I had a dream....in Portuguese.....kinda :)

For a few weeks now, I have been on an obsessive kick about wanting to dream in Portuguese. Not only would it just be freaking awesome, but it would also be a good indication of my progress. Just a couple of days ago, I mentioned my obsession to André. His response?? "You will. As you learn more, you will." Well that's all fine and good, but dang it, I want to do it now! As I woke up this morning, I remembered having a weird dream. I layed in bed; trying to recall every detail possible from that strangely inaccessible, and almost forbidden storage place inside my brain. This is my recollection:

I am in Brasil, and André takes me to a restaurant for lunch. We walk in, and an employee asks "How many?" André says, "Two." Then the guy says, "How are you all today?" André replies, "Fine." And I say, "Bem." (That was obviously the important part of this story! But, I will continue with the dream because it was just funny.) So the guy takes us to our seat, and I leave the table to go to the restroom. I walk in, and there stands a girl that I went to middle school with! (She moved to Kansas after our 8th grade year, and I haven't seen her since.) But, there she was....in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil....in the same restaurant....in the same bathroom. Then I go back to our table, and André says, "A guy named Stephen came over, and he wants to talk to you." (This was a guy I went to high school with, and I also have not talked to in a while.)

That is all I can remember. Very odd, right?? So, as I was lying in bed this morning, going through that whole scenario.....it hit me. Suddenly. I said "Bem!" Oh my gosh!!!! I said "Bem!" in my dream. Wow! I said a word in Portuguese....in my dream!! Now, you are probably thinking....ummm, it was just one word...what's the big deal? Yeah, I know it was just one word, but it was one more word than I had ever said in a dream before last night! It was a very exciting moment for me. I only hope this happens more and more. I'm not necessarily expecting it to happen every night, but hey, it wouldn't be disappointing if it did! :)

Music....Brasilian/American Opinions

My friend, Fleda, (being the thoughtful girl that she is) found a cd of a Brasilian singer at McKay's bookstore, and she bought it for me. Sweet, right? The singer is a guy named Sandro Coelho, and the cd is called "No Sul Do Meu País". (In the South of My Country) I have found that I actually really like his music. So as I was talking to André a couple of days ago, I mentioned that Fleda bought me the cd, and I asked if he knew of the singer. He said he didn't, but he looked him up online and started listening to one of his songs. He then informed me that people in Rio do not listen to that kind of music, and that this guy is not famous in Rio. Ummm, what? So, I asked if he had any suggestions on what I should listen to. Why, of course he did! He sent me some videos with Samba and Funk music, and I did like them. However, that does not mean that I can't like the other guy too. André then proceeds to tell me that he hates country music, and that he thinks it sounds funny. As a fan of country music, I had to argue this. And it didn't go so well. I was not going to give up so easily, so I decided I would start sending him videos of country music singers; telling him that I am going to teach him to appreciate country music. I think it is going well so far! He did tell me that he has a hard time understanding Kenny Chesney's accent sometimes. I informed him that I have no trouble at all. haha. I just find the difference in opinions interesting. This is somewhat of a generalization, but what is it about Sandro Coelho that makes him unappealing to Cariocas? I think he has a nice voice, and I like his songs. And as for country music, clearly not all Americans like it, but I do. Oh well, I suppose it is a difference in cultures, and so forth. Even though I am pointing this out like it's a problem, it's not of course. It's actually just one more part of Brasil/Brasilians that I love. Até logo!

Translating

As I have mentioned in my blogs, I am learning to speak Portuguese. (Brazilian, not European) All of my friends and family know this, but if you are reading this, and you didn't know....well, now you do! So, last night my friend from Brasil went to church with me, and several of us went out to eat afterwards. One of the my friends in our group had his "evangecube" with him, and someone asked my Brasilian friend to use the cube while speaking Portuguese. Oh, and he thought it would be a good idea if I translated! At first, I declined. haha. Of course, he asked me again, and after considering it for a few seconds, I decided it would actually be really good for me. So he started talking, and after he got done with the first sentence, I looked at him, and said, "Uhhh, you're gonna have to slow down." He repeated what he said at a somewhat slower pace, and then it was up to me to tell the other 9 people in our group what he just said. The first three or four sentences were kinda rough, but after that, I picked up on it fairly well. Oh sure, I missed a few words here and there, but I expected to do much worse. And, surprisingly, I really enjoyed doing it. It was actually a lot of fun. My friend said, I'm going to email my boss and tell her that I have found a new translator! (He works as a translator in Rio with mission teams.) I laughed when he said that. hahaha. It was a cool experience, and it definitely motivated me to work harder to improve my Portuguese.

Catching up

I just realized that i have not written in a few days because I have been rather pressed for time lately. I am unbelievably tired right now. I went to a get-together/game night last night. Some friends from church invited my family and I over to their house. We ate dinner there, and then spent the next 7 hours playing different board games. I'm not exaggerating. We left their house at about 2:30 a.m. I went to bed sometime after 3. If I went back to bed right now, there is no doubt in my mind that I could easily fall asleep again. However, I will feel like I have wasted the day if I do that. I've got some studying to do for school. I also need to study/practice my Portuguese today. I can read and write it fairly well, but I have to improve my listening skills. They pretty much suck. After all, I really don't hear Portuguese spoken too often. Listening to any kind of spoken Portuguese helps. Songs, television show clips, church services, etc. I've found that youtube is a great source for this. Also, my friend told me that the University of Tennessee is having a Brasilian film series, and she asked me if I wanted to go on the 17th. My response: Oh my gosh! Definitely! I've never heard of the movie they are showing, but it is in Portuguese. (With subtitles, of course.) I'm super excited about it. That was a long explanation for why I can't go back to sleep. Nice. Anyway, I am going out for dinner tonight. A friend from Brasil is in the states for a work-study program, and he works at a restaurant. So, I'm going there tonight. I'm looking forward to it. He is also going to church with me Sunday night. Should be fun. Well, I'm off to study Laboratory Diagnostics/Portuguese. Tenha um bom dia! Até logo!