quinta-feira, 11 de setembro de 2008

Last Week: Vol. II


So I have a friend named Sabrina. She recently got back from an exchange in Germany and I usually see her at the Rotary meetings each Wednesday. She's nineteen, very smart, talkative, and amiable. Potentially, a very good friend (and nothing more!). The problem is, we've tried to hang out no less than four separate occasions and something always gets in the way. We just take turns misunderstanding each other and showing up places at the wrong time. Really frustrating.

Well, there's a girl that just happened to be standing next to us at the Rotary meeting last Wednesday when we were making plans to hang out on Friday. We invited her along because we didn't see why not. She and Sabrina kind of know each other and could walk together from their school to come meet me at mine. Well, needless to say, this plan failed. But Natasha (that other girl) called me the next day and invited me to hang out with them again. Cool! The plan was that we would go to a frutaria to hang out with some people. Then maybe go to someone's house. And then probably go to a barzinho or a balada.

She came to pick me up at about 3:30 in the afternoon. The first thing she said was, "Oh, Sabrina's not here. She's traveling with her family or something." Well, great. It's not even 4:00 in the afternoon and I have an entire night ahead of me with this girl that I don't really know or particularly like. But I braved my way through it. We went to meet her friends, none of whom really noticed that I was there. Ages ranged from 15 to 21, and they were virtually all smoking the whole time we were on the outdoor patio of the frutaria. Natasha told me not to tell her mom that she was smoking because she was only 16, and her mom didn't know that she smoked.

Charming.

The hours passed in this way, leading to my discovery of a very effective defense mechanism. In order to avoid being drawn into their lame conversation, I just pretended that I didn't understand anything they were saying. This wasn't entirely dishonest. I didn't understand every word of their senseless chatter. But it was slightly amusing to feign stupidity when they asked me if I had ever gotten as drunk as they had at that "awesome party" they went to last week.

However, this plan did backfire at one point. I was playing the What? I Didn't Understand game when Natasha asked me if I wanted to spend the night at her house with everyone. And even better! The next day, they were all gonna go hang out at the health club her dad owns, and it's really close to my house! I could hang out with them all night. And all morning. And much of the afternoon. Oh gosh, what have I gotten into?

Well, while I was trying to figure out a way to preserve my perfectly crafted façade while evading this most unfavorable proposal, Natasha just decided to call my mom and ask for me. Someone in the sky must have heard my panicky prayers because Sandra, who knew I wouldn't want to do anything of the sort, declined on my behalf. Thank you, Mai!

I wasn't entirely out of the woods though. I ended up going with them to their friend's birthday party, where everyone just smoked and drank the whole time. After a couple hours of bitter tolerance, I crashed on a hammock in the corner. Natasha woke me up at about midnight so we could take a cab home to her dad's house. I called Sandra to come pick me up there, and she met me outside the apartment complex about 20 minutes later. I was finally free! And I had learned a valuable lesson about saying "No!" to overly forward Brazilian girls.

It's all really interesting to me because as an exchange student, I want to say yes to every opportunity I have to hang out with people both to "see the culture" and to just have fun. This requires an open mind and can get old pretty quickly if you're hanging out with the wrong people. But, during the whole ordeal on Saturday, I found myself wondering if the situation itself was unenjoyable, or if I simply had a bad attitude about it all. Well, I ran some tests and the results are in: it was just plain unenjoyable. I just don't want anyone thinking that I'm spending my time here loathing the people and wishing I were with my friends back home. I'm not! I do miss all my friends, but nearly all the people I've spent time with down here have been seriously cool. Saturday was definitely a fluke, and I'll do all I can in the future to avoid something like that in the future. Trust me.

Sunday was much less eventful, but far more enjoyable. I caught up on some much-needed sleep, then headed to São Paulo to visit "the largest green space" in the city. Ibirapuera Park was another one of my highlights so far. It was the first time I had seen trees, grass, and water all at the same time since I arrived here in Brazil. We had a heck of a time parking the car because it was Brazil's Independence Day, which actually didn't appear to be that big of a deal. But apparently people like to go to the park to celebrate the occasion, because it was full of people. (Other than that and the Brazilian flag on Google's homepage, I found no indication at all that it was Independence Day. How weird, right?)

As we walked farther into the park, the masses thinned out. We walked around a lake that played host to angry geese, black swans, giant ducks, and gaping carp, all battling for the attention and breadcrumbs of the park's visitors. It was pretty warm, probably up to 85º F, so we stopped at one of the refreshment stands and ordered some coconut milk. I know, right? I'm so Brazilian.

The whole experience was really refreshing. Besides people, the things I miss most about home are English and trees. Sure, the trees weren't exactly the same as in The Evergreen State, but I'll swap a boring Washington pine for an interesting Brazilian Ipê Amarelo anyday. I wasn't quite in the rain forest, but there was definitely a tropical feel to the place. Sadly, I left my camera at home, so a photo I filched off the internet will have to satisfy your curiosity until I'm able to go back.

Since Sunday, my week has been as normal as a week in a foreign country can be. On Tuesday night, I read Maddy's Spain Blog and felt sincerely homesick for the first time since arriving in Brazil. But I went on Skype and found my good friend Otto, which was exactly what I needed. We couldn't talk for very long, but it was the perfect dose of home to last me quite some time. Thanks ol' buddy :)

Luckily, Natasha wasn't at the Rotary meeting last night, but neither was Sabrina. Meh, maybe I'll see her someday.... Tomorrow, I'm going to a birthday party for a friend from school. Then on Saturday, I'm going to another birthday party for a friend from the cursinho. Friday should be cool, but Saturday will be awesome! On Sunday, my family and I will head for the interior to spend the day at a ranch in the country. I think they picked up on how much I like green stuff.

I love you guys!

Até mais

5 comentários:

Maddy Crowe disse...

escribe más por favor. okay so yeah im really happy for you and i really want to hear more. I'm actually learning spanish!!! =D =D its a very good feeling. i can have conversations with my host parents that speak NO english without my host sister there to translate. sometimes we just end up laughing when i havent thought it through and cant finish a sentence but its all good. i love and miss you and cant wait til your next addition.

902,111 disse...

I'm loving your narratives! And how awesome is your host mom that she saved your butt that night. I love you and I miss you, but reading your blog helps me feel closer to you. I've been watching Finley lately and it reminds me of when you were a little one. (ie. we sing the barney clean up song a lot)

Elena disse...

Kevin. I love your blog. It's so awesome to hear about all of your adventures and new friends and such! I can't wait to skype with you. I know that sounds weird, but it's true!! I'm basically available all day saturday and all evening. But I don't know Casey's schedule at all.

Okay well, I'm going to go now. But I'm going to try and post a link for the picture since there is no HTML's allowed. But try clicking on the link.
:)

Love,
Elena

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f125/Elena-in-holden/n744735179_1786753_68712.jpg

Elena disse...

...actually just double click on the link so it's all high lighted, open up a new tab and put the link in the URL space.
THAT will work.
enjoy

Kevin disse...

uh my goodness, Elena! that just made my month. youre a freaking genius!!