Minha Famìlia

After my first full week, it is safe to say that my Portuguese abilities exist (much more than I could say upon first landing last Monday)! Much of this has to do with my host family. Ciara, my host mom, refuses to let me use my dictionary and instead prompts me to act things out and work through all of my questions. This strategy works most of the time, and always ends in laughter. Vini, my host brother, speaks English very well and, when Ciara is not listening, will try and help me out with some translations. So far the biggest miscommunications have been around food. Explaining that I STRONGLY dislike mayo was a bit tricky. For lunch one day I told Ciara that I liked the watermelon and within seconds had half of the giant melon on my plate. I ate it, and it was delicious, so no complaints here! Ciara is also a professional baker and LOVES to bring me treats. 

These are my two favorite so far (both with chocolate, hazelnut and maybe coconut?)

On Sunday, my family took me to Barra, an area of Salvador that is right on the beach with lots of restaurants, street performers, and historical sites. I got a personal tour of a couple beaches, a lighthouse, and some forts from Vini, and ended the day with some fresh coconut water!

Porto (fort) da Barra and a beach where we did not go swimming because it was too "cold"... only 82 degrees. 

Farol (lighthouse) di Barra