Oi pessoal!
So, to keep things varied, I will tell some more of what I'd been up to in Juiz de Fora in May and June, before my friend Bryley arrived in Rio and we began traveling together, and she got to meet all the "fifty friends of mine" in her first week in JF, as she says herself.
At the end of May I moved to a new host family, and I remember that already a couple of weeks before, because I knew I was going to move, I had started running around town trying to find nice goodbye and thank you gifts for my first host family. It is difficult to figure out how to thank a family whose house you've lived at for two months for free and who have been so nice to you... luckily, a teacher at Saci, Adriana, has suggested I compile a basket for them, which is a common type of gift in Brazil, including all kind of things possible, from chocolate and coffee to more personal gifts. That's what I'd done - found a basket, filled with some yummy things that I knew my host family liked, and added some personal touches and gifts, and I think the basket was well received :)
For a kind of 'good-bye but will see each other again', we went together to a new fancy pizzaria in town, which was really nice. The first night and morning I was living in my new house, I was still feeling a bit nostalgic, after 2 months it is after all an important change. I remember always enjoying getting up for breakfast at their house before going to work, and Aninha's mother was already awake to take care of the younger daughter, so breakfast and coffee were already set up in their cozy kitchen. I also always admired Ana's mother, as she was working long hours but still found time and energy to take care of her kids, set up breakfast and yummy coffee, and look good :) Modern women eh :p But though feeling somewhat nostalgic about moving houses, I also knew that it'd be better for me to have a change in my exchange.
I first met Mariana, my new host sister, at a Faculty of Communication party in mid-May, a couple of weeks before I moved. I remember when I met her, a mutual friend in AIESEC told me, "I think you will really enjoy her, she's a very exciting person". I think the first time we met, Mariana may have had this impression of me that other Brazilians did in the beginning, when I was new, that I was still a bit shy and holding back. Well I think things have changed a bit when I began living with her, and damn, our friend was right, she is an exciting person, and when I moved in with her, her sister Cacau and their mother (and countless family members who would swing by the house from now and then), my life in JF had picked up pace significantly.
There were a lot things happening these days, such as the countless despedidas (goodbye parties) of the two much-loved Colombian trainees. That involved cooking (Colombian) food, hanging out at people's homes, and going to the bars afterwards. AIESEC has also had a kind of bbq (churrasco) party for the new members at the house of one of the new AIESEC'ers, which was a day full of great food and fun.
There've been many times since then that were really awesome... I grew close with my host sisters, we went out together a lot to different places, Mariana introduced me to many friends of hers... once at Muzik, the club in town, during the samba night, I must have met a ton of her gay friends, too. And she taught me about "pagar mico" - paying your dues, when she had to dress as an angel (a very beautiful one :)) and hand out love messages at a club on the Brazilian Valentine's Day party. (Brazilians celebrate this day on June 12... I still don't know why).
I learned more about "pagar mico" when I had to do so myself the next day... so, in Brazil, during June and July, they have these traditional parties called Festa Junina (or Julina), when everyone dresses up in checkered and/or dotted clothes and straw hats, a little bit like at a farm party actually (I don't mean to offend any fans of Festa Junina, but just trying to explain the idea to my non-Brazilian friends), and eats traditional food and dances the quadrille, a kind of traditional dance. Yep, so the idea is - traditional party. Use your imagination.
So, AIESEC had a Festa Junina party in mid-June, for which I have borrowed an outfit from Mariana, which I believe was sewed by her grandmother. Disney's Snow White-like top and a long, dark blue, polka-dotted skirt. Black polka-dots and rouge on my cheeks, and pony tails. True caipira as the Mari called me. It was my idea to change at the house,where the party was, but Vico, Mariana, and her mother had all told me that it's normal to go to these parties in June and no one is going to care. The party was on the other side of town, and for whatever reason, I had left my common sense to listen to Brazilian advice. Thank God it was Sunday, because I met Vico at Parque Halfeld, which is one of the central points in town, and it wasn't too busy then. Imagine a working day, OMG. Because from the moment I left the house till I entered the party I was stared at from every corner. Ok, so I did look like a beautiful caipira... but it was a very expensive "pagar mico"!
And the best (if you want to look at it that way) bit was when we got to the house, and the door was opened, and I looked inside.... I just wanted to hide (which I tried to do). There I was, looking like a Snow White-Brazilian caipira from 50 years ago, and most girls inside were wearing everyday clothes, with some exceptions of short checkered skirts and accessoires. Some guys were wearing checkered t-shirts (which, I'm sorry, are also very everyday, especially for men) and straw hats. What was my reaction? "Fuck, fuck, fuck". As I walked in, it was lucky I had rouge on my cheeks, because the reactions of the AIESEC'ers were pretty priceless and logical - some surprised, joined laughter was in due course of course. What a naive gringa!
To be continued.
Kisses and beijos!
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