Wedding Fernanda and David

Today was the wedding of my host sister Fernanda and David. We spend the whole day "making us pretty" for the wedding. Being pretty for occasions like this is very important here in Brazil. We borrowed dresses, painted nails, waxed legs, spend hours to get our hair right and went to the beauty salon to get the perfect make-up... For me that was a very Brazilian experience ;-)
The wedding itself took place at night time in a very nice church. The mass was beautiful and funny as well, because at the beginning the pastor greeted the groom  with the wrong name. For me it was a special honor to enter the church as one of the 16 (!) bridesmaids (+ 16 groomsmen).

"bem-casados"

My host sister is going to marry next week. Of course the whole family is already very excited and busy with the last preparations. Today we went to choose the "bem casados". This is a very cute wedding tradition here. "Bem casados" are sweets wrapped in paper like little presents. At the wedding day every guest will receive one of these sweets as a little gesture to say "thank you for coming".

We chose ones that are sponge cake with lemon filled with a cream of  "doce de leite" which is a special type of thickened sweet milk. Yummy!

 "The sweet legend... the "bem-casado" (well married) represents two parts that are connected and that are sealed with attachment and mutual respect. To have good luck in this connection, one "bem-casado" has to be given to each guest. According to the legend, everyone who tastes a "bem-casado" will be blessed with the same luck and happiness. Make a wish before taking the first bite. "Bem-casados"... a sweet memory"

UFJF - Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora

At the university of Juiz de Fora study around 23,000 students and this semester about 20 exchange students from all over the world. The campus is very big and spread out over five hills. A free shuttle bus connects the different buildings. I'm taking courses in geography, history, administration, Portuguese and - just for fun - photography. All the courses are in Portuguese, hence, I hope to learn a lot about Brazil and improve my Portuguese.

Pão de Queijo

Whenever a Brazilian wants a snack, the first choice is this little ball here together with black coffee. It's called "Pão de Queijo", with means cheese bread. The dough contains parmesane and you normally eat it warm. It's very tasty ;-). If you want to try it youself, here is a simple recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/pao-de-queijo-cheese-puffs-brazilian-68293

Juiz de Fora

My first week here in Brazil is already over. It's time to show you some fotos of the city where I'm going to live and study for the next six months - Juiz de Fora. If you translate this name, it means "the judge from out of town". The city has around 500,000 inhabitants and nearly as many hills! Never before I've seen so many steep, steep streets...