When was the last time I posted something worth posting....? Anyway, yesterday I went to the German Woods. As the name might suggest, it's a German culture center. That has trees. And stuff. It's a really nice place, but the library was closed. Why? SWINE FLU. I am so tired of this. My patience is running very very low. IT'S NOT THE BUBONIC PLAGUE, PEOPLE.

Today I went to MON, but I forgot my camera chip. D'oh! But I did buy a nice bag. And then we went to ParkShoppingBarigüi (...that's such an awkward name) where I got stuff. Like notebooks. Brazilian notebooks are so awesomely cute *o*


Also yeahhhhhh meme:

Leave me a comment and I will reply with why I like you. If I don't know you, I'll either make something up or tell you why I like your LiveJournal. You must pay for the privilege by posting a message like this one on your LiveJournal.

So, went to Estação today. It's one of Curitiba's dozens of malls, and I hadn't been there in many years. It's completely different now, really, it's kind of odd. You know when you go to a place you knew as a kid, and you're amazed that everything is still the same? It was like that, except totally not. o_O

My mom was one of the architects who designed the place, so I always felt a connection to it, but now it's so different it's not her work at all.

Anyway, I bought two Coquetel logic puzzle books- the only two they had! Coquetel logic puzzles are hard to find, they usually only sell crosswords and codebreakers. Then I went to Livrarias Curitiba and bought a book by Luis Fernando Verissimo which is really good. BUT SO EXPENSIVE. I had trouble deciding which of his books to buy since I didn't have enough money D:

Then I went to Café da Esquina and had a hot chocolate. It was GOOOOOOOD.

....And it's gone again. Rain and cold once more.

Today I went to visit my grandparents. When I used to live here, it was like a ritual. Every Saturday we went to lunch at their house, and I always ate pasta and chocolate mousse. Every single time. And today was no exception. The house looks absolutely, exactly the same as it always has. My grandpa has gotten quite mellow. He's very excited about me becoming interested in animation, too. Last time I saw him, he was complaining about how much Brazilian animation companies suck and how much he loved watching animated shorts in the movies when he was a kid. (Being that he was born in 1927.) I'm actually really happy that I have his support, since he's usually a terrible grouch... and pretty much my only source of college money besides scholarships.

Well, it was nice to see them again. And it was nice to get out of the house and drive around the city a bit, even if it is raining. Everything is just so familiar and exactly as I remember it, and I know almost every inch of the city. But then every once in a while I run across something surprising. A new supermarket that wasn't there last time. A sweets shop that has been turned into a Subway (which my brother is addicted to). Things like that. The city lives on and continues to evolve, while still retaining that old familiarity.

And, going through my grandma's closet, I discovered something else. Workbooks. Schoolbooks. One of them from Jardim II (corresponds to Preschool/Kindergarten; I was 5 years old) and the other from 1st grade, when I was 7 years old. They contain some very interesting records of my childhood. I think the most striking thing was what I wrote for the assignment "write a letter to someone you know", from my 1st grade workbook. I chose to write to Oliver, my best friend from when I was three and whom I left behind in Los Angeles after moving to Brazil. It is covered in little pink hearts and anyone would assume I had a crush on the kid, which isn't true because I had a crush on Pedro Osti, after being rejected by Lucas Barrichelo, who incidentally I listed as my best friend in the Jardim II workbook...

Wel, that's enough of my childhood antics. It's almost 1 AM so I better go to sleep.

THE SUN
IS FINALLY OUT
After 5 days of rain

:'DDDD

Yesterday I talked to my mom for the first time since I got here. It appears she got bronchitis D: She had to go to the hospital and all, but luckily she seems to be recovering allright. Seriously, everyone is sick! But I got it worse than my dad or my brother or my stepmom. They're just sniffling while I cough my lungs out. My immune system was never really strong...

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

We have some friends over. My mom's friend Andrea and her son, Steven, visiting from Sao Paulo. Steven is 11 and so cute, haha. He's a big Harry Potter fan so he brought me all his collectibles, to show off. Today while were at the mall he kept trying to buy me things. He only had $5. But I didn't want him to spend his money on me so I refused everything.

Also, while we were at the mall, two things happened.

Greenpeace Agent: HEY YOU! PLEASE REMEMBER TO RECYCLE!
Me: Dude, I'm from Curitiba. We have one of the world's best recycling programs.
Greenpeace Agent: ......How old are you?
Me: 17.
Greenpeace Agent: Nice.
Steven: You totally just blushed him out.

And then. This lady comes up, and she's all, OMG! Is that your brother? And I'm all, no. He's a friend.
Well, turns out this is a talent agent. She spent a few minutes gushing about how adorable we both were- mentioning how we were both blonde- this other agent comes up and is all, omg! they're so cute! and the other one's all, ikr, and they asked me if I was a singer and I'm like........not really, but I didn't know what to say so I just kinda nodded dismissively. Then they gave me their cards and invited us to an audition on Sunday.

But I'm probably not going XD

Also. About Michael Jackson. I have a little confession.
The only one of his songs that I have ever listened to in its entirety was "Beat It". And that's only because they played it like 5 billion times in the Gym at school.
Yes, I am culturally deprived.
RIP anyway.

I'm home! Hooray! I missed my tablet *hugs* My room is a total mess because my mom uprooted everything. Also, Romano has three tomatoes now! :D They're small and green and cute. I'll take a picture~

Oh! my report card arrived!

( Picture under cut )

Awesome. XD I even somehow managed to get a B in PE! How the heck. And an A in English despite me totally BSing the final essay. Oh, I got straight As for History somehow? I though I had a B in there somewhere, but I'm glad to know my flashcards were worth something. (seriously, seriously, I must have 500 of them. OTL)

The writing on there is my mom's. Parabens = congratulations. She was all happy and like, "I'll give you a ticket to AX!" and I'm like, "dad already did, for my birthday." and she's all, "Oh. [...] I'll give you a cosplay instead!"

So I'm like, well, I do need a pair of boots and shorts, but I'm kinda reluctant to ask for boots because I wear the same shoes every single day and she probably won't like me buying them for a one-time event... That happens with every single cosplay. Do I ever wear any of those shoes? Nope. but oh well, if she'll give me a cosplay that's fine by me. I mean. How many parents do that? Teehee.

Speaking of mom being all up in my fandoms, something funny happened yesterday. You see, my aunt works for the government of Curitiba, and she's currently very busy setting up for the World Cup. (It's five years from now, but hey, we're Brazilian. Soccer = srs bsns.) So my mom's telling me about all these things, and then she's like, "You should totally make a character that represents Curitiba!" A la Hetalia. Well. Thing is, I already did XD I even made a Tegaki account, but I haven't posted anything because whenever I try to draw him, I always draw him like this: ಠ_ಠ even though that's not really his personality at all;; What makes this funnier is the fact that my mom doesn't even know what Hetalia is- although I did tell her, knowing my mom she forgot within two hours, sooo.

Anyway.

http://www.vimeo.com/1316102

This, my friends, is my cousin Nicholas.
In a dinosaur suit.
Scaring little kids.

Yeah, it's for real: he works at the Natural History museum and gets paid to do that XD

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