im hungry!!

So... we just talked to a group of boys and girls our age.... its weird talking to them and hearing what they think about America because i know that they have opinions about the USA but i never knew what they were in detail. being here has opened up my eyes to many things. one of those being how America only thinks about America- and no one else .... unless its beneficial to them. it was really interesting to me that these boys and girls go to school for a specific purpose because in America our education is so general- unless you go to a school that is specifically for something like science and math or the arts. but the focus of education in America is to be ``well rounded`` and know a little bit of everything before you go on to find your vocation and specialize in something. it was very apparent to me that to get a job here it is important to be good at one or two things- and that is the focus of their education. however, it seems that these kids really have their lives together and they are working hard to be successful... it´s inspiring to me to see these kids who use what they have to achieve what they want- i respect and admire their efforts to get a job and take control so they can lead a better life.
however, more on the overall trip so far-- ITS BEEN SUPPAhh fun!! we´ve seen so much and learned so much already. Portuguese is coming slowly but i´m learning to pick out important words to get the basic idea of what someone is saying. its definitely hard but i think after 5 weeks i will be able to understand some of it... if not most of it. capoeira is going well, i feel sort of awkward doing it but um.. hopefully that will change too. i just never know what to do! and i´m scared i´m going to get kicked in the head- like the boy yesterday who got donkey kicked in the mouth (that looked like it really hurt a lot)... i´m really enjoying myself and i´m glad that i chose to do this- i know that after 5 weeks i will have a completely new view of the world. even after one week i am inspired to go home and make my community more aware of whats happening around the world and the ideas/opinions of people... outside of the US. i mean, its astonishing that people here in Brazil keep up with our election and i don´t even know who their president is... so, i am definitely going to try harder to keep up with the world and be aware of what is happening... I'm excited for the weeks to come and i think that this trip is going to definitely make me a ``global citizen``.

-martha aka mj aka crackhead