So I had a very eye-opening conversation with my friend Bethina from Brazil over text yesterday night. Luckily there are quite a few Brazilians over here in the US for me to talk to before I go, and hopefully keep in touch with while I am there.
I found out that when I go there I will be attending private school, as is the norm. The uniform differs from region to region, but it sound like it is suitable for the climate.
I am a definite yoga pant wearer, so that was a pretty weight-y concern for me. I know that in Spain they dress up fancier than Americans for going outside the house, and yoga pants would be a definite no-no. Bethina told me that people might think I was wearing pajamas, but it depends on the day/ where I am going. One thing she told me for sure was that I would be donning jeans and leggings more often than not. I don't know how people wear leggings if it is super hot out, though. Leggings can be color, non-color, pattern, whatever, and they are worn under skirts or long shirts. So check: bring my jeans, get some leggings.
Right after warning me that I would be quick to gain weight due to the delicious Churrasco barbecue and chicken hearts, she absolutely forbade me to bring my own North American swimsuits. She gave me a link to this picture:
She then chided: "That's like the biggest size of bikini that you will find in Brazil. If you wear any bigger than this people will say that you are wearing that thing that they put on children so they don't poop their pants"To which I playfully remarked:
"Well I hope its okay with all of them that my butt is not anywhere near hot enough for anything like that..... "
She then assured me that the whole point of such small bathing bottoms was to give the illusion of larger buttocks.
A statement to which I said "Touche." And who knows, the more I look at them, the more they grow on me. I could see myself wearing one. Maybe.They are pretty expensive, I looked up a few bikinis on the internet.
Bethina told me that like the swimsuits, most of the clothing in Brazil is expensive, and I should try to pack as much clothing as I can into the fifty pounds allotted for the checked bags. I will most likely end up taking two bags anyways.
One more thing on clothing before we move on. Once upon a time, far, far away, on a slightly surreptitious website that I found, I heard someone mention that in Brazil you can tell a United Statesman ( I am trying to avoid saying "American" as that can get confusing what with North and South going on) distinctly by their tennis shoes. Bethina laughed, then told me that for sure Nike tennis shoes are popular, and almost everybody has a pair. I don't currently; I am more of an Converse All-Star kind of girl. She said they do have Converse, but they are around $200-$300. Whooweee!
As Bethina cracks up at all my Usaian (see what I did there?) anecdotal questions she consistently uses the same Onomatopoeia:
"aheuaheuahauehaaaaaaa!!!" ----- I was wondering about it the whole time, until I concluded that it is the Brazilian equivalent to the US's "LOL".
The rules:1. No rules!!!! aheuaheuaheuahaaaaaa!!!! she seemed to use the same letters and order of letters each time, but a few times she used:
"shduahsudhasudasdaa" , "aksopakspaokspoaksaa" , "rsrsrsrsrsrsrs", or even "kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk"!So there are really no rules. Any letters, any order, anytime.
So cool! It sounds loads closer to the carefree and jubilant looniness that I feel when I am actually laughing out loud.
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