Crazy Carnaval

Oi gente,

    These past three days I had the great privelege of traveling to Salvador and expieriencing Carnaval!
    As a foreigner I hadn't really understood what Carnaval was all about and why it was such a big deal, until now.  Carnaval is happiness. It's the loud music. The dancing. The different colors and so much more! In Salvador, it's basically one huge street party. Massive trucks will be riding around through different set circuits with different Brazilian singers on them. The trucks provide the singers with a stage, and room for their bands and fans. I feel like I'm not explaining it very well, but it will make more sense once you see the pictures below.
   I went to Carnaval two nights, but I will only be talking about the first one. So The first night we went ( my host sister and her boyfriend and my eldest host brother) we had bought tickets to see Carnaval from a camarote, A camarote is an exclusive place where you can see and expierience Carnaval, with not  having to be on ground level with the rest of the crowd. In the camarote there is a DJ and different booths that offer a variety of foods and drinks. The different singers and groups I saw were: Ivete Sangalo, Chichlete, Daniela Mercury, Claudia Leitte, Eva, and Parangole. At about 1 I was just so tired that I went to go sit down and rest. We left for Carnaval at 5 p.m. and arrived back home at 5 a.m.. For all those who haven't expierienced Carnaval there is nothing else like it and I really recommend going. 
   We also went to the beach which was really fun (even though I got sunburnt) and I also got to try many new delicous foods. I feel way more comfortable in my new home and so glad that I went to Salvador.

Hope this post was as interesting as my trip,

Nevo

Eva, on stage ,which is on top of the truck

The front of Chichlete's trucks

My host sister camila, her boyfriend, and I at the camarote.  

One of the beaches we visited.

Ahhh!

Oi Everyone,


   So much has happened since I've left Colorado; that I'm not sure I will be able to summarize everything. Let me just start by saying that it hasn't been easy, but I know that as each day passes it becomes easier and easier.
   It seems like a year since I left Colorado but in reality it has only been one week. Before getting to Brazil, I had a one and a half day orientation in Miami with the other exchange students. When I arrived in Miami, I had forgotten how much I hated humidity until I walked out to catch the shuttle to the hotel. With me on the shuttle was Sylvia, one of the other 4 exchange student that were going to Brazil. As we made our way into the hotel we were greeted by two AFS volunteers and the rest of the exchange students.  Going to Brazil were: Jennifer, Nikita, Cori, and Sylvia (obviously). Going to Paraguay were: Marley, Kate, and Erin. The rest of the day consisted of orientation and a horrendous dinner at Bennigans. The following day we had orientation for 2 hours in the morning and lunch, until we started heading back to the airport.
   On the plane to Sao Paulo I sat next to a woman and her young daughter. For some reason AFS couldn't seet us together. It was a 7 hour flight and I only got about 45 minutes of sleep the whole way. Landing in Sao Paulo was exciting but the 9 hour layover Jennifer and I had waiting for us was not. We almost missed our flight to Salvador because of miscommunication we had with some Brazilian airport employees but surely we made it on. After more than a day of traveling, I finally landed in Salvador.
   The first couple days at my host family's home were one of the hardest I have expierienced in my life. I was in major culture shock and every little thing would make me feel homesick. I thought that right from the begining I would be enjoying myslef, but this was not the case. I knew it was going to be hard, but NOT this hard. At one point, I had even questioned why I had wanted to go on this trip at all. For future exchange students, all I have to say is that the first couple days will be hard, but remember to always be optimistic.  It took me a couple days to get used to my new home and I'm still adjusting. Next was school.
   The school that I go to is really nice but really hard. The first day, the kids in my class were all so excited to meet me. They asked me so many questions and talked so fast that most of the time I couldn't even understand what they were saying. Not only that, but some of the classes are so confusing especially math. I thought it was going to be the easiest one since math is a universal language but honestly, it's my hardest. Tommorrow is my third day of school and I hope it will be better than the first two. This weekend I'm going to Salvador for 3 days for carnaval and I'm really excited! I will be posting soon after this weekend.

Hope all is well with every one.

Sincerely, Nevo




                                                               Landing in Salvador


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

                                                     My school!

Oi Gente,

Yesterday I had an orientation  with three other future exchange students in Denver! At first, everyone introduced themselves and said: how old they were, where they were going, and where they were from. We then had a discussion with the returnees where they answered all our ridiculous questions. We then split up into two groups, the students and returnees and the parents (obviously I was with the students). We discussed how to react to different situations that we would be facing while abroad, and asked even more questions. Later the two groups conjoined into one again, and took a little "quiz". It was pretty much trivia about AFS and the world and if we answered a question right we received little AFS trinkets like pens and key chains. Towards the end of the orientation, the returnees called us up for a ceremony where we received our AFS Colorado shirts and took a group picture. I thought it was pretty cool because we all chose the same color to show unity between us. The last activity was writing a letter to ourselves about what we think everything will be like halfway through out the exchange, that eventually would be sent to us while we're abroad. After finishing our letters, we thanked all the returnees and volunteers for the orientation. We wished one another good luck and said our goodbyes. I thought it was a great orientation and good time to meet everyone from the Colorado chapter. In addition to that, today is my one month mark! I sent in my visa application to Houston last week and hopefully I'll get it back soon. When people at school ask me if I'm excited, I say "yeah", but it still hasn't hit me that I'm leaving in a month and I don't think it will until the car ride to the airport. I forgot to put a picture of my host city so I'll put that on right now.

Hope everything is well with everyone,




Nevo

Here is a picture of my host city Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil

     

Hey everyone,

I should have made this post about two weeks ago...but I got lazy. Anyways, I got my travel information! I will be departing for Miami ( my gateway city, and the location of my orientation) on February 8th, two days earlier than I had anticipated. On AFS' website it said that I would return from Brazil on July 10th, but now I'm leaving on the 27th! I'm really excited that I'm staying 17 more days, but on the other hand I'm kind of sad. Every year I go to Israel during summer vacation, for about a month give or take to see my family and friends. This year I won't be going at all because I only have two weeks in between the day I return from Brazil and when school starts. I won't see my family and friends for two years! But, I guess you need to sacrifice some things, to be able to go on this once in a life time opportunity. I have less than two months until I leave, and there is still so much that needs to be done! I have finals this week, I should probably be studying...

I'll keep you posted,
 Nevo

Hey Guys,

I just got my Chipin Button from AFS. The Chipin Button lets you make a donation towards my trip! If you make a donation I will send you a postcard from Brazil (just comment below with your address or send me an email)! Other than that, Thursday will be the three month mark until my departure! I'm getting more and more excited!

Talk to you guys soon tchau,
Nevo

Hey Guys,

   My name is Nevo, I'm 15 years old and a sophmore at Fairview High School! I live in Boulder, Colorado with my twin brother and my parents. I also have an older sister but she is currently living in Israel, and serving in the Israeli Army. I'm going to be an exchange student in Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil with AFS! I'm kind of new to blogging so sorry if my posts aren't as entertaining as they should be! I wanted to be an exchange student for a while now. I recieved my application in March, but I didn't finish it untill August (because of traveling over summer vacation). I then had to change some things on the application so my final submission was in September. A day after I submitted my application I had already been accepted by AFS USA! I was so happy, untill my twin brother told me, " Nevo it doesn't matter, because you haven't even been accepted by AFS Brazil." Right after I went to check my email; I saw that I got an email from my local AFS volunteer. I thought the email was gonna say that it was a mistake that I had been accepted to AFS USA, because it all just happened so fast. To my surprise it said that I had been accepted by AFS Brazil! I was ecstatic! It took 4 hours between hearing from AFS USA and AFS Brazil, when usually it would take a month after the applicatiion deadline (mine was October 10th about two weeks later)! Three weeks later I recieved my host family! Again I couldn't believe how fast everything was happening!

     I am going to live in Feira de Santana, Bahia with my host parents Edvaldo and Angela and two of their three kids. Felipe is one of my host brothers, he's 25 and lives in Salvador because of college, so I won't see him as much as my other host brother and sister. My other host brother's name is Gustavo, he's 19. My host sister's name is Camila and she is 17. I'm really excited for this exchange and will post more entries as my departure date of February 10, 2012 comes closer!

From left to right is: Felipe, Angela, Edvaldo, Camila, and Gustavo.