Update: YIKES
Hi Everyone,
I am so so sorry about how terrible I've been about updating this blog. I'm doing really well here, I've just been hit with a terrible case of the lazies. Buuuut, you all have to remember the girl running this blog. If you think about it, not updating this thing for two months is very in-character for me. Thank you for your patience people! Life has been so crazy in all of the best ways here.
My social life here is so much better than I could've ever imagined. I have so many friends at school to say hi to in the hallways and I always have someone to talk to in class and during the breaks. I have this amazing group of girls that have taken me in and we do everything together. They take me everywhere with them. They take me to parties, we have lots of sleepovers, and they teach me so much. In October they took me to the first soccer game I've EVER been to. Even though the game itself wasn't huge, Brazilians always find a way to make it fun and crazy. Everyone sings, dances, and yells until they lose their voices. I also have so many amazing exchange student friends here. I get to hang out with a handful of them during and after Portuguese class on Mondays and Wednesdays. I also go to the high school here that has about 15 of us exchange students, which is awesome for us. Almost everyday I hang out with different people, but all people that I love so much. I'm so lucky to have the friends that I do.
Although it sometimes feels like I've plateaued with my Portuguese, I can still tell that it's improving every single day. And even though I don't think I've ever spoken an entire sentence without making tons of mistakes, I'm able to have entire conversations with anyone at this point. I recently made a promise to myself that I would work even harder on learning Portuguese, so I made a very official announcement to all of my Brazilian friends that- if they ever catch me speaking English to a Brazilian (English is acceptable when I speak with my exchange student friends)- they have permission to slap me. YES it sounds somewhat harsh, but I am determined to speak fluently. I'm very proud of my Portuguese because I've only been here for three months and I'm already "speaking" which I think is pretty cool.
For the past couple months I've been doing a club at my school called 'Thank You' (yes, it's in English). In this club, every Tuesday we have about 20 kids ages 5-12 from less fortunate parts of the city come to our school and we give them a very short and basic English lesson. We teach them simple English vocabulary, talk to them about life, and make them snacks. At first, the kids were terrified of me! They didn't understand exactly where I'm from and were all very nervous to meet me. At this point. however, I am quite popular with these adorable children. Some of them have gotten my name down, but others just call me "the girl from the United States" and "the Gringa". I've grown to love all of them so much and I'm so glad I joined this club.
I'm still so happy with my current host family, they've been so good to me. I will be changing families next Sunday, though. I'm sad but excited at the same time. I know my second family pretty well because I see them at every Rotary meeting I go to, and they're very good people. I am excited to see what I can learn from changing families.
Overall, I am so far beyond happy here. I have the most amazing friends, families, teachers, etc. I have noticed so many changes in myself (all positive things) in the three months I've been here. Yes, I miss my Colorado friends and my family SO much, but I talk to them all the time. I know they'll be there in eight months waiting for me :) so besides me being chronically lazy with this blog, I'm thriving here and I am more and more grateful for this amazing life everyday!
:))))))))
Here is a link for the photos from all of my blog posts (I don't think most of the photos have been available for everyone in the past). Let's cross our fingers and hope this works!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2UuAjaqp7vFZyt3Z9
I am so so sorry about how terrible I've been about updating this blog. I'm doing really well here, I've just been hit with a terrible case of the lazies. Buuuut, you all have to remember the girl running this blog. If you think about it, not updating this thing for two months is very in-character for me. Thank you for your patience people! Life has been so crazy in all of the best ways here.
My social life here is so much better than I could've ever imagined. I have so many friends at school to say hi to in the hallways and I always have someone to talk to in class and during the breaks. I have this amazing group of girls that have taken me in and we do everything together. They take me everywhere with them. They take me to parties, we have lots of sleepovers, and they teach me so much. In October they took me to the first soccer game I've EVER been to. Even though the game itself wasn't huge, Brazilians always find a way to make it fun and crazy. Everyone sings, dances, and yells until they lose their voices. I also have so many amazing exchange student friends here. I get to hang out with a handful of them during and after Portuguese class on Mondays and Wednesdays. I also go to the high school here that has about 15 of us exchange students, which is awesome for us. Almost everyday I hang out with different people, but all people that I love so much. I'm so lucky to have the friends that I do.
Although it sometimes feels like I've plateaued with my Portuguese, I can still tell that it's improving every single day. And even though I don't think I've ever spoken an entire sentence without making tons of mistakes, I'm able to have entire conversations with anyone at this point. I recently made a promise to myself that I would work even harder on learning Portuguese, so I made a very official announcement to all of my Brazilian friends that- if they ever catch me speaking English to a Brazilian (English is acceptable when I speak with my exchange student friends)- they have permission to slap me. YES it sounds somewhat harsh, but I am determined to speak fluently. I'm very proud of my Portuguese because I've only been here for three months and I'm already "speaking" which I think is pretty cool.
For the past couple months I've been doing a club at my school called 'Thank You' (yes, it's in English). In this club, every Tuesday we have about 20 kids ages 5-12 from less fortunate parts of the city come to our school and we give them a very short and basic English lesson. We teach them simple English vocabulary, talk to them about life, and make them snacks. At first, the kids were terrified of me! They didn't understand exactly where I'm from and were all very nervous to meet me. At this point. however, I am quite popular with these adorable children. Some of them have gotten my name down, but others just call me "the girl from the United States" and "the Gringa". I've grown to love all of them so much and I'm so glad I joined this club.
I'm still so happy with my current host family, they've been so good to me. I will be changing families next Sunday, though. I'm sad but excited at the same time. I know my second family pretty well because I see them at every Rotary meeting I go to, and they're very good people. I am excited to see what I can learn from changing families.
Overall, I am so far beyond happy here. I have the most amazing friends, families, teachers, etc. I have noticed so many changes in myself (all positive things) in the three months I've been here. Yes, I miss my Colorado friends and my family SO much, but I talk to them all the time. I know they'll be there in eight months waiting for me :) so besides me being chronically lazy with this blog, I'm thriving here and I am more and more grateful for this amazing life everyday!
:))))))))
Here is a link for the photos from all of my blog posts (I don't think most of the photos have been available for everyone in the past). Let's cross our fingers and hope this works!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2UuAjaqp7vFZyt3Z9
Thanks for the update and we’re very glad you seem to be thriving :)! As always we look forward to more updates.
ReplyDeleteHow come you get to have all the fun? But so glad you are!!! And learning so much that will be fun for you to know and even use maybe later in life! Like employment possibilities! Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. Love you and I'm so proud of you.
ReplyDeleteAunt Jami
We miss hearing what you're up to here at Littleton Rotary. Let us know all your activities leading up to Christmas and New Years. I'm sure your Portuguese is improving weekly and making things much easier for you.
ReplyDeleteHave a very Merry Christmas!
Rick
Grandpa and Grandma Riehm want to wish you a very Happy Birthday!! Are you really 17 years old? Will have your card and check waiting for you when you come back. Sure hope you had fun on your long vacation! Sounds fun to us. Grandpa hasn't been feeling very well lately. We had a little snow this last week and very cold weather. We are definitely looking forward to Spring. We didn't make it to Cancun this year and we miss the nice weather there. Hope you're taking lots of pictures for us to look at. Again Happy Birthday and we love you!
ReplyDeleteGrandpa and Grandma Riehm
Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to Beautiful Holly, Happy Birthday to you!!!
ReplyDeleteLove, Aunt Jami