Instituto João XXIII

So today was a long day, but a great one! It started with waking up at 7:30am which is really 6:30 am Macon time -- so yeah, but breakfast was great and was a mixture of fresh fruit and baked goods! We were able to exchange our money for the local currency which is the real ( pronounced Re-Al) and the conversion rate is 2.8 Real for 1 USD so a little goes a long way here.

Lemons and Avocados 

After a class meeting and learning about our tasks for the day we then went to the grocery store. This is pretty much my favorite part of going anywhere outside the US, foreign grocery stores! The fruit section was huge and had the biggest lemons and avocados I have ever seen! Everyone was super nice in the store and was helpful when it came time to check out and pay. It is 10 blocks away from our hotel so we had to walk there and back so my cart was pretty much empty except for some essentials. So basically I had a liter of Coca-Cola (which is made with real sugar and is delicious) and the Brazilian soda pop plus some spaghetti noodles and pasta sauce. It was such a great experience at the market and I cannot wait to go back!
After lunch which was at a small bakery with really yummy pastries that you pick it out yourself and get lots of small things and then they weigh it - then you pay. We were able to go the school we will be working at building our water filter and fixing a structural problem. We took a bus to the school and then walked a two miles from the bus stop into the favelas where Instituto João XXIII is located. The institute functions to provide children with a place to go and classes to attend to keep them out of gangs, classes range from Judo to violin to chess. Hosting different children, from multiple districts everyday they had about 65 kids ages ranging from 7-14 and they were so eager to meet us and kick our butts in soccer. We had an introduction to the institute administrators and the staff then were able to play with the kids and take a dance lesson.

Carnivore Pizza

Then a large group of us sat in on a judo class where we learned how to be thrown to the ground by 10 year olds with blue belts. After a long day at the school we were released into the streets of Vitoria, after a long and crowded bus ride, for dinner. Six of us decided to go to Mister Pizza a local pizza place that mixes Brazilian culture with pizza. It was pretty much the best pizza I have ever had! Mine had four different types of meat, fresh onions and roasted garlic on top! Hungry yet? The food here is constantly amazing me with how delicious it is and the different combinations of ingredients that influence a whole culture. Also most foods here are free from any artificial preservatives and are fresh from local growers.
After dinner we went for a night swim. With the seasons being different here than in the United States, it is fall. Which means that it is only 89-95 degrees everyday and the locals complain about the cold all the time and stare at us from their apartment buildings when we jump in the pool at 7:45 at night. This also means that it is gets dark SUPER quickly here and it takes some getting used to! Sunset starts around 4:30 and by 6 pm is the completely dark - so weird!
That is pretty much all for today, we are all settling in really nicely and are constantly attempting to speak Portuguese and interact with the locals. Even though I am exhausted to the brink of falling asleep in the shower, I hope every day is as wonderful as today was!
Tchau and until tomorrow,
Alexis