Bike-riding and beading

hey hey!
sooo it's been a while since i've written, and clearly a lot of things have happened, so i'll catch everyone up to speed!
if you don't feel like reading everything, feel free to skip to the last paragraph.

SCHOOL: pretty cool, i've definitely realized the difference in levels of both the classes, the professors, and the students in my classes which is really different from what i'm used to. for example, in my class in UFBa, the public university which is free and harder to get in to and therefore only attended by students who went to private high schools (did you catch the irony in that situation?) the students are all pretty motivated and really on top of the subject. Even though we have to be there bright and early at 7 am - and this professor truly DOES show up on time lol - people are always asking questions, comparing the notes with other things they've read, etc. And the professor is amazing! He was definitely one of the brighter colors in the crayon box..Which is the complete opposite of my political economy class in UCSal which, while also being a good school, is in the Social service department. the professor is really nice but mumbles so much even the brazilians can't understand, and while it might be ok if he could write, at least, to make up for it, his handwriting looks like he's drawing cyclones on the board. i'm not really sure how he communicates, to be honest. anyways, last class we were handed a sheet with a bunch of questions about the readings we had done and about the charlie chaplin film we had watched during the previous two classes..we have 3 classes to do it. ummm i think i'm going to get an A in this class :D. as for my history class, the teacher is really sharp, just like my economics one, but it's hard for me to follow because it's a lot of class discussion so while everyone is presenting their theses about the latest readings i'm either wildly scribbling in an attempt to keep up with these history buffs or doodling as i've given up for the day lol. my classes with ciee are cool, i really like my portuguese class and we've started a blog as part of our class project so for anyone who speaks portuguese, it's on this same site: "boca pra fora"

FAMILY:
i have a new family! and they're AWESOME!! bc i realized the reason i had wanted to go home sooo badly after only being here for a month was because all my family did was watch tv and eat, which was only exciting for about the first two days and then i started to get very very lonely coming home and sitting alone in my room because everyone else was in theirs with their tv on. oh, and i realized that my host brother and sister kind of wanted nothing to do with me. so, i moved!
my family now is two boys, matheus 13 and gabriel 17, a dad, gil, and a grandma (!!!!!!) angelina who is staying with us for right now. actually, the boys' mom is in texas right now bc the parents are going through a divorce, but i'm totally in love with this family and angelina and i always stay up talking and she loves that i'm here because i always make the boys go out and do things with me and get them distracted. what i mean is she was telling me how gabriel has spent a lot of time on the computer and not doing much anything else, but he IS my new best friend! he's seriously so cool. last week he started playing capoeira at my school with me, which he had done for a little bit as a little kid but hasn't done in quite a few years, and he's so cute, a tall awkward skinny kid with glasses (those of you that knew me in junior high know why i identify on this one), who's quiet at first but once you get him talking, he's really fun to talk with! he loves going out with me and my friends, even going over to our neighbor's house the other night to watch the nightly "novella" (=soap opera that is on on EVERY tv in brasil at 9pm)! and my family DOES things! saturday i spent the whole afternoon playing with my grandma's other granddaughter ;D, playing with legos on the floor and then making a necklace with beads that i had brought with me from the states. she's 4, marianna, and is the cutest thing. at first she was like, grandma you only have ONE granddaughter, but now we're tight. yesterday i went bike-riding on a bike trail (15km) with my dad and brothers and we go to ALL of the bahia games. speaking of which, my little brother plays soccer, too, and i'm going to go to his game this saturday. THIS is my type of family. and i cook with my grandma! and she gives me hugs! and makes food just for me! I HAVE A GRANDMA!!! lol ok i'm done. anyways, i'll try to send pictures soon. oh and on saturday i met one of the uncles, gilson, who supposedly has a wife..that's been in france for the past two years..and is more than slightly effeminate..and came over with his male friend from são paulo for dinner..anyways. he's cool. i just think my grandma may have a couple illusions about that one. and apparently there's another uncle, the one that's marianna's father so i will be meeting him sometime soon.

other stuff:
i got mugged for the first time yesterday! i've earned my way into the group that combines just about everyone in brazil, but i have to say, i'm a little disappointed in today's muggers. i had been in a movie theater nearby in one of the museums that shows foreign films, when, after about a 1/2 hour of the movie, all of the power went out. apparently someone had been playing with the power lines in the street and cut the electricity for the entire street. walking out, my brother and i didn't even see this guy coming up to us - i thought he was just going to ask for money - when all the sudden he was saying, "i just want your cell phone. just want your cell phone" and patted my jean pockets and my brother, too. i just kept walking since it took a second for me to realize: "oh i get it. i'm being mugged" and was like "i don't have one, i don't have one" which he believed bc my tiny little purse was on my shoulder underneath my sweater that i had slung over it, so he didn't even see it, nor did he even take the wallet out of my brother's pocket, which he DID feel up. seriously, people, let's get a little more serious if we're actually going to mug. needless to say we crossed to where there was light as soon as possible to avoid ACTUALLY being robbed.

LAST PARAGRAPH:
so, in brief, life is sweet. it's getting hotter, ben is coming for carnaval!!! and i hope anna will!! and my parents are coming in january!! and i'm making friends! and i've had a rash for the past couple of weeks but i think it's clearing up...

love you all!
micha