My Beautiful Daily Life in Campo Grande! Plus, the Pesque Pague!

Two weeks ago I had a whole week of holidays from school! I didn't really know why I had holidays but I for sure didn't complain! One day was the birthday of Mato Grosso do Sul's sepration from Mato Grosso, the other was "Dia das Criancas" or "Children's Day". On those two days I went to the Pesque Pague with my host mom and helped out there. One day I washed plates for about five hours but I wasn't bored because there are always things to do! I like that!

 

 

In the morning Lais and I got up early to go buy stuff for the Pesque Pague such as soda, limes to flavor the fish, and LOTS of beer!!!! Beer is probably the best selling item at the Pesque Pague, even more than fish! haha!

I went with her to buy worms at a little fishing shop. I went to the same place on my second day here in Campo Grande and it was cool because this time I actually knew what was going on and I wasn't completely terrified and shocked by every little thing! EXCEPT these huge worms!!! The family who owns the shop thought it was funny to see an American laughing and squirming at all the enormous worms! They found me the biggest one they had and had me hold it to take a picture and laugh at me!! Pretty awesome!

 

Ahhhh! It's so fat!! It kept squirming all over the place!

 

They let me hold this fish that some guy caught!!! It's so ugly and it was so heavy!!!! But it's ok because I'm super buff.....haha just kidding!

 

How cute! haha! This type of fish is called "dourado" or "gold fish"!!!! Yeah, I'm not even joking!

 

Later at the Pesque Pague I caught this fish!! It's huge!!! I almost couldn't reel it in!! It was so heavy and it was flopping around so I had a hard time picking it up! I think everyone thought I was pretty crazy....the American girl screaming, "Pegei um peixe, EUUU PEGEI UM PEIXE!!! AHHH!!" (I caught a fish, I CAUGHT A FISH!!!!) I was laughing so hard!

The little girl with me is named Julia and she and I went fishing for a long time together! She's so cute! She would throw the line in, wait three or four seconds and take it out and most of the time the bait would fall off. She would scream every time, "Ele comeu, ele comeu!" (He ate it, he ate it!!) And so we did that over and over until I put the bait on really tight so it wouldn't fall off and then we decided the fish weren't hungry anymore!

 

My fish!!!! I can't believe I caught it!!! And do you want to know what I caught it with? Not with power bait!

 

 

I caught it with three of these berries called "amora"!!! They're exactly like blackberries except more sweet and they grow on small trees! So now everyone knows that instead of going out and finding worms or using bait, just use some blackberries and you've caught yourself a huge fish!! My Dad is really jealous right now I'm sure.....hahaha!

 

At night, more fish arrived at the Pesque Pague in a huge truck! They opened the hatch and tons of fish and water burst out all at once!! It was way awesome!

 

They picked out a big, fat fish flopping around for me to hold!! I couldn't do it! I was screaming and laughing too hard! Wadi, (Lais's nephew or my cousin) had to help me and he was laughing too! I think everyone at the Pesque Pague now thinks that Americans are nuts!

 

During the day I helped take care of Wadi's son, Gabriel! He is the cutest thing ever!! I have never heard him cry! I'm going to teach him English! I only speak to him in English and then everyone else speaks in Portuguese....I bet that baby is super confused! haha! He's adorable!

 

Saturday my friend Jean came home from the temple in Campinas, Brazil after spending a week there with the caravan. It was good to be able to hang out with him again! I was so jealous that I couldn't go to the temple! It was also his sister Caroline's 18th birthday so they invited me to her birthday party!

 

 

On the left is the bishop's family, then me and Jean, then Caroline, in back is Guilherme, then Ana, then Lehi. Caroline and Jean's mom made two delicious cakes - pudim and brigadeiro!

 

Playing poker with the Bishop!!! It was super fun! (Next time we're inviting President Monson!! haha just kidding!) The bishop's daughter won and I think I came in second or third if you can believe it! But I really didn't know what was going on....I showed Jean my cards just about every round and did whatever he told me! Hahaha! Poker is really confusing...especially trying to learn in Portuguese!

 

Sunday, Caroline received her Young Women Medallion! I went with her family to their ward congratulate her. This is the whole family - plus me!

 

Jean, Caroline, and I!

 

The Young Women's President is expecting a baby!! Everyone is super excited!

 

On October 17th I went to my school's graduation! It wasn't an actual graduation because we all still have to go to school - it was just symbolic. When school actually ends everyone is going to be travelling around taking tests for different universities so they have to have the graduation ceremony early.

It was a really special ceremony! Each student was honored in a little way by coming up to the stage one by one with a song they chose playing in the background and a picture of when he or she was a child and then a recent picture showing on the screen. They had one girl come up and thank God for all He did for the students during their time in school. I thought that was beautiful! They had another couple students come up and thank the parents and then each graduate gave their parents a heart balloon and a hug. It was a really cool moment! I really enjoyed it! I also was a little sad because I will never get to participate in my own high school graudation. But that's ok! I'm in Brazil! How many people can say they got to spend their Senior year in Brazil???

 

 

At the very end all the graduates did the Gangman Style dance! My friends Laura, Ingrid and Ricardo are leading in the front! They wanted me to dance but.....it was just too awkward!! hahaha!

 

 

One day at school a Samba group came to play for us! Brazil is famous for Samba music and Bossa Nova! I loved it! The music is really beautiful and fun to listen to!

 

 

 

So Many Wonderful Things Have Happened!!!

So obviously it's been awhile since I've updated my blog so I have a lot to say! I've done a lot of simple things but they have all been new and wonderful! My friend sent me this message today and it meant a lot to me! (She's an english teacher so the message was in english!)

Hello, Jessica!
I saw some of your photos from your adventure in Brazil and I needed to say that it's amazing to see how you're enjoying simple things that many of us just take for granted.
I hope your days continue like that, full of happiness.
xoxo

I thought about what she said and realized that I don't need to be an exchange student experiencing so many new things every day to enjoy the simple things! I should find joy in the seeminly normal, unimportant things like smiling, laughing, talking to a friend or family member, watching the rain fall, learning something new, playing a beautiful piece on the piano, or watching a child play. The small and simple things in life bring more happiness than great riches and luxuries. Life is much more about making the personal decision to be happy, to smile, and to laugh every moment and cherish each second! I'm learning that here! I don't want to waste a minute! I'm shaping my life with every moment and I want my life to be full of joy because I make it that way!

 

This was at what was more or less a talent show at my school. This is a Japanese traditional dance ceremony. They have music in the background and dance and hit their drums then shout "heeeeeeeeeee YA!!" Way cool and they looked so happy doing it!

 



 

The girl at the front of this picture was one of the leaders. She didn't have a drum and she was one of the more animated dancers. It made me happy to watch them!

 

My friends danced hip hop at the show! They did a great job! 

I played the oboe in Nirvana with my friends who play the violin, guitar, and drums!!!  CRAZY!! I never thought I'd ever play Nirvana on the oboe! We played, "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Yeah, it was interesting! Don't have a picture....sorry!

 

 

Last weekend I went to Tres Lagoas - the third largest city in Mato Grosso do Sul - for a Rotary meeting to learn the rules of exchange. I had a host family there for one night and I loved them! They were so sweet! They have 10 year old twin daughters and a son who went on an exchange to Taiwan but right now he's living in Sao Paulo studying.

 

Meeting Sunday morning to learning the rules! We exchanged pins and cards with all the exchange students- and only spoke English!!!!!! My Portuguese really suffered after that!

The girl on the right with the sombrero is my friend Meagan. She is NOT Mexican, she is Canadian! This is a quote from Meagan, "Didn't ya know, all Canadians wear sobreros!!!" hehehehe!

 

My fellow Americans!!! Lucas is from Michigan and Abby is from Idaho!! They both live in Campo Grande. Lucas goes to my school and Abby is going to start studying at the university this month.

 

Ale - my host sister's host sister!!!! My host sister Maria is staying at Ale's house in Mexico and now Ale is living in Tres Lagoas! Coool! She is SO awesome and nice!

 

These are ALL MEXICANS EXCHANGE STUDENTS!! There are about 45 exchange students in our district and about half of them are Mexican!! hahahahaha!

 

This painting was at a restaurant we ate at. It's a beautiful picture of a Native Brazilian Indian!

 

We had to take a picture of this tree - it's doing the RYLA sign!!!

 

In Portuguese, "Tres Lagoas" means "Three Lakes". So, naturally there are three lakes in Tres Lagoas! This was one of them and it was beautiful!

 

The Cristus of Tres Lagoas! I'm standing with Denisse and Ana Gabriella, the other exchange students from my Rotary Club, and both of them are from Mexico!

 

So, one day my host mom said that she was bringing me home a present from work....JACA! I didn't know what that was so I said that was cool. I came home and this huuuuuuge thing was sitting on the counter!!! Jaca fruit! I've never seen anything like it!

 

Lais cut it open and it has a distinct, strong smell....really sweet. The center strip is SUPER sticky!! We had to use oil to remove the stickiness from our hands and it took a lot of scrubbing!!

 

We removed the little slimy pods after cutting out the sticky part. You eat jaca by putting the little pod in your mouth, taking out the big pit and then swallowing the fruit like you're swallowing a goldfish! It's so slimy and slick that it's hard to chew! At first it was so strange I wasn't sure if I liked it! But after I ate a few, I decided it was delicious! Jaca is super sweet and after you get past the slimy texture and stop imagining gold fish, it's really tasty! It's also HUUUGE so we had two tupperwares full of jaca fruit! My breakfast for four days.

 

 

Now, I wouldn't have ever guessed that JACA GROWS ON TREES!!!! I thought it couldn't possibly be more weird that it already was but it is!!! It's like saying that pumpkins grow on trees! I had to be careful because if one of those jaca fruits at the top of the tree fell on my head, I would be dead, dead, dead!!!!

 

This is a cow! Look at her ears!! ohhhh! so cute! I took this picture at the pesque pague across from the jaca tree!

 

My host mom bought me a watermelon from a fruit vendor on the side of the street. Yumm!

 

I got to see and pet an arara!! An arara is like....a parrot or a macaw or something ( says google translate) . But it's really just an "arara". They're beautiful birds and Campo Grande is known for the araras here!

 

I also got to see a banana tree! I didn't know that there was a big flower growing from the bottom of the bunch of bananas! How cool!!! Also, banana trees die after growing just one bunch of bananas! How sad!

 

 

So, this looks like torture, but it's actually a celebration!!!!!! hahaha! My friend Vitor found out he got accepted into a highly competetive school in Rio de Janeiro to study medicine! It is insanely difficult to get into medical school here! You have to get a super high grade on the entrance exams and people study for hours a day for years to get in! There are something like 80 people studying for hours and hours per day to fill ONE vacancy in the medical school!!!

 

 

Shaving Vitor's head and painting his whole body! So cool! Why don't we do this in the States??????

 

Congratulations Vitor!!!!!  He's going to be a heart surgeon and he says I can go to his office for free or for a discount if I ever need it one day! Hopefully I won't need to but....it's good to know that I've got a heart surgeon friend if I need one!!!! Obrigada Vitor!!!

I want to shave my head in this heat....just saying!

 

Friday night I went to my friend Vitor's good bye party. He left for Rio Monday morning. We all signed a stuff animal pig to congratulate him because he loves bacon! hahaha!

 

We ate churrasco at the party.......SOOOO MUCH MEAT!!! Oh my goodness, it was tasty though! My friend Leticia taught me the coolest tip.....she puts a match in her mouth while cutting an onion to keep from crying!!!! I don't know how she figured that one out....but.....ok!!! It seemed to work....she's smiling in the picture and not crying!!

 

 

Last week I went out to the park with my really good friend Jean. It's a beautiful park and it's really close to my house. I don't have pictures with him in them because he took the pictures. :(

 

Handcart pioneer monkeys!!!!!

 

Jaguar!!!

 

Sunday I went to Jean's house to have lunch, meet his parents, and go to General Conference! His family has a ton of instruments at their house! It's a house full of music so I fit in pretty well! They have a saxophone, flute, piano, drums, recorder....and this thing that I forgot the name of! It's to call cows! It has a really cool sound....like a cow!

 

This is Jean's family! I LOVE them so much and I feel part of their family already! From left to right - Jean's dad, his brother, Tiago (15 years old), Jean, me, Caroline (turns 18 on Saturday!) and Jean's mom!

 

 

At night after Conference, I went to Jean's house again to celebrate his birthday which was on Monday! He turned 20!! In this picture is Jean's dad, the Stake President, and some of the missionaries.

 

Jean and I and the missionaries! All of them are Brazilians.

By the way, the news that young women can serve a mission at 19 was AMAZING!!! I cried!!!! I hope that I will serve a mission a year from now!

 

Singing Happy Birthday to Jean! We had to celebrate a day early because he left to go to the temple in Campinas that night with the caravan. I wanted to go SOOO badly.....but couldn't.

 

We all laughed all night! So fun! They love to joke around....but I didn't understand everything because everyone was talking at once and laughing and telling jokes.....but one day I will understand everything and be teasing them instead of them teasing me!! mwahahaha!

We ate "Pao paraguaia" which is like cornmeal, eggs, salt, and milk in a little cake and also we had a delicious chocolate brigadeiro cake!! Yummm! Jean is so kind - he gave me the first piece!  (The Brazilian tradition is to give the first piece of cake to someone important to you on your birthday) That "symbol" of him giving it to me first on his birthday really meant a lot to me and made me feel so good! It's good to feel important and loved even in little things like that! Jean is a great friend! But, he is leaving on his mission at the beginning of next year. He's waiting for the call. Hopefully he'll go to Utah!!!!!!

It was really cool watching Conference in Portuguese even though I didn't understand much. It made me miss home to see the Conference Center and the temple and temple square!!! Everyone asked me questions about it and asked me who I knew in the choir. What a cool experience!

 

Yesterday I went shopping with Jean's sister Caroline to find modest Brazilian clothes. I tried on these shoes......I couldn't walk without holding on to something! People at the store were laughing! hahaha! I need to practice.....shoes like this are very Brazilian! Brazilians may be generally shorter than Americans but they sure know how to wear heels!! One of the first things I noticed here in Brazil was that so many women wear heels!!! Hmmm....that may be one way that I don't adapt! I have absolutely no coordination!!!