YEP report, July 2011
From our exchange student Orlaith McAlinden
Time has flown by so quickly! When I remind myself to write in my diary because I haven’t for a couple of days, I realise it’s been over a week. I can’t believe we’re almost half way through already.
New (although temporary) host family
My host family went to visit their daughter in the United States for her graduation and as a result I was moved to live with another family for three weeks. I had a great time with this family. We went bush walking in the national park and horse riding through the city. It was really great to see how completely different two families living within a kilometer of each other can be.
District Conference
What fun it was getting there. None of the other exchange students in my city were going so I couldn’t get a lift. Bring on the busses of Brazil! A night in Rio with another Aussie student and 7 hours on public transport later, we arrived in Cabo Frio, a beautiful coastal city where the wind never stops blowing… Hence the name ‘Cape Cold’ I suppose.
A few hours of speeches, our presentaion and a huge wine and cheese party brought the conference to a close and so began the huge journey home. All in all it was a great weekend and I made a few more friends with the other exchange students in my district. But now they’ve all gone home 
Hatchi
Could be a dog, but I guess we’ll never know with all that fur…
He is still however, the prime suspect in the case of the missing socks.
Travels
The first weekend of the month, I went to Cabo Frio for the district conference. The second I spent in Nova Friburgo, a city very close to mine. I went to catch up with the exchange students there before they left for home. We had a party for the American girl, Serena’s last night and saw her off at a ridiculous hour the morning. The rest of the weekend was spent watching movies and helping the Canadian girl, Daniella, pack her bags as well as going to a Capoeira class which was very entertaining.
The third weekend, I went to Niteroi, in Rio to visit Sheridan, the other Aussie in my district. We were all excited to go to the Men at Work concert but when we went to buy tickets, THEY WERE SOLD OUT! An Australian band, sold out in Brazil! Oh well, at we know now that they have good taste in music eyy haha.
Odd bits and pieces
Sheridan lent me 5 books… I read them all in under a week. I think I will invest in some more books written in English
I finally found a Portuguese teacher, she is just as crazy as I am so classes will be interesting…
We are planning a surprise 18th birthday party for one of my friends from school here. It’s a dress up party…
Batman themed. I don’t think I’ve seen many people so excited before 
It’s currently warmer in Alaska and Russia than it is in my city here… I didn’t know Brazil could get so cold!
My host sister gets back from her exchange in two weeks. Excitement!
The newbies start arriving in a few weeks, the fun doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all 
In conclusion, this year needs to slow down, I need to learn more Portuguese, the dog needs a haircut and I am honestly having the time of my life.