I am Livia Domingus da cunha, 16 years old. I live in Santos (45 minutes from Sao Paulo), Brazil. Santos is the largest port of Latin America, and has a population of 450,000 people. My favorite thing there is the beautiful beach. We have temperatures around 59 and 68 degrees in the winter and in the summertime the temperatures can be between 86 and 104 degrees. Brazil is a tropical country which makes possible products like coffee and many tropical fruits (bananas, oranges, pinapple, passion fruit...). Our independence day is celebrated September 7th.

I am the youngest of 4 children. I have two sisters, Fernanda (24) and Barbara (22), and one brother, Julio (19). My dad Julio is a doctor and mom Sonia is a lawyer. In my American family, I have Dad (Dave), Mom (Patty), one sister, Nichole (17), and one brother, Mark (14). We live in Jewell.

In Brazil, I went to a private Catholic school. We go to class Monday through Friday from 7:00 to 12:20. My schedule is divided into 6 classes, 50 minutes each, with one break at 9:20-9:40. I like to play handball; we practice sometimes in my P.E. classes at school. On the weekends I would go to movies, discos, clubs, beach,... When I go out with my friends, I leave at 11:30 PM and I get home at 4:00 AM which I have found is very different from American kids.

I came as a part of AFS ( American Field Service ) program. My goal is to learn about American culture, English, and to meet new people.

In Brazil, the most popular sport is soccer. We are the world champion now. We have a famous carnival. It's 40 days before Easter. During one week, bands move through the city playing carnival music with people dancing in the streets following the truck, and at night, we celebrate at the clubs - sometimes with costumes. In Rio de Janeiro, they have parades with sambas' school. It's really popular and fun.

One thing I really want people to know: I speak Portuguese, not Spanish!

If you want to know more about Brazil and my experiences here, you can write me: Livvia@Hotmail.com
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