Rule 4

Murphy's Rule applies in Brazil.
when your mother takes care of 3 kids, her mother, and stands on her feet all day at work, of COURSE she is gonna slice it open.

Rule 3

Always ask Brazilians for directions.

It is stupid to walk around for 2 hours when you could be literally less than 10 min from home the whole time. However, make sure you are specific with directions. This applies mainly to buses. Just because a bus passes NEAR or in a small part of the area where you want to go does not mean you want to take it. Especially when it makes you miss a futebol game because you got super lost in Salvador.

Rule 2

If you get lost, stay on a road with buses. That way if you end up in a creepy area, like a favala, you can quickly jump onto the next bus and get off when you get to a nicer area.

Carina's Rules of Brazil- Rule 1

Ladies, when you go out at night, always bring a small purse. Other wise people are going to think your a stripper

BOLO!

I just had the best fucking cake EVER!
chocolate and caramel and strawberries and whipped creme and vanilla cake.
seriousally EUA, get your act together with the cake stuff.
too bad I BROUGHT my camera and forgot to get a picture of the cake. :(

Pelo (this place that is kinda like the French Quarter)

So last night I went to see Gerenimo for the first time. And by last night I mean the 19th of July because I forgot to post this/didnt realized I had saved it as a draft.

It was pretty amazing. First off, dork out time. It was on the steps of the church from the movie Pagador de Promessos. Which any Tulanian who has taken Portuguese has seen. But it was great to just chill to good music, be with friends, and dance some. Afterwords, most all of us ended up going to a Samba Bar, where I def danced whole lot. Dork out time two- I danced in my first impromptu Roda da Samba. It was an amazing feeling. Sure I am not the best dancer in the whole, but I had a whole lot of fun. :)

P.S. - I now know where every ATM in the Pelo is. Issac and Daniel and I had an interesting time looking for one in the middle of the night. haha

theatre...teatro it is all the same

So I am finally closing out my summer semester. I took my final in Portuguese on Thursday, and only have one more class. Isnt it weird that I have classes after my final? I thought so. And then just my final paper for my culture class. I decided to write about the differences between the perception that tourists get from bahia as opposted to the reality.

 I really got to thinking about this after I went to the "Folklore Ballet" on Thursday night. Everything they were representing was skewed and sexualized. It actually got me super mad. My professor and I had a long conservation about this afterwords.

However I really enjoyed the play I went to Friday night. It was about racism in Brasil, but it was a takeoff on Caberet. However I was not expecting 4 guys to run out onstage nude and start swinging their dicks around...no joke. I am just glad I was sitting in the balcony. Not that nudity bothers me, but I just was not expecting it.

Off to finish my final paper.
beijo gente!

158...

The number of steps I have to climb up and down to get to class everyday...
and yes, it is one large outdoor staircase. and yes I counted every step today.

Tidbits

Here are some random thoughts of mine over the past few days....

apparentally nails are now controlled substances. or the things like nail polish remover, nail files, ect. these items are NOT over the counter at your local drugstore, but in back with the prescriptions.

i walk past monkeys to get to class. nbd.

so i thought my grandma was talking on the phone for hours everyday. actually, shes having hour long conservations with the piegons.

she also feeds these piegons. which is illegal in brazil. you are SUPPOSTED to kill them.

i danced with and then got drunk with one of my professors. well actually my whole class did. thought i was in new orleans for a bit. :)

the female cat at my house is in heat and keeps humping EVERYTHING.

i know brazilian jeito (mode, way of living) means being chill and all, but not telling me your leaving an hour earlier......not cool.

there are 5 food groups in brazil.....rice, beans, bread, meat, and fruit juice.

and an extra one for the CIEE kids.....
just because i live in georgia does NOT mean I have kids already.....seriousally guys, have you NO sense of humor? or awarness as to when i am drunk and speaking outta my booty.

peace folks-

Lost....in the market....with the police

So on my last day of school this past week (which is on thursdays) I def got lost. again. It gets kinda annoying, but at the same time is really neat because I am getting to know the city better. So I knew  this bus would take me to one side of UFBA, but then I still have to walk across campus. Being the lazy person I am, I decided to stay on the bus and I hoped that the bus would continue in the correct direction. WRONG. I eventually got off the bus becasue I saw a bunch of students get off, but to my dismay, we had arrived at UCSAL. So I walked around for about an hour, knowing the general direction I needed to go in order to get to UFBA. I actually freaked out at one point becasue I was in a sketch-ass neighborhood. Everything ended up working out, and I caught a bus headed towards Barra which got me to where I needed to go.
Later that afternoon, we got to go to this local market in cidade baxia. I took a lot of pictures, which I will try and figure out how to get up here soon! It was really neat, with everything from toys to fruits to raw meat....
Yesterday all of us student visa kids had to go turn our selves into the federal police for confirmation as to our home and get fingerprinted. nothing too exciting, but then that night CIEE went to a MPB (musica popular brasilera) concert at this swanky bar. It started out a shitshow, since most of the kids showed up drunk, so I peaced out for a hot minute to chill at the beach. I love the sound of the waves crashing onto the sand. Later Josh, Andre and I walked around and ended up at suco24, where we ate acai! I LOVE that stuff so much! The three of us got back in time for a couple of songs to dance to as well. :)
After the band played their last set, Daniel and I ended up chilling with Jeferson (my professor) his wife, Flavia, Matt, Monica and the Condomble dude (all CIEE people). It was really nice to just chill and talk with everyone over a couple of beers.
Im planing on taking it easy this weekend, maybe going to listen to some Jazz, and Imma hit up Catalina's church on sunday.

beijos meninos!

Tarefa and Samba

Ok. two for two days. not much of anything really exciting happend today, but i figured I need to get into a good habit of writing everything down.
So basically my days during the summer (or winter, cause its actually flip floped in the southern hemisphere) are wake up, class, lunch, class, and sleep.
So vauge, i know.
Basically, it gets light here at like 6 am. And even before that, people are getting up and moving around and making TONS of noise. Even Wall RC and NOLA were not this bad. And even though I dont have class til 9, it takes a good 20-25 mins to walk to UFBA (the college where I am taking classes). So no more rolling out of bed in my PJ's and going to class. YUCK. oh well. time to start dressing like an adult, ne? Portuguese class for 4 and a half hours. And yall know I am SO adhd. But I am starting to get frustrated. Im pretty sure I was put in a level to low fore me. I have been so bored that I am working ahead in the book on my own. And to top it off, for the first time, homegirl/professora assigned like 3 homeworks, when she hasnt pretty much ever assigned. I know, im whinning, but I needed someplace to whine to.
Then I walk my little self home. Well sometimes i take the bus during the day. but it is about $2 US EVERYtime you take the bus. Trust me, it adds up. And I still dont understand the busing system here. I got on the wrong bus to go home from UFBA. again. Ive pretty much stopped counting how many wrong busses I have taken. haha.
But my grandma here always has a nice big lunch ready for me. which is really nice.
I have usually about an hour/hour and a half to relax, take a shower, eat and change my books/clothes for my culture class at CEAO (basically kinda like the stone center at tulane, but this is for Afro-Orientais studies) today was an awesome class on brazilian dances, with a focus on the ones from bahia. we covered forro, afro-reggae, the quadrilla (square dance), and samba. It was super fun, and nice to get up and move around since I am sitting in class all day.
Then I came home and took a shower. See in brazil, pretty much people take a shower everytime them come in off the streets. It can be a full shower, or just a quick rise off to get the dirt off and cool down. AND they never take showers after they eat. It is an old wives tale that it will give your indigestion.
soo. on to that tarefa (homework)
beijos gente!

So I begin...late as usual

So ive never really blogged before. Yall know im horrible with technology. But someone (ms. vanilla with a little bit of cayenne peper) convinced me to do this. So here goes.

 I wish I had more time to write here tonight, but my first paper for my culture class is due tomorrow. And yes, I have been in class for a while, a little more than two weeks actually. I would love to get stuff done early, but I always end up procrastinating. Starting this up, starting my paper, and now continuing this said paper.

A dinner of rice, beans and meat calls me now.