My Third Update = ]

Travelling Brazil and Uruguay

At 10am On Saturday the 27th of February Lais (my host mother), Humberto (my host father), Marcos (my host brother) and I all set off for the long drive to the state of Rio Grande do Sul. I was very excited to travel to the most southern state of Brazil and to staying in the capital of the state (Porto Alegre). About half an hour into my trip we had to turn around because I had forgotten my camera and passport. Now we set off again at about 11am, I got in the car with my camera in my hand ready to get some amazing pictures of the journey ahead. But I fell asleep for the whole 12 hours of driving and when my parents woke me up we were at a motel because they wanted to finish the driving tomorrow. The next day I also slept for the next 6 hours of driving and my brother had given me a new nickname that the family were to call me ‘’Dorminyoka’’ which translates to sleep-ziller. I guess now my family thought they were pretty funny because when I went to take my first picture in the car I realised that they had been taking pictures of me (‘’dorminyoka’’) and all my different sleeping positions.

Anyway the first night we stayed in Porto Alegre with my ‘cousins’ Caio and Luana. They were so nice and I had a lot of fun with them, we went to watch the famous soccer team from this state ‘Gremio’ play and they won, of course. There were so many people there watching and it was really hot but a great experience. I also bought the team’s soccer gernsey because I liked it so much. I have also now been taking many pictures and took a lot of the trip.

The next day we drove to the city of Pelotas where we would stay for a week. I was excited because my cousin (Paulo 20) who I was staying with had just got back from 3 months in Canada and could speak very good English. Today my family took me to visit one of the biggest lakes in the world, it was amazing and looked just like a beach. I also saw some wild buffalo on the way. The next day my family took me to Cassino Beach the largest beach in the world, it was a great experience, we all went swimming and I got very sunburnt but now I have a good tan.
On the Friday I went to get a manicure and pedicure with my host mum because we had a wedding the next day and had to be looking good for this. After our nails my family took me to visit Uruguay a bordering country of Brazil. Uruguay was a beautiful country and such a different culture to Brazil. Apart from the difference in speaking Spanish in Uruguay and Portuguese in Brazil the people also dressed very different and mostly got around on horseback. Luckily my uncle (Antonio) came with us because he was the only one in the family who could speak Spanish.

We then Travelled for 3 more hours that yes I slept again, to the city of Bage, where I would stay at some more family members house.
Gabriella’s wedding was ALOT of fun and she looked beautiful. Brazilian weddings are so much different to Australia’s, the bride has 5 couples instead of 3 and the groom also gets to pick another 5 couples, so there are 10 couples all up. Dancing at the party after the wedding was good fun and I also learnt how to waltz with a few really cute Brazilian boys. I wasn’t very good but I couldn’t pass up this opportunity.

After the barbecue the next day Marcos had left and I had no one to speak English, my cousin (Crissie 24) spoke a little but my Portuguese was improving and I could understand most things. She was so nice and I shared her room with her for 2 nights, we talked both nights until early hours of the morning and had become very close, almost like sisters and I had promised her that when my family go back in June that I will go too.

After almost 2 weeks of travelling it was time to leave again we left at 5am in the morning and I was determined to get rid of this name ‘dorminyoka’ and would not sleep the whole 18 hour journey. But my plan had failed and sleep-ziller was sleeping again. I only slept for about 4 hours of the drive in the morning and then I was awake and taking pictures of the most amazing sights. On the way home my parents took me through ‘’ The Valley of Wines’’ it was beautiful and we had a few stops to do some cheese and wine testing. After the beautiful country side I had seen I am so glad I didn’t sleep on the way back, but even though I didn’t sleep I still had the name sleep-ziller. Adjusting to the 13 hour Brazilian time difference was so hard and 3 weeks after getting here it became 14 hours different due to daylight savings.

Since my travels I have been back at school, joined a basketball team, eaten lots of Tim Tams mum had sent me and also been out to the club 727 a few times with the other exchange students.

If you want to see pictures of my travels or my time in Brazil click on the link below and leave a comment if you want.

Also on here I have videos from Brazil to which are really good.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=192789&id=565185324



Anyway until my next update, take care and hope to hear from you.
Tchau Ainslie. x

P.S. My Portuguese is a lot better and I can understand almost everything and we can speak in conversations.