Desculpa!!

Dearest loved ones,

Yes, I am still alive and in Brazil!! Sorry I haven't updated in forever - I'd like to say that I've just been wayyy too busy getting tan and playing with monkeys, but the truth is I have just been too lazy. My problem with writing stuff like this is because I get a sort of writer's block. It's not the kind where I can't think of anything to say, but rather I have so much to say that I don't know where to start or how to keep it organized and then I get frustrated and end up not writing anything. Anyway, I'll try not to let that stop me anymore!!

There's a lot of new stuff to update you on, so I'll make a list rather than going into detail:
*I have a job as a translator for a tourism company called Blumar. I was going into the office but now I'm just working from home (which is reeeally convenient) and I do translations of texts from Portuguese to English. I also work with another guy who's starting up his own company joined with Blumar and he has me do a lot of cool creative work reaching out to travelers looking for an off-the-beaten-track kind of travel.
*It's hard to stay in shape with the winter weather here (it's not snowy winter, but it gets pretty cool and rainy) but I think summer's coming back and I've already started running again and I'm determined to get back in shape before going back home!
*Next week I'll be going to a state in the northeast called Maranhao. It's where Petroleo is from so we're going to go visit his family (who he hasn't seen in 8 years!) and eat fish and acai and tons of good stuff.
*I'm still doing capoeira! But with the rain and all that I mentioned, it's hard to have consistent trainings since we train outdoors. I'm still loving it though and I feel like I've improved a lot.
*There's a new group of exchange students (most of my exchange friends from last semester already went home) and I've met some cool kids, some of whom have started doing capoeira.
*I also met a really cool girl named Carla who Crystal knew from the US. She's great and we've been hanging out and having good times.
*Crystal came to visit and do some traveling of her own, and we had a great time together. It was good sisterly bonding :)
*Margaret also came to visit for about a week so the three of us ladies had a bunch of fun eating delicious food and dancing with interesting boys and going to the beach and whatnot. Margaret is a hit with the Brazilian men ;)
*Today I might be going to a soccer game but I'm not sure yet cause I still haven't bought tickets. Soooo I should get going and see if that's going to happen!

I miss you all and I will write more often from now until December when I will see you again!!

Semana Santa

Hello dear friends back home in the US of A! It's been a month since my last post and I am so very sorry. I would love to use the excuse that I've been just too busy to post for the last month but it has actually been the opposite - I've been too boring! Not that I've had absolutely nothing to post about... just nothing that would be very exciting for others to read. This past weekend, however, was definitely worth a blog post :)

In case you didn't know, Semana Santa is the week of easter and is celebrated throughout pretty much all of Latin America. Some countries have more involved celebrations, and some just have vacations. Here in Rio (I'm sure that in other areas of Brazil they have traditional celebrations) Semana Santa/Easter is pretty much more of a vacation. Anyway here's how my Semana Santa went down:

Tuesday: 
I had a test for my Brazilian Literature and Culture class and I was pretty nervous about it because it's hard to tell if I really have a grasp for the concepts when they're all in Portuguese. Anyway I think I did pretty well! We'll see. After that class I had my Community Involvement class and some friends (Ellie, Briana, and Kim) and I went out for drinks afterward (even in the US you can't judge me because I'm 21 now!). We got hungry and decided to splurge a bit on this restaurant nearby that's known for it's linguiça (sausage). We were very careful about how much we ordered but we still were a bit concerned about the price. Then, some American guys (who we still think were a gay couple but claimed they were not) asked us for help ordering in Portuguese and asked if they could join our table. One of them then proceeded to tell us he worked for a non-profit group that helps college students pay for meals. Whether or not this was a lie, we got a free meal (which I'm pretty sure otherwise would have costed a nice little bit) and some beers out of it. So this was a great start to our Semana Santa.
Wednesday:
Went to the beach! And for a run! And to capoeira!
Thursday:
Thursday must not have been very notable because I don't remember what I did on Thursday... but I probably went to the beach!
Friday:
Scuba Diving! My friend Daniel picked me and my friend Ellie up around 6am and we drove a couple hours out to Arraial do Cabo. Daniel and his friend Hannibal (yes, Hannibal) are diving instructors so they guided us on our dives. We took turns with Daniel's other friends (who became our friends) and got two good long dives in. Arraial do Cabo is known to be one of the top 3 places in Brazil to scuba dive. Granted we only went down a few meters, but we saw a ton of sea life. I think Hannibal took some pictures so if I get ahold of them I'll show you guys. Anyway after our air supply ran out and we had to call it a day, we headed over to Sacuarema where Daniel's parents own a house that they stay in on weekends. They served us lunch composed of some delicious crab thingys and salmon filet! It was almost too delicious. After driving back into the city, we all met back up for drinks at a bar called Lord Jim's in Ipanema. Before this I hadn't really gone out to any real bars so it was a fun new experience with fun new people :)
Saturday:
Ellie and I were pooped trying to figure out our day when she got a message from a friend of hers asking if we wanted to hike up Pedra da Gavea and sleep on top. We agreed and hustled on over to his house to head to the trail. We caught an empty van and paid them a bit extra to drop us off closer to the trailhead, which was pretty convenient. We started the hike around 3:15pm which was perfect timing because we got to the top just before sunset. The hike takes about two hours going up, and it's pretty strenuous with some rock climbing parts (though ropes aren't necessary). We had started with a small-ish group but the other groups of hikers were all people we knew through association so by the end of it it was just a big group of friends. The view from the top of this thing was unreal. You can see the entiiiiiire city! I'm so glad we planned to stay the night because we got to see both the sunset and the sunrise (though just as the sun started to rise the clouds set in and we could no longer see anything...). It was really really fun, and a good bonding experience for all the people there.
Sunday:
We hustled on back down the trail and stumbled back into society with cuts and bruises and dirt covering our bodies. Caught a bus back home and rested a bit. Then I got up, got ready, and went to my first soccer (I mean, futebol!!) game: Flamengo vs. Fluminense at the Engenhão. I went with Ellie, Eliana (my host mom), Marina (Eliana's daughter who is visiting), Bart (Marina's boyfriend), and Micheli (Marina's dad). We sat on the Flamengo side because they're all Flamenguistas, which was cool because Flamengo won! It was really fun and it's a cool experience being in the crowd at a futebol game; the crowd was much more involved in the game than I've seen at any American sports games.
Monday:
Went for a nice run around the lake (which is about 4.5 miles... and beautiful the whole way around!) and then relaxed for a bit. Met up with Petroleo before capoeira and we pigged out on the box of bombons that he gave me for Easter. When we headed to the lake for capoeira it started raining (so capoeira was cancelled) so we went to the grocery store and cooked a delicious chicken and pasta dinner.

So in case you couldn't tell, it was a great week. Here's some pictures to prove it!

Me, Ellie, Daniel - before diving

The docks at Arraial do Cabo

The climb up Pedra da Gavea

Sunset over Barra!

Me and Ellie!

I laid on that rock pretty much the whole night looking at the city lights

Some guys cooked cachorros quente (hot dogs)

Sunrise over Zona Sul!

That blanket (named Kevin) saved us from the cold!

Um, I live there.

Ellie, Igor (I see this guy everywhere, he knows everyone, and he is hillarious), me, Raquel - when the clouds set in

Leoo (Ellie's friend who invited us on the hike)

Clouds passing over!

Clouds over Barra

I love this picture.

Ellie, Raquel, and Danielle

SPIDERS!

We're strong :)

You can't even see the rock we were on top of!

Bart, Eliana, Marina - Flamenguistas on the way to the game :)

Stadium

Flamengo side

Under the bandeira

Bandeira being passed down

Me and Eliana

Penalty kicks to break the tie

Flamengo won!!

Love this picture.

Rubro-Negro!!

Well, I'm gonna get going on some reading for class. I hope you all had a great Easter! And  a belated thank you for all the birthday wishes - it was so nice to hear from you!! Love and miss you all :)
Beijos

Capoeira sou eu

So I don't have many new exciting things to talk about at the moment, but I have been keeping myself busy and trying to be productive with my free time (which I almost have too much of). One bit of news is that I now have a capoeira nickname! It's Areia Branca (White Sand). It's kind of self-explanatory but just in case you didn't get it immediately - Areia, because my last name is Sand, and Branca because... I'm white. Anyway, I like it :) Last week I went with some capoeira friends to Nova Iguaçu for a performance. Petroleo teaches a kid's capoeira class at a project there and his boss set up for us to perform for a woman's group during an event they were having. It was really fun and I think the women really appreciated it. We had a roda, played capoeira, played maculele, samba'd, and talked a little bit. Sooooo here are some photos!

Libelula (her nickname = Dragonfly) giving a queixada

Petroleo playing with one of the women who participated

Another woman who participated

Coração and Doralice playing maculele

Me and Cirilo playing maculele (can you tell how afraid I am???)

Coração and one of Petroleo's students sambaing

In a samba roda it's always a male and a female dancing. When a guy wants to get in a dance he has to take the other guy's place, so a lot of the time they'll do little tricks like tapping the person on the shoulder and pointing at something outside of the roda to distract the person and take their place.

The whole group :)