Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all! I hope all is well with everyone. I really wish i was home to celebrate the holidays with my family, and when anyone brings up the thought of "Merry Christmas" I get teary eyed. I would just like to send out a Happy Holidays to everyone, and appreciate what you have. I know I would always complain about the cold, and the snow, and always having to be with my family. But being away from them and being in a totally different culture I really regret every having thought that. I know will value those little things a lot more. I will give you a brief overview of Christmas in Brasil. We have a Christmas tree and have presents under it. But tonight we are having a party with family. Sort of the same as back at home. It is just so uncomfortable because its not my family. I don't really know where i fit in. Here Christmas is nothing compared to how it is celebrated in the States. They don't have Christmas carols, no snow, no Christmas movie, they don't even know who Rudolph is. Spending Christmas with a totally different "family" I barely know is so awkward. After dinner with all the relatives, they go to the night clubs. Christmas is my favorite holiday and i never thought I would say this but I am kind of waiting to get this awkward day over with. Well I will try my best to adapt, but i wish all the best back in the states, i love you all. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT

Checking in

Hello everyone,
 I just wanted to let you know I am having the most amazing time on my trip to Nordeste 2011 if you want to follow the blog for the trip and check out what I am doing each day here is the link… www.northeastnovdez2011.blogspot.com It gets updated with all the activities we do and the stops we make! There are 89 exchange students from 21 different countries, and that makes a whole lot of craziness, but most importantly, one big family! When I get home I will be sure to add all of my pictures, I do not have my computer so I can't right now. But it is the best time of my life, and I don't want to leave! As Christmas is coming soon, I hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday season. Miss you all, and stay tuned for posts about my trip.

Love, Averie Cox

Pra meu amigos brasileiros, Eu estou com muito saudades de voces. Mas eu essa viagem foi legal demais. Eu vou contar tudo pra a gente quando eu volto! Eu espero que tudo é bom tambem! Aqui tem 89 outras intercambistas e 21 países diferentes, a gente esta uma familia grande! Até um pouco, eu te amo!

Beijos, Ave

A Horrible Disease

Home·sick

 [hohm-sik]

adjective

sad or depressed from a longing for home or family while away from them for a long time.

The worst feeling in the whole world, I would say is homesickness. As Thanksgiving is tomorrow and Christmas is right around the bend, I have been feeling very low. As families get ready for this wonderful holiday season; members of each family reuniting, I feel more and more alone. Thanksgiving is a holiday where I would always spend it with my family. Every year I would pick out a cute little outfit and go to my cousins house for a big Thanksgiving meal. All of my family was there, together as one. This is the first year that I have been away from home for the holidays. Today here in Brasil, it is very rainy and cold, this makes everything so much worse. Every thought that goes through my head is about family or friends back at home. As I am 5,000 miles away, and all I want is to be home with my family. The feeling of homesickness is the worst emotions I have ever felt. Yes, I went to summer camp for about 2 weeks when I was younger and I would get a little homesick there, but nothing compared to the feeling I have right now. The worst part of being homesick, is that it is always there. Somedays it is less, and somedays it is a lot stronger, but it never goes away. I watch as all of my friends are arriving home for the holidays to be with their families and I feel like there is a wall preventing me to do that. I know this whole experience is going to be well worth it in the end, it is just the single most hardest thing I have ever done. I know there are so many people supporting me back in the USA but here, I feel so alone. I have not been myself lately, so sick and so down, always sleepy, and I never have enough energy to ever do anything. I feel like this is the ultimate test, and i hope it gets better. For all of you in the USA have a Happy Thanksgiving and happy holidays! Make the most of them because they're truly missed over here.

Interact

 One of the best experience so far happened this weekend. EMIC it was called and it was for all the Interact and Rotaract's in Minas Gerais (my state). Rewind to about 2 weeks before the trip. On Facebook, my district has a group and thats how we all communicate. One boy brought up something about EMIC in Viçosa. I had no idea what it was, well neither did any of them. I tried to look into it and still didn't have a clue. I really wanted to go though, any chance I have to spend it with my Exchange Student friends I will gladly take it in a heartbeat. I wasn't really informed on any of the details about the trip, and if you know me, you know I wait to do things until the very last minute! (sorry mom ya things haven't changed) But anyways, saturday was the trip, and friday night before the trip I got in touch with my Exchange Student friend in a town close to me. I asked her if I could get a ride to Viçosa. It was hard to get in touch with the lady she was going with. She didn't answer her phone and it was getting down to the wire. I was getting nervous I wasn't going to be about to go. That friday night was tough. I went online right before I was going to bed, and saw my friend sent me a message on Facebook. She sent me a PDF of the invitation and what you needed to bring. It was about 11:00 pm and I brought it downstairs to show my mom. I needed a cushion to sleep on, an authorization from my club, and clothes for the parties each night. I still had no idea what it was, I thought it was just my district and it was something we had to go to, but I was totally wrong. So I packed my stuff, well some of the stuff I needed, the night before. My mom and dad were leaving the night before to go to the beach and if I didn't pull my act together in time I had to go with them. Not saying that the beach is a bad choice, I just really wanted to see my Exchange friends. I went to bed and the next morning my parents just decided to get me a taxi to go there. 3 hours in a taxi, and I arrived in Viçosa. The problem was; where to go. The person who I was supposed to call did not have any service, called him about 45 times and he didn't answer. Me and the taxi driver man, just sitting in Viçosa. Neither one of us knowing what to do, and not really speaking, because of the language barrier. Can you say AWKWARD. I then had an idea, I would call Juan, my district counselor and ask if he knew where to go. Thank God for Rotary business cards! I talked to him and finally found out where to go. I arrived at the place. It was a big warehouse looking building in the middle of nowhere on top of a hill. I thought to myself "I guess this is it huh?". I took my things out of the trunk and the taxi man left. Many kids walking by and some just hanging around. I was alone, awkwardly standing there. My blazer on (not to mention, the only one), my bags in my hand, and one very confused look on my face. The girl asked my what district I was from. I thought it was all my district but no, it was all the districts in my state. Interact is like a Rotary for teens, they put on 3 events a year, and this was one of them. The event my district organized. So I was standing there, alone. There was a group of kid at the "sign-in table" and thats where I was standing near. One boys finally started to talk to me. He spoke English. He asked where I was from and some basic questions. He asked if I came alone and I said yes. They were all very surprised, not sure why. They said I was brave...again, not sure what thats supposed to mean. So the conversation died down and I was still standing there. I get a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and it was Rogelio, a boy from Mexico, who is in my district. I whipped around and gave him a huge hug! I was so happy to find somebody I knew. We were talking and then more people started showing up. We both had no clue what to expect with this event. Vans would arrive and dish out a bunch of kids, and more would come right after, until the whole room was filled with kids. Some vans yelling chants about Interact and so much energy. Once my whole district showed up, it was so fun. We had so much free time, so we just talked a lot. I really liked it, just chilling out. Later that night we found more and more exchange students. Three more from Mexico, one boy from India, and a girl from France. All one big family. For those 4 days we were always together. Ana Flavia (Brazil), Natalia (Mexcio), Naime (Mexico), Rogelio (Mexico), Julio (Mexico),  Diego (Mexico), Ina (Philippines), Daniel (Mexico). You guys are my family. Before I left for the trip I was having a really hard time with homesickness, and I was not myself. But once I got home after this weekend with the other Exchange Students, I now am missing them, and feeling homesick from not being with them in Viçosa. Weird huh!
 Well I'll wrap this up by saying everyone there got very minimal sleep, at 6:30 the Veterans would run around the place going from room to room, banging on drums waking us up for food. The thing is, most of us just went to sleep at 5:00 AM so it was very rough. Our room was packed with people air mattresses and cushions, you could barely see the floor. It reminded me of camp, but it was so much fun!

A regular afternoon

Left to right: Daniel (Mexico), Rogelio (Mexico), Me (USA), Diego (Mexico)

All left to right: Diego (Mexico), Ina (Philippines), Me, Naime (Mexico), Rogelio (Mexico),  Miehra (France), Luis (Mexico), Natalia (Mexico), Amy (Mexico), Bharat (India), Julio (Mexico), Daniel (Mexico)

UniViçosa

Cheers

Meeting

Everyone!

The Warehouse. (AKA our home for 4 days)

One of the girls rooms (Where I stayed)

All the Exchange students again! + Juan and his daughter who went to Germany on Exchange

Just like home

 The other week I received a package. I looked and it was from home! I was so excited, I opened it right up, well took some time to saviour the moment. But I opened it. It was a box of brownie mix. I was so happy, I've been meaning to cook some American food, but I didn't know what to make. It was perfect. So the box had been sitting in the kitchen for a little while and my family kept asking "When are you going to make them?" I know I was holding it off, but they started to think I didn't know how to bake, which I mean I don't really but anyways. So one day when my sister was home I decided to make them. I thought it would be fun, and fun it was! Sayuri (my sister), Pare (my house keeper), and I started making them. I soon realized that they didn't have the right measurements as I needed, major problem. I got by with converting cups to mL on my computer. So the next step was to put it in the pan and bake it. They didn't have a regular square pan so I made them in what they had, which was an O type pan (you'll see what I mean when you scroll down to the pictures) After they were done, we obviously ate them. The first time they have eaten brownies and they loved them! I even brought a slice to all of my friends and they were in love. Everyone wants to know the recipe. The thing is, I made it out of a pre-made mix. oops. I found a recipe online that I will try to make again and teach them though.
 This past weekend I decided to man up and bake a little more. I made panquecas (pancakes). I had only made them once before and I didn't want to get my family sick, so I was a little nervous. My sister and I started out, reading the card my mom wrote for me with the recipe on it, that I translated to Portuguese so  she could understand. I had found a measuring cup in the kitchen that were 'cups'. Pare told me that they were bought in the USA, that sure helped out a lot. But as for teaspoons and tablespoons, I just had to eyeball it on an actual tea and table spoon. As we were making them I remember how my mom taught me, the batter had to be thick but not too thick, and thin but not too thin. It was tough. A lot of trial and error! I finally got it...or I thought. I put the first spoonful on the stove. Tsssz it burnt and I knew something went wrong. The batter spread to a thin layer on the entire pan, I knew it was wrong. I added more flour and tried again. My sister had doubted me, she thought I had no idea what I was doing, I kind of didn't, but I made it work! After the first couple burnt, we started getting the hang of it. I even made a few mickey mouse ones. While making them I had a flashback to back at home. I was picturing myself, a crisp fall day in the Berkshires. Everything full of colorful, fall leaves, and plaid clothing. I pictured myself sitting on Manny's (my grandmother) couch facing that big open window in front of me, waiting to see who would be the next to pass by. Obviously it was Gabey (my little cousin) as usual he was so excited to see us "the cousins!" and to show us all of his new toys. Along followed Pam, Tom, Harry, and Jax. Aroura and Henry were in the basement and ran up when everyone final arrived. I was not sure where we were going but we all geared up. Put out cute little fall mittens, hats, and coats on, and left. Beepa was last to leave, made sure all the lights were off, except for one above the table, and that the doors were locked. Another flashback to every morning while at Manny's house you wake up to freshly cooked pancakes and warm maple syrup. Walking down the stairs and seeing it already there for you, Thank you Manny, I love you. AH I miss home a lot and for all of you who can picture the exact picture I was thinking of, you would miss it too! But just like Manny I made the pancakes as she would. I had her in mind the whole time. I was so proud when setting the table, and most of all I was so proud to be sharing my traditions with my new family. They were so excited to eat pancakes, they have also never eaten before. I set the table with the little bottle of Maple Syrup and put the plate of pancakes in the middle of the table. They were unsure of how to begin eating such a foreign food so they watched as I placed a pancake on my plate, cut it up, and drenched it in delicious maple syrup! They all did the same and the first bite they took, they loved it! I can't tell you how proud I was that I made them right and that they all liked them! It was such a little deed but meant so much to me, it was the closest thing to home I had.

Brownies

The pan

Pronto

Pancakes

My sister making pancakes

Mickey mouse!

Thanks mom

More pancakes

Tables set.

Inspiration

 On Facebook I am in several groups for Exchange Students. People post different things all the time. Some people post questions, advice, quotes, and just random comments. It is good because all of us are going through the same experience. Like we always say "Because all exchange student love other exchange students" we are all one big family spread throughout the world. All supporting one another no matter what. I went on to read the latest comments today, and came across these two comments. They are spot on, so I thought I would share them with all of you.

"How do you know what is a dream if you never accomplished one? How do you know what is an adventure if you never took part in one? How do you know what is anguish if you never said goodbye to your family and friends with your eyes full of tears? How do you know what is being desperate, if you never arrived in a place alone and could not understand a word of what everyone else was saying? How do you know what is diversity if you never lived under the same roof with people from all over the world? How do you know what is tolerance, if you never had to get used to something different even if you didn’t like it. How do you know what is autonomy, if you never had the chance to decide something by yourself? How do you know what it means to grow up, if you never stopped being a child to start a new course? How do you know what is to be helpless, if you never wanted to hug someone and had a computer screen to prevent you from doing it? How do you know what is distance, if you never, looking at a map, said “I am so far away”? How do you know what is a language, if you never had to learn one to make friends? How do you know what is patriotism, if you never shouted “ I love my country” holding a flag in your hands? How do you know what is the true reality, if you never had the chance to see a lot of them to make one. How do you know what is an opportunity, if you never caught one? How do you know what is pride, if you never experienced it for yourself at realizing how much you have accomplished? How do you know what is to seize the day, if you never saw the time running so fast? How do you know what is a friend, if the circumstances never showed you the true ones. How do you know what is a family, if you never had one that supported you unconditionally? How do you know what are borders, if you never crossed yours, to see what there was on the other side? How do you know what is imagination, if you never thought about the moment when you would go back home? How do you know the world, if you have never been an exchange student?" -Jakub Wrobel

And just about an Exchange Student and the experience they go through, basically what I am living right now.

"Exchange is about learning.

It's not as easy as learning whatever is taught in school though.

It's about learning how to listen, how to speak, how to think. Learning who you are, who your friends are and the type of people you want as friends. Learning how to trust your innermost feelings, and how to find these feelings in the first place. Learning what's important to you and what you really don't give a damn about.

Exchange is about learning how to tolerate, how to accept, how to like and how to love. Learning how to give as you receive and how to trust that everything will even itself out on it's own. Learning that your mom and dad do have the right answers sometimes, and that your kid sister isn't such a dumb kid anymore. Learning that sometimes a kiss isn't just a kiss, sometimes it means more, sometimes it means less.

Exchange is about learning how to achieve, how to succeed, how to accomplish.

Learning how to not come in first place and still be proud and how to come in last and admit that you could have done better. Learning that large parties don't necessarily mean a good time. Learning that loneliness doesn't go away in a crowd, and that sometimes it's ok to be on your own a Friday or Saturday night. Learning that your lunchtime crowd doesn't constitute your popularity, and that popularity is all a matter of perspective.Learning that boredom is simply laziness of the mind, and watching 3 hours of TV isn't quality relaxation time.

Exchange is about learning how to pack a bag and to pack away a room full of way too much stuff.

Learning how to motivate yourself and how to motivate others. Learning how to swear in all different languages of all the other exchange students. Learning that people probably like you a whole lot more than they'll ever tell you and that it's your responsibility to make sure your friends know how much you appreciate them.Learning how to miss people enough to not stick them in the best, and how to not miss them so much that it keeps you from moving into the future. Exchange is about learning.. Learning how to live life. " -Anonymous

9 Peas in a Pod

The other weekend I had orientation. Orientation was just with my district, distrito 4580. It was a weekend for the people in my district to meet one another and to go over the trips we are able to go on throughout the year. The meeting was in Juiz de Fora, such a beautiful city. Juiz de fora is about 500,000 people, such a change from little Norwell, but the people who live there still think it's not a BIG city. I took a taxi there, 4+ hours in a taxi all alone, lead to a lot of sleep and one very awkward car ride. Well I showed up to the house, and was greeted at the door by Eduardo Medeiros, my chairman. He said "Hello, how are you?" I replied "I am fine thank you, and you?" and I walked inside carrying a pillow, a small rolling suitcase, a little bag, and my camera. It looked as if i was going away for two weeks but it was only a weekend. Not to mention wearing my Rotary Blazer, which weighs about a pound because of all the pins on it. As I walked inside, I saw two girls and a boy sitting around a table talking. I put my suitcase down and said hello to them. The two girls seemed like they had already been friends and none of them were wearing a blazer. They all seeming a lot older, I was confused. I though to myself, "Where are all the kids?" but I sat down and they asked me where I was from. Then they introduced themselves and we all started talking, talking...sort of. It was very awkward that we were all sitting around and not saying much to one another. Also not knowing what language to speak in. They were all from Mexico, so they were speaking Spanish to one another. I studied Spanish for 4 years at NHS and I thought I could converse a little with them. That was not the case, they spoke too fast and I would just get confused and not know what was going on. Then more people showed up. Three more from Mexico...more spanish, a girl from the Philippines, and a boy from Belgium. No one had been here for more than 2 months, so no one knew how to converse well in Portuguese. The majority of the lectures were in English, but all of the kid to kid talk was in Spanish. I felt so ignorant being the only one who knew one language besides learning Portuguese. For some students learning Portuguese was their 3rd or 4th language. As the night went on, no one really knew what to expect because no one knew how to ask what was next. We ended up sleeping in the "farm house" of Eduardo Medeiros. When we first arrived it was a very old, some-what creepy house that looked as if it had not had people living there for quite some time. It reminded me of the house out of the Addam Family. As we checked out the rooms, Natalia and I decided to room together. We picked the room with one big bed because Natalia forgot her roupas de cama. I put my suitcase down on the bed and I heard a huge "clunk!". Natalia and I looked at each other and sat on the bed. It was as if we sat on a rock, so hard. Great! this is going to be a great night. After we all settled we went outside and talked for a while. We took pictures and it was really fun. We all bonded so much. The next day I didn't want to leave them, and now I am counting down the days to see everyone again! 9 kids, 9 different lives, all going through the same big experience.

Juiz de Fora

Our house

Distrito 4580

Natalia (Mexico), Averie (USA), Ina (Philippines), Daniela (Mexico)

Dancing

More dancing

Our room

Natalia!

Our living room

language-less

 Languages are so interesting to me. I used to think it was a totally impractical concept to think in a different language. The thought that someone could be thinking in a different language in their mind. To see little kids running around talking in a foreign language Even the dog knowing more of a language than I do; it all is so incredible to me. I have started to get the hang of speaking in a different language. It still is an awkward concept, but every day I am adapting more and more.

 Today I was sitting in English class and I was looking through the workbook. I would come across words I had forgotten how to spell, or words that just looked funny to me. My friends always make me do their English work in the book, thinking I am some sort of English dictionary but, today I was doing the assignment in the book and I noticed I am forgetting English. A lot of the times I had write out the different variations of the word and choose whichever one looked correct. Similar to the way when you are stuck between 'field' and 'feild' or 'untill' and 'until'. I even asked my friend if she knew how to spell some words, the thing is she speaks Portuguese. I've come to a conclusion; I no longer speak English, and I don't speak Portuguese yet, so I consider myself language-less. Caught in between two languages, loosing one and gaining the other, but not able to obtain them both. It's a strange concept, I guess you could call me crazy, or you can just imagine yourself in my shoes and experience it for yourself!

All Eyes on Me

My Rotary Presentation was scheduled but I only had a weeks notice. The nerves started to settle in as I  sat in portuguese class and wrote down facts about myself on a white lined paper. It was basically an autobiography about myself and about my country. As I sat there listening to my Ipod I was writing about my family. I started to tear up a little bit just thinking about them and missing them more and more each day. I quickly snapped out of it just thinking about this opportunity and given the chance for such a life changing experience. I always tell myself "I'll see them soon, don't worry Ave, don't worry!". After school I went to CNA (an English school here in Manhuaçu) I go every week to get tutored in Portuguese. Flavía, my tutor, helped my edit and practice my speech. Not much notice about when the presentation was (obviously it was that night) I practiced any chance I got. I practiced it in school, to anyone who would listen, to my mom and dad, and to my friends. Whenever you saw me, you would always see a piece of lined paper in my hand, and me reading off of it probably mumbling words to myself. The speech became second nature by the end, whenever I would start it off "Oi Boa Noite, meu nome é Averie Louise Cox. Eu sou dos Estados Unidos..." my friends would always imitate me and finish the rest. They even knew it by heart. As I made my powerpoint and got ready for the Rotary meeting, I was told there was going to be 50+ people there. I thought yo myself "50+ people" and the nerves got even worse. Lívia helped me make brownies for the guests there just for a little taste of a real American desert. They weren't from the USA but they tasted pretty similar. As I put on my navy blue blazer and hopped in the car, I knew it was time. Real time to present what I've been practicing so hard for. My dad and I arrived at the meeting and surprisingly it just looked like a regular Rotary meeting. Just familiar faces sitting around a table, I was confused. Apparently 50+ people was not the case, and I was so relieved. After talking about normal things the man started to set up the powerpoint projector and I just kept on practicing. After he was done, it was time. I was the center of attention. Nervous as ever, microphone in hand, I took a deep breath, and started talking. "Oi Boa noite. Meu nome é Averie Louise Cox. Eu sou dos Estados Unidos, eu moro en Norwell Massachusetts. Eu tenho dezoito anos..." the nerves wore off; I knew this, I can do it, everything that I've practiced. After the speech was over, I got a big round of applause and everyone was so impressed. Many people came up to me afterwards with a huge smile on their face, giving me a big hug! It went awesome, I didn't even mess up. I now felt like I was part of the Rotary club of Manhuaçu and felt noticed. I was so proud of myself it couldn't have gone any better!

So many hugs!

Weddings

The last weekend my friends asked me to go to the movies with them. I was so excited! We arrived at the movie theater and only one movie was showing. It was 'Planeta dos Macacos' (planet of the apes). I had not seen it in English so I was in for the ride. It started and from start to finish..lets just say I probably could have understood more if it was muted. The next day we went to a wedding. My mom and dad said we were sleeping there so I packed a little bag and we were off. I was not sure what that consisted of but like always I was in for the ride. We finally arrived and it was so beautiful! It was at a hotel on a mountain. Everything already reminded me of home, there were so many trees and so much forest. After lunch my mom and I walked around. A little creek in the back, so many different flowers, and so many trees. After we got ready we went to the church, then the reception after that. I've been to more weddings aqui (here) than back at home. At the reception, we had dinner and then danced a lot. The next day when we were leaving we went closer to the peak. You aren't allowed to drive all the way up, but you can go meio way (middle-ish) So we went. Going up huge hills on a little dirt road, off roading to the max, dood thing we were in a truck. We finally got to the top and it was cold and cloudy. All you could see was clouds, it was like we were in a blizzard but with no snow. Alright thats a little exaggeration, but you couldn't see the view, only white. We went to a waterfall on the way down. The water was so clean and clear and it was so peaceful. Looking down the fall, with the mountains in the background. Perfect!

I've recently picked up more and more of the language. I still can't speak it very well but I understand a lot more. Everyday I can't tell you guys how much I learn! Now some words won't even translate in my head it just becomes a habit to use them. The other day I was skyping my mom and I found myself saying 'e' whenever I meant to say 'and', its actually quite strange. I have yet to dream in Portuguese but people say thats the time when you know your fluent. Every day my English is getting worse and worse. The other day I was convinced that 'horse' was spelt 'hourse' and my friends who don't know English that well had to correct me.

The other day I received some letters in the mail! It makes my day getting mail and that sensation of opening a letter from someone back at home. Thank you Ailish,  Joe, and mom/dad, it really means a lot that you guys took the time to write to me! And for anyone else who has some extra time to write a quick note my address is (I always try to write back as soon as I can!) :

Averie Cox
Rua Oliveira, 100 - Pinheiro
Manhuaçu, Minas Gerais
36900-000
Brazil

I've started going to the gym, and its something to occupy my time. I love the gym for some reason. I HATE running but every time I go to the gym I run for atleast 15 mintues. It's very strange. The ladies who work there are so awesome! I always talk to them, they dont know English but they dont judge my Portuguese.

Brigadeiro

Hotel

Can you see the face?

Flor

Such clean water

floresta

Bride

Pico da Bandeira

In the cloud

Chá e Desfile

Well I just learned how to change my blog back to English. Um primeira dia meu pai changed the language to Portuguese. From then on I would press all the links to try and figure out where to go. My "real" mom (yes, debbie I'm talk about you) said that it was good and it would help me but no I did not remember what links I pressed to get to the link that said Nova Postgem, so it did not really help, mom. But anyways, the outro dia eu fui a chá e desfile. It was muito bom! Right after breakfast I went to help set up, it took forever even with so many people there to help. Guila and I helped do many things. First we picked up the leaves around the yard outside I was not sure why we did this but it gave us something to do. Then, we filled the baskets on each table with cookies and such; eating more than actually putting in the basket, basically getting fat but thats another post for another day. After, we folded around 80 napkins. Once we finished everything we went home at this point it was about 4 and the tea started at 5 so we had to rush, something I am not very good at. But we went back to AABB (where the event was held) and everything was so beautiful, so fresh. The place filled with white chairs and glass tables, little flower bouquets in the middle of each table and little tea cups each accompanied by a ripened, red strawberry. Down the center of the room was a catwalk for the runway show. Once all the people arrived it was time for the fashion show (desfile) to start. The music started, everyone got quiet, and the first girl walked out. The clothes were so cute! Everyone so unique and so fierce.

meu pai checking people in

behind the scenes

whole room

Livia

Raiany

Clean up crew