bahia chillin'

Hey y'all!

As you can probably tell, I've been off living my life here in Bahia, doing the best I can with the situations I've been presented with, namely a piss poor immune system. But I've clearly been too busy to do an extensive post on NLYP, so this is a good sign, right? I've got a sore throat today, so I thought I'd entertain myself by blogging, reading, and listening to Telepopmusik's "Don't Look Back" on repeat, over and over and over again. It's just sooo good. Throw in a shower and a few episodes of The L Word and I'm good to go. My throat feels like crap and I feel like I have a lot of mucus buildup. It's been this way for weeks, off and on. If it persists after today, I will be taking that long overdue trip to the doctor. I've been doing this, So You Think You Can Cook? challenge lately, trying to make foods for myself every two-three weeks. 

 The first challenge was the tortilla. It is nowhere to be found in Brazil. This caused me heartache. So I made my own.

The second was my very own baked Macaroni and Cheese. That was SO much fun to make. So much fun (a picture that I found but doesn't do justice to the taste)

And the third was my very first Cheesecake!

Being able to talk to some of my professors and close friends this week was good. I've also been bonding more with some of the girls on my program as well as my Brazilian and other American friends here. It sucks that I'm getting sick again, but I want to say that these past two weeks, while having been complicated due to unresolved relationship issues, have also been some of the most fun and most surprising weeks since I've been here. I've had the opportunity to help out in English classes taught by Vivi, been offered a job and maybe even a chance to model *keep our fingers crossed*, have great classes with great subject matter taught by amazing people, and I'm cooking up everything I can dream of, and it's turning out pretty darn well! I've had the chance to talk to my younger siblings, bask in the wisdom of the people that I look up to, and I've even decided to set goals for myself. Today is the 1st of September. The beginning of my fitness month. The beginning of the school year at Scripps. The beginning of a new side of me. It's definitely exciting!

first of all, love them. leo and vivi, you guys are making my brazilian experience more than amazing. i truly am thankful that i met you. i really have to buy monica a car for linking us all up on that fateful night at the dubliner.

the program. love to hate them. hate to love them. but alas, they are hilarrrrrious. But Flavia in the pink is a gangsta.

oh the baby baianas in cachoeira! had so much fun there even though we arrived too late and missed the parade. i'm going to need this program to be on point, for reals.

how can i leave this?

I've been doing some serious thinking. And I'll let you know how that goes when I'm done sitting in my space. I promise. I love Bahia and miss America all at the same time. 

But what I would like to say is that my hair is crunchy and dry as hell. It just ain't cute no' more. I mean, it looks all cute in pictures and what not. But it feels like a hot mess. My hair journey doesn't seem to be much like a journey anymore. It's like, I've transitioned. I've cut out all of the perm. It's growing. And it's BREAKING. So now what? More products? Less products? More styles. Yes! I need more styles. I'm so bored right now. I miss my rollers and my hair products. I tried the kitchen thang. My cooking is good for edible foods only. Cuz the stuff I tried to put in my hair, *side eye to y'all homemade homies* was not the business.

So, um, 

pray for my naps?