Foz do Iguaçu

Almost all of the exchange students!

I spent this past week with 80 other exchange students travelling around the Iguassu Falls, Argentina and Paraguay.  I really have no idea how to even describe the fun I had! I'm pretty sure I can safely say it was the best week of my life!

My flight was from an airport 1 and a half hours from my host city, Campinas. My parents were unable to drive me due to work and so they organised for a driver to take me at 6.30am! It came around to 5.30 that morning and might host dad comes into my room telling me the driver made a mistake and was leaving right then!!! It was definitely not possible for me to get ready in 2 minutes, hahaha Brazil....sooo my host dad kindly offered to pay the driver to pick me up at 9.30. My lack of Portuguese and the non-existant English of the driver made a rather awkward 1 and a half hours in utter silence. Then much to my dismay, once we arrived the driver took my bag out of the boot, hopped back in the car and waved goodbye! At first I was a little stunned! I had no idea what to do, but then i kind of thought what the hell, this is what exchange is about, becoming independant and what not! so i wondered into what i hoped was the departure area, walked up to the first airport employee I saw and said in my minimal Portuguese "Sorry, I don't speak much Portuguese, I am an exchange student from New Zealand, and I need help!" hahah the lady laughed at what i'm assuming was the possum caught in the headlight look I had going on, and then pointed me into the right direction! and before I new it I had met up with 4 other exchange students travelling to Foz Do Iguacu also!

We spent that afternoon just hanging out with all the exchange students by the pool and it was so cool to hear all their stories, about any problems they had, and to hear how their Portuguese was going! It made me so excited and determined to just live the rest of my 10 months here having as much fun as possible! I was very surprised at the range in fluency, which made me realise i need to speak portuguese at every moment possible so I don't end up never learning!

We had to be in our rooms by 11.30 at night, which made the 8am starts rather draining! The first day we visited a bird park which what i originally thought would be extremely boring, turned into be a lot of fun getting to know everyone, mainly by country! hahaha exchange is the only time you can nickname anyone else by their country and it not be taken in any offense! It became rather tricky when we realised there were pretty much multiples in of every country! "Kiwi' never seemed to go away though!



Later that morning we continued on to the Iguassu Falls in Brazil! and i was definitely not prepared for how amazing it would be! The sound was deafening and we managed to get so close on just the little trek! I now realise why this is such a massive attraction here in Brazil! I also came across my first massive spider and my heart nearly stopped beating! That afternoon we were given the option of paying 140 reais, about $80 nz to go on a boat ride on the river and under the waterfalls! Of course I went! Never would I be offered this opportunity again! It was so cool, and my favourite part was being told the river was in Argentina and Brazil! I accomplished the impossible and was in two places at once! We were absolutely drenched going under the waterfall! I also met a New Zealander from Christchurch! I was very excited to be meeting my own kind on the otherside of the world! It was also very nice to hear the kiwi accent, because I have started so say somethings here very American, and i don't like it!!!

My first ever Toblerone!

The next day was a visit to Paraguay! I can now say I have been to another country in South America! Paraguay was very very different to Brazil! It reminded me of being in Thailand! There were numerous stalls on the street, people selling fake items and trying to talk to you in English. I wish they gave us an opportunity to walk around these stalls however we were taken to two duty free malls which sold cheap electronic items! I decided to buy a new camera because the one i bought here is broken! the camera would have cost twice as much in Brazil! I also bough some Toblerone, which i have never had before!

Amazing Brazilian dancers!

That night we went out for dinner and had the most amazing experience of watching a dance show! I was in my element! haha and could not take my eyes off the whole time! There was many traditional dance types from Brazil and I was absolutely mesmorised! It has made me really want to learn one of the dance styles! (i've already scratched samba of my list, its way too difficult), but i'm sure i can find something else!

The last full day I had was Thursday, and we were told we had an extra hour to sleep in, this was definitely luxury! Arriving at breakfast, the breakfast might add was absolutely amazing, buffet everyday! and even chocolate cake was available! anyway at breakfast we were told there was a problem with the bus and had to wait for another 2 hours, all i could think about was the valuable sleeping time which was being wasted! One thing i have learnt here is to take every opportunity to sleep , hahaha because you never know when you will be able again!

We eventually ended up on the bus, arrived at the boarder and started the lengthy process of handing in all our passports to have them checked one at a time! 80 passports took a long time! All was going well until the guide comes on and says "due to diplomatic problems, Australia, Canada and USA, your not allowed to enter". I was secretly celebrating inside, I always new us Kiwi's were great!! Bermuda and New Zealand were the only English speaking countries allowed through! and on that note I did not know they spoke English in Bermuda, let alone that it was also a British Colony! Once through to Argentina we were able to enter the Iguassu Falls here! These falls were not as large, but still amazing! and afterwards myself, Kiira, a girl from Finland I managed to score ourselves these little musical instruments for only $3! which is definitely my best buy here! After practicing for a while we got thinking that we should have a talent quest that night to say farewell to everyone, and of course play our instruments in it! We asked the guides if we could do it and they said yes! (it was meant to be in our countries but i didn't have anyone else from NZ,so we kind of broke the rules) everybody joined in and it was so much fun! I will put a video up of us playing on FB for those of you who are my friend :)

The front of my blazer is now full!

That night we went to bed at 1am and i had to get up at 3am to leave and pack for the airport at 4am! Lets just say i didn't get much sleep! so when we got to out connecting airport and lost 3 of the other exchange students what was the solution...ask to call them over the intercom hahaha it was hilarious to hear "Tyler from Canada, Hani from India, please come to the first floor" definitely made our days! especially since we didn't know their last names so replaced them with the country instead!

That pretty much sums up my trip and I shall post up my exciting life here in Sao Paulo very soon!

xxx :D

Life as an Exchange Student

Brazil has been my home for 7 weeks now, which when i say allowed sounds like an eternity! When in all honesty I know 7 weeks is just a smalll mark on the page! I'm not going to lie, the past few weeks have definitely been a rollercoaster! Exchange is full of amazing opportunities and experiences that you will never be able to encounter anywhere else in the world, and no one else will be able to live them exactly the way you did. However at the same time as providing a plate full of highs, exchange has the ability to throw a few rotten apples every now and then, pushing you to a limit you never even new existed before. But considering this, I have come to realise it is these rotten apples which help you to come to know your true self, where you learn the true meaning of persistence, and can feel proud at the challenges you faced and overcame. Only other exchange students will completely understand the enormity of what the words 'exchange year' mean and after 7 weeks of living this exciting adventure, I know that the rollercoaster will never stop whilst i am known as an 'exchange student'. I signed up for a program which guarantees this, and although I hate to think this year will not be perfect at every minute I know that the high times and numerous moments 'living it up' will be all the more better. I am excited to see what the future holds because every moment is a surprise.

Anyyyyway enough of that rubbish! I have had an amazingly fun weekend just gone! What i first thought would be boring two days filled with boring rotary activities turned into be  two days meeting new people and learning a lot of portuguese!

Saturday was a big RYLA meeting, i'm not sure if we have this in NZ but it was definitely a new experience! The morning was filled with 'inspirational' speeches but as I could only understand the gist of what was being said wasn't as inspirational as intended hahaha. However the afternoon was a lot of fun due to my lack of understanding! We were put into groups and a game was quickly explained. Quick portuguese and me do not get on too well so when the game started I had know idea what to do! Luckily i am becoming pretty good at monkey see, monkey do, and tried to mimic the other kids however when i noticed them looking for something in the bushes and asked what i couldn't understand what they were saying so my idea was just to search until i found something that looked out of place! hahaha this didn't work to well and my team came second!

The next day we had a fundraiser for my rotary club. We put on a lunch and 280 people came! I was a waitress and again this proved to be interesting because when i was asked for something it usually had to be repeated 5 to 10 times! hahaha but it is always funny trying to guess what they say and I did learn a few phrases in portuguese! I really enjoyed just having something to do, i hate to admit it but i miss having work to do every now and then! I am really enjoying having no 'commitments', but I guess you could say i am so use to having a goal or focus in NZ with school and dancing exams so I think i am going to have to find something to keep my brain busy!!!


I have found that the usual hangout places here are very different for teenagers! In NZ we would hang at someones house, go out for a coffee, or go to a party. Contrasting rather significantly, the teenagers seem to enjoy hanging out at the pub at night to let of , i really can't see my mother allowing me to do this NZ!!  Most days instead are completely school based, with the kids either finishing school at 6.30pm or having extra curricular classes for the subjects they are struggling in. This means that when i finish school at 12.15pm I am unable to go out with my classmates until the night hahahah it has taken me a little while to get use to!  I also now don't have school on Thursdays and some Mondays because I these are tests days for the students, and i am not enrolled to do the tests here. 

I am starting to enjoy school a lot more! I can understand more so I find the history and news classes very interesting and sometimes the teachers translate for me when i ask a question and don't understand something which is very nice!  The boys in my class have great delight in teaching me swear words, or disrupting the class just to yell Ella if i'm not paying attention hahhaha 

I am about to travel to the Iguassu Falls which everyone tells me are absolutely amazing! I will be visiting with other exchange students from around Brazil! There is a never dull moment with us crazy kida! and i will get to to visit the Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil side of the falls! I will also visit the friendship bridge! which has a length of 552.40 metres and a span of 303 metres. 

I will write another post when i return! :D

P.S I found this on another exchange students blog.
If anyone wants to know what it's like to be an exchange students, this honestly defines it a lot!!!


TOP 10 REASONS YOU KNOW YOU ARE AN EXCHANGE STUDENT:

1. You're better than your teacher in your foreign language class.

2. You do something wrong, people look at you weird, and your excuse is: 'Well, that's how we do it in my country,' even if it isn't.

3. Your dreams are bilingual.

4.You have gone in to greet someone with a handshake and found yourself being pulled into an awkward hug/double kiss on the cheek.

5.You spend a lot of time smiling, nodding, and pretending you understand what's going on.

6. It becomes a habit to introduce yourself by saying: 'I am from (country) and my name is (name).'

7. You've tried so many different foods only because you can't understand the person asking you what you want. You just nod your head, and pray that it tastes half-decent.

8. You are tired. All the time.

9. You've said something like 'oh yes' or 'no thanks' only to have everyone laugh because your answer made no sense compared to the question.

10. You get a high-five when you understand what someone has said to you.

School Life

So I know in my previous posts I've made my dislike of school very clear buuut as the days go by it is becoming much more tolerable! I have been finding new ways to entertain myself, and although very rare, occasionally find myself understanding the gist of what is being said. Howeveeeeeer school here couldn't be more different to in NZ and due to my bizarre interest in the school life before i arrived in Brazil, this post is all about how the wheels roll  :)

• Teachers are always called by their first names, and due to a kiss on the cheek being the most accepted form of greeting, this is how many students greet the teachers. That being said, I can't help but see all the teachers as enemies...and don't think i will ever be able to participate in any other greeting than the usual 'oi'. 
• Rather than the students moving from class to class, the teachers move! I remember at Freyberg   always allowing a 5 minute gap of 'class time' to actually get there...well here there teachers allow anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes to arrive at class after the bell goes. 
• I do not get to choose any of my classes, and seem to be taking, Chem, Phys, Bio, Maths, English, Geo, History, Grammer, Writing, News and Art. Grammer, writing and news, are more just the teacher talking about random topics hahaha and I don't even know what to say about art! everyone is intense! and i just want to poke my eyes out! anyone who knows me, know's i am not a fan of art! and i just can't stand having this class every week!!!!!!!
• I have class from 7.15 - 12.15, with three 1 and a half hour classes in that time. There are also two 15 minute breaks. 
• There are afternoon classes on Tuesday, Friday and a morning class Saturday, all of which i do not attend, i am unsure why, but i'm also not complaining!
• The tiny desks, which seem to be built for 5 year olds, are joint to the chairs this doesn't make for great sleeping quality! and on top of that, the desk in front is pushed back against your desk so I can't even stretch my legs out! 
• There is a guard on the gate at all times! This is very strange! I'm so used to being able to 'leave' school at lunch!
• After school you can not leave until they call that your parents have arrived! This created a  little problem when i was meeting my friends in town and my parents weren't actually picking me up! 
• The class has about 18 students, and there are not enough desks for every student! Luckily there is usually someone who doesn't come each day!
• The students do not have seperate books for each subject, instead they have a big folder which has a section for each subject. So far my teachers have not requested i buy paper...so i have not :D The students also buy a big textbook for each subject which they use for all three years of high school, i definitely won't be investing in this 
• The food is very cheap but limited! and i'm glad school falls between any main meals so i don't have to spend too much buying food as 'food for school' (what i would say in NZ at my house) doesn't really exist on the grocery list! To be completely i'm not sure my family goes grocery shopping! 
• There is a tradition in senior year where the class dresses up in a theme once a month, but my class doesn't do it :( :( :( 
• Its a little interesting because most of the time the teachers ignore eveeeerything i do, ocasionally giving me the tumbs up! I think they just have no idea what to do with me!

I think that is it for now! I'm sure as the year progresses there will more differences that come to light! I have a class trip coming up in April, but there has been no information given out yet! hahahah thats Brazil for you! So i shall update on my adventures here soon! :) 

One Month Babyyyyy

I can't believe I have been here for a month! There was a point when i didn't think a week was possible!

Many people told me exchange would fly by, and to be honest i never quite believed them all. I mean how could time possibly move at a faster pace! Buuuut I must admit I was wrong, although i look back on my 4 weeks here and think, 'boy have i not been home in a while', the time in between has passed surprisingly quickly and i swear i arrived just a week ago! There have been ups and downs along the way, exchange is not easy! You've left your home, comforts, family, friends, language all behind and have to adapt to a new routine, friends, family and language! But the insanely credible moments definitely outway any shaky ones!

So time to let you all know what I've been up to in the couple of weeks!

The 9th - 12th was Carnival here in Brasil and it has been a weekend i will never forget! I left for a little town, Porto Ferrira on Saturday to celebrate and had no idea what to expect! It all sounded so crazy, and as a foreigner, rather strange! My family had been telling me about bulls, and cows and crazy street people, and when these were mostly the only words I could understand in the sentence of Portuguese it sounded terrifying!

That first night was spent going to a club, a country club not a nightclub, I was surprised when we arrived at the location because as far as I knew there was only one type of club! :P Going with the Brazilian way it didn't start until 12am, which made it a rather late night! There was samba music, a cow dancing in the middle of the dance floor, and then me looking like an idiot trying to Samba :P

The days were spent relaxing by the pool and on Monday many of my families friends came to the house we were staying in. They call the house a farm and it has taken me a looooong time to get my head around hahaha because it doesn't actually have any animals, instead it is called a farm because it has lots of 'land' i guess you could say. It was so much fun just hanging with everyone and HAVING NO SCHOOL! :D

Theeeeeen my favourite part of all! That night we went to the 'bloco do boi' which i rightly nicknamed in English 'the bull thing'. There is this fake bull made out of thick iron rods and pretty much the aim of the game is for people to hold the bull up, drunk locals i might add, and to run around crazily, and aimlessly, bringing about a certain element of suprise and therefore more casualties and hit as many people as possible! At first little me from good ol' NZ was terrified! These people were crazy! But as the night went i gained more confidence, and then before I knew it aaaand because I'm an exchange student and all, I found myself riding the bullll!!! Gotta live life right? ;)

It was back to school on Thursday, and i've decided to make those 5 hours useful and use my 'Portuguese for Dummies' book to help me learn the language faster! The other exchange students have been here for 6 -7 months and i can't wait to be as fluent as them!

The weather is so hot here i literally can't do anything but swim and do nothing hahahahahah they have air conditioning but never use it! although the weather is hot there's just about one thunderstorm a day! and the other night it was so loud the whole house shook and the lightening looked like it was landing on our roof! i was terrified!

I am super excited for my trips! and my next one is in 3 weeks! I can't wait!



I swear I am taking exchange eating to a whole new level! The first week i was here i didn't eat much and cruised along, but now that my family are introducing me to all these nice foods aaaand my mum sent me some NZ food including peanut butter, I just want to eat aaaaaaaall the time! On Saturday night I went to a Japanese restaurant which was a very interesting experience! I went with just my host sister and translating from Japanese to Portuguese to English proved a little too difficult! Instead we told the waiter to bring us something and he brung us this magnificent boat of every different style! Along with a plate full of spring rolls, and two other plates of something else! Much too our dismay we found out for every one piece we didn't eat we had to pay 1 real (60c)! Lets just say I ate allooooooot! However i keep telling myself....your only an exchanger once ;)

I will leave here for now and talk to you all lateerrrrr :)

Tres Semanas down!

Ola Amigos! :D

I have named my sentences with portuguese and english portuglish much like the title! :P

The day marking three weeks away from home has now been and gone, I now also have 11 months left to start living life here in Brazil!

The language barrier is becoming fustrating! i want so much to be crack a joke every now and then or enjoy the jokes other people make! But instead all i know how to say is 'I can't speak portuguese', 'i didn't understand' or 'i want......'. That reminds me! I often feel so rude here when asking for things at shops or from my host family because it is normal to say 'I want a coke.' compared to the New Zealand version of "Could I please have a coke"and when you don't here what some says 'what' is the normal reply rather than 'sorry' or 'pardon'.

It is interesting to not only learn the culture of Brazilians but also of the other exchange students here! Alyssa, the American exchange student here and I, are often noticing massive differences in our vocabulary! No one here understands when i say SWEET AS! :(

I started school, and honestly its the most boring 5 hours of my life! Mainly because the work is comparable to that of year 12/13 in NZ and then on top of that its in Portuguese! hahahahaha in my heads it's like going to a church service, already boring right, and then listening to it in chinese. I'm not sure how many classes i'll have but so far i've had Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Maths, English, Another class where the teacher just talked, History and Geography. I start school at 7.15, finish at 12.15 and have 3, 1 and a half hour classes a day! Between each class is a 15 minute break. On two of the afternoons and Saturday mornings there are classes aswell but i dont have to go! :D :D The beauty of being an exchange student :D


So far I have had 4 days of school and the other kids are slowly starting to warm up to me! haha there is this great photo which explains perfectly how the other exchange students see me!

 Not being able to speak portuguese makes me a lot more reserved, and now i sympathise so much more with all the exchange students who were at Freyberg! You can't force yourself to speak because you literally don't know how to! haha and i don't think anyone can fully comprehend until they've been an exchange student themselves!

I have put my name down for a couple of trips coming up and i'm super duper exciteeeeeeed! there was a mix up and the trips got changed a little but i won't go into it because i had a bit of cry and what not :P but thats Brazil for you, nothing is real until your actually doing it! So the trips, one is to Foz do Iguacu (the Iguassu Falls) for 5 days in March! :D I couldn't come to Brazil and not seen this amazing attraction! The next is a trip with my school to the beach near Sao Paulo I think, they told me this in half English/half portuguese so i'm a little hazy on the deets, and the next is a trip to THE FREAKING AMAZON BABY in May! This will be so cool! I also have my first encounter with the other exchange students in March which will super fun :D

Carnaval is starting on Saturday! It sounds craaaaaaazyyyyyyy! We are going to a place called Porto Ferrerira on Saturday, i'm not sure what we're doing but it should be fun! and then on Tuesday to Broa! School starts again on Thursday :( I want to do everything i can to get out of school but i know going is the only way i'm going to make friends :P hang on, I have friends :P I'm not that lonely hahahahaha but they're all exchange students and leaving in June!

Broa is so much fun! Its a lake about 20 minutes from my house here and I went last Sunday! The houses there are amazing! Huuuge with pools and everything! Just imagine Seth Cohans house and your set ;), the only thing is i feel bad, they have maids! we're not at a restaurant, i am able to take my plate to the sink and get my own drink! These people also only earn about $500 a month! Aaaaaaany way we went biscuiting and knee boarding and kayaking! it was just a great day spent chilling by the lake It really reminded me of home and going on the biscuit with my sister!

My host sister here is in love with New Zealand! She really want to go on exchange to NZ but its alot harder here because you are put on a list and bumped up or down depending on how many points you have earned by going to meetings etc. I wish I could someone how make her come to NZ! because there is only one thing that makes you realise how beautiful NZ really is and thats leaving! Most of the exchange students here end up going to Mexico and Denmark I think, but don't quote me on that! Its just very common! Rotary in NZ if you read this, MAKE MY HOST SISTER MARINA COME TO NZ PLEEEEEEEEEASE! her second choice is Australia, so ya know, Aussie, we love you, she would love to experience some good old oz culture too ;)

Here is a few fun facts about Brazil to round up this post

• Brazilians eat with their knife and fork in the other hands
• They drive on the opposite side of the road
• They don't use calculators at school
• The school desks are joint to the chairs
• You can buy a bottle of Smirnoff at the supermarket for $15
• Brazil is earning lots of money from me because all I want to do is eat. All the time.
• Clothes are expensiveeeee but foood is cheap
• They don't have toasters! 

Tchau for now! and I shall let you lovely people know how i'm going after CARNAVAL! btw if you haven't seen my pictures of the Samba dancers, look them up on youtube or something, in NZ the costume would be classified as R18 but boy oh boy are the amazing to watch! :D

A new beginning from an end

Brazil has now been my home for 1 week! My brain is telling me it has been the longest week of my life, but then again, i only left NZ 5 minutes ago?

I'm not going to lie, before I left New Zealand, I pretty much compared exchange to making daisy chains in a field! Boy was I naive! It's haaaaaard and I think if i had been able to see a futuristic video of my first three days here I would have glued my butt to my bed back home and tied all my belongings down! In my description of this blog i describe this year as a 'rollercoaster' and at the time i had no idea how right i would be! But as the days roll by I am slowly coming to appreciate this opportunity a little more and enjoy my year!

The first three days are a blur of crying over skype, not understanding portuguese and trying to take in all the 'bizarre' differences at once! And believe me, this was a task! hahahahaha there have been so many moments where I've tried not to laugh, or sometimes cry, because the cultural differences are so massive! I will include a few now, and keep in mind that many of these i have to live with! hahahahaha

• The driving. I'm not sure it deserves the word driving. haha no, its not that bad, but I did come to realise rather rapidly that even the slightest need to go toilet does not lead to a pleasant ride! The 'legal' age to drive is 18! so parents are playing taxi pretty much the whole day! Especially since there is no such thing as public transport in my town :( palmy guys, its worse than there! Buuuuuut the parents start teaching there kids to drive around 10! I'm not sure if they think there kids are a little slow and will take 8 years to learn! or if its because there is no such thing as indicating or looking before you change lines, tailgating is okay and the speed limit is really only a 'lower guide' so in in this case they like to give their children plenty of practice to ensure they live past 18yrs and 2 days. 

• Everytime i cross the road i just about call my mum and tell her i love and she'll be alright without me! There ARE pedestrian crossings, well thats what they look like, but no one actually stops for pedestrians hahahaha so its a bit like 'ruuuun and hope i dont get killed'

• Hair. Woman wax absolutely everything exceeeept the hair on there heads and their thigh hair. The wax their arms, so i am yet to understand what makes thigh hair so sacred??? 

• Nudity. There is no such thing as body issues or embarrassment.

• Meals! Everything here is very different when it comes to food! I'm not really sure yet how breakfast works, but there is no toaster, and i haven't come across cereal, just bread rolls! This is delicious enough however the Brazilians don't eat the inside, and most delicious part of the bread because they are scared they are going to get fat, so its mostly crust! Lunch is a full on meal! I am slowly getting used to it! and they always drink juice with every meal, never water! BUT I LOVE WATER!!!! and then dinner is 'get it yourself'. I do miss sitting down and atleast having two meals a day together to talk about the day, but i think because i understand zilch, i don't even feel like I have one!

• They don't flush their toilet paper down the toilet. Enough said.

• I had my first rotary meeting on Friday at lunchtime. There are 10 people in my club! I was laughing about it the whole half an hour. It only had to be half an hour because there were only 10 people who had to speak! It made me miss the homely feel of the rotary clubs back home though! 

• There is a massive divide between wealth and poverty! Never and my life have i seen such a vast contrast between living conditions in such close proximity. The wealthy live in private condo areas, which have security gates and the security is so tight they don't even need to lock their doors when they leave! The less fortunate live in tiny houses with numerous people living there. Because i live in a more rural area it is normal for most people to be living in houses. However the poor aren't what we would call sensible with there money and spend it on looking rich and parties. 

• Every room has a bathroom attached! 

Soooo i'm pretty sure thats it for now. On one of my first days here I tried something called acai! Its like a fruit frozen yoghurt purple thing and in the bowl they put melted chocolate around the outside, and chocolate balls on top!!! :D it so delicious! There is a picture on here!

The most hilarious things that has ever happened in my life was when i was shopping with the other exchange students and the ladies at the story asked if we could model some of there clothes so they could take pictures! Purely because my legs are 5m too long i have been attempted to recruit as a model three times :P

My name here means she. Whyyyyyyy. I am starting to feel so sorry for people with names like diamond and shabolly - haha i made that one up, but i would feel sorry for that person! I tried to make myself a nickname but ellie, sounds like ele and = boy, el sounds like eu and = I, bella =beautiful sooo i am stuck being she all year. Thanks mum.

The parties here are not half-assed! They start late and end late and then you do it all again the next night! They are also hilarious because the adults always get tipsy! Last night i went to a masquerade ball that was run by the 'country club' i am a member of and it was so incredible! I will put some pictures up! It started at 11 and went until the early hours of the morning!

I will start school in a week! I love vacation here! But the routine will become school from 7.15 to 12.15 and then going to the club (country club) after school for a swim or to go to the gym, or just to go to town! I will let you know how that goes and will update when i sometime in the futureeeee!

Beijooos!

So I am finally doing a blog post aaaaaaaaaaaaaand I have arrived in BRASIL! :D

I spent three days in Santiago and had the freaking time of my life! We're all crazy - you have to be I mean we've left our family, friends, comforts all at the age of 16 and 17 - and literally spent the whole time getting up to crazy adventures. The flight from Auckland to Santiago was an hour delayed, so thinking we had ages so chill we had some food, used maccas internet etc. When we started to make our way up to board the flight attendants said to us all, everybody is on the plane already, turns out, the good old Chileans had decided they had brought the departing time forwards again but only notifying passengers in Spanish!


We arrived in Santiago at 11.40pm local time, somehow making up the hour delay in flight! First we went to the hotel to drop off our bags which took around an hour purely because the 7th floor button on the elevator didn't work so we spent our time going uuuuuup and doooooown. Rather than sleeping we went straight to the largest mall in South America via underground subway where I learnt the tricks and trades of ensuring my belongings stayed my belongings. Literally in this mall there was no such thing as PDA, people were making out left, right and centre, and bedroom stuff at that.


The next day we went to Valparaiso! The most beautiful city I have ever seen! The architecture was amazing! Here I had my first churro! I had so much food over these three days in Chile and I could see how exchange students gain weight! But in brazil they eat literally nothing! Lunch is pretty much it! So I might come back even lighter! :P During our day in Valparaiso we went up cable cars to see the city, had a tour over the river where we saw many seals. Our lunch was tuna.....no matter how much I forced myself to eat it, I couldn't. I even ate the fish with bones still in it. But the tuna was something else.
The Beach here was amazing! It was packed! there were even some of those cute people walking around selling ice-creams! hahahaha the beach attire was also very different to that of New Zealanders! I took a picture which is shown somewhere on this page.

After returning from Valparaiso we went to a restaurant/club for dinner where there were traditional Chilean dances! I was so intrigued! They were very similar to the pacific island dances! Later that night we were dancing and all of a sudden this man comes on and starts taking zumba-like classes! it was 1 am! I have never had so much fun in my life! He invited people up and all of us exchange students went hahaha. You would never find middle aged men or woman dancing like that in NZ. It was really cool to see!

We didn't get to bed until 2.30am and the next day we had to wake up at 7 -_-. We had a tour around the city in the morning and then went to t rotary guys house for a swim and just to relax! it was nice to unwind and have some time to chill!

The next morning we got to sleep in until 8! It was such a luxury! and were off to the airport after saying goodbye to all the exchange students staying in chile! It was such a sad time! We got so close over those 3 days!

At the airport there were so many people! There is one line for all the people going internationally and I had to wait for one hour to check in bag - weighing 23.2kg- I freaked, but then they let another guys go through whose weighed 27kg sooooooo......we went through customs at 12.50, went to sit down and then I looked at the flight board and it said we were boarding at 12.40! all four of us going to sao Paulo actually sprinted and the lady goes no 'it be 20 minute late' hahahaha s \o we have lunch etc. turns out the plane will be 2 hours delayed and somehow I have to get hold of my host family telling them this :P I try to ring mum at home, she doesn't answer, then I ring my sister, 'hello' and then I realise its like 6am in NZ, I literallu have time to say flight 2hrs late, send email before I run out of credit, because it costs 8 dollars per minute to call home! Buuuut I got to Brazil in the end!

Everyone is so lovely and welcoming! I haven't started school yet and am a little worried about that :P because I understand nothing especially when people speak fast! When they slow down they miraculously think i'm going to know the word now though and that is not the case! hahaha hopefully it will get easier and I shall update soon!

The Unknown

My name is Ella Hall, I am 16 years old, and am a 2013 Rotary Youth Exchange Outbound (Outbound = student leaving their home county). This following blog is more like a documentation of my year ahead pretty much so I don't forget anything I do next year!
This past year has in someways gone so fast I feel like I haven't even blinked, before I know it i'll be on a plane to Brazil waving goodbye to my family and friends...and probably having a little cry. However the year has also gone extremely slowly, I've been waiting and waiting for more information, only to have it given to me one drop at a time. So far all I know is I have to say goodbye to NZ on January 17th.  But apparently I am nearly there and it has just kind of just hit me to what exactly i've gotten myself into. On one hand I am uber excited and am wishing time to pass by as quickly as possible and on the other I am absolutely petrified. I literally know about 5 words in Portuguese which aren't going to get me more than 3 seconds into a conversation.
So here's my plan for the next couple months ahead

• Learn some basic portuguese!
• Find out my the city i'm living in, because Brazil is pretty massive country! Compared to NZ anyway.
• Go to Marae weekend, it seems like now I am leaving NZ, the maori culture has become ten times more important. There I will also get my 'cute' little exchange outfit. Here's a picture of my mums one in 1986! 
• Lastly find out my first host family! Living with strangers could be quite terrifying. 

Anyway, adios for now, and I shall update hopfully, fingers crosses, soon when I find out my host country! :D