Day 21: Happy Birthday Mom and America

Day 21: Happy Birthday Mom and America

The fourth of July is the best holiday because it is also my mom’s birthday and she is awesome.

Today we celebrated it with the English immersion program kids. We went to ABA and had a small ceremony. We sang both national anthems, and a woman who works for the consulate read a few words from President Barrack Obama.

For most of the time we talked to the kids. They asked a lot of intriguing questions: are people racist in the United States? What is your religion like? Is college hard? How do all of you know Portuguese? It was really fun talking to them, but it was also exhausting.

Mitch had the idea of doing the Cha-Cha slide, which is super American. It’s done at every wedding, and every church dance. We did it, and it was fun, the kids really enjoyed it. And we looked like dorks, but it really was something American that we taught them.

For lunch they had Brazilian versions of hot dogs and hamburgers. The hamburger here is called X-Burger, and the X in Portuguese is pronounce Cheese, so it’s like saying Cheeseburger, yet another thing proving that globalization is real.  

After celebrating the 4^th of July to went to the largest bookstore in Pernambuco. The books were extremely expensive, but I bought a cook book with northeastern Brazilian recipes, I figure it was a good idea. Later I noticed that all the measurements are in kg’s, and I have no idea what that means.

After that, we went on a boat ride. The nickname of Recife is “Brazil’s Venice.” There are rivers that run all throughout the city. The boat ride took us to many parts of the city. We saw works from Brenannd and a castle, and a hotel in which the second Emperor of Brazil stayed in when he came to Brazil. One of the scariest parts of the boat ride was that the boat had to go under these super low bridges. Jordan, my friend Cindy’s husband, wouldn’t bend his head down until the last possible moment; I was going to have a heart attack. I said “JORDAN if your head falls of, you are going to get blood all over me, and I’m going to be so mad.” It was a really nice experience though, the sun was setting, and it was perfect weather.

Looking at the cities old buildings and learning a little of their history, made me realize why I love being an art historian.