I've been eating way too much fast food lately. I feel disgusting.

BUT ON A LIGHTER NOTE
GUESS WHO'S PLAYING PERSONA 3 8DDDDDDDDDDD
at 801_addict's house so it'll take forever for me to finish;;

THIS MEANS I HAVE TO DRAW FANART

And also I'd say something about Rio being the host for the 2016 Olympics, but I know that if I start I'll never stop and you probably would not want to listen to my rambling. But I'm happy :DDD

I guess I can add "America" to my list of nicknames I've gotten for places.

Anyway, I got elected President of Art Club today. Sarah is my vice.

Went to Hollywood Bowl with some people to watch this concert of Brazilian music. I fell asleep in the middle of it, then woke up with fireworks.

But mostly I feel mega-depressed for unrelated reasons and everything makes me want to cry.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, BRAZIL~
speaking of which my mom was raving about 1808 yesterday AND I STILL HAVEN'T FINISHED rrrrrr

Saturday: Went biking. IT WAS AWESOME. I switched bikes with my mom and realized just how terrible my old bike is, because this was the highlight of my week. I need to buy a new bike and go out more often, it was great.

Sunday: Mom said we were going to the pier, so I assumed Santa Monica pier. No, we went to San Clemente, which also has an awesome beach, and then my mom berated me for wearing jeans at the beach. Well, how was I supposed to know!? I wanted to go swimming, too! I didn't even bring a bathing suit! What a wasted Sunday. But it was a beautiful place anyway.

Today: Was supposed to go out with 801_addict, but she didn't return any of my calls. Hopefully she's alright. So I just stayed at home and worked on stuff I owe people on DA.

I've been feeling so blah lately!
..........
Uwahhhh I feel like I'm wasting my time here in Brazil! What's the point of travelling if I'm just gonna stay home all day. Maybe I can get away if I take the bus. But my mom is coming next week. So maybe I'll get out of the house more.

Paraty is a colonial town in Rio de Janeiro and I love it so much it gets its own post.

( Click meee )

Luminárias, where I stayed with my aunt and uncle for a few days!

( Click this! )

Part twoooo! This one includes Três Corações, São Thomé das Letras and Tiradentes.
( ”Click )

Pictures that I took at and around Poços de Caldas, near the border of Minas Gerais with São Paulo~ Warning: HUGE POST with tons and tons of pictures!

( Click click! )

Here's a recipe for the popular Brazilian sweet, Brigadeiro. Because some people asked. And also because it is delicious and you should try it.

Ingredients
1 can condensed milk
8 to 10 tablespoons or so of powdered chocolate. this depends on your particular preference, and also on how sweet the chocolate is. I usually use Nescau chocolate milk mix.
1 tablespoon unsalted butter again, to taste.
Optional: Sprinkles.

PART ONE
Microwave instructions
Put all ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover with saran wrap and poke holes into it (between 10-20 toothpick sized holes should work), and make sure it's wrapped tightly. Also make sure the bowl is deep enough. Place in microwave for about 2 minutes, keep an eye on it so it doesn't overflow. Remove wrap, stir vigorously, and then cover with a new wrap (or the old one, if it still works) and put in for another 2 minutes. Do this two more times, or until it really starts to boil, then reduce to one minute at a time for two or three more rounds. The point at which you should stop comes with experience, but once it gets sticky and hard to stir you should stop because it will get harder as it cools. It depends on the consistency you like, I prefer it softer.

Traditional instructions
Put everything in a saucepan and boil at medium heat. Stir constantly so that it won't stick to the bottom of the pan. if it starts to overboil splash some cold milk into the mix, but not too much. If it starts to overboil again, turn the heat down, or turn it off altogether until it stops. Stir to the desired consistency and then turn off and let cool.

PART TWO
Brigadeiro is great to eat by spoonfuls, especially for movie night snacks, but traditionally they are rolled into balls.
http://ronaldorossi.com.br/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/brigadeiro.jpg
Yum.

Rolling brigadeiro can be tricky. It can be quite a mess to those inexperienced.
Set out a bowl with the sprinkles in it. Set out a tray with miniature cupcake liners.
And set out a bowl of softened butter or margarine.
Rub your hands with the butter/margarine until they're slippery. Take a tablespoonful of brigadeiro, roll it off the spoon with your thumb, and then roll it in the middle of your palms into a small ball. Once it's at a good shape, drop it into the sprinkles and roll it again until it's covered, then pick it up carefully and drop it into a mini cupcake liner.

Do this 100 more times, or until you run out of brigadeiro.

Back home in Curitiba after driving for 12 hours. It seems my cold has gotten worse, I can barely breathe at times. I'm taking four different medicines- it's ridiculous but at least I can sleep at night.

Anyway, PARATY. IS THE BEST PLACE EVER.
It's so adorable. Really really adorable.
Oh, we went to this awesome Italian restaurant, and the lady took a liking to us for some reason and gave us free ice cream ;o; it was homemade gelato, AMAZING.
But the best thing is they had KINDER EGG FLAVOR.
With actual Kinder Egg pieces.
And it really tasted like Kinder Eggs. IT WAS THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER HAD THE PLEASURE OF EATING.

And um.
I better go to bed soon. This fever might make me delirious.

Ahhhhh~ It's been great! I haven't been updating consistently because I don't always have computer access... Well the last two days I went to my first two concerts ever! And I got to meet the singers backstage too! Paula Fernandes and Wilson Sideral. They're pretty famous here in Brazil @_@ Sideral tossed his guitar pick into the audience and I caught it, haha! My brother is so mad at me for that. He keeps trying to steal it. Honestly I didn't care much for Paula but Wilson *_* His brother is the singer of my favorite band. XD

On the more touristy side of things: Yesterday I went to the historical city of Tiradentes, which was awesome. I love love love colonial architecture. And the churches are all covered in gold *_*

Wheeee I'm in Luminárias!
It's this little town in Minas Gerais of about 7000 inhabitants. My uncle is the current mayor of Luminárias. Well, actually he's my uncle by marriage, but it's cool. My aunt- who is also my godmother- lives here with him at a little ranch, it has a ton of dogs and some cows and horses and cool stuff

On the way here we stopped in Três Corações, which is the birthplace of Pelé, but we only stopped there for lunch. Then we went to São Thomé das Letras, which is a town on top of a mountain full of hippies and crazy people- really! they produce a special kind of stone which is used for swimming pools and the entire town is covered with them.

Oh, and my brother won't stop annoying me. He keeps ripping at me for everything I like, including the fact that I blog on livejournal. What a brat.

Today was a really full day!
I took tons of pictures. I can't wait to post them, but first I need to get back on my own computer.
Tomorrow morning we're heading off to Luminarias. It'll be awesome :D

I'm in Poços de Caldas now!
Last night I had a pretty horrible fever, but I feel better now.

I.... I kinda want to go to Anime Friends @_@ It'll be in São Paulo while we're there...! But we already only have 2 weeks to travel as it is, lol.

So I only have today to really kick back and relax in Curitiba. Tomorrow we'll be on the road again. And if we have nothing to do in São Paulo I really hope we don't have to go through it. Think of the worst traffic jam you have ever gotten stuck in: São Paulo is ten times worse. Spend a day in São Paulo and you'll never complain about traffic again. On the other hand they have all sorts of awesome import stores there. We'll see.

In any case, I really want to go to Ouro Preto @_@ I hope we have the time! I've never been there but I love the colonial architecture;;; Oh and we better be stopping in Paraty. Paraty is AWESOME.

BRAZILLLLL BABY
Sooo it was what, 4 hours flight LA - Chicago, then 10 hours flight Chicago - São Paulo (I can type ã now!), then 6 hours driving from São Paulo to Curitiba.... I'm tired, but my biological clock says it's still 5 PM so I'm not really sleepy.
First thing I did was eat a Club Social. Damn those things are addictive. Then we stopped by a barbecue place.
When we got to Curitiba I had Nutrelinha and requeijão. They have the old formula uwahh <3 the liquidy type one! I didn't like the creamy kind! But I'm not used to speading the liquidy one anymore so I made a mess haha.
Sooooahmmmmn. I better get going, I guess.

OH.
MY BROTHER IS FRICKIN TALLER THAN ME NOW
whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat

Bye guys! I'm going to Brazil today. I'll definitely have internet access once I get there but it'll take a while (plus I'll be travelling a lot).

Today I went to a Hetalia meet with 801_addict. But I'm tired so I'll save that story for tomorrow.

Also today was the Confederation Cup final. Those of you who have me on Facebook got spammed to death with my incessant cheering, but hey, I'm Brazilian and we were losing 2x0 the first half with US. Luckily we turned it over and won 3x2. I did manage to stress myself to the point where I kicked myself into a bout of hypoglycemia and nearly fainted. By the time the game was over I was lying facedown nearly completely wiped out. Then I downed two glasses of chocolate milk and a lot of candy and that woke me up for a bit.

.....

Hypoglycemia really sucks. But at least I get to eat all the chocolate I want.

But it would have been really shameful to lose the cup to the US. Damn.

Stayed at home all day today! That's no good for a Sunday. OTL But I'm feeling better now, Kaitlin finally replied to me, so that's good.

Speaking of which. 5 DAYS UNTIL MARYLAND. w00t~~

Wow, today really is a very uninteresting day. I can't think of anything to say besides the fact that I sat around and ate chocolate :( I drew on Tegaki as well, but I still haven't posted anything.

Oh... on Friday mom changed the plates on our car. They say "US BRZL" now. XD we're such dorks. We also have this little heart-shaped sticker that's half the American Flag and half the Brazilian Flag. But mom says, "This sticker is disproportionate, the Brazilian half should be much bigger!"

I know I'm always talking so much about Brazil, but I just love it too much ;A; You know, people always brighten up instantly when you tell them you're from Brazil. Like the counselor at SMC, or the guy who gave my mom the plates, or those girls in my history class. Brazilians are joyful people. And they're infectious people. Like from that one book I have: "sometimes foreigners end up being more Brazilian than Brazilians themselves." Uwahh I can't wait until 2014. I'll have graduated from college! What better gift than a World Cup in your home country? Nothing! And you all better show up. And watch some games in Curitiba. Because Curitiba is unloved. CURITIBAAAA. Plz go there and help our tourist industry.

Ok lol I got totally sidetracked on that. But whatever. Point is I'm feeling fine.
And I need to make my yearbook OTL