Afterparty - Number 3 continued..

. . . Just continuing on from where we left off last time. Referring back to my convenient dot point system, I beleive we are up to number 4...

(P.s just a side note.. The lack of photos is due to my camera being stolen in the Amazon. Therefore making photographically documenting events after this a little difficult.)

The Girls

Three months ago I discovered some other exchangers living it up in Brasilia as well, and, well, long story short we became amazing friends!! These girls are crazy cats. A German, two Candaians, an Alaskian and an Aussie running a muck in Brazil - phenominal times! Best group of girls you could ever ask for! But there exchange came to an end (Northern Hemispherians do exchange July-July) and well, the time came to say goodbye.. This was not enjoyed!


Pimps&Hoes Party

Goiania put on another unmissable party so I jumped on a bus and headed down to visit Locky. Conveniently, our friend we met on the South Trip, Andy from Denmark, came to Goiania for a visit and to attend the party as well! 90% of the parties over here you buy your ticket for about aus$25 for girls, aus$50 for guys (another set up over here i enjoy, girls pay like half the price for tickets to parties and/or clubs) and its open bar (beer, vodka, whisky, champagne etc). And yes, I did take full opportunity of this situation!
From previous experience back in Aus, some girls for this theme really get their lut on, thought Brazilians might have a similar attitude towards their attire for an event like this.. So I thought I would be safe with a lutty school girl, but turns out all the Brazilians dressed as well, more classy, 1920 hoes. Leaving me as the luttiest dressed there! And we all know how much I hate attention.. But I struggled through this little hiccup and thoroughly enjoyed the evening!




World Cup

As you are all aware, Brazil didn't win, shattered. But the hype over here, whilst they were still in with a chance, was insane! Every second car and house was displaying a flag, all the stores displayed/sold ridiculous amounts of various Brazil products, the streets are decked with decorations (the gutters in my suburb were even painted yellow and green) and its all that is talked about!

And when Brazil played, no one would have school, every single store would close for the game and the streets would be dead! Then when a goal was scored... Hectic-ness! Fireworks, people running through the streets, yelling from their windows etc. The atmosphere was amazing!


New Fam Bam

So the start of this month brought with it the transition to my second host family. They are amazing! Although, slight inconvenience, they live on the exact opposite side of the city, so come 3 weeks time when vacation finishes up, I start at a new school. Although, Im assured its bigger and better then my previous one! So that makes me feel better about it. Sibling wise, I have a 16 year old sister who is keen as mustard to go to Aus and a 6 year old sister, don't get me wrong, she is bloody cute but lets just say, putting up with a 6 year old constantly, gives me a new appreciation of being the youngest! But besides that, thoroughly enjoying my new habitat. Walk out onto my bedroom balcony to a veiw of the lake 50 metres away, most weekends my fam said they go wakeboarding in their boat and I have a driver!
Oh and this just in, tomorrow heading on a 2 week trip with the fam bam to Sao Paulo - a city with a population equivalent to that of Australia's, as well as a trip to Rio de Janeiro. Keen as bloody mustard for the trip I am, especially for Rio! So its safe to say I like my new family!



And thats got you lot just about caught up to date with my adventures in the land of B.

Ill try not to leave it too long until the next update...

Behave yourself kids!
Tibbetts over and out. x

Long Awaited Party Number 3!

Hey Kids!

So I am aware it has been several months since I've updated my blog! This is both due to the fact I've been busy enjoying a little country called Brazil, but mainly, let's be honest here, I'm just lazy!

Because I've left it so long between updates and so much has happened over this period of time, to write it all in one blog would result in you losing interest mid-read. And we don't want that happening now do we? Thats what i thought! So, Ive come up with a brilliant solution! Ill do it in installments...

Now I'm not really sure what system to go with here so I might just brainstorm out loud and we'll go from there...
Now... Last covered was Carnaval way back in February.
Since then, few events have taken place, just a brief overveiw:
1. South Trip - In March I spent 2 weeks touring the South of Brazil
2. Fantasy Party - Visited Locky in his city for its biggest party of the year! (Now Im being modest here when I say we were the best dressed!)
3. Amazon Expedition - Spent 2 weeks in the Amazon Jungle!
4. The Girls - Made THE best friends in the world, only to turn around and have to say goodbye two months later....
5. Pimps&Hoes Party - Again, hit up Goiania to visit Locky and attend another more then mentionable Party in Brazil!
6. Changed host familys
7. World Cup over here!
8. Oh and I am now fat. Kind of put on 10kgs somewhere in there....
9. And on the horizon... My new fam bam are taking me to Sao Paulo(the city with the population equivalent to that of Aus's) and Rio de Janeiro next week!

Now yes, I will go into further detail on all of the above over the next couple of blogs so bare with me! (Except number 8, bit of a touchy subject that one!)

First up.... SOUTH TRIP!!!!
So with 63 exchange students from 18 different nationalaties, visiting 3 countries in 2 weeks... It was 1 freaking amazingg trip!!
I won't bore you with a play by play of the trip itinerary (mainly because, after so long, i dont rememeber it!) but it was an unforgettable trip, made so many awesome friends from all around the world!

The first couple of days we went to Iguassu Falls national park, visited a bird park-got photos with Tucan Sam!

Then went to the falls itself! Was spectacular! Even went in a boat up the river and under a fall itself! Was absolutely beautiful.. But ill let the photos speak for themselves..

Then checked out the falls from Argentinian side and spent the day in Argentina! Also got to visit Paraguay for a day of ridiculously cheap shopping!
Then we spent the next week and a half touring the south of Brazil in a bus full of exchange students! I would have to say, this was actually the best part! Microphone for karoake was all we needed to keep us entertained for the trip!
Favourite city I hear you ask? Definately Florianopolis! Beautiful beaches, beautiful people (they say the best looking Brazillians come from the South!) and an all round good time! We spent 4 days in this city, hitting up beaches, attempting to surf, playing beach soccer with Brazilians and somewhere in there, white water rafting in the jungle!

FANTASY PARTY!
In April, I headed down to visit Locky in Goanna-town (aka Goiania but we struggle with the prononciation of this one) for Festa de Fantasia aka the citys biggest party of the year! So must admit, had been looking foward to this for a while, we even bought our costumes months in advance! I find usually with high expectation comes disappointment, this definately was not the case! Have to say, highlight of this year so far! With thousands of people attending, VIP tickets and an open bar, perfect recipe for a good night! And, in true Aussie style, took full advantage of the open bar situation! Was a freaking sensational night! Even jumped the railing and danced on stage for short burts quite regularly throughout the night, this then resulted in being chased by security but luckily we had some pretty inconspicuous attire so they never caught us!

The setup was like 3 massive marque's joined together-1 with the bar, stage, dancefloor etc, 1 for the food and the other one, not really sure what!

The tickets for this event were a bit pricey, but a full buffet of amazing food was promised so I was in! But at 430am when Locky and I were feeling a bit peckish we thought we'd go take advantage of this unlimited food situation as well! But we got there to find there was no food! So,what did we do? We burst into the kitchen (in our skin tight licra body suits i might add) abusing the people, in english and/or broken portuguese demanding we be fed! They either didnt understand us or didnt want a bar of it, and kicked us out of the kitchen! We were not happy Jan! Stumbled back to the bar throwing chairs, tables and various other objects in our path! But we got over this pretty quickly..
So at 730am we decided we had enough and were ready for bed! Soft effort I know! We then somehow ended up in the car of this random couple who spoke perfect English and they drove us home.. Yes mum, i know this is extremely dangerous but luckily we weren't kidnapped and sold on the sextrade! Promise it wont happen again!

AMAZON!!!!
So my 2 week trip with 45 other exchange students to the Amazon Jungle twas absolutely incredible to say the least!!!! Like the South Trip, the people were amazing! And made so many good friends from around the world!
So we arrived in Manaus, and it was soo bloody hot! Like humid as eff! You walked outside and would start sweating! The first 2 days we spend in the city, staying in a ridicously large hotel with 2 pools, a shopping centre and a zoo! And this wasnt just any zoo! This was a zoo with monkeys! Monkeys that hold your hand! I want a monkey! The first night we went to this party, quick story behind it: so, theres like a blue team vs red team themed danceoff (Haha thats a very basic version of the explanation but it works!) Anyway, they rehearse (seperately obviously) for this party for months! And we went along to a red night, learnt these cool Brazilian dances, all the exchange students got invited up on stage and even danced amoungst the professionals-we were basically famous! It was a great night!

Next day we moved all our junk to the boat we would live on for the next 10 days! And off we went along the Amazon River! The set up was pretty convenient, 2 double story boats-one for living on-at night they put up hammocks to sleep in and by day you had couches and whatnot, and the other one was the restaurant boat that would pull up beside the boat at meal times and you would have to jump from boat to boat whilst travelling along the river!

We went trecking through the jungle with local Indians who know a ridiculous amount about the plants and what they do! Its amazing! One evening we went for a bit of a casual stroll through the Amazon Jungle.. in the darkness! Went swimming in a waterfall and checked out some caves! Twas an adventure and a half! This whole trip was!

Went canoeing in tribal style wooden canoes which sunk quite frequently!
Swam with pink dolphins! Went fishing for paranas!
At night we would all jump in a heap of smaller boats and go exploring for crocodiles and what not! Even caught a few baby ones!

Visited an Indian tribe! It was definately eye-opening to see how they live, it is so remote and well, tribal!

We spent a day visiting a small remote community in the jungle! The kids showed us around their school/village! Was an awesome experience!

Brazilians are soccer crazy so it was only fair we played against the Brazilians in their national sport! Exchangers Vs Villagers! We won't discuss the outcome though, unfair advantage if you ask me!

Then there was a small gathering thrown in the village for us that night!
One night we headed on a treck through the jungle, hammocks in hand, to what felt like the middle of nowhere, where we set up camp for the night!

And to wrap up the trip, our second last day we spent on this beautiful little island! That night we had a bonfire on the beach complete with guitars and a sing-a-long! And the boat crew set up the tables and chairs on the sand with lanterns and what not, was a bit cute! Was a great last night with all the exchangers!
The last few days of the trip saw a contagious tropical disease getting round! But, it being the racist kind, only really seemed to affect the Aussies! The last day I got ridiculously sick and ended up spending the night in a Brazilian hospital with 2 other Aussies and a German with various seringes being administered and being put on a drip! Was an experience, let's just put it that way!

But besides the minor negative regarding the hospital visit, the trip was beyond spectacular! Bloody serreal experience!!!

And well, thats the first 3 points covered kids! Will tackle the rest next time!

Hope everything back your way is top notch! Missing you all!
Until next time groovers...
Tchau!

Party number 2.

Ola kids!!



Thought it was about time I updated everyone on the latest shenanigans in Brazil land!


And just a fun fact for you, today I have been partying it up for one month!! I know, I know, pretty exciting huh?




So the past 2 weeks have been filled with some awesome activities!!!
Some examples include:
(P.s just a side note: I'm definately a fan of the dot points, keeps things simple, organised, and me on track! So lets test em out and see how they go...)



- SCHOOL: So I started school.. and to put it politely I was pooing my pants about this whole situation! And due to this I didn't get much sleep the night prior to my first day!
But I pushed through and headed to school sleep deprived and carrying a fresh set of undies! AND may I add, before the sun was even up! School starts at 7am which is a bit of a pain but the positive of this means you finish earlier!
Anyway, back to the whole first day thing.. Well you know how they portray it in the movies? Like the teacher comes out into to the hallway to meet the new student, while the others inside all get out of their seats to look through the doorway and sneak a peak at the new kid.. Then the teacher and new student enter.. EVERYONE stares and there's the awkward introduction... Well that's pretty much how it played out! I didn't understand it as it was in portuguese but I think it was something along the lines of "This is Laura, please be nice to her... she's a bit special!" Then everyone watched me as I walked to my seat.. Haha actually was pretty funny!

So making friends for me is hard at the best of times! But when you throw in the fact I kinda don't speak there language, thus lacking the ability to communicate with them, it gets a bit tougher! But, somehow I managed to do it! Think this may have something to do with me telling them I did indeed have a pet kangaroo when asked! If your ever overseas I recommend this-instant popularity!!

Class is pretty cruisey, I basically sleep through most lessons as I don't understand a thing but when it comes to English, I absolutely ace it!! Don't mean to brag but I'd even go as far as saying I'm probably the best in the class!



Pictured below is my class. And yes, I know what your thinking, that teacher is totally the guy who stole Woody in Toy Story!






So the first week at school, all went smoothly, and just as I start to settle in they decide to have a holiday! But please don't mistake this for whinging-its definately not!!


The reason for this holiday I hear you ask? Well, this conveniently leads me to my next dot point . . .

- CARNAVAL!!
(For those who don't know what this is, just a brief description: basically a massive party all throughout Brasil with alot of festivities and what not! For further information please see Google)

So I got the next week off school to celebrate Carnaval, which I was pretty bloody stoked about!! Been looking forward to this holiday prior to my departure from Aus! That was until I was informed my city doesn't throw too many celebrations for it!
BUT I was pretty happy with how my celebrations panned out..

On the Monday my host sister threw a big BBQ at our place with all her friends, and Locky(Guy from Wagga who also came to Brasil on exchange) came over to join in the celebrations, which weren't too shabby at all! Spent the whole day in the pool and after we had a few, we owned the d.floor like nothing else!! Now I'm not going to lie, we represented the shit out of Australia! There were some great moves brought to the floor.. Bit of Irish dancing to 'Land Down Under' (Don't ask, I don't even know!), sprinkler and yes Stef, the apple pealer made an appearance!!!

Now even I didn't think this day could be topped but I think we went close! For the rest of the week I headed with Locky to his host fam's massively huge, absolutely beautiful farm!!


**Insert Pictures**



Now i thought i had been over-enjoying the amazing food Brasil has to offer before, but my daily consumption was nothing compared to the food we ate that week!! I think it was basically christmas in one meal.. for every meal!! (Again, not whinging!)
So me and Lock spent the next few days sleeping, eating and living by the pool! A week well spent by any means in my opinion!!

But unfortunately, didn't last long enough and it was back to school... Which leads me back to the topic covered in the previous dot point!

So these two above mentioned topics have made up my past couple of weeks!! I'd hate to bore you with the little details so best to leave it at that!!

Until my next shindig...

Adeus amigos!! x

Party number 1.

Wow.
So I'm in Brazil..... and it is freakin amazing!!!
Thought I'd give everyone a quick update on my shenanigans so far....



So after all the travelling, planes, airports etc .. I finally arrived in BRAZIL!!! I landed in Brasilia (my home city) to a welcome party form my host family; uncles, aunties, cousins, complete with signs! It was awesome.

So after meeting the whole gang, who by the way are really awesome(but speak minimal and/or no English, can get awkward..), we headed to a typical Brazillian restaurant, the food was delicious!!! My host family then took me on a tour of Brasilia which was great but the effect of minimal sleep over the past few days started to take effect and I went home and crashed for 18 hours. The next day we had a big family BBQ at our place and the days activities pretty much consisted of eating, swimming, sunbaking, more swimming and then more eating! And there were minimal salads, by minimal i mean none! It was all meat!! Beautiful meat, I am definately not complaining! I even tried chicken hearts! (They were suprisingly good!)


The next week was spent laying by the pool, hanging out with my host sister and cousin and a lot more eating! Pretty hard life. Then...The Weekend!!! My first weekend in Brazil I LOVED!! My host family took me to a mall on Saturday, not just any mall, I'm talking a big eff off mall! So imagine pretty much the population of Wagga in a mall, throw in a few hundred shops and a rollercoaster inside and you have my experience!! Sounds hectic but it was sensational!! We went in in the morning and when we left it was dark! Then saturday night my sister and her friends took me to a club. A night out in Brazil starts late, you have predrinks at about 11, then head out around 1 (as places dont open til midnight), then party on til whenever!! Fantastic. But the line for this place was equivalent to, no joke, approxiamtely Romanos to the Duke! We finally got in and it was sensational in there. It's in like an old warehouse thing, dj stage, the whole thing. Now the ordering a drink process becomes interesting when you can't speak their language (oh and my host sister doesn't speak English either), so I decided to order a Smirnoff Ice, thought I was pretty safe with that one! I thought it was something along the lines of a Smirnoff black.. But no.. What's in the title is all you get! Smirnoff and ice... But i decided I was going to drink it anyway.. And I did! I was proud of my achievment of getting through a whole glass of straight vodka without vomiting.. dont get me wrong there were definately some shady patches there!
After that I decided to leave the drink ordering to my sister. The night was amazing!! Although kinda spoiled a bit when, when on the dance floor you are constantly getting sleazed onto. You don't know the full meaning of sleaze until you've been out in Brazil! I'm not talking the occasional arse grab, I'm talking guys constantly grabbing you trying to kiss you! Makes aussie guys look like gentlemen! Spoils it a little bit.. But other then that, twas a great night!

Sunday morning wasn't the best of mornings but after some good old Brazillian food I was fine! Sunday is soccer day in Brazil, and they love their soccer! Unfortunately the teams of my city suck and are in shit divisions so you have to travel to watch a good game! But my brother took me to this soccer bar to watch the game, this was cool! The fans are intense!! And my team (Corinthians) won!! My brother and his girlfriend said they would take me to a game soon! I can't wait, it'll be hectic as!!

And that was my weekend, twas pretty flippin cool!

This week my host sister went back to school and parents and host brother went back to work! This left me at home by myself, oh well with the maid but she doesnt speak any English! Was a very cruisey week! Pretty much consisted of the pool, food and movies! I know, I came all the way to Brasil to partake in activities that could have been done in Australia, well I don't think I'm quite ready to wonder into they city on my own, as Tailah keeps telling me, there's a high possibility I will get kidnapped and sold on the sex trade! So for now, possibly best to stick with the pool. But next week I start school which I can't wait for!!

So that's my adventure so far.. Just throwing this out there.. Brazil is amazing!!!

Missing everyone already!!


Until next time,

Adeus amigos! x