More from Santo Antonio

So Friday morning was spent making a giant crossword on a piece of wallpaper with food and drink words (in English obviously) so that was the warm-up when we got to class. Everyone had to find two words, pronounce them correctly and say what they were in portuguese. After that I got everyone on their feet and we jumped and said "jump", smiled and said "smile", waved and said "wave" etc. They're getting better with numbers, but thirty-three is still a nightmare. Then we did some role-play of two different scenes - asking a stranger for the time* and meeting a new person**. 

On Saturday morning I went shopping with Adriana, which was very different to the British equivalent in Asda. We went to a supermarket to buy some meat, but then bought fruit and vegetables at a stall in a large open-air market which was full of extremes. The fruit & veg stall was made of crates and all the surfaces were piled high with produce. The stall next to it sold spices out of large sacks by the cup-full. Next to that was a cleared area with a couple of tables and chairs where a surly-looking woman tended a barbecue. Further on was a man with a horse and cart full of chickens. And finally there was a stall selling cheap plastic toys and Barbie merchandise. 


It is strange to see tanned 10 year-old boys, with black hair and eyes, ride bare-back and run bare-foot trough the streets and then run inside to eat Nestle chocolate and watch X-Men on TV. It is the mix between traditional ways and the clash with the modern world. 


Saturday evening I went to a Pizzaria with Bruna and Priscila, I actually managed to maintain conversation throughout, which with my language abilities is no mean feat! On Sunday I hung out with Bruna and Priscila again and we played with the girls as well as playing hangman (with the aid of a portuguese-english dictionary so that the words were fiendishly hard). In the evening we had church and I helped with the Sunday-School. After the lesson, they taught me a game called "Alive-Dead". When the caller shouted alive you had to stand, when they shout dead you have to crouch down - if you do the wrong thing at the wrong time then you're out. I didn't do very well! 


That's all I've got time for now, but I will give an account of Monday and today later on. 
Love xxxx



*"Excuse me, what is the time, please?"
"It's seven o'clock"
"Thank you"
"You're welcome"

**"Hello"
"Hi"
"My name is ... What's your name?"
"My name is ..."