The last two weeks

Well two more weeks have flown by WAY too quickly. The weekend of the 9th I had a small birthday party at my house. We had pizza, played some pool, danced and had lots of fun.
Here's a picture of me and my cake!

This past weekend I had an AFS orientation in Brasilia, which is about 3 hours from Goiania. Me, Aomsin and the two other exchange students living in Goiania took a bus to get there. The whole drive was through farms and cute run down little cities.


When we got to Brasilia we drove directly from the bus station to a farm to eat lunch. From there we drove on dirt roads that twisted and winded and got us to the middle of nowhere; where the house was. All of Saturday was filled with AFS information. We put up tents and got ourselves situated, and for the first time in my life I was perfectly fine sleeping outside. Our group consisted of three Americans, four Thai girls, one girl from Finland, and one girl from New Zealand. That night we talked all night long about our host families, about back home, about friends and people we have met and things that we miss the most. There is something about exchange students and how we all understand exactly what eachother is going through, better than anyone else, that makes us the best of friends so easily. I'm not exactly sure how any of us fell asleep that night, all I know is that Sunday morning began the continued orientation.


We drove back into Brasilia and got to sight-see for a while. We saw the National Congress building, the beautiful Cathedral, and took a bunch of pictures from this huge TV tower. The city of Brasilia is actually shaped as a plane with a large central area, and two wings that are exactly equal to eachother. Driving through it, Brasilia feels oversized and spread out. It feels surreal and unnatural because it was so planned, and it is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen.

I was so sad to say bye to my new friends and the city, but in two months we are scheduled to have another orientation, and I can't wait!!

All About School

I received a comment about how my school is organized, and so I decided to make a post about it because it is very complicated.

The Brazilian school system very different from out own. In Brazil the public schools are considered awful. Everyone who has the ability to do so sends their children to private schools. However for college it is the opposite. The public colleges in Brazil are free and offer the best education, but they are very difficult to get accepted into. There are very few good private colleges, and they are considered as colleges for students with money that do not take much interest in their education.

For high school students these are called Colegio’s. The Colegio consists of three years; primeiro, segundo, and terceira, or first, second, and third. This is the equivalent to Sophomore, Junior, and Senior year. My school is larger than usual, and we have three classes for each year; A, B, and C.
In my class, Segundo ano B, we have 42 students. Instead of changing rooms, the teachers rotate classes. They teach with a chalkboard and a really high tech program with a projection and white screen that allows them to access the computer from the board (I will post pictures). Each class is fifty minutes long, and our schedule is as follows:

7 AM the bell rings and we all go into the classroom. We have two classes and then a quick 15 minute snack break. Following that we have two more classes and then a long snack break for 25 minutes. Our last two classes are separated by a 5 minute water break, and class ends at 1 pm. We then have a long lunch, and we start class again at 2:45. In the afternoon we have regular classes, except for on Thursdays and Fridays. Thursdays are like UNI's Office Hours in which you have free time to study and ask teachers for help. On Friday afternoon classes all students take tests, except for me and Aomsin, but we will start to take tests as soon as we have adapted to the language.

Each day the class schedule changes, and I never know what teacher to expect. One week I tried to write down which teachers I have and what classes, only to find out that its not the same every week. We have seventeen teachers, all of them with their own subjects.


A list of my classes:
Literature
History of Brazil
Portuguese Language
Art History
Genetics
Geography
Chemistry I
Political History of Europe
Geometry
Analyzing Combinations
Writing
Chemistry II
Physics
Sociology
Biology
Anthropology
World History

And there are three more that I didn’t write down. So on any given day I could have two different writing classes, three maths and four history classes. I just don’t know how it works! What I secretly think is that the teachers do rock paper scissors for what classes they will teach that day.

The classes in the afternoon also include English and Spanish classes as well as practice for the soccer, handball, and volleyball teams. Most students only have one or two classes in the afternoon and so end class at 4:30, but many choose to stay with friends and study and do homework until 6pm. For students in Terceira, this is the most important year for them. They study many hours, and often only leave school when they have to at 10:00 PM, only to go home and finish homework. They are so concentrated in their studies because it is very difficult to get into college.
Luckily for me, I am in Segundo ano, and so my friends have more free time. Every day we go out for lunch, or for an afternoon snack at the local Picole (popsicle)store. And although my friends take their studies seriously, you can always find them laughing and having fun.

And another great thing about Brazil is that nobody likes to work, so there are a TON of holidays. This sunday is Easter, and everyone has Thursday and Friday off of work this week. My school was practically empty the last few days because everyone is on vacation!

Just a little heads-up: The next week it is unlikely that I will post anything because it is a family weekend, and then on Tuesday the 6th it is my birthday, so please check the blog at earliest on friday the 9th. However if I do post anything new, I will make it known on facebook!

Miss you all!
Frankie :)

I promised pictures!

Unfortunatley it's been raining cats and dogs, so all of my pictures were taken under the safety of a roof! More coming after the bad weather passes!

This is me and Aomsin, in our school uniforms (which is luckily just the shirt!)


Usually class is pretty boring, but sometimes we have time to goof off and have fun.
Sitting two to a chair is pretty popular as you can see.


Just a few of the girls




The boys in my class have a very good sense of humor


I hope you enjoyed these! I will take more photos, but PLEASE if there is anything you are wondering about or would like pictures of, send me an email, comment bellow or talk to me about it on facebook!

You know you're in brazil when...

Heres just a quick entry about things that happened this week in list format

You know you're in Brazil when:

-a personal question from a friend about my favorite soccer team turns into a heated across-the-room argument. The teacher actually stopped teaching to input his own opinion. Then the the principal came in not to stop them all, but instead to preach about how good his team was

-traffic stops for ten minutes in order for an ostrich to cross the street

-the most exciting part of your day is watching the novella’s (soap operas) that are on every night

-multiple teachers use the World Cup's group chart to teach us lessons

-you are at the farmers market and you see a huge fight between ten twenty or thirty men, and know immediately that it was started on account of their preference for opposing soccer teams

-the most popular flavor of popsicle is an unpronounceable fruit from the Amazon

-you can cram fourteen people into a car that is supposed to hold only five, pass by three different cops, and the biggest reaction you get from them is a laugh, a smile, and wave

-you can see groups of toucans flying together from your backyard if you happen to be awake early enough


If there is anything else you guys would like to know about, please leave a comment or send me an email. There's lots more happening in my life, and I'd love to tell you about it!

Also, look soon for more pictures to accompany this and previous entries. Pictures should be up by Wednesday!

Well it's been an exciting three weeks here in Brazil!
I've had time to bond and really get to know my family, time to adjust to the Brazilian way of life, and I've had time to learn a lot about myself.

The day after I arrived, we received another exchange student from Thailand who was to stay with us temporarily until they found her a permanent home. Three weeks later, still without a host family for her, I realized that I didn't want her to move. We had all fallen in love with her, and with her we have experienced everything together. She is now part of Aomsin (my sister) and I do everything simultaneously from getting ready in the morning, to going shopping, to eating popsicles- it is kind of like having a twin.

Throughout the three weeks my host mom and I have gotten really close. I've learned to trust her with everything, except of course with nail polish colors! My two younger brothers are still sweethearts, and we have lots of fun together surprising Aomsin and messing around. Celine is so cute and I completely adore her when she isn't waking me up with her high-pitched screams at 6 AM on the weekends. My father is also very nice, and although I only see him at night and on the weekends, he always takes me to the gym and he comes to watch me play soccer. His English is very bad, and with my Portuguese, our conversations are always very interesting!

On the topic of my Portuguese, it's coming along. I am understanding more and more everyday, and although my grammar is god-awful, people usually understand what I am trying to say. My English-Portuguese dictionary has become my best friend, and you can always find me with it.

School has become a time frame in which I must entertain myself, because I don’t understand half of what my teachers are saying, and we have not received our books yet. I've gotten very good at drawing, and I have started a collection of lists of everything from what I need to do today to what I would like my mom to send me from Irvine. And at this point I could probably be considered a professional napper, as it is my most favorite past time.

As far as social life goes, it has been very nice to meet new people. My best friends along with Aomsin are Gabriela who is always smiling, Leon; the German exchange student, and Andriw; just generally a good person. Two weekends ago we had a Churrasco, a Brazilian barbeque, and invited a few of our friends over for food, the pool and music. It was a ton of fun and of course the food was delicious!

This week vovo (grandpa) is visiting, and the boys are so happy to see him! He is French and so he has an amazing accent, as well as the cutest way about him!

I hope you all are doing well, I would love to hear from you!
Love, Frankie

Also, I will upload photos when this site decides to let me, but if you have time, check out my Facebook for tons more photos!

finally!!

Wow so these last few days have been so hectic.
Tuesday night I left California at 11:00 pm, and arrived in Miami the next morning for the Chile and Brazil gateway orientation. I met Tanna and Ian, the two other American students going to Brazil, and bonded with them over the thirty hours that we had together. The next night, Thursday, the three of us said goodbye to the Chileans and took our flight to Sao Paulo!!! It was really cool. We all held hands when we left off and touched down, it was really cute :)
When we arrived in Sao Paulo we met other AFS students from Finland and Austria that were also staying in Brazil, it was SO neat to meet them! Sadly though I was only with them for a little while because we split up to catch the flights to our host cities.
Flying down was so pretty, but It´s hot and really humid (ahh mosquitos!). When we arrived my host family was there to meet me, and my brothers brought flowers and a teddy bear it was really sweet of them. I´ll update on my family tomorrow with tons of pictures, but I am really lucky to be with them.

As far as hours of sleep I´ve gotten in the last four days, thats not going so well. I calculated it to be about 5 hours, so I´m going to get some sleep, but check soon for updates!

My Host Family!

Well its been a while since I've had much to say, so here is everything I know!

I just found out about my host family, the Silveira's. They live in Goiania, Brazil just a few minutes away from my school. They have three kids, a cute little girl who is two, and two sons that are nine and ten. Thats going to be different! I just talked with my host mom and she is so nice!
Here is a picture of my host mom and her daughter Celine behind her house

Unfortunately I will be in school from 7 am until 6pm, ahh! I guess I'll be really busy over there, I'm not sure exactly what I will be busy with.

It's only nine days until I leave and I can't wait!! I've started making lists of everthing that I am going to need (which will consist mostly of shorts and tank tops because its super hot over there!). My host mom told me that I will only need one sweater for backup so it really lightens the load, which is really helpful because there is a one-suitcase limit to what I can bring!

Also, I wanted to thank Vovo, and Tio Luis and Tia Denise, Raquely, and my parents everyone who has donated money to make this whole experience possible for me! Thanks to them, the tuition is now paid (the ChipIn feature is not updated).

Beijos(kisses),
Frankie

Brazil!

Hi! My name is Francesca "Frankie" Guedes and I am 14 years old. I live in Irvine, California and attend University High School as a freshman. I love to play soccer, cello, listen to music and spend time with my friends. I have recently been accepted in the foreign exchange student program with AFS. AFS (American Field Service) is an international non-profit voluntary organization that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help students develop the knowledge skills and understanding needed to help create a more just and peaceful world.

I will be studying abroad in Brazil, my first-choice country, so I am really excited. The exchange program is six months long; I depart in February and I will return in early August 2010. While in Brazil, I will be staying with a host family with a host brother or sister. I will be attending a Brazilian high school, and my "brother" or "sister" will help me get used to the Brazilian way of things at home and at school. I can't wait until February, I'm hoping to learn so much from my experience and gain a feel for the Brazilian culture.

The best part of going to Brazil, a country that is almost magical to me, is to learn the native language of my father. Unfortunately, almost all of my dad's family has learned to speak English, and I never got the chance to have a relationship with them in Portuguese. Although my family is excited for me, I know that they will miss me a lot, and I'm so happy that they are supporting me. I know that I will miss them a lot!

Although the cost of the program is pretty steep, my parents are supporting me and they will be covering the costs. I am also contributing my savings, $2100 that I have saved from allowance, gifts and money earned from babysitting and coaching. In addition, I have also been awarded a $1250 scholarship. AFS suggests that I head up my own fundraising efforts, as a way to defray the costs for my semester abroad, so I have created this blog entry with a ChipIn gadget that is regulated by AFS. It is a way for anyone to make a secure contribution that will go directly to my tuition account. Please know that even a small amount would help me, and your support and well wishes are greatly appreciated!

Thank you for visiting my blog, and please come back to visit this site often. I will keep this updated with the latest of what is going on during my preparations for Brazil (check in for information on where I will be placed!) as well as while I am abroad.

Tchau,
Frankie