The zoo!

We got in for free, fed monkey, and saw a bunch of foreign animals! Definitely the best!

Monkeys get mad when you "ooo ooo aaa aaa" at them . They brought their crew to try and scare us off...

Fooooddddd

The biggest meal for Brazilians is lunch. I know many houses who don't serve breakfast or dinner - or they'll just drink coffee and eat a sandwich (bread , ham, cheese, butter) for breakfast , and soup and coffee for dinner. Coffee is served with every meal. Fresh juice is made and served daily. I don't have any variety in my meals, however most other houses will have different meals daily. Also, many of the host parents will cook breakfast and dinner just for the host children - because they know in America we like to eat big breakfasts and dinners, lol. Also, we all stay with pretty wealthy families. Most of our families have hired a lady to come during the week, prepare the meals, clean the house, wash clothes... Etc. 

Fresh squeezed juice every day ! Lemon, pineapple, passion fruit , mango, strawberry , banana smoothie, etc..... Tudo bem

Amazing ice cream I had at the VIP movie theatre where I paid $9 USD for an electric reclining leather seat with full drink/food service during the 3D movie....

Pineapple, passion fruit, mango juice during a live music show.

Shot of maracuja alcohol (passion fruit) 

Mango sorbet 

Chicken balls ? Not really sure what it was, but it's good!

Some of the food one of my friends host family cooked for us in their island house ! Sooooo good, Brazilian barbecue taste like heaven...

Fruit called piña ... Not anything like a pineapple, but still very sweet and good. You eat the white part and spit out the seeds... I don't think I can compare the taste to any other American fruit .

I eat ham and cheese sandwiches every day and with every meal.

Fried bananas, like plantain but sooo muh better . With sugar and Indian spices.

Vitamina de banana- banana smoothie !! Soooo good

A root we eat often - taste sort of like a potatoe but has a different consistency 

Rice and beef !

Brazilians drink coffee with every meal! Breakfast is even called café de amanhã ! Roughly Translated to :coffee of the morning 

Pumpkin soup 

Boiled bananas- very different but veryyyy good ! These bananas are closer to plantain than to American bananas  . They  don't have American bananas here . Brazilian bananas are the small ones, however the ones you boil and fry are very large. 

Food from a churrascaria we went to. If you've never been to a Brazilian barbecue restaurant before.....you're missing out big time. Buffet all you can eat style , and the waiters constantly walk around with freshly cooked meat and will come to your table and cut pieces off for you. You get a card with green and red sides- green means keep bringing the meat, red means stop and let me finish my plate first . Mine was on green the entire time. 

This is what I eat every day for lunch and dinner. Beans, rice , potato salad, chicken, spaghetti . However not all host houses eat the same meal every day . Most houses switch it up .

Random eggs that were served with my meal.

Bonfim

And then there was this:

This was the Bonfim ceremony..... WOW!

It's a religious ceremony that takes place in Salvador at this church. However, this wasn't the actual ceremony. In perpetration for the ceremony, people are given these colorful ribbons. You may have (pay for) as many as you'd like, and you may tie them anywhere on the outside of the church or on your body. With each ribbon you get three wishes (one wish/prayer for each of the three knots you will tie on the ribbon). It is believe that when the ribbon breaks, your wishes will come true.

This is a perfect example of the relationship between Catholocism and Candombles. This ceremony takes place in January after the Catholic Three Lings day. It began after a statue of Jesus was carried to this church followed by a crowd of people. 

Baianas (women from Bahia) come in the morning to wash the steps of the church with brooms and perfume-water. Next, men dressed in all white (for the Orixas) walk 8km (5 miles) to the church. Here they celebrate with African live music. 

We didn't go during the time of the actual ceremony , however we were lucky enough to see a mass held in Portuguese. Also, the church was absolutely beautiful... 

I consider it a great honor to be able to participate in foreign cultural ceremonies ... There are so many wonderful messages to be received from others. 

More salvador!

Some other random photos that I took! First: statues in the water are some of the Orixas (see last post)

Second: we got some ice cream and chilled by some boats for a while!

Third : street vendor! I though she was adorable with her purple hair! BTW: in Brazil, there are street vendors EVERYWHERE. Lol there are even people on the freeway trying to sell you water , food, whatever they have ! 

Fourth: random theatre! There are so many ... I finally got to go to one where I saw a dance (they call it a bale) of the Orixas .... BEAUTIFUL! No pictures were allowed but I'm definitely going to post about it.

Fifth: the beach ... So pretty.

Sixth: more flavelas !

Para Salvador!

So we flew on a 2.5 hour flight via Avianca to Salvador. Avianca was waaayyyyy more classy than American Airlines- we had personal televisions, comfortable chairs, good food..... Etc.

Before meeting my host family, I stayed a night in the Sheraton with all the other people from my program! 

The second day, I met my host parents:

I was soooo nervous to meet them, mainly because of the language barrier. However I learned that my host pai (dad) speaks English , as does my host sister. My host brother speaks little English, and my host mom and the host cool do not speak English at all. 

These are the nicest people I've ever met ! They've made me feel so at home! I'm also really happy because I live right next door to the school (however I'm still late to class sometimes) lol!

I'm taking two classes out here - a language class and a culture class. The culture class mainly consists of field trips around the city. This was our first trip where we learned about Candombles (A religion brought from Africa). 

I learned that Candombles and Catholocism peacefully coincide in some instances- although many don't agree with the mixture. Long story short, this relationship began when people who practiced Candombles were forced to hide their religious rituals and practice them as if they were practicing Catholocism (in fear of religious prosecution ofcourse). Eventually , Candombles was accepted and is now an extremely popular religion in Bahia. 

I personally love to learn about other religions. Candombles is a very interesting and beautiful practice. However I've learned that many of the traditional aspects of Candombles can be easily misunderstood . My advice : if you ever want to learn about another religion, ask someone who actually practices it . I can't wait to write about the other things I've learned about this religion, but I'm going in order so that'll have to wait! Lol

This was a house dedicated to an Orixa (a female divinity) named Yemenja. She is associated with the sea, which is why there are many mermaid pictures around her altar. There are over 1,000 Orixas in this religion, however they still believe in one supreme power. There is no devil, and no sin. Later, I'll post pictures of an area I visited with many houses dedicated to many other Orixas..... Definitely a cool experience.

Last moments in Rio

So I realized that I didn't take enough pictures in Rio. I'll post more when I gather everyone else's photos.

Although Rio was AMAZING, it was time to move on to the next city..... Salvador.

*ps: Rio De Janeiro translates to river of January ..

Random picture if eggs that were served with my meal.

Some sand art!