Brazil constantly amazes me at how diverse and rich the people are. Every time I step outside I constantly learn something new and am just blown away. Everything here is so fresh, crisp, and the people live a simple way of life.
A staple of the SIT program is called "The Drop-Off". Basically the director places us in groups and then gives us assignments to a location where we have to go. The best way that I can describe it is like the Amazing Race. The location that my group was assigned is Mercado Modelo. We first left the convent and headed to the bus station. After about 20 minutes of reading bus signs and asking locals in broken Portuglish...we found out we were at the wrong bus stop. We then headed to the other bus stop and in about 10 minutes our bus came. It took about an hour and fifteen minutes to arrive at our location. Now this little part of the adventure, public transportation, is one of the huge "fears" that I have while here in Brazil. I have never had to take it before and it is just an intimidating part of my trip, but regardless I must adjust because I will be utilizing this everyday while in Brazil. We made it to the Mercado Modelo after we met a friendly man who told us that he was headed to our stop and once we got off he would direct us to the location. With his help and guidance we found where we needed to go and off we went! While at our location our assignment was to interact with the people, interview the people, observe, and purchase a souvenir. We entered the market and made our way through as we observed everyday Brazilians. Once we made it to the other side of the market we heard some live music and saw capoeira (It is an African fight brought to Brazil by the slaves from the Angola...it consists of martial arts and strange dancing) going on across the plaza! We headed towards them and began taking pictures. Then the next thing you know they invited us over to teach us some moves and let us take pictures with them! Here is a picture of Leah and I posing! 
After we finished we then headed back into the market to purchase our souvenirs. I ended up purchasing some map pencil sort of things that were made out of real wood. They were pretty cool and I got them for RS$5 (Or about $2.50). Next, we needed to conduct our interviews and we tried to talk to many of the vendors at the market, but they were not really interested in talking to you unless you were going to buy something. We gathered as much information as we could and then headed back to the convent. By the time we arrived in the convent it was 1300 (they use military time here) and in all took the trip took a little over 4 hours. Once we got back and had lunch at the convent, we then debriefed over our little excursion and we had to tell the group what we found out about our location and what we did. We told everyone everything we found out and who we interview, but Damiana kept telling us that we missed something huge about Mercado Modelo. That huge something was that the basement of this building used to be a prison for slaves during the slave trade! Here is a picture of Mercado Model: 
After debriefing we tied up some loose ends on orientation then went and packed as we prepared to meet our new families for the next couple of months! I cannot tell you how much excitement was in the air...not only for the families who were picking us up, but also from us as students! It seriously felt like Christmas morning. Our mothers slowly began to trickle in one by one and began picking us out as they recognized us. My mother, Daize, immediately recognized me and came and gave me hugs and kisses as she welcome me. Here is my new mom and I! 
Just to let you know a little about my new family...I have my mom, dad, two sisters, and one brother. Both of my parents are in their late 60's. My dad is retired and my mom works at the local university's hospital. One of my sister's is married and one lives at home. The one that lives at home is in her last semester at college where she is studying to become an elementary teacher. She is 29 years old and has been very nice! My brother is 36 years old and lives at home. He is a teacher for Portuguese at a local high school in Baha. My family has been very hospitable and has gone above and beyond for me. In the past 24 hours we have "played" many games of charades as we try to overcome the language barrier. Here is a picture that I was give by SIT of my whole family: 
I am very blessed and excited for my new family. I know that they have said MUCH more than just that little bit that I was able to tell you about them, but as my portuguese improves I hope to be able to tell you more.
Until next time..."Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." -Leo Tolstoy
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