Since my last entry much has changed. I have moved to my second family and my life has taken on a marvelous glow. I now live in a district or bairro called Ipiranga, which is about 25 minutes by bus to the center or the bairro of Savassi (where all the teenagers hang out). This is a magnificent change since I was previously used to an hour to just get to school. Unfortunately the bus ride to school is pretty lengthly yet I only have to take one bus instead of two.

I now live in an apartment which I love cause i get to have my own set of keys, which I find extremely fun. It must be because in Northfield we don´t even lock our doors so a set of keys to myself is very grown up! Living in an apartment means very little space so I share a room with Raquel and also a closet! At this time of the year, spring, it rains almost everyday which effects the electiricity so our lights go off and on during the storms. I don´t mind it in the least except that we have to unplug all the computers and tv because otherwise they might get electricuted. Also here when it is raining most people dont pick up their home phone lines because they think that they will get electricuted.

My new family is wonderful and has helped me so much with my sudden move. I have one brother, Markinho (17), one sister, Raquel (15), my mom´s name is Regane and my dad´s name is Marco. I also have a poodle, Maggie, who is 15 years old. I have never even seen a dog that old before and it surprisingly can still jumps onto beds and beg for food without much difficulty.

My mom is a Portuguese teacher and is also at the moment taking night classes to get degrees in both Environmental Conservation and Sociology. She also paints and there are a couple paintings in our apartment.

My dad works for an insurance, Liberty Mutual. He is passionate about three things: soccer, coffee and Carnaval! I seriously can´t think of anything better. Due to his coffee obsession, my family has a country house about two hours south of Belo Horizonte, in Santo Antonio, with a coffee farm! We usually go to the sitio every other weekend. I love going to the country because it gives me a needed break from the city. Similar to Minnesota where every family has a cabin, in Belo Horizonte everyone has a sitio or fazenda (farm) in the country where they go on the weekends.

Here in BH there are three teams: Atlético, Cruzeiro, and Galo. Yet my dad, sister, and brother are Corinthians fans (from São Paulo). And almost every Sunday my dad and sister go to the Mineirão, the enormous soccer stadium where some of the World Cup games are going to be played in 2014. So on Sunday I went to a Cruzeiro vs. Botafogo (Rio) and entered the world of futebol. It was amazing to feel the togetherness of an entire crowd all against the other fans and team.