sister is expecting a little boy. my mãe, my pai, my irmã (sister) and two of their friends were there. (my irmão (brother) and another irmã weren´t able to come--the former is studying english in australia, the latter was working.)... it was great to catch up with them, to see my old house, and to be able to communicate so well with them. neither of us could believe it had already been 6 years that i´d been gone!... over all, the visit was great! it felt so natural to be there... i´m planning to hang out with them again on monday or tuesday.

thursday, i had lunch with my first host family (the Schlemper family) and visited with them, too. they also thought i hadn´t changed, only that i´d lost weight. (while i was an exchanged student, i´d gained about 10-15 pounds... with all the bread, fried snacks (coxinhas, pasteis, etc.), pasta, beer, etc., i don´t know how brazilian women stay so thin.)... it was also very very good to spend time with them again. the whole family (minus one irmã) came to eat lunch with me! it was great to see everyone, and it felt so natural to be back in their house again. besides a few little additions to the family, everyone is the same. from the moment i arrived, my mãe showered me with care and hugs. she was and stilll is such a warm, loving mother... again, over all, the visit with them was great! i met up with them again this afternoon to hang out, to drink fresh fruit juices at Café Cancun, to pass by one irmã´s house, and to eat dinner at another irmã´s house... monday evening, we´re planning to meet at Golden Café for a coffee and snack and to say our goodbyes.

friday, we met up with some friends of alberto´s (camila and oscar) and went to Praia do Santinho (one of my favorite beaches)... of course, it was too cold to swim, but it was very beautiful nonetheless... (later i´ll attach photos.)

besides all this, i´ve either been just enjoying or amused by the brazilian life--the night, the late mornings, the main meal at mid-day, the little quirks that you can only encounter in brazil (see previous entries), the food, the openness, the novelas (literally "soap operas"), the mobile advertizing (cars w/ loud speakers), the people-watching, the hunter and the prey of brazilian night culture, the consumerism of the wealthy, the cleanliness, the random smells of sewage, ... i´ll try to write more details later. i must get going... beleza, gente. beijos a todos!