January 19, 2019
Today was the first full day with my host family. My host family slept in until 10, and I greatly appreciated the extra sleep. For breakfast I had a whole spread with scrambled eggs, bacon, breads, and sweets. A few things that were different from the United States was that the milk was served hot, they would have cake for breakfast, and the coffee is much stronger than it is in the U.S.
We left the house after breakfast to see the water museum and the Piracicaba River. The name “Piracicaba” means “where the fish stops”, so I knew the river was important to the development of the town. They used to have a working hydropower plant there, but it has since stopped working. From there we went across the river to an old factory on the other side, where they sold knickknacks and other souvenirs. On the way back to the car I tried coconut water and sugar cane juice. I thought the sugar cane juice was very good, because it was mixed with pinapple and lemon juice!
From there we went back to the host family’s house before going to a barbeque in the afternoon. When we arrived, I found out that it was Phil’s host family’s house. The house was very nice, and on the roof was a pool, deck, and barbeque pit. We sat and talked, relaxed by the pool, and learned a new card game named trucco. It was hard to understand at first, but by the end of the evening I got used to it and became mediocrely competitive. Many of the women there loved to dance, so we listened to samba music and we learned how to samba a bit, though I was not very good at all. The party was very long, and I was there from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Though, even with the length of the party the food never stopped coming! They made food all day and everyone was so kind to make sure I always had my fill.
When it finally got dark they had a surprise for Phil! It was his birthday, so they made him a birthday cake and sang to him! The song was different than our happy birthday, and they had a tradition where the person gives the first piece of cake to someone special. At the end of the night I was so tired from the day that when we got back to their house I went to bed soon after.
Phil celebrating his birthday with his host family!
-Milan Pozderac