First Weekend in Olimpia

I went with my host mom and brother to the hot springs/ water park which is the main attraction in this town and is claimed to be the nicest “club” in South America. We tried out the hot pools, the wave pool, the big bubble slide thingy, the river and the water slides – and that was just a part of it, there’s an exercise gym and lap pool, sauna, beach chairs, cafes, go karts, peddle boats and even a little zoo! You could seriously spend all day there.
Friday night, the exchange students invited me out with their friends to an event at a local bar. The main band didn’t come on until 1:00ish and then everyone started dancing. By the time we were ready to leave at 3:00am, I had somewhat learned the basic samba step!
Saturday I met up with Miriam, the host sister of a fellow Nelsonite who was here on an exchange about 9 years ago. We hung out with her family at their house, visited her sister’s beauty salon and took a drive around the town to visit the Açai restaurant where I’ve decided that my favourite thing ever here is iced açai, topped with vanilla ice cream, butterscotch sauce, bananas and granola :)
Saturday night, I went to a surprise birthday party where I tried to learn Truco, a popular card game that is crazy complicated! It may have been a language thing, but it seemed so illogical and the Brazilians who were playing kept debating things too.
Today, Sunday, we went out to the house on the family sugar cane farm to have a churrasco (BBQ), swim in the pool and generally relax! It was a beautiful, sunny day and the farm is very peaceful. I feel refreshed and ready to start the next week here in Olimpia…