My first day at school!

Today is my first day at school, and first access to the internet for a while (hence why there are two posts on one day). The school is really nice - there are loads of other people here, starting at the same time. They quickly determined that my grasp of Portuguese was restricted to names of food and words you pick up from airports (exit, toilet, arrival, departure etc). Thus, I was placed in the beginners class with 3 other students from across the globe (New York, Sweden, Taiwan), and a nutty teacher. So far, we´ve accomplished quite a bit in the 3 hours or so that we´ve had today, and there´s homework to do too! The school must have at least 25-30 students here at the moment, some only coming for a week or so, others here for like 2 months. A group of us went to eat at a local vegetarian restaurant (oh the joy) where food is priced by the kilo. Today there´s a cooking class, but I´m excited about the dance and Capoeira classes that are scheduled for the rest of the week. There´s also excursions and meetings with Brazilian students to keep me occupied. The school is a short bus-ride from the Pousada, and costs only 2 Reais (pronounced hee-yais), so I´ll be taking that every morning, but I will probably walk back, because I need some exercise. The school is located in the Barra district, which is home to the upper middle-class (and, sadly, noticeably lighter-skinned) Brazilians, whereas the Pelourinho is very African. So, while its safe to walk around here until 10pm, its not recommended that you are out by yourself in my area as soon as the sun sets, which is a shame, because you can feel like a couped up chicken. Anyway, I´m off home now, and will probably be meeting people to enjoy the partying in Pelourinho tonight.

Also, just to let my nearest and dearest know, I am being safe and careful when I go out, so please don´t worry. Email me whenever you like, but don´t call because it´s seriously pricey. Text is okay though. Ate logo!