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 Sherise Alexis
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2008-09 Outbound to Brazil
Hometown:
Miami, Florida
School: Northwest
Christian Academy, Miami, Florida
Sponsor:
Miami Rotary Club, District 6990, Florida
Host: Salvador-Itapagipe
Rotary Club, District
4550, Brazil
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Bio
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August 8 Journal - "It is FINALLY
starting to sink in. I’m leaving. I felt queasy all day. I’m not sure if
it was nerves, or malnutrition from living off of cereal and kool-aid for
the past two weeks." |
| August 12 Journal - "My
host mother went somewhere quickly, leaving me standing with my new brother.
He said something, and I didn’t understand a single word. Yipes! Outsmarted
by a 9 year old!" |
| August 14 Journal -
"Suddenly, the teacher asked me something. I was not really paying
attention, since the overload of words I had never heard before was going
straight over my head." |
| August 18 Journal -
"People like to introduce me as if I don’t know a single word in Portuguese.
Oh well, then it just makes it impressive when I spit out a badly formed
sentence." |
| November 2 Journal - "I
still don’t really understand my host brother—but I don’t think anyone does.
All I know, is that the annoyingness of a little brother can transcend
language barriers." |
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Sherise's Bio
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 Hi
everybody!
My name is Sherise Dionne Alexis. I will be 18 starting on
August 4th and I am honored to be one of the gap year students for Rotary
Youth Exchange US outbounds of 2008-2009. In other words, I’ll be finally
graduating from my high school after what seemed like an eternity and then
volunteering myself to jump into another one. Of course, it will be in
Japanese, or Italian, or Spanish, or Danish, or whatever Uzbekistan speaks
(6990 interviewers will understand that one ;-P ), or wherever I get sent
to.
Oh well, in any case it will be fun. It will certainly be
a change from being at little old Northwest Christian Academy for about…15
years. It will be different all right! But some change is good.
It will also be a change from being in Miami. It might be
hard since I was born and raised in this city. My inherent "Miami-ness"
becomes particularly evident when it drops below 60°F/16°C and I’m FREEZING.
And I don’t care what anyone says 50°F/10°C is not refreshing, it’s COLD!
That said, I think by some twist of irony, Siberia is in my future…
Anyways, don’t blame me. I come from a very tropical
heritage with both of my parents originating from the Caribbean. My mother
was born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, while my father is from Grenada,
St. Croix, Trinidad, and seems to have lived all over. So, as a result, I
have my Caribbean heritage to share in addition to the US culture. Of
course, those with Caribbean and/or Latin American heritage is not at all
uncommon in Miami. So much diversity is exactly what gives the city such
flair!
Now for a little more about me specifically…
My interests include: drawing, fashion, graphic arts,
traveling, planning to travel, drama, and volleyball.
My dislikes include: roaches, giant Florida roaches (aka
our state bird), saying goodbye, packing light.
My non-mainland travel includes: Trinidad with my mom for
weddings and visiting relatives, Costa Rica for a church missions trip, St.
Croix for a Christmas vacation and to visit relatives, and most recently
England for a Leadership Camp.
All-in-all, I am very excited for this opportunity to go
somewhere new and spread more happiness and “Sherise-ness” around the globe.
Thanks Rotary! |
August 8 Journal
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Webmaster's Note: With just a few hours remaining before her
departure, Sherise provided this journal, recounting the last ten days of an
almost-there exchange student. The Big 1-0
Hello, all.
I officially have 10 days left until I leave to Brazil.
Who would have ever thought that this would be happening?
The big question that everyone keeps asking is “Are you
ready?” It’s a very clichéd but safe question, and nonetheless I certainly
appreciate the concern. And the short answer is yes. After all, if I could
even venture to sign up for such a program, then I was certainly ready from
the start. However, the long answer is no.
It’s ironic how the “long” answer is the shorter word, but
it lengthens considerably when you count the interrogation that is sure to
follow! So no, I am not ready. I don’t really know that much Portuguese or
Spanish. I’m not sure what to expect. I am not packed. I couldn’t even grab
any old bag and hop on a plane since I don’t even have my passport, visa,
and ticket! I have no idea why it is taking so long, and I would be lying if
I told you that I’m not worried or that I am in some state of zen-like peace
with everything!
I’m freaking out!
However, as much as I am unhappy with
dislike detest AM CURRENTLY PISSED OFF
with the current situation. The most I can do is sit and wait…and wait…and
wait…
I would be ecstatic if I at least had my visa! Jeez!
Bureaucracy loves to torment me so…
In any case, I’ve been getting ready. I’ve gotten all the
clothes that I want to bring for sure! Now I have to get my electronics
together and some gifts.
I do have my pins. (For those who don’t know, it’s a
tradition for exchange students to put pins on their Rotary blazers. And as
we meet each other and things, we trade pins and other stuff, and so by the
end of the year our blazer weighs about 50lbs/23kg and it’s covered with
just about everything! And not even necessarily pins.)
Ate breve!
Nove dias!!!
Well now it makes 9 days that I have left. As usual, I
woke up this morning at noon (a nasty habit I should get out of since summer
is almost complete). And then as I shuffled out of my room at a groggy pace
of 1 mile per hour I saw it. I spot the familiar purple and orange of a
FedEx envelope, I walked towards it wondering if I had forgotten that I
ordered something, but whoa and behold, it was from the Eastern US travel
agency for Rotary, Bokoff-Kaplan! Que legal! Meu visto!!! AQUI ESTÁ!!!
In any case, I’m happy.
Also, today was my last choir practice! The choir director
and her husband are going to leave soon to go to China, since they are
adopting a baby. The baby shower is this weekend. I’m so excited for them! I
couldn’t wish a baby to a better couple, they’ve already been parents to
everyone else, so they deserve a child of their own! Furthermore this
process has been so long and hard, it’s been about 2-3 years since they
started, so I’m happy for them that they finally got through.
Aside from that, I went to my last Bible study with Pastor
Summers. It was good, it was part of the multiple-part series he is doing on
Daniel. And now he is going to Tennessee for vacation, but before he and his
wife leave, they have invited me for lunch tomorrow, I better get my
theological convictions ready! He’s a very smart man!
Até amanha!
8 days….
Ah! Well now this makes eight days left, and now people, I
am finally glad that I can say YES, I have packed!
I made a list of summer goals, and one of them was that I
must have all my clothes packed by August. So at least I did one summer
goal…YAY!
Hmm…7 days left…
Despite 7 being my favorite number, I really didn’t do
anything today, I was just lazy and I sat around.
I’m sorry, I’ll do better next time…
Ate amanha…
6 days…
Okay, well I stayed up really late to change my blog
layout. It took ages and…I don’t really like it…Ah well, but at least now it
looks like it actually has something to do with the blog, so that’s an
improvement.
In any case, as I put the finishing touches on the layout,
my phone buzzes and whistles annoyingly–indicating that I have a text
message…at 5:58 in the morning…weird… Anywho, it was my friend, Kyle, a
fellow Rotary Youth Exchange student and District 4550 inbound from District
7150 New York or something like that. He’s awesome, if my state in Brazil
weren’t so large we would so be drinking buddies…except…without the drinking
since there’s the whole 4-D’s and all. Anywho, he calls, we chat, and I fall
asleep until 5pm and basically waste my whole day.
So basically, so much for doing better today…Desculpe…
Até amanhã!
Well, today made it officially 5 days until I leave.
Being Sunday, I went to church. But before that, I got a
surprise when my best friend Priscilla showed up with this huge cake that
her mom baked. A delicious strawberry cake! My mouth is watering just
thinking about it! It is because my birthday is tomorrow.
But I didn’t have time to dwell on that, since I had to
get ready for church. It would be my last service at Northwest Baptist
Church for a long time. However, the pastor wasn’t there since he went out
of town to visit Tennessee, so the Youth/Associate pastor filled in for him
today. He did a really good job, especially considering that he’s leaving to
China in 4 days to go and pick up his and his wife’s newly adopted daughter!
I know they’re very excited!
In any case, it was a day of lasts. The last time I’ll be
in that church, the last time I’ll see Dave and his wife Kathleen without
their newly adopted daughter, the last time I would be up there on stage
playing the Alto Sax in the orchestra, and forgetting to unstick the G# on
my weird ole sax, the last time I’d be singing 2nd soprano in the choir next
to my mom, the last time I’ll babble with my friends before and after
church, the last time I’ll be sitting far up front and center, and the last
time I’ll figure out how to play the sax with the big ole billowy choir
robes in the way.
Lots of lasts. Oh, and it was the birthday of a friend of
mine. Besides church, we went to do some last minute shopping, mainly
toiletries and presents and stuff, and then we headed back to church for
evening service (That’s right, two services in one day! I’m just that
hardcore!)
Happy Birthday to Me! With 4 days left…
It’s my birthday! However, since it’s a Monday, it means I
sit at home eat cake, and get fatter. It was basically like the rest of my
summer…except I’m 18 now, and I have cake…
Mom went to work, dad stayed home, the cable lady came to
install a new phone line, since my father is hell bent on running up long
distance while I’m abroad, instead of simply using skype.
Oh and as I realized that Barack Obama and I share the
same birthday, I realized that I haven’t registered to vote yet…oops…I’ll
just do it at the consulate after I leave since there’s no way it would come
in the mail in time before I leave.
Anywho, besides answering a few phone calls, reading
through texts, and all my birthday greetings on Facebook and Orkut (it’s
like myspace/facebook but with a lot of Brazilians and Indians) I have
basically done nothing all day.
And I’m fine with that! People don’t truly understand the
art of laziness. I’ll clean/pack/whatever tomorrow for sure!
3 Days and I’m being nerdy…
Well I’m trying to mess with my blog so I can be all up
and ready to go for a year and not worry about it. Who knew that automatic
crossposting would be such a pain? Especially, since the php codes in the
wordpress plugins seems to keep disabling each other! Gah!
Vox and Myspace need to get a real api…
2 days…
Well, I do believe it is FINALLY starting to sink in. I’m
leaving.
I felt queasy all day. I’m not sure if it was nerves or
malnutrition from living off of cereal and kool-aid for the past two weeks
(especially since my dad figures that the house doesn’t need food since
everyone’s leaving soon since my parents are vacationing in Grenada.)
I spent the day meticulously combing through my travel
documents and important e-mails, making sure to follow them closely. After
all, I don’t want to get into more trouble before I even leave…
Then, I put the finishing touches on my packing. And now I
wonder how petite little 5 foot me is going to carry all that through the
airport. But I can’t lighten up, much since one of the dumb bags, itself,
weighs 15 pounds when empty, and it’s too expensive to buy some new luggage
right now, so I’ll have to work it out. Then the third leg of my flights I
might end up paying overage fees since TAM supposedly only allows one,
according to the travel agent. I hope I have enough money, since I’m not
sure how much it costs since both the site and phone representative were
VERY confusing…
Besides that, I did some more nerdy blog stuff and updated
my Myspace. I try to cover all my bases.
Anywho, I really should be working on my Powerpoint
presentation that I’m supposed to do for when I get there. But I seem to be
doing everything but…
And then there was 1…
Well….This is it I’m about to leave in about 10 hours.
I’m so excited that I can’t even sleep!
In any case, my dad left this morning to Grenada. My mom
will join him on Sunday. So I had to say goodbye early once for each door we
passed. One by the bedroom, one by the front door, one by the gate, and one
for the car door. Whew! Well at least I know I’ll be missed!
Other than that, I went to my Rotary Club today. It was
fun, I loved being able to say “oh I’m leaving tomorrow!” The power in that
“tomorrow”…so cool!
Also, I decided to put in a “happy dollar” today. (Happy
dollars is this thing that my club does where they pass around the pouch and
people can put in donations as small or large as they want and as they do
it, they can share something with the club.) So, I decided to take the
opportunity to brag about leaving and saying that “I won’t need dollars
anyway, I need reais!”
Sure enough, the Brazilian members took note and suddenly
produced 2 reais! So now it shall be my lucky reais.
Also, I got to see the lady who’s picking up
Supas Sheth after the meeting. That
was pretty cool since I had been speaking to him on Orkut. So I gave her an
extra business card of mine to give to him. It’s too bad I’ll miss him as he
comes in, but I have things to do!
In any case, after the meeting my mom I took the scenic
route home and I was snapping pictures like crazy. I really don’t have
enough pictures of Miami the city. So I was trying to get some nice
skyscraper shots as we drove down Biscayne Boulevard. Interestingly enough,
there were a lot of strikes happening too. I suppose there’s trouble in
paradise…
Finally, I got home, changed into some drab clothing and
went to get my hair and eyebrows done. After all, I wouldn’t want to go to
Brazil looking all messed up. I already have 27 hours worth of flights and
layovers to do it for me.
When I got home, my best friend, Priscilla surprised me
with a visit. It was great. My cheeks are hurting from laughing so much! I’m
glad we got to see each other. I’ve always been so busy lately…But I can’t
believe I had to say good bye. I gave her a Hallmark card and a pin to
remember me by. I’ll miss her…
Then my godmother and godbrother dropped by to wish me
goodbye and give me a birthday gift of a gorgeous leather journal! Very
nice!
I also have gotten goodbye calls, texts, and facebook
messages. Yet, I haven’t gotten all blubbery yet, maybe I am still in
disbelief…
Oh well, I better finish packing…the flight is in hours….
Here is my collection of pins ready to be traded |
My lucky reais, bestowed by the Brasileiros of R.C. Miami. Why they
randomly had Brazilian currency in the U.S. is beyond me |
It's the season of
labor disputes. |
Trouble in Miami paradise? |
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August 12 Journal
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It was finally here! The day of my departure! Of course, I was
not able to savour it as there were a lot of last minute things to do! So I
fought all night with iTunes in order to get it to sync some movies to my iPod.
After all, I had a loooong flight ahead. And to my horror, the sync was not
finished in time when I had to leave. So, grumbling and cursing Apple for
condemning its consumers with the most fussy mp3 player ever, I cancelled the
sync, ejected, got my stuff, and left.
Now that I was at the airport, I was unusually calm, which
is more than I can say for my family. My aunt, mother, sister, cousin, and
nephews were there. And my aunt and cousin were fussing over the fact that I
had my purse open and telling me all the stuff I already knew as if I had
never seen an airport before (Mind you I have traveled plenty of times both
domestic and abroad—INCLUDING by myself with none of that silly
“unaccompanied minor status” and I’ve fared quite well so far.)
Nevertheless, they insisted on giving me packing tips while IN the airport
and already checked in. Then they proceeded to tell me all about how I will
get robbed because I left my purse open for two seconds even though I had it
safely sitting between me, my huge football player sized nephew, and a
semicircle of doting relatives. Give me a break...
In any case, I finally left, and of course my mother cried
as I hugged and kissed everyone goodbye and went through the security gate.
I sat for a moment and then it was boarding time, I was off tooo....
Washington D.C.!
No, I am saying it right. I flew from Miami and UP to D.C.
to go to Brazil. But don’t look at me, that was the travel agent’s doing,
I’m not going to question their judgment...But to satiate everyone’s
curiosity (seriously, every single person that I tell jumps back in horror),
I just say in a matter-of-factly tone, “to meet the other exchange students,
there’s about 50 of us flying together from what I heard.” There. End of
conversation, sure they could have flown to Miami, meet me and THEN go to
Brazil, but, like I said, I not questioning it. I’m here, and wishing that I
didn’t have to sign a contract condemning me to the exact route back despite
the fact that TAM has a direct flight to Miami every Sunday, as many
(seriously, many) enjoyed informing me.
But who really cares? It’s Brazil!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you
Rotary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But I digress, so I was in the airplane now. The flight
attendant was a former exchange student with Rotary. She recognized the
characteristic Rotary blazer. I entered further and I heaved my overweight
carry-on overhead, thanking God that I didn’t have to weigh it. I took my
seat and asked some guy behind me how long the flight was. He didn’t know,
but fortunately a middle aged couple sat beside me. A white lady with too
much mascara and a tall black man with a cool-looking hat. I greeted them.
Mind you, that this is very significant, as I almost never talk to strangers
unless prompted (a fact that earned me a $#^& you ^$%&!!! the day before
from some rowdy perverts when I walked home in Miami the other day.) In any
case, they didn’t know the time the flight would take either (not like it
mattered). I found out that they were on their way to Rome, and they
traveled frequently. It was about then that the pilot hinted that something
in the plane’s navigation wasn’t working and that they were going to fix it
quickly in about 10 minutes, but its okay since they budget minor delays
like this into the flight time.
At that point, I turned on my iPod to listen to my music,
and to my horror there were no songs since it decided to delete everything,
and the new movies did not sync. I reallllllly hate Apple and its amazingly
inefficient iPod Touch syncing. (That’s right, I said it! I only bought the
wretched thing because it had WiFi and I wanted to get a new nice cell phone
after I returned, so go cry fanboys and fangirls! Steve Jobs is officially
on my list...)
So, music-less, I sat squirming in my seat with nothing to
distract me until the pilot announced that they didn’t have the part and
that they were going to ask Jet Blue to borrow it.
Minutes later, he said that they didn’t get it, and then
the flight attendant tried to do some damage control and encouraged us to
wait. Everyone started grumbling and I chatted with the couple some more.
They were worried since they only had a 2 hour layover in London to begin
with and the plane has been grounded for 30 minutes and counting. As about
40 minutes passed, people began to leave to try and get rebooked on other
flights. I sighed and went into my huge carry-on since I remembered that I
brought my old mp3 player so maybe I can practice some Pimsleur...no
luck...so I gave up and listened to some FM radio built-in to my ooooold mp3
player as I wondered why Apple consistently refuses to add it when iTunes
sucks so bad. Eventually, I got bored with it as the couple going to Rome
got their things together. It was an hour now. I wasn’t worried about the
delay since Bokoff-Kaplan (the travel agency) sets really long layovers
(bless their very intelligent hearts)! However, the plane was about
three-quarters empty, and when I asked a flight attendant about the
possibility of cancellation, she muttered an extremely vague answer and then
muttered something unknown thing in Spanish. Not very encouraging...
I sat down twitching and looked at my phone. The chipper
girl in front of me who was on standby in the first place and probably the
only person on the plane without a connecting flight was starting to annoy
me. They had to fly in the part from San Francisco! Things were not looking
good... I called my mom who may have been hiding happiness at the prospect
of me coming back, hung up, went into the overhead and pulled out my
overweight carry-on bag of doom, then and went into my handy-dandy exchange
binder to try and track down the number for Bokoff (which I later realized
was on the departure packet in my purse). So, I called and told the
representative about my dubious flight, but she advised me to wait it out
and if it got cancelled I would have to wait the next day. I hung up
horrified at the prospect of making a bunch of long distance calls in broken
Portuguese to explain my rescheduled flights, and went on to call my mom
again and tell my sister—who lives in D.C. with some mysterious chemistry
job for the government—that I would have to rain check on that free lunch
she was going to take me on during my formerly long layover. I hung up
praying that I the flight would be only delayed after all, and sure enough,
the flight attendant told us that we were changing planes! This was
announced while I was talking to my mother, to boot! I’m happy it was then
since that meant that I only had to hold my cell phone to the plane speaker
and she heard everything, so I didn’t have to re-explain.
With a sigh of relief I gathered my things and made my way
to the new gate trying not to lose the tiny ticket stub that’s supposed to
grant us entrance. I got in the line and started chatting with a girl while
simultaneously updating my status on Facebook and the Cultures-Shocked
website. We laughed at the irony that the new plane was delayed as well.
Eventually the flight attendant finished (their excuse was “cleaning”) and
we boarded. Lo and behold! Who sits next to me but the enroute to Rome
couple! Their connection was shot at this point.
With new flight, we got to D.C. painlessly. I got off and
made my way to D-1 to check-in with the Rotarian, Mr. Wilcox. He said that
they were looking for me, and asked to see my ticket, that stuff out of the
way, he said I could drop my stuff there and walk around. Having nowhere in
mind to go, I dropped my stuff beside an empty seat and sat down. Then two
friendly boys introduced himself. One advised me to change some money into
reais (Brazilian currency), and then when I asked how far down it was, he
offered to walk with me. (Exchange students are so nice!)
So, we went down to the currency desk with a small gaggle
of exchange students. My escort and I had a laugh at the mini personalized
license plate one girl had on her back, and I said I thought it was cool,
and then I suddenly recognized the girl and the other one she was talking
to. It was Tess and Sarah from Central New York! (I couldn’t come to the
last orientation in Florida, so I did a make up in New York.) So I tapped
them on their shoulders and we had this whole “OMG! You’re here and I
haven’t seen you in forever” moment in the airport and then my escort took
an opportunity to escape (Geez...were we that bad? Haha!).
So, they waited for me to change the money as the poor,
overworked lady tried to hunt down some reais to handle all these exchange
students enroute to Brazil. But we me freshly armed with $60 USD worth of
reais, the Central New York girls and I went our merry way back to D-1. As I
got there, there were a few more students. I looked back and suddenly hear
my name as Florida’s own Lauren Keister aka “Tangerina” (her capoeira name)
waves. And no sooner when I see her and run up I spot Zazu, who calls me
Ruby, and she quickly points out Adrienne and tells me that Suzy is around.
Those last few names probably meant nothing to you, but other than Lauren, I
met those girls through an exchange student website called Cultures Shocked.
They are all from New Jersey and they were handled with Bokoff Kaplan as
well. Then of course, I saw Asia and Becca from Florida. To my surprise,
Andrienne and Lauren already knew each other, but then I realized OF COURSE
they do I since already introduced them on Orkut (think Facebook/Myspace but
with Brazilians).
On that note, I waved at Kyle from Buffallo, New York
who’s actually going to the same district as me, but a different city. And
then I asked a girl from Bermuda about Capri Wilson from Bermuda as well who
is coming to my district. She would be going to Lauro de Freitas which is
just north of me. As a matter of fact, her school is closer to my house than
my own school! At this point, I went back to poor Sarah and Tess who sat
amazed at my ability to know like half the students already.
It just goes to show that I don’t have to be freakishly
outgoing to make friends in exchange-student-land, just be lucky and have
Facebook/Orkut.
So, then I go to my bag and pull out my trusty custom
pins. I swear that exchange students can smell them! As soon as I did, about
20 heads turned at the jingling sound, and as I handed one out, everyone
went mad. I was like, whoa! Who knew they would be such a hit? So, I
jumped-started the pin trading a bit. And apparently, people really love me
and are quite willing to wear it on their blazers!
It was time to board, and so we made the long trek to our
actual gate. My arm was very tired from that overweight carry-on. But at
last we were there and boarded. We sat there chatting amongst ourselves as
we waited, and I made fun of the Canadian, since she really said “eh”! It
was cute! As a consolation, I let her make fun of my “yall.” In any case, it
was a joyous occasion, we were on the plane to São Paulo, and I had two
seats to myself!
Well...except, about 15 minutes later a tired looking boy,
named Keith, shuffles through the ailse and stops beside my seat. So much
for my free seat... In any case, as an extension of goodwill I start the
applause off (since I make sure we applaud when we find missing students),
and I offered him a business card and his choice of pin. But he’s greedy and
chose the sketched AND the ”I love/Eu amo Sherise” pins. But hey, at least
he asked nicely.
I found out he’s from Long Island, New York and going to
São Paulo, making him one of the lucky few with no more connecting
flights... (Although I can’t complain, some kids had to actually change
airports!)
I watched a movie on the personal TVs, amused myself with
the XM radio, and then watched Kill Bill which was the only thing still left
on my iPod. So now “Bang Bang” from the opening credits was stuck in my head
all night—even at about 3 am when I checked the map on the TV and saw that
we were over Guyana. After 9 endless hours of very uncomfortable chairs, and
accidentally turning our seat neighbors into pillows in the middle of the
night, we FINALLY reach São Paulo. I have never been so happy to go to
customs in my life! Well…except for when the Rotarian that’s supposed to be
watching us gets detained, and leaves us all standing there dumbfounded
until he came back. Oh the irony!
Then we finally go through. It was so cool as the border
patrol person said “Vai!” and understood it. (And believe me! At my level of
listening comprehension in Portuguese this IS exciting...) So I move right
along to baggage claim. I grab a cart and quickly collect the huge blue
suitcase. Then I sat there in apprehension waiting for my red duffle as the
huge crowd dwindled until it was just me and two other exchange students.
Together we form the lost baggage club with Keith leading with BOTH bags
lost which totally overshadows mine and the other boy’s one.
In any case, we filed the reports and the man assured us
that it would be mailed to us. Apparently, mine never left my first airport.
But at least the man was nice enough walk with me and he even taught me some
Portuguese as I waited in the customs line. “Eu perdi minha bagagem.”
On the bright side of all of this, I only had to heave one
suitcase through the airport to check-in.
With that out of the way, the remaining students that
didn’t run off somewhere, stayed together, so I met some more people and
gave away some more pins and cards. There was an outbound Brazilian who
thought we were her group, and then another girl who got to say hi and bye
to her host family. It would seem that her family was on the way to the U.S.
that day and leaving her with a temporary family.
A few of the students went on an adventure to buy coffee
and we were amazed by the real glass cups, until they had a spaz out moment
figuring out that they give them directly back to the counter. Then I gave
my pins to the student that I don’t remember seeing before, and one
complimented the one I drew. Yay! Flattery! Oh and there was a guy with his
violin. How brave! I couldn’t imagine putting an expensive instrument
through this journey.
Eventually I had to make my leave. I made my way to the
gate, well, until the lady watching up ran up and told me I was going the
wrong way. So, making my way through security, I go to the correct
gate...well at least it was the one on the ticket...As I reach to the gate
it was boarding time, but I saw neither line, people, or even plane! I asked
the man at the desk if he spoke English, but I wasn’t that lucky.
Fortunately, asking “Onde????” and showing him the ticket was enough to get
the point across. Evidentially, there was a gate change. So going to the
right gate, I got on the right plane and it had no problems.
What a relief...
I was happy to see a man speaking English on the first row
(I sat diagonal to him on the second row). He was from Las Vegas and
visiting his fiancé in Salvador. Nice guy. He wasn’t an exchange student,
but he fell in love with Brazil when he did the Semester at Sea program in
college. We had a nice chat through the flight when I wasn’t cooing in
broken Portuguese at the cute little toddler in the front row. Then as we
walked out and toward the baggage claim, there were people waiting with
bracelets and this instrument thingy that made a cool sound. Mr. Vegas said,
“There go the Baianos!” so I guess that’s what they are called.
I got my bag, happy that it arrived even though is was a
struggle to handle, and made my way out. Now it was time to meet my family.
I walked out slowly, and tried to close my jacket a bit to make the Rotary
logo more visible since it was open as the button decided to pop off earlier
in São Paulo. (Uh-oh, am I getting fatter?) As I reach the end of the line,
I hear a soft “She-ree-see?” I look and see a dark haired woman and a blonde
little boy. This is my host mom and host brother!
I’m here! I’m really here!
My host mother went somewhere quickly, leaving me standing
with my new brother. He said something, and I didn’t understand a single
word. Yipes! Outsmarted by a 9 year old! Let’s restart this, I explained
that I didn’t speak much Portuguese, and then asked what his name was, it
took about 20 tries to pronounce it right.
Then my host mom came back and we were off to the car. On
the ride home, I tried to hold a conversation with my limited Portuguese. It
was very hard, but I got through! My pronunciation sucks! It seems books
will only take you so far. I think I did well, especially since verb
conjugation book, and big dictionary were in my other luggage that vanished,
and I completely forgot my crutch…err…I mean phrase book!
My host brother is sooooo cute though. I never had a
little brother before. I have nieces and nephews but they’re old enough to
have more attitude than I can handle especially since they’re American :p.
When I got home, I was so pleased to see that the house is
gorgeous! And there’s a hammock in the living room! I met my host father as
he was building an amario? (closet with drawers?) In any case, I was tired,
so I unpacked, took a shower, and went to sleep. The next day we would be
going to the family’s other house.
In any case, what a day! Getting there is certainly half
the fun!
And the moral of the story is that exchange students are
nice but, bring nice pins and they will jump you!
Beijos, ~ Sherise or Shereesee now...I guess silent e’s
don’t exist here...even words without e’s seem to get e’s at the end as
shown by my brother’s attempt to say “cook”. He says “Cookeh” Soooo cute!
Day 2 I woke up, at about 6. My host cousin and roommate
had arrived sometime during the night. But I just lay there in bed until the
sun rose and then I got up and greeted my host mother. “Bom dia” is pretty
to say. I should wake up before noon more often.
I took some picture of the house and host mom let me take
a walk around the condominio. It is a nice place, a woman was up early
taking a power walk. We are also next to a park and some empty area that
they were using for a “festas” the night before. So I suppose Brazil was
singing my arrival!
I walk around the whole neighborhood. There weren’t many
people out since it was still pretty early. Also, it is a very guarded area
with a automatic gate at the front, and a electric fence and/or a wall with
broken glass on top surrounding the whole thing.
When I came back, I found out that it was father’s day
here. I wish I had a good gift!
I wished him father’s day in in the Portuguese my little
brother taught me moments earlier. Then we ate breakfast, and my host dad
found my broken Portuguese and my host mother’s broken English very
humorous. Afterwards I relaxed on the hammock and Leo (my host brother)
wanted to show me something. I still have no idea what is was, I just
smiled, nodded, and said yes.
Then I watch a bit of the Olympics until it was time to go
to the beach house. It was very pretty like a home out of a magazine, and
there was even a maid. There was a little black boy with about 6 years named
Paulo, who I later found was adopted. He kept staring at me. I guess maybe
because I look normal, but I speak so weird.
There was also 15 year old girl who goes to the school
next to mine, and later came a young boy and a girl at 16 and 17. Also there
was a woman who spoke English, since she was an exchange student to
Minnesota. I feel bad for cheating, but she turned into my translator.
The highlight of the day was me eating an octopus and my
host dad asking if I like it. Well it wasn’t bad, but my brother’s
explanation that is was like bubble gum was a bit unsettling.
All the adult went to take a name while Leo and Paulo
disappeared to the beach or something, leaving me with all these teen. It
was an interesting and desperate conversation. Somehow despite their lack of
English, they managed to ask me about George Bush.
Later we took a walk to the playground. And my host mom
decided to go on this tire on a cord where you slide down. It was funny
until the security guard told her to get off, then it was even more
hilarious.
We came back and it was time to go. Leo fell asleep on me
during the car ride, soooo cute! And now here I am typing three days worth
of journals.
I hope my bag comes soon. I want my phrase book, real
journal, and Bible. But I guess the fact that I got so far without my books
is a feat in itself. Now, my next adventure is to figure out why this
computer doesn’t like my digicam.
Well, até logo!
~ Shereesee |
August 14 Journal
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It was my first day of school today, so that meant I had to
actually get up early for the first time all summer. So, to be safe, I got up
even earlier than the suggested 6:15, so I think I got up at about 5:30! Since I
took a bath the night before, I only had to just throw on some clothes and I was
ready in about five minutes. So, with my extra time I went on the computer to go
and find some more information about my school and bus route, but, of course, I
can never stay on track when I go on the computer, so I just messed around until
it was time for breakfast.
Soon enough, it was time to go. I thought that I had to
take the bus, but I misunderstood. Fortunately, it would appear that either
my host dad or host mom will be driving me to school in the morning, but I
have to take the bus back.
Thankfully, spared from the walk and the nervous dread I
would have to face in finding my stop, I hopped into my mom’s car and we
were off. To my surprise, we stopped by a friend of Bianca’s, named Caline.
I didn’t know we were making that stop, and I was wondering why we were
going the wrong way!
Anyways, Caline is in Bianca`s class and she lives close,
so I was simply supposed to follow her all day. Nevertheless, my host mom
told me to pay attention in case I need to make the trip alone.
When we reached the school, we went inside and directly
into the lion’s den classroom. I looked very lost, as I stumbled in quietly
and hesitantly after Caline. The other students seemed pretty uninterested
and didn’t pay me much mind other than a curious and brief glance as I
passed by.
I tentatively took my seat, and sat there squirming with
apprehension all the while. It was irritating. I like to be reasonably in
control of things, but I’m here in Brazil—a country that I know very little
about other than some shallow knowledge gleaned here or there from various
sources before I left. But ultimately, I didn’t really know what to expect!
From what I heard, Brazilian school kids are loud,
outgoing, immature, crazy, and unruly during school…yet here I was sitting
with a bunch of quiet, well-behaved students, who were sitting pretty calmly
and paying attention to the teacher and everything! Not really expecting
that! Then suddenly, the teacher asked me something. I was not really paying
attention, since the overload of words I had never heard before was going
straight over my head, so I couldn’t even try to piece together what she
said since by the time I realized she was addressing me, she was done. But
apparently the timing was humorous since when I said “que?” it set off a
round of boisterous and over-the-top laughter, and just like that I was
thrust into the spotlight. If no one realized the intercambista was
here, then they certainly knew now!
Nevertheless, it was not nearly as crazy as I had been led
to believe. However, the incident set off a fuse.
We continued onward through the Portuguese lesson—it was
something about poetry. The teacher handed out copies, and pretty much read
from it, verbatim. It was then that I noticed that no one seemed to be
bothered about bringing books. It was a relief, since I had no idea what
classes I had, and all the books in Bianca’s room looked quite burdensome to
carry.
In any case, I read a little, and I think I got the
general idea of it, but not completely, since there was apparently a
composition we were supposed to do. Fortunately, I was excused on account of
how clueless I was! Eventually that class ended and well…remember the fuse
metaphor? Well, one of the girls gestured for me to come outside.
*KABOOM!*
It was all a big blur. I was being pulled every which way,
introduced, hugged, kissed asked my name repeatedly and it was all very
crazy. All the class breaks afterward went similar. And there were a lot of
questions about celebrities and Britney Spears. Even the classes were like
this, most of the day I was surrounded by a group of girls trying to meet
me.
The chemistry teacher spoke English, so she kept saying
something to shut up the class before turning around and proceeding to talk
to me, which I found ironic and funny. But she was nice.
After that there was another break and I got the grand
tour. It's a nice school. It has sports, music, dance, a stage downstairs, a
recording studio, a pool, a food court, a shopping center, a university, and
even a travel agency!
Back in class there was a quiz on some book or story
called “Minha querida canibal”. I never heard of it , so while I understood
the questions somewhat, I put out all kinds of nonsense answers like “Falsa,
Europeans don’t eat people.” And “Eu nao sei!!! J
Desculpa!”
Then there was lunch break. I didn’t want anything because
I have little money left and I could always eat something at home for free.
I met some more people like Bianca’s devoted boyfriend (he even wears a
necklace with her name on it, how sweet!). Then a group of us hung out in
the library a bit. Conversing was a mess, but at least I understood
something every once in a while.
Oh, and my nail polish got a lot of compliments. I didn’t
realize, pinkish-purple was such a hit! And they liked my watch too.
The last class was quick. They told me that the teacher is
very sexy, and then others told me that he is gay. Of course, not that it
matters to me, he’s not my type anyway. (But if he’s gay, then I’m CERTAINLY
not his type, lol!) Anyway, I’m not sure he realized that I was even in the
class. It was very noisy and crazy, and I don’t think he bothered teaching.
He just kind of sat down. I was laughing to myself because the girls were
moving their desks up close to the front. The boys stayed in the back and
just talked and the remaining girls that were not infatuated just sort of
sat back and played on their cell phones or iPods.
School ended and while out front, I handed out some
business cards I had in my wallet which earned remarks of “Oxente!” and “que
lindo!”
Then after buying my school shirt, I took the bus home
with Caline and Flavia. I got a little more Portuguese practice, since she
doesn’t know that much English.
After such a tiring day, I got home and took a nap!
Of course, I got up later and called my mom for the first
time since I got here since my parents left for vacation in Grenada about
the same time I left for Brazil, and they were pretty unreachable the whole
time. |
August 18 Journal
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My second (Friday) and third (Monday) days of school were good
considering that a bit of the initial novelty wore off a bit. But only a bit!
Even on my third day I was still meeting teachers since they have some crazy
block schedule. And then when the teachers finally note the existence of a kid
they have never seen before then the whole class, doesn’t hesitate to yell out
about how I’m American, so the teacher should speak English. Then at this point,
the teacher usually sends this girl named Goas to translate, but usually, it was
something so simple that it didn’t need translating.
Apparently, people like to introduce me as if I don’t know
a single word in Portuguese. Oh well, then it just makes it impressive when
I spit out a badly formed sentence. It gets really annoying though. A pet
peeve of mine is being patronized. I’m not stupid. I do know a little bit of
Portuguese, so stop introducing me like if I don’t even know how to say hi!
All it is doing is making others scared to talk to me unless they speak
English.
And those English speakers are hunters! They’ll find me in
the darkest recesses of the school to say “Hi! Hower areh youu?” I hope I
don’t have to take English class, that last thing I need is every single
English speaker finding out that I’m here. I would rather take Spanish.
Plus, I was learning a little in the US. My friend says it’s probably a
differently level, but I don’t care, EVERYTHING here is on a different
level! I’ve never seen a Philosophy class for 15 year old teens!
Nevertheless, I’m doing okay. I can read a bit, but
listening to teachers is very difficult since I can’t seem to process all
that Portuguese fast enough, so listening in class is a mess! And in
conversations, I really am starting to get quite annoyed with talking to
English speakers, when I ask them to repeat or talk slowly in Portuguese,
they just say it in English so bad that the Portuguese was easier to
understand!
Oh, in other news I went to a party on Saturday. It was
really fun and I danced a lot. I danced a lot at the beginning, because it
was a little bit dull since the party was just starting, so everyone was
playing shy, so I hopped in the middle and started dancing to jump start
things a bit. Then I found my new Spanish speaking dancing friend.
Afterwards, more people got to the dance floor, and then all these cool
songs in Portuguese with specific dances started coming on, and I didn’t
know what the heck I was doing! However, it was still fun! I got away with
it because I’m just the cute and clueless Americana. That came in handy
since there was some dance that I did with some random boy with my class,
and it turned out really, really bad! Hahaha! Then there was a random game
of hide and seek thrown somewhere in there. I played, because you’re never
too old for hide and seek! And running barefoot in the dark while wearing a
dress? What’s the worst that can happen?
Anyways, the next day, we went to the grandparents'’
house. They are really nice. There were some other family members there and
also, I got to see Joanna again, and she brought her cute little gerbil.
Well anyways, I think I’m adjusting pretty well. I know
where the store is, and I know what bus to take home from school. I can
figure out where everything is on the computer, and I know where all the
keys are hiding on the keyboard! Now to get back to the Portuguese-speaking
world!
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Tchau! |
My home in Brasil |
Host father opening his present on father's day.
In the background, my brother and mother. |
My little host
brother Leo |
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November 2 Journal
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Oi galera!
It has been about three months since I made those first
tentative steps into the world of Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. I have had my
high and low points over these last few months but I still would not trade
it for anything. I love being an exchange student. Or better yet, I love
being an intercambista!
Then again—I’m still working on my transition into
Brasileira. Most people would say I already have the look down. Brazil has
more people of African descent than most people realize or the media shows,
and then on top of that, I was sent to Bahia with the highest percentage of
people of African descent since Salvador was formerly one of the main ports
for the Portuguese slave trade. Also, Salvador was the original capital of
Brazil. It is a city full of history and culture. I took a wrong bus once,
and I got to see the fascinating views of the colonial buildings with the
mix of the modern people bustling up and down the streets to conduct their
oh-so-important business and once in a while stopping at one of the
Afro-Brazilian women in the traditional Salvador dress who serve this food
called Acarajé.
Even with my ability to blend in, it has still been
nothing short of an ongoing adventure with my “great” Portuguese.
Especially, when people ask me for directions—this seems to happen without
fail. And then I usually don’t realize that they are talking to me until
they finish the sentence and are looking at me and wondering if I’m deaf or
retarded. I’ll usually ask them to repeat, thinking that my accent would
give away that I’m not from here and they’ll go away, but no, I look like a
Bahiana therefore I simply MUST be a Bahiana! That’s all there is to it!
It’s a hit or miss, sometimes I can answer their question, sometime I can’t,
sometimes I can’t figure out what they’re saying and they’ll get fed up and
run off. One time, this lady repeated about 5 times before saying (in
Portuguese, of course) something along the lines of “My God! What’s wrong
with you, it’s like you speak English or something!” Followed by her
grabbing her bag and friend and stomping off in a dramatic fashion.
And I still don’t really understand my host brother—but I
don’t think anyone does. All I know, is that the annoyingness of a little
brother can transcend language barriers.
In any case, most of my time here involves school. I wake
up early every day, but it is in vain because my host parents run on
Brazilian standard time which is a bit like normal time, except at LEAST an
hour late. When I finally do show up, it is still very difficult. I don’t
really understand much of the lectures, and then things like Physics or
Chemistry completely elude me no matter what language it's in! Furthermore,
it has been quite an adjustment—I knew I’d be in a class of younger people.
Previous exchange students warned me, but I didn’t expect 15 year olds! I
think they are even more immature than American 15 year olds! And class
regularly descends into pandemonium (and they love to laugh—loudly.). It
makes me wonder where they get the time to learn anything and pass their
tests especially when school ends at noon, and they still get an hour long
break during the day to eat. But I suppose it’s not so bad, although the
boy/girl-craziness can really drive me insane. They seem to be in love with
being in love!
The school itself is pretty cool. Every week there’s a
live concert where we eat lunch. Also for the science classes, sometimes we
get to put on these fancy lab coats and go into the adjoined University (Faculdade
Jorge Amado) and do experiments. Although, I’m a bit nervous trusting some
of those crazy boys with chemicals and acids during the Chemistry labs. Also
as part of school we are required to do a sport. Originally, I wanted to do
capoeira, but since they didn’t offer it this year, I opted for volleyball.
We are terrible but it is still fun.
Outside of school, I still managed to do some capoeira
lesson. I go to the same place as this other exchange student from Eugene,
Oregon. I’m not that good yet, but the little I know looks pretty cool in my
opinion.
I’ve also joined the Interact club which is a community
service type deal. Me and the other two exchange students that go (Greg from
Canada, and Kevin from Germany) are always so lost in the meetings and the
Portuguese and clanging bells (Rotary loves those bells!) completely goes
over our heads.
Recently we had the Interact Forum in Lauro de Freitas
(city just north of Salvador) and it was so fun! I got to see the other
exchange students from this district for the first time since orientation
and also got to see the late newcomers. In addition to that, there were all
the other Brazilian Interact members too, so it was a nice large crowd of
people to meet. And at some point I ended up dancing in front of everyone
and getting a standing ovation. Ah! Good times! There were also the
presentations that I tried to help the newcomer exchange student from
Michigan understand (she only arrived in Brazil the night before), but it
was more like the blind leading the blind. And then my favorite part was the
Festa de Brega which was some tacky clothes party. Tons of fun! My new
friends Flávia and Rafael got to teach me the Brazilian dances of Funk,
Arrocha, and Forró. I miss that weekend!
Besides that, I haven’t done much with them yet, since
most of my adventures are in trying to get there in the first place since
it’s pretty darn far. But I’m used to that. I’ve been living in bairro
(neighborhood/district in Salvador) of Stella Maris, and EVERYTHING is far
from me except the beach. We don’t even have our own post office so I’d have
to go to the next bairro over to Itapuã. Furthermore, I use the bus, and
that leads to so many adventures…
Aside from that my life isn’t thaaaaat busy. Sometimes I
go to a festa or a show, but it’s hard since I can never get someone to
drive me, and I’m not crazy enough to use the bus in the middle of the night
here. Salvador is great, but I still have to be careful.
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