Things are going as well as can be expected. I haven't had to kill my food. I haven't exposed myself to my host family. And, I haven't asked for more balls instead of tomatoes. I even feel confident that I will be speaking Portuguese by the end of my 10 weeks.
Right now it's more of a combination, English+ Portuguese= Engluese. (If you haven't figured that out.) I am very lucky to have a great teacher and to work in a small group. In fact, it's just me and one other person. I think you can guess what level I'm in from that piece of information.
When I'm not in language classes, or sitting through a large PC meetings, I'm hanging out with my host family. My Mae (mom) is a retired teacher. She is very patient with me and really tries to understand my broken Portuguese. I have two older sisters that work outside of the house; L is a teacher and C is a janitor. The two of them occasionally talk to me, but more than once our conversations have ended with "No Entendo" and we both just leave it at that.
There are also 3 younger kids in the house Lay (10), E (8) and D (5). Lay has started to speak with me more, but our conversations usually end with him asking if I have something for him. FIrst it was playing cards, then a laptop (just to see, not to have), and lastly was a soccer ball. I didn't have the last one; we haven't talked lately. I cannot understand a word that D says and whenever I speak he shrieks with laughter.
E didn't not say one word to me for the entire first week. Which of course means I made it my goal to be best friends with her before I leave. She does answer my questions now, and she even came into my room to read a book with me. Progress!!
It's hard to spend much time with my host family though. The Peace Corps schedules so much of my day it's hard to really sit and comprehend what a different world I'm in. Occasionally I'll get these small, fleeting moments when I remember I'm in Africa. That I am over 9,000 miles away from home and it will be 2 years before I can hug my mom again. Moments like when I'm waking up to the sounds of dogs barking and my Mae sweeping the yard. Or when I'm mixing cold water into the hot water heated for my bath. These moments always sneak up on me, but I'm always glad to be reminded of the dramatic change I've made. And to feel like this was the best decision to make.
I'll end with this. Please send me emails! I want to know what's going on with my friends and family. Access to the internet depends on a lot of things. For example, I now have of a modem, but my computer is about to lose it's charge. But there is only one available outlet in the house (and that's a long story). So send emails so I still feel apart of your lives!
Love Love Love
Rayna
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