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24th September Just taught some new grammar: I am walking, I am playing etc, and had moved on to question words. As an example I wrote on board "Why am I here?" and one bloke says kinda to himself "Porque estou estudando" and I was like "Woah there, say that in English", as I always do. And he was ready with the standard response "I can\'t, I can\'t speak English". Then he stopped and his face lit up and he said, "Because I am studying!!! Wow, I can speak English!!" So we were both all "Yey", and had a jumping up and down session, party poppers and that kinda thing... he was so chuffed, bless him. One of the leaflets you sent had that Rupert Brooke poem in, and as am starved of reading material and bit lonesome have read it a lot (hence the BJ reference - although obviously not in Thai jail awaiting drug smuggling charges...not going to Colombia till Feb...) and the lines "If I should die, think only this of me: that there\'s some corner of a forgotten field that\'s forever England" Obviously discounting the death part, and the field, the forever England bits kinda how I feel right now. 27th September One thing I will never get used to here is shopping. Finally gave up today and went to buy a pair of jeans. Not because I needed them you understand. But I must be the owner of the baggiest pair of trousers in Brazil and they\'re not even my widest. However this is Brazil and everyone here, without exception, regardless of size shape or age, wears tight trousers. I don\'t mean they\'re tapered leg; they\'re wide enough at the bottom but they\'re just unbelievably tight, even v old fat women so I get SO MANY odd looks and quite honestly I\'ve had enough so went to buy my first Brazilian jeans although at eight pounds a go it\'s not exactly breaking the bank. The following happens not just in one badly picked shop, but EVERY shop. As soon as you walk in you\'re pounced on and asked what you\'re looking for. And before the words have left your mouth they\'ve worked out your size, run round the shop twice and are showing you a selection of Brazil\'s brightest and best, going through a stick-on accessories stage, so you pull out a pair of jeans and think "Ooh, nice", then you see the other leg has a montage of world flags in sequins, or animals I have known in glitter glue. So was forced to beat off attentions of saleswoman and convince them that I don\'t want to buy anything, please believe me. But somehow I find myself in a changing room out of breath and clutching a pile of variously decorated jeans. So I figure may as well try some. But there I am, trousers round knees, when the curtain is whisked open - "Are you OK?" she goes, displaying me in all my red-faced glory to the entire shop and no, this doesn\'t happen just the once, oh no, not an unfortunate mistiming, but EVERY TIME I try a new pair; guess the aim is to fluster you so much you scream "FINE I\'LL BUY IT!" and it worked for me somehow found myself on pavement clutching a pair of pink tinged blue jeans, hair awry and feeling slightly bemused. Shopkeeper dusted off her hands and turned to the next victim. Believe me I won\'t be going shopping for a while. 2nd October So went out Saturday night with daughter of one of the teachers - it\'s cool in the clubs, you don\'t pay anything to get in and you\'re given a ticket, and at the bar they mark on the ticket what you drink and you don\'t pay, and then when you leave you pay for everything - v. good as it means you don\'t need money while you\'re dancing and whilst on the subject EVERYone here can dance and I mean proper dancing they alternate normal club music with a live samba band, and everyone without exception (well, except me) can samba so fast its unbelievable I just spin round and round and wave my hands in a vaguely celebratory manner got taught some though, by a v. good dancer, and its SO HARD. Anyway was with this girl (Lici) and her boyfriend and they were having a few marital difficulties, so lots of tears etc on top of that we lost our lift home, so Lici said wed take a taxi back to hers and stay there I\'m like "Woah! I can\'t just not go home -what about Ercilia?" She\'ll visualise me on next plane back to England...probably with no luggage with my record... so she\'s like its cool, well call her when I get back at 5am NNNNOOOO!!!!!! I\'m gonna be hated forever if I do that!!!!! So decide to take cab back to my house, but am literally dragged by her and boyf (both still raining tears in a totally unashamed manner - v Brazilian) to taxi and with my chin bumping along the cobbles I decide to give in. So there I am - bit better this time, as at least they know I didn\'t know I was staying the night, so am provided with toothbrush etc but think about it you know how minging you feel after night out? And anyone else and you know how good it is to have a shower and put on clean clothes after dancing 5,6 hours solid well now imagine no shower and getting up in the morning and putting on THE SAME CLOTHES - now that felt weird, sitting down to breakfast with glossy, Colgate-toothed, 2.4 children family in my grotty, muddy vest and jeans, very overly made up for 10 in the morning too. 13th October This has to be one of the few places in the world where you can go out for the night, and have no idea what country you\'re in still confused just before I left, Ercilia asks if I have my passport - first clue - so driving along, pass a checkpoint - slightly worried and all the road signs are in Spanishsurely not right? But the town we end up in has everything in Portuguese, and is definitely Brazilian. I give up maybe I can add Argentina to list of countries visited, maybe not. Fed up with being novelty item to be passed around and played with by as many people as possible, and being set up on playdates with anyone who is one or more of the following: my age, speaks English, stalks me or know someone who once had a cousin who had a friend who went to the US had my cheek pinched so much in the last week oh look at the little English girl! Can I borrow her for the weekend? Grrr 19th October Tuesday: Just had stand-off with cockroach in the bathroom; played chicken for good five minutes, while I considered just how much I needed the toilet. Tried to reason with him - surely we could coexist peacefully, no need for dog in a manger type behaviour: I have toilet and he can have the walls and the ceiling (actually wouldn\'t be happy with him on the ceiling forget that), but he just waved his fat ol\' oversized antennae at me and I actually thought I was winning the threatening and the staring, but he obviously subscribed to the "sticks and stones may break my bones" school of thought and was unimpressed and anyway he cheated by calling up a friend and there was no way I could cope with two; can\'t turn my head quick enough between them cunning lil\' devils placed themselves just outside my line of vision on each side so I withdrew, defeated but vowed to return against my will as unfortunately that\'s the only toilet in the house, and really desperate now, so wish me luck. 31st October
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