That Time I Went to Oktoberfest

The post you have all been waiting anxiously for- Oktoberfest. A couple weekends ago a group of friends and I decided to rent cars and drive up to Munchen (Munich, duh) and partake in the cultural, social and all around epic event of beer in large steins, lederhosen, meats, singing on tables, large crowds of smelly people and cheer! I will break the adventure down into sections. Enjoy.

The Car Ride
In my car there were 5 of us- Alex, Brian, Cormac, and Sean. And me. 4 men and a tall lady. We fit nicely into our hatchback Audi. Kind of. We didn't think it would be much of a problem being cramped in the car since it was going to be an easy 5 hour drive. Little did we know that the Autobahn would be closed once we hit Germany. Our 5 hour drive turned into an almost 9 hour drive! But this did not dampen our spirits. Our saving grace was a Italian/Austrian/German radio station called Energy that was playing Today's Hits while we rave danced in the car or, when traffic was stopped, on the side of das Autobahn. Also, once the road was opened again I got to drive (parts of the freeway do not have speed limits- fun). We arrived at Munich's Holiday Inn around 1 AM and went straight to bed.

McMorning Country
We woke up ready for a full day of Germans and drinking! We started our first morning in Germany off right- McDonald's breakfast. We got 5 McMorning Countries (sausage, egg, cheese, tomato, lettuce, horshradishshauch, on a kaiser roll, duh,) some coffees and headed to meet the other car of 5. We drank our questionable Italian energy drinks (could have been a little preemptive) and headed to the metro to make our way to the tents. We arrived around 830 and the area that housed the tents was already teeming with people and the "lines" (crowds of people in front of the tent entrances) were already huge. Somehow we cut a line just as some doors were opening, a couple of our group got into the tent and saved us a table while the rest of us were stuck being pushed and suffocated by a mass of Germans for the next hour. I never wanted a Xanax so badly.

The "Line"

Inside the Tent
Once I finally made my way into the tent I was welcomed with cheers and whistles and a vision of wooden tables and benches and hanging ivy and big breasted women in Dirndls (typical Bavarian dresses). Basically when you imagine what Oktoberfest looks like, that's what it looked like. My friends (about 12-14 of them) were all sitting at a table already enjoy a liter of beer each in giant glass mugs. The next few hours consisted of mug upon mug of beer, full roasted delicious chickens, picture taking, German songs, American songs (they really enjoyed playing Take Me Home, Country Roads), table dancing, and all around good German fun.

 No Longer Inside the Tent
We were kicked out around 3 when people with reservations came in. We found out quickly that it was raining outside. From 3 to 5 it was just chaotic. We broke the number 1 rule: Stay together. Eventually, our German friend managed to get the majority of us back  in the tent, but we didn't have a table so we couldn't be served. Some people were able to make friends and get a table/get served, but some did not. Those of us who did not decided to leave (after we saw a really brutal/bloody fight! I had to be held back. I was trying to get a front row seat/steal their spots at the table but apparently I was getting too close to the action.).

The Night
We met up with some of Brian's friends and walked through the rain to the center of the city to find food and (for no good reason) more drink. We eventually had kebabs and falafel (classic German meal) and the few of us decided to make our way back to our friends house with every intention of breaking in and going to sleep. Somehow we managed to subway back to house and realized as soon as we got there that it would be too hard (not to mention incredibly rude) to break in to our nice new friend's home. So we went down the street to a bar where 3/5 of us fell asleep at the table. A couple hours later, Cormac somehow finds us (by himself) and a little after that the rest of our crew shows up miraculously together. Finally we were able to get in the house and sleep.

2 Carmates and Innsbruck

The Journey Home
After some showers and a morning beer, we began our trek back to Bologna. We decided to stop in Innsbruck, Austria for lunch, and it was just so lovely! It was a beautiful town and we had traditional Austrian food- Schnitzel, deer, stew, wine, beer, and strudel! We played on a playground and then drove back to the great city of Bologna. And that was my Oktoberfest adventure. The end.

Cinque Terre(ble)- NoT!

Month #1 is finished! How time flies. PreTerm is over and I have completed Microeconomics and "Survival Italian." Somehow, I think my skills in economics surpassed my skills in Italian. I guess I will work on it (i.e. go to more restaurants and try to talk to the waiters but then eventually just point at the menu and then eat my pizza). Anyway, real semester classes start tomorrow and I've just looked over the syllabi and I'm quite excited about them, but also slightly intimidated by all the work I will have to do. I think I'm actually already behind. But school is boring! Let's talk about other stuff I've done!

Last weekend I went to Cinque Terre with a few of my friends. We took a train from Bologna that got us into 5T (I didn't make that nickname up) at about 4 in the afternoon. We were starving so we made the mistake of eating food before searching for lodging. We had been told that we would be able to find rooms that are not advertised online when we arrived, but at 6:00 pm on a Saturday during peak season, surprisingly, rooms were not readily available. We spent a couple hours searching around the town of Vernazza (the smallest of the 5) before we decided to train over to the next town Monterosso (the biggest of the 5) to look for rooms there. To no avail. We ended up going back to Vernazza around 10 to stay in tiny rooms that cost way too much for what they were and were significantly more expensive than any other place. But, at least we weren't sleeping on the beach? We had a late dinner and were in bed early, hoping for a better day on Sunday.

Which we had! We met up with another group of SAIS students and a large group of us hiked from Vernazza to Monterosso, about an hour and a half hike. It was beautiful! After the hike we went for a swim in the sea and sat on the rocky beaches of Monterosso, just admiring the view. We had a quick meal and toured around the town for a bit before heading back to Vernazza to get our things. From Vernazza, we took the little train to Manarola and walked the short hike to the first town Riomaggiore. The hike is about 20 minutes which goes along a path called Via Dell'Amore (The Way of Amore), which is famous for lovers graffiti-ing the walls and locking padlocks all over the place to prove their eternal love. The story is actually quite interesting, I guess: The Story. So from there we took the little train to La Spezia and then 2 bigger trains to get back to Bologna. It was certainly quite an adventurous weekend; we hiked, we swam and we learned to book lodging ahead of time.

After a stressful week preparing for the Microeconomics final Thursday, the weekend was all party! Thursday night I went to a cocktail party at the director of the program's home. The whole program was split into 3 groups and over 3 nights each group was invited to the director's apartment. Which is incredible. He and his wife have a huge balcony that is so close to the famous 2 towers in the center of the city. I talked to both the director and his wife, who are very pleasant, and then went out with my new friends afterward. Friday my friend Brian and I climbed up to San Luca which is on top of a hill just outside the city walls of Bologna. The walkway that leads up to it is 3.5 km and is covered by the world's longest arcade. It was a beautiful day and the view from the top was amazing. (Side Story: This was actually my second attempt at climbing up to San Luca. The first was with my roommate, Holly, and we made the mistake of following Google map directions which led us through a strange neighborhood and tried to get us to cut through private property and then we found ourselves climbing through trees into a field riddled with signs warning us of attack dogs. And we never made it to the church. So, this 2nd attempt was much more successful.)

View of Rolling Italian Hills

     

Arcade Arches Leading to San Luca

Saturday night, Matt and Caitlin had some of our friends over for a potluck dinner. We ate a lot, learned drinking games from around the world (US and UK) and danced to old hits from stars like Celine Dion and Seal until 3 in the morning. Classic Italian evening. 

Caitlin and Cormac Playing 'Bunnies'

So far, the people in the program with me are really making my experience here (I mean look at them!). But seriously, I've met some really amazing personalities, all with equally amazing experiences to share. I can tell I will learn a lot from them and I know I will be challenged by them. It's going to be quite the year!

Oktoberfest next weekend! More to come soon!

B-O-L-O-G-N-A

I have arrived! It's been about 10 days now in Bologna and it feels like I've been here for years (kind of). I'm all settled into my apartment, which is just superb, and finished my first week of classes. My apartment is just 10/15 minute walk from school and a short walk from the city center, GREAT location. It has 2 bedrooms and a large living area. I get along really well with my roommate and I think I've really lucked out with the living situation.

Classes have been challenging, yet interesting thus far. I'm taking Survival Italian for 2.5 hours a day and Microeconomics for another 2.5 hours. It's a lot of class time, but I think I've already learned a lot just after 1 week! You probably wouldn't know though, if you heard me attempt to speak any Italian. I think I've retained a good amount then I try to say a simple sentence to a waiter or whoever and it comes out as Italian/French/Portuguese/English mush. I guess it can only get better from here.

Hey! Surprise! I'm making some friends! The people here are really great and utterly fascinating. Each life story is more interesting than the last. I have friends from Egypt, England, America, Ireland, Austria, Germany and the list goes on. I have a feeling I will be learning just as much from my peers and friends as I will from my classes. We have been doing a lot of socializing since we only have a couple classes and the real work has yet to start. After my class gets out at 7:30, we usually go eat dinner and drink wine and beer until about 9:30 when we meet up with other SAIS students in a Piazza or (oddly enough) an Irish Bar near by (it can accommodate the large crowd that we generally travel with [which I think should begin to diminish soon {I hope}]). Anyway, it's been a lot of socializing and small talking and drinking, so I'm not sure I've exactly begun the Italian lifestyle just yet (other than the drinking. The Italians drink a lot.).  I've also eaten a LOT of pizza. We will set out for dinner determined not to get pizza for the 3rd meal in a row and find ourselves at a Trattoria eating a bigger pizza than the last one we had. It's hard not to eat it when it's SO good and SO cheap.

Last night we went to a football game, Forzo Bologna vs. AC Milan. It was quite an interesting experience. All the Bologna fans crowd into 2 sections on one end of the field and the Milan fans crowd into 1 section on the other end and there are tons of empty seats in between. These fans are very intense! I think I had more fun watching the fans than watching the game (Bologna lost 1-3). Then afterwards, we got pizza!

All in all, so far so good. Bologna is a pretty city, albeit covered in graffiti. It's very old and it smells like pee everywhere, but it's got character! I'm excited to explore it more in depth. The weather has finally cooled down from the sweltering 104 degree days and is now almost chilly. I'm looking forward to Fall in Bologna, although I know my free time will be limited with classes and studying. Luckily, I'm also looking forward to my classes. Anyway, I miss DC, but I'm quite happy to be here! If anyone would like to visit, I just discovered I have a fold out couch, so come on over!

x

An Almost Close Encounter with Anacondas

I know I'm home, but I thought I'd do a couple more posts to fill in what I missed in my last two weeks.

      So my second to last weekend my three friends and I decided to take a trip to a beach that is a couple hours north of Salvador. The beach town is very touristy and is known for its outdoor activities (ATVs, horseback riding, snorkeling, etc.) and its turtle reserve. I had been dying to visit since the beginning of my trip. Saturday morning we said good bye to some volunteers then grabbed the bus and headed north. When we arrived it began raining. Just the first of many unfortunate incidents to come. We decided to get lunch and coffee and wait out the rain a bit. Moods were low and tempers were short, so we decided to go to our hostel and situate ourselves, maybe take a nap.
      (Now, I must mention that this weekend was a holiday weekend [the festival of Sao Jao, a holiday celebrated in Bahia as much as Christmas] so the few hostels that were located inside the main town were all filled up. I took the liberty of booking us at a hostel located just outside the town, the Saiparinga Forest Hostel.) We approach a taxi stand and the taxi man, Tom, told us that the taxi ride to our hostel would be R$40 (expensive for a taxi ride). Reluctantly we agree, seeing no other option. He beckons our taxi, a little three wheeled truck/scooter with a glorified covered wagon on the back for us to sit in. We all laugh and, with mixed emotions, hop in the back and hold on for dear life as he totes us down a paved road then onto a dirt road. He continues down this road, further and further into a forest. My confidence in this hostel and our driver begins to wane.
      We come to a little shack where they communicate to us that there is a tax to enter this forest, R$5 each. I reiterate that we are going to the Saiparinga Forest Hostel and "yes, yes, hostel," we must pay. We figure it's a one time fee and we will not have to pay as we go to and from the hostel later. We go further, deeper into the forest where our buggy driver stops at a sign and points down a path. We all pile out, confused and slightly terrified. We hesitantly walk down the path and behind us I hear our buggy driver start laughing and pull away. Great sign.
      At the end of the path, we come to a sort of educational center for the forest with all of 0 people in sight. We look for a sign for the Saiparinga Forest Hostel and see none. Finally a man comes out of the depths of the center and speaks to us in Portuguese. "Saiparinga Forest Hostel?" I say. A face of confusion appears on the gentleman's face. I get out my handy iPad and show him my reservation, "Saiparinga Forest Hostel?" I say again. "No. No hostel," our friend says. After some terrified glances at my friends and several seconds of confused, alarmed, panicked silence, "Um... ok. Taxi?" I manage. The man beckons us to some rooms within the center where I assume he plans on calling a taxi for us "OH, obrigada!" we all exclaim!
      He leads us into a typical forest/park educational room chock full of books and taxidermy sloths. We follow him over to a bookshelf and I slowly realize he's not calling us a taxi when he picks up a jar with a large, dead snake floating in some liquid. He begins babbling in Portuguese and the only things I understand are: the word "Anaconda,"  and his finger shaking in warning. Then he picks up another jar with another, smaller snake, babbles in Portuguese and indicates with his two fingers as fangs that these are bite-y snakes. Again he shakes his fingers in warning. "Um... Taxi?... Taxi?!" I just about shriek at the friendly park worker. He babbles a little more then does the universal sign for walking and says 2 hours. At this point my friends and I are on the point of hysteria. "TWO HOUR WALK? FOR A TAXI? YOU JUST TOLD US ABOUT SNAKES THAT CAN KILL US! WE JUST WANT A TAXI!" I calmly tell him in English. Somehow in his next babble session his 2 hour walk turns to 15 minutes up the road. We decide to take this and begin walking, unsure of what else to do.
      5 minutes into our slow walk where we are acutely aware of our surroundings and on the look out for an anaconda who might attack us at any point, our little man runs up to us and tells us to wait as he runs into a different shack with a sign "Bar" over the door, the forest bar apparently. He comes out with another man and tells us that this man can take us back into town for another R$40. After some feeble and unsuccessful negotiation attempts from us and assurance that the man has not been drinking from our friend, we agree to go with him. We are stopped again at the entrance fee shack where they refuse to give us our money back and another man tries to scam us into going on a guided tour of the forest with him for R$80. That man storms off and the Not Drunk Forest Bar Taxi Man takes us back to the town.
      We immediately search out Tom the taxi man and tell us he ripped us off and did not take us to the right place. We want to be taken to our hostel and will not pay. He is very upset and after some arguing agrees to take us himself. We pile into his car as he takes us back to the same place. We tell him this is not right, we end up calling the hostel on his phone and he gets the correct directions. 2 hours after our initial taxi ride we arrive at our hostel, which had its name changed and had not had it updated on hostelbookers.com.
       The hostel ended up being very lovely, mostly because of the owners, an older couple from Portugal. The wife spoke English and 4 other languages, and the husband spoke no English, but did speak French so we communicated through my broken French. He grew fond of us and after he picked us up later that evening from the town he shared some port, a bottle of his favorite wine, and his wife's homemade chicken with us.
        Although we were not able to do any outdoor activities because of the terrible weather (we ran through the turtle reservation in about 15 minutes, in the rain), we had quite the experience in a Brazilian forest and we made some friends. Hopefully that jarred, dead snake will be the closest I will ever be to an actual anaconda. 

Samba and Mormons

Friday night samba proved to be a blast. 3 of my friends and I went out to dinner for my friend Ryne's last night then met up with the other volunteers at a samba club down the road. The man who comes to our home base once a week to teach samba told us about the club and told us he would be us there around 830. He showed up at 11, but we were already making the most of our time! We tried our best to samba and our pathetic attempts attracted Brazilian natives; they tried desperately to help us. I was dancing with one older gentleman who was a good 6 inches shorter than I am and had a hefty beer belly. He tried his best to help my moves but I just couldn't keep up. Several of us ended up dancing with the people in his group and we soon found out that the man is a priest. A priest with moves. So we made friends and tried to improve our steps (2 steps right, 1 step left...) One guy just kept telling me "be smoother!" it was not helpful advice as I seemed incapable of doing so. The night was definitely a success, the most fun I've had here.

The next day our good friend Ryne left us so we were pretty bummed all day. We ended up going to the outdoor weekly jazz concert at the marina and enjoyed some drinks there. Sunday was another adventure of a whole different kind. My friend Karlie is a practicing Mormon and, through a confusing chain of people, two young guys on their mission in Salvador found Karlie and invited her to Sunday services. The two guys (one from Ohio who has been in Brazil for 6 months, and the other a native Brazilian) came around 9 on Sunday morning to accompany us to the church, a floor above a lottery shop. All the people there were so nice and welcoming even though only a few spoke some English. I was surprised to see so many Mormon Brazilians! Over the next three hours we met people, attended a 45 minute discussion on how to properly fast (the Ohio guy translated every once in a while), an hour long sermon type thing where several of the more important men would say some words of wisdom or read and discuss a scripture passage, then met some more people. We met one guy who went to Geoegetown and has been living in Salvador for the past two years. He teaches English and one of his students is a member of the church and brought him along. We exchanged emails and we will probably be hanging out with him outside of the Mormon church sometime soon. It was quite an interesting experience over all.

This week was a little different, work wise. Monday is a story in itself. When I arrive in the morning at my placement, the kids are usually in the middle of breakfast. Breakfast generally consists of milk with a little coffee in it accompanied by little cookies or boiled bananas or some other fruit that I'm not familiar with. Monday they each got a box drink of chocolate milk and cookies. One of my girls, Laila, didn't drink very much of her box and another girl, Jessica, asked me if she could finish it since she had already finished her own. I thought, sure, why not. Better than wasting it! I handed it over and a wave of dread passed through me: I sure hope she's not lactose intolerant, that's kind of a lot of milk. Not thirty minutes later, Lindalva was in the middle of her morning lesson (that morning she was discussing the importance of safety when setting off fireworks. I could tell by the occasional BOOOM! that she and the kids would shout out. They set off a lot of fireworks here.), when Jessica suddenly threw up the both boxes of chocolate milk on her table. A little got on poor Douglas as well. I'm pretty sure I said out loud "oh, that is definitely my fault." Lindalva and I cleaned it up and it was forgotten. Well, until little ol' Douglas was crawling on me an hour later in his chocolate vomit stained shirt.

Tuesday was a normal, hectic day, then Wednesday Vini told me that my placement would be having a party to celebrate Sao Joao (a two week festival that they celebrate here) after which they will be taking a 2 week break from school. I am pleased to hear about the party and head off to work. To my surprise the kids were not at school and only the teachers were there with some of their kids preparing for the party that afternoon. I was disappointed because I knew I wouldn't be seeing the kids for a week and a halfish, then Lindalva told me the kids don't come back until July 9th! Two days after I leave Brazil. I was pretty upset. Tuesday was my last day with the kids and I didn't even know it! I went to the party later that afternoon and was able to say goodbye to Lindalva and a few of the children but it certainly wasn't the same. The kids were distraced and didn't really understand that I was leaving. I was glad I was able to see those few nonetheless.

Thursday I began working at CAASAH, a facility that houses adults and kids affected with HIV or AIDS. It's pretty intense and disturbing, mostly on the adult side where many men have wasting disease, so some weigh less than 100 pounds and are incapacitated. There are a few adults who are pretty mobile and enjoy sitting with us drawing or whatever else. We spend at least an hour on the adult side then head over to the children's side (the adults and children do not mix or even see each other). The children are just like any other kids running and jumping on us, coloring, joking, etc. The ages range from infants (there are three baby girls that are less than a year and a half, one is less than three months old) to 17. Some of the teenagers are pretty moody just like any teenager but they tend to open up even as the morning goes on. My favorite kid is Edgar (pronounced Ed-jee-gahr). He's about 7 or 8 and is just so sweet and silly. Today we blew up water balloons (quite a task, let me tell you) and hung them up around the little playground they have. Unfortunately, they do not let us take pictures at this placement which is sad because this kid has the most ridiculously pretty amber eyes and I know already I'm going to want to remember him when I leave two weeks from tomorrow. This placement once again takes me out of my comfort zone, but I think I will grow and learn a lot from it. Tomorrow we're heading a couple hours north to a beach and hiking area! I hope to get another horse ride in!

Character Descriptions

I have finally gained access to an actual computer so today I will do a special little (maybe long) post on the characters that I deal with everyday.

Vini (Program Manager): Vini is the guy that is here at the home base every day and has arranged everyone's placements and knows each placement very well and personally. He's 36, very funny, like most people here, and is super helpful with everything- placements, ideas of what to do during the day, suggesetions of where to go in the evening, etc. I think he's great and have the slightest crush on him.

Ivan (pronounced, E-vahn, Driver): This guy is my buddy. Or at least I think he is, he may just think I'm annoying. He drives me and several others to our placements every morning in Alogadros and drives us around on our tours, picked us up from/takes us to the airport, and any other driving involved jobs. His English is pretty decent, and he learned it only from speaking with CCS volunteers. He has only worked here for 2 years. I'm impressed. He too is funny, but like I said before, this is not abnormal for these people.

Lulu (House Maid): This woman is crazy and I love her. She's a short chunky woman with a booming voice. Every evening when dinner is ready she screams up the stairs "JANTA!!!!!!!!!!!!" ("Dinner" in Portuguese) in a very obnoxious and loud voice. You sure learn to love it. She is very loving and caring and dotes on all the volunteers. She speaks no English, but communicates instead in hugs and kisses and funny little noises. Obviously, I have grown very fond of her. We don't say much to each other than "Oi. Oi oi. Oioioioioioioioi." ("Hi. Hi hi. Hihihihihihihihi.") and then we hug. She cleans, changes our sheets, washes our towels, helps with lunch and dinner, and other random things around the house.

Lindalva (Teacher): I have mentioned Lindalva before, but I thought I would again because she's just the best. She is the woman I help at Frutos de Maes. She speaks maybe a total of 20 words of English (words I've heard her say: blue, ugly, house, fat), but she communicates phenomenally in eye rolls, shoulder shrugs, and hand motions. She is really good with the kids, discipline-wise. She can really get them to behave and is strict, but you can tell they love her. They will randomly come up and hug her or hold her hand. Although, sadly, I have a theory that when certain kids are really bad and will not quit acting out, she will threaten to send them home. The kids freak out at this and will begin crying uncontrollably. But because I can't understand what she says to them I'm not really sure what she threatens them with, it may just be to send them to the director or something else. Either way it really gets them to behave.

A couple students that deserve some attention:

David (Pronounced Day-vid-jee)- I have mentioned this kid before but I have another story about him today so I thought I'd share. David is by far the most misbehaved out of all the students in my class. He is violent and aggressive, disobedient and defiant, unaffectionate, and just all around bad. Today he was bad as usual, running around like a mad man, randomly hitting kids at his convenience, and not listening to Lindalva when she tried to stop him. She took him and another disobedient boy out of the classroom and, I presume, to the director's office where she left them. A few minutes later, we all went to the room where lunch is served and the students ate their meals. After a short while I see David wandering around looking a little confused and lost and I asked him if he had eaten. He looked up at me and shook his head. I informed Lindalva and she is surprised and contrite and exlaims "Oh my God!" (a couple more English words I've heard her say), and ran to get him and the other kid food. As I handed them over their bowls of rice and beans with a dollop of some conglomeration of vegetables and mush with what I believe was liver, I really looked at David and simply saw a 4 year old who didn't get his lunch. It hit me then that behind this crazy, rascal, mean, violent kid is just a little boy who has a tough life and not enough to eat at home. I felt really guilty for being angry and fed up with him all the time. The director came up to me and told me that either he or the other one (I only understood so much) eats a lot because he doesn't have any food at his home. This was the first time the whole picture really became clear to me, and it hit me hard.

Ricalme (Pronounced Heh-cay-all-me)- By far the cutest one in the class, I love this kid. He's not necessarily very well behaved, but he is so darn cute and randomly affectionate that I forgive him his occasional acting out. I will often find him roaming the hall by himself when all the other students are in the classroom. He's generally not really doing anything, just kind of in his own little world.

This post is too long. I hope you enjoyed it. I will try to use my friend's computer more often so I can spit out some posts faster and more frequently so they're not so long. We're going to a Samba club tonight, so I should have some good stories soon!

Capirhnias and Cow Heads

Well, turns out I wasn't such a pansy for missing work last week. I tried to go to work on Tuesday and had to be picked up early. I went to the doctor that afternoon and found out I had a 103 degree fever and the doctor diagnosed me with bronchitis. I later got my blood tested and found out that I had/have a bacterial infection. I got antibiotics and a fever reducer and have been feeling a lot better. I missed 4 days of work though.

This weekend we didn't do too much. Thursday night we went for some drinks to say goodbye to two girls that were leaving. Saturday some of my friends went to a beach north of Salvador where there is a turtle reservation. I didn't know they were going until later in the week and it's a place where I want to spend a lot of time and plan a lot of activities. So my friend Karlie and I met the new people (we got 19 new volunteers!!) and walked around a little bit then went to the beach. Saturday night, our friend Tiago (pronounced Chiago) that lives here in Salvador took us to Rio Vermelho, which is a collection of restaurants that each have a whole bunch of outside seating. So we sat outside and enjoyed a few capirhnias as beers with the newbies. I was still tired and recovering so I retired fairly early.

Tuesday nights there is an outdoor festival of sorts in the neighborhood called Pelourihno. I wasn't able to go last week because of my disease, but I sure as heck went this week! And had double fun! The main square is encircled by little stands that sell capirhnias made with fresh fruit, beers, food, and other such goodies. There is also a live band and obvs plenty of room for dancing. It was a fun time, having drinks and attempting to samba.

This week at my placement was tough, but I think I'm getting better at handling myself if not the children. Every morning around 10 I think that I won't make it through the end of my seven weeks much less the day. The kids can just be so bad and it's hot and everything is so dirty and disgusting that it's hard for me to imagine that this place is a sanctuary for the kids, away from their homes which are probably in much worse conditions. The kids are so violent with each other. If something doesn't go their way they immediately hit the other kid that they're with. And hard. In the face, in the stomach, anywhere. One kid in particular is especially violent, David (pronounced David-jee). I just wonder why they are this way and what happens at home. I just found out the school will be going on a two week break later this month so I will have to pick another placement to work.

Today the program manager, Vini, took us on a little tour to an open air market. It was certainly not a tourist spot. It was a market that sells fruit, baskets, shrimp, herbs, and meat. Lots of meat. "Fresh" meat that's been sitting out all day hanging from grungy shacks with flies everywhere. I saw a cow head. There were also a lot of live animals that were sold there, chickens, doves, goats, for both eating and sacrificing. Then we got ice cream!!

Overall, the past two and a half weeks weeks have been an experience, I'm not sure I'd say it's good, necessarily, but certainly eye opening, challenging, buggy, new. But I'm glad I'm here for now. Many of my friends are leaving on Saturday so I'll let you know if I change my mind after that.