I'm OLD (er)

I am now 22.



Yep.



Nothing to look forward to til I hit 50 and I cheap car insurance and saga holidays



Thusday i had a capoeira lesson in the afternoon (if anyone doesnt know what it is then go to youtube and take a look). It was really fun but reallly embarassing and i'm reallllly bad at it.



Saturday we went on a school outing to Praia do Francês which was beautiful, white sand beach with rock pools and palm trees. It also has a natural wall of rock a little way out separating the beach from the ocean which means that the water was really calm. We went to a cafe on the beach too which had great seafood... but it took about 2 hours to be served. In the evening we met up with the capoeira teacher, some people from the school and some if his friends and played silly games on the beach, drank some beers and one of his friends tried (and failed) to teach me to dance forro (think thats what its called... its a local music style the lyrics to which are apparently all very dirty)



Sunday a few of us went out with the capoeira teacher in the afternoon to the favelas (slums) to see the project that he does out there. He doesn't charge for the capoeira lessons but takes donations to work with the kids in the favela teaching them capoeira, giving them some food and clean t-shirts, generally giving them something constructive and fun to do. It was pretty upsetting to see how they live. It's right next to the rubbish dump (where most of the people there work, including the children), all of the houses have makeshift roofs and open sewers and stray dogs. The lesson was in the building used by alcoholics anonymous and was about the only building that hasd glass in the windows.



Also on sunday my host mum left for Recife as she has to have an operation, so this week i'm living only with host dad, and mostly cooking my own meals.



Monday was my birthday, Stefani the host dad completely forgot, but at the school they gave me a massive chocolate cake and sang happy birthday to me in portuguese. In the afternoon we stayed at the beach and drank out of coconuts and then went for crepes at a cafe on the seafront. In the evening i spoke to mum and dad for the first time in about a month and then went out for a really nice meal of more amazing seafood and then on to a beachfront bar for some caiparinhas.



Yesterday i took it easy in the afternoon, did my homework and went for icecream, then went to watch what was supposed to be a teachers vs students football match. Unfortunately only one teacher appeared, and almost no students, and there was an odd number. So despite turning up in a skirt and flipflops i was made to be in goal. I was not good. After the game the token teacher spoke to the guy who ran the sports centre who offered us a free dance lesson next week which sounds fun.



Today was Laura's birthday and we went out in a jangada (traditional brazilian sailboat) to the natural pools created by the reef. The place is really beautiful and they caught and cooked us an octopus. Unfortunately it was disgusting.... but the thought was there.

Which about brings me up to date!
more soon x x