Oi gente!

Hey there everyone! Hope things are going well at home for all, although I heard that there is about 8 inches of snow in central Indiana. Here today was the hottest day in the last two weeks, I walked outside and wondered why I had to wear clothes... I finally got registered with the federal police today, after two weeks of postponement the Brazilian police now have my fingerprints, documents, and photos (including one of my tattoos, so I'm permanantly identifiable). I took Mom to the airport yesterday, which was really sad. It was so nice having her here for a week, but I wish she could have stayed longer so I could show her more of the real life. While she was here we went to 3 different beaches, Pelourinho (the historic part of the city) a couple times, the Art Museum of Bahia, souvineir shopping at Mercado Modelo and she got to meet my family here. She called me this morning saying that she was still in São Paulo, there was a bad storm last night there and her plane had to circle for 2 hours before they could land, and she missed her connection back to the U.S. I know that she wanted to go back yesterday so she could have a day off before she had to go back to teaching, but I told her that she should stay in Brazil for one more day. She said no that she didn't have time, but Brazil thought differently. As they would say here, the gods willed her to stay, so she had to stay one more day. I also heard from her this afternoon, and she said how different it is there from here in Salvador. My friends and I know, which is why we are here in Salvador, but it was good for her to get to see the big difference. She should be back in Indiana by noon tomorrow. I'm starting to get a schedule here, and I'm thinking about joining a gym here. It would be good to have somewhere to go to use their weight equipment, but the gym by my house only has one price that includes all of the classes and everything (but of course it's more expensive). I wasn't able to get into the photography class that I wanted because we already missed too much. That's ok though because I decided that I'll just try to practice a lot myself. Take pictures that tell a story with my digital camera, upload them to the laptop (which mom brought for me), edit all of the pictures using the software, and maybe write a short story for each or write a longer story for every so many (in English or Portuguese, I think either would help me). I still miss everyone at home, and hope to get some more e-mails or letters in the mail. Even though I used to go a long time when I was in school without seeing friends and family, I feel like it's harder here because I am living in a very close, personal culture. I always see people being affectionate and always talking about missing their friends and family that are gone. Please don't forget about me while I'm gone. I'm not sure what I want to do, but I would love to see everyone when I get home and show you my pictures and share my stories. I may have to wait a little bit though, because I know at first I will be very overwhelmed and have to go through reverse culture shock. Ok, I only have 2 more minutes in the lab here, so I better get going. Please take care of yourselves and yours! Beijos <3 Becki <3