daily schedule

over the past couple weeks, we´ve had some pretty amazing experiences, e.g. visiting an MST settlement/encampment, an Umbanda celebration, a religious movement/pilgrimage to Canindé in the name of St. Francis of Assisi, and a grassroots "community healing" place, among others...
but right now, i don't have the time nor the words to recapture everything here...
i will update again later this week with some of those details...

as for now, here's a small window of my daily reality:
-up between 7 and 7:30 (nearly every morning!)
(everyone gets up early here... i think it´s because of the hot weather and the early morning sunrise.)
-a cold shower in the morning and again at night when i come home
(2-3 showers/day is normal, and hot showers are non-existant in northern brazil. they don´t really need them b/c it´s too hot and humid.)
-breakfast: grilled cheese, tapioca-bread wrap with butter, or just bread or crackers with a type of cream cheese (requeijão); coffee (only the instant kind at my house); and natural fresh fruit juices--guava, pineapple, graviola (english, ?), cantalope w/ orange, mango, passion fruit, avocado (which is only served sweet here), papaya, strawberry, and banana, among many others (which don´t have translation, that i know of).
-30 minute bus ride to school (or actually to the Brazil-US Institute)
-advanced portuguese class (9-12) -- we talk about everything from social issues to other cultural experiences (with the program or on our own); we went to an Umbanda celebration (i.e. an afro-brazilian religion mixed with catholicism); we made lunch for our teacher one day (tacos and fondue); last night, we went out to a club to see live music and to taste a bit of the "culture"; and we have fun while working on our practical portuguese.
-lunch: somewhere near school with others from the program... many places are "food by the kilo;" others have "grilled" food, pizza, sandwiches, etc.
-in the afternoons (3-6), we either have field research class or independent research time (which i haven´t been very constructive with since i lack self-disipline and focus)...
-sun sets at 6 (which i don´t think will ever change since we´re nearly on the equator)
-home by 7 (usually)... i take a shower, hang with one sister who´s almost always home, eat something small for dinner, work on some homework, piddle,... you know the drill.
-asleep by 12:30 (on average)
(i usually stay up doing homework, but i´ve been able to go out a couple times over the past month.)

that's it for now. sorry i haven't been updating this lately... it's just so much happens so fast, and i don't find the time to reflect for my own purposes... i only have time for school work, barely...