Getting Settled...

So I've been here a little over 3 weeks and things are finally starting to get on track.  I started my Portuguese Level 2 class last week at Ibeu (a language school), got my first 2 students with whom I will do private English classes (Fred's 2 best friends) and may have landed a gig recording soundtracks for an English language school ("The boy is running." "The dog is playing."  "The gringa is on the beach in a micro-bikini drinking caipirinhas."  That kind of thing... ).

My sister Corey has been here this past week, so we got to do a whole bunch of tourist things (again).  On Sunday, we went to the Fla-Flu futebol game.   There is a huge rivalry between Flamengo and Fluminese, 2 of the 4 futebol teams in Rio.  Fred (and by default, myself and Corey) are Flamengo fans.  Fred's best friend Jose is Fluminese.  So it's a big deal for all of us. Now, being a Michigan Wolverine, I am well aware of the emotional investment that one makes when rooting for a team.  So, it came as no surprise to me when Fred (and the entire stadium, for that matter) went ballistic whenever a team scored a goal.  Fireworks, smoke, singing, dancing...things we boring Americans can only dream about at our sporting events.  Ok, I know, Yankees games are "really exciting," but really, we could use a dose of Brazilian Fanfare at our venues.

We did some other things like take a van to see Christ the Redeemer (not the same as climbing up the side of the mountain and charging through the jungle-like brush to emerge at the base of Jesus, but still fun), hiking the trail up Pão de Acúcar to the summit for sunset, and going out with Fred and company to the 80's dance club,  Casa de Matriz last night.   She is leaving tomorrow and I'm sad- it's nice to have her here to do things with.

So that's kind of the recap for this week.  Now that the blog is up and running, I'll do frequent posts with more details about my daily life here.   So far, so good...