Orla’s November report

Photo diaries are so much easier!

Mucking about

The first week and a half of this month went by really quickly with a couple of BBQ’s to celebrate the end of the school year and then getting ready for the trip of a lifetime… A month long adventure through the cities of Brasil’s beautiful North East coast!

Counting down

I had my bags packed and ready two days before the trip (I was still packing the morning of departure for Brasil at the start of the year) if that gives you any idea about how excited I was for this ‘Dream trip.’

The day before the trip began in Sao Paulo I caught a bus down to Niteroi for one last visit and to finally pick up my Brasilian ID card. Up at five the next morning and on the bus down to Sao Paulo, the meeting point for the start of the trip.

Sao Paulo

Ten of us spent the night in Sao Paulo, getting to know each other or catching up since our last encounter in the Amazon earlier on in the year, we found out that instead of the usual 50-60 students, there would only be 30 on ours!

Brasilia

Up and at it early the next morning, we went down for breakfast and met everyone else that had arrived that morning. We sorted out our documents and permission forms and onto the bus we got… For 15 hours… There was no sleeping… We headed to Brasilia, the capital city of Brasil where we spent two nights and got to explore the amazing architecture of the city in the middle of a desert. We then headed for Lençois, another 12 hours on the bus.

Lençois

Lençois is a gorgeous little city where we spent most of our time walking up and down mountains, through rivers around springs and swam in waterfalls after the locals guided us around caves and through tunnels, all the while telling stories about the history of the area. After an amazing start to the trip in this beautiful city, we were off to Maceió.

Maceió

Only 9 hours this time round, we were getting used to sleeping in the chairs and were beginning to come to some agreement about the music that sometimes got a bit too loud to even hear properly.

Maceió was much the same as Lençois, small but with a lot of character and the first beach of the tour! I’ve never felt ocean water so warm or seen sand so white and it was only to get better from here.

Natal

The city my host dad grew up in, the city tour consisted of a visit to an old fort that was constructed when the Portuguese first came to Brasil, it was interesting to hear about some of that history.

Over the next few days we stayed in a huge hotel with the beach right outside the door, went sailing on the scariest looking boats I’ve ever seen and practically lived off fresh coconut water and pineapple on the beaches. We were literally, on a trip none of us could have ever dreamed up.

Already half way through the trip and at the end of November, our next stop is Fortaleza, supposedly the best city of the tour… So many more adventures to come, I’ll never be able to thank my parents enough for this experience.

Well, I’m off to jump back in the water!

Wishing you all a merry Christmas with health and happiness.

Keep smiling!

Orla’s October report

I’ve given up all hope of ever catching up with my diary…

Host families

We’ve been out and about, up town and down and even spent a weekend in their apartment in Rio… I hadn’t seen the ocean for months!! Being so far from the water is probably the only thing I won’t miss.

I’ve been talking with my first family down in Rio since I left them in February, and I’ll be going back again to visit for a week in the Summer holidays. Very excited about seeing them again!

Weekend in Rio

I spent a weekend in Rio with my host family where I met a few more members of the extended family and found my way around the city again. We spent a few hours on the beach and one of the nights we walked along Ipanema beach singing “Girl from Ipanema”… I love my family.

School

Coming to the end of the school year everyone is starting to worry about passing to university but in the style of almost every teenagers on the planet, aren’t doing much studying anyway.

Tests and exams started and there was a lot of laughing when I got a better score in Biology than my best friend and a better mark in Chemistry than my host sister (I remember none of the material now).

We also had a dress up party to raise money for graduation and it was quite hilarious seeing how creative people can be!

Other mischief

The four other exchange students and I have been out and about to the nearby cities and Sheridan, the other Aussie in Rio has been up to visit.

There’s been plenty of bbq’s and I’ve managed to catch the wrong bus so many times I’ve lost count.

This month has been great and with only 10 weeks to go I’m both happy and sad. I think next months will be the most incredible with a 30 day bus trip up and down the North East coast along with 50 other exchangers and then Christmas shortly after followed by New Year in Rio!

Hope you’re all well, looking forward to seeing you all again soon!!

Orla’s September report

Seems as if I haven’t written in my diary for a few months now…

Host family

Settling into the new family quite well, very, very different to the last. I love it.
I’m sharing a room with my host sister, Bruna, and so I always have company, I’m also in the same class as her at school. Almost had her convinced to come and study in Australia! My host parents are great and I’ve seen a lot of Rio with them already. I also have a 13yr old host brother who is hilarious without ever meaning to be. It’s a lot of fun living in this house.

Introduction camp

Only eight months late…

Three of the other exchange students in my city and I caught several busses over to the coastal city of Cabo Frio where we stayed for a night with all of the other exchange students in our district. Finally getting to meet everyone after talking via e-mail was great and it was incredible to see how close we all became after just two days together.
It’s sad that we probably won’t all be together again though because it’s too late in the year to organise another meeting before the girl from South Africa, the other Australian and I go home.

Little trips

I’ve been to a few of the nearby cities and done most of the touristy things there. The closest city to me, Petropolis, is the city where the King and his family lived during their rein here in Brazil. I could spend days in just one of his houses and still not have been in every room they’re so big…

Breno!

I finally got to catch up with Breno, the Brazilian exchange student in our district last year, it wasn’t for long but it was great to talk with him about the end of his exchange and what it’s like coming home. Makes me not want to go back even more, I’m going to miss Brazil soooo much!

Overall this has been a fairly calm month compared to the rest, I love my new host family, I’m looking forward to the next few months and plan on jam packing them full of exciting adventures.

Hope you’re all well!