Places

Easter!!

Exchange year, Holidays, Host family, Places, Stories

Where do I start….

Well, my Brazilian family is like 4 times the size of my American family! I am lucky all my host families are connected somehow so even though I’ve moved to another household I still get to see my previous siblings and parents, pretty often! I have a total of 6 parents, 7 siblings, an additional 8 cousins and 3 grandparents that I have met throughout the year.

This year my Grandma celebrated her 80th birthday and it just so happened to fall on Easter! What an amazing day for two very important celebrations!

Easter Sunday is typically the most well-attended Sunday service of the year for Christian churches. Without Easter, without the Resurrection of Christ, there would be no Christian Faith. Christ’s Resurrection is the proof of His Divinity. My Brazilian Grandma is a strong Catholic believer so all her children organized a private mass earlier that morning that was followed by her birthday party. Sounds like the best birthday an 80-year-old could imagine!

Foz Iguazu

Brazil, Bus trip, Cool People, Exchange Students, Exchange year, Places, Tour, Waterfalls

After spending almost 90 hours in a bus throughout January and now getting the opportunity to spend another 30 hours seemed easy. Our district was invited to be a part of the meeting with John F. Germ also known as the Rotarian international president this year. The meet invited over 8 different districts but we were the only one’s to bring INBOUNDERS. The meeting took place in the town of Falls Iguazu which was named after the famous waterfalls that cross Argentina, Paraguay, and Brasil. Foz Iguazu is 13 hours from my district so we drove all night. Arriving so early in the morning we spent our spare time getting drenched by the waterfalls.

After 2 hours at the falls, we gathered for lunch and then headed to the big conference with the International President. Our director reserved seats for us to sit right in the front row so our blazers would stand out to the staff. Meeting some of the staff gave them the idea to allow me and the two other girls from the US to sing the nation anthem to welcome President. My heart just about dropped when they asked us to sing without background music to follow along to. To be honest, I have never sung the whole anthem let alone now I have to do it in front of over 200 people I got a little nervous. But then I started thinking to myself I will never see these people again so what do I have to loose.

Sambadrome Marques de Sapucai

Brazil, Carnaval, Cool People, Exchange Students, Friends, Places, RIO, Tour, Travel

Our first day in Rio de Janiero! We visited Sambadrome Marques de Sapucai (the famous main street) where it all goes down the real deal. The big parade that last 5 long days of all kinds of different floats and people all dressed up. We were even lucky enough to get to try on all the traditional Brazilian costumes… Of course, we look like models, but in reality, we struggled to keep those big headsets up and to carry those big shoulders sets. They were just getting started decorating for Carnaval coming up at the end of this month and I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like when its all done. I wish I could make it, but I’ll just have to come back again in the future!

Paradise – Paraiso Bahiano

Beach, Brazil, Cool People, Family, Friends, Places, Stories, Tour, Travel

Itacare has the most amazing beach on our trip! Along with the crystal blue water, very green hills, bright red and pink flowers and huge palm trees, we scored with a spot with lounge chairs and shade made from leaves threaded together at Paraiso Bahiano.

That day there was not a cloud in the sky. The sun shined all day long and kept heating up the sand causing us to sprint on our tippy toes just to get to the ocean. The boys attempted at making a sandcastle, but it was washed away by the high tide. Meanwhile, all the girls walked down the beach to have a photoshoot. If you stand in the right spot you could see hot rocks, crashing waves, the sky, and the palm trees all in one picture. This place had everything, I am coming back again soon!

Make a Wish!

Chruch, Cool People, Exchange Students, Family, Places, Salvador, Tour, Travel, Uncategorized

In Salvador, they are famous for sharing good vibes. This town reminded me of my neighborhood back in the US… every building is a different color. Salvador has a lot to offer, one day we spent getting a city tour about all the history and the next day we were riding a boat out to an island. Salvador is full of very friendly locals. With every purchase, you get a bracelet to tie around your wrist for someone, you are traveling with.

There’s is a place in this city that is covering in these bracelets and it’s on a fence right in front of a Catholic church. There they sell these bracelets in a bunches of 10-20 for very cheap. The idea is that you purchase enough bracelets to add a few to the fence and share amongst your friends. These bracelets aren’t anything high quality, but they all have personal meaning. You cannot tie the bracelet on yourself. A friend ties the bracelet on your wrist and with each knot, you make 3 wishes. When the bracelet eventually falls off those wishes come true!!

Homemade Carnaval!

Brazil, Carnaval, City, Exchange Students, Friends, Places, Stories, Travel

Take me back to the night I dressed up like an Arabic Egyptian girl and danced on the street. We filled these streets with sound and color as we passed small restaurants and homes. This little town called Olinda is very small with tight streets and plenty of houses built on top of each other. It’s a cute little town very colorful and famous for their culture. Some residents are very into religion and attending church, while others entertain with crazy funky dances in the streets.

As foreigners, we made fools of ourselves, but it was a blast trying to copy our Brazilian dance leaders. For as long as 45 minutes, we danced, paraded and chanted. We were exhausted getting back on that bus by the end of the night because it’s not easy dancing like Brazilians.

Hot vs White Christmas Day!

Brazil, Cool People, Exchange year, Holidays, host families, Places, Stories

Feliz Natal…Merry Christmas

Christmas is finally come to end! As my weekend was full of visiting all my host families places or checking up with my family that’s finally all back together in the US over facetime. As a result, this was my first Christmas without snow. In fact, I got to wear a summer dress and flip flops to all the Christmas gatherings.

It started out with going to see the famous orphanage choir sing to Brazilian Christmas songs in the center of Curitiba. It is a 45-minute show the audience stood outside and the orphans sang out windows of a bank that was decorated everything from lights to a stage and projections on the sides to follow the theme of each song. And ended the night with opening presents. I am so grateful for my 2nd host family, I was not expecting to get any gifts but they surprised me with new sandals, jewelry, beach towel, a tank top and makeup!

It was new to me to learn all the different ways people celebrate Christmas around the world. At first, I thought it was strange when my Hungarian sister and I fought about which day was ACTUALLY Christmas. But in reality it makes sense in Slovakia, Holland, Denmark, and Hungary Christmas is on the December 24th otherwise Santa Claus wouldn’t be able to visit every house in one night! Fun fact I learned this weekend was Santa Claus was actually created in Finland and wore all green originally. But the Coca-Cola company invested in paying for extra advertising so that Santa wore red instead.

The clique saying going around this weekend was in America the kids are only a morning people on December 25th because its only a tradition in the US to open presents in the morning. I noticed Brazilians like to decorate for Christmas as far out as the middle of November. It was new and different for me because its normal for me to at least wait until after Thanksgiving but they don’t have such thing here. Here in Brazil normally they open presents at 10 pm on the 24th. Some Catholic traditions are taken seriously others are not even touched depending on the family. As far as my first host family everyone lives close to each other, but on the December 24th, they spend it on their dad’s side and 25th with their mom’s. As far as the family I live with now my host mom’s family came to us for the holidays but every other year they try and get away to spend at least one of the holidays at the beach.

Not only did I get to experience Xmas in Brazil this year but also Hungary. Zsofi (my sister) explained to me that her Christmas is actually spent on both December 6th and December 24th. On December 6th Saint Nicolas comes and puts chocolate in your shoes after they simply clean them. But on December 24th little Jesus comes to town to drop off their presents under the Christmas tree. They also decorate the tree on the 24th, walk around their tree caroling and light sparklers. Specifically, her family always buys a new board game to play with after all the gifts have been opened. Then December 25th is simply just spent relaxing, visiting other friends and family and having a feast.

Here in Brazil, it is the start of summer so everyone’s goal is to have a nice body to look good in a bikini but officially starting the break off with holidays full of huge feasts its hard to keep working on that nice summer body. I guess that’s the only nice thing I miss about having Christmas and New Years in the winter. Because you don’t have to worry so much about how you eat but more about how to stay warm and still look stylish!

School Spain Trip

beach soccer, Cool People, Family, Host family, Places, Spain, Stories, Travel

This year’s winter break was one to remember. All those years being apart in the dual language program since kindergarten finally paid off. On February 19th, in 2016 I arrived in Valencia to meet my host family at the train station.

My first full day in Valencia we went to the beach with a huge group of friends. It was crazy to be walking around on the beach absolutely fully clothed because it was 50-60 degrees out. Thats warm for the Summit kids but for our host siblings it was still cold so it was unusual to be at the beach in February. They were all bundled up in puffy jackets and scarfs still shivering while some of us dipped our toes in the ocean and collected seashells. As the day went on we rented a soccer ball so we could play soccer in the sand. Splitting up into teams (Valencia vs Summit), we battled to see which team would be the first to score 5 goals. We were expecting to get destroyed right way since fútbol is their main sport. But surprisingly, Summit was the first to score! Valencia unfortunately scored shortly after and continued to score 3 consist goals. We only scored once that match so we decided to have a little tournament (best out of 3). The Spaniards won the first and last match and we only won the second match. So we took the winners out for a treat, some ice cream at Burger King.

Another special day was a school trip to another town called Sagunto, Spain. My teacher that hooked us up with all these cool connections actually grew up there. If you were to have looked Sagunto up its a town famous for the castle built on the hillside. We did not have enough time to walk up to the castle but we did get to visit a theater that was built around the same time as the castle, where they still hold performances to this day. On the bus ride back to school “American Football” was mentioned because they have never officially played before. So they challenged us in a football match in the sand again. So in return we agreed after the football match we all go swimming in the ocean. so this time everyone brought their bathing suits, luckily that day was way hotter then the first time so swimming wasn’t so bad. The water was still super cold but now we can say we’ve swam in Mediterranean Sea with our Spaniards (brothers and sisters) .

Our last night together we had a dinner party then walked to a park to take pictures and enjoy the city lights and stars. We talked about possibly planning a trip for them to come out and visit us next year but its going to be difficult if they come as a school trip because some of the host siblings are older then the others and they move on to anther school next year. We were willing to start funding to help pay for them to come but we still aren’t sure if it could work. That night was not the end of our friendship or even the last time ill get to see them but I am still going to miss them!

When I have the money to afford a trip back to Spain I will make it happen. You would think spending 6 days with random locals wouldn’t be enough time to get attached. Well your wrong, 6 days is not enough days to enjoy your time with new friends in a new place. The morning we all had to get on that train back to Madrid had us all balling our eyes out. You don’t have to be related to be family or have a hard time saying goodbye. Spain has always been a dream of mine to visit and obviously Valencia is not the only city. So I clearly am going to return but that was a well spent FIRST time to Spain. Meeting all those amazing people got me hooked on the idea of finishing school (college) out in Spain. Ive heard the universities here have programs where you attend their school for 2 years then you transfer to one out in Europe. If I am forced to go to college that is something I defiently will be looking into. At this point I want to become a photographer or masseuse for a living so finding a school in Spain wouldn’t be so bad. Valencia will always be in my heart as close as a second family so I know we will reunite again some time soon!

Tanote in Koh Tao, Thailand

Beach, Family, koh tao, motorbikes, Places, tanote bay, Thailand, Travel

Jumping on the back of a motor scooter my sister was driving and listening to her say how she has had a little experience on one of these. I really didn’t have experience driving one at all. Coming down one of the alleys following my mom and her boyfriend, I noticed they took a sharp turn up the hill towards a gas station. My sister guns it a little to much and we head toward a pancake stand on the corner scaring two thai ladies who were running the stand and all there customers. They remembered us every time we drove by and they probably shared looks of warning as they saw us approach.

We rented motorbikes so we were able to go to multiple bays in one day. We went to about 7 to 8 bays for the amount of time we spent on that island. My favorite bay was Tanote. Tanote had so much to do, we spent the most time there. The first thing we did was jump off a rock out in the deep water. The way to get up there was to shuffle your hands up a rope. The rock was about a 60 meter foot jump. Climbing up was easy, but jumping off was harder then I thought after peeking over the side. I was up there tripping about jumping off incorrectly long enough my sister told me I didn’t have to pay her back for what I owed her and my mom would give me money to get a temporary tattoo or my hair braided with beads at the end. I finally got the nerve to jump off and not be a looser and climb back down the way I got up there. Now I can say I jumped off a 60 meter rock in Koh Tao,Thailand. The advice I give you today, is jump off the rock at Tanote Bay. Plus your only in the air with butterflies flying all over in your stomach for 5 seconds and it gives you something to brag about to your friends. Just know climbing up there means you have to jump off in order to get down.

Another activity we did at the same bay was snorkeling. This island is known for scuba diving but my mom is the only one PADI certified. That was the first time we went snorkeling on our own for this trip. I enjoy snorkeling for about 15 minute at a time. Every time I have gone the mask doesn’t fit very well and I am the type of person that breaths out of my nose not the mouth. So to breath out of my mouth for a long period of time is challenging. The fish were very interesting and colorful, the coral was coming back to life so there were spots of purple, pink and green. Coming up for the last adjustment of my mask, out of the corner of my eye I noticed there was a beach volleyball court, net and ball. Nudging my sister asking if she wanted to go play. Both of us were sick of seeing to same fish over and over so we swam back in to play volleyball. Don’t get me wrong, coming from winter wonder land (Breckenridge Colorado) where I live, swimming in the ocean looking at all the fish is amazing but after a while you get bored.

Finally getting to the volleyball court, we passed the ball back and forth. Not being used to it, our arms turned out to be red as the celebrity red carpet. After my mom and her boyfriend returned the rented snorkeling masks they joined us for a 2 on 2 adults against kids game. For sure the kids obviously won. This bay has so many activities to do for so many different types of people I recommend going there in a heart beat. Check my “How i see it” page for more photos.

Beach Soccer Railay Beach, Thailand

Beach, beach soccer, Cool People, Places, railay, Stories, Thai People, Thailand

After a long day hanging out at one of the three beaches. Heading back towards our bungalows to shower, we noticed there was a lovely sunset. Enjoying the moment, out of the corner of my eye I saw older men playing soccer. The field was dependent on the low tide, everyday was different so some nights they played at 5 other nights at 5:30. The goals were about 5ft tall and wide made of little wooden branches and netting.

After watching them for a while we noticed our resort manager named Ann was out there. It was very educational for me to watch them play. The field was not long but it was wide so it didn’t have as many players running down the field dribbling, but give and goes towards the goal. Lots of the men had good foot work and could do all the different moves to get around you. The men would just randomly come from areas when ever and join the game. They would come as soon as work was over and just jumped right in. In fact, not only can you show up when ever but you can take a break or leave at anytime all so.

We left right before dark to get to the other side of the island while we could see. Walking back to the bungalows the manager passed us and I asked him if I could play with them tomorrow. He asked me if I played soccer. I said yes, thats my favorite sport. He replied, show up tomorrow around 5 with tennis shoes and sport clothes and we will figure out team. How do you guys assign teams questioned Jeff my moms boyfriend. One team is shirts one team is skins.

following afternoon…………

I showed up all ready having butterflies in my stomach thinking how am i suppose to comunicate with my teammates if i dont even know thai. as well as noticing ann wasnt there yet. turning around seeing ann running towards me grabbing my hand and dragging me out there. pausing the game telling the guys i was going to play with them and deciding which team i should be on to even it out. the first impression i had with them was they wanted my to take off my shirt and play on the skins team. as i was slowly taking it off they all were laughing because it was a joke. they ended up apologizing and having a guy from the shirts team change to skins so i was on shirt. i was not used to there game so it took me awhile to get used to it. the final score was 4-9, sadly I was on the team that did not win. but winning wasnt what it was all about. it was the fact that i could communicate with thai men that didnt speak english by knowing the basics of soccer and how they played. as well as being the only white american 13 year old girl to have the guts to get out there. Towards the middle of the game some other americans came but I got the feeling they only came because I was out there first. I am glad i did nit miss the chance and chicken out to do it. it was an amazing experience and i would recommend attempting to do a hobby of yours in a different country if you get the chance. Even if you look weird or crazy maybe stupid just remember you will probably never see these people again.

(see photos on “How i see it” page).