Day: 16, status: fat and sassy!

So a few funny stories that I have been saving up, hopefully someone will appreciate them.  So when you are learning a new language, at least when I am learning a new language, a lot of things sound the same, especially all of the different foods and fruit that they are placing before me.  I apologize in advance for any spelling errors.  So most mornings there is a table full of fruit as well as some sort of root thing like potato or yuka or yam or something.  Well some things also look similar, so one morning I am eating one of those roots

 and it is called macaxeira (mock-a-shey-ra) and they are telling me how to eat it, spread butter on it, eat it with cheese.  So the next morning they put something in front of me that looks similar, they tell me what it is and I think, aha!  I am going to show everyone that I am practically a native now and spread butter on it and eat it like a Brazilian...only why does it taste kind of like pineapple!?  Yep, so I spread butter on my pineapple and they were probably thinking that I was some weirdo American!  The word for pineapple is abacaxi (abock-a-she) they don´t really sound that similar when you hear them together, but they both have an x in the name and they looked kind of the same...okay, I am going to stop defending myself to you all-you come live in a foreign country and try learning the language and tell me you wouldn´t do something similar!!!
These pictures don´t do it  justice, but here you go.

Obviously the pineapple is above, and the yuka root is to the side, but they are kind of similar in color, and they cut them up the same way and I get so confused, I hardly ever know what I am eating!  The juice here is so good, they make fresh fruit juice all the time, but whenever they ask me if I have tried one I have no idea!  They all just taste like heaven to me and I can´t keep track of their names!



That´s actually the only funny story that I can think of right now, other than the fact, you know the day that I completely left my camera battery here at home?  Well the next day I remembered to take it, except I didn´t make sure it had charged all the way before Adelma unplugged it, and it died on me halfway through the day!

Here are some pictures of the beautiful Brazilian kids:

 Some of these photos are of the kids that were at the dance we had with CCJ, the group that we are helping through our internship.

Others of these kids are from our trip into the favelas. These are their homes, these are the kids of the people that let us paint the walls of their houses.

They all have one thing in common though, whether they were from the party, or from our day at the favelas

They are all being raised with many, many challenges.

 Just because we met some at a party and others in the midst of their poverty does not mean that some are better off than others.  Most of the ones from the party come from lives very similar to this.  Life is a daily struggle for them and CCJ gives them a place to go after school, a place to play and have fun.

Wow, that felt like one of those commercials showing the starving children in Africa or something, not intended.  But this is a real problem throughout the world, even in the United States there are families being kicked out of their houses daily, children going hungry.  This world is not easy for everyone.  We need to be thankful every single day for everything that we have, and remember that where much is given, much is required.  We all need to find our own little ways to give back, whether it is through donating, teaching, serving, however you do it, just make sure that you do it!