paulista

Beach day

2006-07-03T11:12:00.002-07:00

Today our professor took us all around the south east of the island. We (meg, matt, michelle, erica and i) started at Praia do Morro das Pedras where we saw beautiful views up and down the coast. From there we went to a little lagoon that apparently has a aligator living in it. I didn´t see the aligator but it would of been cool if i did. after that we went Pãntano Do Sul where we ate at this restaurant called Arante. The restaurant is wallpapered in notes from visitors who have come through. We left a few. Apparently it is supposed to represent the first telegraph service on the island. There was alot going on in that city. People selling alot of stuff and there was a traditional party going on where there were many little boys and girls dressed in bright velvet red and white outfits. They were super cute. After that we went to Praia do Matadeiro where we were able to go walk throught the rocks to higher rocks. On the rocks you could see amazing views of the ocean and waves that come high on the rocks. It was awsome. There i believe is where you can take a boat out to the island of Campeche. Aftert that we went to Barra da Lagoa where there was another festival. This was a very pretty beach that had a little lagoon on the side. There were many sufers surfing that we saw as we watched the sun go down. In the little lagoon to the side we saw penguins swimming. Must have come north from Antartica for warmer weather. Apparently they come really close to the surfers like dolphins do back home. In Barra da Logoa Matt and i came a across a Backpackers hostel that we actually ended up staying the night at. It was cool because everyone speaks english there. For the most part everyone there was either from Australia, England or America. It was a really chill spot that overlooked the ocean and had a really positive vibe. I enjoyed myself minus Matts intense snoring.

sat, the Brazil game

2006-07-03T11:01:00.000-07:00

Today i woke up early to try to meet Matt in Centro at the church before the games. It was really busy because of the festivities prior to the Brazil game. I had a hell of a tiem finding it and when i did it was too late adn the church was closed. I ended up just coming back home. Once home i began to watch the england game and then preceded to get ready. Erica had this fun idea of just hopping on a bus and getting somewhere new to watch the Brazil game. Our first stop was Centro (again) to go to the bank. I saw some really dirty scummy people there. I was really hapy when we left. I almost did not feel safe there. Unfortunately we ended up losing Christina so the rest of us just ventured off. After a few busses we (Meg, Erica, Michelle and I) found ourselves in Campeche which is another beautiful beach. There we watched the Brasil v France game. What a horrible game for Brasil, but what can you say........They did not play good. France wanted it and so they got it. They were very fast and strong in the offense which overall helped them win. Everyone was really sad and for the first time i did not hear fireworks or post party cheer. The streets were quiet and ultimately sad. After the game we headed back on the bus and found ourselvesin Logoa where we had some coffee and dinner. I was exhausted and all i wanted was my bed. I ended up taking a taxi cab back to the hotel by myself where i went to bed around nine. I was really refreshed in the morning.

Game at IEGA

2006-07-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

Today i woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel. I really wanted to get ym story done before the game between Argentina and Germany began at 12. Matt, Meg and i went to the Internet cafe and fnished our papers and updated our blogs. We did not quite finish before 12 but did get to Iegas before the 2nd half. There we watched the game, had the buffet there and met a guy named Rapheal who is a chemisty student at UFSC and is going to go to Brown next year to get his PHD. The game was really exciting since it went in to double overtime and then the shootout. Argentina is really pissed. Who would of thought they would lose. I glad we did not go to the beach like we originally planned because it was raining, just spinkling, but still not a beach day. After the game was over we went to the bank and then back to the hotel where i had a nap while watching the Italy game. After a few hours of rest i got up and got ready to out for the evening. Meg, Matt, Grant, Erica and i took a taxi down to Logoa where we ate at the Pepperoni. It is one our favorite places down here since the food is not too big of a surprise. The waiter we had spoke perfect english since he had lived in LA for 20 years. He plans to go back but is now here to visit his family. We had a few friends join us there that we have met throughout out trip and we had a great night. Just bar hopped till the wee hours and then headed back home.

Thursday

2006-06-30T08:42:00.000-07:00

Today I woke up around 10 again, got ready and went to the internet cafe to do some more homework on my story and then headed to school to eat, do some interviews and then we had class at 2. After class i went back to the cafe to begin my paper and then went home to get ready for the night. The whole group of us (meg, matt, michelle, vince, grant, erica, chrisitna and i ) went to the local bar called Iega and ate fries and drank beer to waste time before going to an indie rock club in Centro for the night. The place was really cool but really smokie from the ciggarette smoke. erica and i kicked ass in pool and maybe even made some Brasilian enemies because of it. They play a little differently and the balls are smaller but we figured it out and handled them. The way they do drinks at some clubs is different too. You get a peice of paper when you enter and everytime you want a drink they mark it off and then you pay when you leave. If you lose the paper it can cost you lots of money so FYI- don´t lose it!! Don´t worry i did not. After we could not handle the smokyness no more we cabbed it home and ate leftover pizza before going to bed.

Wednesday 6/28

2006-06-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

Today was a pretty uneventful day. I slept in because i was really tired from the big game day yesterday. Around 12 Matt, Meg and i hit up the Internet cafe to do some homework. After that we went to school so we could eat before we had class at 2. After class we went to the bank and then got some food at the mall. The bugers here are so not the same as they are back home. The chz they use looks like chz wiz from the can. I miss my cheddar, avacado and bacon burger. Oh well i am losing some weight because of the food here. WHERE DID MY BUTT GO!!!!! anyhoo after that we went back to the hotel to rest up before we went out to dinner with our teacher and the majority of the class. We went to Sambaqui and ate at this nice Portuguese restaurant over looking the water. I got this pork, clam and potatoe mixture that was pretty good. It certainly filled me up which is what i needed. After that we just went home and went to bed. A very relaxing night which is what we needed.

Brasil v Ghana

2006-06-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

Today we had class early (930) because the Brasil game was on. It is funny because life literally stops here when they play. There was traffic everywhere about a half hour before the game and the college was a ghost town. Everyone was trying to get somewhere to watch the game including us. we called a taxi because we were going to go to our friend Pedros house (we met him at the Samba club) to watch the game. There was five of us (meg, matt, erica, christina and i) stuffed in this little taxi that took us to his house in Lagoa. It was a lot of fun. Pedro lives in a bungalow type house, really cute. He had a pizza oven and we made fresh homemade pizza. really good but it takes forever. Some of his friends DJ and mix music and it was fun to dance and hang out. Many of them know english so we could talk to most of them. we were there for the majority of the day and night but then matt, meg, sergio and i went into town to get some Mexican food (good but not like at home) because we were still hungry. Around 11 our new friend jeremy picked us up and we went back to the Samba club where i was able to take pictures of the dancing because i think i am going to write my next story on Samba dancing. It was not as crowded so it was easier to learn and pick up. I still don´t have it but i am getting there.

Monday

2006-06-28T08:20:00.000-07:00

Today was a pretty relaxing beginning day. I woke up around 12, showered and went to school. I watched the end of the Italy v Australia game which had a really sucky ending. Poor Ausies. We had class at 2 and then after that we just walked around but ended up back at the hotel to rest. We were all really hungry and wanted some meat bad. We decided to find some all you can eat Brasilian BBQ. We found and really nice one and Meg, Matt, Christina and I went to it. They would not stop bringing the meat. I had my first chicken heart which apparently is pretty popular here. Its alright. I had to try it. There was wild boar, veal, chicken, beef, fish and my favorite cinnamon pineapple. That was sooooooooooooooooo good. I had seconds and thirds. YUM!! After that we just went home and went to bed fat and happy.

Praia Mole, Sunday

2006-06-28T08:06:00.000-07:00

Today we got a later start like around 2 in the afternoon. Sergio picked us up again, same crew as yesterday, and we went to a different beach called Praia Mole which is absolutely gorgeous. There are these two rock formations on both sides of the beach. One looks like a dragon lying down and the other one lookes like an indian lying down. I could not quite see the dagon but i could totally see the Indian. We just chilled there all day, ate, explored and watched the games. there were a lot of waves there and many surfers were in the water. Sergio went in the water with a wet suit (baby) and he is a good surfer. Everyone surfs here. Matt and I explored the Indian rock formation where you can in and out of the rocks. It was really cool. Lots of little hiding areas close and far from the water. It was amazing. The sky was really amazing too. I took dozens of pictures. We were there all afternoon at the beach and only left because it was dark, windy and cold. We headed back to the hotel so we could shower and get ready to go Samba dancing in Joaquina. It was a really packed at the club but people were somehow able to move. I tried to Samba dance but i sucked. I could not get the feet right. Oh well, i will practice. After we were danced out we went back to the hotel to rest for school the following day.

beaches

2006-06-28T07:53:00.000-07:00

Today i slept till about 10 o´clock and i feel nice and refreshed. I am glad i did not go out last night but i guess i missed some action. At the architecture party on campus some drunk guy apparently ran over two girls and then a bunch of boys ran after the guy, beat him up and ten rolled his car. The drunk guy was arrested and the two girls had to go to the hospital. On Sunday one of the girls died. Apparently this happens often. Yikes!!!! Anyways around 12 pm or friend Sergio picked up me, vince, matt and meg and he took us to Praia Brava which means "angry beach". It did not look so angry but i guess it is in the summer. I went swimming in the water an the current was pretty strong. It took me to the other side of the beach real quick. Sergio thought we were crazy because the water is cold but he is crazy cause it so is not. We then went to the restauant there and has shrimp and feijao which is bean soup. A very popular soup/drink here. I really like it. After Praia Brava Sergio took us to Praia Ingleses where many street dogs were following us and sleeping on our towels. They are called Vira lata and they are everywhere. The beach was cold and windy but that is expected since it is there winter. After that beach we went to Sambaqui where we watched the sunset and then we went to a restaurant where we watched the Mexico v. Argentina game and had dinner. We had fish and it looked crazy but tasted good. After we were fat and happy we went home to shower so we could be fresh and clena before we went to El Divinho to dance. Everyone here really likes techno which i am not the biggest fan but it is ok. After the discotecca it was like 5 in the morning and we needed BOBs and apparently that is where everyone goes. We had burgurs and fries and then went back to our hotel to pass out. Long day but really really fun.

work and sleep day

2006-06-24T07:17:00.000-07:00

Friday was a pretty uneventful day for me. Since we did not have school on Friday all of us went out on thurday night (college night). Party time is different here since it was not even time to go out until 1 in the morning. That would never fly in the US since bars close at 2. Gee and his friend Ney took us to a nightclub called Latitude which was over the bridge in lagoa. It was really fun. It is interesting seeing Brasilians dance and sing to our music. apparently that is how most of them learn english since our music is really popular here. Anyways we were our till 6 in the morning ending the night at Bobs which is pretty much a Mc Donalds. Since we did not have class on Friday i slept till 12 and then went to school to write my story. Once that was finished i was done for the evening and just went to bed. The rest of the gang went to an architecture party which apparently was huge. At the end of the night apparently some guy ran over 2 girls and because of that a bunch of guys went after the driver to beat him up and then rolled his car. WOW. Apparently this happens often. Anyways the weekend is here and i am refreshed so more to come.

Brasil game

2006-06-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

Today i was able to sleep in even though i did not get many hours since i was up till 3 in the morning. Matt and i got to campus at 11, right when the Italy v. Chech republic game was beginning. The USA game was on at the same time but no one wanted to see that. FOr USA to advance Italy needed to win and so did USA. Italy pulled through but USA did not. Oh well. Some of the journalism students wanted to interview matt and i about how we feel about the USA soccer team. It was fun. Matt was joking that they are too slow and fat. They need to stop drinking with the Germans. We then had class at 2 and then preceded to a BBQ at a cafeteria type building where the Brasil v. Japan game was on a projector. Everyone was in green and yellow and cheering loud. I could not believe that japan scored a goal but luckily Brasil game back in the second half and dominated to win. I had linguiça which was really good and one of there traditional foods. After the BBQ we all went back to the hotel to rest before the night came. Thursday is college night just like back home. We called up Gee and planned to meet up for the night to go to a night club called Latitude on the other side of the bridge in Lagoa. It was really fun. It is funny to hear our music in clubs and see how others dance/sing and react to it. After the club we went to Bobs which is a fast food restaurant comparible to Mc Donalds. It was good. We then went to bed and crashed. So tired. Have a paper to write tomorrow.

Wednesday

2006-06-21T18:20:00.000-07:00

Waking up 5 hours later to a wake up call, matt and i headed down for breakfast with the family (we were the only guests there at the hotel) which was a similar breakfast that they serve at our other hotel. After breakfast Gee took us back to the hotel where i took a 3 hour nap before school began at 2. There was a band on campus that sounded as though they were playing some american songs but in portuguese. I met another journalism student named Johana who was very nice. After a short class of discussing chapter 2 and our progress/ideas of our stories, Matt and i met up with Gee where we then went to our hotel to watch the Argentina vs Holland game. Brasilians do not like Argentinians so many were rooting for Holland. The game ended in a draw. After the game Gee had class and matt and i needed to get to a Internet cafe (they are everywhere here) do catch up on Blogs and work on our story. We took the public buss here and did not have any problems. Hopefully that will be the same result on the way back. It is mush cheaper than a taxi and did not take much longer if that at all. We met up with our friend Josh to return a borrowed book and had dinner at his restaurant. After dinner we went to the Interent cafe and here i am currently writing my blogs. I guess that means i a caught up. Soon we will go home and go to bed early. Class is not till 1 but there is the US game on which is critical that they win and Italy win or else we are out.

****The picture is of praia de jurere right by the hotel called Pousada dos Chas****

Praia de Jurere

2006-06-21T17:46:00.001-07:00

Today we had class at 10 in a different classroom. In class today we discussed chapter 1 and 3. Raul then went over assigned stories that we needed to write (one a week). He suggested that we go around the campus and try to find student who spoke english (so they could translate our interviewees)and maybe even had a car (so they can take us around). Matt and i ventured off a little lost looking for anyone who spoke english. We met a few but they either had school or other plans. We began getting closer to what we needed and finally struck gold in the parking lot with a student named Guilherme who knew very good english. he told us to call him Gee (later we began calling him G-money). He told us that he had a hotel, where we could stay for the night, in the north of the island and that he would take us there and bring us back the following day when he had class. On the way to his hotel (-20 min) we stopped at Ponta de Forte which is one of three fortresses that was used to protect the entry ways in channel between the island and mainland back in the 1700-1800s. We saw massive cannons and great views. We then went to his hotel which is really nice. It is called Pousada dos Chas (www.pousadadoschas.com.br ) It was a beautiful hotel, very white, with lots of paintings and homemade soaps and candles. Gee needed to study for his evening test so we got our room, changed and headed for the beach which was 1 block down. The beach is amazing. A few boats in the water, some fisherman. Pretty vancant though. It is really busy in the summer but it is winter now, so the city is a ghost town literally. matt went in the water which was not very cold. We headed back after an hour or so to watch the game at this beach restaurant. There were a bunch of old local men (salty dogs) who were playing dominos. I asked to play with them and we did. We lost one game but came back to win the second. It was fun. In the evening we went to the open shopping area which was dead (ghost town) but got advised to eat at this restaurant on the water called Pimenta Limao (they do not have an website). Fortunately there was an english speaker named Renato, who was the chef, who helped us with the menu and recommendations. We ended up getting a shrimp cocktail, a salad with bacon and parmasan cheese and a traditional Brasilian meal called carne seca (shredded beef). It was really good. After dinner Gee picked us up and we met his father, mother and sister. All very nice and welcoming. Gee then took us to Sambaqui which is one of the original Azzorian villiages (the people who were here first). He showed us his grandfathers house which has original azzorian architecture. From there we went back to the hotel well i slept heavenly on the queen sized bed.

****picture of matt and i at Ponta de Forte riding the cannons****

Day 1 of school

2006-06-21T17:16:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of class. We woke up around 8, got ready and then went down to the little breakfast area to fuel up for the day. They do not have much there (bread, fruit, meat, cake and assorted beverages) but it is free. We then met with our teacher at the pool where he gave us a run down of the plan for the day and the objective of the class. Our teacher rented a van so he could take us around and show us the island. He took us to the famous bridge, which is not working anymore, called Ponte Hercilio Luz. Apparently it is the most famous postcard in the Brasil. He then took us up to the radio newsroom where there is a beautiful view of the whole city. We then went to the market which is in Centro. It is basically a flea market where you can buy food, nick nacks, clothing, electronics and more. After the market, we went to the big shopping center that is six levels high. This is more expensive mall (Valley Fair, South Coast). Brands like Nike, Aasics, Gucci are all super expensive. At least twice as much or more. Many stores offer payment that is like you pay 50 reals 10 times (10x50 real). I ended up getting a really nice jacket that i eyed at the airport that i just had to have. It is a sweat suit jacket that has the Brasilian colors on it. Great for the world cup. After all that we headed back to the hotel where we met up with one more girl who was here at the previous class named Erica. In the afternoon we headed to the school which is UFSC (Universidad Federal of Santa Catarina. We took a tour around the journalism building which had more adcanced equipment than what we have at Cal State. They have a newsroom and a radio room where the students make daily broadcasts to the students. The journalism program takes 5 years to complete and apparently UFSC is free to go to (paid by the government). We then met in our classroom and created our blog site. We posted our first blog and then school was over. We went back to the hotel, chilled and then Matt and i went to get some food just down the street and watched on the soccer games. we came back showered, did some homework reading and then went out with the rest of the class to a pizza place, had beers and socialized. We were all tired that day so we headed back early to get some Zzzzzz. Class starts at 10 tomorrow.

****picture is of the bridge Ponte Hercilio Luz (same architecture designed the golden gate)****

First day out

2006-06-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

After many hours on the plane, 26 to be exact, i finally made it to Florinopolis, Brasil on Saturday June 17th. Though famished from hardly edible plane food and ultimate jet lag, the excitement of being on "new found land" rejuvinated me enough to get me out on the town. After watching USA tie Italy (what a surprise that was) we (Matt, Meg, Grant and I) met up with our professor, Raul Reis (Ha-ul Hayes) who took us to a restaurant he recommended. I was definately ready to feast, which i did, on steak over pasta with cream sauce and mushrooms. The food was much better than what i was eating on the plane. ick. Many of the words written down on the menu are more understandable but verbal portuguese is a completely different story. They talk fast and i do not understand and when they talk slow, i really do not understand. No entiendo is what i commonly have said which means i do not understand. I also say no falla portuguese which means i do not speak portuguese. Not knowing the spoken language is tough and frustrating. I carry around my phrase book, which is helpful, but i am slow and not good at pronunciating. Some do know spanish, which is helpful because i know a little. I now wish i took more time communicating spanish with the cooks at my work. When i come back, i promise i will. Anyways moving on from the language barrier...........
On Sunday the four of us 1went to Barro de Lagoa and watched the Brazil vs. Austraila world cup game. Brazil won 2-0 which is good or else i do not no what would of gone down. The town seemed pretty dead but that may be becuase it was Sunday and poeple were watching the game at home and had church in the morning. We had Pizza for lunch and apparently italian food is really big down here. I was expecting more mexican food but have not quite seen that yet. Meg and grant were tired after the game, but Matt and I wanted to stay in town and watch the following game. We went to the same bar we were at the previous night which has a good area to watch the third game outside. It was a nice sunny afternnon and many loclas were outside socializing. I do not recommend eating there since the previous night i had a burgerwith cheese, corn , peas, onion, tomato, bun, and ewwww hot dog. It was the everything burger which is how i like my burgurs but that was a little too much. Matt and i ended up meeting this guy that was named Angulo. He did not speak a word of English but we had fun trying to talk via my phase book and through one of the workers there named Dan whom knew some spanish. As little of spanish as i know, it did help me when i knew none of portuguese. He said he was a paulista which i assumed meant he was a police man but it really menas that he was from San Paulo. We also got "Lost in Translation" on many other attempts at talking. Fortunatley we ventured off with Angulo and went to a cafe called Cafe Cultura which we met the owner, named Josh, who is from Santa Barbara, California. We chatted it up with him for awhile who helped translate our conversation with Angulo which put us on track. It then became about 10 or 11 at night so we took a taxi back to our hotel ($23 reals = $11-12 dollars) and met the rest of our group who got there that afternoon (Vince, Christine and Michelle). We talked for awhile and then went to bed because the first day of class began on Monday at 9.

****Picture is of the group minus Matt, Erica and I (from left, Grant, Meg(my roommate), Michelle, Vince, and Christine)****