Rio Tiête

Today I woke early at 5 in the morning to go on yet another adventure.  My family decided to spend the day on a boat that navigated a little ways down a beautiful, large river called Tiête.  We all piled into the car with pillows in the back to sleep a little more and our swimsuits ready at hand.  I love driving places with my family, I’m not sure why.  The windows are always down and its hot as ever, but we’re all so close and together.  I’m not sure how far the drive actually was because I passed most of it sleeping with my head on my host sister’s lap.  I’m guessing that it was about two hours, maybe an hour and a half.  The drive was through small towns, each with the red dirt, palm trees, and colorful houses that creates a beautiful Brazilian feeling.  There weren’t many people on the streets cause it was hot early in the morning, but we stopped and asked just about everyone for directions.  They each had a slightly different opinion about how to get to our destination, but we managed.  

We got there around 9:30 and had some pineapple juice and watermelon juice as well as bread for breakfast before we boarded the boat.  We picked a table with an umbrella for shade, I had forgotten my sunscreen, something that will never happen again.  The boat ride was lovely, relaxing, fun, and included peach juice which just happens to be my favorite.  

Because we’re in Brazil there was, of course, dancing involved, another thing I love about this culture.  We danced to music from here which I am starting to learn and to music from the USA, sometimes mixed with a little samba beat.  My host sister is trying very hard to teach me how to samba, determined to succeed.  I had a break through yesterday, at a friend's pool party, but I still need more practice.  

We stopped at a beach before the end of the trip and ran into the cold, beautiful water.  It was a beautiful relief after the day of 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit).  I love hot weather, don't get me wrong, but this was this first day of spring and I'm a little concerned about summer.  The river bed was soft, red dirt and felt amazing.  

 I want to take a second to talk about my first host family here.  It is an amazing, terrifying, beautiful thing, to go to another country without speaking the language, knowing anyone or understanding the culture. There was and still is so much that I was unsure of and so much that I didn't know how to handle.  But these people welcomed me into their family with open arms the moment I stepped off the plane, giving me stability and being good people that I can trust.  To make a long, wonderful story short, I love them.  They are so kind, welcoming, helpful, and understanding.  I feel completely at home and safe in their house with them and truly count them as my family.  They are all trying to give me the best experience here possible, making sure I try all of the new foods, helping me everyday with my Portuguese, and taking me to different cities and experiences.  They are making my exchange an amazing adventure.  They also are great at advocating for me, everything from helping me explain to people that I don't eat meat to making sure I get all of my materials for school to signing me up for any class I want to take.  They call me "Ksa-Maria" because it's more Brazilian than just "Ksa."  They are wonderful people, they know how to laugh and, my goodness, they know how to cook.  I feel overwhelmingly lucky to have them as my family here and know I will miss them terribly when I leave.