So it has actually been an eventuful couple of days! I have been out and about running errands, etc... with Edi's mom sister and Aunt quite a bit during the day which is nice. It makes the days go by faster.
On Tuesday I went grocery shopping with Edi's parents. I have been to a couple of stores before but they were more like the Wal-Mart type of store. This was the actual grocery store like a Hannaford or Shaws or whatever. Let me tell you this was one BUSY grocery store. Yikes! Now, here is something my old roommate Leah can attest to: The level of anxiety I get while grocey shopping is quite frankly, ridiculous. It is pretty much uncalled for but for some reason the grocery store stresses me out! There are always so many people there, I feel like whenever I go they are stocking the shelves, and the amount of carts all trying to get to the same place.....ugh. I shudder just thinking about it. Leah and I had the unwritten rule that she pushed the cart while I was I charge of the list whenever we went grocery shopping. I was much more comfortable with this setup. Well of course Edi's parents don't have a clue about any of this. So naturally, I was put in charge of pushing the cart through the sufficiently busy store. Oh. God. Needless to say I survived. Whew! It was definitely touch and go there for a luttle while though. A couple of things I realized while maneuvering my way through the store behind Arlete:
1. she knows a LOT of people. Every aisle there was someone there that knew Arlete and said hello and introduced themselves to me and Arlete told them who I am and they said hello
2. The amount of fresh fruits and vegetables available in the grocery store is unbelieveable. There are SO many choices.
3. The amount of people BUYING fresh fruits and vegetables and the amount that they were buying was incredible. The majority of everyones carts were fruits and veggies and then a few other things thrown in. Meat, milk, bread, etc... Don't get me wrong people are buying cookies and candy too, but its used as a treat, not as an everyday thing. Its so good to see an entire culture basing their diet on fresh fruits and veggies. I feel like in this respect, we Americans could learn a lesson.
Wednesday Edi had the day off! Independence Day here in Brazil. (As I'm sure a lot of you may have seen on the Google homepage.) We went to the zoo which was fun. It is apparently within walking distance from Edi's house and I had no idea! Was it the best zoo I've ever been to? No. However, was FREE! A free zoo? Nice! I don't think I've ever seen that before. I think that is a great idea. Now that I know that I may just walk there and walk around. It was really beautiful with all the vegetation. The amount of animals was eh... Still, there was plenty to look at and I had a good time.
We went out last night with some cousins and friends of cousins. As usual we went somewhere with live music and good beer. It was a low key night. No dancing. Just sitting, talking (or listening in my case) and enjoying each others company. My kind of night. Per usual, the girls at the table that I has never met kept staring at me when I talked. Flabbergasted at my crazy language! haha They were all very nice and a fun bunch!
I've noticed that my blue eyes come into the conversation here quite a bit. Blue eyes are a lot harder to come by here. I noticed that Edi does have 1 cousin with blue eyes but that is really all I've seen. A lot of people comment on them because they don't see them much.
Ana Paula (Aunt that speaks English) is back and she has been a helping a lot with letting me know what is going on and telling me how to say certain things. I'm very thankful that she is so helpful and she is around quite a bit. It makes me feel more comfortable being able to get across what I am trying to say to other people through her so it won't be completely misinterpreted. I went shopping with her, her daughter (Ana Laura), Arlete and Edilaine today. We just walked around a few shops and they bought some clothes. They had some cute stuff and everything in the stores were only $10! Probably not the best quality but I wouldn't mind going back and buying a few things.
Edi's birthday is Sunday! Funny enough so is one of his Aunts and his cousins is the 13th. So they have rented a place for Saturday and Sunday for the family to go and hang out and celebrate. It is basically like an event hall of sorts but is is outside and I know there is a pool for sure but I'm not sure what else. So needless to say that is where I'll be spending most of my weekend!
I guess that is it for now. I'm sure I'll have an update after the festivities this weekend. Tchau!
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