I got to sleep in late today since I only had to volunteer from 12 to 4 a CADEC. I was able to work on my Order of Augusta App from 8-11 and got quite a bit done. It is very hard to work efficient here since there are many distractions (mainly Junior) and the internet is very slow. I try close my door but that does not impede Junior and I cook in my room with my door closed. They eat 4 meals a day here and many snacks in between. I feel that my mother asks me to eat again after I just finished a meal. Anyways, I am getting acclimated to the melody of Brazil and the construction that continues constantly outside my window.
I spent most of my time at CADEC fixing the plumbing of the outside drinking faucet. I think the ladies have caught on that I enjoy outside jobs and so they give me the repair jobs to keep me busy. I wasn't able to fix the faucet since I need a small plastic adapter. Apparently this will be pretty hard to get in Brazil. This is another area that consumes much of Brazilians time and energy. There are only local stores in each neighborhood, but they must be quite incomplete.
When I got home, my mom and her sister (Katie, pronounced very differently than in English) were doing their hair getting ready for another sister's formatuda (graduation). I really like Katie and the best way to describe her is "Cougar (she is probably 40, but unmarried)." She jokingly flirts with me and thinks it is hilarious that I can't understand her.
One thing that is really starting to wear on me at my house is how loud it is 24/7. I think everyone in my family is deaf. Not kidding. They crank the TV, radio, and their own voices to the point that you have to yell to be heard. I guess it is part of the culture, but I don't know how they live like this. My mother is a very expressive women and doesn't really know how to talk to her children, but just yell. Even if she is not mad at all, they all yell at each other from different parts of the house. Junior is definitely the loudest. He has two levels: yelling at the top of his lungs, and whispering after I tell him to be quieter. He is not misbehaved at all (except for the occasionally biting or slapping his sisters) but he is so LOUD and this must be acceptable because his parents never tell him to speak softer.
I went for a run with Amanda around 7 and I ran the farthest and longest I have yet. I made it all the way to a small island (ihla) and back without stopping. I think this is around 7-9 miles (I'm really bad with estimation). When I first arrived here, I found it very hard to run while breathing the salty mist from the crashing waves, but now I crave the smell and sights of the beach while running. I run past a small fishing community during my run that is filled with people buying and selling fish. I really need to take my camera one day because it is hard to describe the sight and even a photo would be incomplete because it doesn't include the pungent smell of fresh seafood. These fishermen live right across the street in small shacks which look very out of place because they are surrounded by city and high-rise apartment buildings. Daniel told me that people have offered the fishermen money for their property, but they won't budge. I reminds me of "Daddy won't sell the farm" back home. The characters that live in this fishing community are very stereotypical looking. They are typically drunk by the time I take my daily run, the whole area smells like a bar and seafood. I usually have to dodge one of these fishermen on the sidewalk because they stumble across the road without caring to look for oncoming people or car traffic. They are very tan and you can see that the years of hard work and hard living have taken their toll. They are very loud and scare me a little because they usually are brandishing a rusty fillet knife when talking to others. I really find these people to be bigger than life characters. Also, they don't lock up their boats or nets but just line them up on the beach. I not really sure why anyone doesn't steal them or why they are allowed to do this, but it makes a very picturesque beach scene.
These pictures really have nothing to do with my day, but I took them while riding the bus to my Portuguese classes at UFES. You can see the Catholic convent or "Convento da Penha" on the hill. I will visit this later with Daniel. Apparently it is really beautiful and they have monkeys! If you look up Vila Velha on Wiki this is probably what it will show. The bridge is called "terceira ponte" or the third bridge. There is also a second bridge or "segunda ponte" but no one is really sure where the first bridge is. I find this really funny. The second picture is looking towards Vitoria which is the capital of Espirito Santo and is actually an island. It is the biggest port in South America!
Amanda waited for me to return for about an hour and I'm not really sure why. I offered to let her take my keys but she wanted to wait on the beach after her short run. Maybe she needs a break from her loud house too!
The cars here are mostly all the same. We don't have them in America but they are just same hatchback Fords, VWs, etc. There are some trucks but none as nice as sexy suzy (the name for my toyota tacoma back home). I have seen a few nice cars, mainly of executives at the Garoto factory, but these are very few and far between. However, on the way back to the house, a Ferrari went ripping past Amanda and I. I'm sure that you see this a lot in Sao Paulo and Rio but it was a huge jump in pricetag for here.
During dinner and after dinner I talked to my family about where I am from. They are not very familiar with the states, so I had to show them a map. I also showed them the picture of snow at Laurel's house and they couldn't believe it. For about ten minutes they asked me questions about the picture and they wanted to know what was under the snow. I told them porch or "veranda." They weren't happy with these answer and acted with they didn't believe me. Then I said they were chairs and a table under the snow and they burst out laughing. I still haven't figured this one out. They kept pointing at the table and asking what was under and I replied " A mesa" and they were rolling on the floor. My mom was actually crying. I'm glad that I give them entertainment. Its pretty much my purpose while in the house.
I "talked" (its not really talking when you just try to figure out what each other are trying to say the whole time) with Amanda some more. I want to tell her that I have so much more to tell her but I don't know how, only problem is that I don't know how to tell her that I have so much more to tell her. Its a vicious circle.
No comments:
Post a Comment